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| ==== Maroon ===== | ==== Maroon ===== |
| With income from his position as Postmaster-General, TLM-P was able once again to afford a grazing property. The earliest mention found is 20 September 1864 when he recorded a muster of cattle there (as well as on Coohin and Head of Logan - indicating the lack of fences and intermingling of branded cattle).((MLMSS3117/Box 8, p.99)) The muster was apparently satisfactory because, in November 1864, LM-P agreed to buy the 20,000-acre //Melcombe//, close to his old station of //Bromelton//. In March 1865, TLM-P signed a memo of agreement with the Bank of Australasia for the purchase of //Melcombe// (renamed //Maroon//) for £3,000 and //Heads of Logan// (renamed //Rathdowney//) for £1,200. A loose note in with TLM-P's 1880s diaries and in his handwriting, states that on 3 March 1865 he 'Left to inspect Maroon at the Head of the Logan - via Tamrookum'. On 11 March 1865, he returned to Brisbane and either on that date or the 17th he 'closed with bank for Maroon £4200'.{{:note_re_purchas_maroon_with_1882_88_diary.jpg?400|}}\\ | With income from his position as Postmaster-General, TLM-P was able once again to afford a grazing property. The earliest mention found is 20 September 1864 when he recorded a muster of cattle there (as well as on Coohin and Head of Logan - indicating the lack of fences and intermingling of branded cattle).((MLMSS3117/Box 8, p.99)) The muster was apparently satisfactory because, in November 1864, LM-P agreed to buy the 20,000-acre //Melcombe//, close to his old station of //Bromelton//. In March 1865, TLM-P signed a memo of agreement with the Bank of Australasia for the purchase of //Melcombe// (renamed //Maroon//) for £3,000 and //Heads of Logan// (renamed //Rathdowney//) for £1,200. A loose note in with TLM-P's 1880s diaries and in his handwriting, states that on 3 March 1865 he 'Left to inspect Maroon at the Head of the Logan - via Tamrookum'. On 11 March 1865, he returned to Brisbane and either on that date or the 17th he 'closed with bank for Maroon £4200'.{{:note_re_purchas_maroon_with_1882_88_diary.jpg?400|}}. In May 1866, he paid £40 in legal expenses for the purchase of //Maroon//.\\ |
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| Maroon would be home to four generations of Murray-Priors over 54 years.\\ | //Maroon// would be home to four generations of Murray-Priors over 54 years.\\ |
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| Angella Collyer describes //Melcombe// in 1867 as having 60 square miles available for pasture improvement; 16 square miles unavailable, "PP nil'. The Heads of Logan property had 20 square miles available; 16 square miles unavailable; PP nil. In 1869 he consolidated the two as 'one large property of 100 square miles' then in 1874 he separated them again, calling one property of 54 square miles //Melcombe/////Maroon// and the other //Palen//. It is unsure, she states, if //Palen// and //Heads of Logan// had the same boundaries.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001.)) Deb Stenzel indicates that, in November 1868, TLM-P had pre-emptively selected his Homestead Blocks of 2,560 acres. She explains that, under the Imperial Waste Lands Occupation Act, enforced from 1847, squatters had 'pre-emptive purchasing rights (ie. the ability to buy the land as freehold, before it was resumed by the government and offered for general sale).((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) \\ | Angella Collyer describes //Melcombe// in 1867 as having 60 square miles available for pasture improvement; 16 square miles unavailable, "PP nil'. The Heads of Logan property had 20 square miles available; 16 square miles unavailable; PP nil. In 1869 he consolidated the two as 'one large property of 100 square miles' then in 1874 he separated them again, calling one property of 54 square miles //Melcombe/////Maroon// and the other //Palen//. It is unsure, she states, if //Palen// and //Heads of Logan// had the same boundaries.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001.)) Deb Stenzel indicates that, in November 1868, TLM-P had pre-emptively selected his Homestead Blocks of 2,560 acres. She explains that, under the Imperial Waste Lands Occupation Act, enforced from 1847, squatters had 'pre-emptive purchasing rights (ie. the ability to buy the land as freehold, before it was resumed by the government and offered for general sale).((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) \\ |
| When TLM-P bought //Maroon//, the area was sparsely settled. Rosa Praed recalled that the family went via Ipswich (then the nearest town), and had to hack their way through the Dugandan Scrub to reach their new home.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) Deb Stenzel explains just how difficult it was to get to and from //Maroon//: 'To reach Maroon from Ipswich (the nearest large trading centre, and where there was a wharf to bring goods up the river from Brisbane), the original road (really just a track) went via Fassifern homestead, then Coochin Coochin, and on to Maroon. After about 1873, a track wide enough to take wagons was cut through the very dense scrub between Mt Flinders run (just south of Ipswich) and Dugandan homestead (near the current town of Boonah). Prior to that, the Dugandan folks had cut a bridle track to get to Ipswich by that more direct route, but any carts, wagons etc had to take the long way around - which, for Dugandan, meant back-tracking about 15kms south to Coochin Coochin, then heading north again on the other side of Mt French range, via Fassifern, Normanby homesteads, and on to Ipswich... Rosa Praed describes stop-overs at Dugandan homestead, on the way to and from Brisbane with her father.'