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--- gaining_colonial_experience_early_properties [2024/01/10 20:36] – [Hawkwood 1854-58] judith
+++ gaining_colonial_experience_early_properties [2024/02/06 20:54] (current) – judith
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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. Patricia Clarke in the same book (p.17) claims it was Bungroopim)) 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.))\\
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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, as shown in a page of his ledger.((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))\\
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 In 1844, Hugh Aikman co-inherited his brother's estate in Scotland and soon after returned there.((https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2013/08/60-robertson-aikman-of-ross-house.html)) TLM-P subsequently bought out Aikman's share of Bromelton.((//Australia's Representative Men//, ed. T.W.H. Leavitt, Improved Edition, Melbourne: Wells and Leavitt, c.1889, entry for T.L. Murray-Prior. The book used is the one TLM-P owned, signed by him and dated 14th June 1889. It is likely that TLM-P provided the information. While //Australia's Representative Men// states he bought out his partner in 1853 this is likely a mistake and it was actually 1850, with the process starting a year earlier when Aikman returned to Scotland.[[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murray-prior-thomas-lodge-4282]]; 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; [[hhttps://www.geni.com/people/Major-Hugh-Henry-Robertson-Aikman/6000000032693354118]])) The partnership had been a happy one. When TLM-P was in England in 1882, he received a 'nice' letter from Hugh Aikman's son revealing that his late father had died but, 'that he had often heard him talking of me and ... looked upon his Australian life as the happiest'. The son invited TLM-P to visit if he was in the locality.((TLM-P, Diary, 27 July 1882, ML.))\\
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-Despite personal happiness, Bromelton was not a success. Aboriginal resistance had been largely overcome, particularly after the 1848 introduction of the feared Native Mounted Police. But there were other significant problems. TLM-P had learned to avoid sheep, but had around 2,000 cattle on Bromelton in 1848.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) TLM-P's (not necessarily completely accurate) Annual Returns of Depasturing continues the story. The return for 30 June 1851 states that the property was 60 square miles (15,539.9 hectares) and carried 6 horses and 2,200 cattle. The annual licence fee was £31. A year later, the run had expanded to 98 square miles (25,381.9 hectares) but had only one more horse and less (2,120) cattle, while the license fee had increased to £41. Part of the problem was that the invading Europeans had no idea that the land had been carefully managed by its indigenous owners. The introduced cattle and sheep not only quickly ate plants nurtured by Aboriginal people, they compacted the light soils. Once-fertile soil was quickly and unwittingly destroyed.((Bruce Pascoe, //Dark Emu//, Broome: Magabala Books, 2018, pp.10-11; Eric Rolls, //A Million Wild Acres//, Nelson, Melbourne, 1981, p.84.)) As well, the ancient soil with its thin layer of top-soil was much less suited to intensive agriculture than the rich soils of Britain and Europe.\\
+Despite personal happiness, Bromelton was not a success. Aboriginal resistance had been largely overcome, particularly after the 1848 introduction of the feared Native Mounted Police. But there were other significant problems. TLM-P had learned to avoid sheep, but had around 2,000 cattle on Bromelton in 1848.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) TLM-P's (not necessarily completely accurate) Annual Returns of Depasturing continues the story. The return for 30 June 1851 states that the property was 60 square miles (15,539.9 hectares) and carried 6 horses and 2,200 cattle. The annual licence fee was £31. A year later, the run had expanded to 98 square miles (25,381.9 hectares) but had only one more horse and less (2,120) cattle, while the license fee had increased to £41. These figures are consistent though the ledger for Bugrooperia records a muster of cattle and that, om 29 May 1848, he had 718 cattle (286 male and 432 female).((MLMSS 3117/Box 7X)) The probably explanation is that the rest of the herd were elsewhere at the time. \\
