History of West Australia

Front matter

PREFACE.

It would be curious indeed if inaccuracies are not found in the following narrative—the first yet published on Western Australia. At the same time, much care and nearly two years of labour have been devoted to its compilation, and every effort has been put forth to make it thoroughly correct and representative. Many obstacles, often insuperable, have been confronted. Only slight comment has been indulged in, the chief object being, while presenting a readable work to trace the growth of industries, to describe the peculiar circumstances which at first retarded general expansion, and to supply a record of Western Australian annals. From such points of view the reader is asked to form his judgment. A few letter-press inaccuracies, due to necessarily hurried revision, will be discovered in the first five or six chapters. The narrative is carried up to May, 1897; but for obvious reasons, mining statistics subsequent to that month have been included. Special thanks for assistance are tendered to the Government of Western Australia, to permanent heads of departments—such as Messrs. O. Burt, R. C. Clifton, J. B. Roe, H. Johnston, M. A. C. Fraser, R. Pether and H. C. Prinsep—to several early settlers, and to the Hon. R. S. Haynes, M.L.C.; Messrs. Edward Shenton, F. C. Broadhurst, W. M. Parker, and Thos. Burmingham. Two articles on the goldfields, by experienced men, are appended.

Part II. contains the biographies of the chief men of the colony, a feature of this production which should prove of general interest. Engaged on this section of the work have been J. M. Mackay, F. F. Macalpine, M.A., S. H. Whittaker, and other special writers.

Albert Watt Macdonald

ALBERT WATT MACDONALD, J.P.

MAYOR OF COOLGARDIE.

TO millions in the external world Coolgardie is Western Australia. Though other centres are now serenely projecting their golden heads into the bright light of day and demanding fair recognition for what they show and what they have still to show, Coolgardie's full form has long been admired in distant lands by the aid of gold-tipped imagination. The marvellous rapidity of her growth can well attest to the honours and attentions showered on her. Money from the coffers of the universe has streamed in to develop her rich resources, and enterprising and industrious people of equally cosmopolitan origin apply and administrate the sparkling heap.

When Mr. Macdonald, the present Mayor of Coolgardie, assumed the reins of office, the way to effectiveness in municipal government was more than roughly paved, but yet there were many clamouring cries for improvement and amendment. His office is no sinecure, for he must labour to maintain the supremacy of Coolgardie, not only because of the natural spirit of rivalry in her inhabitants and electors, but also because of the consideration of just claims of the many speculators and capitalists who have sunk their money in the surrounding properties. A web of duties has spun itself round the civic chair, and demands concentrated and incessant attention from Mr. Macdonald. He was born at Black River Farm, Circular Head, Tasmania, in 1860. His father, Alexander Macdonald, was an engineer in the district, and bestowed great pains in the training and education of his son. The young Albert was sent to the Launceston Church Grammar School, where his progress gave satisfaction to all concerned, and on completing his studies he went to Melbourne and entered the large warehouse of L. Stevenson and Sons. For five years he gave diligent attention to his work, and his services, enthusiastically and willingly rendered, were appreciated by the firm, who gave him a recommendation on his departure that could not but satisfy the youthful recipient. Armed with his own abilities and this tangible witness-document of his character, and discretionary judgment, he went forth to seek some commercial position where his five years' training would be of value to him, and was engaged in the firm of Messrs. McArthur, Morrow, and Brind. He remained with them for two years, and then many considerations induced him to ally himself with the extensive house of Robert Reid and Co.

In this huge warehouse, with its wider concentric sphere of commercial connections, Mr. Macdonald found the radii of his experience amply stretched. For seven years he did sincere and good work for the firm. Their approval found external confirmation in their then appointing him the representative of their growing business at Sydney. This timely recognition of his capabilities stimulated him to prove himself more worthy of that promotion which their confidence and trust had bestowed on him. His subsequent industry and integrity strengthened their former opinions as to his suitability for the post, and it was with regret that they finally received his notice severing his connection with them.

