Part 4

I had brought out as servants nineteen souls, including one family; and now hard work was to be done, in which I took my full share. In a short time, temporary accommodation, including a small cottage, store, and huts for the men, were erected; the luggage and stores under shelter, and a commencement made in clearing land for tillage.

Troubles had to be surmounted at an early period. Not many months had elapsed when an alarm of fire was given at a late hour one evening, during my absence at Perth, and the store, containing from twenty to thirty tons of provisions, luggage, furniture, &c., was in a blaze. As the roof was of thatch and the building contained some gunpowder, it was dangerous to attempt saving anything—all was destroyed. The dwelling was within thirty feet of it, but the wind blew from it, and a providential shower of rain then falling saved that building. The origin of the fire was not discovered, but a discontented servant was suspected. His passage from England had been provided, and he was under a written engagement, at moderate wages, to serve for three years; this he endeavoured to break without repaying his passage-money. However, he was discharged, but was afterwards convicted, in another service, on a felonious charge and transported.

There were some very fine alluvial flats, on the banks of the Swan, on which no live stock had been depastured. In conjunction with another gentleman I arranged, during the following season, to mow the land for hay, at that time worth £14 per ton. Three stacks, of fifty tons each, were made; but the aborigines, not having seen anything of the sort before, were desirous of witnessing the effect of a large fire, and stuck firebrands into them—which made short work. They were all destroyed.

The Governor, Sir James Stirling, undertook to lead an exploring party to examine the country between Perth and King George’s Sound, which was then unknown. I and some other gentlemen entitled to select land accompanied him, also some surveyors. A couple of drays drawn by oxen, and loaded with provisions and some surveying instruments, accompanied the party. The character of the country was very variable. After a few days’ travelling, the cattle fed on some poisonous plants and several of them died, at our camping place, during the night. One of the drays, some provisions and instruments, were necessarily abandoned there. Shortly afterwards, we struck on a river, then named the Williams, situated in a fine and apparently extensive district. Some of the party proceeded up the valley about twenty miles the following day, and camped for the night. I and another gentleman, however, strolled a couple of miles from the camp, in a southerly direction, and returning northerly, we felt satisfied that the river would bring us up and that we could not miss the camp, even at night. The bed of the river at that time, however, was a succession of pools, and the long intervals between them were thickly grassed. We thus crossed the river without knowing it, after dusk, over one of those intervals, and lost ourselves. Thinking there might be some extraordinary bend of the river, we walked on until midnight, and then lay down to rest. There was no water and nothing eatable except a morsel of cheese the size of a walnut, which we divided. After consultation, we started at daylight on a due west course, hoping to cut the track made by Sir James Stirling’s party travelling south. This we happily discovered towards evening, and rested for the night. On the evening of the third day we rejoined the main party, which had been searching for us, and had almost given us up as lost.

It was arranged that on the following day those entitled to select land should again proceed up the Williams River for that purpose, accompanied by a surveyor, Sir James Stirling and the remainder of the party proceeding in a south direction to accomplish the chief object of the expedition. On reaching a selected point on the river, the measurement was to commence. The surveying instruments, chains, &c., had been abandoned where the bullocks died. The surveyor had a compass, but distances had to be paced. Long frontages to the river were desirable, and long legs possessed an advantage—subject, however, to a final survey, when any surplus would be struck off from the back land. The general course of the river was from S.W. to N.E., but very winding. A tree was marked on the river’s bank, from whence the surveyor started due east, the paces being counted; but after pacing a mile, the river still receding, a due north course was taken to strike the river again, and so on alternately east and north, until the required due east direction was attained. This process gave me about ten miles of river frontage, although the due east measurement was scarcely half that distance.

The Williams district was undulating, well grassed, and the soil in the vicinity of the river excellent, producing abundance of sandal wood. A mob of about 200 kangaroos was started during the day, and some of the party had a good gallop after them. About three days were occupied in making the selections, after which the surveyor was instructed on his return to Perth to explore a new country westward of that already travelled.

The party started accordingly on a west course, and crossed Sir James Stirling’s track. On the third day we passed over the Darling range—an elevation under 2,000 feet—a rough, stony country, heavily timbered, but with little arable land. The following day we reached the coast, at the mouth of the River Murray. This was the third day the party had been without water, and the men made a rush to the river to drink, but found the water to be salt. No efforts could avail to dissuade two of the party from drinking immoderately, and one of them shortly afterwards became insane. Fresh water was soon found, and after two more days the party reached Perth. The character of the land traversed on this occasion was very variable, but the proportion of bad country was in excess.

