The settlements of Rockton and Wangrabelle,
even though they were many miles away from
the Towamba district, were still considered
neighbours as some family members worked
on stations there, or in the mines at Yambulla.
Travellers visiting these settlements often
passed through Towamba. Messages would be
passed and news exchanged.
GLORIA. (Clive's wife) Did you (Clive) tell about
your mother riding from Wangrabelle to the
dance at Towamba. Her family was from Geelong
in Victoria.
VERNER. It's (Wangrabelle) eighteen kilometers up
river from Genoa and she used to ride through
Yambulla. We used to ride through as kids,
through there.
GLORIA. They'd carry their dresses on the horse
and change in the hall.
KATE. SO HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE YOU TO RIDE BACK?
A DAY?
CLIVE. Arthur Beasley took cattle through there
many years ago now, and they'd do it in a
day.
Excerpt from Clements Interview: 'Forgotten
Corner Interviews' by Kate Clery
June 27, 1902
'The Sydney Morning Herald'
* Mr. Flanagan, whose residence at Rockton,
in the Towamba district, was recently destroyed
by a fire, regarding which a verdict of incendiarism
was returned, has since had two valuable
pigs poisoned, as well as a number of fowls.
'Magnet' August 30, 1930
TOWAMBA-ROCKTON ROAD
The highly explosive outburst which took
place at Towamba last week, consequent upon
the action of the Shire Council in trying
to procure the allocation to other roads,
of a grant of £800 from the Towamba-Rockton
Road, has reverberated throughout the shire.
That public dissatisfaction was caused by
the Council decision to ask that the money
be spent elsewhere than on the road for which
it was granted, is not a matter for surprise.
Had the grant been originally allocated to
the Candelo-Bimbaya and Candelo-Wyndham roads
and an attempt been made to get it spent
on the Towamba-Rockton Road, one can imagine
what a howl of indignation would have been
heard from the North-Western end of the shire.
Whether or not the action protested against
was the outcome of "fair-mindedness"
or parochial interest or otherwise, is a
question that has been keenly discussed but
there is a general feeling of wonderment
that any attempt should have been made by
the Council to disturb the original allocation.
The brunt of aggressive criticism at the
Towamba meeting was directed against the
shire president who prefaced the Council's
action by stating as his opinion that the
money should be spent on more important roads
and that there were other roads in the shire
which needed money spent on them than did
the Towamba-Rockton Road. With this statement,
councilors of A and B ridings agreed as also
did the shire engineer who stated that though
second on the list which he had prepared
the Towamba-Rockton Road was the least necessitous.
Asked by the President to state the roads
on which, in his opinion the grant should
be spent, the engineer said he would like
to see some money spent on the Wonboyn Road
but as that was only a tourist road it would
be preferable to ask that £500 be allocated
to the Candelo-Bimbaya Road and £300
to the Candelo-Wyndham Road. The way was
thus clear for the course that was decided
upon.We understand that the President took
the view that it would be in the best interests
of the Shire that the grant should be spent
on roads on which work was most urgently
required and that as the shire engineer considered
other roads were more necessitous, he, (the
President) was justified in expressing the
opinions he did. There are many, however,
who, while giving the President credit for
acting conscientiously consider that from
every reasonable viewpoint, a bigger and
inexcusable mistake was made in interfering
with the original allocation, not the grant.
They point out that the listing of the road
for a grant, sufficiently indicated its necessitous
condition and they hold that the grant should
have been unconditionally accepted and that
other grants should then have been applied
for - or reapplied for - for other necessitous
roads.
Unfortunately, not only has the Towamba-Rockton
Road been deliberately deprived of its grant
but by the Shire Council's action it has
been placed at a decided disadvantage in
regard to the chance of obtaining for its
improvement an adequate grant in the near
future. It is regrettable that this potentially
important western road from Eden to the tableland
- a road that would also be a part of the
proposed road from Wangrabelle to Rockton
- has received so calamitous setback.
WANGARABELL BURIAL SITES
There is a lone headstone in the middle of
the bush about 60 meters off the road, 1.1
kilometers from the junction of Sarah Allen
Lane with the Wangarabell Road. Apparently
this was to be the site for Wangarabell Cemetery,
but digging on top of the hill was found
to be too hard, so it was decided to move
the cemetery to Wangarabell Station where
there were a few graves already. These two
graves were left and the inscription reads
as follows:
In memory of our parents -
(a) Robert Bridle, died 11 May 1917, aged
78 years.
(b) Susan Bridle, died 1 Dec 1917. aged 78
years.
Wangarabell Station is 20 kilometers from
the Princes Highway and is just outside the
Bega Valley Shire within Victoria. The cemetery
is within sight of the Wangarabell Road and
not far from the homestead. It is surrounded
by a fence, but we found the gate broken
allowing cattle to get in and damage the
headstones. The area was settled late last
century (19th) and the cemetery was used
until 1954 for people connected with the
Station. This cemetery has been overrun by
stock.
Transcription of the tombstones was carried
out on the 24th March, 1988.
1. MURRAY Edith Murray, my wife & our
mother, died 16 May 1940, aged 72 years;
also Henry V. Murray, died 14 Feb 1954, aged
89 years, mother & father reunited.
2. MURRAY Peter Herbert Murray, died 3 Aug
1929, aged 36 years. Erected by his father
& mother, brothers & sisters.
3. STEVENSON Isabella Stevenson, our mother,
died 8 Aug 1931, aged 93 years.
4. STEVENSON William Stevenson, died 20 Oct
1898, aged 62 years. Erected by his wife
& children.
