| Historical notes: | The Australian Agricultural (A.A.) Company:
In 1824, London was in the midst of an enormous stock market boom. With Australian wool becoming increasingly important, two companies - the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo.) and the Van Diemen's Land Company - were floated on the London Stock Exchange to promote raising fine-wooled sheep in the Australian colonies. The AACo. became a major force in the Australian coal and pastoral industries and in the settlement and development of the Hunter River and Port Stephens regions. Today, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, it is the oldest Australian company operating under its original name.
Founded by a special Act of Parliament and under Royal Charter, it acquired the right to hold and sell land in New South Wales. Its founding members were a group of British bankers, merchants and politicians who saw the potential for big profits to be made in the colony.
The terms of the charter were that most of the labour would be provided by convicts under the supervision of superintendents, overseers and skilled mechanics sent from England. If, at the end of 15 years, the company had expended 10,000 pounds on improvements and employed 1400 convicts, it would obtain freehold title to its land. The size of the land grant was not specified in the charter, but discussions between the company directors and the Colonial Office settled on one million acres.
The company appointed a chief agent, Robert Dawson and a Colonial Committee to assist him. This eventually included just three people - James Macarthur (fourth son of John Macarthur), his cousin Hannibal Macarthur and his brother-in-law, Principal Surgeon, James Bowman. The committee took a four year lease of 'The Retreat' (later 'Kelvin') at Bringelly near Camden for the immediate accommodation of imported stock, and sought advice on the best location for the land grant.
In June 1825 Dawson sailed from the Isle of Wight with 27 employees and their wives and families, 800 French and Anglo merino sheep, 8 cattle and 6 horses. They were followed a few weeks later by an overseer, 6 shepherds and a further 79 French merinos.
In January 1826, when people and stock were settled, Dawson sailed to Newcastle with a small party on the "Liverpool Packet" and from there, they travelled across country to inspect Port Stephens, an area which, of all those suggested, had the great advantage of access by water.
On the northern shore of Port Stephens, Dawson noticed land which seemed ideal. About 800 acres were suitable for growing corn, while the surrounding hills provided good sheep grazing country, with plenty of fresh water and lime (oyster shells) for building, all situated on a magnificent harbour.
Dawson hurried back to Sydney, determined to take the whole million-acre grant between Port Stephens and the Manning River (named for the AACo.'s deputy governor, William Manning).
Initially known to Europeans by its Aboriginal name, Carrabean, the settlement at Port Stephens was renamed after the banking peer, Lord Carrington, brother of the company's first governor.
Over the next two years, Dawson explored the estate, naming many features after the company's directors or places of fine wool production in England. The village at No.2 Farm took its name, Stroud, from the Gloucestershire town renowned for its manufacture of scarlet cloth; the Barrington River (and Barrington Tops) in honour of Dawson's previous employer, Lord Barrington.
By the end of 1826 a chain of company sheep stations stretched from Carrington in the south to the Gloucester River in the north. Dawson had purchased flocks of colonial ewes and overseen the first shearing, dispatching the wool to England. He had also made arrangements to survey the entire land grant (Pemberton, 2009, 56-7).
All appeared to be going well but difficulties gradually arose between Dawson and the Colonial Committee which led to Dawson's dismissal in April 1828. John Macarthur took over for a few months before abruptly returning to Sydney, leaving everything in the capable but inexperienced young accountant, Edward Ebsworth.
Meanwhile in London, the Colonial Office had approached the directors with a proposal that the company should take over the coal mining operations at Newcastle and, after lengthy discussions, the company agreed. John Henderson was appointed colliery manager and arrived in Australia in January 1827 with mechanics, labourers and equipment, 230 sheep and 3 horses. He spent nearly a year prospecting for coal around Newcastle, at Port Stephens and along the Parramatta River, concluding that without the Newcastle coalfield, the company had no mining prospects, but Governor Darling was loathe to give it up.
Dawson's dismissal, Henderson's return to England and rumours that the Port Stephens estate in its entirety was unsuitable for their purposes all came as a shock to the directors. As far as the coal venture was concerned, they were prepared to abandon the project provided the Colonial Office paid compensation. After much negotiation, however, it was agreed in June 1828 that the Governor would be instructed to hand over the coalfields, together with a land grant at Newcastle, and that Henderson would return to the colony as colliery manager. By way of compensation the company was granted a 32 year monopoly on coal mining in New South Wales.
