SWAN HILL GENEALOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY
P.O. Box 1232 Swan Hill  3585

A Group Member of
Genealogical Society of Victoria

CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT
Following reports that members, visitors and prospective members have failed to gain anything from attending [sic] at our meetings, the committee have endeavoured to make these nights more interesting and informative. However, we would appeal to anyone who feels this way, to approach the Executive direct, so that they can tell us just what they are "looking for" on meeting nights.

The visit to the Swan Hill Regional Library, and Beginners Night with the booklet organized by Jim Strugnell have both proved benefit to all those who attended.

Please let us have your suggestion for any section of our Society's activities.

The purchase of the S.A. and N.S.W. Births, Deaths and Marriages Micro/Fiche for the use to members will be of immense benefit.

The committee would like to hear of any second/hand Micro/Fiche readers for sale.

HISTORY OF THE SWAN HILL CEMETERY
Continued from Newsletter No.5 - March 1986
There had been some changes in the Trustees over the years, and in 1902 a Minute Book mentions the first meeting of the Trust, with members, Messrs. Patterson, Shipp, Stewart, Murdoch, Kennedy, Pratt, Monohan & Gray. Mr. Pye was appointed as Sexton, and a later meeting elected Mr. E.G. Gray as Secretary at £10 per annum. 
From the minutes, it appeared that the Trustees had some difficulty in obtaining the Cemetery Trust Books from the previous Secretary, or Trust Members. Plans for the much needed improvements to the Cemetery seemed to be altered over the next few years, with changes of Trustees and Sextons; trees which were planted in 1903 & 1904 had to be replanted in 1905, with sugar gums and pepper trees being deemed more suitable. The Cemetery was leased for grazing in July 1907 - a 12 month lease - while there was talk of a plan to beautify it in 1909.

The Swan Hill Guardian carried a news item on September 11th, 1911 which said "The old stub fence round the Cemetery has been removed, and a substantial wire fence with single wire and 2 barbed wires has been erected in it's place. This will keep out the rabbits and stock.
The NSW Government gave a grant of £25 on condition that the £25 be raised locally.
"There will be no difficulty in getting the money, and already a number of grave sites have been sold to residents in and around the district"

The mention of rabbits is also mentioned in the ledger of that period, when payment of £1 was made in 1909 for cleaning out of rabbits. 15/4 was paid in 1911 and £1.10.0 was the cost in 1912.

The first mention of numbered plates for the graves was in 1908, but it would appear that they were used a few years before, or that the pegs were added to the graves already there , at a later date.
From the listing of the names in the Register in which the numbered pegs are first used, it would appear that approximately 100 pegs were used in haphazard fashion; but later use was in rotation of numbers regardless of which section of the cemetery the burial was taking place in. This practice has been further improved on in recent years, and graves are much easier to locate as they are numbered in strict rotation in each Denominational section.

Naturally, the prices of interment etc. have also altered over the years; the first list of prices we have is dated 1864, and covers the Rules by which the burials were made & tombstones etc. were erected and maintained. "The usual hours for the performance of funerals shall be from 10 am to 6 pm from September to April inclusive, and from 10 am to 4 pm in the other four months" was the ground rule "The ground (cemetery) will be open from sunrise to sunset daily" was another.

Public ground interments - £1/10/- : under 12 years - £1 : Stillborn children 10/- .
Private Graves (if selected by Trustees) £1/10/-  Sinking to 6 ft. 15/- .
Private Graves (if selected by applicants) £2/-/-   Additional foot 10/- each.
Re-opening of Grave 10/- .
Out of hours interment 10/- extra ; permission to erect tombstone of any description was another 10/- .
With pedestal or monument a further fee.
To inspect the cemetery plan or register incurred a fee of 2/- .

In 1915 a new scale of Fees was made by the Trustees, which raised some of the above fees by 10/- and others by 5/- . Judging by the receipt books, the fees seemed to steadily rise from then on.

LIBRARY ACQUISITION:
The story of JAMES HEPPINGSTALL LONG & MARY SUSANNA WISHART, author Pat Gillingham donated by Pat Gillingham.

