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| maroon_and_rathdowney [2024/06/21 21:09] – judith | maroon_and_rathdowney [2024/06/21 21:40] (current) – judith |
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| Note: the Beaudesert Museum has numerous holdings relating to //Maroon// and the Murray-Prior family, see [[https://beaudesertmuseum.org.au]]\\ | Note: the Beaudesert Museum has numerous holdings relating to //Maroon// and the Murray-Prior family, see [[https://beaudesertmuseum.org.au]]\\ |
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| ====Land selections on and near //Maroon// ==== | ====Land selections on and near Maroon ==== |
| For an overview of the relevant Queensland land acts and government attempts to allocate land to squatters and smaller selectors, see [[wp>Land_selection_in_Queensland]]. TLM-P and his eldest son Thomas de M. M-P (Tom) took advantage of the //Crown Land Alienation Act// 1868 (Qld) which allowed people to 'select' land to farm. Bill Kitson summarises, 'This Act allowed the Government to acquire half of the squatter's run either by resumption or voluntary surrender. This resumed half was then to be surveyed into blocks suitable for selectors looking for smaller agricultural farms. The run holder in return would receive a new lease on his half of the original run as well as other benefits. By this policy the Government was able to achieve their objectives of closer settlement with more people using the same area of land with the added benefit of an increase in rent.'((Bill Kitson, 'From Runs to Closer Settlement', [[http://www.qhatlas.com.au/content/runs-closer-settlement|//Queensland Historical Atlas//]])) The Act limited 'selections' of land to 640 acres and specified that the 'selector' had to have lived permanently on the land and farmed it, before its ownership was transferred.\\ | For an overview of the relevant Queensland land acts and government attempts to allocate land to squatters and smaller selectors, see [[wp>Land_selection_in_Queensland]]. TLM-P and his eldest son Thomas de M. M-P (Tom) took advantage of the //Crown Land Alienation Act// 1868 (Qld) which allowed people to 'select' land to farm. Bill Kitson summarises, 'This Act allowed the Government to acquire half of the squatter's run either by resumption or voluntary surrender. This resumed half was then to be surveyed into blocks suitable for selectors looking for smaller agricultural farms. The run holder in return would receive a new lease on his half of the original run as well as other benefits. By this policy the Government was able to achieve their objectives of closer settlement with more people using the same area of land with the added benefit of an increase in rent.'((Bill Kitson, 'From Runs to Closer Settlement', [[http://www.qhatlas.com.au/content/runs-closer-settlement|//Queensland Historical Atlas//]])) The Act limited 'selections' of land to 640 acres and specified that the 'selector' had to have lived permanently on the land and farmed it, before its ownership was transferred.\\ |
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| The 1868 land act was also relevant for //Maroon//'s neighbouring property, //Rathdowney//. TLM-P purchased 2,560 acres on 16 November 1868, while on 3 January 1876 Tom selected the homestead block of 640 acres under this Act. After the //Rathdowney// homestead block was confirmed as his, Tom immediately transferred the land to his father. In January 1880, TLM-P acquired another 640 acres under the selection act. As a condition of acquiring the land, he had two witnesses swear that he had lived permanently there from the date of selection, February 1876. The witnesses were John Worrall and John Endersby, both stockmen in his employ.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: Federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.18-19.)) TLM-P's stockman John Worrall not only acted as a witness for Tom, but himself acted as the 'dummy'. Worrall selected 320 acres to the north of the //Rathdowney// property. Worrall's two witnesses (who swore that he had lived there permanently and thus was entitled to own the land), were John Endersby (the other of TLM-P's employees/witnesses) and Tom. In August 1879 when the selection process was completed, John Worrall immediately transferred the land to TLM-P.((in Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.18-19.)) \\ | The 1868 land act was also relevant for //Maroon//'s neighbouring property, //Rathdowney//. TLM-P purchased 2,560 acres on 16 November 1868, while on 3 January 1876 Tom selected the homestead block of 640 acres under this Act. After the //Rathdowney// homestead block was confirmed as his, Tom immediately transferred the land to his father. In January 1880, TLM-P acquired another 640 acres under the selection act. As a condition of acquiring the land, he had two witnesses swear that he had lived permanently there from the date of selection, February 1876. The witnesses were John Worrall and John Endersby, both stockmen in his employ.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: Federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.18-19.)) TLM-P's stockman John Worrall not only acted as a witness for Tom, but himself acted as the 'dummy'. Worrall selected 320 acres to the north of the //Rathdowney// property. Worrall's two witnesses (who swore that he had lived there permanently and thus was entitled to own the land), were John Endersby (the other of TLM-P's employees/witnesses) and Tom. In August 1879 when the selection process was completed, John Worrall immediately transferred the land to TLM-P.((in Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.18-19.)) \\ |
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| While TLM-P joined his fellow squatters in circumventing the selection acts, he was sympathetic to the desire for people to own their own land. He was also aware that small holdings rarely provided a living for the selector. For more on this topic see THM-P's 1888 diary under [[tlm-p_s_diaries|TLM-P's Diaries]].\\ | While TLM-P joined his fellow squatters in circumventing the selection acts, he was sympathetic to the desire for people to own their own land. He was also aware that small holdings rarely provided a living for the selector. For more on this topic see THM-P's 1888 diary under [[tlm-p_s_diaries|TLM-P's Diaries]]. Collyer, in her thesis, argued that 'in the Boonah area there was little or no antagonism between squatters and selectors'. Her abstract states that: |
