Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Tarawang

Tarawang (pronounced Tar-ah-wong) is a property in the Cudgebegong region, Mebul Road, NSW.  

At the start of the century, Patrick O'Connell and his brother Eugene, were successful graziers on their farm called "Goodiman" and had further land at Cudgebegong (Mebul). Patrick also held a Colonial Wine Licence for Goodiman Inn.

In 1904 Patrick planned his own residence at Cudgebegong which was completed by 1907 and called Tarawang.

Tonkyn’s must have bought Tarrawang from Patrick O’Connell. In 1921 Mrs Tonkyn was in Mudgee private hospital with pneumonia and died some weeks later leaving a husband and child.
Source: Mudgee Guardian - Thursday 12 May 1921

In 1934 Mr A. H. Fortescue lived at 'Tarrawang,' Mebul. 
Mudgee Guardian - Monday 11 June 1934 

Mr Fortescue sold the property and moved out of the district in 1946. 
Source: Mudgee Guardian - Monday 16 December 1946

[JO’B: Leo Hayley, married Beryl Fortescue. Old Mrs Fortescue continued living with them on the property.]

Later on Tarrawang was owned by Sheridans.
Source:  Mudgee Guardian - Thursday 27 March 1919

"Tarrawang was built for Mrs O'Connell (a doctor's wife) who went to Melbourne, visited annually and always noticed a large flour bin near pantry. Relatives or in-laws at Goodiman at the time.
Tonkyns lived there. Mrs Tonkyn died leaving a baby, brought up by Mr and Mrs Nellie Nott. Lived there about 3 years and sold to Fortescues on Mr Charles Wright's recommendation. He made it rabbit- proof and planted lucerne. After some years he sold it to Sheridan's from near Wellington."
Source: Beryl Hayley nee Fortescue 

The following photos show the homestead as it looks today.










'Tarawong' homestead is a c1905 Federation brick home sympathetically extended in 1992 (the tuck pointed bricks were made on the property). Accommodation comprises 4 bedrooms, ensuite and main bathroom, office, meals, dining and family rooms, and magnificent entrance hallway. The beautiful Federation character is exemplified through wide wrap around verandahs and a paved courtyard.

This description was written in 1908:

Cudgebegong. — ... One could almost title Cudgebegong the 'Secret Meadows,' because, till reaching there, everything on all sides is bush. Suddenly one comes upon the Honeysetts, Cunninghams, Wrights, O'Connells, and — and — . All along the creek on either side are small model farms, nicely kept and well utilised. One has only to visit this place to see what can be done on small areas of land. After visiting and chatting with all the good folks, I had the comfort of spending a night at Mr. P. O'Connell's homestead.

Tarawang. I do not wish to particularise, or in any way give any undue prominence to any place, but Tarawang is undoubtedly a handsome dwelling. Not a mansion by any means, yet a fine brick structure, well designed and architecturally displayed. It is situated on a prominence overlooking wide slopes and deep glades, bordered by blue-black mountains. The view obtained is uncommonly picturesque. Although totally opposed in political and union matters I must herein compliment Mr. T. O'Connell [sic] for his generous treatment and broadmindedness. It would be quite unreasonable to overlook mentioning the Honeysetts' neat little farms. I cannot remember seeing cleaner or more compact farms utilised to their fullest extent. Altogether, Cudgebegong is a nice place, and at some future date I hope to re visit and tour the whole district. I may mention that in future the Times correspondents now established at Cudgebegong and Yamble will record weekly all the news and doings of public interest at these centres.

Source:  Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954) Thursday 9 April 1908 p 3 Article


This aerial view shows the distance between Goodiman and Tarawang. Eugene would ride his horse cross country to visit Patrick. The exact route is unknown.



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Goodiman

Goodiman is a rural property west of Gulgong NSW located in the Parish of Goodiman, County of Bligh. 
Goodiman is said to be a Wiradjuri word that means "happy playground". See here for more Aboriginal history of the area.