MEMBER'S QUERY :  Mabel Wishart, born 14/6/1868 at Swan Hill
Parents : John & Emma Wishart nee Bond
Older sister : Mary Susanna b. 1859 Africa (Long)
Older brother : John Herbert b. Emerald Hill, Vic
Did she marry and to who?
Did she die young?
Still known alive 1876
O.P. Gillingham, R.S.D.  Lake Charm, KERANG 1579

WHY WAS MARY CALLED POLLY?.......and a list of diminutives.
Reference - Gloucestershire Family History Society Journal
 

25 Long Ridings Avenue, Hulton Brentwood Essex  Dear Editor I have followed up on the suggestion by Mrs. Lindergaard (p14 of Journal No.27, Winter 1985 Glos. F.H.S.). There was no Pollie Wells marriage registered in the September quarter of 1883, and only one Mary Wells in London - in the Marylebone area I have the reference at St. Catherine's House, and will be happy to obtain the certificate for anyone sending me £5 and a stamped self addressed envelope. Donald H Hewer  (Member No.685)

...ember 1982, the Editor received a letter from one of our ......s, Mrs. Barbara Sobey. Unfortunately she put it away rather ........... and it has only just surfaced. The Editor's apologies to .......obey. ....ponse to an article by Patricia Lindegaard, Mr. Donald Hewer ....o.658) has written to us (page 23. He tells us he has found ...y Wells' but not a Polly Wells. The letter from Mrs. Sobey ....y relevant as at that time too a question had arisen about ...me "Polly". Mrs. Sobey's letter is as follows:- ...ly is simply the diminutive of Mary. I knew, anyway from my ...andmother who was always called Polly, although her name was ... Maria, but I checked it in an old book I have which belonged .... other grandmother and contains a list of male and female ...ian names together with their shortened forms. I include a ...f of some of them. ...etimes it was a matter of family convenience. My father is ... Albert and he had a brother called Bertram. They couldn't .... be called Bert, so my father was called Jim - and still is. ...r I have come across is Cis, Ciss or Cissie. This is not ..ortened form of Cicely or Cecelia but short for Sister and ...y indicates that the bearer was the only daughter but had a ....r or brothers. ...add an appeal to everyone to pronounce names in their ..... forms. Maria for instance is not Mareea - the 'i'  should ....nded like a capital 'I'. Carolyn should be pronounced   ....n like Katherine is shortened to Kathryn. Barbara Sobey ...apologies for the missing letters and words above.... the original Newsletter was misprinted.

 

Male Christian names

Albert	Al;  Bert;  Bertie		Herbert	Bert;  Bertie
Alexander	Alex;  Sandy		Hubert	Bert;  Bertie
Alfred	Al;  Fred;  Freddy		James	Jim;  Jimmy
Andrew	Andy;  Drew		John	Jack
Archibald	Archy		Jonathan	Jon;  John
Augustus	Guss;  Gussie		Joseph	Joe
Benjamin	Ben		Leonard	Len
Bertram	Bert;  Bertie		Matthew	Mat;  Mattie
Charles	Chas;  Ch.... [illegible]		Nathan	Nat
Cuthbert	Bert;  Bertie		Nathaniel	Nat
Daniel	Dan		Percival	Perc;  Percy
Edward	Ed;  Eddy;  Ted		Richard	Dick
Frederic(k)	Fred;  Freddie		Robert	Rob;  Robby;  Bob
Harold	Harry;  Hal;   ....  [illegible]		Wilfred	Will;  Fred
Henry	Harry;  Hal		William	Bill;  Will

 

