THE JOURNEYS TO COOLANGATTA

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour - RLS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Sydney to the Shoalhaven - 1997
Chapter 2 Berry - Scotland to the Southern Hemisphere 1781 -1809
Chapter 3 Berry - South America, Portugal, London 1810 - 1822
Chapter 4 Berry - Coolangatta – Shoalhaven – N Sydney 1822 - 1873
Chapter 5 The Bishops - Australia – 1827 - 1916
Chapter 6 The Bishops and the Hays - Coolangatta 1889 - 1946
Chapter 7 Father and Son – the Estate restorers and the Vineyard – 1946 -
Chapter 8 Present day Coolangatta Village
Appendices
· The Grant of land by Sir Thomas Brisbane
· The University of St Andrews and the Legacy
· The Bull Park and Berry Campus
· The “other” Coolangatta
· Kingsford Smith’s flight from Seven Mile Beach

Acknowledgements and references
Index
Illustrations

© Malcolm Sealy 2000


THE JOURNEYS TO COOLANGATTA

I started out with the intention of writing about one man and his achievements with the aim of gaining proper recognition for him, but, I soon found that I had two remarkable men on my hands as well as the essential supporting roles of their families, past and present.

I stumbled on the events which follow out of simple curiosity, chance and good luck in coming across people, both living and dead from a world-wide variety of background, interest and activities.

Whilst this is the story of two determined and single-minded men, their families and their travels and because it spans a period of over two hundred years, it is inevitably a mixture of facts, imagination, speculation which are part-historical and spatial as it takes us across the world through time and places and converges on Coolangatta Village.

In the world of the Roman Empire “all roads led to Rome” which was the centre of their world – in my world the centre is Coolangatta and all the journeys that follow end there. Where is Coolangatta Village ? - a hundred miles south of Sydney; it is a little settlement and site of some three hundred acres at the foot of the ancient Mount Cullengatty, as it was originally called, with a long and varied past and from where history and pioneering developments were made, and continue today.

The travels first start in the ancient Kingdom of Fife near St Andrews in Scotland and reach the other side of the world on the Continent of Australia. It is a circuitous route taking in South Africa, India, China, the East Indies, New Zealand, a number of Pacific Islands, Tasmania, Chile, Peru, Brazil, the Azores and Portugal.

Following these journeys which began just over two hundred years ago, will show how two small areas of the world are linked in history through the ebb and flow of family endeavour and continue a relationship and development today. Whilst the journeys of the two families will form the basis of the narrative, there are associated happenings which give extra colour and dimensions to the events – so the journey gives rise to diversions which I have covered separately in the Appendices.

Alexander Berry is the first person to make his entrance and start the journeys to Coolangatta. Born at Hilltarvit Mains farmhouse, near Cupar in Fife during a blinding snow storm on the evening of St Andrew’s Day, the 30th November 1781 his lengthy journeys on the way to establishing the settlement of Coolangatta Estate in 1822 are joined to those of his successor Colin Bishop, born in November 1921 and contrast with his ‘journey’ which took him no more than a mile from the farmhouse in which he was born and grew up to the Estate Homestead where he is the owner and restorer today.

The year 1946, one hundred and twenty four years after the first settlement by Berry, marks the year of the next great journey when Colin James Bishop took on the challenge of restoring the Estate. It had fallen into a near terminal decline after a disastrous fire had ravaged the homestead and many of its outbuildings.

As we are relating some events separated in time by more than two hundred years there will be an apparent imbalance and discontinuity between the accounts of the Berry and Bishop activities. However, as time goes by the weight of the Bishop contribution to this slice of living history will increase.

Above all, it is the combination and vision of these two men which in different ways and times has translated a journey from a remote farmhouse in Fife to what was then an even more obscure site in Australia and on to the present day where progress continues.

The derivation of names has always interested me and “Crows Nest”, a suburb of northern Sydney intrigued me from the time of my first visit to Australia in 1987. Whilst it lodged in the back of my mind as a curiosity, it was not until ten years and many visits later that its significance struck me and started my travels to Coolangatta Village next to the Shoalhaven River estuary.

Crow’s Nest - meaning a barrel or cylindrical box fitted to the crosiers of the maintop mast of a sailing ship for the lookout man - was the name given by Alexander Berry’s business partner Edward Wollstonecraft to his first modest cottage which he had built in a commanding position on the present site of St Leonard’s Presbyterian church overlooking the harbour and the 500 acres of land granted by Governor Macquarie of New South Wales to Edward in 1806.

In 1997 I came across an article by Professor Alexander of the University of St Andrews in the University Alumnus Chronicle. Michael Alexander is the sixth and present incumbent of the Berry Chair of English Literature in the University. He referred to a visit he had made to the town of Berry in the Shoalhaven area and to the fact that 1997 would see the centenary of the founding of the Berry Chair paid for, in part, out of the huge legacy of £100,000.00 sterling willed by Alexander Berry just before his death in 1873. The actual legacy derived from the will of his surviving brother David, fourteen years Alexander Berry’s junior, who inherited the Estate and ran it until his own death in 1889.

It was only then that I realised why the Chair of English at St Andrews was called “The Berry Chair of English Literature”. Fifty years earlier, in October 1948, I had gone up to St Andrews to read English and Spanish - English under the then second incumbent of the Chair, Professor Adam Blyth Webster, and Spanish under Emeritus Professor L J ‘Ferdy’ Woodward. Never, during my four years at St Andrews do I recall any reference to its Australian origin nor the connection to this great benefactor, Alexander Berry. It is something of a mystery why a son of Fife and a Scot who was born and lived not more than twelve miles down the Cupar road from the University and who endowed his Alma Mater through his wishes so generously has not been properly recognised.

Whilst later benefactors such as Andrew Carnegie are often recalled in speech and re-enactment in the annual student Kate Kennedy Procession, Berry’s legacy is recorded in the Senate archived Minutes but he, himself, has never been given his proper due, neither in Scotland nor in Australia for his pioneering and entrepreneurial drive.

With the probate value for estate, he was undoubtedly Australia’s first millionaire, a generous benefactor and founder of the dairy industry in New South Wales. The magnitude of his achievements in relation to his age and time have been allowed to slip away quietly into the collective historical memory. A good illustration of the lack of recognition in New South Wales is the recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald entitled “Rich and Richer” on 31st December 1999 in which a number of Australian pioneers are listed with details of their wealth creation and probate value. This list was headed by John Macarthur who left estate worth £40,000.00 and others include James Tyson, Sam Hordern, Sir Sidney Kidman and William Baillieu. In fact, through Alexander Berry’s will to his brother David the probate value of the Estate he created was £1,252,975.00 – an enormous sum by today’s standards – probably equivalent to £66,407,675.00 in today’s values or in Australian dollars $166,020,000.00. Out of this he bequeathed nearly twenty percent to the University of St Andrews and to the town of Berry to found its hospital. The size of the individual bequests to St Andrews and the hospital are also surprising when viewed in today’s money - £100,000.00 equates to
£ 5,300,000.00/AUD $ 13,250,000.00.



Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past

T S Eliot













Chapter 1 Sydney to the Shoalhaven - 1997

My first visit to the original settlement site now called the Historic Coolangatta Village Resort was at the beginning of October 1997. I had taken the Australian NRMA guide book and its entry at face value which read as follows: -
Coolangatta
Hotel/Motel/Serviced Apartments
****Coolangatta Estate (M) Bolong Road
12km NE of Nowra PO
25 Units, 10 suites
Shwr,tlt,aircond,heat,fans,elecblkts,tel,TV,teamkg,refrig,recrm,pool,plygr,bbqs,
tennis,bowls,golf,croquet

At first sight it looked like a foreign language until the abbreviations were expanded. Two other entries made me feel that it was our sort of place:

“Coolangatta, population 90, 147 km S of Sydney. This area was the site of the earliest white settlement on the South Coast; Coolangatta being taken up as a holding by Alexander Berry for his dairying and shipbuilding enterprises in 1822.

The town of Coolangatta on the Gold Coast of Queensland was named after a brigantine of the same name, built by Berry’s shipyards and wrecked off the Queensland Coast in 1847.

Coolangatta Estate. Many of the restored buildings in this complex were built by Alexander Berry. Take a ride on “Big Foot”, a tractor-like vehicle which climbs to the top of Mt Coolangatta for excellent views over the Shoalhaven area. Restaurant facilities are available. The Village is also home to the Coolangatta Estate Wines. Refreshments and picnic area available”

Before making what was now beginning to look like a modern pilgrimage, I had been to see the Burial Ground in West Street Cammeray in Northern Sydney suburbia - a two acre site given to the district by Berry for the interment of his wife Elizabeth (nee Wollstonecraft) who died at the age of 64 in 1845 after only 18 years of marriage to Alexander.

The site is a peaceful spot not far from the northern Freeway and contrasts with the hustle and bustle of people and traffic in the nearby suburban business centres of St Leonards, Crows Nest and North Sydney.

The tomb is a gaunt sandstone pyramid surmounting the vault which contains the remains of Elizabeth, her brother Edward and her husband Alexander who followed her to his last resting place 28 years later in 1873. The stonework has become blackened through age with mould and pollution but it stands forbiddingly four square in the centre of the Cemetery and seems to dominate, with a height of 12 feet, the surrounding collection of drunken-looking Victorian funeral monuments which have, with the passage of time, tilted sideways and sometimes totally collapsed on to the sandy surface.

These monuments carry the names of many who were historically significant in that period. Bernard Otto Holtermann, the Hamburg born German whose Star of Hope mining syndicate unearthed, in 1872, Australia’s largest lump of gold quartz – often described as a nugget, it was more correctly a lump of black slate and gold. Cut from a seam it stood about six feet tall and weighed five hundredweight and was worth £12,000.00 (translated into today’s values about £650,000.00 or Australian dollars $1,625.000.00)

Holtermann and Berry clashed over land rights on the North Shore but part of the massive house which the former built is the centre of Shore School, overlooking the harbour and is in use to this day. The Rev William Branwhite Clarke, the ‘father of Australian Geology’ and the founding minister of St Thomas’s Church in 1845 is buried here along with others whose names comprise a roll-call of the great and the good and the crafty who contributed to the establishment of Australia and who have left their names to many districts, roads and places – Judge Ellis Bent, Charles Gordon, Isaac Ellis Ives, William Lithgow, Conrad Martens, James Milson, Major John Ovens and Robert Pymble.

The streets around also give remembrance to some of these local personalities of the time - Alexander Street, Hayberry Street, Holtermann Street, Berry Street, Edward Street - and not far away the land slopes down to the Harbour from the site of the magnificent house which Berry built for himself and his wife in retirement from the Shoalhaven. His wife died before the house was completed. It was demolished eventually and is now the North Sydney Demonstration School - the impressive gates are the originals and the pillars bear a commemorative plaque.

With the monuments behind us we head for the South Coast through the Sydney outskirts and the ever-changing roadworks at the Olympic site near Homebush Bay and finally break free of the clutches of Sydney’s suburban sprawl when we cross Tom Ugley’s Bridge over the George’s River on the Prince’s Highway. This Highway has the Royal National Park to its left and so as to avoid the main road we turn off south into the Park and drop down into Audley across the causeway over the Hacking River.

Shortly after that we are driving along the coast road parallel to Berry’s boat journey a mile or two offshore in 1822 when he was also travelling towards our present destination.

We pass through a number of villages and come to the town of Coalcliff on a lofty headland which still has a coking mine in operation. This is the place where coal was first sighted in Australia by the survivors of the wreck of the Sydney Cove during their long and painful march from Ninety Mile Beach in Victoria to Sydney. This was verified by Bass and Flinders in 1797 from the sea. Bass wrote to Colonel Paterson that “This vein of coal … commences about twenty miles to the southward of Botany Bay. The sea washes close up to the foot of it and….. about twenty feet above the sea and within reach of your hand is a vein of coal about six or seven feet in thickness; the rock below it is slaty but above it is the common sandstone of the country. It does not lay perfectly horizontal but goes on declining as it advances southward until at the end of about two miles it becomes level with the surface of the sea and the lowest rock you can see when the surf retires is all coal”.

At this time nobody had seen a connection between this coal and that of the Hunter Valley to the north of Sydney. But it took The Rev W B Clarke on his journey in the area some forty years later to speculate on this and theorise on its likelihood. And so it was eventually calculated that the seams of coal still glistening in the cliffs behind Coalcliff extend under the sea and the shales and Hawkesbury sandstone, the main rocks on which Sydney stands, through Balmain where coal was once mined, under Mosman and Cremorne to re-appear in the Hunter Valley.

The names of the succeeding towns as we drive towards Wollongong are a mixture of reminders of English coastal and local aboriginally- derived names; thus – Clifton, Scarborough, Wombarra, Coledale, Austinmer, Thirroul (where D H Lawrence lived whilst writing “Kangaroo”), Towradgi where George Bass and Matthew Flinders landed the Tom Thumb at the beach in 1796 and Fairy Meadow. Now we are on the northern outskirts of Wollongong the capital of the Illawarra region between the mountains and the sea.

Wollongong the third largest city in New South Wales is to the south what Newcastle and the Hunter Valley is to the north of the state.

Although Captain Cook made no landing in the Illawarra region because of the heavy surf, his log recorded the attractiveness of the shore and the presence of Aborigines – probably the Wodi Wodi tribe. He named Port Kembla as ‘Red Point’ and a ‘round hill top of which look’d like the Crown of a hatt’ – Mount Kembla which was subsequently modified by Flinders to “Hat Hill”.

Despite its reputation for coal and steel, historically it was the standing timber, particularly cedar, which led the Europeans to settle here as coal could not be easily accessed in those early days. After timber came the pastoralists led by the route-building pioneer, Dr Charles Throsby and grazing, cropping and dairying developed vigorously in the first half of the nineteenth century as the cedar supplies fell away. It became known as the “Garden of New South Wales”.

Mossman on his way back from a visit to the Shoalhaven describes the infant in 1856 as “this little seaport town which is sixty miles from Sydney, contains between 500 and 600 inhabitants and upwards of a hundred well-built houses, several places of worship and a few good inns. It is becoming a place of considerable commercial importance in the colony, from being the principal shipping-port for the produce of this fertile district, which commands a preference-price for its butter in the Sydney market. Although little more than an open road-stead naturally, the bay on which the town is situated has been rendered safe shelter for vessels, by cutting into the rock on the south side and building a substantial stone pier; thereby forming a harbour and jetty safe at all times for a steamer to come alongside. We were informed that this was amongst the last of the works constructed by the prisoners before the colony ceased to be a penal settlement; and Illawarra is well pleased at the completion of the work. An enlargement of the harbour, by the construction of an outer breakwater has been spoken of; but the one they have will do very well for the present.

We cannot say that the immediate neighbourhood of Wollongong presents scenery equal to the other parts of Illawarra; its characteristic is richness of soil. The well-fed appearance of the cattle met with in a short ramble round the neighbourhood is proof also of the nutritious qualities of the pasture to which they evidently have unstinted access. The well-kept fences in every direction within the environs of the town, the value set upon the land and the care bestowed upon its cultivation and pasture all evince prosperity of the settlers.