5. STEVENSON Elizabeth, died--,--,--. The
inscription was almost illegible and the
headstone was lying on the ground.
6. WILCOX John Wilcox, native of England,
died at Wangarabell Station, Victoria, 6
Aug 1873, died 61 years.
7. MITCHELL Jane Mitchell, died 5 July 1907,
aged 85 years. This was a cast-iron headstone
and the inscription was very faint.
8. TASKER Charles Tasker, died 24 June 1925,
aged 68 years.
9. TASKER Charlotte Tasker, our mother, died
20 June 1948, aged 78 years.
Source: Book 2 - Monumental Inscriptions, Known Graves
and War Memorials in the Bega Valley.
Pambula Genealogy Society Inc.
This excerpt below is from the
Bombala and District Historical Society's
Newsletter, 23rd March, 1998 and describes
the history of Rockton and Wangrabelle on
a day's drive with the Bombala and Coastal
historical groups. (Spelling does vary throughout, such as some
family names; I have copied it as it was
typed.)
OPENING TALK given by Neil Platts of "Mountain Top"
I would like to take this chance to welcome
you all. We will endeavour to tell you some
of the history of Rockton. We are third generation
folk but we can be corrected. I have been
helped in organising this tour by Les Hite,
Val Vincent, Des Twigg, Betty Bruns, Les
Cowell, Keith Brownlie and of course Allan
Walker, who has helped so much with the day.
There is only one thing he has forgotten,
to order the rain to put water over the falls.
We will miss a spectacular sight of a wall
of water over the Rockton falls.
HITE'S MILL
Les Hite continues:
My grandfather, Tom Hite, first opened a
sawmill at Stoney Creek near Towamba. He
then shifted the mill to the east of Nungatta
and was supplying timber for a mine and settlement
in the early 1900s at Yambulla. He then shifted
the mill back to Stoney Creek and in September
1927 the mill was moved from Towamba by the
Hites and Warburtons. Horse teams and wagons
were used to move the mill including machinery,
a big steam engine and boiler, to their new
site at Rockton know as Hites Mill. Before
1927 it was Tom Hites Mill, after it moved
to Rockton is was operated as T.C.Hite and
Sons.
Horse teams were used to haul logs and timber
up until the mid 1930s. A small crawler tractor
was then purchased to haul logs. About this
time the first trucks were used and as time
went on the trucks became bigger and the
machinery larger.
A bigger and better mill was built about
1945, then in 1946 part of the old mill was
used by Austin Flanagan, John Richards and
Valerie Rodwell's father to cut silver wattle
that was sent away to make tennis rackets
and furniture. A planer was set in about
that time where they air dried timber and
made tongue and groove flooring, weather
boards, etc. then in about 1956 the mill
changed over to diesel fuel cutting timber
for the Snowy Mountains, Canberra and Queenbeyan.
Around this time the timber carrier, Clive
Smith brought a half share in the mill.
The mill was destroyed by fire in late 1959,
the site is nearby but there is only a bit
of sawdust left. My father was running it
when it burnt down, he said he was too old
to rebuild it. At the time it was employing
26 men.
POST OFFICE
This was run at the mill. At first it was
run at Neil Platts' that is why it was called
'Platts Post Office'. According to Allan
Walker's information it was first opened
on the 10th January, 1916 and closed on 13th
March, 1959. It became a telephone office
from 14th March, 1959 until 14th October,
1959 when it was closed.
Platts Post Office went from Neil's mother
over to Veldt's place where the Kimber girls
ran the Post Office, then it came down to
our mill where my Aunt Dorris ran it for
a number of years, then my sister Betty,
then my wife, before it was closed down.
There are quite a lot of photos there to
have a look at, including a photo of the
waterfall when it did have water running
over it.
RIFLE RANGE
Neil pointed out Bruce's Hill, above us,
that was known as Plingy Range but the Forestry
does change names. Bruce lived at the bottom,
that was Eddie Bruce, old Eddie Bruce, most
of his family was born there.
I am going to talk about the rifle range
which was 800 yards.
They fired from the south into that hill,
(pointing to Bruce's Hill). That hill should
have quite a lot of lead in it somewhere.
The range started in the clear ground that
Twiggs owned later, just before the range
closed. It ran from the South to the North
with mounds every 50 to 100 yards. Shells
were fired into Bruces Hill, (known as Plingy's
Range in those times). The rifle club began
in 1890 and wound up about 1914 or 15 and
was affiliated with the Military Forces of
the Commonwealth Reserves Rifle Clubs of
NSW. Competition was keen with rivals Wangrabelle,
Delegate and Bombala clubs.
Targets were not 'Pit Types' where they
went up and soen but were semi rigid markers
coming in from the side. I don't know how
the markers were guarded, whether they went
to the side or what provision they had for
shelter.
Dances and get-togethers were held to keep
this club going, many were held at "Mountain
Top", where I live today, or at Rixon's
home and Bruce's and also at Flannagan's
where they would pull up the lino or carpet
and put on a bit of a shindig.
I understand there were some Marteni-Henry
rifles used originally which had twice as
much power as a .303. Many lighter people
that fired them would have to crawl back
a foot or so after firing to regain their
position.
I did have the minutes of the last meeting
of the club but couldn't find them today.
Some of the members that I can find were
the Platts brothers; they were my father
and his brothers, the Umback brothers, the
McCloud (McLeod?), Kimbers, Rixons, Glugstons,
Brownlies, Flannagans and Ramseys. I have
some certificates here of my father and two
photos, one with a rifle and one of a gentleman
named Moe McCloud.
The area has been milled and pulped. In those
times the trees were cut down in a swarth.