Female Christian names

Ann(e)	Anna;  Nan;  Nancy		Angelina	Ann;  Angie
Adela Adelaide Adelina	Andy		Arabella	Belle;  Bell
Amanda	Mandy		Barbara	Babs;  Barby
Amelia	Amy;  Emily		Beatrice	Beaty;  Trixie;  Bec.
Belinda	Linda;  Bee		Gertrude	Gert;  Trudy
Bridget	Biddy;  Bridy		Harriet    }	Hatty;  Hetty;  Etty
Caroline	Caro		Henrietta }	Netta; Netty
Catherine	Kitty;  Katy;  Kate		Helen	Nell;  Nelly
Cecelia	Cissy		Isabel	Bella
Charlotte	Charlie;  Lottie		Jane	Jean;  Jeanette;  Jennet;  Janet
Christine Christian Christina	}Chris;  Chrissy } }		Katherine	See Catherine
Clementine	Clem;  Lina		Louisa	Lucy
Constance	Con;  Conny		Margaret	Maggy;  Meg;  Megs;  Madge; Peg;  Peggy;  Mysie;  Maisy;  Greta;  Minnie
Dorothy Dorothea Dora	}Dot;  Dotty;  Dora }Dolly }Thea		Mary	Maria;  Marie;  Marion;  Polly; Marianne;  Molly;  Moll;  May
Eleanor	Helen:  Ellen		Matilda	Tilly;  Tilda;  Matty; Maud;  Moll; Molly
Elizabeth	Liz;  Lizzy;  Betty Betsy;  Beth;  Eliza Bess;  Bessy;  Ella		May	Maisie
Emily	Em;  Emma;  Amy		Mildred	Milly
Euphemia	Elly		Nora	Honora
Frances	Fanny;  Fan		Penelope	Penny
Florence	Flo;  Florry		Paula	Poll;  Polly;  Pauline
			Rebecca	Becky;  Becka
			Sarah	Sally;  Sal
			Victoria	Vicky
	No doubt members will know other diminutives		Virginia	Ginny

Clandestine marriages

A couple who went to the vicar who was willing to marry them outside normal procedure, i.e. no banns or licence.

FLEET PRISON MARRIAGES  (Fleet Prison - Farindon Street London).

It is estimated that 150,000 - 200,000 partners were registered from all over England.
Economy was possibly the main reason for these marriages. An example is that in the 1700's it cost 7/- to be married at Clerkwell in London, whereas the Fleet Parsons were charging 1/3' or 2/6'.
The Fleet parsons would employ pliers to encourage people to be married at a price much less than the parochial clergy.

These Fleet 'marriage mongers" were already in prison but lived outside the prison (the prisons were full) and still operated. Despite being frowned upon they were still used and did a roaring business.
Popularity of these Clandestine marriages rose in the 18th. century. It was estimated that over 1/3rd. of all marriages performed in the first half of the century were clandestine.

Clandestine marriages were popular with the sailors when the fleet was in some 200-300 marriages took place. The sailors generally had a place of settlement and through marriage they would get a place of settlement.
The Marriage Act of 1696 checked the practice of Clandestone marriages and they were abolished in 1753 by Lord Hardwicke. Anyone found doing Clandestine marriages after that was deported.

Registers of these marriages come in 3 distinct groups.
1.  Actual Registers No's 1-273.
2.  Small group of indexes to the first registers.
3.  Collection of Notebooks 291-833

i.e. there are 833 of these books on film on 1 reels of film waiting to be put on to the I.G.I. Clandestine marriages still continued at Gretna Green and border towns right up to 1949.
Reference- Zimoc Kath - a lecture delivered to the W.A.G.S. 5/1/1986

W.A.G.S. - West Australian Genealogical Society.

"Some notes taken from a tape produced by the W.A.G.S. in which Kath Zimoc - Librarian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Dianella.
 

SOME GENEALOGICAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Poll Tax Listing	1660-1700		Lay Subsidy Rolls	1200-1642
Health Tax	1662-1688		Acts of Settlement	1662--->
Winton Tax	1696-1851		Barstardy [sic]	1575-1800's
Land Tax	1780--->		Oaths of Allegiance	1723
Muster Rolls	1522--->		London Sewer Rates	1770--->
Protestation Return	1641--->

ACTS OF SETTLEMENT

To prevent families from becoming a charge on the parish, newcomers were required from 1697 to bring with them a "Settlement certificate" stating that they were legally settled in their own parish to which they could be returned an the authority of a magistrate's removal order if they became paupers....of even greater importance are the detailed examinations before magistrates to determine a persons' legal place of settlement. Normally these settlements include a place of birth, details of apprenticeship and employment, place of marriage, name of wife and names and ages of children. 1*

KATH ZIMOC. 2*  "That settlement could be gained in various ways"
    (a)  Birth - recognition by the parish vestry as being a native of that parish if circumstances warranted it.  ie. became orphaned or in the case of a woman in latter years became pregnant before marriage, they became chargeable on the paris.