And we cannot take leave of this beautiful little district and its hospitable inhabitants without noticing a feature in their manners which no one can fail to observe in riding through it. There appears to exist among them a more kindly, friendly feeling than you commonly meet with in other parts of the colony; and the stranger who has travelled far and wide in the land, like ourselves, is agreeably surprised at the good-humoured “Good day !” with which he is accosted in his wandering through the fertile, beautiful and romantic district of Illawarra.”

At about the time this is written mid-century, collieries were being developed to the north and north west. The first of these started at Mount Keira in 1849 and as steam power became established so the demand for coal increased so that by 1880 there were ten mines along the Illawarra escarpment which gave rise to the string of mining villages. A smelting works on the western shore of Lake Illawarra started production in 1895 but it failed financially and was transferred to Port Kembla in 1906 when this area became the main port as it is today.

Work to improve facilities at Port Kembla began in 1898 on the inner and outer harbours and the next thirty years saw the beginnings of cokeworking, copper refining, metal fabrication and fertiliser production. 1928 marks a significant year for the area. Hoskins Iron & Steel moved its base from Lithgow in the coal rich Blue Mountains to Port Kembla. Charles Hoskins was the driving force in this. This was the start of the founding of ‘the Big Australian” – Broken Hill Proprieties. So from century to century Wollongong shifted its business emphasis from farming to the development of mining and heavy smokestack industry. The heartland of Wollongong’s industries is centred on Port Kembla on the northern spur of the massive inland sea of Lake Illawarra.

After leaving Wollongong, we rejoin the Prince’s Highway and at Unanderra just short of Lake Illawarra a surprising sight greets us on the left so much so that we wonder if we are in Australia at all. This is the Buddhist temple complex of Nan Tien the largest in the southern hemisphere – it is the Australian HQ of the Taiwanese-based Fo Kuang Shan sect.

The main temple on the 22 hectare site is strategically situated between the two mountains of Kembla and Keira. The entrance takes you past extensive rose gardens to a beautiful tapering eight storey pagoda, two vast shrines and many other facilities in this $60 million creation which was opened in 1995.

A further twelve miles on and we briefly look at the Blowhole at Kiama. This is pleasant holiday resort with its famous natural attraction. But in the last 30 years the performance of the Blowhole has lost much of its drawing power. The hole in the volcanic rocks has widened to such an extent that the pressure build up is seldom enough to send a jet of water more than 20 metres high and that depends upon a strong south-easterly gale to drive it. Before this the jet would explode more than 50 metres into the air.

Our next stop on the way is at Gerroa after passing through Gerringong on a turn-off road from the Highway to follow Seven Mile Beach and its Beach road to Shoalhaven. Gerroa is at the mouth of the Crooked River which might have been an alternative site for Berry’s settlement. Stretching out into the sea in a series of sloping natural terraces is Black Head or Point. It ends with a steep drop to a kind of Giant’s Causeway of black basalt and has a gloomy and somewhat menacing feel to it.

But at the point where there is a memorial to Kingsford Smith and his flight from the beach below to New Zealand in Southern Cross in 1933 we get our first view of the magnificent Seven Mile Beach and the tree-covered eminence of Mount Coolangatta. The stretch of natural bush, covering the dunes and which is about half a mile in width between the beach and the Beach road which runs between the swampy ground further inland, is very much the same as it would have looked to the first explorers and settlers from their boats offshore.

From our vantage point we can see beyond Mount Coolangatta on its right to the Budawang Range of hills and to the left the Great Dividing Range and can make out the form of Pigeon House Hill with a height of over 2000 feet.

We regain the car and head for The Shoalhaven River along the Gerroa Road until we come to a crossroads with Beach Road. We are so near to the beach that we turn left and after a few hundred yards, park the car and walk through a gap in the dunes to the beach itself. It is a pleasure to have this enormous beach to ourselves save for one or two fishermen slowly accumulating their catches of bream. The booming sound of the surf and the flying spray is exhilarating - at our feet are thousands of pipi shells washed up and left high and dry in skeins by the tide.

Back to the crossroads again and we regain our southerly drive with, out of sight, some six kilometres of Coomonderry Swamp between us and Moeyan Hill. This swampy area has reasserted itself after extensive land drainage carried out by the settlers in the late 19th century.

When Gerroa Road becomes Bolong Road, we are in the lee of Mount Coolangatta to our right with our first view of the vines and golf course on the slopes of the hill adjoining the Homestead of the Village of Coolangatta. We breast the crest of the road and descend for a few hundred yards before turning right into the Estate with the drive bordered on each side with its rows of vines, two little artificial lakes and continue round to Reception passing the tennis courts, croquet lawn, swimming pool and Convict Cottage next to the old dairy.

On our first visit in October 1997, the weather was cool and the owner Col Bishop was laid low with influenza and we had to leave before meeting him.

However, we enjoyed reading some of the history of Berry’s settlement and subsequent developments from photographs and memorabilia in the Wine Bar. We also took the opportunity to visit the Museum at Berry where Mrs Lidbetter, the Curator and ardent Berry historian started us on the quest of further research.

Subsequently, a telephone call to Col Bishop in which we discussed my ideas of relating stories of Coolangatta past and present led me to make contact with Ray Cleary the Head of the Berry Campus, a satellite of Wollongong University.

Thus it came about that on our second journey to Coolangatta in November 1997 we spent a considerable time with Ray Cleary who related the history of the Campus at Berry and its earlier period as a Bull Park for the development of artificial insemination in Australia – a cattle development in the modern era deriving from work put in by Berry and his successors.

It was during this visit that we were able to dine with Col Bishop and his wife and thus started our journey around the history of the Estate. As much of the story concerns the two men, Alexander Berry and his spiritual successor, Colin James Bishop, it was an interesting experience to be sitting in Alexander’s study, just adjoining his former bedroom and homestead living quarters and thinking how we might bring the history to life.

This is a site of living history and a microcosm of man’s efforts and energy in distant parts of the world.

Shortly afterwards we received an invitation to a Reception and dinner at the Estate on Sunday December 7th to celebrate a number of events:-

Firstly, the 200th anniversary of the naming of the Shoalhaven River by George Bass on 7th December 1797,

Secondly, the 175th anniversary of European settlement in Shoalhaven by Alexander Berry on 23rd June 1822,

Thirdly the 50th anniversary of the Bishop family involvement at Coolangatta Estate in 1947,

Fourthly, the 25th anniversary of the re-opening of the Coolangatta Estate as a tourist Resort.

The year also marked the centenary of the founding of the Berry Chair of English Literature in the University of St Andrews whose endowment came from part of the huge legacy of £100,000.00 sterling bequeathed at Alexander Berry’s wish and delivered to the University through the subsequent Will of his younger brother David Berry after whom the town of Berry, formerly Broughton Creek, was named and laid out.

A summary of what took place at this Celebration gives an overview of events which I will later expand in greater detail and provides a good starting point for the many journeys of this book.

December 7th was the actual date in 1787 of George Bass’s arrival in the district in a whaleboat manned by six naval ratings - they had sailed from Sydney on the evening of December 2nd 1787 and Bass refers to Kiama and its blowhole and says that “the shore in this bight and also for some distance each side of it, bears evident marks of volcanic fire. Several of the little heads and points are of a basaltic nature. Upon landing I perceived near one of the extremity of one of the heads the rocks laying scattered about in a very irregular manner and upon examination it appeared that a volcanic eruption had taken place there. The earth for a considerable distance round, in a form approaching to that of a circle seemed to have given way; it was now a green slope.

Towards the centre was a deep ragged hole of about 25 - 30 feet in diameter and on one side of it the sea washed in through a subterranean passage with a most tremendous noise”. This is his description of the Kiama Blowhole.

The following day, 7th December Bass passed what he called Long Nose Point off Gerringong and Gerroa and which was later to be called Black Head - both names are good descriptions. And then they come to the Shoalhaven. He writes “seeing an opening in the bottom of the bay, we judged it to be an inlet and ran down to it but found it to be a shallow lagoon with a sand bar breaking all across the mouth; we therefore rowed on along the bay for a rocky projecting point that promised fair for affording shelter....and found a small river into which we went. This little place, which deserves no better name than Shoals Haven, for it is not properly a river, is very narrow at the entrance, the south side of which is formed by the rocky point and the north by a breaking spit of sand that runs out from a sandy point.”

His description of the hinterland is that “it is in general low and swampy and the soil for the most part is rich and good but seemingly much subject to extensive inundations. There are however at 6 or 8 miles back from the head of the west branch many thousands of acres of open ground which never can be overflowed whose soil is a rich vegetable mould.

During my examination of the country back of Shoals Haven I fell in with an arm of water that, on tracing down to the sea, I found to be the main stream of the barred lagoon that we had in vain attempted to enter.

It runs about 9 miles westward until it strikes upon the mountains laying SW and then enters them with high rocky banks. The south bank of this arm is a slip of soil exactly resembling the banks of the Hawkesbury River and at its back lie extensive plains.

However capable the soil of this country might be found to be of agricultural improvement, the difficulty of shipping off the produce must ever remain a bar to its colonisation”.

Twenty five years later, Alexander Berry was to prove Bass’s prediction wrong by cutting what is now called Berry’s Canal, which separates Comerong Island from the mainland, from Crookhaven to the Shoalhaven. This gave a reasonably safe entrance and enabled a thriving coasting trade to be carried on between here and Sydney until the railway came to Bomaderry.

A replica of Bass’s whaleboat “The Elizabeth” crewed by Bern Cuthbertson, Geoff Zwar and Rick McMahon left the National Maritime Museum base at Darling Harbour in Sydney, earlier in the month, after a farewell ceremony presided over by the NSW Governor Sir Gordon Samuels. The vessel and its crew reached Wollongong on the Friday and reached Kiama on the Saturday. Very stormy weather developed which prevented them from making it to the Shoalhaven by sea for a landing so the journey to Coolangatta was completed by road in time for the Reception.

The owner and skipper of The Elizabeth, Bern Cuthbertson known as “Tasmania’s Old Man of the Sea” and who was first across the finishing line in the Sydney-Hobart race of 1964 explained that the whaler had been built in 1985 to allow a crew to undertake a 35 days circumnavigation of Tasmania. That was the first of their re-enactments of historic voyages and on this occasion they were following the route of Bass, as closely as possible, to Westernport in Victoria where they expected to make landfall in a month’s time.

The Mayor of Shoalhaven, Councillor Atkins referred to the first land grant of 10,000 acres to Alexander Berry on the South Coast and the restitution of the historic buildings which had fallen into serious disrepair between 1941 and 1947 by Col Bishop who had taken up the challenge single-handed.

Forty years after starting his remedial work on the Estate, his son Greg was instrumental in starting the vineyards which now cover more than 7 hectares - this is another happy coincidence for Col Bishop had not been aware in 1947 of Alexander Berry’s interest in vines and wine production. In 1855 there had been a concerted effort to develop viniculture as Berry sponsored the immigration of vine dressers from Germany who came with their families and in many instances lived out their lives in the Shoalhaven District. Their engagements were usually for an initial two years at a wage of £20.00 sterling a year.

Their weekly food rations were they same as Berry’s Government Men (he rarely referred to them as “convicts”) that is to say ten, ten, two and four. This was parlance for 10lbs beef, 10lbs flour, 2lbs sugar and 4 ozs tea.

We shall follow the wine journeys in a later chapter which in connection with Berry reflect the beginnings of the now substantial Australian wine industry.

Before leaving the Estate on the following day, I had been to the private burial ground some quarter of a mile to the south west of the estate. This is an enclosed resting place and memorial for the Berry family and some of their more redoubtable relations, the Hays, who became successors between 1889 and 1947.

This burial ground is reminiscent of the one in North Sydney which Alexander Berry created for his wife and himself after retiring from the south and the Coolangatta memorial and cemetery bears witness to those who succeeded to the continuance and, finally, the break-up of the original family Estate.

There is an impressive monument about 30 feet in height and surmounted by an anchor with a sea pigeon perched on top. The massive base consists of four polished granite panels variously inscribed.

The inscriptions proclaim and recite the family trees of the founding and succeeding families who are connected as between the East Neuk of Scotland, New Zealand and the Shoalhaven.

“Erected in the year 1894 by John Hay LLD in loving memory of those who lie here interred ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them’
John Hay KB born at Coolangatta August 8th 1840 and died at Crows Nest, North Sydney February 26th 1909.
Jessie Sinclair wife of Sir John Hay born Paisley June 8th 1845 and died Crows Nest 15th July 1930.
The south panel reads “Sacred to the memory of James Berry of Hilltarvit and Isabel Tod (the parents of Alexander Berry) his wife who are buried at Logie in Fife. Their children, John Berry who died from injuries received from falling from his horse at Coolangatta 19th April 1848; Janet Berry who died 23rd October 1860; Barbara Berry wife of David Armit of Polduff who died on 3rd June 1871 in her 82nd year and is buried at St Andrews in Fife. Agnes Berry died 2nd March 1872 aged 70.

The Honourable Alexander Berry MLC (Member of the Legislative Council) who died in his residence at Crows Nest on 17th September 1873 and is buried in the cemetery at St Leonards beside his wife Elizabeth Wollstonecraft who died 1845 and her brother Edward Wollstonecraft died December 8th 1832.

William Berry died 20th October 1875 and David Berry September 1889”

On the east panel - “James Hay born 18th July 1863 died 20th July 1916 buried at Toranga New Zealand.

On the north panel ‘Also sacred to the memory of John Hay and Ann Tod his wife who with their children John, Janet and Isobel Berry Hay, wife of Thomas Honeyman are buried at Leuchars in Fife.

Alexander Hay who died in Sydney 15th July 1831 aged 30; Jean Berwick wife of David Hay died 1889 and buried at Parua Bay, Auckland New Zealand; Robert Hay died at Coolangatta 1888; James Hay who died at Auckland New Zealand 21st June 1889 and whose remains lie interred here.

David Hay who was killed by the accidental discharge of his rifle while hunting wild cattle on 23rd November 1898 aged 22. Isobel Honeyman Morton wife of Philip Henry Morton who died in Sydney in 1923. Jessie Hay born 1840 and Agnes Hay Hay.”

In the burial ground itself there are 11 sandstone headstones at ground level with no monumental masonry and three wooden crosses - one is inscribed Alex (Major Alex Hay died 1941) and another - Mable Hay. These headstones are all badly eroded by weather so it is fortunate that money enough was available to provide granite facings for the monument itself.

The burial ground was created in the side of the hill slopes and faces due south over the Shoalhaven estuary. Behind it and overlooking it is Mount Coolangatta - the focus of all the journeys.

To paraphrase – there is a corner of a distant field which is forever Scotland.

We took a different route back to Sydney by the Nowra to Moss Vale road which climbs up to Kangaroo Valley and diverted to the Cambewarra lookout at a height of over 2250 feet which affords a panoramic view of the Shoalhaven River and its Estuary and many miles to the inland south.

