The Old Man of Meroo William Hundy & his family waterman convict emancipist shepherd settler selector Researched and written by Fred Hundy Cover illustration: William Hundy (The Old Man of Meroo) in his eighties c.1895 Published in 2011 by Fred Hundy 12 Rathbone Court Mudgeeraba Qld 4213 © 2011 Fred Hundy This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publisher. 2 Contents William Hundy’s Family Tree ................................................................................................... 8 Honorah McGrath’s Family Tree.............................................................................................. 9 Catherine Hayes’ Family Tree ................................................................................................ 10 List of Illustrations ................................................................................................................... 11 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... 17 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 18 Worcestershire: Hundy Country ............................................................................................. 20 Convict 33/2330: ‘A Government Man’ ................................................................................... 26 The Emancipist: ‘On His Own Hands’ .................................................................................. 44 Murder, Mayhem, and the McGraths ..................................................................................... 55 The Old Man of Meroo: On His Selection ............................................................................. 67 The Cornstalks: The Australian family ................................................................................... 74 Thomas Hundy ....................................................................................................................... 78 James Hundy ........................................................................................................................... 79 Elizabeth Hundy ..................................................................................................................... 86 William Emanuel Hundy ........................................................................................................ 92 Michael Hundy ........................................................................................................................ 98 Patrick Hundy ........................................................................................................................ 100 George Hundy ........................................................................................................................ 105 John Hundy ............................................................................................................................ 111 Thomas Hundy ...................................................................................................................... 113 John Edward Hundy .............................................................................................................. 119 Reference List ......................................................................................................................... 128 3 For Rory, Keira, Briannah & Madalyn Hundy, and all the Hundys to come. 4 ‘The Old Man of Meroo’ – William Hundy 5 How The Land Was Won The future was dark and the past was dead As they gazed on the sea once more – But a nation was born when the immigrants said "Good-bye!" as they stepped ashore! In their loneliness they were parted thus Because of the work to do, A wild wide land to be won for us By hearts and hands so few. The darkest land 'neath a blue sky's dome, And the widest waste on earth; The strangest scenes and the least like home In the lands of our fathers' birth; The loneliest land in the wide world then, And away on the furthest seas, A land most barren of life for men – And they won it by twos and threes! With God, or a dog, to watch, they slept By the camp-fires' ghastly glow, Where the scrubs were dark as the blacks that crept With "nulla" and spear held low; Death was hidden amongst the trees, And bare on the glaring sand They fought and perished by twos and threes – And that's how they won the land! It was two that failed by the dry creek bed, While one reeled on alone – The dust of Australia's greatest dead With the dust of the desert blown! Gaunt cheek-bones cracking the parchment skin That scorched in the blazing sun, Black lips that broke in a ghastly grin – And that's how the land was won! Starvation and toil on the tracks they went, And death by the lonely way; The childbirth under the tilt or tent, The childbirth under the dray! The childbirth out in the desolate hut With a half-wild gin for nurse – That's how the first were born to bear The brunt of the first man's curse! 