Early days

Photo provided by Gulgong Pioneer's Museum.
Caption: "The Bushman's Arms taken c 1975 - Goodiman"
NB: The building hasn't been known by this name for a hundred years

Even prior to the goldrush era of the Gulgong district (1870s) there appears to have been an inn at Goodiman. It was listed as the birthplace of John Whitton (born 18 July 1849). Other births around the time are described as "in Goodiman Creek" (Margaret Cunningham, 1869)" or "in Goodiman" (John Thomas Lund Honeysett, 1895 and Bruce Edward Cluff, 1897). The Inn was probably a useful place for rural folk to direct a doctor or midwife (if one existed).

As the gold rush opened up the territory the public inn at Goodiman was a place where travellers could rest and change their horses. The Inn was located on the mail route from Mendooran to Mudgee. It was known by various names including the Goodaman Hotel, Goodaman House and O'Connell's Wine shop. 

Title: Historical - Scenes - Cobb and Co stage coach with approaching dust storm, near Gulgong - photo taken 1871, NSW (Source: NAA)

In 1873, the Goodiman district made the news in Sydney, Newcastle and Goulburn when the Mudgee mailman was held up by a bushranger!

1873 - [BUSHRANGERS]
"Sticking up the Mudgee Mailman. — The Times of Friday says : — After an immunity for a considerable time from highway robbery in this district, we have to record a case of bushranging that evidently had been well planned. On Wednesday last, when Brown, the mailman between Mundooran and Mudgee, was about five miles on the other side of Goodiman, a man masked with an old blue shirt sprang out of the bush, and, presenting a pistol at the mailman's head, led his horse into the scrub, and there deliberately emptied the mail bags."
Source: The Newcastle Chronicle Sat 8 Feb 1873 Page 4

The mail coaches were often stopped by bushrangers. In 1874 the mail coach between Sydney and Mudgee was similarly held up.



BUSHRANGERS holding up the Mudgee Mailcoach 
in the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, Australia on 30 May 1874

Aside from these early reference, it is hard to pinpoint when the Inn at Goodiman was first established. Here are some clues about the early operators:

1866 - [INSOLVENCY]

In the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Frazer and another v. Sheridan.

BY virtue of the authority given by the Act of Council, 5th Vic., No, 9, the Sheriff will cause to be sold, by public auction, at noon, at Mr. Young's, "Goodiman Inn" near Guntawang, on Friday, the 13th day of April next, unless the writ of fievi facias herein fee previously satisfied, …


1867 – [LAND PURCHASED]

Source: New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney) Thu 30 May 1867 [Issue No.84 (SUPPLEMENT)] Page 1305

_________________________

1870 - [FORMER INNKEEPER INSOLVENT]
In the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
IN INSOLVENCY.
In the Insolvent Estate of Daniel Sheridan, of Mudgee, out of business, lately residing at
Goodiman, licensed victualler.
SINGLE OR ONLY MEETING.
WHEREAS the Estate of the abovenamed Insolvent was, on the 2nd day of September, 1870, placed under sequestration, by order under my hand: I hereby appoint a Single Meeting of the Creditors of the said Insolvent to be holden before the Commissioner of Insolvent Estates for the District of Mudgee at the Court House, Mudgee, on Monday the 10th day of October, 1870, to commence at 11 o'clock in the forenoon or as soon afterwards as the course of business will permit, for the proof of debts against the said Estate, and for the collection, administration, and distribution of the same; …
________________________

1870 - [INSOLVENCIES OF THE MONTH.]

Daniel Sheridan, Mudgee, publican 

From this we can loosely conclude that one or more Sheridans had associations with the Goodiman Inn. 

Was the following unlucky chap drunk at an inn at Goodiman in 1875, or merely drunk by the roadside?