We had climbed steeply through tall eucalyptus trees along a twisting and tortuous road with many hairpin bends taking rapid avoiding action when semi-trailers were encountered coming down. On leaving Cambewarra we had crossed the first of the northerly dividing sandstone ranges and then dropped down a slope into the town of Kangaroo Valley.

This is an attractive area in very green countryside with a mixture of leisure activities, tea shops, cafes, old inns and fruit farms. This is also a famous dairying area between Nowra and Shoalhaven and the Southern Highlands further north and west. It was first seen by the explorer George Evans in 1812 who was struck by its beauty and position. It lies between the Cambewarra and Barengarry mountains.

The first settlements by European were of an itinerant nature but around 1820, cattle were grazed on the floodplains of the Kangaroo River and shortly afterwards the standing cedar was rapidly felled and within 30 years there was little left. The Osborne family were the first to be granted acreage of nearly 3000 in 1840 and before becoming Kangaroo Valley it was known as the Private Township of Osborne. Dairy farming has been the mainstay of the area but many varieties of fruit are increasingly cultivated in and around the Valley.

Kangaroo Valley river is crossed by the Hampden Bridge which has a mock-mediaeval look to it in style but, built in 1898, it is the oldest suspension bridge in Australia.

Another 3 miles further north we come to Fitzroy Falls and the massive Reservoir from which the River Yarrunga flows towards Lake Yarrunga where it joins the River Shoalhaven which has risen in the mountains further south.

We are now almost in the Southern Highlands with towns such as Bowral, Moss Vale, Berrima and Mittagong evenly spaced in this desirable area.

The height and cooler climate of the area attracted the wealthy from Sydney to escape the hot summers and the properties are spacious and the trees reminiscent of Britain. The early settlers were fond of planting trees to remind them of home – weeping willows abound in the most unlikely places in Australia.

After lunching at Berrima we join the Hume Highway and within two hours we are back home in North Sydney.

After this journey I decide to set off on journeys back into time to find out more about Alexander Berry, his youth and time at St Andrews, his travels on the high seas and the background and journeys of the Bishop family which brought Colin James Bishop to the journey which re-started everything in 1947.




































Chapter 2 Berry – Scotland to the Southern Hemisphere 1781 - 1809

Having started in the present day we now have to travel a distance back in time of two hundred and twenty nine years to St Andrew’s Day the 30th November 1781 to a sharply contrasting scene from where we have just been.

A violent snowstorm driven by a strong south easterly gale from the North Sea is buffeting the old farmhouse of Hilltarvit Mains in Fife. Within, preparations are in hand for the birth of the first and eldest son, Alexander.

James Berry was 31 before becoming a father for the first time and was married to Isabel Tod. James Berry’s father and grandfather had been tenant farmers at Lucklaw near Logie some seven miles to the north east of where Alexander Berry was born. The parents named him after these two forbears and he was baptised in the Parish Church of Cupar in Fife.

Previous generations of the Berry family had not moved very far within Fife but with the son and heir the travel background will change to thousands of miles as subsequently travelled by Alexander Berry during his lifetime - and by his sisters and brothers later on when they were persuaded to emigrate to Australia to join him after the death of their parents in 1827 and 1830 respectively.

Berry often in later years referred to the date of his birth and the snowstorm which accompanied it and wrote that it was “perhaps an indication of a stormy life. But St Andrew seems never to have left my side; I have passed through many dangers and have weathered many a storm and, thank God, never yielded to despair”.

His upbringing, though caring was disciplined and by today’s standards rather strict with his father the dominant personality in the family – a characteristic which Alexander seems to have inherited. But he was also caring and self-disciplined.

His mother, Isabel subsequently gave birth to a further nine children. Two of these, both named James after their father were born in 1783 and 1794 did not survive infancy. The last born was Nancy on 27th July 1802 who died in Australia just six months before Berry’s death at 92.

Thus, Alexander’s mother had produced nine children between the age of 27 with the birth of Alexander and at 48 with the birth of Nancy in 1802 when the family moved to Errol in Perthshire. This is the same year that Alexander, now aged 21, is starting his first appointment with the East India Company.

His parents worked hard on the land and rose through their own efforts to become part of the middle class of Scotland. They instilled in him a sense of self-discipline and the importance of a good education so that, first in age and probably in ability, Alexander was given educational opportunities denied to the other children who remained at home to help on the farm.

When the parents died, they were returned to Logie for burial in the local in Churchyard where the burial plot is inscribed "sacred to the memory of James Berrie who died at Cromwell Park 1st August 1827 aged 77 years and Isabel Tod his spouse who died 24th March 1830 aged 73 years".

What Alexander remembers of his schooldays is that they were happy ones.

He enjoyed the frozen winters in particular for that was a time for skating on the lochs near the Perthshire border with the ice two feet thick along with what were called "gaudies" on the ice when many rinks of curling were played. These enjoyable and noisy competitions went well with the accompaniment of open air parties and picnics and many a wee dram for the elders - no wonder that curling was always called the "shouting game."

He attended the old Burgh School in the town of Cupar where he received his elementary education and his constant companion with whom he remained in touch by letters all his life was George Walker. George Walker was also a farmer’s son from Hilltown of Pitbladdo - this is about as far north of Cupar as Hilltarvit is south - from where they moved to the farm of Skelpie.

The two boys walked into Cupar each day to school and returned home later in the afternoon when they always seemed to have much to talk about and in one of Berry’s letters he recalls how they used to Scots-convoy each other between Hilltarvit and Skelpie. He wrote “I recollect when I visited Skelpie that you gave me a long convoy home. Although I said you had gone too far, I must accompany you some way back. But you returned again with me and we wandered back and forward for hours in the moonlight”.

In The Statistical Account of Scotland for the period 1791 – 1799 there is a description of the school by the Rev George Campbell as being “in a convenient and handsome building, erected in the year 1727, by the Magistrates and council in a very pleasant and airy situation on the Castle-hill. The house is divided into two apartments – in the one are taught Latin, French, Geography and in the other, English, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping and mensuration etc. The Rector of the Grammar School has a salary of thirty pounds and the master of the English school seventeen pounds. Both are paid by the town.

The fees paid by the scholars are 3 shillings a quarter for Latin, 1 shilling and sixpence for English and 2 shillings for writing and arithmetic.

The school of Cupar has, in different periods, been in high repute; and, from the attention, ardour and abilities of the present teachers, bids fair to maintain its ancient celebrity”

Apart from the normal routine of schoolboy life, he well remembers the world beyond Cupar opening up for him and his lifelong friend Geordie Walker through their visits to, and purchases of books from the sole Cupar bookseller Tullis. But there were also the visits of itinerant booksellers hawking their wares on market days and the love of books which remained with him to the end of his life was engendered in Cupar as were the stirrings of his compulsion to explore unknown territories.

During one of these visits to Cupar, his father bought him what became a treasured copy of "Salmon's Geographical Grammar" which influenced him in the same way that John Keats felt from reading Chapman's translation of Homer :

"Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific - and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise - "

Salmon’s book is described in flowery terms on the fly leaf as “A new Geographical and Historical Grammar wherein the Geographical part is truly modern and the present state of the Kingdoms of the World is so interpreted as to render the study of Geography both entertaining and instructive.” It was a revolution in its day of getting away from the dry as dust texts which had been regularly in use in schools and academies previously. It was first published in 1749 and went through several editions with different editors and was well printed with various coloured maps.

The world beyond Scotland was as yet unexplored and, Captain Cook and a handful of like-minded navigators and mariners apart, knowledge of the rest of the world was mostly surmise. Cook had taken possession of Australia in 1788 when Berry was seven years old and 34 years later Berry was to take advantage of this.

With all the political upheavals from the French Revolution in 1789 and the growth in the power of Britain's Navy, Berry could see that the route to exploration would be by sea and news of the exploits of Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar were additional influences on his attitudes towards the future.

He began his studies at University just before his 15th birthday when, accompanied, by his friend George Walker, went up to St Andrews as a bejant -the St Andrews name for first year students from the Old French bec-jaune – a young blackbird - in the Session 1796 - 1797 to the United College of St Leonard and St Salvator and officially matriculated on February 16th 1797. The age of entry to University at around fifteen had hardly changed since the Middle Ages.

Berry liked to feel that he had influenced the naming of the suburb of St Leonard’s, which surrounded his house in North Sydney, from his association with the United College of St Andrews and but he also enjoyed the fact that St Leonard was the patron saint of convicts and prisoners. This was appropriate to Australia at the time and because he was much involved with such people and was in captivity himself on a number of occasions.

He remembered people discussing Dr Johnson's visit to St Andrews in 1773 not long before he came up for he used to read avidly in the University Library of The University from the day he arrived. Dr Johnson had described it as "not very spacious but elegant and luminous" - on the face of it a rather pompous view of an Englishman looking condescendingly on Scotland's oldest University establishment.

Nevertheless, Berry appreciated the adjective "luminous" as his reading there illuminated his mind with the unknown lands overseas – amongst his readings were Cook’s Voyages and the three volumes of Hawkesworth’s Voyages. Half of the books which he borrowed during the Session dealt with travel and natural history.

There would have been but a handful of students in his time - certainly not more than 150 in all - and a pretty rowdy and undisciplined lot they were on many occasions. He followed a traditional Arts course by taking classes in Classics and Logic for two full academic years. No formal graduation took place at the end of this time for it was the pursuit of knowledge and advancement which was the main objective. Those planning to enter the Scottish Kirk generally went through the formality of graduation which was quite expensive but the rest did not bother.

But he was not solely focused on study and they were constantly feuding with the “crusty old Librarian” as Berry describes him. This was John Cook, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the United College and he it was who entertained Dr Johnson during his visit. Cook is reported as saying that "he got more trouble with Geordie Walker, Sandy Berry and Sandy Nimmo than all the other boys at the College"

There is a record of a student’s scrawl in the margin of a book - "every kind of dissipation was carried on openly and never checked by any professor".

Dr Johnson summed up the St Andrews of the day in this way - "Whoever surveys the world must see things that give him pain. The kindness of the professors did not contribute to abate the uneasy remembrance of an university declining, a college alienated and a church profaned and hastening to the ground."

Berry would have agreed that this was true, but remembers that there were so many conflicting contrasts at the time. But despite all the contradictions, the widening of knowledge in young men shone through and, one student from Eton called Berkeley on his first visit to North Street wept at the thought of spending three years in the place.

But after three years he wept even more at the thought of leaving St Andrews. The old grey city by the sea has a way of ensnaring and captivating the heart so that generations of students to this day find the memory stays ever fresh and rewarding.

By this time, the colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard had been consolidated into a single foundation even though the divines in St Mary's stayed aloof.

In this United College the staffing consisted of the Principal, a Professor of Greek, three Professors of philosophy and a Professor each for humanity, civil history, mathematics and medicine.

The student body lived a hardy life being woken early at about 5 a.m. and inspected by the Hebdomadar before going to lectures and the Library – the students had to be back within the college gates by 10 p.m.

Berry and his farming friends in Fife varied considerably as far as wealth was concerned and they all used to return home in the middle of February to bring back a sack of oatmeal and a top up of the student larder with haggis, dried meat and very hard cheese. Meal Monday is still a holiday break for present day students.

After two years at St Andrews Berry decided to change Universities and in this he was influenced by the fact that in 1798 the school of medicine at St Andrews was badly run and the provision for the study of modern medical science was negligible. Furthermore, the reputation of medical degrees from St Andrews was very low - in the case of Jean Paul Marat he received a medical degree after making a suitable payment and without having ever set foot on the cobbles of North Street.

Alexander’s father was keen that he should pursue a medical career for he was ambitious for him to improve his standing in society and a physician surgeon had acquired gentlemanly status at the beginning of this century.

Therefore, before he moved from St Andrews to Edinburgh University he was happily apprenticed to Dr John Gowan, the leading physician-apothecary of Cupar, during the University vacations.

This had the advantage of providing him with some extra money and giving him practical experience of medical methods and physics before going up to Edinburgh.

Here, at Edinburgh, he matriculated in the three sessions 1789 - 1801 and qualified with the Diploma of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1801.

In addition, he also received a 1st Mate's medical certificate on 5th May 1801. This was a very important qualification for him at the time for during his student days he was much impressed with the role of the Royal Navy on the world stage. The victories of Duncan at Camperdown in '97 and those of Nelson at the Nile and Copenhagen between 1978 and 1801 gave added incentives to his intention to combine his father's wish that he become medically qualified and his personal desire to voyage abroad and explore what were still largely unknown territories.

Coincidentally, George Bass whose explorations where Berry was later to settle in Australia, at the same age of 18 on April 2nd 1789, also obtained his Diploma as “member of the Company of Surgeons” and received the distinctive title of a Surgeon as ‘Mr’ – a nomenclature which continues to this day. However, two month’s later he was qualified by the Court of Examiners for Sea-Surgeons as “a surgeon’s mate – at any rate”.

He was persuaded by his father to give up the idea of a career in the Royal Navy even though he had at one time bought him the uniform - he really wanted to get the sea out of his system and see him established as a land-based physician.

Fortunately, for Alexander, a compromise was reached as the father, through personal connections, obtained for Berry the position of surgeon on an East India Company ship bound for Java and China. His first voyage with the East India Company to Java and China opened his eyes to the mercantile potential of the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, in those days the surgeons and officers of the Indiamen were all individual traders and were allowed a certain tonnage by the East India Company. Berry was fortunate in his first trading venture for by being very cautious he only used his credit to a very limited extent and merely bought dollars to take to China.

On arrival the market conditions were extremely depressed and those who had made large investments in goods to trade suffered heavy losses.

After returning from China, Berry decided to make further progress in this type of business and he obtained a second commission this time aboard the Lord Hawkesbury for the voyage between 1804 and 1806 as Surgeon of the Company's ship - he had received commendations from the Chief Officer and Surgeon of the Indiaman.

This was a transport ship designed for military use and on board was a large detachment of the 17th Regiment some 300 in number including women and children.

Trading was still permitted and on this occasion he took full advantage of this opportunity and made a considerable investment in goods to take to India which were sold at an excellent profit

This was a dramatic decision to plunge into, what were for Berry, uncharted commercial waters but it proved invaluable for him for the future. But, above all, the experiences on these journeys taught him how best to look after large groups of humanity in difficult and isolated conditions.

He set himself the objective of caring for health and hygienic matters based on the precepts practised by Captain Cook with his crews in the Endeavour to combat scurvy by a strict health regimen on board.

This matter of preventing ill-health through disciplined living served him well later on in his career when brought it into practice at the Coolangatta settlement for convicts and employees alike.

He was rightly proud of the fact that not one person succumbed on this voyage - which was exceptional in the circumstances - and he landed more of the military than had been taken on board. Three embryo soldiers had been born during the passage to Madras.

Despite, the personal successes for Berry, both medically and financially, the enjoyment of his new career was spoiled by his having to witness the ruthless and callous floggings on the notorious triangle frames on which military discipline was based. In the utter revulsion he felt he showed his humanitarianism and care for his fellow men of whatever rank and in this view was years ahead of his time and he carried this through into his settlement days in Australia.