((Deb Stenzel, email to J. Godden, 16 July 2023)) The road/track from Ipswich had to go over the Mt Alford range then on just south of //Coochin Coochin// then to //Maroon//. The mail continued on to the Richmond River.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) We can see from this description how the families on these properties needed to co-operate with each other and how they were in regular communication. As well, the mail route to the Richmond River helps explain the close friendship between the Bundocks and the Murray-Priors, culminating in the later marriage of Mary Bundock and Thomas de M. Murray-Prior.\\ | When TLM-P bought //Maroon//, the area was sparsely settled. Rosa Praed recalled that the family went via Ipswich (then the nearest town), and had to hack their way through the Dugandan Scrub to reach their new home.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) Deb Stenzel explains just how difficult it was to get to and from //Maroon//: 'To reach Maroon from Ipswich (the nearest large trading centre, and where there was a wharf to bring goods up the river from Brisbane), the original road (really just a track) went via Fassifern homestead, then Coochin Coochin, and on to Maroon. After about 1873, a track wide enough to take wagons was cut through the very dense scrub between Mt Flinders run (just south of Ipswich) and Dugandan homestead (near the current town of Boonah). Prior to that, the Dugandan folks had cut a bridle track to get to Ipswich by that more direct route, but any carts, wagons etc had to take the long way around - which, for Dugandan, meant back-tracking about 15kms south to Coochin Coochin, then heading north again on the other side of Mt French range, via Fassifern, Normanby homesteads, and on to Ipswich... Rosa Praed describes stop-overs at Dugandan homestead, on the way to and from Brisbane with her father.'((Deb Stenzel, email to J. Godden, 16 July 2023)) The road/track from Ipswich had to go over the Mt Alford range then on just south of //Coochin Coochin// then to //Maroon//. The mail continued on to the Richmond River.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) We can see from this description how the families on these properties needed to co-operate with each other and how they were in regular communication. As well, the mail route to the Richmond River helps explain the close friendship between the Bundocks and the Murray-Priors, culminating in the later marriage of Mary Bundock and Thomas de M. Murray-Prior.\\ |
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| TLM-P paid £3,000 for //Maroon// and £1,200 for the 36 square mile property, //Heads of Logan// (//Rathdowney//).((//Queenslander//, 12 May 1866 cited in Darbyshire)) The latter was located between //Maroon// and his eastern neighbour //Telemon//: TLM-P incorporated it into //Maroon// station. //Maroon// came with 110 cattle, 12 horses and some working bullocks, while //Heads of Logan// carried 600 cattle and 7 horses.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.17-18.)) In addition, in 1865 he brought 47 unbroken horses from his previous Cleveland property to //Maroon// as well as others from his former brother-in-law Charles Haly's property //Taabinga//.((MLMSS3117/box 9, pp.44-47)) As soon as possible, TLM-P used //Maroon// to breed both stud cattle and horses. In 1868, he imported a thorough bred stallion and also bought a pedigree bull from David McConnell and another that cost £25 from neighbouring property //Cressbrook//((p.314))((MLMSS3117/Box 8,pp.242-44. See also {H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.12.)) \\ | TLM-P paid £3,000 for //Maroon// and £1,200 for the 36 square mile property, //Heads of Logan// (//Rathdowney//).((//Queenslander//, 12 May 1866 cited in Darbyshire)) The latter was located between //Maroon// and his eastern neighbour //Telemon//: TLM-P incorporated it into //Maroon// station. //Maroon// came with 110 cattle, 12 horses and some working bullocks, while //Heads of Logan// carried 600 cattle and 7 horses.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.17-18.)) In addition, in 1865 he brought 47 unbroken horses from his previous Cleveland property to //Maroon// as well as others from his former brother-in-law Charles Haly's property //Taabinga//.((MLMSS3117/box 9, pp.44-47)) As soon as possible, TLM-P used //Maroon// to breed both stud cattle and horses. In 1868, he imported a thorough bred stallion and also bought a pedigree bull from David McConnell and another that cost £25 from neighbouring property //Cressbrook//((p.314))((MLMSS3117/Box 8,pp.242-44. See also {H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.12.)) In August 1866 he was still stocking Maroon, buying 198 young cattle.((MLMSS3117/Box 9))\\ |