An 1886 Parish of Puggoon map shows the Goodiman Inn block owned by Daniel Sheridan. At that time, Cobborah Road was the main district road and Lahey's Creek Road is the dashed line above it (seen exiting the right side of the map).

The book "Pubs Past and Present" written by Roma Wallis, states the following under the heading: Bushman's Arms/ Goodaman Hotel/O’Connell’s Wine Saloon:

"The hotel was situated nineteen miles from Gulgong [sic, 9 miles] on the banks of Goodaman Creek on the Cobborah Road on the coachline to Coonamble. It was started as the Bushman's Arms in November 1873 by James Weeks. Henry Brumler called it Goodaman Hotel in 1876.

James Fitzpatrick was licensee from 1877-78 and William Payne from 1878-80, after which the licence lapsed. It was taken up by the O'Connells, mother Margaret and sons Eugene and Patrick, as a wine saloon. Pat held the licence in 1885 [actually from 1883 to 1899]. Eugene and his mother ran the saloon while Pat managed the 1,280 acre Tarawang property which he had purchased in 1877 from Henry Cunningham.

...

The Irish O'Connells from County Meath had independent means. Father Terence apparently died before the family came to the [Gulgong] area. The saloon was a popular spot for cattle drovers. Eugene and Pat enjoyed a game of cards and a nip of rum. Pat and wife Mary left Tarawang in 1919. His mother had died in 1906 and Eugene died in 1930. It is not known how long the saloon traded."

Source: Pubs Past and Present, Roma Wallis. 

Government Gazette lists confirm the above-named licencees for "The Goodaman Inn, Gulgong District, Goodaman Creek, Cobbora Road":

1876 - Henry Brumler
1878-79 - William Payne
1879-80 - William Payne 

The following extract is from an article about a trip by buggy from Mudgee to Coonabarabran in 1877. The full article is well worth a read but this section describes passing through Goodiman in a hot, drought-ridden February.

A Visit to Coonabarabran.

...Crossing Reedy Creek, the which watercourse is filled with sand, and has never a reed to show; if the great god Pan called in perflon, and desired to repair his pipes therewith ; we take the road by Goodaman and "dust out" of our own neighbourhood at a very fair travelling pace. The ruts are deep, and, masked by the pulverised highway, occasionally startling; but the springs of our trap have stood many a mile of unfair weighting, rough ways, and headlong driving, They will scarce fail us now.

For miles we pass through what should be the "merrie greenwood," but verdure is there none, save on the tree tops - all is black and bare - a desolate and ghostly landscape, now that mother earth has "taken up'' her natural carpeting. The water-holes certainly, are green, but foul of taste and smell; receptacles in many cases for the carcases of emaciated animals. Leagues upon leagues - yet there is no relief to the eye. The drought of 1876-7 is still "on" - dire melodrama deepening into tragedy that it is. How many nights it may yet have to run, no mortal wight may know.
Source: Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907) Saturday 10 March 1877

This article describes a trip in the opposite direction in August of the following year. It goes on to describe the state of Gulgong township as gold discoveries decline and the district transitions into farming country.

Until a place called Falconer's and another called Goodaman are reached there is very little to relieve the eye from dry and indifferently timbered country…

Goodaman is another public-house near the crossing place over Goodaman Creek. In due time Gulgong was approached, and nearing Ready Creek, which forms one of the boundaries of the Gulgong municipality, indications of auriferous country were to be seen.

To the uninitiated it is difficult to tell what suggests the idea of golden treasure beneath the ground, but the apple-tree flats and the creek with a peculiar sandy and pebbly bed were said to be indications of the presence of gold, and little heaps of dirt where diggers had been trying the ground were ample evidence of the idea that gold was to be found there, having been at one time or other, very strong.

GULGONG AND THE GOLD-FIELDS.