The attractions which Broken Hill offered for commercial enterprise were too great for Mr. Macdonald to resist, and borne on the general tide of influx to that silver Utopia, he there set up a large general store. From 1889 to 1893 his business, which grew ultimately to extensive proportions, realised increasing remunerations. But keen competition, decline of silver values and individual mining enterprise, sounded the gradual ebb of returns and profits. Fortunately, as he was deliberating on the next field for business operations, the news of Western Australia's rich gold discoveries decided his waverings. He left at once for Coolgardie, where he arrived in August, 1893. Coolgardie at that early period, not boasting of any pretentions to the highly-developed title of town, did not afford much scope at once for the successful conduct of a business. For six months or so he engaged in prospecting the fields surrounding the centre. This pursuit gave ample time for visitors to stream into Coolgardie and the different spheres of commercial activity. When he returned from his prospecting tours he was more than surprised at the rapid expansion of Coolgardie. It had resolved itself into a large community, and adapting himself to the situation Mr. Macdonald decided to open an auctioneering business. Accordingly he procured an office in Bayley Street, and his foresight soon informed him that he would be fortunate. The flourishing business that he possesses to-day proved that his speculative judgment was a correct forecast. At present the visitor can walk leisurely down this street and find the hum and hub of his extensive business swaying merrily on.

A little organisation and centralisation were considered expedient in the interests of a widely extending community. Mr. Macdonald was requested to assist in the work of erecting and controlling legislative machinery. His services were enlisted in addressing public meetings of the citizens on many important topics that concerned their best interests. His experience was an acquisition. At Broken Hill he had taken some interest in the management of public matters, and was one of the moving spirits in the constitution of the Mechanics' Institute. It was therefore decided in Coolgardie that he was a good advocate of the town's demands. He took an active part in the committee formed to urge upon the Government the necessity of establishing a weekly instead of a fortnightly mail to Coolgardie, and when the citizens were anxious to form themselves into a municipality he was prominent in his endeavours to give effect to their wishes. At two large public meetings he delivered effective speeches, in which he strenuously upheld the claims of the townspeople, on whom he impressed the necessity for united action. The immediate result of these large concourses was the formation of a progress committee. This was invested with powers akin to the present municipal council, and was born in a spirit of restless advocacy for just claims and rights. When the election to the committee came on Mr. Macdonald offered himself as a candidate, and was chosen to fill one of the seats. The business of the body was not one of peaceful discussion of administration and legislation. The harassing nature of its position is evidenced by the unceasing and clamouring demands upon the Government for the assignation of a multitude of requisitions. But the prime object of its constitution was soon realised when the Government, in response to solicitation issued the formal warrant for the Coolgardie municipality.

Mr. Macdonald, whose services in connection with the committee were warmly recognised by a vigilant populace, now stood for the first municipal elections, and was returned at the head of the poll. Such a result could not but have been exceedingly gratifying to himself and his constituents, for it was a tangible sign of their appreciation of his hearty co-operation in the general cause. Perhaps the names of his fellow-councillors will not be uninteresting on the score of their being the first councillors of a town whose progress and interests are being closely watched and zealonsly guarded by thousands who have not as yet visited her boundaries. The order on the poll was as follows:—S. P. Asken, J. Howard Taylor, A. Mackenzie, A. Leevers, and J. L. Hinde. The absorbing nature of his attachment to the affairs of the Council constituted Mr. Macdonald a worthy and genuine representative. With the respect of his colleagues for his able political advice on matters of momentary importance, with the increasing confidence of his supporters, who kindly seconded his efforts, he soon rose to a dignified status in the council. His administrative capacities were so fully recognized that when Mayor Shaw vacated the chair in December, 1895, Mr. Macdonald was chosen mayor in his stead. In this official capacity he has not betrayed the hopes of his fellow councillors. No half-hearted assistance is given by him to the cause of progress. He has filled, and still fills (1896), that position with dignity born of a sense of duty. His efforts to raise the general conditions of the town to a high model have not been devoid of success. Though there may be, and must be, divergent opinions on his individual principles and policy, still they must give way before a generous and just recognition of his abilities as a man, and of his administrative capabilities as a councillor. His thorough knowledge of all civic affairs, from the highest and most vital legislative departures for the public good down to the most trifling municipal minutiæ, render him a leader in whom the town may well rely for the execution of all that may conduce to a tone of health in the community.