    (b)  Indentured servant for 1 year

    (c)  Have property in the parish at a rateable charge per annum

    (d) Marriage (church warden were very quick to arrange marriage of persons who were chargeable, i.e. finding a husband in another parish for a pregnant woman or an unmarried mother. Often an old bachelor found himself with a young wife with no thought as to whether the woman wanted it or not.)

Vagrants were unwelcome and were often involved in legal battles in order to remove them back to their original parish. In some cases they were shipped out in such a way that they would never want to return anyway.
Settlement papers became a way of life as each parish looked after it's own and no-one wanted foreigners chargeable upon the parish.
For the family historian, these papers can give full history of the person sought - as those seeking settlement had to go there before the vestry under oath to prove their place of settlement. Our Ancestors moved around quite often. The Family Historian must take into account the Industrial Revolution in England where farmers often moved into cities to work in factories, looms, potteries etc. The book "The Lives and Times of our English Ancestors" (Vol/2 1980)3* deals with the actual events that took place in the lives of over 90% of the population - the "Lower Classes". Covers 4 centuries 1500-1900.

Helping Your Family Records Survive                                                                                 By William G. Hartley
When Idaho's Teton Dam collapsed in 1976, it's churning waters and mud buried and carried away old diaries, letters, photographs, books of remembrance and other irreplaceable records of the families living downstream.
Larry Hibbert, for example lost eleven years of research materials for his family's history. The Jacques family lost the diaries and letters of ancestor John Jacques.

Although rare such a large scale disaster illustrates in a dramatic way the quiet and smaller tragedies that constantly destroy records all around us. Indeed given the array of natural and human 'enemies' records face, the survival of any records from the past is barely short of miraculous. Stories about what really happens to our records, some told here, should motivate us to protects - not merely store - our family histories.

The First Enemy; Nature
If mother nature had her way, no records would survive. She is armed with many weapons, and one of the worst is water. I know a family who stored their grandfather's journals in a cellar where moisture turned them into a mildewed, useless mess. Another family had filled showboxes with letters dating from the early 1900's and stacked them to the rafters of a double garage. But a clogged sewer backed foul water into the garage, so the soaked letters were trucked to the city dump.

Another of nature's favourite weapons in fire. A few years ago O learned of a woman in Arizona who owned letters dating from the 1850's. When I asked her if we could store them, she sadly shook her head. "Two weeks ago we had a fire...." she began. During World War11, bombs and fires destroyed many LDS records in Europe.

Light does more damage, archivists tell u, than either water or fire. The ultraviolet lights cause photographs to fade and paper to yellow and become brittle. Movie and slide projectors occasionally blister films. And a slide or movie frame stopped in a projector for very long suffers almost immediate fading.

Insects and rodents do their share of destroying records. The Church Archives once received a large plastic bag filled with minute books from Hawaii dated near the turn of the century. They were paper punched with worm holes. In the 1890's Church Historian Andrew Jenson reported that he found "some valuable records kept by the late Rasmus Olsen of Ephram deposited in the loft of an old house where they served as seed for mice" (Diary, 23 Oct, 1890, Book E, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

If Mother Nature's troops - water, fire, light, insects, mice - fail to ruin our records, she can always fall back on her
"undercover" work. She has filled our records with ingredients to make them self-destruct. Products made from vegetable ore animal materials - which include most of our record materials  - are programmed to decay or disintegrate. Most of today's paper, made from wood pump, has an additional weakness. It is highly acidic due to the manufacturing process, and the sulfuric acid eats the fibres that hold the paper together.

Chemicals from the environment add to the problem. Sulphuric chemicals from automobile exhausts and air pollution combine in humid air to create sulphuric acid. Most glue is acidic. Spilled foods, tobacco smoke, and newspaper clippings all contain acid. Even the containers we store our records in have acids that migrate into our records. File folders, wood boxes, drawers, paper sacks and especially cardboard boxes all to their best to destroy the records they were meant to protect.