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| | //Reasons for this included the fact that squatters around Boonah had not been aggressive in freeholding their runs as squatters elsewhere were reputed to have done. Thus there was more land available for Boonah selectors. Many of the latter were keen to take up the fertile scrubs, which had been useless to squatters since they contain no grass for grazing. Thus squatters and selectors did not always compete for the same land. The selectors were not dependent on squatters for seasonal work, nor were squatters dependent on selectors for labour, since Boonah squatters generally ran cattle not sheep by the 1870s. Besides, the pace of selection after the 1868 Alienation Act precluded squatters from monopolizing their runs before selectors arrived to take up their blocks. For all these reasons, closer settlement came to the Boonah area without provoking antagonism between squatters and selectors.//((Angela Collyer, 1992, The process of settlement: land occupation and usage in Boonah 1842-1870s. M.A. Thesis, School of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Classics, The University of Queensland.[[https://doi.org/10.14264/189281]]. Thanks to Russell Scholl for drawing my attention to this reference.))\\ |
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| ==== //Rathdowney// ==== | ==== Rathdowney ==== |
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| From 1865, the year after TLM-P acquired //Maroon//, TLM-P bought freehold land to the east of //Maroon//, on the northern bank of the Logan River. He combined these lots and named the new property //Rathdowney// after his ancestors' Irish estate.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community//, Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, p.18)) As noted above, acquiring //Rathdowney// involved Tom 'dummying' for his father and some dubious testimony from employees. \\ | From 1865, the year after TLM-P acquired //Maroon//, TLM-P bought freehold land to the east of //Maroon//, on the northern bank of the Logan River. He combined these lots and named the new property //Rathdowney// after his ancestors' Irish estate.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community//, Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, p.18)) As noted above, acquiring //Rathdowney// involved Tom 'dummying' for his father and some dubious testimony from employees. \\ |
| {{:rathdowney_booklet_enhanced.jpeg?400|}} An undated photo of //Rathdowney//. The home has since been demolished and another rebuilt in its place. In September 1879, when it was inspected under the selection act, TLM-P was said to have lived in the weatherboard house with its shingle roof, a detached slab kitchen and separate slab house for workmen. There was also a garden.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.18-19.))\\ | {{:rathdowney_booklet_enhanced.jpeg?400|}} An undated photo of //Rathdowney//. The home has since been demolished and another rebuilt in its place. In September 1879, when it was inspected under the selection act, TLM-P was said to have lived in the weatherboard house with its shingle roof, a detached slab kitchen and separate slab house for workmen. There was also a garden.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.18-19.))\\ |
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| By 1880, the local council's rate book valued //Rathdowne//y's buildings at £30.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.23.)) In November 1884, TLM-P sold //Rathdowney// to William Collins and Sons.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, p.18. It is possible he had a long relationship with Collins as his 1848 ledger for //Bugrooperia// (later //Bromelton//)indicated he owned a one third share in cattle with Captain Collins.)) Nora wrote to Rosa Praed on 3 November 1884, that it was sold cheaply but a necessity: 27/6 per acre for 18,000 acres; £4 per head for 800 stores bullocks and £23 a head for 750 cows.'((Nora to Rosa, 3 November 1884 JOQ)) As Nora told Rosa Praed, if TLM-P were '20 years younger it would be madness to sell it yet the constant strain of hard labour is too much for him.'((27 September [1884].)) //Rathdowney Station// was subsequently subdivided and [[wp>Rathdowney,_Queensland| Rathdowney]] town developed there.((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; Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!// p.22; Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001; Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) | By 1880, the local council's rate book valued //Rathdowney//'s buildings at £30.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.23.)) In November 1884, TLM-P sold //Rathdowney// to William Collins and Sons.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, p.18. It is possible he had a long relationship with Collins as his 1848 ledger for //Bugrooperia// (later //Bromelton//)indicated he owned a one third share in cattle with Captain Collins.)) Nora wrote to Rosa Praed on 3 November 1884, that it was sold cheaply but a necessity: 27/6 per acre for 18,000 acres; £4 per head for 800 stores bullocks and £23 a head for 750 cows.'((Nora to Rosa, 3 November 1884 JOQ)) As Nora told Rosa Praed, if TLM-P were '20 years younger it would be madness to sell it yet the constant strain of hard labour is too much for him.'((27 September [1884].)) //Rathdowney Station// was subsequently subdivided and [[wp>Rathdowney,_Queensland| Rathdowney]] town developed there.((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; Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!// p.22; Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001; Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) |
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