Connected with the mayoral office, there are numerous other honorary positions which must be accepted nolens volens. Sporting clubs illuminate their syllabi with the mayor's patronage in large letters at the top. Institutions and constitutions, utilitarian schemes and leagues, must associate the name of the mayor with the sincerity of the cause, and to lend dignity and gloss to their official list.

Mr. Macdonald is president of the Health Board, a position which requires calm, cautious, and deliberate judgment. He was a member of the Stock Exchange, and one of its original promoters. When the Coolgardie railway was opened he was appointed chairman of the reception committees, to do honour to the many influential visitors who arrived to witness the inauguration of a new era for the goldfields of Coolgardie.

While on a visit to Perth in January, 1896, he approached the Government, and impressed on them the desirability of granting some land to the municipality as a free gift. His intercessions, so far from being repudiated, were fruitful in procuring for Coolgardie two-thirds of a section of land in Bayley, Moran, and Sylvester Streets, which returns £5,000 ground rental, and which, with just expectations, is calculated to return £7,000 in 1897. He had, perhaps, the singular and enviable fortune of obtaining from the Government on this occasion the full "quantum" of his several requests. Additional free Government grants obtained through Mr. Macdonald's instrumentality were eighty acres for a site for park lands for a recreation reserve, and a handsome grant of money for the erection of a Mechanics Institute, which has from its foundation proved a great success. During his period of office electricity was introduced into the town. The mayor and his councillors were warmly congratulated on the inauguration of such a first-class and advanced system of lighting. The numerous obstacles and difficulties that strewed themselves objectionably in the way to its realisation were carefully surmounted and overcome by the unflagging devotion of the promoters.

When first Mr. Macdonald stepped into the dignified enclosures of his mayoral office, the revenue of the municipality scarcely exceeded a scanty £3,000. In 1896 it was £9,000, and possibly, if surmises are correct, it will be £15,000 in 1897. Such a sudden jump during one year of office, though arising from sources extraneous to his control, still proves concomitant labour, vigilance, and anxiety in the various avenues and channels of supply. Perhaps the ablest testimonial impartiality can advance on the conduct of Mayor Macdonald's stewardship is to speak in decisive terms, and say that his career as a mayor has been devoted to the disinterested services of the inhabitants, that the various records of his term furnish indisputable evidences of his qualifications as a successful legislator on all matters of municipal law.

It is also desired by all, and mostly so by the mayor himself, that sufficient regard should be paid to the hearty co-operation of the Council in all matters pertaining to the municipal welfare. The zealous assistance rendered him by loyal councillors has been manifested in divers ways.

Mr. Macdonald was created a Justice of the Peace in December, 1895. He was married in 1890 to Miss Booth, daughter of Mr. John Booth, ex-M.L.A., who was thrice mayor of Balmain, Sydney. There are two of an issue to the happy union. Mrs. Macdonald, the mayoress, is a highly respected and popular lady in Coolgardie and on the goldfields.

Alex. Robert Richardson

HON. ALEX. ROBERT RICHARDSON, M.L.A.

THE MINISTER OF LANDS.

THE historical portion of this work sets out in as clear language as we could command the very considerable land resources of Western Australia. The outside world has implicitly believed the general report that this colony possesses few, if any, advantages of soil and climate. Such people are ignorant of the fact that while there are large areas of poor land, desert tracts that suffer by intermittent rain-falls, there are also several districts containing very large areas of soil capable of producing the best agricultural, horticultural, and fruit products, and fitted and destined to contribute by export to the requirements, in cereals, fruits, and wines, of other countries. In the far north there are areas of pastoral lands equal in fertility to the best portions of Queensland and New South Wales. They may be visited by spasmodic droughts, but as a rule not more so than the mother-colony. Moreover, in point of healthiness for sheep, cattle, or horses northern country is unsurpassed. For man also this is remarkably true, considering the heat of a tropical sun. In the south-west there are splendid tracts of wheat land. As to the horticulturists, if they strive more strenuously to acclimatise foreign plant life, they shall hybridise new varieties in consonance with the surroundings. This has already been largely done in the eastern colonies, and now that prosperity and general activity seem to have permanently settled on this colony, we shall yet witness a production of fruits, wools, and cereals that the world shall hear of. But this is not the place to dilate on the land resources of Western Australia, except so far as to show what an important office the Minister for Lands has to fill.