He writes that "I was on good terms with the military, both men and officers. The only disagreeable thing on board was the constant floggings; and I was responsible that the men who were so punished were not flogged to death".

He was able to have some influence on these punishments during the voyage and made it his own general rule that those due for such punishment should never have more than one half of the sentence carried out.
He crossed swords with the Regimental Colonel on more than one occasion and stood his ground particularly when there were indications of unhealed wounds brought about by scurvy or a Vitamin C deficiency. One old offender's condition forced Berry to speak plainly and their exchange indicates the difference in attitudes -
"after the soldier had received a moderate punishment, I addressed the Colonel, and said that it would be unsafe to give that man any more punishment. The Colonel replied 'if we are to trifle with these fellows in that way, we shall have to punish them every day in our lives' - he then turned away on his heel and walked toward the cuddy - a room or cabin on a large ship abaft the round-house in which the officers and cabin-passengers took their meals - I stepped up alongside of him and said, ‘Colonel Stoven, I have nothing whatever to do with the expediency of punishment; my only duty in this case is to give a medical opinion, and if that man gets any more punishment I am not answerable for the consequences’.
The man was released but not before the Colonel had said that he was sorry that he could not give him more punishment but that he would bear it in mind should he offend again.
The return voyage from Madras with the embarkation of the remains of one of Wellington's regiments after the Battle of Assaye "where they had buried seventeen officers in one grave, and where only two officers were not wounded" was an altogether different matter. The Battle of Assaye in India was the culmination of the first of Wellington’s "close run" things. After war had broken out in August 1803 between Sindhia and the Rajah of Berar and the British, the Duke fought a brief, brilliant but bloody campaign. It was the campaign in which Wellington maintained that he learned his trade and the battle which ended the Maratha Confederation was “the best fighting I ever did”. If it had not succeeded, it might have been the last time that he was given command for the battle was a nearer-run thing than Waterloo.
Most of the men were either sick or wounded, or both, and many of the troops subsequently died from their wounds. Alexander was sickened by these deaths which could not be prevented owing to the then current state of medical knowledge - there were no satisfactory pain relievers or anaesthetics so it was a matter of the old system of "biting on the bullet" when amputations were made.
"I was almost broken-hearted about it, and felt ashamed to have to report their deaths to the Commanding Officer of the ship. My old college chum, the Rev George Walker told me some time afterwards that he had met several of these poor fellows who did get home in a ferry boat, passing from Leith to Fife, and heard one of them entertaining the other passengers about their adventures in India. The man said that he had come home in the Lord Hawkesbury. Then said Walker “you must know Mr Berry, the surgeon". 'That indeed I do” replied the man, “and a very good man he was !”'
The combination of sickness, death and excessive punishments turned Alexander away from the medical world and the military systems towards commerce and seamanship. This decision came about as he felt that as a ship's Surgeon with the ability to trade he was in a hybrid position and instead of continuing in the service of the East India Company, from then on he devoted himself to commerce.
The profitability of his trading enabled him start his first commercial venture by sailing to the Cape of Good Hope which had only recently been taken from the Dutch.
It was during this voyage that the question of navigation and the difficulty of obtaining a longitude fix arose. He quickly saw that the ship's Captain depended solely on dead reckoning and the meridian observation of the sun. When a Portuguese vessel crossed their path, the Mate went aboard to try to find out their calculations of longitude. The Portuguese reckoned that Berry's ship was more than five degrees away from where they thought they were and they supported this view as they had taken a lunar observation the day before.
When Berry asked his own Captain why he did not take lunar observations himself, the reply was that "although he had been a pupil of Norie - a well-respected teacher of Navigation - he was unable to work them".
Berry obtained the sextant which had through lack of use become out of adjustment. So, as he thought this would enable him to solve their longitude and navigation problems, he painstakingly took the sextant to pieces and after cleaning the glasses he re-assembled the device.
The sun and the moon being in juxtaposition he attempted to take the lunar observation and record the distance. The result was that the sightings exactly coincided with what the Portuguese had told them. From then on Berry always took lunar observations whenever possible and the voyage ended satisfactorily but with no thanks to the Captain's navigational skills, so that they sailed straight into Table Bay.
Berry in the event taught himself navigation through lunar observations, because of a similar, but much more dangerous incident, which caused Sir Thomas Brisbane to become an astronomer. He had been on board a ship bound for the West Indies when it was driven by foul winds close to the coast of Africa. The Captain could not decide on the ship's position and Sir Thomas who was dismayed at the danger they were in, taught himself navigation there and then and helped guide the ship safely to its destination.

He was the founder of the second Observatory in Australia at Parramatta; the first having been established near The Rocks at Sydney Harbour shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.
These events are of significant interest as they show the state of navigational expertise at this time. Latitude is relatively easily recorded from the meridian altitude of the sun but determining longitude at sea was a great problem for all navigators.
In principle, all that was necessary was a clock with which to compare the local time with that on the clock which might show the time the ship left the last port of call.
The problem was that pendulum clocks could not be made to work accurately on board ships.
The Observatories at Paris and Greenwich were founded in the 17th century to measure accurately star positions so that more accurate lunar tables could be published. The lunar method relies on measuring the position of the moon relative to the stars and requires exceptional accuracy.
This would probably put it beyond the educational capability of most sea captains. For a mariner to determine his east /west position accurately needed a near-perfect timekeeper. By comparing the precise time on the vessel with that of the home port it would be possible to calculate the distance travelled. The problem was to overcome the movement of a ship and the range of different temperatures on board.

The final solution came with Harrison's extraordinary and painstaking feat which lasted forty years in devising the marine chronometer and made with an escapement in wood. Harrison constructed four revolutionary timepieces between 1735 and 1759 and they were mundanely named referred to as H1, H2, H3 and H4. They exist to this day in the Old Royal Observatory at Greenwich. The astronomers of the day appeared to have conspired against his obsession with perfecting an accurate chronometer but he eventually gained a place in history and a parliamentary award of £20,000.00.

The problem was that the academics well understood astronomical problems but could not conceive of a man - made piece of machinery ever being accurate enough. But, in 1764 H4 was taken on a proving voyage across the Atlantic and was able to establish the longitude of Barbados within 9.8 nautical miles of its true position as known today.

Today satellite navigation can determine positions to within centimetres but two hundred years ago Harrison’s achievement would have been seen by the astronomers to be almost unbelievable.

However, it is unlikely that this method would have been in general usage in merchant ships by the first decade of the 19h century.
Therefore, the system of dead reckoning, an estimate of distance travelled, would still have been in general use for longitude determination at that time.
Berry concludes this first voyage by saying that "having here mentioned how I taught myself navigation, I may perhaps add that, before leaving London, I provided myself with certain law books on commercial affairs, which I also studied during the voyage. These works were Chitty on Bills, Abbott on Shipping, Parks on Insurance and Blackstone's Commentaries - the constant study of which, unfortunately, made me a 'Conservative' ".
After his arrival in Cape Town, Berry met Francis Shortt whom he had known as a fellow medical student at Edinburgh University. They received information that there were great problems in New South Wales arising from the flooding of the River Hawkesbury north of Sydney in 1806 leading to serious food shortages.
It was agreed that they would take commercial advantage of this situation and they set about buying up suitable stocks of provisions and other supplies on an equally shared investment. Their biggest problem was a shortage of vessels for charter as most of the English shipping had gone to Argentina so as to support Sir Bruce Popham in his bid to capture the colony. This was an unauthorised dash across the Atlantic where he captured Buenos Aires and sent home half a million gold dollars. Public support for this effort was so strong that the Government of the day under Grenville was reluctantly forced to re-inforce the small British contingent and by the time that Castlereagh was in power more than 10,000 troops had been committed to this venture - so it was not surprising that there was shortage of shipping at Cape Town.
However, they eventually managed to find a prize ship called the Rapadora of 520 tons. This bought and re-named her The City of Edinburgh in honour of their joint studies at the University of Edinburgh - this was the beginning of Berry's adventurous voyages which took him to many countries and covered thousands of miles during its stormy career.
The City of Edinburgh was loaded with grain, salt meat and 22,000 gallons of spirits. Berry then sailed on it as supercargo, the commercial officer and superintendent of cargo and they left the Cape on 4th September 1807 on this speculative voyage to Sydney.
Shortt was left in Cape Town to re-organise their partnership and to look to its future financial health but Shortt found himself in a debtor’s prison for a short period because of debts which had accumulated from the speculative borrowings to found their commercial ventures.
To Berry's great regret, he did not see eye to eye with Francis Shortt over these events which resulted in long-term litigation which was not ended until Shortt's death in Sydney in 1827. The misunderstandings arose through trying to deal with complicated matters thousands of miles from Cape Town and with poor communications.
Not more than two weeks out of Cape Town, Berry’s ship ran into a succession of violent storms and they lost the main and mizzen masts so that the rest of the journey was under jury rig. Its speed was drastically reduced by this makeshift rig and so the earliest landfall possible was made at Port Dalrymple just to the east of Devonport on the north coast of Van Dieman's Land - now Tasmania - where Colonel Paterson was the Lieutenant-Governor.

