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| gaining_colonial_experience_early_properties [2024/08/14 12:34] – [Sale of Land] judith | gaining_colonial_experience_early_properties [2025/03/05 18:04] (current) – judith |
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| Armed with his book on English law, TLM-P went into partnership to lease his second property on 24 September 1845. His partner, Hugh Henry Robertson Aikman, had occupied Broomelton since July 1842 when he was granted what is believed to be the first license to depasture (i.e. graze cattle on) Crown Lands on the banks of the Logan River.((Depasturing licences, SRNSW, https://indexes.records.nsw.gov.au/searchhits_nocopy.aspx?table=Depasturing%20Licenses&id=67&frm=1&query=Surname:%; H. J. Gibbney, 'Murray-Prior, Thomas Lodge (1819–1892)', //Australian Dictionary of Biography//, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murray-prior-thomas-lodge-4282/text6927, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 14 August 2018.)) TLM-P solved the problem of inadequate capital by borrowing from his step-sisters: £600 in several instalments.((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.18; In 2017 values, £600 is around £69,348 or AUD$110,956; [[http://www.in2013dollars.com/1845-GBP-in-2017?amount=600]])) David Marr in his brilliant //Killing for Country. A Family Story//, points out that it was common to borrow money from the extended family for this purpose - and hugely increased the pressure on the borrower to succeed. Massacring the owners of the land was one result, another was to overstock it and otherwise exploit the soil too ruthlessly.\\ | Armed with his book on English law, TLM-P went into partnership to lease his second property on 24 September 1845. His partner, Hugh Henry Robertson Aikman, had occupied Broomelton since July 1842 when he was granted what is believed to be the first license to depasture (i.e. graze cattle on) Crown Lands on the banks of the Logan River.((Depasturing licences, SRNSW, https://indexes.records.nsw.gov.au/searchhits_nocopy.aspx?table=Depasturing%20Licenses&id=67&frm=1&query=Surname:%; H. J. Gibbney, 'Murray-Prior, Thomas Lodge (1819–1892)', //Australian Dictionary of Biography//, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murray-prior-thomas-lodge-4282/text6927, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 14 August 2018.)) TLM-P solved the problem of inadequate capital by borrowing from his step-sisters: £600 in several instalments.((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.18; In 2017 values, £600 is around £69,348 or AUD$110,956; [[http://www.in2013dollars.com/1845-GBP-in-2017?amount=600]])) David Marr in his brilliant //Killing for Country. A Family Story//, points out that it was common to borrow money from the extended family for this purpose - and hugely increased the pressure on the borrower to succeed. Massacring the owners of the land was one result, another was to overstock it and otherwise exploit the soil too ruthlessly.\\ |
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| //Bromelton// was on the Logan River, 35 miles from Brisbane, near the current town of [[wp>Beaudesert,_Queensland|Beaudesert]]. It was 'watered by the Logan River, part of Teviot Brook, Allen's Creek, and Crow's Creek.' ((Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', //Queensland Geographical Journal//, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.11.)) It was large, 60 square miles (almost 15,540 hectares).((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.18. Her information about Bromelton's size is for 30 September 1848 and comes from the NSW Government Gazette)) Its name had been originally spelt Broomelton, after an Aikman estate in Scotland; the M-Ps (mis)spelt it Bromelton. Its indigenous name was the same as its nearby lagoon, Bungroopin (now rendered Bungropin) meaning 'the place of parrots'.((Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.8. Rosa Praed, in her novel //The Romance of a Station// has her heroine grow up on 'dear old Bungroopim' station.)) The lagoon was in front of the homestead and large and deep. In his history, Fox claims it was 85 feet deep (nearly 26 metres) with its Indigenous owners well aware it could be dangerous as they considered it bottomless and the haunt of a bunyip.((Matthew Fox, //The history of Queensland: its people and industries: an historical and commercial review descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations: an epitome of progress//, Brisbane: States Publishing Company, 1919, vol. 1, p.313.))\\ | //Bromelton// was on the Logan River, 35 miles from Brisbane, near the current town of [[wp>Beaudesert,_Queensland|Beaudesert]]. It was 'watered by the Logan River, part of Teviot Brook, Allen's Creek, and Crow's Creek.' ((Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', //Queensland Geographical Journal//, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.11.)) It was large, 60 square miles (almost 15,540 hectares).((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.18. Her information about Bromelton's size is for 30 September 1848 and comes from the NSW Government Gazette)) Its name had been originally spelt Broomelton, after an Aikman estate in Scotland; the M-Ps (mis)spelt it Bromelton. Its indigenous name was the same as its nearby lagoon, Bungroopin (now rendered Bungropin) meaning 'the place of parrots'.((Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.8. Rosa Praed, in her novel //The Romance of a Station// has her heroine grow up on 'dear old Bungroopim' station.)) The lagoon was in front of the homestead and large and deep. In his history, Fox claims it was 85 feet deep (nearly 26 metres) with its Indigenous owners well aware it could be dangerous as they considered it bottomless and the haunt of a bunyip.((Matthew Fox, //The history of Queensland: its people and industries: an historical and commercial review descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations: an epitome of progress//, Brisbane: States Publishing Company, 1919, vol. 1, p.313.)) various members of the family claimed to have seen the large water creature with the result that the 'Bromelton Bunyip' is still making the news. See, for example, the following from the //Fassifern Guardian//, 5 March 2025, p.27 courtesy Deb Stenzel: {{:fassifern_guardian_bromelton_bunyip0250305_160730.jpg?300|}} \\ |
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| In 1846, TLM-P was sufficiently established to marry 18-year old [[matilda_m-p|Matilda Harpur]], although he was concerned he did not have enough money to support a wife and children. He wrote to Matilda that his major worry was saving £200((this sum was worth around $26,392 in 2017 values.)), the amount he considered necessary for married life.((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.19.)) Matilda was idealistically keen to prove her mettle as a pioneer wife. A letter of hers quoted by Colin Roderick((//In Mortal Bondage//, p.9)) has her chiding him for selling his bullocks so that he could employ builders to erect a suitable house for his young bride: '//Let me beg of you to make no such sacrifice again, but to discharge those builders, and when I come, let me be your assistant in improving your hut, for indeed I should like to have in my power to prove that I could be happy with you anywhere//.' In any case, it appears that Matilda's and TLM-P's first home was a 'slab hut'.(([H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.11.)) The description comes from Rosa Praed in her //Australian Life, Black and White//, but it should be kept in mind that what constitutes a 'slab hut' could vary widely; that Rosa was foremost an imaginative novelist; and that she left Bromelton when she was 2 years old. While she drew on other family members' memories, decades had passed by that time, making it all the more likely that Bromelton homestead was remembered in comparison to the more substantial homes they later occupied. There is little doubt, however, that it was a hard life for a young bride, with the nearest station (//Tamrookum//) reputedly two days riding away. ((Allan Morrison, 'Some Queensland Postmasters-general', Brisbane: Post Office Historical Society, 1953, p.4)) It is not known whether TLM-P discharged his builders, but he did employ two (Samuel Crewe and Patrick Sullivan) during May-August 1848.((Ledger for Bugrooperia station, Logan River, Queensland, May 1848-1849, 13pp, MLMSS 3117/Box 6/Item 5))\\ | In 1846, TLM-P was sufficiently established to marry 18-year old [[matilda_m-p|Matilda Harpur]], although he was concerned he did not have enough money to support a wife and children. He wrote to Matilda that his major worry was saving £200((this sum was worth around $26,392 in 2017 values.)), the amount he considered necessary for married life.((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromelton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.19.)) Matilda was idealistically keen to prove her mettle as a pioneer wife. A letter of hers quoted by Colin Roderick((//In Mortal Bondage//, p.9)) has her chiding him for selling his bullocks so that he could employ builders to erect a suitable house for his young bride: '//Let me beg of you to make no such sacrifice again, but to discharge those builders, and when I come, let me be your assistant in improving your hut, for indeed I should like to have in my power to prove that I could be happy with you anywhere//.' In any case, it appears that Matilda's and TLM-P's first home was a 'slab hut'.(([H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.11.)) The description comes from Rosa Praed in her //Australian Life, Black and White//, but it should be kept in mind that what constitutes a 'slab hut' could vary widely; that Rosa was foremost an imaginative novelist; and that she left Bromelton when she was 2 years old. While she drew on other family members' memories, decades had passed by that time, making it all the more likely that Bromelton homestead was remembered in comparison to the more substantial homes they later occupied. There is little doubt, however, that it was a hard life for a young bride, with the nearest station (//Tamrookum//) reputedly two days riding away. ((Allan Morrison, 'Some Queensland Postmasters-general', Brisbane: Post Office Historical Society, 1953, p.4)) It is not known whether TLM-P discharged his builders, but he did employ two (Samuel Crewe and Patrick Sullivan) during May-August 1848.((Ledger for Bugrooperia station, Logan River, Queensland, May 1848-1849, 13pp, MLMSS 3117/Box 6/Item 5))\\ |