Since 1915, as mill logs grew back they were
milled and more recently pulped. You cannot
find the mounds anymore because when you
pulp timber you shove it here, there and
everywhere. (Incidently, Neil's father lost the Kings
Shoot in Sydney by one shot.)
RANKIN'S GRAVE
On the other side of the highway, lower
down, opposite the old rifle range there
is a memory of a teamster. Rankin was his
name and he was buried across there. This
road we are looking at is a new deviation,
the old road went through that timber, (pointing
to an area across the highway). Just off
the road Mr. Rankin was buried somewhere
about 1900 on the left-hand side of the rifle
range road. This old road was right on top
of the divide.
Rankin had a load on the wagon with some
rum. During his stop he indulged heavily
and he was found hanging from a tree. I don't
know why he hung himself and I don't know
who found him but he was buried on the site.
Jack Umback was camped down over the hill
on Umback's Reserve, there was a fence line
through here. Jack was down there and there
was an old chimney, way down towards Calabash
Creek (pointing to the SE). He was called
and he fell a tree quite near where this
accident happened, split it into slabs, made
the coffin and they laid the fellow to rest.
His grave was marked by four big posts which
I remember well until a few years ago a fire
went through and the posts were burnt but
we still know where the grave was. Now the
Forestry has pulped the area and the grave
is lost, we can't find it.
That hill, (pointing nearby to the east,
over the highway) is Rankin's Hill and on
it was the old road known as Rankin's Pinch.
FELDSPAR MINE
Tom HIte and Lyall Hall founded the feldspar
mine opposite Wog Peak, 25 km NE of the sawmill
site in the late 1930s. At this time Lyall
Hall pulled out and Tom Hite, a keen fosicker
for gold and other minerals, started to mine
the feldspar which was in demand then for
glazing glass and crockery.
The road was hewn out of stone in places
and stones were used to pack up the lower
side of cuttings.
Late in 1940 the mine closed down when more
feldspar became available close to the market
in Sydney. A large deposit of feldspar ore
still remains in the hill.
Les Hite continues: It was dug out by hand, or blown out with
explosives, no jackhammers then. You had
a drill that you turned by hand as you hit
it with a hammer until you got the hole down.
You had a long piece of rod with a little
thing like a spoon on the bottom that you
took the rock particles out of the hole with,
then you blew it out.
It was bagged by hand, loaded onto ex army
blitz 4WD trucks and brought back here to
the mill. When there was enough stockpiled
and a couple of railway trucks available
in Bombala for the train, it was transferred
back onto the trucks, carted into Bombala
and put on the train to go to Sydney.
When asked, Les said it was when he was a boy, about
50 years ago. Les did not know what it was
worth but he did turn the drill for his grandfather
as he was teaching him how to do it. Neil
said it was extremely heavy, the sugar bag
sized bags took a strong man to lift them.
Ten to fifteen years ago the shaft of the
mine was still open into the side of the
hill, but for safety reasons it was closed
so that people would not go in and get trapped.
We did think we might try to go to that site
but there is such a hassel to get there now
with all the roads altered so we scapped
the idea.
Neil showed us a peice of feldspar that
had been brilliantly white.
Les continues: Some of it, when it was blown out, was fairly
hard and the other type would come out like
sand.
Following morning tea we all went down the
hill to the o ld school ground at the junction
of the Warrawilla road.
OLD SCHOOL SITE
Neil stood in the back of a ute and described
the school and his school days.
The school ground started where those two
big posts are, (pointing to a scrubby rise
in front of us). Over there on the right
the track went straight up to the school
and believe it or not, those trees we are
looking at are on the school ground that
was as clear then as where we are now standing,
(on the road). Some of those trees are now
18 inches through.
There are some of us here today that attended
the school and probably had a clout with
a gum stick as well, which I don't think
did us any harm.
There were two separate schools on this
site. The first was built by parents with
material, money and supplies. I don't remember
that school but there are two people here
today that went to school in it. The erection
of the first school was helped by the Rodwell,
Brotherton and Twigg families. It was built
by Alby Brotherton in 1936-37 and was sold
later to Jack Niven and moved to Wog Wog
for a residence.
The second school shortly afterwards was
brought from Bunyan and funded by the Government.
It was a well built, comfortable weatherboard
building and consisted of one large school
room with three windows on each side and
a locker room and porch. To the west the
boys toilet and opposite the girls', behind
them the horse paddock as some rode to school
on a horse.
The two acres for the first school were
donated by William Twigg. The Government
resumed these two acres for the second school
and now we believe it is under Native Title.
The area between the Warrawilla road and
the school was clear with only a few big
trees on the eastern side, one of which supported
a swing. Hockey and cricket games were played
in front of the school.
The school housed many fundraising dances
and concerts, some for the ambulance and
some for the school itself. A tarp was strung
up at the back of he school and food for
supers was passed through the window. Four
gallon tins, known in those days as kerosene
tins, were boiled on a tripod outside. Music
was mainly played on accordian, drum and
piano. Musicians that come to mind were Jim
Walker, Charlie Brotherton, Bill Kimber,
Jim Falkner, Mini Beasley, Jack Beileiter,
Walter Turnbull and once by George Holmes.
A teacher at the first school was May Trevanian,
later May Stuart. Teachers at the new school
were Miss O'Neil, Mrs. Blomfield, Madam Marseille
a French lady, Jim Falkner, John Peacock
and Leo Tamie.
There was no electricity in those days so
heating was by wood heater.
The pupils came mainly by truck from HIte's
Mill where there were many homes for the
26 employees. some of my companions and myself
would ride to Hite's Mill, then join the
others on the back of trucks for the trip
to the school and never and accident.