Berry records that "It was in a state of destitution, and they were subsisting chiefly on the flesh of kangaroos, which they caught in the bush. The arrival of a vessel with provisions was a god-send to them. I made no attempt to avail myself of their necessities; but, on the contrary, readily sold them all the provisions they required, at fair and reasonable terms, and I think that Mr Riley, the Commissary, purchased nearly one-half of the provisions I had on board."
Whilst at Port Dalrymple news arrived from overland travellers that Hobart Town was suffering just as badly. Berry's decision to go to Hobart was strengthened by information from the master of The Estramina which had arrived from Sydney that conditions in the Hawkesbury were much improved now that the floods had subsided.
In spite of Paterson's doubts, Berry sailed directly to Hobart where he found living conditions very poor and sold all of the provisions he could spare to the Governor Collins.
Thus, when they finally arrived at Port Jackson on January 13th 1808 the cargo now consisted mostly of spirits. Alexander Berry had suffered badly from the very hot weather and immediately upon arrival he retired to bed with a high fever.
There then ensued a succession of meetings and arguments with William Bligh who had been granted Governorship of the Colony despite the Bounty incident. The first fracas blew up through rumours put about by a drunken member of the ship's crew that Berry had destroyed a letter destined for Bligh. Bligh was in a state of high tension and his behaviour often appeared irrational.
When Berry had partially recovered his fever and sunstroke he called on Bligh who immediately raised the question of the missing letter, but after Berry had been able to show that the letters in his care were all accounted for, Bligh suddenly calmed down.
But in no time at all more arguments flared as Bligh told Berry that in his view he had "used this great colony very ill in giving those paltry fellows of Dalrymple and Hobart Town the pick of your cargo".
Berry insisted that he had in the name of humanity only sold them foodstuffs necessary for their health and survival in very bad conditions.
Bligh also attacked him for not listening to Paterson's advice about going direct to Sydney rather than via Hobart - obviously, Paterson had written to Bligh but Berry was on firm ground with his ship's papers which cleared the City of Edinburgh to Dalrymple and Sydney.
Berry clearly found it almost impossible to have a reasonable discussion with Bligh and he was recalled by Bligh a number of times who seemed to have backed down from his earlier threatening manner. But then, just as the atmosphere between them was apparently improving, a final meeting at which the Judge Advocate, the Harbour Master and the Commissary were present Berry was asked who he had spoken to during his stay in Sydney.
Berry's mention of John Macarthur and Simeon Lord raised their hackles as there had been much political manoeuvring with regard to the allocation of sole import agency rights.
Bligh had appointed Robert Campbell in the place of Dr Harris as Harbour Master and wanted him to have the trade monopoly in the Colony.
There was no satisfying Bligh on any point and he insisted that the quantity of provisions in spirit form to be enormous, outrageous and provocative.
A sharp turn for the worse now occurred after Berry had made good trade in Tasmania as when he "afterwards called on Campbell to arrange about the landing of my cargo" he was told "that His Excellency had given him orders that my wine should be put into his stores, and that he (the Governor) would not allow me to sell it at a higher price than three shillings per gallon. I told Campbell that I had no objection to put the wine into his stores, but that I could not afford to sell it at the price he mentioned.
To Berry's extreme annoyance and dismay the spirits were ordered into his own Port Jackson store by Bligh. He had been expecting a profitable sale from this commodity as spirits were the currency norm at the time.
Currency was at a premium during this period of the Colony's development and so the internal economy became based on supplies of rum or grog. Grog was a mixture of rum, or other spirits and water deriving from Admiral Vernon who in the 18th century ordered the fleet to have diluted rum instead of neat spirits. Grog comes from Vernon’s nickname of Old Grog because of his habit of wearing a grogram cloak. Grogram was a coarse silk material mixed with mohair and wool. Most wages were paid in kind and often in rum so that instead of currency, financial control of the colony depended on the cornering of rum.
Day to day control was in the hands of the grasping New South Wales Regiment - generally called the Rum Corps which was specially raised for administration purposes and had no battlefield experience whatsoever. The objectives of the officers were to gain a monopoly of the rum and acquire land almost free of charge.
The Corps and John Macarthur, a former officer, were at loggerheads with Bligh with Macarthur about to be put on trial so that the local political situation was extremely tense when Berry arrived with this great quantity of spirits.
Berry was so put out by the price control imposed that when he was asked for a case of wine for a Mess dinner by the Corps Commandant he gave it to him as a gift rather than be intimidated or compromised by Bligh's high handedness.
Berry disengaged from further contact with Macarthur but, appropriately, declined to be involved in signing a petition for William Bligh's arraignment because he said that as he was not a resident of the Colony it would be improper and imprudent.
Not two weeks after his arrival, and on the twentieth anniversary of the First Fleet's arrival, on 26th January 1808, the Rum Corps marched on Government House with Colonel Johnston at its head and deposed Governor Bligh in a farcical military coup. Bligh is uncertainly reported as being dragged from hiding under a bed wearing the same uniform as had graced Nelson and Duncan and "befouled" with chicken feathers. An undignified position, if true, to be found in for a man whose exploits in the past had been both notorious and remarkable.
However, in his Reminiscences, Berry has largely recounted gossip about this incident and because of Bligh's rather correct attitude to carrying out orders from higher authority, popular references to Bligh's apparent humiliation are probably very biased.
After that Colonel Johnston finally requested Bligh to resign his authority and consider himself under arrest. Bligh was from then on until his departure for England under close house arrest.
The mutiny was fired by rum at the dinner the night before the action and the evening after the insurrection Macarthur and his cronies led Sydney Town in a drunken celebration.
Eventually in London, Johnston was found guilty of mutiny and cashiered - a very light punishment indeed. He eventually returned to NSW as a private citizen. No action was taken against any of the Regiment's officers.
This was a pragmatic approach to a messy situation as the 102nd Regiment had been removed from the Colony and their influence faded. Macarthur was in a spot as all he owned was in NSW and he did not return for nine years - no action was taken against him - and he played his part in the growth of the wool trade. This is how he tends to be remembered and not as the devious and grasping man who created a climate of trouble over a period of years.
John Macarthur is generally remembered as the father of the Merino wool business in Australia and from which the Colony certainly benefited before the discovery of gold later in the century. But, he is not often seen as a grasping Scot who manoeuvred those about him to disrupt the forces of established law and order so that the "mutiny" against Bligh came into effect just at the time of Berry's arrival.
He imported stills into the port contrary to the instructions which Bligh was enforcing and this was a major cause of conflict between them.
Bligh had landed at Sydney in August 1806 and assumed office a week after arrival and thus had little time in which to make a thorough assessment of the Colonial situation. He was 52 at the time and like the former Governor Gidley King he was seen as just one more Naval officer come to take command.
Inadvertently, King started Bligh on the path to the Colonel Johnston Mutiny by issuing him with clear instructions regarding the problem of the grog trade. These instructions are recorded as follows: - "great evils have arisen from the unrestrained importation of spirits into our settlement.......whereby both the settlers and convicts have been induced to barter and exchange their livestock for the said spirits.....we do therefor strictly enjoin you, on pain of our utmost displeasure to order and direct that no spirits shall be landed from any vessel coming to our settlement without your consent previously obtained for that purpose.............and you are to take the most effectual measures that the said orders and directions shall be strictly obeyed and complied with".
There can be no doubt about the strictness of the orders which were to guide Bligh's behaviour towards the Rum Corps and the local merchants who, as he saw the Colony more clearly, were acting to the detriment of the ordinary settlers and convicts.
Bligh travelled extensively in New South Wales and got to know the difficulties of the population under his control. The total numbers were not much above 12,000 even after nearly 20 years of settlement with about 7500 in the immediate hinterland of Sydney Town, some two thousand on the banks of the Hawkesbury and the Nepean Rivers 60 miles away and a further 2000 some 16 miles west at Parramatta.
Coming from Devonian country stock himself it is not surprising that Bligh found himself more in tune with these people trying to cope with a land of "drought and plenty" and establish a decent lifestyle, than with the traders and politically activated fortune hunters in the heart of Sydney Town.
Before Berry arrived on the scene, Bligh had already tried his best to alleviate the effects of the disastrous Hawkesbury River flooding of 1806 when the grain crops were all but wiped out.
He arranged the slaughter of cattle from the Government herd so that meat could be distributed to the hungry settlers in the region. He went further and provided incentives for growing more grain by promising to purchase for the Government store all the surplus at a fair price of ten shillings a bushel. It resulted in the cultivation of larger areas of land than ever before.
Bligh had received a despatch from William Windham in December 1806 Secretary of State for the Colonies (Feb 1806 - Mar 1807) ordering that all the settlers and livestock be removed from Norfolk Island to Tasmania. Lord Hobart (Secretary of State 1791 - 1804) had made the same order three years before but it not been carried out. William Windham's order was so emphatic that it brooked no delay and Bligh had to act quickly.
After correspondence with Captain Piper, Bligh warned Lieutenant Governor Collins of Tasmania to expect 120 settlers and their families from Norfolk Island - 386 in all and that they would arrive in several contingents, depending on shipping availability between the end of 1807 and early 1808.
Berry had made an offer to evacuate a shipload of settlers to the Derwent provided he was supplied with a cargo of sawn timber. This offer was accepted and Macarthur wrote out the charter-party ( indenture - a contract in which the two parts were indented and one of each kept by the parties involved - in modern usage this is now a contract between merchants and ship owners for the safe delivery of a cargo or cargoes). The ship was chartered at a certain rate per month not in money but in timber according to a schedule which included the date. Macarthur inserted into the charter-party a penalty of two thousand pounds if either party did not fulfil the stipulated contract.
The trip to Norfolk Island was delayed until the winter months of July and the approach to Norfolk was very difficult because the ship was frequently driven away from the island by storms and strong winds for weeks at a time. Captain Piper was the island Commandant and treated Berry with great hospitality. A pilot was sent aboard from whom he procured a certificate to the effect that every exertion had been made by the Master and officers and that the delay in loading the ship arose entirely from weather conditions from which the ship sustained severe damage.
The City of Edinburgh finally left for the River Derwent in Tasmania on 9th September 1808 where she arrived on October 2nd with 226 migrants aboard - 91 men, 29 women and 96 children -an interesting ratio. This contingent made a total of 554 people removed in eleven months from Norfolk Island to the Derwent.
Within seven months Col Collins had received a total of 328 new settlers at the Derwent who were predominantly free citizens. They demanded fulfilment of the promises that had been made to them but they suffered great hardships before they were eventually settled in New Norfolk twenty miles up river from Hobart Town.
Then, after Berry returned to Sydney following this voyage, the Commodore, as Berry now calls him, Bligh was still living at Government House under a type of house arrest. Bligh's Governorship is historically recorded as being from August 1806 - January 1810.
An Acting Governor had been appointed, who took up his duties in July 1808 by the name of Major Foveaux who had earlier been the Commandant of Norfolk Island at the time that the orders came out from London to evacuate the island.
As he was senior to Major Johnston he took over administration from him. Johnston had already chartered Berry's City of Edinburgh to complete the evacuation of the islanders. The heavy storms which have been referred to by Berry forced the ship to remain in the offing of the island before she could complete loading.
The ship finally left for the River Derwent on 9th September and arrived on 2nd October with 226 migrants on board - 91 men, 29 women and 96 children. Berry's large removal of islanders was not well rewarded by Foveaux. But that removal did not complete the evacuation because Captain Piper who continued as Commandant reported on 30th September 1808 that there were still 250 persons on the island as well as 3000 sheep and a herd of cattle.
The actual CO of the NSW Corps, William Paterson - who had been absent from Sydney establishing the settlement at Port Dalrymple during the insurrection against Bligh - returned to Sydney in January 1809 and took over the administration from Foveaux. He administered the Colony until the arrival of Major General Lachlan Macquarie who took office as Governor on 1st January 1810 and was in that position until the arrival of Sir Thomas Brisbane in 1821.
Just to make life more difficult for Berry, he gave orders that all the timber that was ready for him should be employed in the erection of new barracks for soldiers in Sydney. This is when Berry feels that the charter-party was not honoured when Foveaux said that he would give him only the two thousand pounds and no timber.
Because of the length of time the ship had been absent and the inability to get messages to the mainland, after three months the ship had been given up for lost in Sydney and plans for the sawing of timber disbanded.
When he finally arrived on November 9th 1809, despite the abandonment of plans for the timber Berry demanded payment of the sum of £3600 and, as a trade-off in the circumstances he offered to take the timber which had been prepared and estimated to be worth £2830 in part payment and asked for the remainder to be paid from money or goods from the public stores.
Lt-Colonel Foveaux stubbornly refused to pay more than £2000 as stipulated by the charter company but as Berry was not happy to accept this decision the matter was then referred to the Home Government for a decision.
Because of the intransigence of the Acting Governor Foveaux ( Bligh was still under house arrest ) plans, therefore, had to be modified because of the failure to obtain a cargo of timber or anything else for trade with the Cape. Berry was in a dilemma because he could not envisage a trip round Cape Horn with an empty ship and no ballast.
First of all he considered a direct voyage to Fiji to obtain sandalwood but in the end he decided to go via New Zealand where he could pick up spars. William Bligh somehow heard of his intentions to visit New Zealand and asked if he would take to the Bay of Islands a son of Tipahee. His name was Motara and had been to England where he was impressed with the hospitality with which he had been received. He had also been given an audience of George the Third.












Chapter 3 - Berry – Australia, South America, Portugal and London 1810 - 1822

In the New Year, Berry once again passes through Sydney Harbour and heads towards the east and New Zealand which had not yet been formally constituted.
On arrival at the Bay of Islands, the ship anchored at Tippuna which was the residence of Tippahee - the chieftain who had been expected to be able to supply the spars - an essential for ships' riggings. However, there was no timber of this sort in the district and the supplies could only be obtained from an adjoining area controlled by a chief named Tupe.
Berry therefore decided to visit Tupe by longboat but he was surprised at the distance involved and it took them all of eight hours before they reached Kowa which was Tupe’s residence. Tupe appeared, dressed in European clothes then accompanied Berry in his longboat back to the City of Edinburgh and piloted him skilfully and safely back to Kororarika where a large quantity of spars were available and launched into the river in the form of a raft.
The ship had taken on water off and on since leaving Cape Town but now it was clear that the voyage between Sydney and New Zealand had caused the leaks to become dangerous.
There was a risk in tying up on the shore of a country which was inhabited by unpredictable natives but with the co-operation of Chief Tupe they were able to use temporary accommodation on the shore and make the necessary arrangements to protect the stores and provisions on the beach.
Part of the stock of spars were used as staging for the men to work upon the repairs - particularly the caulking of the topsides. But what was troubling Berry was the problem of getting at the bottom of the ship for despite the urging of the officers he was uneasy about beaching the vessel in what could easily turn out to be hostile territory. He was in much the same position as Captain Cook and the Endeavour some years before when he was holed on a reef off the Whitsunday Islands.
He finally devised an unusual scheme for having the boat "hove to" by attaching water casks to the mast heads. These were hoisted up empty and then filled manually without any rough movements which might have endangered the masts. This proved to be a successful method. They therefore left New Zealand in a sound condition and sailed to Tonga but as no landing seemed worthwhile they eventually reached the Fiji Islands.

Their first landfall was the island of Opuna (Taveuni) some 250 kms to the north west of the main island and without realising it, fell into the arms of a cannibal tribe.
At the beginning all seemed amicable and the inhabitants treated them as friendly visiting strangers
But, suddenly, on the following day, all the ship's crew were made prisoners and they looked likely to end their lives as the main course for the next cannibal feast.
Berry knew from tales he had read of the region that the tooth of the sperm whale was highly regarded for its medicinal and aphrodisiac properties and so he offered one of these as a ransom for their release.
After discussion amongst the elders, the Chieftain agreed to accept this as ransom and called the prisoners into his presence. Despite this agreement, on entering the Council chamber, Berry was sure that he heard one of the natives remark that the white men would be very lucky to leave the island alive.
This turned out to be only too true for the Chieftain then asked for the ransom to be doubled to two teeth.
This turn of events seemed as though it would only prolong the matter but the demand was agreed to. When it was presented to the tribal chief Berry asks for permission to leave and it was then that the old man begins to look doubtful and hesitated to give a clear answer.
He then added that the bush was full of armed men. Berry reacted furiously at this and with his temper roused at this deceitfulness, in a flash he snatched back the ransom from the chief and accused him of treachery and going back on his word.
This unexpected and audacious behaviour threw the Chief and his councillors into some confusion and by standing up to them in such a manner they were so put out that after some more delay and conferring amongst themselves they were finally allowed to leave.
Berry was never sure if his apparently intemperate action saved the day or whether there was a fear amongst the tribe that the rest of the ship's crew were preparing muskets and cutlasses for a rescue attempt.
But there is a bizarre footnote to the incident - he was told many years later by a visitor to the same island and tribe that the Chief was so impressed with Berry and his crew that he wanted to appoint him as commander of his "army".
After bidding a hasty farewell, and without so much as a backward glance, they set sail again - the track was to the islands of Mbau and Viti Levu where they achieved their original objective of obtaining a satisfactory cargo of sandalwood.
With the primary mission accomplished, they turned to the south west for New Zealand with the planned voyage to Cape Town in mind after taking on fresh supplies before sailing south easterly across the Pacific Ocean to round Cape Horn and the Cape.
The return to the Bay of Islands was not so peaceful this time as they were impertinently attacked by a large number of hostile natives in war canoes and full paint. They brushed these attacks off and in the event they were no more than pinpricks compared with what was found at Wangaroa.
The massacre of the crew and passengers of The Boyd is a savage occurrence in the history of New Zealand. The ship had arrived at Port Jackson with convicts in August 1809 and was returning to England by way of New Zealand where they planned to load timber and spars.
Wangaroa harbour was reached safely and the reception by the locals seemed peaceful enough. On the day after the ship was anchored, the Maoris told the ship's master that they would show him where to find spars for loading as his cargo.
But, after the master left the vessel the following morning, the Maoris who had been sitting peaceably on the deck suddenly and without warning attacked the unarmed crew.
Most of them were killed on the ship and the remainder who were able to get away were all thought to have been murdered ashore.
Despite the suddenness and ferocity of the assaults, four people escaped with their lives - Mrs Morley and her child, Betsy Broughton daughter of Commissary Broughton and a young boy Thomas Davison.
Berry learned of this massacre when talking to some friendly Maoris and decided to visit the scene so as to see what effects could be saved for future use, to ensure that the relatives of the survivors knew of the fate of their loved ones and to see if, by any remote chance, there were any survivors who might have hidden in the bush in the confusion.
He set off with three armed boats for Wangaroa on December 31st 1809 along with the mate, James Russell and a native guide called Matenangha.
They found the wreck of the ship near the beach burned to the water's edge with scorched and bleached human bones scattered around.
After a lengthy search and much shouting they came across a huddled group of the four survivors whom they were able to free from the natives nearby through the giving of a ransom. There was no hesitation this time.
They then searched for what was left of the Boyd and came across the ship's papers. To his amazement Berry the find included the duplicate copies of the letters and bills he had left in Sydney for forwarding to London. These were all parcelled together along with other material together for safe keeping on their own ship.
It was Berry’s intention to send all these to London as soon as they made the next landfall. In the event he was unable to carry out this intention until they finally landed in Lima in Peru but eventually all reached their destinations safely.
However, the other copies of his bills were lost, either in Sydney, or in the final demise of The City of Edinburgh.
He was surprised to learn later that it had been reported that he had wreaked revenge on the murderous Maoris whom he had now taken hostage after the rescue. In fact he decided to teach them a lesson they would never forget.
A firing squad was set up and the prisoners were lined up as if for execution - the order to fire was given but no deaths resulted as he had given orders that the muskets should be loaded with powder only and no ball.
He later wrote that he was not put on this earth to be judge and executioner amongst people whose traditions of living were different from his and many years behind in what we term civilised behaviour.
These incidents, although horrific, were not general and he was mostly on very friendly terms with the Maoris and South Sea Islanders wherever he made landfall. He rated the Fijians as being very advanced and compared them very favourably with the ancient Greeks whom he reckoned to be hardly more civilised, and in shipbuilding and navigation definitely inferior.
Berry now had the survivors from The Boyd on his own vessel. Three of them were to become part of his future life in different ways.
Betsy Broughton eventually arrived in Australia and married Charles Throsby of Throsby Park and thus became a good near neighbour of his to the south of Sydney and Davison accompanied him to the mouth of the Shoalhaven in 1822 but was drowned whilst impetuously trying to get across the sandbar at the river's mouth.
With these remarkable events behind them they now resumed their intended course for the Cape of Good Hope and said farewell to New Zealand on January 26th 1810.
He was relieved himself and particularly for the survivors as passengers, that the weather was really good during the early part of the voyage for it enabled them to recover their strength and morale.
But, unfortunately for them all, this was to be quite literally, the calm before the storm. As they approached Cape Horn a violent equinoctial gale blew up and the ship's sails were torn to shreds.
Shortly afterwards, the stern was struck by towering waves which destroyed the rudder and left the ship looking like a floating hulk on the ocean and possibly destined to become another Marie Celeste.
Despite all his efforts, which were often frustrated by a demoralised and uncongenial crew, the vessel drifted almost out of control for two whole weeks until they finally constructed a temporary makeshift rudder. This enabled them to get the ship under some sort of control and a safe landfall was made in a bay on the coast of Tierra del Fuego more or less on the same latitude as the Falkland Islands.
This was a respite from the last few weeks but matters still seemed without hope and whilst Berry lay awake in his creaking cabin he looked for a copy of Virgil. He was surprised to find no copy available in the book chest and so he took the Holy Bible and opened it at random. It fell open at Ecclesiastes and he read
"Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might for there is neither work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest"
He took this as a portent and saw the meaning that his safety and future life must depend upon his own efforts and exertions and that positive action must take over from hopelessness and the lethargy of despair.
He regarded this curious event as the beginning of his determination to succeed in whatever he chose to do in the future.
In some ways it probably determined a bit of the monster in him as a person for whom working was probably more important than living.
He suddenly felt buoyed up with great enthusiasm for the tasks ahead and he was able to get the crew better motivated but not before there had been some straight talking between them as rumblings of mutiny were given to him by Davison. He told them that only their best efforts would bring them out of this alive and that it would be far better to die whilst trying to improve their lot than sitting around waiting for disaster to strike.
This seemed to sink in and to have some effect so that they were able to make preparations for the long haul up the west coast of Chile. At least they had reasonable shelter whatever the weather as they would not be exposed to the open sea on all sides. The coast was dotted with hundreds of small islands and inlets so that seeking shelter from further tempests would be relatively easy.
They now had the same distance to travel to Valparaiso as from Sydney to Norfolk Island - at least a thousand miles. Because of the state of the vessel they made very slow progress but after a month they had called at Concepcion and then arrived at Valparaiso.
After resting up here for a week or so Berry became even less popular with the crew because he decided to trade in Peru and that meant a further thousand miles to travel further north before they made a safe landfall at Callao close to the capital, Lima.
He was fortunate in choosing to harbour at Callao for the ship The Archduke Charles had just arrived and he went aboard and met the Captain. He was a charming and helpful mariner to whom Berry recounted the story of The Boyd and asked him if he would take the log book of The Boyd to the owners in London. This was immediately agreed to and as Berry had a day or two before the ship departed he wrote up an account of the events at Wangaroa. This report became the basis for an article which was published in Edinburgh by Constable.
It was at Lima that the survivors of the massacre disembarked and made their various ways back to London.