In the early stage of the colony the deficiency of a circulating medium was severely felt, and consequently few transactions could take place, except by means of barter. The Government regulations entitled settlers to claim land in consideration of the importation of servants, provisions, agricultural implements, live stock, &c.; but no claim could be made on account of capital in the shape of money. The settlers therefore invested almost the whole of their resources in such articles as would entitle them to claim land. If you required a team of horses, the person desirous of selling one did not want what you could offer in exchange, but wished for sheep. You then applied to an owner of sheep, who desired something you did not possess; and frequently two or three exchanges were necessary before you could procure the articles you wanted—generally losing something on each exchange.

Under such circumstances, I proposed a scheme for the formation of a local bank, and was ably assisted by Mr. George Leake and a few other friends possessing influence and property—but no cash.

We depended on the Commissariat issues for the Government expenditure for supplies of coin. The necessary nominal capital was subscribed, and the shareholders assembled to make the arrangements required for opening the bank. At their request, I undertook the management of it, with a Board of Directors. They issued their notes, and the benefits derived by the public became manifest immediately. The bank was very successful. A sufficient supply of coin was gradually obtained from the Government expenditure, and the shareholders for some time divided profits of forty per cent. on their _nominal_ capital, which was simply the credit of their names.

The system which enabled settlers to obtain enormous grants of land was found in practice to be neither advantageous to those persons or to the colony. They could not make a profitable use of them; they became a drag upon their resources to meet necessary expenditure, and the lands were locked up from those who might have turned them to better account. One settler, Mr. Peel, obtained 250,000 acres, with a right under certain conditions to claim a like additional quantity of land. The early settlers introduced a large number of servants at their own expense, generally articled to serve for three years at moderate wages. Their employers were inexperienced, not knowing how to apply their labour to the best advantage. For a short time provisions reached famine prices, flour selling at two shillings and sixpence per pound. Servants would not then accept their discharges, but when prices fell they broke their engagements, and instances have occurred of masters having become the servants of their former ploughmen.

The local Bank had been in existence about five years, to the great benefit of the colony, when the Bank of Australasia proposed an amalgamation; and, after due consideration, it was thought advisable for the interests of the colony to secure the co-operation of that important corporation. The Manager sent from London died before the Bank was opened, and the management of the new Bank was conferred on me.

An opinion prevailed in the colony that the interests of religion would be greatly promoted were Western Australia erected into the See of a Bishop, and I proposed a scheme to create an endowment for that object by means of subscriptions of land, to which I contributed 500 acres. After an interval of several years the object was happily accomplished by the appointment of an excellent man, Dr. Matthew Hale, formerly Archdeacon of Flinders, in South Australia, to be the first Bishop of Western Australia.

After an experience of another five years the Bank of Australasia came to the conclusion that their business in Western Australia was too limited to justify their maintaining an isolated branch at Perth. It was therefore ordered to be closed, and I was offered the management of their branch at Adelaide, in South Australia, which I accepted. Thus it fell to my lot to open and also to close two Banks.

It was with feelings of much pain that I made up my mind to leave a colony in which I had resided for sixteen years. The interest felt in the formation and progress of a new settlement became a tie binding society together. Being situated on a western coast, where the sea breezes prevailed for nine months in the year, the climate was excellent; and, although the average of the land was of an inferior quality, yet there was abundance of rich land for purposes of tillage.

Previous to my departure, I was gratified by receiving a flattering address, signed by all the members of the Executive Council, the magistrates, clergy, and many others, testifying to my zeal in promoting objects of public utility.

In April, 1846, I and my family arrived in Adelaide, and assumed charge of the Bank of Australasia at that place, at that time temporarily situated in Hindley Street. A new and excellent site was obtained in King William Street shortly afterwards, on which handsome premises were erected. This ground, about ninety feet square, was purchased in exchange for 640 acres of excellent country land. To avoid the difficulty of proving the signatures of a corporate body frequently changing, the mode of conveyance chosen, being remarkable, is here mentioned. It was the old feudal system of “livery of seizin.” I went upon the land, pulled a twig off a tree, which I presented to the purchaser in the presence of witnesses, using a few formal words. The transaction was recorded and registered, and thus conferred an indefeasible title in law.

At the period referred to, Adelaide was in a very primitive state and I actually lost myself for a short time within its boundaries. The streets and pathways were generally in their natural state, and from the traffic in wet weather foot passengers were up to their ankles in mud. St. John’s Church was like a barn; and, on my appointment as warden, I collected a considerable sum to build a vestry, plaster the walls, and make other improvements.