Les Hite can remember his father driving
the truck. If he was busy or was away carting
timber somewhere then the kids would walk,
to school and back.
Some kids would walk, others ride a horse
or bike or some would come in the odd car.
George Farrell would bring some children
up from down near the Victorian border by
car.
Scripture was taught by the Anglican, Catholic
and Presbyterian Ministers, Father Griffan,
Bloydew and Canewcook, Anglican and Ashmore,
Presbyterian.
Students that I remember: Hites9, Platts
2, Twigg 3, Kennedy 1, Summerrill 4, Jones
6, Brotherton 4, Rodwell 2, Holme 1, Douch
2, Jamerson 1, Knightly 2, McBride 3, Walker
3, Farrell 3, Brodie 2, Niven 1, Kimber 1,
McCloud 3, Hall 4, Hydure 2, Sinclair 2,
Woodcroft 2, and Beddingfield 1.
The school was moved to Bombala from this
site. Les Hite remembers carting the school
to Bombala when he was seventeen years old.
It has recently been moved again from its
Wellington Street site up to the Bright Street
school.
Neil continues: It seems unbelievable but there is littel
left to see today. If we were to push through
the scrub to have a look only a post hole
or two where stumps had been pulled out would
be seen. It was a good school, we had good
teachers and we had enjoyable times, picnics,
walks to the river and entertainment.
Les Hite's brothers-in-law was the last school
teacher.
ROCKTON FALLS
We followed Neil's yellow ute half a mile
down the highway to a track leading to the
/rockton Falls and the site of the old Water
Wheel. We left the cars beside the highway
and took the 4WDs a mile or so through the
pien plantations to the waterfall. Some of
us riding in airconditioned comfort and some
of us sitting on prickly bales of hay on
the back of old farm utes.
The waterfall had only a damp patch remaining
on the granite face of the waterfall. The
rock pool at it's foot enticed a few younger
members ot go paddling whilst the photographers
had a field day.
THE OLD WATER POWERED MILL
Les Hite continues: They brought the water from above the right
hand side of the falls. You can still see
a depression in amongst the scrub and rocks.
A few rocks are still visible on the lower
side where the water race was. The waterwheel
and mill was only fifty yards or so below
the falls, just down from the car park. In
the vicinity there are still holes in a rock
where they had the waterwheel fastened down.
Merv Peadon of Bombala knows where they are.
Neil continues: The mill was opened, as far as we know,
by McCaffreys and possibly by a chap called
Heffernan. It was powered by a twenty foot
high waterwheel and was built circa 1890.
Years ago a neighbour, an old lady, showed
me a photo of the shed section with about
twelve workmen standing in front. She could
name them all including some of the names
I still remember: Egan, Laing, McCaffrey,
Flanagan, Kimber and I think Heffernan. Lin
Kimber, a man well remembered in Bombala,
was the young man in front of the photo.
The mill was stopped by pulling out a panel
in the water race. I understand from the
old hands that the mill worked well but in
wet weather they had terrible trouble getting
the sawn timber out. They could snig it in
with teams all right but the teams taking
it out on wagons used to get bogged. They
followed the river down to the main road,
then I understand they brought in a track
from the western side.
Les continues: When Neil and I were going to school they
extended the water race from here right out
to the Cann River road, right opposite to
where old Paddy Egan used to live. Keith
Brownlie said the water was rechannelled
in a ring of stringy bark from the old water
race to the Cann River road water race, to
irrigate Paddy's paddock. The old race was
visible for many years until the surrounding
bush was cleared.
Les continues: I have two photos showing water coming over
the falls. In the winter time you would see
the water spread all across the face of the
falls. This recent photo shows the pool at
the foot of the falls full of water.
Val Vincent addressed the gathering from
the top of a large granite boulder: As a child I used to live up on the western
side about half a mile away. When the Genoa
was in flood you could hear the roar of the
falls at nighttime. This is the first time
I have been to the bottom of the falls. We
used to swim in a pond above the falls. Our
road came past the school and went to Roy
Brotherton's. The Bondi road was non existant
then although there was a bridle track down
to Kimber's.
Les continues: The low level bridge over the Cann River
road used to be cut off by floods. When I
was about seventeen, I can remember my father,
a few mill workers and some people from the
southern side, building a flying fox to take
the mail over the flooded Genoa to Cann River.
We about faced our vehicles, with difficulty,
and traced our steps through the hot and
barren pine forests to the Cann road; drove
a few miles down the Imlay road for lunch
at the Whiterock Reserve.
![]() |
The old Stevens house at Wangrabelle This photo was the old Stevens house at Wangrabelle. I was given this photo from my grandmother's collection (Eileen Stevens). The people are from left to right: Inez Stevens, Granny Bridle, possibly (Susan Bridle), Martha Bridle, Evelyn Jones, Jack Stevens (Black Jack Stevens) ,Eileen Stevens (Jones) Charlie, Hilda and Mabel Bridle, Ada and William Stevens (Grandparents), Dink Stevens (baby), Art and Bub Bridle. Photo courtesy Connie Stevens |
ROCKTON - ITS BACKGROUND
Neil continues: Travelling through Rockton today you are
seeing a terrible lot of pine and bush, but
believe me, it used to be a community of
many close-knit families.
Rockton was founded in 1839 by Thomas Luscome
and by Ben Boyd in 1848, and in 1855 Captain
John Stevenson had the run and about 1861
he selected 4000 acres, he kept the home
site and the name 'Bondi'. Then after the
Stevenson era the Rockton basin became more
or less an Irish settlement.