To describe Gulgong itself it is scarcely necessary to use more than the word incongruity, for it is at once one of the most charming and one of the most depressing places in the colony. Stretching away in the distance in every direction are ranges of mountains, which, flushed and brightened by sunlight, and flecked with the shade of the clouds that hang over them, present a picture of loveliness very seldom seen, while emerald spots, that represent the farmer's industry, peep out of every valley into which the glance can penetrate, most picturesquely; but in and about the town are innumerable heaps of red and yellow dirt, which indicate worked-out gold claims, unsightly bark and slab structures which, deserted by their gold-seeking occupants, have fallen into a state of ruin and decay, quantities of refuse lying about which indicate the boisterous living of former days, and all those worthless evidences of bygone wealth and riot which are common to gold-fields, when their days of prosperity and money-making are past. Within the small radius where the business of the town is carried on, there is, however, more compactness and more appearance of stability, but even here there are decaying theatres, rickety, and in one or two cases, deserted public-houses, and old rotting and tumbledown sheds which have the air of dissipated billiard or dancing saloons. And there is a depression over the place which makes property for the time valueless, and houses and land can be bought for a mere nothing compared with what they ought to bring. But notwithstanding those discouraging appearances there are evidences about the place which show that a time of more solid prosperity than that of the gold-fever will come. There are now in the streets of the town which are evenly formed through very narrow, some well-built and well-stocked shops and hotes, several of which are enjoying a fair business; the Borough Council is doing much to improve the place and put it into good order; and small farms on land taken up by free-selectors are becoming very numerous in the valleys not far from the town. Very little gold is now got at Gulgong, and there are not more than about 400 or 500 diggers in the district. Yet that the precious metal is so scarce is not to be wondered at when it is stated that as much as sixteen tons of gold have been taken from this gold-field since it opened. From this great yield of wealth it is needless to say that many men made large fortunes; and perhaps it is as needless to state that nearly all lost them again. A well-known publican in Gulgong has, during his experience on the gold-fields, made several fortunes, and spent them again in speculation; an alderman of the town, now possessed of just sufficient property to bring him in a rental large enough to keep him decently, was at one time the possessor of more than £30,000, which he lost in speculation and various other ways; and these are but types of numerous instances.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Thursday 1 August 1878 p 3 Article

1879 - [STABLE FIRE]
On the 24th ultimo, a stable at Goodaman Creek, near Gulgong, the property of George Rouse, of Borangambil [sic Biraganbil], and a stack of hay and one of com, the property of William Payne, the lessee of the stables, were destroyed by fire, and at an inquest held on the 28th ultimo, before the District Coroner, the following verdict was returned:—That on Friday, the 24th January, the said stables, hay stack, and corn stack, were set on fire, but how or by whom there is not sufficient evidence before us (the Jurors), to show.” From inquiries made by the Police, the fire is believed to have been caused by the groom smoking.

See also:


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Saturday, February 10, 2018

Terence O'Connell


Terence O'Connell was the Irish son of James O'Connell (a farmer) and Julia Duffy.

At the age of 27, Terence married Margaret McConnell on 27 January 1850 in the Parish of Athboy, County Meath. Margaret was born in Martinstown, County Meath.

Source: From NLI parish registers. Athboy, Co Meath. 

The family moved to Australia (on the Telegraph in 1853). 

Source: NSW Assisted immigrants index and 
Telegraph 18 Sept 1853

The O'Connell's lived in Hargraves, NSW. After her husband's death in 1879,  Margaret moved with her adult children to Goodiman, a property 12 miles west of Gugong on the road to Cobbora.

