Gisborne & Mount Macedon Districts Historical Society Gisborne Court House, 4 Hamilton Street Open Wednesdays 10am to 4 pm.
P O Box 113 Mount Macedon 3441 Phone (03) 5428 1450 history@gisbornemountmacedon.org.au www.gisbornemountmacedon.org.au
Local History
By Phyllis Boyd
Henry Howey: behind the monument H
enry Howey was born in 1805 near Belford, Northumberland, son of farmer Henry Howey and Ann Werge. His father died in 1817 and in 1825 Henry jr wrote to Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies, informing him that he intended to try his fortune in New South Wales and asking for a grant of land. On 21 October 1826, at the age of 21, Howey arrived in Sydney as a free settler with assets of £400 and plant and equipment valued at £200. He was granted 960 acres on the Wollondilly River, five miles west of Goulburn. Howey named his run “Strathearn” and by the end of 1836 he had become an extremely successful grazier and agriculturalist. Soon after his arrival, Howey married Maria Matilda Minchin, from the family after whom Minchinbury in western Sydney is named. Their first child was born at Minchinbury Estate. Following glowing reports by explorers Hume and Hovell of good grazing country in the Port Phillip District, Howey was one of the first Europeans to select a station near Mount Macedon. It was immediately north of John Aitken’s run and included what are today the villages of Gisborne and Riddells Creek. The run was divided into three sections: ‘Head Station’, ‘Red Hill’ and ‘Junction’. “The Australasian” of 31 January 1837 announced that “A month ago, Mr Howey, a wealthy squatter near Goulburn, sent his stock comprising 4,000 sheep and 800 head of cattle in the charge of a young man named George Hamilton and a party of 12 including a number of assigned convicts, to the new settlement at the Port Phillip District”. The Argus later reported that by the end of July 1837, there were huts associated with Howey’s run located on the Gisborne creek. One hut was roughly where the Howey memorial is now situated. There appears to be little evidence, however, that Howey himself ever came to Gisborne. An 1839 map of the area shows the location of “Howey’s Station” on the south bank of Riddells Creek about one mile west of the Riddell Village. In May 1837, Howey sailed from Sydney to Melbourne bringing his prized stud sheep. John Pascoe Fawkner wrote in the fourth edition of Melbourne’s first newspaper that the “Sarah”, bringing Howey from Sydney, had shored in Port
Henry Howey was the first European landowner in what became Gisborne. In his short life he also bought chunks of Melbourne that enriched his relatives for generations. Howey House opposite Melbourne Town Hall is possibly the best-known of those city properties. Many locals know the basics of Howey’s story – he came, he bought, he died, in fairly quick succession – but Ian Boyd has done some digging and uncovered fascinating details.
The “Sarah” did not arrive at Port Phillip. A cutter was sent along the coast in search of the ship but nothing was found, although one unconfirmed report was received that the ship was damaged when it ran aground on a Bass Strait island. The Howey family and members of staff were assumed to have perished at sea. Although Syme originally records the vessel as having been lost near Sydney Heads, a later newspaper report suggests that the “Sarah” may have been wrecked on Victoria’s Ninety Mile Beach near Woodside Station.
T
The Howey monument in Gisborne c1930. Phillip Bay at night and lost both her masts running onto the reef at Gellibrand Point. The next morning, Howey rowed
up the Yarra River to the falls at Queen Street. He attended the first land sales in Melbourne on 1 June 1837 and bought, for £120, three heavily timbered blocks at the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets.
On 21 June 1838, Henry, aged 33, his wife and six children – Ann, aged 10, Henry William 9, Maria Frances 7, William Minchin 5, Eleanor Jane 3 and John Edward 2 – together with a number of servants, sailed from Sydney in the 46-ton brigantine “Sarah”. On board was a large quantity of stores suitable for starting life in a new land. The deck was loaded with cargo including a dray.
he sale of Howey’s 50 valuable horses and gigs was set for 22 July 1839 at the cattle saleyards in Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, after which his four Collins Street allotments would then be auctioned. Fawkner’s The Port Phillip Patriot carried the following advertisement on 16 July: “Sale of sheep, cattle, stock, station and agricultural implements etc. near Mount Macedon. “To graziers, agriculturalists, hopeful capitalists, speculators and the newly arrived immigrants desirous of at once commencing sheep farming without the great expense and labour generally attended upon a first commencement. “The first rate and well known flocks etc. and the right of station of the late Henry Howey, Esq. at the Head Station near Mount Macedon on Tuesday 16 July 1839 and on the following day at 11 precisely each day, [comprising] 1,050 wethers and ewes, 10, 12 & 14 months old, in [the] charge of Richard Holt, Head Station; 670 ewes, 2 years old and in lamb, in charge of Morris, Red Hill Station; 530 ewes in lamb, 3 years old and upwards and 305 weaned lambs, 328 ewes, mixed ages, 93 rams of the farfamed breed of Lord Western, McArthur and Dutton Esq. in charge of Andrew Hawker, Head Station; 620 wethers from 10 months to 2 years and 576 Lord Western’s ewes about 4 months old in charge of James Brandon, Head Station. “After which the right of stations known as The Head Station, The Junction Station and the Red Hill Station with the valuable and useful erections thereon.” Continued next month, with intriguing stories emerging of white women living with Aboriginal tribes – did the Howeys survive?
Heritage display in historic stable to be launched Interested members of the community are cordially invited to the official opening of the heritage display in the stable that is part of the Gisborne Court House precinct at 3pm on Sunday November 15. Deputy Mayor and South Ward Cr Russell Mowatt
will officiate and present facts about this, the final stage in the development of Gisborne’s heritage precinct, instigated and designed by Gisborne & Mount Macedon Districts Historical Society. An indication of your attendance will assist with
catering for the afternoon tea that will be provided following the official opening of the stable display. This event will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting of the Historical Society from 2pm in the courtroom. Enquiries to Phyllis on 0417 059 476.
Gisborne Gazette November 2015
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