The Second Enemy; People
"I was lucky to save these" a young man told me, pointing to two dozen black books with red spines.
"there must have been dozens of them, but these are all I could grab". He had snatched the minute and roll books from churning dirt in front of a bulldozer that reduced an old Idaho church to rubble. Man is often a worse enemy of his own records than nature.

A woman from San Francisco showed me a shoe-box that had once been filled with letters dating from about 1850. They had detailed Elder John Taylor's efforts too obtain sugar manufacturing equipment from France. She opened the box. Only a hand full of these letters had survived. The others, she confessed, had gradually cracked and chipped as family members read and re-read them over the years. With so much handling, the fragile pieces of paper had crumbled into a pile of postage sized chips of paper. Those old records had literally been loved to death.

A similar problem occurs when a father or mother dies and the diaries he or she kept over the years are divided among the children. Dividing up a set of journals is every bit as destructive as taking a single journal and ripping it apart so relatives can each have some pages. Like broken Humpty Dumpty, separated diaries rarely get back together again.

But if  we were to present awards for the destroyers of the past, the winners would be people who intentionally throw out their records. At two critical times, records run high risks of being thrown away: when someone moves and when someone dies.

Moving time often triggers fatal decisions regarding records. At such movements old items, particularly if disorganised, seem like junk. The impulse to discard is especially strong for people moving into smaller quarters with limited storage space. Young people who leave home for college or careers often discard what they unwisely judge are "silly" juvenile diaries and letters. Newly engaged couples gallantly (and foolishly) throw out bundles of old love letters. (Why not return them to the "old flame" instead of destroying them)

Death, particularly when unexpected, severely strains survivors, who must make hurried and

emotional decisions about the deceased's belongings. Widows and Widowers throw out valuable items in order to remove precious memories that hurt too much. Children and grandchildren, when closing down a deceased parent's home, cart to the dump items not of interest to them - including letters and unlabelled  photographs. (If pictures are not labelled, or if they contain scenes and faces known only to the deceased, odds are high the photos will never survive us.)

Sometimes families just grow weary of saving old items. The widow of a California congressman tried unsuccessfully to interest local libraries in his personal papers. Their lack of interest convinced her the papers had no value and she burned them.

Preserving Our Records
Professional Archivists recommend several ways to preserve records. They advised us, first to use acid free materials in making our records. And second, they advise us to store them properly.

The better the materials in our diaries, scrap books, albums and letters, the longer they will last. Although archival-quality materials are becoming somewhat easier too find, by far the greatest selection is through supply houses such as Light Impressions in Rochester, N.Y., University Products, Holyoke, Mass.; and Conservation Resources International and Hollinger Corporation in Washington, D.C., area. Catalogues are available from these companies.

Paper.  Use a 100 percent rag paper or, even better, a 'permanent-life' paper such as Perma-life paper, Timeless Bond by Fox River Paper Company.  These 'permanent' papers are acid free and are buffered with a calcium carbonate solution to keep them that way. Avoid cheap binder, ditto and typing papers sold at the supermarket; these deteriorate within ten years.

Photocopy on to acid free or 100 percent rag paper any items you have that are deteriorating or flimsy. (Be sure to use a machine that uses powdered toner). It is also advisable to photocopy birth and wedding certificates and other valuable documents. Be sure to copy newspaper articles because they so acidic they can easily stain nearby pages.

Newspaper articles can also be rinsed to remove the acid in them and prevent further decay. Simply fill a flat glass pan with distilled water and immerse the newspaper article. Allow it to soak for approximately fifteen minutes, changing the water if it becomes very yellow. Then carefully remove the article and allow it to dry flat.

Documents with handwriting can best be de-acidified by spraying them with a product called W'ei T'O.

You can make your own acid-free journal by placing these acid-free pages into a binder. Loose-page journals, with quality typing paper last longer (if given a binding to keep the paged from coming lost) than store bought hardcover journals with low price tags.

Store paper away from strong light, high heat, insects, car exhausts and leaky pipes. Swings in temperature from hot to cold ruin paper fibres, as do fluctuations in humidity. Too much humidity triggers reaction in paper, causes mold, warps paper and makes ink bleed. Too little humidity causes paper to become brittle. The ideal storage place is a room kept at about fifty degrees Fahrenheit with moderate humidity.