No superior school had been established for the education of boys at that time, and I devoted all my spare time towards the attainment of that object. I assembled a meeting of gentlemen, representing various religious bodies, to consider the question, which met on two or three occasions. Several of them, however, strongly urged as a principle, that there should be no religious teaching whatever. This principle was rejected by a large majority. I then secured the co-operation of a committee of twelve gentlemen, of which I was elected chairman, who agreed to form a proprietary grammar school on Church of England principles, but open to all denominations. I collected £2,000 from eighty subscribers of £25 each, and after a delay of four or five months the school was at length opened in the school-room of Trinity Church. The Revs. W. J. Woodcock and James Farrell and Mr. G. W. Hawkes were most energetic coadjutors.

Shortly afterwards I suggested to Captain Allen—a munificent friend to education—that as the school had made a fair start, I hoped some of our wealthy friends would push it on, as I wished to secure a good site and erect buildings. In this he concurred, saying he would give £1,000 and thought Mr. Graham would do the same. I pointed out that Mr. Graham was in England and not accessible, but hinted that the £1,000 might be increased to £2,000, which Captain Allen at once agreed to. He afterwards increased his donations to upwards of £7,000.

The Lord Bishop of Adelaide arrived about this time from England. He had obtained a grant of £2,000, from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which he agreed to place at the disposal of the School Committee—provided accommodation in their new buildings was set apart for four theological students. This arrangement was concluded accordingly, and the school was afterwards, by Act of Parliament, incorporated as the “Church of England Collegiate School of St. Peter.”

A very valuable site of about thirty-seven acres of land close to Adelaide was secured, on which extensive and handsome buildings have been erected. The late Mr. DaCosta bequeathed a reversionary property to the Institution, valued at £23,000; and the late Dean Farrell bequeathed his estate, valued at £15,000, to the College, subject to a few annuities. The school has attained to a high reputation, many of its pupils having attained first-class honours at the English Universities, including the degrees of Wrangler at Cambridge, and its staff of masters is believed to be unsurpassed in the Southern Hemisphere.

Through the munificent liberality of Captain Allen a school for the education of the middle classes was also established, and suitable building erected in Pulteney-street, the property being vested in the then Governors of the Collegiate School, and on similar principles, the object being to cheapen the cost of education to suit the circumstances of that class. Mr. Masters endowed this school with three country sections of land; the Government of that day also contributing £500. The property of this Institution is worth about £3,000, and it has been eminently successful.

Having been formerly stationed in the Island of Zante, one of the Ionian Islands, I became aware of the great mercantile value of the Zante currant, and while in Western Australia succeeded in introducing the plant into that province. Its history was remarkable. After a long correspondence in establishing agency, the Curator of the Government Garden of St. Antonio, in Malta, received an application from London for a supply of cuttings, which reached him a month after the pruning season, but the request being urgent he pruned a second time. The cuttings were then rolled in damp flannel, packed, and soldered in a tin case, and forwarded to Dr. Hooker, Curator of Kew Gardens, near London. That gentleman planted them in a glazed case, but many months elapsed before an opportunity occurred to forward them to their destination. They at length reached Western Australia, but at the wrong season. However, Mr. Mackay, the Judge of the Supreme Court, had a conservatory in which they were planted and most carefully attended. In the following spring they were removed and planted out, the roots being like fine white Cambric threads; but in the second year a few tolerably strong shoots were obtained. To save time, the double system of budding and grafting was adopted on old grape vines, and in the following year about 400 rooted plants of the Zante currant were established. None other existed in Australia. Mr. McArthur, of New South Wales, wrote to request a few plants, which I had the pleasure of forwarding, and distributed others to several gentlemen in South Australia.

As kindred to the above it may be here noticed that, during my residence in Western Australia, in conjunction with Mr. Richard Nash, we formed a Vineyard Society, the object being to prepare and trench a nursery for vines, to procure a collection of the choicest varieties, to preserve their names and identity, and to distribute them _gratis_ to all who engaged to plant them in trenched ground. Some gentlemen reduced the rents of their lands to their tenants in proportion to the extent of their vineyards. The Society procured a collection of 400 varieties from Mr. Busby’s vineyard, in New South Wales, but the progress in distributing plants was rather slow, until a few of the settlers produced wine, which gave a rapid impulse to the operations of the society, and within a few years some of them were enabled to distribute a pint of wine daily to the men in their employ. The society also published a pamphlet containing instructions for the formation and cultivation of vineyards and for making wine.