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| At the end of 1871, TLM-P's ledger indicates that there were 4,717 cattle, 36 working horses and 23 brood mares on Maroon.((MLMSS3117/box 8, pp.304-05,316,317)) By 1877 his horse breeding program enabled TLM-P to advertise the services of Khedive, an imported Arab stallion.((The Queenslander, 15 September 1877 cited by Darbyshire, p.67)) With the active assistance of George Butler, he also bred shorthorn cattle; some of these were used to stock //Bulliwallah//.((Andrew Darbyshire, //A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior//, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73)) \\ | At the end of 1871, TLM-P's ledger indicates that there were 4,717 cattle, 36 working horses and 23 brood mares on Maroon.((MLMSS3117/box 8, pp.304-05,316,317)) By 1877 his horse breeding program enabled TLM-P to advertise the services of Khedive, an imported Arab stallion.((The Queenslander, 15 September 1877 cited by Darbyshire, p.67)) With the active assistance of George Butler, he also bred shorthorn cattle; some of these were used to stock //Bulliwallah//.((Andrew Darbyshire, //A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior//, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73)) The large number of horses reflected his breeding program, but was also typical. David Denholm in his //The Colonial Australians// (1979) outlines how, from the 1840s in NSW and later in other colonies, 'there was a large surplus of horses' which meant they were used in a 'casual, off-hand way' so that many were used to ride great distances, taxing their horses 'to breaking point'. The colonial Australian's casual brutality to horses, he argues, 'shocked British army officers' during World War I.\\ |
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| His timing was unfortunate. TLM-P bought just before a prolonged drought. As well, a little over a year after his purchase, the [[wp>Panic_of_1866|British financial turmoil of 1866]] restricted colonial investment and caused a recession.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.143.)) Maroon satisfied his desire for land, and provided a rich source for Rosa when writing about Australia, but never bought easy prosperity. It is significant that TLM-P acquired it from the Bank of Australasia after the previous owner forfeited it.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.))\\ | TLM-P's timing when buying Maroon was unfortunate as he bought just before a prolonged drought. As well, a little over a year after his purchase, the [[wp>Panic_of_1866|British financial turmoil of 1866]] restricted colonial investment and caused a recession.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.143.)) Maroon satisfied his desire for land, and provided a rich source for Rosa when writing about Australia, but never bought easy prosperity. It is significant that TLM-P acquired it from the Bank of Australasia after the previous owner forfeited it.((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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| Despite the drought and recession, TLM-P and Matilda had enough money left over to build a new, red-cedar lined, large home. In April-May 1867 he employed two builders to erect a new kitchen contacted by steps and a verandah to the main building, two 'privies' (toilets), repairing the stables and other work. Cedar was used for some of this work. This building work was more successful than his employment of bricklayers in 1866.As noted in //Maroon//'s ledger, 'Men emgaged to make bricks at 40/-per 1000 provided that they could find proper clay. They were evidently not judges of clay and absconded after drawing the rations' worth £1.11.0.((MLMSS3117/Box 9)) \\ | Despite the drought and recession, TLM-P and Matilda had enough money left over to build a new, red-cedar lined, large home. In April-May 1867 he employed two builders to erect a new kitchen contacted by steps and a verandah to the main building, two 'privies' (toilets), repairing the stables and other work. Cedar was used for some of this work. This building work was more successful than his employment of bricklayers in 1866. As noted in //Maroon//'s ledger, 'Men engaged to make bricks at 40/-per 1000 provided that they could find proper clay. They were evidently not judges of clay and absconded after drawing the rations' worth £1.11.0.((MLMSS3117/Box 9)) \\ |
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| The 1871 census recorded Maroon as having two houses with 20 people living there, so presumably the original homestead became the workers' quarters.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.20.)) By 1880, the local council's rate book valued the buildings at £52.10.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) As with all such properties, there were quarters for the employees, stores for meat and other goods, and workshops. The local //Fassifern Guardian// described it as one of Queensland's 'most historic homesteads', with 'walls of locally dressed cedar, its impressive fireplaces of Ipswich limestone slabs and its shingle roof'.((//Fassifern Guardian//, 19 November 1947, p.1.)) Maroon by this stage was more like a small village. TLM-P's children, his grandchildren, neighbours and relatives lived there and/or visited. As well, there were employees and their families. The result, Nora wrote to Rosa in 1881, no-one could 'go around a corner ... without tumbling over a child'((Nora to Rosa, 29 October 1881)). The employees' names were not always recorded, though in his 1888 diary, TLM-P noted that he was welcomed home by "Mrs Smails and the children'.