Dairying: Many families farmed this area, mainly dairy
cattle originally until sheep gradually took
over following the loss of the first butter
factory at Rockton, then the butter factory
at Wog Wog, about ten miles away.
Keith Brownlie was told by the old Hayes'
that when the rabbits came in the dairies
left.
Crops: Some great crops of corn, pumpkins, potatoes
and lucerne were grown on the lower flats.
Some of you would remember the corn cribs
at Rosebank and Bindi, now a thing of the
past.
Name Change: Bondi was the name of the area until the
first mail service started, when too many
hiccups occurred because of Bondi in Sydney
and the mail was getting criss-crossed. The
name was changed to Rockton.
The River: Through this valley runs a very clear river
which rises way back to the west in the Mila
catchment area and into Victoria towards
Mount Tennison. There are three main tributaries
at the top before crossing the highway and
then the Calabash and Whiterock on the east
of the highway. As you can see, in the present
drought, they are only a trickle or have
completely stopped.
Old State Boundary: The Bondi River, later the Genoa, was at
one time the State boundary. This caused
Captain John Stevenson a lot of trouble due
to excise and customs between the two colonies.
Later, the border in this part of the world
became a straight line, but further to the
south.
Wattle Bark: Wattle bark was a thriving industry here
between 1900 to 1960. Many people made a
living stripping wattle bark; at first dried
and then cut up by contractors with a version
of a chaff cutter. The bagged wattle bark
would be transported either to the wharf
at Eden or the railway at Bombala. Some of
the contractors with cutters were Albert
Kimber, the Brotherton brothers, Harry Helmers
and sons and Barney, Walter and Bandy Melds.
Craig & Mostyn was a major buyer.
In about 1928-30, South Africa had botanists
sent to this area collecting wattle seed
and studying its habits. Later they were
to grow large and successful plantations
that supplied the world with their product
so the industry died in this and many other
areas.
Many of us, when going to school, remember
Hayes Bros, George Farrell (known as Bricky)
and Dick Barber carting wattle bark in their
bullock teams to the cutting sites. The last
of the wattle bark strippers to make bundles
and send them to Melbourne I remember was
Lindsay Goodchild. This was carted by Viv
Fleming.
Roads: Roads, of course, have changed, one being
the trunk road past the school site and over
the Genoa River to McCafferys, Flanagans
and Fairweathers, etc. The other road that
had changed is the Wog Wog Road up through
to Wog, not the newer road now known as the
Imlay Road.
Mail: The mail service has been run since the
1800s, first by horseback to Rockton, Wog
Wog and Nungatta. One mailman that called
in at Platts P.O. on the top of the mountain
was Jim Brownlie; he carried in rain, hail
and snow. Keith, his son, is amongst us today.
Then Jim Walters took the mail to Wog for
a short time until the motor car took over.
Harry Gee was the first motor postman to
service Rockton. The Rockton P.O. was at
'Bindi', Kimber's place. Will Kimber ran
the mail to Wog Wog and Nungatta for many
years. Sometimes the mail would not be sorted
until 3:00 pm. He would stay overnight at
Nungatta and return the following day. Reg
Woodcroft bought Will Kimber's property 'Bindi'
and ran the P.O. and mail run to Nungatta
until the early 1970s.
Telephone: As a matter of interest Bob Clugston was
the PMG engineer who organised the telephone
to Rockton, Wog and Nungatta early this century.
Roland Dent: I would like to mention a person of interest
that worked for the shire for 35 - 38 years.
He was responsible for the Cann road as well
as the side roads. The last 25 years, from
the top of the mountain to the Victorian
border. He maintained the road with a horse
and slide fitted with a grader blade and
a cart. Some of you will remember Roland
Dent and his big Clydesdale 'Nugget' pulling
the cart gip pulling the slide grader.
Kapunda: A private forest development company, 'Kapunda',
came into this area in 1970 - 71 and brought
farm after farm for pines. All private property,
now we see it all covered by pines with some
native trees.
Rabbits: Some of this land became marginal mainly
due to the rabbit which devastated the herbage
and let the wattle and light scrub take over
large tracts of land. According to some of
the old hands, soils being of granite origin
are much to the rabbits' liking. Many men
made a living from the rabbit, either skins
or sale to the freezer works.
Families: Families that lived in this area were Fairweather,
Finigan, Flanagan, Bruce, Hayes, Rixon, Egan,
Umback, Smith, McCaffrey, Piesley, Moses,
Dickie, Hogg, McCole, Brownlie, Laing, Brasington,
Sinclair, Brotherton, Rodwell, Twigg, Lambert,
Baily, Jones, Sweeny, Platts, Farrell, Kimber,
Brodie, Franklin, Woodcroft, Atkins, Solgyen,
Frietag, Lind, Douglas, Skwara, Litchfield,
Critchlow and Ventry. Families still owning
land: Simmons, Bruns, Jones, Wilton, Hancox,
Wiley, Godberg, Provaznik, Payocyok, Kilpatrick,
Landini, Grimm, Lorenzi, Hillman and Murdoch.
Wog Wog: Upstream from this spot on Whiterock river,
where I am talking to you, Moses selected
a property later farmed by the Peisleys.
Then it was taken over by Rixons who ran
cattle and stripped wattle bark. Keith Brownlie
sold this property in recent years to Critchlow
and a part to Mr. Murdoch. Alby Critchlow
built a castle of interest, (including castellated
battlements), later to be sold to Mr. Murdoch.
Above this property on the Whiterock river
was the second farm of Fauldine Umback, the
founder of the Umback dynasty in the area.
He was a man of many inventions. He built
a waterwheel and mill for grinding grain.