This position is held by the Hon. Alexander Robert Richardson, M.L.A. By reason of his knowledge of most industries relating to the soil in Western Australia, Mr. Richardson is well fitted to supervise such an important colonial department. He enterprisingly went into undeveloped districts of the far north and settled among the blacks. He experienced the dangers and hardships inseparable from the life of a pioneer who would render habitable the waste lands of the earth. It was therefore but in the natural order of things that a man of his observant mind should place his large and varied experience at the disposal of the Government of the colony. Mr. Richardson should be intimately acquainted with the agricultural, pastoral, and horticultural resources of Western Australia, and with his knowledge of the advanced methods of the eastern colonies, his occupancy of the high office may be viewed with hope and confidence. Western Australia is not likely to fall into the errors of the other Australian colonies in their illiberal land laws. They strove to make as much as possible out of the sale or rental of Crown Lands, and instead of stimulating, crippled, what is always the backbone of a country's prosperity. The present is the moment when universal interest is taken in this colony, and, given encouragement to settle capital and labour on the land, the strong basis of a permanent good will be laid.

In the convict days in Tasmania the Rev. Thomas Elliott Richardson, the father of the Hon. A. R. Richardson, after his term of a student's life at the Glasgow University, in which he obtained the degree of M.A., officiated as clergyman under the Presbyterian denomination. He there had many varied experiences, and late in the forties returned to his native land. Before this, however, he married in Tasmania. His wife, Jane Anderson, had accompanied her father, a yeoman farmer of Fifeshire, to Western Australia not many years after it was settled. While still a girl, in 1839, she went with her father to Tasmania, where she subsequently met her future husband. The Rev. Mr. Richardson and his young wife, some three or four years after marriage, decided to take a trip to the old country, which, with two young children, was then a difficult and important undertaking. They did not remain long at home, but voyaged again to the Southern Hemisphere, on this occasion landing in Melbourne. Later on they went to Portland, where the pastor was given a charge. In those far-off days, when Victoria was chiefly an unsettled and uninhabited country, the life of a pastor in a country district somewhat resembled that of an explorer. He had to make long and dangerous horseback journeys in the bush, possessing neither roads nor bridges, and ofttimes had to swim swollen rivers to reach lonely and isolated homesteads and stations. The Rev. Mr. Richardson followed the life of a pastor for many years in Victoria amid general respect. Eventually his religious opinions underwent such a change that he resigned his position as a minister in the Presbyterian Church. He afterwards purchased a newspaper in Portland known as the Portland Guardian, which he edited for many years. The old newspaper still exists. A little over twelve months before the Rev. and Mrs. Richardson left Great Britain, Alexander Robert Richardson was born (in 1848), at Islington. There were five children in the family—three daughters. The eldest, a son, is the Hon. John Elliott Richardson member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia. The boyhood of the Hon. A. R. Richardson was spent in Victoria, and there he received an excellent education at different schools, and a splendid grounding of character from his mother and father. In the sixties his father and his uncle, Mr. Thomas Anderson, were in correspondence with Mr. Walter Padbury, a well-known West Australian pioneer. From this correspondence was gleaned news of the explorations of the late Mr. T. F. Gregory in the Roebourne district of this colony, and of the rich pastoral lands lying idle there. Such a strong effect had the information contained in the letters on the minister's sons and three of their friends that they enterprisingly yearned to face the difficulties of early settlement, and the romantic life among the aborigines. After much careful deliberation their parents were not averse to gratifying their adventurous wishes, and preparations were soon energetically made for their leaving for Western Australia. Mr. A. R. Richardson was then but seventeen years old, and just the age when the adventurous instincts are strongest in youth. His stamina was soon put to the test. In 1865 the five young men—the brothers Richardson, Edwin Anderson, Mackenzie Grant, and John Edgar—left Victoria. They had chartered the ship Maria Ross, and taking with them 1,600 ewes and necessary provisions they sailed for the scene of operations. On the 2nd April, 1865, they landed at Tientsin Harbour, now called Cossack Bay, the port of the Roebourne district, where they secured a lease of over 200,000 acres, and gave to it the name of Pyramid Station, and spread their sheep over the good pasture land. Then followed many years of secluded life, with no companionship but that of a few brother pioneer settlers and the natives. Prominent among the neighbouring settlers were several young men now well known in Western Australia:—Mr. Chas. Harper, M.L.A., Mr. H. Venn, M.L.A. (late Commissioner of Railways), Mr. Robert F. Sholl, M.L.A., Mr. H. W. Sholl, M.L.A., Mr. E. T. Hooley, M.L.A., and Mr. D. N. McLeod, M.L.A. (for Portland, in the Victorian Assembly). All these gentlemen became old and tried friends amid the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life in North-Western Australia. The party worked laboriously to improve their property, and the flocks fattened and multiplied. Each season proved that their enterprise was well-founded. They had their daily round of duties; they had their difficulties with the natives; they had their shepherding and fencing and other work incidental to early pastoral pursuits to attend to. And then the shearing time—the squatter's harvest. This provided the greatest excitement of the year, and it was not always an easy matter to obtain sufficient labour to remove the golden fleeces when after a few years the flocks had largely increased.