Letters and Documents. Bundles of letters should be unbundled and the letters unfolded and stored flat in manilla folders, several to al folder. Archival-quality and acid free folders are best.

Laminating documents and letters is a popular put poor practice. Archivists say that paper needs breathe and cannot be sealed in plastic. To protect paper items, use plastic page covers of Mylar D, polypropylene, or polyethylene (not acetate or PVC -polyvynilchloride). Or see an archivist about a process called "encapsulation".

Writing Materials. Avoid using felt-tip pens and pencils when writing letters or in diaries and scrapbooks. Felt-tip ink bleeds through paper, and pencil lines smear and erase easily. Instead, write with a permanent black ink ballpoint pen, such as "Spirit" by Faber-Castell or "Lindy Legal' or type with a carbon ribbon.

Scrapbooks and Adhesives. Most scrapbooks on the market contain pages made of cheap paper. Look for scrapbooks that feel like quality paper, or make your own from acid free matboard. Archival suppliers offer long lasting albums

Most glues are bad for paper, particularly rubber cement. Transparent tape is almost as bad; it becomes yellow and brittle with age and stains and gums-up pages. Ask your nearby historical society or university archive for suggestions
about "safe" glues available in your area. Dennison's glue stick is recommended by some archivists and is available in most office supply stores. Stay away from pins, staples and paper clips as they rust and damage paper.

Books and Journals. Books have the usual problems paper products have, but they also have covers that become brittle and break. Broken spines can be repaired by bookbinders or library conservators. Leather covers, like all leather products, nee periodic oil treatments to prevent drying out. When storing books, do not use cardboard boxes - they are highly acidic. use acid-free boxes designed specifically for book storage.

Photographs and Film. Black-and-white photos, if processed on fibre-based paper and rinsed correctly, will last much longer than fade-prone colour prints, slides and movies. Polacolour prints and prints made from slides and movies by the Cibachrome method are the most stable. Kodachrome slides have a longer dark storage life than Ektachrome slides, and videotapes will last longer than movie film if stored away from magnetic fields. Cool storage, away from ultraviolet light from the sun or from fluorescent lightbulbs, is essential in storing all types of photographs and film.

Label your photographs by name, place, date and event. Use an all graphic pencil available at art stores, writing lightly on the backs near the edges. Felt-tip inks bleed through. Ballpoint pens have sharp points that make impressions and damage the picture surface.

Negatives, easily damaged by dirt and fingerprints, should be stored in 'safe' plastic such as mylar D, Polypropylene, or polyethylene. Glad sandwich bags are made of polyethylene and are readily available.

Archivists warn against gluing pictures on paper or putting them into 'magnetic' albums with press down plastic pages that chemically react with the and damage picture surfaces. (See ENSIGN, Oct,1979, p.37.) Instead, try to use acid-free photo albums with mylar photo corners or a little bit of Dennison's glue stick. You don't even need to fasten the photos too the page if you cut slits in the pages into which you can tuck the four corners of the photo. Pictures should be mounted in albums so that they do no 'kiss' one another across the pages when the album is closed. Or you can use sheet protectors made of mylar D, polyethylene or polypropylene.

Slides should be labelled and stored in a cool dark place, in such a way that no other plastic touches the film itself. To prevent premature fading, don't project slides longer than thirty seconds at a time.

To minimise fading of wall-mounted photographs, replace the glass in your frames with a special plexiglass that has a UF3 filter which screens out ultraviolet light. Always use an acid free matting so that the picture does not touch the material covering it.

Tape Recordings. Avoid using 90-minute and 120-minute cassettes. They contain thin, fragile tape that jams easily, tangles, and lets sounds "print-throught" from one wind of tape to the next. Record on 60-minute cassettes and play them yearly - don't run them through on fast-forward or fast-rewind. Recordings on sturdier, thicker, reel to reel tapes will last longer than cassettes, but reels also need to be played periodically to keep them loose. Buy name-brand tapes, not the discount specials. Select cassettes that can be unscrewed and taken apart, rather than the sealed ones you must crack open to fix.