Many locals, including people from the top
of the mountain, took their grain to him
for grinding into flour. But a sad accident
happened when others were at lunch one day.
Harry Lesleighter got caught by his overcoat
on the wheel or shaft and was killed.
The First School: As we drove from the Genoa bridge we came
up Egan's hill. On our right, (but out of
sight because of the plantation) across the
flat, that used to be part of Jim Egan's,
are two big pine trees. They mark the spot
of the first school in Rockton. It was of
slab construction and served the early settlers
well for quite a while until a bit of a feud
between a couple took place and a larrikin
burnt the school down. This area is now all
under pines.
The Swimming Hole: Over the Calabash creek we went, turning
left on the old Rockton road, over the old
low level bridge and stopped and walked 100
yards upstream to a lovely sheltered pool
amongst the granite rocks and trees. Neil continues: This was a place of many parties, summer
swims and big gatherings on hot weekends.
Many the time the kerro tin was boiled for
tea and the camp oven was heated here. The
western side of the hole used to be very
deep but in the last 20 years it has silted
up badly. I remember daring others to touch
the bottom on a dive and pick up a stone.
Dave Golberg nearly drowned here. He cramped
and sank and no one missed him for a short
while. Les Hite's father helped to resuscitate
him. Dave was the surviving partner of Goldberg
Bros. Store in Bombala. Phillips Foodland
occupies part of the building today.
Sports Ground:
Neil continues: Downstream from the bridge and on the western
side of the road was the old sports ground
and picnic area. In my time school picnics
were held here but before that there were
picnics run by the local residents. Foot
races were run. Martin Hayes, in his youth,
held a state record in the 100 yards and
could have become a big star if chance had
come his way. As well as running, the sports
day would include high jump, hop step and
jump, hit the stump, nail driving, etc. Today
it is difficult to imagine that a cleared
flat existed where these trees and scrub
now stand.
Eels: Catching eels in this part of the river
was a great past time. A light and spear
was the order of the day. Many families ate
good flavoured silver eels from a clean river
in those days.
Butter Factory: 50 yards above us where the new road is
now, was the butter factory. The old road
was in a similar position to the new road.
This must have been about 1865 - 70, as Rockton
was mainly dairy farms running Illawarra
shorthorn cattle. The Wog Wog Butter Factory
took over, as it was more up to date.
This area was known as the factory paddock
after the demise of the butter factory and
was purchased by Bill Twigg and later by
Brodie and Franklin. I have seen the old
stone foundation that Brodie had shown me
but now it is under pine. A water race on
the southern side of the river ran water
to the sump cooling the butter.
Polling Booth: As we stand on the old Genoa bridge and
face south, on our left and over the river
was the homestead of Jim Egan which was used
for the polling booth for many years, for
Federal, State and Local Council elections
up to as recently as the 1960s. Many church
services were also held here. My family would
have voted here at this house which was destroyed
by fire about 1970.
BRUNS FURNITURE FACTORY
Back on to the Cann Valley Highway for a
mile or two and right into Betty Brun's property
where an emu greeted us. The Bruns Furniture
Factory started in 1983. Being great trades
people, much fine furniture was made here
and many valuable pieces restored. They specialised
in kitchens; many installed on the Monaro
to the client's design. No job about the
home was a problem for Betty and Andy. Tragically
fire destroyed the factory in July 1994 but
Betty has rebuilt a modern factory at Bombala.
Their home was built by themselves to a circular
design.
We left our cars and took to the 4WDs again
to visit the grave of Captain John Stevenson.
CAPTAIN JOHN STEVENSON
Extract from notes supplied by Betty Bruns.
A chronological list of some of his achievements.
c1779 | Born at "King's Barns", Fifeshire.
Little is known of his early years. It is
said at one time he eloped with a Lady Rosebery but she soon returned to her father. |
1815 | Married his first wife, May Bachelor, who died in 1825 leaving an infant daughter, Amelia. |
1834 | He had been Master of the "Horn", a whaler off Greenland, when she was "Stove in by ice." |
1835 | Married his second wife, Margaret Small.
* Sailed to Hobart Town together with Agnes Fairweather who was expecting Stevenson's child. |
1836 | Agnes gave birth to William Stevenson. * He was engaged as Master of the "Lindsays", carrying sheep and cattle between Twofold Bay and Hobart. * Took his party, including Agnes and their son William, to Snug Cove, Twofold Bay. * Welcomed by the Imlays for his knowledge of whaling. |
1837 | A son was born to his wife Margaret named George Imlay Stevenson. |
1838 | A daughter was born, Margaret Small Stevenson,
but her mother died in childbed 6 days later
and was buried facing the Northern Bay. Agnes now had Margaret's two small children to care for as well as her son William. |
1839 | Stevenson took out a "Depasturing Licence"
for the Wangrabelle run. * A son Robert was born to Agnes and Stevenson. |
1840 | Amelia, Captain Stevenson's 15 year old
daughter by his first wife, came out from
Scotland to join his new family. |
1841 | He left Snug Cove and went with his family
to Broulee. * John Walter Stevenson born to Agnes and Captain Stevenson. |
Late 1841 | They move to Mallacoota Inlet. * He becomes perhaps the first to try to grow wheat in Victoria. * He still wore a cutlass on his belt, but became a disenchanted sailor without a ship. |
1842 | He and James Allen took cattle south to
the Cann River but following an attack by
natives were forced to return in a hurry. |
1843 | As Mallacoota was a failure, Stevenson moved
to Wangrabelle. * Eden township surveyed. * William Boyd arrived. |
1844 | Creighton Fairweather Stevenson was born.