Berry then set about obtaining a cargo for the vessel which was now seaworthy again after repairs. It took him hours of discussion and bargaining before he was able to obtain a satisfactory cargo of copper, tin and Peruvian bark.
Now they had to retrace their course to the south and then north again on the eastern coast of South America with a distance in prospect of about four and half thousand miles as the destination of Rio de Janeiro, was more or less on the same latitude as Lima on the opposite shore.
This time they rounded the Horn without mishap or incident and the weather was reasonably good all the way to Rio.
But the next leg from Rio was to be the last for The City of Edinburgh. Shortly after leaving the safety of the massive natural harbour at Rio they were struck by a succession of storms which finally overwhelmed this well-tried ship.
She began to leak and became so waterlogged that they had no option but to abandon her and that hard - bargained cargo.
By great good fortune nobody was lost at sea and they landed at a small South American port.
So ended the remarkable career of The City of Edinburgh having started as a re-named prize of war and sailed some fifty thousand miles in uncharted and stormy seas. It was four and a half years since Berry had first sailed in her from Cape Town.
And now almost all his possessions are lost – his treasured books, precious papers and most of his clothes. He arrived barefoot ashore without even a pair of socks to his name. He was able to save his watch which remained with him to the end of his days.
After helping the crew to obtain ships to their intended destinations, he sought transport to England. He was able to get to St Michael's in the Azores from where he took passage on a vessel bound for Lisbon. He then went on to Cadiz and arrived on the day that Marechal Jean Soult started to bombard that city.
Just to add to his difficulties he went down with an attack of yellow fever from an epidemic which was raging at the time but soon recovered from this disease through his own knowledge of medicine.
He then returned to Lisbon deeming this the best place to make business contacts because of the long history of trade between Britain and Portugal and there, by chance, he went aboard the Confianza where he was introduced to two Spanish gentleman who were waiting, as they said, "for an English gentleman who has gone ashore to transact some business".
This Englishman arrived soon after. He was tall, rather formally dressed in black suiting and with a rather condescending attitude - first of all, he looked at Berry askance and then completely ignored him. Berry had no idea who he was but considered his manner rude to say the least.
“I then took the opportunity to talk to one of the Spaniards in his own tongue and I was glad of the chance to give extra practice to this language which I have always studied on my own and used wherever possible when talking to crew members of the Spanish race.
Then out of the blue, he asked me why I was not showing any civility nor kindness to the countryman of mine who had just come aboard. I replied that there was not much I could do in that regard considering that he had shown none to me even though he seemed to be well at home here whilst I was a newly arrived stranger to these parts.
After further questioning I found out that the young man's name was Edward Wollstonecraft and that he had good connections with a Spanish merchant in London by the name of de Zastel.”
Despite this early frigidity between them they were soon deep in conversation. Berry began by asking him if he had heard anything of The City of Edinburgh. Wollstonecraft replied by saying that the vessel had long been expected but he now thought that it would have perished after such a long period without news.
To his surprise he learns that Berry is the owner and was able to give him a history of the ship's career which enormously impressed and intrigued him with the account of its voyages and its final loss.
Berry soon realises that his acquaintance was likely to be related to Mary Wollstonecraft as he had read her remarkable book which had tarnished her with a reputation for being an outrageous left wing feminist. Edward revealed rather reluctantly that she was his aunt and it was clear that it was a family connection of which he was not particularly proud.
Despite this initially unpropitious meeting it led to a business relationship and friendship between them which survived some very stormy chapters right until his death at a relatively early age. It also, indirectly led to his marrying his sister Elizabeth in 1827.
They were complementary characters - Berry the more entrepreneurial and adventurous whilst he with something of a legal background was an excellent organiser and a man who gave great attention to detail. Without his solid support and background Berry could never have achieved what he did.
Despite Edward's somewhat dismissive attitude to his aunt, Berry was quite interested and intrigued to be indirectly related to Percy Bysshe Shelley for he always had a strong poetic and artistic instinct which had been developed in the University Library of St Andrews. In his view, Shelley was, in some respects the greatest poet of any age or nation.
Edward’s aunt, Mary Wollstonecraft was the author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" published in 1792. She was married to William Godwin who was an avowed anarchist and it is not therefore so surprising that Edward who had a conventional upbringing would be a little ashamed of his connection with relatives who held such extreme and non conformist views. Godwin was born in Wisbech in 1756 and was the writer of many essays and novels with a social theme one of which was The Adventures of Caleb Williams .
She had died just after giving birth to her daughter Mary who seemed to have inherited a touch of her mother's unconventionality by leaving England in company with Shelley in 1814 and marrying him after their return - in the name of Mary Shelley she wrote Frankenstein in 1818.
Because of this relationship Berry started a correspondence with Mrs Shelley (Fannie Mary Godwin) and they maintained an occasional exchange of letters. He receiving a very amusing letter from her, after the poet had died in 1851, in which she told him that her son, now Sir Percy Shelley had been trying to enter Parliament and failed.
Despite his best political endeavours, she said, he chanced to meet an agreeable and amiable young lady, Jane St John with the additional advantages of an inheritance of 15000 pounds sterling and had therefore given up politics and planned to "live at the family seat at Horsham in the county of Surrey where he proposed to improve his estate."
As the friendship between Berry and Wollstonecraft developed they agreed to share lodgings together in Cadiz and after more discussion it was agreed that Edward should become Berry’s agent in London and eventually his business partner.
They went back to London together to Edward’s home in Greenwich which he shared with his sister Elizabeth and they lived there all together in the same house as members of one family. Berry was at Greenwich until 1819, during the time of the crucial battle of Waterloo, working on the protracted insurance claims for the loss of The City of Edinburgh.
Wollstonecraft and he had many discussions about the potential for trade and business with the Antipodes. By the time the insurance claim had been satisfactorily completed they had decided to start trading with Australia and could see the opportunities in the light of Berry’s own experiences in that region for profitable business exploitation which would probably involve permanent settlement in the long run.
Berry therefore arranged to sail as supercargo to Sydney on July 31st 1819, having said a fond farewell to Elizabeth for whom he had conceived and developed considerable affection during his stay in Greenwich, on the chartered ship Admiral Cockburn.
He was shortly to be followed shortly by Edward who arrived in September on the Canada.
They both worked extremely hard in Sydney to build up their various business ventures and Berry remained in Sydney until March 1st 1820 before returning to London in the Admiral Cockburn.
They were engaged in many complex business deals and it was a time of rapid development and change for Australia with the signs of the ending of convict transportation becoming more evident and thus free settlement becoming the major economic and social influence - of which they were one of the leaders and the first in number.
Edward was in full and dominant command of the business arrangements using his organising and administrative skills to great advantage whilst Berry was looking at the possibilities of obtaining grants of land for the future and doing his best to get them recognised by the opinion builders of the hierarchy in Sydney Town.
He was particularly keen to get on good terms with Governor Macquarie and in this he was successful - he later learned that The Governor had become aware of his business activities before he sailed here on the Admiral Cockburn for he had recorded in his Diary for the arrival date in July that "this date arrived Admiral Cockburn - Capt J Briggs, A Berry supercargo".
In order to strengthen their wishes to exploit and develop pasturage and acreage he had been given a letter of reference from the Colonial Office in London which could have enabled the Governor to authorise the issue of a grant of land to the two of them.

However, Berry decided to stay his hand on the use of this letter until the last possible moment - and in the event not at all - as he felt that they would be better served by applying from a position of established strength as local business developers than through the influence from the Home Government.
So Berry wrote to the Governor in a memorandum requesting a grant of land. He made the point that there was still money owing to the firm of Berry and Wollstonecraft from the time of the timber deal with Foveaux.
He included a statement regarding his intention to return to England so as to bring out another large cargo most of which would consist of agricultural implements as well as a flock of merino sheep – he had had this in mind after his talks with Macarthur when he first arrived in Sydney during Bligh’s spell as Governor.
He had anticipated that these points would be strong enough to influence Macquarie in granting pasturage.
However, the reply was very disappointing and indecisive. But there was a loophole or a lifeline in the letter which said that his instructions prevented him from making grants to any person who could not settle on them or at least reside in the Colony.
Berry had more or less anticipated this requirement when in Greenwich. He concluded by saying that he would consider a grant to him after he had returned from the voyage to which he had referred and taken up residence.
In the meantime, during the few months that he was in NSW before returning the following year he made some visits to the Hunter Valley north of Sydney where coal was being mined and agriculture developing alongside and over the seams of coal.
He was also attracted to the Southern Highlands around Berrima and Bong Bong and estimated that the area was much more favourable than the Hunter from a mixed agricultural point of view. The elevation and the wetter climate would be an advantage as he could see from a short observation.
On his return from the south he did his best to promote their plans to those with political clout, chief of which was of course The Governor and he asked for permission to select land in the Berrima area. This came to nothing as it seems that Macquarie had forgotten his request with all the press of other affairs on his hands and his absence in England.
Nevertheless he was strengthening his reputation and standing with Macquarie who now regarded him as one of the principal merchants of Sydney. And, furthermore, he was asked to act as a "King's Messenger" by being entrusted with confidential despatches from the Governor to the Home Government in London -"this Despatch will be delivered to Your Lordship by Mr Alexander Berry, an eminent Merchant of this place, whom I take the liberty of Strongly recommending to your Lordship's kind patronage and Protection; Mr Berry being well acquainted with the present State and Resources of this Colony, the principal parts which he has seen, I beg leave to refer your Lordship to him for such information respecting it, as You may be desirous of being put in possession of"
But, in spite of this recommendation, Berry knew from local talk that it would be unwise to pin too much faith in Macquarie's position as he was due to be replaced as Governor by Sir Thomas Brisbane.
So off he set for London once more in the Admiral Cockburn to enlarge their export business connections whilst Edward Wollstonecraft remained in Sydney to look after their store by the Harbour and fight the long legal battle with his original business partner in South Africa, Francis Shortt.
He made it his business whilst delivering the despatches to the Home Government to get into contact with the newly appointed Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane. He expressed surprise that he was not to be granted the use of a frigate under naval protection for such an important trip. But Sir Thomas replied that the way of things were "that I had my allowance and would have to finance my journey from that alone".
Berry saw a wonderful opportunity here to help Sir Thomas and his family and at the same time further their own interests in obtaining land grants. So he chartered The Royal George and loaded it with an immense cargo including agricultural implements and sheep and was able to offer excellent accommodation for Sir Thomas and his family and his entourage which was gratefully accepted.
Even though Sir Thomas would be in a privileged position in Sydney it was still only thirty three years since the First Fleet had anchored in Port Jackson harbour and so he was probably glad to have the acquaintance of someone like Berry who had seen the Colony at first hand and knew of its political, social and business circumstances.
Also aboard The Royal George was Thomas Davison the boy whom he had rescued at Wangaroa and had subsequently taken to Lima. From Lima, Davison had made his own way to London which at the time Berry had thought rather ungrateful but now he had got in touch with him again and asked if he might sail as an able bodied seaman on the vessel and take employment with him. This was readily agreed to.
During Berry’s absence, Edward Wollstonecraft had not been idle and had built on the contacts made by Berry with Macquarie. In the event Macquarie had agreed to a grant of 2000 acres based on the fact that Edward was residing in Australia.
Edward then took up 524 acres of this grant as a beginning on the North shore of Sydney - he chose this area because he found the store and accommodation at Lower George Street bad for his health. Unfortunately, Edward was to be dogged by poor health throughout his life in Australia and he never attained the longevity of his partner.