After four years of varied success the partnership was dissolved by Messrs. Grant and Anderson separating from their companions. These two gentlemen took their shares of the stock and started to travel them to Perth. It proved an exceptionally dry season and their efforts resulted disastrously. They were not to be daunted, for, returning to the north again, they settled on land which is now widely known in the colony as the De Grey Station. When the partnership was dissolved, Mr. A. R. Richardson took the management of the Pyramid Station. At that time he was but twenty-one years old, which shows that he must have had a wise head on his young shoulders. But his four years' training proved all sufficient, and his interests became more and more extensive. It would be impossible to mention in this pen sketch all the difficulties passed through. Some of them were sufficient to daunt many men. The climate, in the first place, was excessively trying at certain periods of the summer, but Mr. Richardson being naturally of a strong and robust constitution suffered little on that score. Many times the provisions on the station (so far away from any town) were so limited that the party were reduced to most unpleasant straits. For instance, once they were compelled to live on a quarter of a pound of barley, ground in a coffee mill, a day; and on many occasions on a quarter of a pound and half a pound of flour. Then they were often without tea and sugar—much loved luxuries on the back stations. These difficulties were caused by reason of ships trading from Fremantle and other ports being overdue. The following is an instance of what early settlers had at times to contend with, when, for business or health, voyages were undertaken to the settled and more civilised south. Mr. Richardson, in order to proceed to Fremantle, on one occasion stepped on board a fore-and-aft schooner of 80 tons burden. The little craft, baffled with adverse winds and gales, was blown some 1,100 miles offshore, and after 47 days reached Champion Bay, 700 miles from their port of departure—Cossack. The rations were nearly absorbed, and latterly were allotted in the smallest quantities. At last those on board had neither food nor water, but happily eighteen hours after this happened they made Champion Bay. I was a cheerful sight to them—that of the port and the few buildings near the beach.