Later Walter was born. |
1855 | At the age of 75 Stevenson bought the licence to the Bondi Run. |
1865 | At the age of 85 he secretly married his
partner Agnes. "The Captain's wife at last! But Agnes was not essential. She had been through too much, and besides, she knew it was not her feelings that the old man was thinking about. He was thinking about the smooth inheritance of his properties by his children. At the ceremony she put her cross on the page and watched as Amelia witnessed that it was her mark." |
1874 | Captain Stevenson died at 95. "He was carried up the hillside to where his son Gordon was buried. He was buried in a standing position so he could look over his lands." |
1878 | Agnes died aged 78 at Bondi where she is buried beside her husband. |
At one time the Bondi River (now Genoa)
was the boundary between Victoria and NSW;
Bondi would have been in Victoria. Due to
the prohibitive tariffs operating between
the States Bondi would how be non-viable.
Stevenson's holdings disintegrated but today
John Stevenson Junior and Laura's great grandson,
Robert Campbell, farms "Glenmare",
a property not that far away from the old
Bondi area.
Neil spoke a little more of Stevenson as
we sheltered under two of the original four
acacias and the one English laurel.
People from the coast are interested in
Stevenson, he had an early association with
Twofold Bay and the Imlay Brothers, with
whaling, and as a Master of "Lindsays",
taking sheep and cattle to Tasmania. Then
he had a dispute with the Imlays and worked
in with Ben Boyd. He had interest in Wangrabelle
and founded Mallacoota, he then moved up
the Genoa River and selected 'Bondi', eventually
controlling 100,000 acres.
I will read a few paragraphs out of his
history, there are a few descendants still
living in the area. Bob Campbell of Mila,
Geoffrey Wilson our mailman and one branch
of the Piesley family.
Maureen Piesley's great great grandfather
came out to Australia with Boyd and was a
blacksmith to Ben Boyd. His name was Patrick
Linegar and he later worked in Bombala as
a blacksmith.
Neil also pointed out that when Creighton
Stevenson sold "Lindon", at Mila,
the property was bought by Robert Stevenson
and has been in this family for nearly 100
years. This Robert Stevenson is no relation
at all to Captain Stevenson.
TWOFOLD BAY
Captain Stevenson arrived at Twofold Bay
before the end of the whaling season of 1836.
He sailed the 'Lindsays' through the wide
headlands of the great bay and headed towards
the point that divided the bay into two.
Tucked into the southern shore of the point
was Snug Cove where the Imlay Brothers had
established their whaling and shipping station
nearly three years before. The dense green
of the eucalyptus forests came down to the
shore right round the bay except for the
cleared area around Snug Cove.
A small group of crude huts stood on the
shore where the few white members of the
party lived. The huts were of mostly bark
construction. Well back on the beach were
the large boilers used for rending down whale
blubber after the whales were dragged onto
the beach and cut to pieces. Nearby was a
bark shelter containing the kegs in which
the whale oil was stored and shipped to Hobart.
Along the beach smoke rose from the fires
of the Aboriginal camp. On land rising behind
Snug Cove cattle and horses grazed in fenced
areas. At the western end of the cove, in
what became known as Cattle Bay, a 'race'
had been constructed leading right into the
water. This was used to load cattle like
those that Captain Stevenson had taken to
Hobart a few weeks before. One animal at
a time would have a strap placed round it
and a rope tied to its horns so it could
be dragged by a small boat, swimming in the
deep water to where the ship was anchored.
There the sling was attached to a rope on
the ship so that the beast could be hauled
aboard. The loading of one hundred or more
cattle must have taken a lot of time and
effort.
Peter Imlay had come first to Twofold Bay
late in 1832, fascinated by stories of how
killer whales helped Aborigines and early
whalers capture and kill the Great Right
Whales, which came into the bay to calve.
Realising the potential of the area Peter
Imlay persuaded his brother, Dr. Alexander
Imlay, to join him in setting up the venture
in 1833. They were joined by the third brother,
Dr. George Imlay, in 1835. The Imlays welcomed
John Stevenson's expert knowledge of the
whaling industry. At the time the crews of
the whaling boats were almost entirely local
Aboriginal men who proved to be the most
skilled whalers. They understood the movements
of the whales in the bay, though they sometimes
lacked the stamina required for the long
haul back to the beach with a whale in tow.
This was hard work for anyone in those five
or seven oared whaling boats. The Imlays
treated the Aboriginal people well, giving
them equal pay and caring for their medical
welfare, too. A friendly, cooperative relationship
developed between the whites and Aborigines,
which was almost unique in the early settlements
of Australia.
The Imlay brothers took up most of the good
land in the surrounding districts and established
a trade in sheep and cattle to Tasmania and
South Australia. Dr. George Imlay claimed
the land along Bega River to the north.
BENJAMIN BOYD
The coming of Ben Boyd to New South Wales
was to have considerable effect on the Stevenson
family. The first of his ships, the sail
and paddle-steamer 'The Sea Horse', arrived
at Sydney in June 1841, and Boyd's other
ships, with which he planned to develop a
coastal trading fleet, arrived in the following
months. James Allan came as a carpenter on
one of those ships and found his way to join
Captain Stevenson. He came from the same
township in Scotland as Stevenson but he
was thirty-five years younger than the captain.
In search of better land, James Allan and
Stevenson took cattle south to the Cann River,
planning to start a run there, but they were
attacked by Aborigines. There is a story
that Allan ran all night and did not stop
running until he reached Wangrabell the next
day.
When Boyd arrived in Sydney in July 1842
he requested the right to purchase an area
of land on the southern shore of Twofold
Bay in order to create a whaling station
and a base for his coastal trading fleet.