Terence and Margaret's children's births were as follows:
  • BRIDGET, born in Ireland and arrived in Australia in 1853.
  • MARY JANE, born 1852-54? (said to be 54 at mother's death in 1906)
  • JAMES DANIEL, born 1854 (NSW BDM 1713/1854 V18541713 71); christened 20 August 1854 in St James Catholic Church, Cumberland, Australia; died 1882, Mudgee district (NSW BDM 9884/1882)
  • EUGENE, born 1856, Bathurst region (NSW BDM 3257/1856 and 3468/1856 V18563468 162B) ROMAN CATHOLIC BATHURST; KELSO, ST MICHAEL'S; CO. BATHURST
  • PATRICK, born 1859, Mudgee/Hargraves (NSW BDM 9835/1859)
  • MARGARET ELIZABETH, born 1861, Mudgee/Hargraves  (NSW BDM 10011/1861)
  • THERESA EDITH (known as JULIA), born 1863, Mudgee/Hargraves (NSW BDM 10515/1863)
Terence was listed as a farmer at Hargraves in Greville's Index of 1875.

Source: Greville's Index, 1875

At the time of Terence's death on 26 April 1879, the family lived at Black Willow in the Hargraves region. Terence had worked as a farmer and shearer. He was 62 years old and had suffered "debility" for 2 years prior to dying of old age. He was buried at Wellington, NSW. His burial was not attended by a priest but it was witnessed by Thomas O'Brien. I assume this was our relative Thomas O'Brien who had been a senior constable in Hargraves since June 1877 (2 years earlier).

Julia's brothers, Eugene and Patrick O'Connell, were on friendly terms with Thomas O'Brien's daughter, Sara Ellen despite the O'Brien's living in Peak Hill (nearly 200km away).

Eleven years after Terence's death, the families were united by the marriage of Terence's daughter Julia and Thomas' son, John Michael.

When Terence O'Connell died, his wife Margaret was 57. 

The daughters married as follows:
NB: Jockey Bill Payne from Wellington was known to Wilfred O'Brien. Investigate further.
_______________________________

Extract from the death certificate of Terence O'Connell:




 

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Greenhalgh Wedding - Beryl

Photo of guests at the wedding of Annie Greenhalgh of Beryl in 1912


Back row (L to R): Robert Campbell Jnr, Jack Peck, Robert Campbell Snr, Roy Greenhalgh, Jim Peck, Hubert Peck with Hazel, Keith Greenhalgh with Joyce Peck, Sam Cross holding Max Cross

Second row: Rob Heard, Eugene O’Connell, Mr and Mrs Jim Smith, Agnes Campbell, Esme Brophy, Reg Peck, Bill Greenhalgh with baby, Pat Brophy, Bill Brophy and Jack Brophy (twins), John Peck Snr, J Travis

Front row (L to R): Robert Greenhalgh, Mrs O’Connell, Mr and Mrs Gordon Mason, Rev R C Sands, Maude Campbell, Violet Brophy, Mrs Ben Cross, Mrs Greenhalgh, Victor Cross,. Geoff Peck, in front

      
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Friday, January 12, 2018

Martha Jane (Dibley) Wiggins





53 YEARS AGO EARLY RIVERSTONE WHEN THERE WERE ONLY 6 HOUSES
Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954) Friday 29 June 1934 p 6 Article
 
 
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  • Australia Birth Index, about Martha J Dibley, Name: Martha J Dibley, Birth Date: 1858, Father's Name: Jesse Dibley, Mother's Name: Sarah, Birth Place: New South Wales, Registration Year: 1858, Registration Place: Bathurst, New South Wales, Registration number: 4739
  • Australia Marriage Index, about Martha Dibley, Name: Martha Dibley, Spouse Name: George Wiggins, Marriage Date: 1879, Marriage Place: New South Wales, Registration Place: Parramatta, New South Wales, Registration Year: 1879, Registration number: 2498.
  • Australia Death Index, about Martha Jane Wiggins, Name: Martha Jane Wiggins, Death Date: 1942, Death Place: New South Wales, Father's Name: Jessie, Registration Year: 1942, Registration Place: Windsor, New South Wales
Registration number: 4404

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INDEX - SAMPSON

SAMPSON PROFILES:


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INDEX - O'CONNELL

O'CONNELL PROFILES:





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