At this point the directors decided to dispense with the Colonial Committee and send out a commissioner to manage their affairs. Early in 1829 they appointed Captain Edward Parry RN, Hydrographer Royal who, along with John Franklin, had recently been knighted for services to Arctic exploration in their search for the North West Passage. Sir Edward and Lady Parry sailed in the "William", reaching Sydney two days before Christmas 1829.
Parry set about restoring order at the neglected Port Stephens settlement and assessing the estate there and a possible exchange of land. The next two years were taken up with exploration to the north and west beyond the Dividing Range. In February 1831 Parry visited Governor Darling to negotiate the exchange of the north-eastern part of the Port Stephens estate (north from Bulahdelah) for two blocks of roughly 250,000 acres each - one on the Liverpool Plains (Warrah) and the other on the Peel River (Goonoo Goonoo).
When Parry left after his four year term, both pastoral and mining operations were well established. Port Stephens was occupied by a chain of sheep stations and the cattle were settled on the Bowman run west of Gloucester. After a first lambing in 1832 Warrah was temporarily abandoned and the sheep moved to the Peel River where a head station was set up at Calala near the river crossing (now Tamworth). The mine at Newcastle was running smoothly. The only major and continuing difficulty was the battle to obtain sufficient convict labour.
A Chapel, then Church:
By 1832 it had become apparent that Stroud would overtake the flood-prone Carrington as the Company's Australian headquarters. Towards the end of that year Parry, accompanied by his family, visited Stroud to supervise shearing operations and on 15 November, Isabella recorded the selection of a site 'in the field' for the chapel. 'The situation is a very nice one and the ground really suited for a burying ground' she wrote, little realising that the first grave would be dug that afternoon, for a shepherd who had been ill for several days. The earliest surviving tombstone in the graveyard dates from 1836, four years after this first burial (EJE, 2002, 13).
Construction of the Parry's chapel was the physical sign of their success as evangelicals at Port Stephens. His invitation to Governor Bourke to be present at the laying of the foundation stone highlights the importance of this event to Parry. Although Bourke declined on the grounds he had not yet recovered after a fall from his horse, it was agreed his son would represent him. The ceremony was planned for Thursday 26 April, and Rev. Wilton, accompanied by Bourke's son, arrived at 'Tahlee' the day before, planning to travel to Stroud with the Parrys. Unfortunately the weather changed and they were 'kept prisoner for two days indoors'. The Stroud ceremony had to be postponed, and was performed without Governor's representative, who had been compelled to return to Sydney. The Parrys and Rev. Wilton travelled to Stroud on the 28th and the foundation stone was laid the following day (29 April 1833), recorded by Lady Parry. Parry declared a public holiday at Stroud to allow the Company's employees to attend the ceremony (EJE, 2002, 13-14).
In June 1833 with chapel construction underway, Parry apointed a temporary chaplain, Rev. Charles Price, who was an ordained clergyman of the Congregational Church. This strained relations between Parry and Archdeacon Broughton, since Anglican Church order only permitted those ordained in that body to celebrate Holy Communion service. Tensions also developed at Port Stephens between Parry and some Company employees, who preferred Wilton's ministry, partly because he was not as firmly evangelical as Price, and because they wanted an ordained Church of England clergyman as their chaplain. Parry refused to allow Wilton free access to the Port Stephens estate. Price's appointment was tolerated but not viewed favourably by the Anglican heirarchy. The exclusion of Wilton caused long-lasting friction between Parry and Broughton. The new chapel was to be dedicated on 22 December 1833. Tensions between Parry and Anglican heirarchy heavily coloured arrangements for the dedication service. Broughton declined to do so, and Wilton, who had conducted the foundation stone laying, was not invited to take his place. The honour fell to Rev. Price. About 200 people were present. Parry reported completion of the chapel to the Company's directors in England, noting that it was constructed entirely at his private expense (EJE, 2002, 16).
The A.A. Company contributed 50 guineas towards furnishing St. John's Chapel, which was carried out during the time of Henry Dumaresq, Parry's successor. Made of local (red) cedar, the original furniture is still in use. A cedar altar, installed and dedicated by Bishop of Newcastle, Rt. Rev'd. Alfred Holland in 1983, is a memorial to the Rev. Arthur Cook, Parish Priest from 1961 - 1974 (EJE, 2002, 16-17).