+A problem was that the invading Europeans had no idea that the land had been carefully managed by its indigenous owners. The introduced cattle and sheep not only quickly ate plants nurtured by Aboriginal people, they compacted the light soils. Once-fertile soil was quickly and unwittingly destroyed.((Bruce Pascoe, //Dark Emu//, Broome: Magabala Books, 2018, pp.10-11; Eric Rolls, //A Million Wild Acres//, Nelson, Melbourne, 1981, p.84.)) As well, the ancient soil with its thin layer of top-soil was much less suited to intensive agriculture than the rich soils of Britain and Europe.\\
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 With profits from live cattle decreasing for all squatters in the region,((Patricia Savage, p.11)) TLM-P sold the lease to 6,181 hectares of his land so that, by 30 June 1853, Bromelton was 19,200 acres (7,770 hectares). The annual licence fee was accordingly reduced to £10/2/0. Disastrously, he supplemented his cattle and horses with 4,000 sheep. As Patricia Savage wryly comments, this was 'before it was fully realised that sheep don't exactly thrive on coastal Queensland'. TLM-P was not the only Britisher to assume sheep would thrive in what is now seen as cattle country: Robert Campbell owned Maroon in 1846-50, and estimated that it could carry 5,000 sheep.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.20.)) Fluke, foot-rot and scab all infected TLM-P's sheep.((Colin Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage. The Strange Life of Rosa Praed//, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1948, p.11)) When the sheep failed to boost profitability, TLM-P tried a 'boiling-down establishment' - boiling animal carcasses for tallow and other by-products. That also proved unprofitable.((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.22; Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.98 citing Rosa Praed papers, Box 3, 8370, packet 3/1/1/.)) The fluctuations revealed in TLM-P's Annual Returns are a reminder that much of the squatters' early efforts were trial and error, due both to their own limited experience in agriculture and ignorance of their new country.\\
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 TLM-P sold Hawkwood in the year after the Hornet Bank massacre. The property had not been a financial or any other success. It appears the final straw was another outbreak of scab among his sheep. The family was apparently popular with his neighbours as they are said to have gifted him some 900 sheep to help replenish his flock.((Reid, A Nest of Hornets, Masters thesis, pp.214-15. It is possible that this is a confusion with the initial scab outbreak, or vice versa - or that scab was endemic.)) The station ledger includes a page listing 10 'working bullocks' and 39 horses in addition to 10 horses which were sold with the property. For TLM-P's next venture, he tried to leave behind the problems of livestock.\\
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-TLM-P's ledger book from his time at Hawkwood (1854-58) is at the Mitchell Library ((MLMSS 3117/box 7X)).
+TLM-P's ledger book from his time at Hawkwood (1854-58) is at the Mitchell Library. See [[employees_stores|Employees, Stores]]((MLMSS 3117/box 7X)).
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 For photographs (with permission) by Roy M-P of Hawkwood in 2021 click on [[Hawkwood photos]]. Note Roy's observation that the buildings are likely to have been built after TLM-P's time.
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 After selling Hawkwood, TLM-P bought a banana plantation on the bay of the area now known as [[wp>Ormiston,_Queensland|Ormiston]], some 25km from central Brisbane.((Reid, A Nest of Hornets, Masters thesis, pp.215; Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', //Queensland Geographical Journal//, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.12.)) One factor in TLM-P's decision to move closer to Brisbane was Matilda's deteriorating eyesight. She had contacted trachoma while at Hawkwood: it was a disease then known as 'sandy blight' because it feels like sand permanently and painfully in the eye.((https://www.hollows.org/au/eye-health/trachoma))\\
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-TLM-P's diary of 1858-60 is at the Mitchell Library and can shed more light on this period of his and his family's life.