Label the tapes. Store them at room temperature. Stand the tapes reel to reel on edge - when stored flat their big plastic reels begin to droop and warp. Keep all recordings away from magnets and from motors or appliances which create magnetic fields that can "rearrange" the sounds on the tape. To protect against accidental erasures, make copies and store the originals. Cassettes come with two holes in their backs, when punched out, prevent you from accidentally re-recording them.

Although there is no way to preserve your records indefinitely, there is much you can do to make sure they survive you and your immediate family. All it take is a little time and care. Your efforts may mean more to future generations than you may now realise. 

William C. Hartley is a faculty member a Brigham Young University where he directs the Family History  and Genealogy Research Services Centre and is a historian for the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History.

100 YEARS AGO

KERANG TIMES & SWAN HILL GAZETTE Friday Feb.5th. 1896

RABBIT INSPECTORS REPORT

I beg to report that during the month of January I have inspected the infested portions of the Towaninny & Quambatook districts, also portions of Budgerum. In the parish of Towaninnie the Crown lands recently held under grazing right by H. McMullan, and which fell into the hands of the Government on the 1st. January, are still infested, and at the time of my visit nothing was being done to destroy the pests. You will remember that I summoned McMullan and obtained a verdict with costs against him, but up to the present a fine has not been paid. I communicated with Mr. Dudley about this and other Crown lands in your Shire, and in reply to a telegram which that gentleman sent to the Department he was informed that McMullan  had renewed his lease. now this is a very hard case to deal with, as the land is held in McMullan's name but the grass in being eaten by McGuthrie's sheep.

I also inspected the Crown lands recently, held by Mr. Griffith at Quambatook, and found that nothing was being done, and as far as I can learn all the Crown lands recently held under grazing right are in the same state, that is, during the past month nothing whatever has been done by the Government to destroy the rabbits upon the grazing rights as the Department are waiting to see what rights are to be renewed. In fact, several of the Government employees have been dismissed during the past month, but are to be put on again on the 10th. when the special effort is to be made; rather a strange way of making a special effort.

I have sent notices to the Board of Land and Works requesting them to clear the grazing blocks in your Shire. I have also sent a letter to the Agricultural College Board, asking for a plan with names and addresses of the leases of the allotments on Pental Island, but up to the present have received no reply fro either of them. The usual amount of green grass, which is now met with all over the shire, will render poisoned grain almost useless, so we shall have to rely upon bi-sulphide, exterminating ad digging out, as in the winter. In making this special raid upon the rabbits, from the 10th. inst., I think it will be advisable to employ men to clear the land of those who do not do so themselves; by doing this we are sure the the rabbits will be destroyed, and that at once. Of course before doing so, I will see the money is recoverable.

As mentioned in the history of the swan Hill Cemetery, Robert McPherson (21827-1859), a Scottish graduate set the wheels in motion for the present site of the cemetery.

However, things were not so good for R. McPherson when he took up the post as the Clerk of Courts, as the following extract (taken from a short account of Robert McPherson's life) explains:-

On arrival in Swan Hill he discovered he had to find two sureties of £500 each before he could take up his position - an imposition which must have been very difficult for a newcomer. That and living conditioner in the pioneer village must have been a severe shock for the genteel man and his wife.

The instructions from the authorities that Mr. McPherson and the police magistrate had to conduct at Kerang once a month dismayed him as he was already having considerable trouble to stretch his salary to buy necessities.

To attend court at Kerang once a month he would have to hire a horse and stay for two nights at the Kerang Public house -- an outlay of at least £7 a month.

He wrote to the Minister in protest at the strain such expenditure would pose on his slender budget but received an unsympathetic reply stating that public servant' salaries were fixed by Parliament. McPherson next appealed to the police superintendent for the use of a public horse for the journey. This request was also denied with Mr. Wilson replying that the chief commissioner had proclaimed that troop horses could not be borrowed by clerks of petty sessions under any circumstances.

The Swan Hill Group of the Genealogical Society of Victoria does not hold itself responsible for any statements or opinions printed in this Newsletter

Advertisement on Wednesday July 30th. 1890      [Un-named Newspaper]

Every effort has been made to re-create the
original  MALEE ROOTS  Newsletter.

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