((24 August)) \\ | The 1871 census recorded Maroon as having two houses with 20 people living there, so presumably the original homestead became the workers' quarters.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.20.)) By 1880, the local council's rate book valued the buildings at £52.10.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) As with all such properties, there were quarters for the employees, stores for meat and other goods, and workshops. The local //Fassifern Guardian// described it as one of Queensland's 'most historic homesteads', with 'walls of locally dressed cedar, its impressive fireplaces of Ipswich limestone slabs and its shingle roof'.((//Fassifern Guardian//, 19 November 1947, p.1.)) Maroon by this stage was more like a small village. TLM-P's children, his grandchildren, neighbours and relatives lived there and/or visited. As well, there were employees and their families. The result, Nora wrote to Rosa in 1881, no-one could 'go around a corner ... without tumbling over a child'((Nora to Rosa, 29 October 1881)). The employees' names were not always recorded, though in his 1888 diary, TLM-P noted that he was welcomed home by "Mrs Smails and the children'.((24 August)) \\ |
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| {{:maroon_drawing_room_with_col_portrait_crop.jpeg?350|}} An undated photograph of the drawing room at Maroon.**to redo**((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) The player piano remains in the family, along with the large painting of TLM-P's father, two of the ornamental vases on the mantelpiece, and the three swords and battleaxe hanging on the wall.((pers. comm. M.T.M-P)) Sadly the homestead was destroyed by fire in 1947, some 27 years after [[thomas_bertram_and_lizzie_m-p|Thomas B. M-P]] sold it.((//The Courier-Mail//, 14 November 1947, p.3))\\ | {{:clearer_drawing_room_thumbnail_img_2245.jpg?400|}} An undated photograph of the drawing room at Maroon.((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) The player piano remains in the family, along with the large painting of TLM-P's father, two of the ornamental vases on the mantelpiece, and the three swords and battleaxe hanging on the wall.((pers. comm. M.T.M-P)) Sadly the homestead was destroyed by fire in 1947, some 27 years after [[thomas_bertram_and_lizzie_m-p|Thomas B. M-P]] sold it.((//The Courier-Mail//, 14 November 1947, p.3))\\ |
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| In the 1860s, with governments resuming land to break up into smaller farms, landowners such as TLM-P secured their (leased) land by buying it freehold. TLM-P had been 'freeholding [i.e. converting to freehold] parts of his run, including 2560 acres on 16 November 1868 alone. In 1876 he allowed what was left of the leasehold to lapse or revert to the government.' From then on, Maroon comprised entirely of freehold land.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) In his 1888 diary, TLM-P notes that 'the scrub around Mt Maroon is almost if not all taken up'.(Diary, 3 July) \\ | In the 1860s, with governments resuming land to break up into smaller farms, landowners such as TLM-P secured their (leased) land by buying it freehold. TLM-P had been 'freeholding [i.e. converting to freehold] parts of his run, including 2560 acres on 16 November 1868 alone. In 1876 he allowed what was left of the leasehold to lapse or revert to the government.' From then on, Maroon comprised entirely of freehold land.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) In his 1888 diary, TLM-P notes that 'the scrub around Mt Maroon is almost if not all taken up'.(Diary, 3 July) \\ |
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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 1868 Crown Land Alienation Act 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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| Wives and dependent children were ineligible to select land, in what proved to be a somewhat fruitless exercise to prevent what became known as 'dummying', i.e. paying trusted family members or employees to select then to transfer the land when ownership was confirmed. Queensland historian Ross Fitzgerald concluded that the squatters regarded selectors as intruders and manipulated land regulations to keep the newcomers out:'many [squatters] resorted to "dummying" their runs (i.e., lodging land claims using the name of a family member or employee)... Most of the distinguished squatting families of the [Darling] Downs were involved'.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.189.)) TLM-P and Tom were no exception. \\ | Wives and dependent children were ineligible to select land, in what proved to be a somewhat fruitless exercise to prevent what became known as 'dummying', i.e. paying trusted family members or employees to select then to transfer the land when ownership was confirmed. Queensland historian Ross Fitzgerald concluded that the squatters regarded selectors as intruders and manipulated land regulations to keep the newcomers out:'many [squatters] resorted to "dummying" their runs (i.e., lodging land claims using the name of a family member or employee)... Most of the distinguished squatting families of the [Darling] Downs were involved'.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.189.)) TLM-P and Tom were no exception. \\ |