The land on which St. John's Chapel was built remained in the posessoin of the A.A. Company until 1851. In May of that year, the Company granted the site to the Bishop of Newcastle and his successors, thus opening the way for the chapel to be consecrated as The Church of St. John the Evangelist, Stroud. Bishop Tyrrell performed the ceremony in response to a petition from Rev. William Macquarie Cowper, Minister for Stroud and Carrington and local residents, on 8 May 1851 (EJE, 2002, 18).
In March 1834 Captain Henry Dumaresq took over from Parry. For the most part the company prospered and in August 1834 the directors were able to announce their first dividend of ten shillings per share.
A track was built over the Dividing Range from Gloucester to Tamworth so that in dry years sheep could be walked from the Peel Estate to Port Stephens for washing and shearing. The head station at the Peel was moved from Calala to Goonoo Goonoo, away from the ever-increasing numbers of often-scabby flocks travelling north to New England and the Darling Downs. By 1849 sheep numbers had reached 85,000.
Warrah was developed for fattening cattle bred at Gloucester and horses were bred as remounts for the Indian army. The company no longer needed to purchase stock - rather its annual sales at Sydney and Maitland were an increasing success. At Newcastle a second pit had been put down and annual coal sales reached a value of 10,500 pounds a year.
However with the end of convict transportation, labour problems became acute and constant requests were made to London for shepherds and coal miners.
Dumaresq died suddenly in March 1838 and the directors appointed Captain Phillip Parker King (son of Governor Philip Gidley King) in his place. King came to office just as the depression, triggered in part by the collapse of the London wool market in 1836, began to bite. This was also a time of drought, followed by major floods.
An attempt to introduce 100 young Irish labourers in 1840/1 to relieve the labour shortage ended badly. Only a third actually reached Port Stephens and all refused to shepherd, being unaccustomed to such work and terrified of being lost in the bush.
Other smaller groups of shepherds, labourers and miners sent out from Britain were more successful. The company's agent took to meeting emigrant ships in Sydney and recruited several newly arrived families who settled in Port Stephens. By the end of the 1840s, of the 326 men employed in the company's pastoral operations, none were convicts and only 33 were ticket-of-leave men. By 1849 all 89 miners at the colliery were free men.
During King's term as commissioner, there were constant agitations against the company's coal monopoly. Various prospecting groups proposed coal mines at Westernport in Victoria, the Illawarra in Sydney and at Moreton Bay. Closer to Newcastle were the Ebenezer mine at Lake Macquarie, works near Maitland, at Four Mile near Hexham and a proposal to mine coal at Burwood on the company's southern boundary.
King appealed for support against this opposition, both to the NSW Government and to the directors who approached the Colonial Office. At this point the question of the monopoly became entangled with the company's efforts to obtain its title deeds.
At no time had the numbers of convicts actually assigned to the company come anywhere near the numbers envisaged in the charter so that at best, it seemed that the company would be able to redeem only 300,000 of its one million acres.
In London it was decided that, as the convict situation in NSW was now so different, an amending Act of Parliament was needed to free the company's pastoral lands from the restriction of the charter. The new Act received Royal assent on 7/8/1846.
There now remained the question of the coal lands at Newcastle. Here it was agreed that, while the company had kept its side of the bargain, raising more than 3000 tons of coal annually, the NSW Government had not, neither supplying convict labour as agreed nor defending the company's position. Consequently in return for an early end to its coal mining monopoly, the company received its freehold title at Newcastle.
Anticipating a tide of emigration to NSW, the directors planned to sell part of the land. King recommended that the Liverpool Plains Grant should be sold in five sections, followed by the Peel Grant and the Port Stephens Grant, in three sections each. If the large blocks could not be sold, each section should be sold in lots by auction with the reserve price not more than that of the Government - five shillings an acre. Port Stephens, he added, was not generally suited for small-scale agriculture.
This was a shock. The directors had not contemplated a complete sale of their land and stock, and they would be embarrassed to tell shareholders that, after 25 years, they were unlikely to recover their capital. In February 1849 King was called to London to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile the directors were negotiating with James Ralfe, formerly a government surveyor familiar with the Port Stephens area. Ralfe had recommended a private emigration scheme offering homestead lots for selection. A prospectus for 'The Port Stephens Colony' appeared in January 1849: the land would be sold at the fixed price of one pound per acre in lots of not less than 200 (later reduced to 50) acres with reasonable water frontage and the right to depasture stock on company land. The company would charter a ship direct for Port Stephens with free passage for those who paid for their land in London.