This was the start of the popularity of this area which had been much neglected because of the difficulty of the Parramatta river crossing from the town centre on the south bank of the Harbour.
Wollstonecraft had built for himself a modest cottage which because it had an elevated position he called Crow's Nest Farm Cottage. His sister, Mrs Berry, described it as pretty “in a picturesque situation surrounded by geraniums, roses and orange blossom”. Until its demolition in 1905 it stood on the north west corner of present day Shirley Road and Nicholson Street and looked down to Berry’s Bay and the River Parramatta. It was an apt and appropriate choice, being in such a commanding position and they went ahead and built stores and wharves on the harbour shore close by.
By this time the firm of Berry & Wollstonecraft had become one of the most successful mercantile businesses in the Colony. They owned and chartered many ships and were involved in the import and export of timber, wool, hides and other merchandise. They can claim to be amongst the first exporters of Australia's first main raw material - coal.
In 1823 for example Berry sold 180 tons to Rio de Janeiro by taking advantage of contacts made during the last time he was there. More was to follow as the Hunter Valley became more deeply mined.
Although their business was developing in an excellent fashion, Berry still felt considerable disappointment at not having been given grants of land in the Berrima district as he was convinced from the very first time that he was there that it was prime land for agricultural development.
Because of this they seriously considered putting all their resources into mercantile import and export business dealings and put on one side the immediate idea of investing in agricultural and farming developments.
But Berry’s Fife background and breeding had put land and farming into his blood and his experiences on the high seas made him very determined to bring the two together for the future. And although he had said to his partner that they should concentrate on trade he continued to seek ways and means of obtaining a grant before too many new settlers overtook their initial opportunities.
They both kept in social touch with the notabilities of the time as they wanted to make sure that the voyage in The Royal George in which Berry had accommodated the new Governor commended itself to him so as to give influence in helping their wishes to come to fruition. And, eventually it turned out so.
In January 1822 Berry sailed in The Snapper ostensibly with the Governor's agreement to explore the South coast. But firmly fixed in Berry’s mind was the idea that this would give him the opportunity to assess the potential of the land and to consider where he might, given a reasonable grant, establish an agricultural and forestry settlement.
He was also influenced in this by not wanting to follow the herd, as he called the sudden influx of free settlers now arriving in the Hunter Valley, and beyond the Blue Mountains in Bathurst and beyond. Furthermore, the South Coast was largely unexplored.
He had read of George Bass’s visit to the mouth of Shoals Haven River in 1797 during his voyage along this coast in an open whale boat. He was also intrigued by the fact that most reports of the area were generally unfavourable - even Surveyor-General Oxley had only looked at it superficially in 1820 - and he believed that this was because no-one before had really thought of taking a good look at the immediate interior and hinterland.
He had heard that standing cedar, the only indigenous deciduous tree in Australia, was plentiful in the area and had been forested some ten years earlier near Kiama and he was very anxious to assess the amount available as it would demand high prices in Sydney Town.
After his return from this exploratory expedition he described it along with the geology of the coast in a paper which he gave to the Philosophical Society of New South Wales which had been formed in 1821 with Wollstonecraft as a foundation member. It was the forerunner of the Royal Society of NSW.

The paper was published in 1825 in Field's "Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales".
He greatly enjoyed collecting mineral samples, rocks and aboriginal skulls, some of which he presented to the University of Edinburgh during these years.

Whilst he was thus involved in exploration, pressure on the Governor from England to reduce overall expenditure in the fledgling Colony helped matters in general to swing in their favour.
Sir Thomas, in order to meet his instructions started to alter the terms appertaining to land grants so that with every 1000 acres allocated to free settlers would be attached one convict to be maintained for a statutory period of at least eight years by the grantee.
This was a move designed to cut down on the cost to the Government of maintaining convicts and which was put at £16.00 per annum.
This change in policy was a great opportunity for them to go for a large grant of about 10,000 acres. They grasped this with both hands and applied for this amount to the north of the Shoalhaven River additional to the 3500/4000 acres which had already been granted south of the river. They were happy to give an undertaking to maintain the 100 convicts free of charge for 10 years and the area granted was located between Broughton Creek (noe the twon of Berry) and the sea.
As the cost of maintaining convicts was put at £16.00 per annum, in theory they were renting land at £16,000 spread over for ten years, or £1600 a year for 10000 acres. A bargain indeed but in the event it was much more advantageous than that as the demand for "government men" exceeded supply and they never had to support the full establishment of convicts.
Berry’s reasons for choosing the Shoalhaven were based on the lack of confinement to a narrow coastal strip and the fact that the River Shoalhaven in its fertile valley length was likely to have good alluvial land.
The area was dominated by the "mountain" of Coolangatta and the position and greenness of the countryside - despite the brush - reminded Berry of his farming youth in Fife. But he was also impressed with the three main qualities of the area - good sea communications from the Shoalhaven and Crookhaven to Sydney; the immediate prospect of good profits from the getting of cedar and then the development of mixed agriculture on good alluvial earth as the land was cleared.
Despite his inherent dislike of near neighbours, it was Charles Throsby of Bong Bong (the man whom Betsy Broughton married after having been rescued by Berry) who took an interest in this project and sent him a letter of encouragement dated April 1822 by hand of an aborigine bearer who had been born at Shoalhaven.


Chapter 4 – Berry’s settlement at Coolangatta – 1822 - 1873

The grand venture begins with the purchase of The Blanch, a half-decked boat, bought from the Government for £250.00 which was then loaded with supplies and stores sufficient to tide them over a lengthy period. As a sign of their mixed farming intentions the shipment included two boars and six sows.
Berry was delighted that Hamilton Hume had agreed to accompany them as his knowledge of the hinterland terrain immediately beyond Mount Coolangatta towards Kangaroo Valley was considerable after having made many inland excursions into that area. Hume was also a great protagonist of Berry’s project and expected a successful outcome as the financial resources of the partners would enable to cover the initial costs of establishment and survive problems as yet unknown in a new landscape.
The "boy" Davison was in charge of the vessel as it cleared Sydney Heads on the morning of June 21st 1822 and Berry, in his forty first year, was in high good spirits as he saw the start of this new move as of the greatest significance in his life so far.
On the morning of June 23rd at 6.30 a.m. he vividly recalls his first sight of "Cullengatty Hill (Hummock of Shoal Haven) at a bearing of SW about 10 miles distant". Mount Coolangatta was officially recognised in Surveyor McBrien's Chart of Shoal Haven River in 1824 as Coolungatta Mountain 930 feet. Of Aboriginal derivation it may probably mean "fine outlook" which is as good an interpretation as any.

Berry’s view of the “sugar loaf” would be much the same as looking at it today from the headland of Black Point at Gerroa with Seven Mile Beach extending in a crescent with the dark vegetation inland of it.
When they arrived at the entrance to the Shoals Haven he found the breakers so wild and ferocious that he thought it would be too dangerous to attempt entry. But, the Master of the boat, Thomas Davison, the young man whose life he had saved some years before in New Zealand after the destruction of The Boyd, was very keen that they should make the attempt and find a way through. Berry admired his enthusiasm but his inner judgement kept telling him that it was foolhardy.
Berry records that “In an evil hour, I was over-persuaded by his excitement that I agreed to his wishes to allow him to take the boat just in order to examine the entrance. I made it a condition that he should be accompanied only by volunteers - they were Dunn, Turner, Kelly and an Aborigine called Charcoal.
Almost at once the boat was manned and the party pushed off.
As he approached the entrance, I changed my mind about their effort and I shouted and made signals for them to return. To my relief they saw and heard us and put the boat about. But, my relief was short lived for after some delay and apparent consultation amongst themselves, they again pulled towards the entrance. I shouted to them again in vain for them to return before it was too late - but they heard me not.
They had hardly gone a few yards when a huge roller suddenly boiled up and hid the boat from our view. The boat rode on the top of the roller but a second roller which immediately followed, broke over her and capsized the boat and the crew disappeared from sight. The Master, Davison and Kelly disappeared and were quickly drowned.
The death of poor Davison was a source of deep regret to me and I resolved that no-one should again attempt to break through that dangerous entrance.
I had been associated with him on and off since rescuing him at Wangaroa years before and he had learned good seamanship at my hands whilst a passenger on The City of Edinburgh on the voyage from New Zealand via the Cape of Good Hope to Lima. He had also accompanied me and Hamilton Hume during the ascent of Pigeon House Mountain.
His body was never recovered and so we were additionally saddened by not being able to give him Christian burial.
There was nothing we could do from The Blanch because of the turbulent seas and with the weather deteriorating rapidly we were forced to turn our little half-decked ship to the south and we made for the entrance to the Crook Haven River which we negotiated safely and where we anchored for the night.
Charcoal somehow managed to survive and reached us where we had berthed and described the tragedy.
On the following day as soon as it was light we planned to look for survivors and I sent men with restoratives and they succeeded in saving the lives of Turner and Dunn who were lying exhausted on the beach - the boat was never seen again. They seem to have owed their survival to the strange fact that they were non-swimmers and so had hung on to the boat as their only chance of getting out alive.”
The convicted men were, unsurprisingly, a surly lot and so to avoid any problems Berry soon put them to work with what spades available under the supervision of the overseer to try to cut a channel across the isthmus at the place where they were able, on the day following the fatal accident, to haul the boat over the sandspit into the Shoalhaven River.
Although the resulting "canal" was but 209 yards in length, Berry was surprised at the extent of their achievement considering the inadequacy of the tools in their possession in both design and quality.
It was finished in twelve days and was the first canal as such cut in the Colony. They all watched the swirling waters with some pride as they flowed through the gap for they had probably changed the face of nature there forever and created the real entrance to Shoalhaven River. As the waters continued their unchecked passage, it soon became wider and deeper.
This pioneering work also created the island of Comerong which was bounded by Seven Mile Beach, Crookhaven Heads, the Shoalhaven and the Crook Haven River linked by what is today called Berry’s Canal on topographical maps.
Berry always resented the fact that the Government later demanded the handing over of the island. He could never see how anyone could not agree that he was entitled to this particular piece of land. That, of course, was for the future.

Now he was determined to explore inland as the principal object of the exercise and while the canal was being cut he set off on 30th June up river in a small boat and struck camp at Bomaderry.
After returning to the base camp which he set up on the following day at the foot of Mt Coolangatta he then climbed to its summit and surveyed the wide expanse of country spread out before him.
The view was truly magnificent - Australia is a land of expansive views but this area was very much in balanced aesthetic proportions and subtle in its contours and slopes and it reminded him of his native Scotland and other parts of Great Britain.
He then re-crossed the river and walked through the brush and examined the fertile looking land around Numbaa south of the river. He was satisfied that this should be included in the grant of land and spent the night in a hut near to the canal excavations.
On July 2nd there was more land evaluation, tracking and other exploratory activities and they followed the course of Broughton Creek which is a tributary of the Shoalhaven coming into it from the north. They then headed north east to Black Point, the headland at Gerroa which had always fascinated him with its unusual outline and finally returned to their base camp.
Two days later they again crossed the Shoalhaven river and Berry decided on the site for their first settlement which was on level ground at the very foot of Mt Coolangatta and from this point the ground falls away gracefully and gently towards the north and towards the sea and the river. Here they had another Crow's Nest vantage point in the south to match the one at North Sydney established by Edward Wollstonecraft.
But he seems to have been worried at the amount of effort which would be required from his team to achieve his dream. Their first attempts to clear land were frustrated by the density of the brush. Hamilton Hume was supervising this effort but owing to the inferior nature of the tools available this was very quickly abandoned.
After all their initial successes in finding the area and seeing the potential this left Berry frustrated, depressed and disappointed.
He decided to view the panorama once more and climbed to the summit of Culangatty which had attracted him here in the first place and he was re-invigorated and inspired by the view which he could envisage as a backdrop and would match his dream of a magnificent settlement in a strange country. Reviewing the scene made him even more determined to develop this area.
From the site of where the settlement was to be based looking up to Cullengatty, there is a striking resemblance to Berry’s birthplace and the hill behind. A comparison of the Ordnance Survey maps of northe eastern Fife and the Australian topographical maps of Shoalhaven show this clearly. This resemblance was poignantly brought out in 1981 in a report in the Fife Herald News of the visit of the Cupar Historical Society in June of that year.

“The members went up to Hilltarvit Mains to see the house where Alexander Berry was born and to view the farm generally where this famous settler grew up. In the company was a Dr Philip Hill of the University Department of Astronomy, who had just returned from Australia and who had been to Shoalhaven and Coolangatta.

He was immensely impressed by one thing. Standing at the front door of the farmhouse, one looks up to the top of Wemysshall Hill on which stands out the stone pedestal and iron shank which were erected there in 1897 to take the place of the shaft and unicorn of the old Cross of Cupar which was brought back to its present place by the efforts of Provost McQueen to commemmorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Dr Hill remarked on the similarity of the site of that first settlement of Berry’s at the foot of Coolangatta Hill.

Standing at the foot of the eminence, Dr Hill was deeply moved by what he saw. Was Alexander Berry thinking of this when he chose the site for his first settlement. Perhaps he was !

Standing there amongst the huts at the base of Coolangatta and looking upwards, was his “inward eye” seeing himself standing outside his birthplace and looking up to the top of Wemysshall Hill ? It is not improbable.”