+TLM-P's diary of 1858-60 is at the Mitchell Library and can shed more light on this period of his and his family's life. \\
-==== Creallagh 1859-68 ====
-In 1859, after a year at Ormiston, TLM-P moved to 700 acres of mixed farm at nearby Cleveland, on the shores of Morton Bay, opposite Stradbroke Island. The farm was called //Creallagh// after one of the estates originally granted to his ancestor Captain Thomas Prior in Ireland - yet another indication that TLM-P was driven to recover his family's lost fortunes as Irish-based gentry. The colonial //Creallagh// grew maize, cotton and sugar-cane.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, p.32; //The Australian Encyclopaedia//p.205)) Rosa Praed described it in her //My Australian Girlhood// as 'not one house, but four wooden huts built round a garden, and - as funds increased - joined by covered ways.((p.112)) In October 1861, TLM-P tried to sell it but did not get a buyer.((//The Courier//, 9 November 1861, p.1)) By February 1863 he was offering //Creallagh//'s 700 acres for sale or lease, describing it as situated on the shores of Raby Bay, near Cleveland. By then it was the 'late' residence of TLM-P, and currently occupied by his brother-in-law, Charles Robert Haly, Esq.(yet another indication of his close tie with his brother-in-law) It was, the advertisement stated, 'in one of the most beautiful and healthy localities in Queensland, admirably adapted for the Cultivation of Sugar or Cotton, with Water Carriage, and only 18 miles' from Brisbane. It was next to the Hon. Louis Hope's sugar plantation((//The Courier//, 9 February 1863, p.1.)) and it was Hope who eventually bought the property. TLM-P's ledger for March 1867 records a sale 'of Property ... at Cleveland for £4,000' with the final payment due March 1868.(MLMSS 3117, check which box, item). \\
+==== Creallagh 1859-68 (occupied until c.1863) ====
+In 1859, after a year at Ormiston, TLM-P moved to 700 acres of mixed farm at nearby Cleveland, on the shores of Morton Bay, opposite Stradbroke Island. The farm was called //Creallagh// after one of the estates originally granted to his ancestor Captain Thomas Prior in Ireland - yet another indication that TLM-P was driven to recover his family's lost fortunes as Irish-based gentry. The colonial //Creallagh// grew maize, cotton and sugar-cane.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, p.32; //The Australian Encyclopaedia//p.205)) Rosa Praed described it in her //My Australian Girlhood// as 'not one house, but four wooden huts built round a garden, and - as funds increased - joined by covered ways.((p.112)) In October 1861, TLM-P tried to sell it but did not get a buyer.((//The Courier//, 9 November 1861, p.1)) By February 1863 he was offering //Creallagh//'s 700 acres for sale or lease, describing it as situated on the shores of Raby Bay, near Cleveland. By then it was the 'late' residence of TLM-P, and currently occupied by his brother-in-law, Charles Robert Haly, Esq.(yet another indication of his close tie with his brother-in-law) It was, the advertisement stated, 'in one of the most beautiful and healthy localities in Queensland, admirably adapted for the Cultivation of Sugar or Cotton, with Water Carriage, and only 18 miles' from Brisbane. It was next to the Hon. Louis Hope's sugar plantation((//The Courier//, 9 February 1863, p.1.)) and it was Hope who eventually bought the property. TLM-P's ledger for March 1867 records a sale 'of Property ... at Cleveland for £4,000' with the final payment due March 1868.((MLMSS 3117/box 9, pp.244-45))\\
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 TLM-P, like other squatters, advocated the use of imported labour while assuming that higher paid labour by Europeans was superior. He told the Legislative Council in 1884, at a time of booming demand for sugar, that he advocated the use of indentured Pacific Islanders after a strike by his men at Cleveland. He believed, he stated, that his men liked him as he liked them, but appeared outraged when they demanded 'a few pounds more'.((Queensland Legislative Council Debates, Hansard, 5 February 1884, pp.47-48.)) For an outline of the context of 'sugar slaves', see article by Jeff Sparrow [[https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-a-slave-state-how-blackbirding-in-colonial-australia-created-a-legacy-of-racism-187782?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%202368023618&utm_content=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%202368023618+CID_d58e49792c2466719ed131053d48270f&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Friday%20essay%20a%20slave%20state%20-%20how%20blackbirding%20in%20colonial%20Australia%20created%20a%20legacy%20of%20racism|Friday essay: 'A slave state - how blackbirding in colonial Australia created a legacy of racism', The Conversation, August 5, 2022]]\\
+\\
 For a drawing of Como, possibly a later name for Creallagh, see Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.107.\\
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-TLM-P loved the rural lifestyle, but now he turned to a career in the public service, as Postmaster-General. See [[politics_and_the_post_office|TLM-P's Career in Politics and the Post Office]]\\
+TLM-P loved the rural lifestyle and the gentry status that went with prosperous grazing properties, but now found a new source of income as Postmaster-General. See [[politics_and_the_post_office|TLM-P's Career in Politics and the Post Office]] It also helped him afford what would become his and successive eldest sons' main property, [[maroon_and_rathdowney|Maroon]]\\
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