While Mr. Richardson was managing the Pyramid Station he was married, in 1874, to Ellen, daughter of Mr. John Wellard, an enterprising and widely respected colonist. Some months before the advent of Mr. Richardson and party, Mr. Wellard chartered, fitted out, and despatched a ship—the Tientsin—with a cargo of sheep, cattle, and horses for the Roebourne district. He personally accompanied the expedition, superintended the landing of the stock, placed Mr. Shakespeare Hall, also a worthy pioneer, in charge of his party of men, and returned to Fremantle. Mr. Wellard was therefore one of the earliest pastoralists in the Roebourne district. Mr. Richardson continued to reside in the Nickol Bay (now Roebourne) district until 1876. By this time he naturally desired to get nearer civilised parts, more especially for the sake of his young wife. His brother and Mr. Edgar were still in partnership with him, and with their consent a manager was appointed to the station. Finally, the Hon. J. E. Richardson took the management of the partnership concerns. Mr. Richardson now purchased the Serpentine Farm, at Serpentine, from his father-in-law, and there took up his residence. He set himself the task of improving and developing the estate. By much industry, practical knowledge, and the judicious outlay of a good deal of capital, he has cleared thick forest lands and subdivided them with wild dog-proof fencing. Thus he converted an area of land, which formerly carried, indifferently, about 300 head of cattle, and on which he was informed that sheep could never thrive, into its present capacity of 250 cattle, 3,000 sheep, and 80 horses. What is of more consequence, he furnished to the colony an object-lesson as to the wise utilisation of much of its waste lands.

In 1880 Mr. Richardson was impressed, after a careful perusal of the reports of Mr. Alexander Forrest, M.L.A., on his explorations in the Kimberley and surrounding districts, that there was a good opportunity for successful settlement on the Fitzroy River. Repeating the example of his earlier life, he, with two or three friends, determined upon giving an impetus to the opening up of the rich lands Mr. Forrest had described. A company was formed, stock was procured, and a grant of land obtained on the Fitzroy River. Mr. George Patterson, a partner in the undertaking, was placed in charge, and here Mr. Richardson was instrumental in being one of the first to stimulate the opening up of land which is destined to prove very valuable to the colony. On the Fitzroy is magnificent country, capable of carrying much stock, and of producing any tropical fruit or plant. The subsoil goes down to great depths. The stock for this property was landed at Beagle Bay, where Mr Julius G. Brockmann, now a leading settler in the Gascoyne district, had a few months previously taken up his abode.

To turn to Mr. Richardson's public career, we find that when residing in the Nickol Bay, or Roebourne district, on his station, he took some interest in local affairs. He was a member of Northern Roads Boards, and for terms was chairman of them. Meanwhile, by being observant, he gained an understanding of the requirements of the country, which has served him on many subsequent occasions. Upon making his home nearer to Perth, at Serpentine, he took a more active interest in politics, and eventually essayed to enter the old Legislative Council. He was a candidate for the suffrages of the Northern district, which included Nickol Bay, and with his later colleague in the Government, the Hon. S. Burt was duly returned. That was in 1887. His political leaning was soon made manifest, for on all questions dealing with the pastoral and agricultural interests he spoke with authority. At the inauguration of responsible government, when the Legislative Assembly was constituted, he stood for, and was elected a member of, the De Grey electorate which still embraced the country where his earlier pioneer efforts were made. He continued such an active exponent of wise land legislation that, on the retirement of the Hon. W. E. Marmion from the portfolio of Minister of Lands, Sir John Forrest offered him the office. In December, 1894, he began his duties, and he has continued to perform them with some success since then. During the agitations of 1896 against the Forrest Government, Mr. Richardson's department was spared adverse criticism, and his administration seems to have given satisfaction.

The Hon. Mr. Richardson has inaugurated many useful features in his department. Among the different enactments and regulations that he is to be credited with is the Width of Tires Act, which at the time was a much-needed measure in the colony for the preservation of streets and roads. Much useful and practical legislation now in operation owes its initiation to him, or received his support, in advice and criticism. Mr. Richardson has made a close study of the land laws of his country, and, owing to his own extensive interests and his acquaintance with so much Western Australian country, it may be confidently hoped that he will place the affairs of his department on that basis which is so needful. He has also made himself acquainted with the advanced legislation of other countries, and it may be depended on that he will strive as much as possible to encourage the settlement of a thriving people on the land.

A man of much sound judgment, and ever possessed with a desire to do his duty courteously and comprehensively, the Hon. A. R. Richardson enjoys the esteem of people scattered all over the colony. We have shown what are his commercial recommendations to the control of the Lands Department.

[This sketch was written in 1896; early in 1897 Mr. Richardson resigned his portfolio and his seat in Parliament.—ED ]

Alfred Edward Morgans

ALFRED EDWARD MORGANS.