On arrival in London, King took a dim view of Ralfe's plan. Only a few isolated spots in Port Stephens were suitable for settlers and their activities would be ruinous for any continuing pastoral operations there. Despite King's objections, the directors were persuaded by Ralfe's enthusiasm, appointing him as agent and surveyor to go out with the settlers on the chartered "Artemesia". As it turned out, only 8 colonists signed up and embarked with their families and just 24 selection certificates were issued.
Local auction sales of lots were more successful and half-acre town lots and a few farms were sold in south Tamworth, at Carrington and around Stroud. In these drastically changed circumstances, the directors decided to replace the commissioner with a less well-paid general superintendent, combine management positions and halve the number of overseers.
Then in March 1852, Thomas Renwick and Thomas Laurie, sons of long-time company employees, and both just returned from the Californian gold fields, found gold on the banks of the Peel River. In London the company's share price soared from 15 pounds to 350 pounds in a few weeks before dropping back to 280. Unable to work gold under their charter, the directors formed the Peel River Land & Mineral Company to purchase and work the Peel Estate (Goonoo Goonoo).
The Peel Company, with King as general superintendent, would raise sheep and some cattle, and lease its goldfield to the Cordillera Mining Company, which would dispatch miners and machinery from England.
The venture was a disaster. The "Tory" carrying the expedition was wrecked at Anna Bay, south of Port Stephens. All but one of the people were saved, but the machinery was lost. Other attempts to work minerals were equally unsuccessful.
The AA Co. retained Port Stephens, Warrah and the coalmines at Newcastle. Although the fine wool produced at Port Stephens brought excellent prices on the London market, all was not well with the sheep. At Port Stephens mortality figures rose and lambing percentages fell, while sheep from the same flocks thrived on the Peel Estate.
In 1854 the directors decided to sell all the Port Stephens sheep, and by 1856 they were gone. Cattle breeding continued at Port Stephens and land sales were promoted around Stroud (Pemberton, 2009, 57-60).
The AACo. headquarters was moved to Stroud in 1853 and the (Carrington) Estate was sold.
The Friends of St. John's Stround Inc. was formed in April 1996, to raise funds to repair the three church buildings (EJE, 2002, 21).
Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (1791-1856):
The explorer Rear-Admiral Phillip Parker King was appointed to complete the full charting of the Australian coastline following on from the work of Matthew Flinders. He mapped more of Australia's coastline and in greater detail than the great Captain Cook or Matthew Flinders. Phillip Parker King was the son of First Fleet officer and later Governor, Philip Gidley King. (He was named after his father's mentor, Admiral Arthur Phillip which explains the difference in spelling of his and his father's first names.)(Mexon, 2019).
As well as charting the Magellan Strait over three challenging years, Phillip Parker (P.P.) King was also a member of the NSW Parliament and had a state funeral. He was the first Australian to be promoted to Admiral rank. Together with his wife Harriet, he had eight children. He complied an extensive vocabulary of different Aboriginal languages and took Aboriginal interpreters on his ships. P.P. King was resident commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company for 10 years and lived in Stroud House from 1839 (ibid, 2019).
P.P.King Memorial unveiling (in St. John's Church, 5/2019)
There is a memorial to the Rear-Admiral in Chile, erected by the Chilean Navy in 2008 and he featured on a 1963 Australian postage stamp and even has an orchid named after him. But until now, there has been no permanent memorial for him in Australia. "Captain Cook has statues, Flinders has statues but King has never had a statue, not even a worthy memorial," said Dr King. The marble memorial will be unveiled in St John's Anglican Church in Cowper Street, Stroud on Sunday, May 5, beginning with a festival Eucharist at 9am. Joining the priest in Charge of St John's Stroud, Fr Martin Davies, will be guest preacher Fr Andrew Sempell, rector of St James', King Street Sydney. The King's youngest daughter Charlotte will officially unveil the memorial and morning tea will follow in the church hall. Later that morning Charlotte will join her father and author Brian Abbott in making speeches detailing the history of Phillip Parker King and his association with Stroud (ibid, 2019).
In the lead up to this unveiling, the town is preparing another special event. On Thursday, May 2, Dr King will play the part of his ancestor in a period drama at 11am outside the mansion. The performance comes complete with the Mark Wheeler and family brass band and period costumes - led by thespian Anne Frost. Stroud House will be open to the public for one hour on Saturday, May 4 from 4-5pm. On loan for the day courtesy of the Stroud Historical Society is a model replica of the home (ibid, 2019).
www.dungogchronicle.com.au/story/6093525/overdue-recognition/ |