In 1843 the Government had a township for
Eden surveyed. Boyd was granted the land
on the southern shore and immediately started
creating his own township Boydtown. The most
important building was the 'Sea Horse Inn'
for which he had the sandstone blocks shipped
down from Sydney. Boyd appointed his artist
friend, Oswald Brierly, to be manager of
his enterprises but Boyd himself made only
brief visits to the area.
Family stories are strong that Captain Stevenson
knew Boyd and helped him with his whaling
enterprise. Having fallen foul of the Imlays
he may have been pleased to help their greatest
rival in the competition for the whales which
were quickly declining in numbers. Laura,
his daughter-in-law who nursed him in his
old age, believed that Stevenson had run
some kind of store at Boydtown.
Boyd was in Australia to create a fortune
for himself. In 1844 he started to purchase
the licences to numerous 'runs' all over
the state. He believed that these properties
would be a valuable investment if the runs
could be converted to freehold. Members of
his family were in part able to achieve this
objective by having the English Parliament
pass the Australian Land's Act of 1846 which
gave licence holders greater security of
tenure of their runs by allowing them to
convert their annual licences to leases of
up to fourteen years.
By 1848 Boyd's runs included Bondi on the
upper Genoa River, and Wog Wog at Towamba.
But by the end of the 1840s all Boyd's enterprises
had failed and he fled in his beautiful ship,
the 'Wanderer' to make his fortune on the
Californian goldfields. This venture failed,
too, and Boyd is presumed to have died on
one of the Solomon Islands on the return
journey to Australia in about July 1851.
By then his properties were being sold by
officials of his bank, the Royal Bank of
Australia.
WANGRABELLE
By the end of 1843 the Stevensons realised
that their farming venture at Mallacoota
could not succeed, so the base for the family
was moved to Wangrabelle, a journey of about
fifty kilometres up the Genoa River.
Even today, in 1996, in a modern motor vehicle
this journey is a wilderness experience,
at least the latter part of it is. A dirt
track leads off the Princes Highway a little
north of the site of the old Genoa stockyards
and winds its way round hill and over gullies,
through the densest forest you can imagine.
It is a starkly beautiful drive. But how
did Agnes, Jessie, Amelia and the children
make the journey in the days when there was
nothing but a path leading up the river?
Perhaps the smaller children sat in a row
on a horse's back and packhorses carried
their few belongings. Everyone else would
probably have walked. Somewhere through this
area there was a well worn path which had
been used each year for countless centuries
by coastal Aboriginal tribes as they made
their way to the highlands for the annual
feast of Bogong moths. Perhaps they were
able to follow this path.
BONDI
On January 9, 1855, Mort & Co. Auctioneers
of Sydney, held an auction to dispose of
the leases to many of the runs Boyd had taken
up in his own name or in the name of the
Royal Bank of Australia. Included in the
list were Bondi on the Genoa River and Wog
Wog on the Towamba River. Captain Stevenson
must have bought the licence to the Bondi
Station run at that auction or soon afterwards.
What amazing strength and energy he must
have had to embark on such a venture at the
age of seventy-five years or more!
Agnes and the younger children set off to
move another fifty kilometres up the river.
The increased elevation would make the climate
a little drier and cooler but the land was
poor. The stories of 'old timers' suggest
that the forest areas were more open in those
early days, with grasses on which roaming
stock could graze. But the roaming cattle
spread other plants and soon the lower area
of the forest were full of tea tree and weeds
and the vast runs became unproductive. Today,
much of the original Bondi run is covered
by extensive plantations of pine forests
called "the Bondi State Forest".
The homestead block was an area of cleared
rolling hills with narrow river flats fronting
the Genoa River. At this point the river
was a beautiful, clear mountain stream, and
called the Bondi River in those days. The
homestead had been built on the point of
a low ridge, a couple of hundred metres from
the river, making water collecting a difficult
task, but keeping it well above flood level.
Today, just a few very old fruit trees, apples
and pears, and a modern stock yard mark the
place of the old homestead, thirty-three
kilometres south of Bombala on the Cann River
(Valley) Highway.
PEAT MINE
We followed Neil's yellow ute faithfully
up the mountain, past "Mountain Top"
through clearings and bush, up hills and
down valleys for what seemed to be several
hundred very dusty miles to the site of the
Killarney Swamp Peat Mine. Had we shown up
on time (it was now 5.30pm) Peter Williams
would have shown us around. Peter has been
running cattle on the swamp for years.
All that is left are some concrete foundations
and a very muddy large hole in the ground.
In Peter's opinion the peat was overstated.
It was not sphagnum moss (Irish moss) but
was derived from decaying ferns. They had
great trouble drying the peat. At one stage
they used a giant microwave oven in the attempt
to dry it. A large oil powered heater was
also used at another time.
Millions of dollars of peat is imported
into Australia and this venture was an attempt
to make use of the 15 foot thick peat deposit
at Killarney. A floating dredge excavated
the peat and pumped the slurry to shore.
However, a workman was drowned and the peat
mine folded.
Les Hite and his father extracted some timber
from the area but in one wet winter they
had to knock off for a week to corduroy half
a mile of track to enable them to get the
logs out.
John and Jeanne Cleret from Mila made a donation
to the Bombala Society of a map of the Mahratta
Subdivisional settlement sale in 1912 showing
the 47 blocks sold and the amounts paid.
They also donated early school attendance
books from the Mila and Killarney Swamp schools.
We all thanked the Cleret's for their donations
and thanks also to Neil, Les, Keith, Val,
Phyllis, Betty and all those who attended
to make today a memorable occasion.