6 They toiled and they fought through the shame of it – Through wilderness, flood, and drought; They worked, in the struggles of early days, Their sons' salvation out. The white girl-wife in the hut alone, The men on the boundless run, The miseries suffered, unvoiced, unknown – And that's how the land was won. No armchair rest for the old folk then – But, ruined by blight and drought, They blazed the tracks to the camps again In the big scrubs further out. The worn haft, wet with a father's sweat, Gripped hard by the eldest son, The boy's back formed to the hump of toil – And that's how the land was won! And beyond Up Country, beyond Out Back, And the rainless belt, they ride, The currency lad and the ne'er-do-well And the black sheep, side by side; In wheeling horizons of endless haze That disk through the Great North-west, They ride for ever by twos and by threes – And that's how they win the rest. Henry Lawson 1899 7 William Hundy’s Family Tree William Hundy 1813 - 1899 m. 19 February 1843 Norah McGrath 1824 - 1855 Thomas James Elizabeth William Michael Patrick 1843-1859 1845 - 1919 1847-1915 1850-1936 1853-1895 1855-1937 m. 16 November 1856 Catherine Hayes 1819-1899 George John Thomas John 1857-1945 1858-1861 c.1861-1937 c.1862-1943 8 Honorah McGrath’s Family Tree Patrick & Honora McGrath James McGrath c.1810 Patrick McGrath c.1805- Frances Gleeson c.1815 Honora Loughlin c.1806- Thomas Honora 1824-1855 c.1835 m.1843 William Hundy Emma Louisa Bolland 1813-1899 c.1836 Michael Rodolph 1826-1894 1857 Patrick 1828- Evelyn 1863 m.1854 Anne McNevin 1822- Lewis 1865 Fanny 1854- Florence 1866 Thomas 1856-1930 Ada 1871 William 1858- William c.1840-1915 Michael Henry 1861-1866 William female c.1831- Thomas male c.1833- James male c.1836 9 Catherine Hayes’ Family Tree Michael Hayes m. Mary Crow Catherine Hayes b. 1819 m.1843 m.1856 Joseph William Russell Hundy Mary 1845-1915 m. 1863 m.1873 Luke Madigan Patrick Costello James Mary Anne Bridget Joseph George William Charles Catherine L. Mary C. Michael Madigan Madigan Madigan Madigan Costello Costello Costello Costello Costello Costello Costello b.1864 b.1866 b.1867 b.1871 b.1873 b.1875 b.1879 b.1881 b.1883 b.1884 b.1887 Michael 1848- 1936 m. 1870 Margaret Geohagan Bridget Catherine Michael P. Alice Theresa Mary Amelia Russell Russell Russell Russell Russell Russell Russell b.1871 b.1871 b.1877 b.1879 b.1881 b.1884 b.1890 Catherine b.1849- c.1855 Female Female 10 List of Illustrations Worcestershire: Hundy Country Figure 1: Map of England showing Crowle north west of London in the West Midlands of England. Figure 2: Map of south east Worcestershire showing the key locations of William Hundy’s formative years. Figure 3: A 1795 illustration of a loaded barge on the River Avon at Pershore. Figure 4: Main Street Crowle 1912. A Government Man: Convict 33230 Figure 1: Longboats of convicts approaching a typical prison hulk in the River Thames at Deptford in 1826. Figure 2: One of the few surviving convict uniforms used in the period 1830-1849 as secondary punishment. Figure 3: Sydney Harbour 1830s showing the prevalence of windmills. Figure 4: Looking west from the wharves along George St, Sydney 1829. Figure 5: Sydney looking north from Hyde Park c.1830. Figure 6: Convicts at work on Wolloomoolloo Hill in Sydney c.1830. Figure 7: The drained swamps on the flats of Burrundulla today after Michael Lahy’s handiwork. Figure 8: Uamby – William’s first home upon arrival in the colony in 1834. Figure 9: Cox’s property Uamby and Michael Lahy’s country to the north. Figure 10: Looking west toward today’s Uamby house and outbuildings. Figure 11: Grattai Station, originally held by William’s second convict master William Reeves. Figure 12: Grattai Station looking west. Figure 13: William Reeves holding ‘Grattai’, including his daughters property ‘Yerouera’. Figure 14: Hartley Courthouse where William obtained his Certificate of Freedom in 1840. Figure 15: Certificate of Freedom granted to William Hundy in 1840 by the Hartley Magistrates Bench. The Emancipist: On His Own Hands Figure 1: The Limits of Settlement and Squatting Districts at 1840 - ‘bond’ population means convicts. Figure 2: Meroo Tributaries map of 1843 showing the upper Campbells Creek catchment area & sheepyards. Figure 3: The County of Tipperary, Ireland. Figure 4: