Conrick of Nappa Merrie H. M. Tolcher
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Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited 07/12/2015 CONRICK OF NAPPA MERRIE A PIONEER OF COOPER CREEK BY H. M. TOLCHER 1997 i Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited Published by Ian J. Itter Swan Hill Victoria 3585 Australia ISBN, Title: Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited Transcribed by Ian J. Itter 2015 Postage Weight 1 Kg Classifications:- Pioneers – Australia ii Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited © Helen Mary Forbes Tolcher, 1997 All rights reserved This book is copyright, other than for the purposes and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act, 1968 No part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher ISBN 0-646-32608-2 Printed on acid free, archival paper by Fast Books (A division of Wild & Woolley Pty. Ltd.) NSW, Australia iii Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ……………………………… v. Preface …………………………………………… vii. Map 1 ……….……………………………………. viii Map 2 ……….……………………………………. ix 1. The Irish Emigrant ……………………………….. 1 2. Droving to Queensland …………………………... 10 3. Selecting the Land ……………………………….. 16 4. A Journey to Charleville …………………………. 21 5. Settling at Nappa Merrie .……….……………….. 26 6. Exploration ..……………………………………... 33 7. Down the Strzelecki ..……………………………. 38 8. Back to Tower Hill ..…………………………….. 42 9. Cooper Creek Concerns .…………………………. 45 10. Business in Melbourne …………………………… 57 11. New Neighbours …..……………………………... 62 12. Letters to Agnes Ware .…………………………… 65 13. Wedded Bliss ……………………………………… 69 14. The Family Man …………………………………… 76 15. Difficulties and Disasters ………………………….. 84 16. Prosperity …………………………………………… 94 17. The Younger Generation ……………………………. 102 18. Retirement ...………………………………………… 110 19. Under New Management ……………………………. 114 Appendix …………………………………………….. 130 Detailed Index ………………………………………... 122 iv Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have assisted in the preparation of this work. The Conrick family has been most generous, both with their time and the loan of family papers and photographs. In addition, I would like to thank the Latrobe Librarian, State Library of Victoria; the Archivist, Queensland State Archives: the staff of the Newspaper Section, State Library of South Australia; Miss Margaret Daffy, of Colac: Errol Lea-Scarlett, Archivist of St. Ignatius College, Riverview, New South Wales; Mr. Tom Wicking, Historian for the City of Warnambool and Mr. C.D. Marfleet, who restored many irreplaceable glass plate negatives to good order. Finally, I am grateful to Mr. John Rickertt, the former manager of Nappa Merrie Station, for his permission to visit outlying areas of the run. H. M. Tolcher v Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited A young John Conrick 1852 - 1926 vi Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited PREFACE The story of John Conrick is based mainly on his personal diaries, published memoirs and other private papers which have survived the floods and fires of the past century. The historical background against which he is seen comes from a decade of general research, during which time additional information on Conrick appeared in the form of Lands Department dockets and station and run files, newspaper articles and correspondence with various Government Departments. Most of the papers are held by the Conrick family, whose patience with, and cooperation in, what proved to be a long project was very much appreciated. Special thanks go to John Conrick and the late Joe, whose lively interest inspired the work, and to Neil, Dick and Pat Conrick, who provided invaluable insights into life on Nappa Merrie in the 20th century. As usually happens, individual family members have differing perceptions of events, varying attitudes and divergent opinions between which I have endeavoured to steer a tactful course in the search for as much of the truth as can be retrieved. I hope the story which follows will be accepted as an honest attempt to accurately assess men for whose achievements I developed, during my research into their lives, a deep and enduring respect. Linden Park, March, 1996 vii Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited Map 1 General Location viii Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited Map 2 The Innumincka District ix Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited CHAPTER 1 THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS Ireland in the early 19th century was a country with steadily declining industry and trade, and increasing poverty. The most young labourers could hope for was to become tenant farmers, with a few acres of land and a hovel to live in, but despite this bleak future they married and multiplied, and the population grew with abnormal rapidity. Poverty waa so widespread, however, that many looked abroad for a hope of bettering their lot, and thousands emigrated to the United States of America, and to Australia. Among the thousands of young Irishmen who left their homeland in the first half of the 19th century was Patrick Conrick, born in Clogaeen, County Tipperary, the son of John Conrick a farmer, and Mary, his wife, formerly Mary Cahill. The young man, only 18 years old, left Plymouth on the barque "Argyle" on the 11th of November, 1840, bound for Australia. The “Argyle" was only 598 tons, perhaps 130 feet long and thirty feet across at the widest part. She carried thirty-three emigrant families, totalling ninety-five souls, and one hundred and nine single male and female emigrants, two hundred and four steerage passengers in all, plus nineteen cabin and intermediate class passengers. The cabin passengers were accommodated above deck, in the quarter deck area, the intermediate passengers in cabins below the decks, while the steerage passengers were packed into a large open space astern of these, dormitory fashion. Modern travellers would consider conditions for the steerage passengers appalling. Their quarters were cramped, unsanitary, and so overcrowded that privacy was impossible. Food on the emigrant ships was limited to meat, usually salted, bread, flour, sugar and tea, and peas, as the staples, with dried fruit, suet, fish, rice or potatoes as supplements, water was rationed, and often bad; bathing was limited to the use of a sea-water hose on deck, or a bowl. Exercise on a crowded ship was also rationed, making an airing on deck a luxury; in addition, on a deck crowded with cargo and the livestock carried to eke out the rations, walking was something of an obstacle race The greatest problem, once they had recovered from the initial seasickness, had settled in and improvised what small comforts they could in, the conditions, must have been boredom. The long days crept by with only the meals to mark the hours' passing. They might hope to glimpse some flying fish, or a whale, or a passing vessel when on deck. For the remainder of the time there was only conversation with one's fellows, perhaps dominoes or card games, or as a treat a concert organised by the passengers using whatever talent was available. At the end of the day, sleep was often disturbed by bad weather or sickness among the passengers, seven infants were born on the voyage, and two children died. Only the hope of something better at the end of the tedium could have made the voyage bearable. Patrick and his fellow colonists must have been relieved when a little more than three months after leaving England the "Argyle" arrived outside Port Phillip heads on 27th January, 1841. There is no record of what employment Conrick found or where he lived initially, but in the young Colony, first settled only six years before and now having a population of some 4,000, there was work for strong labourers. 1 Conrick of Nappa Merrie - Revisited Eventually Conrick made his way west to the Warnambool district, where he arrived in 1848. Irish settlers had arrived in the western districts of Victoria in the early 1840s, and began cultivating potatoes on the fertile country around Tower Hill. A village, two small churches and a couple of farmhouses appeared on the south side of Tower Hill, the start of what was to become the most concentrated Irish settlement in Australia, one which remains to this day rich in Irish place names and Irish patronymics, and devoutly Catholic. Not all the settlers prospered. One of the villages was reported as "squalid huts with thatched roofs; on every hand were dirt and discomfort." and later it was described as "that dirtiest of all Victorian hamlets .... Few of the cottages appear to contain more than two rooms, though they are inhabited by large families .... the whole place is undrained, and the pigs are masters of the situation.” Some, it seems, had achieved no improvement in their circumstances for all the hardships of their journey to Australia. Others, luckier or more energetic, thrived. Among them were the Molan’s, who had arrived on the "Coromandel", which berthed at Melbourne on 10th July, 1840. John and Bridget Molan had brought with them from Limerick seven children, Daniel, the eldest, aged 21; Michael, Margaret, Maurice, Thomas, William and Ellen, the youngest, just six years old. John was described on the passenger list as a farm servant, Bridget as a housemaid. By the time Patrick Conrick arrived in Koroit the Molan’s were well settled, in what was to be a pretty and prosperous village, of "smiling gardens and well-built cottages." Over the years they were to take an active part in the affairs of the district, serving on the Borough Council, one of them becoming Mayor, while Maurice Molan was one of the first trustees for the Koroit Catholic Church. Michael Molan was to be remembered as one of the notable pioneer farmers of the nearby Southern Cross district. Newcomer Patrick Conrick was immediately absorbed into this Irish community, and on 23rd May, 1850, he and Ellen Molan were married in the little Roman Catholic School House at Tower Hill by Father Thomas Slattery.