Some time after the Lord Bishop (Dr. Short) arrived in Adelaide, a Conference of the several Australian bishops was summoned to meet the Metropolitan at Sydney. A new dogma was declared at that conference to be an _article of faith_, after some opposition, namely, baptismal regeneration. The Bishop returned, and on the day previous to the annual meeting of the “Church Society” (the then governing body of the affairs of the Church of England in South Australia), the proceedings of the Sydney Conference became known. The Governor, Sir Henry Young, presided, and after routine business being disposed of, I strongly protested against the Sydney Conference assuming authority to impose _a new article of faith_ in addition to the Thirty-nine Articles. Unfortunately, I had not had time to give notice of my intention or secure a seconder of my motion, and a pause ensued. Sir Henry Young then said that as it was not seconded he would not put it to the meeting, when Mr. G. S. Walters stood up and said he would not only second, but support it. Sir Henry immediately left the chair in anger, and retired—the Bishop then presiding. The meeting was greatly excited; but after some discussion, His Lordship promised to call a general meeting of the members of the church in a fortnight, to consider the subject, on which the business of the day terminated.

The meeting referred to was held in the Pulteney-street schoolroom, which was crowded, and the subject of the new dogma was fully discussed. The resolutions opposed to it were carried almost unanimously, there being only two or three persons who voted against them. These proceedings were afterwards commented upon with approval by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the House of Lords, and were similarly noticed in the House of Commons.

An address of thanks on this occasion, most respectably signed, was afterwards presented to myself and Mr. G. S. Walters.

At this time the position of the Church of England in the colonies was very unsatisfactory. The Ecclesiastical Laws of England were declared to have no force, and the Church appeared to be cast adrift. A meeting of the “Church Society” took place, at which a committee was appointed—consisting of Major Campbell, Messrs. G. W. Hawkes, R. B. Lucas, and myself, of which I was named chairman—to consider and report upon “the best means they could devise for drawing the clergy and laity into closer union.” The constitution of a Diocesan Synod appeared to me to meet the requirements of the case, and I drew up a full scheme to accomplish that object, which I submitted to the Committee, and afterwards laid before the “Church Society.” This scheme was considered to be extremely bold, as there was no precedent of such plan having been adopted previously by any branch of the Church of England, except some approach to it in the diocese of Toronto in Upper Canada; and the only guide for such a system was that of the Episcopal Church of America. The subject was discussed at great length, and for several months. It was adjourned, however, as the Bishop proposed proceeding to England, where he could consult the highest legal authorities, including the Attorney-General. The scheme was declared to be perfectly legal, and on His Lordship’s return to the colony it was inaugurated by a _consensual compact_, and has now, in the year 1871, been in operation during seventeen annual sessions with the happiest results, and has been also adopted in all the other Australian colonies and New Zealand. Subsequently, another subject affecting the Church of England attracted much notice. The colony was visited by a very eminent and much respected Non-conformist minister, the Rev. Thos. Binney. He was cordially received by all classes of society, and was for a short time a guest at Bishop’s Court. The Governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell, was desirous that he should be invited to preach in the Church of England pulpits, and procured his own election as a member of Synod, for the purpose of proposing it, of which he gave due notice. A preliminary meeting of the Standing Committee of Synod was held to consider the subject, and I was requested to oppose the Governor’s motion by an amendment, moving the “previous question,” and thus defeating it. At the subsequent meeting of Synod, Sir Richard MacDonnell delivered a long address strongly urging the adoption of his motion, which was discussed at great length; and I moved the amendment agreed upon, which was carried by a majority of about two-thirds. The consideration that the Synod had only recently bound itself by its _consensual compact_ to abide by the laws and usages of the Church of England, had a powerful influence with the majority. An address of thanks from the “Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Church Union,” dated 18th August, 1859, was afterwards received by me as the mover of the amendment on this occasion.

About the year 1848 a monetary pressure occurred, and the merchants were calling in their advances made to the sheepowners. I felt that if this course was continued it would probably lead to a commercial crisis, which would depreciate the securities held by the Bank. I therefore paid off the liabilities of those whom I considered safe to the extent of about £70,000, taking up their accounts, which prevented the expected crisis, greatly increasing the business of the Bank, and nothing was ever lost on those accounts. The London Directors became alarmed, however, at those large transactions, and remonstrated with me. It is difficult, however, for gentlemen residing at so great a distance to form an accurate judgment on such transactions.