Returning from the summit, Berry soon let his determination show in the fact that within a couple of days or so, huts were being erected on the settlement site alongside stockades for penning in the cattle which were to be brought in from Sydney and the sties for the pigs which they had brought with them.
Whilst progress was now in train, Hamilton Hume had gone on an exploratory visit to the west looking for a way across the mountains. He could see that it would be advantageous to have two routes to Sydney - one by sea and the other overland - so as not to be over-dependent on shipping. Berry went with Hume to assess the condition of the tracks and to see if they were on strata which would provide a safe and stable eventual overland route to Sydney through the Southern Highlands.
After this he continued, as it were, to beat the boundaries of the new domain whilst the unloading of the Blanch continued.
Once he had satisfied himself as to the likely limits of their grant he started to prepare a report for the Governor. When this had been done, on July 23rd, a month or so after entering the Crookhaven entrance, he boarded the Blanch once again and left the Shoal Haven en route for Sydney crewed by himself as Master, with a Steward and two or three natives.
He was aware that regardless of his enthusiasm and optimism for the future of the area selected, there was doubt in the minds of others who could only see the problems and not the opportunities. He was pleased, however, that Edward Wollstonecraft supported his forecasts for the future of the area wholeheartedly.
The opinion and reports which the experienced and reputable Hamilton Hume had circulated on his return to Sydney of the success in clearance of the site and, in particular, his success in gaining the confidence and co-operation of the local Aborigines gave him great comfort and strength. This latter point was of great significance at a time when conflicts arose between settlers and the indigenous tribes through ignorance, indifference and resentment on both sides.
He could now go ahead and register his area claims and did so. These were approved in principle subject to official surveys to be done in the future. But much work and clearance had been done on the settlement and nearly eight years were to pass before the grant of land was officially confirmed and in the meanwhile there was much bureaucratic procrastination.
He was convinced that he had been wholly right in maintaining his good and friendly relationships with Sir Thomas Brisbane whom he had brought out as a passenger on the Royal George. Subsequent events over the registration of title confirmed this view.
Sir Thomas Brisbane then instructed Major Goulburn to prepare the Deeds. But the administrative and legal-minded Goulburn pointed out to the Governor that the grant was promised on the express agreement that it be measured according to specific current survey methods and in conformity with HM Government's instructions.
By dragging this point up, and it was true that these had not been precisely adhered to, the grant confirmation went to ground for some time. Governor Darling then muddied the waters even further when he referred the matter to the Earl of Bathurst on December 21st 1826 and commented that the condition of maintaining 100 convicts was unrealistic and irrelevant as it was impossible to obtain such a number.
Then there was a touch of the Foreign Office attitude about the despatch from Downing Street on July 5th 1827 which authorised Governor Darling to issue the Deeds to the Grantees but he was at the same time instructed to call upon the parties to fulfil their engagements in regard to the maintenance of the convicts should the Government think fit at any subsequent period.
These legalistic Civil Servants seem to be flexing their administrative muscles from afarbut, finally, on February 5th 1830, the partners were informed that the grant had been forwarded to the Surveyor General for registration.
Even then there was further delay and it was not until three years later to the day that Berry was able to write to Wollstonecraft with jubilation in his heart "After many applications and some little determination I have, at length succeeded in getting possession of the 10,000 acre Grant and Coolangatta is now really and in spite of all opposition, our own !!
Many attempts were made and numerous inducements were held out to persuade me to give up Sir Thomas - and accept an equal Grant from the Present Governor !
Harrington was the Actor on this occasion; and, amongst other motives held out by him to induce me to comply, that the New Grant would only have a trifling Quit Rent, that it would be without obligation to take the Men, and that they considered the Seal improper, it being the present Regina: which had not reached the Colony in Sir Thomas Brisbane's time.
But I was not caught by this Gentleman's casuistry and answered him that I should prefer the old Grant for the following reasons - first - It was a contract, not a mere Grant and the men would be useful to us and we considered we could demand them. Second - that a Grant or Contract confirmed as this was from home was unquestionable and therefore doubly valuable. Third - That the seal was right as it bore the impress of the King in whose Reign the Grant was absolutely given. Fourth - That the taking of the new Grant would only bear out the assertion that was made by the Opposition that we had received large Grants from the present Governor which was really not the case !! This closed the Business.
Our Grant was expedited to the office of the Receiver of Internal Revenue from whose hands I got it a few days after, upon paying the Fees and it is now in very safe Custody !!"
The wording of the actual Grant is in Appendix 1
Once the Grant was confirmed Berry immediately expanded the area they had been granted and in later years between 1837 and 1840 thousands of acres were added to the estate by further purchases from the Crown or from original grantees with promises to individuals. And by 1840 the estate covered nearly fifty square miles - almost as far as the eye could see.
And, he didn't just leave it there. He continued to make further acquisitions so that by the mid-nineteenth century the territory extended to over 100 square miles - so an unprecedented empire, the first of its size in Australia, had been established in the course of thirty years.
Whilst Berry was working away energetically at the settlement in the south, his partner, ahead of the official grant was none the less busy on other business matters in Sydney.
Because Berry was so focused on this settlement and could not delegate the running of the operation to anyone else, Edward's immediate plans to go back to London in furtherance of more import and export trade were disrupted through Berry’s earlier dealings in South Africa,
This arose from the fact that Francis Shortt with whom Berry had been in partnership from the time of the purchase of The City of Edinburgh, some sixteen years earlier, had arrived in Sydney without warning at about the time of Berry’s departure for the Shoalhaven. He immediately started legal proceedings against the two partners, jointly and severally. Berry very much appreciated the fact that Edward who had more experience of legal matters than he undertook to fight the case for the two of them.
These proceedings initiated by Shortt were not entirely unexpected - although his arrival in person certainly was - for Berry had been in correspondence with lawyers for services between 1811 and 1816 dealing with The City of Edinburgh and its insured loss and the erstwhile partnership between himself and Shortt. Wollstonecraft had already been involved in this.
He had told Edward much earlier in a letter that Shortt had tried to "get into his hands the amount of the bill of exchange for £6,333.00 but had been foiled by the justice of the Civil Court in your Colony, but he may try again".
Although Shortt claimed that he had not received his rightful share of the profits and was still de facto a partner of Berry’s. This was refuted in no uncertain terms as he was quite clear that Francis Shortt had received more than was actually due to him and that the partnership had been dissolved. He received support for his view through a Mr Battley who had written to the Rev Samuel Marsden supporting him and describing Shortt's attitude and behaviour as improper.
The case dragged on for some five years but evidence showed that the paper on which the partnership deed was apparently drawn was probably a forgery as the date pre-dated the watermark of the paper itself.
The last report on the case in the Sydney Gazette in April 1827 is written in such obscure terms that it would seem that neither the writer, nor his readers, could have understood the Jury's intention.
The death of Shortt in Simeon Lord's house later in the year aborted further legal action on this matter.
Edward did not let his legal case which took up a great deal of his time to divert him from developing their business from the Lower George Street store and offices.
As general merchants, shipping agents, importers and exporters and retailers the enterprise was growing so fast that it sometimes over-traded - an easy trap to fall into with such a new and diversely expanding market.
The two of them managed to blend their backgrounds of farming, shipping and commerce very effectively so that apart from importing a wide range of merchandise they were amongst the first to gain the benefits from opening up Australia's export markets.
And then they became involved in shipbuilding as well. Although Berry had looked at the overland route with Hume during the first stay at Coolangatta it was to be a long time before these routes became a practical option for the regular transport of merchandise.

Therefore, in order to sell the produce from Coolangatta in Sydney and because of the paucity of road links, they were more or less forced to start shipbuilding for their own use at Shoalhaven.
As the agricultural production accelerated they then had to construct a large store in 1830 on the western side of what became to be called Berry's Bay in Sydney Harbour alongside the existing wharf built there by Wollstonecraft. The other Berry’s Bay is still to be seen at the edge of the Shoalhaven River not far from the present entrance to the Estate where Berry’s ships were built and loaded with produce for Sydney Town.

In the two years between the time in 1822 when Berry selected and decided on the site for his settlement, had cut the canal, and 1824, the efforts to drain the swampy ground and clear the bush had gone well. Berry must be credited with his ability and persuasiveness to get the convicts motivated which was not easy in the circumstances but “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”.

He was now keen to expand the dairying side of the operation and so he bought cattle from various settlers in the Sydney area and the first draft of cattle had been brought down to the settlement during these early years.
There were only 72 beasts in all but they formed the breeding stock base for the dairy industry which has developed in the Illawarra region and spread beyond the boundaries of the estate. He liked to feel that this dairy blood line would extend down the years long after his death and be something of a living testimony to his efforts. They soon built up good business from the associated butter and cheese production.
Berry, being the first in the area to create the concept of a farming village community, also became the first to set up a dairy on the south coast. Within two years of his arrival, he records that “a shipment of farm produce to Sydney – included in this shipment 78 lbs of butter and 20 cheeses”. So, by the end of 1824 his first dairying trade with Sydney Town had begun.

Within another ten years or so the dairying herd at Coolangatta had increased in quantity and quality. Whilst the first dairy structures were hurriedly installed and crudely made from packed mud, as the brickfield production improved, later buildings were more substantial. On his grants south of the river a large dairy was developed at Jindiandy close to Upper Numbaa and strategically placed three miles from the river bank so as to reduce the risk from flooding.

By September 1840, Alexander Berry writing from Sydney was asking for plans of the new buildings, dairy and barn which were in course of construction. Within two years he was then milking 200 cows once a day with butter production around the 70 lb mark. Berry having started the dairying business in the south coast region witnessed a rapid growth of population and dairying production with the expansion of land sub-division and the leasing of farms by him to his tenants.

In these early days the methods used were primitive and unhygienic. Home manufacture of butter was the order of the day and the plentiful supply of timber made the construction of milking rooms and verandahs easy for the placing of “holding” pans. After hand-milking the liquid would be placed in broad shallow “settling” pans and after a day or two when the cream had risen to the top, it would be scooped off and made into butter in box churns. Mostly it was churned by hand although on larger farms, horse-driven churns were employed. The resulting butter was washed and rinsed with whatever water came to hand – be it from roof tanks, wells or streams and creeks. The surplus sour milk and buttermilk often flowed through wooden drains to the piggeries.

The butter itself would be placed in boxes or other large makeshift containers with salt added and left overnight for this to penetrate the mass. Then it would be packed into wooden kegs before shipment to Sydney by sea.

The Coolangatta residence was started in 1823 and completed a year later - the buildings were arranged to a plan of having a classical courtyard enclosed on three sides by stables, a store and the homestead.
Some of the wildlife was very tame and they often had brolgas strolling happily around the place quite unafraid of sharing the space with strange human beings.
The demand for tobacco was always strong amongst the increasing population of Sydney and their first crop was extremely profitable. This came to two tons in weight in 1823. It had other advantages in that free distribution to the convict labourers improved their mood quite markedly.
Berry received an excellent commendation from one of the Sydney merchants handling their produce "the tobacco of your own growing is considered better than any other tobacco imported here."
Much fruitful agricultural production came from the work at Numbaa in the alluvial plain and here and in adjoining areas saw the planting of wheat, maize, barley along with the starting of orchards and market gardens.
Thus, in a very short time, the plans for diversified and mixed farming were showing great promise and this was especially gratifying in view of the rather gloomy forecasts made by many people who had only assessed the area superficially in the first place.
In the month of March 1823 their little ship, The Blanch which had been bought for a mere £250.00 from the Government and which brought them to Shoalhaven was wrecked on Black Head. This lies to the north of the Shoalhaven and Berry often recalled his first sighting of it at the beginning of Seven Mile Beach. There is something weirdly curious about this area. The Crooked river and its small estuary had caught his eye when they first passed Gerroa and he had probably thought of it as a contender for a settlement at this northern end of the Seven Mile Beach. But, it in no way compares with the position and size of the Shoalhaven.
Also at the beginning of this year they launched the Water Mole which was commissioned under the charge of Captain Farley and in March Berry sailed her to Sydney with a cargo of potatoes.
At Numbaa they increased their activities and completed the construction of the stone barn. A second vessel, the Experiment was being built and the new overseer, Souter, reported that he had mustered, cut and branded all the cattle on the runs at Coolangatta and Broughton Creek. In July the overseer set off for Bathurst to select another herd of cattle. Souter in his report for 1824 records the following statistics:-
Numbaa: Wheat 120 acres; barley 3 acres; garden and orchard 3 acres; tobacco 5 acres; ground cleared 250 acres. 11 horses, 550 horned cattle, 300 hogs.
Coolangatta: Garden and orchard 8 acres; cleared ground 30 acres. 3 horses, 50 horned cattle, 30 hogs.
In March the following year Edward Wollstonecraft took up residence in Coolangatta House whilst Berry changed over and went to Sydney.
Edward was not too keen on what he felt was the countryside isolation of Shoalhaven compared with the bustle of Sydney and returned to Sydney in July.
By this time the convict numbers were almost up to the agreed establishment but there were some rumblings of discontent and Souter reported on the dangerous nature and attitude of some of them.
He was right in his assessment for on the morning of December 15th 1827 a group of convicts said to number between 5 and 15 seized the Phoebe, a brig of about 25 tons with the intention of sailing to America.
The crew's intentions were better than their seamanship as the boat was wrecked at Society Islands half way to their destination Here they stole a boat and some muskets but the Queen of the Islands, Maihara, sent a boat after them, overtook them but the convicts killed two and wounded six others.
The remaining convicts were arrested and brought to Sydney for trial after the Queen had written to Governor Darling who despatched the sloop Satellite to the Islands. They were all sentenced to seven years in a penal settlement.
At Numbaa the farming activities expanded further with new varieties of "red" wheat being sown and varied with barley, oats, flax and hemp whilst back in Sydney regular shipments from the south arrived so that additional warehouses and wharves were built or acquired.
The standing cedar in the area had always attracted interest for profitable investment and seven "free" men were taken on and they agreed to saw timber for Berry at Broughton Creek. The overseeing sawyer had measured 630,000 feet of cedar and further successful explorations for cedar were made by Souter in Broughton Creek and Meroo.
Six rafts of cedar logs were despatched to Sydney in December where demand was continually increasing.
The success of the enterprise was now being recognised and a letter from James Atkinson a noted NSW expert in agriculture reads as follows: " the improvement you have effected in clearing, enclosing and especially drainage are extremely judicious and reflect infinite credit on your judgement and spirit and I have no doubt you will experience great and permanent benefit from them. I have never seen anything at all approaching to these in the Colony, and they are highly worthy of imitation. The improvements are in fact in such magnitude and character that I could hardly recognise the place as it is now six years since I was there last...."
The new overseer, Tosset at Upper Numbaa said that crops were now ready for harvesting and, combined with Coolangatta a wheat crop from 295 acres could be expected. This added to 35 acres of barley and three of oats meant that he would need 75 men for 4 weeks to carry out this task.
At this time locally produced maize was added to the daily food ration for the working staff. Following on from this and as recommended by Berry, the Government agreed that maize meal in place of wheat should b be issued to all prisoners employed by the Crown.
This was quite a good move on his part as he was holding a contract to supply the Government with 700 bushels of good maize at a price of five shillings and ninepence a bushel.
In August 1829 the first shipment of sheep arrived at Numbaa and in the following month a parcel of "Sea Island" cotton seeds were used for a trial planting.
January 1830 saw the introduction of a planting of Malabar wheat at Numbaa where Patterson had replaced Tossey as overseer.

Surveyor McBrien comes to the area as requested by Sir Thomas Brisbane to delineate the grant and at about the same time Surveyor Hoddle had received instructions in May to lay out the road from Bong Bong and Berrima in the Southern Highlands near Bowral to the coast.
He was also asked to delineate the boundaries between the grant to Prosper de Mestre and the Berry/Wollstonecraft holdings. De Mestre, had received a grant of 1300 acres next to the 2000 acre grant to Berry at Numbaa and this concerned Berry a man who did not like being overseen and thus a little resentful of newcomers, but also because he was aware that de Mestre planned to raise bloodstock on his property.
In addition, this property took in Terara Village and a stretch along the river bank to Nowra. De Mestre called the estate of his Terar which some think originated from Terar in Martinique where de Mestre was born but is more likely to be corrupted from Terre. Thirty years later, Etienne de Mestre was making plans to be owner of the first winner of Australia’s equivalent of the English Derby, the Melbourne Cup, and entered two horses for the openeing meet on November 7th 1861. Inheritor had been bred by de Mestre but Archer whose name is famous for having won the race two years in a row was leased for the race and had been bred in Braidwood – a famous gold town between Goulburn and the coast. He was a powerful horse at 16.2 hands and had a rolling gait when galloping and was noted for racing with his tongue hanging out. The name is commemorated in numerous streets all over the country.
Berry was now finding that more and more grants were bordering his property and he became embroiled in much argument and legal action over acreages and fencing.
Berry also had blood stock interests but these wre concentrated on Estate requirements, not thoroughbred racing, and he had imported several stallions of whom the most notable were "Jack" and "Selim" as well as a brood mare "Chili".
Selim eventually replaced Jack as the principal sire and some of his progeny had been sold to a Mr Jenkins of Illawarra along with other mares to Sydney settlers. He continued to improve his bloodstock with further importations.
Jack, the thoroughbred, who had been sent from Crows Nest to Coolangatta in 1823 and performed well for the next seven years was then put to retirement and Souter was asked later on to sell him for the best he could get.

The development of the estate up to 1827 was mapped in pencil showing the country north of and including the Shoalhaven River to the head of Broughton Creek. It marks Pig Island (Burraga), Broughton Creek, Bomadery Creek and shows the western side of Broughton Creek as a "Large Swamp". It also shows "Muroo Hut", New Stock Yard.
The partnership with Edward Wollstonecraft comes to an end with his premature death in 1832 – Edward never seems to have been in good health from the time he arrived in the Colony – he found the atmosphere in George Street where they had the main Sydney business enterprise uncongenial and moved to clearer air on the Sydney North Shore. He suffered an undefined fever combined with a skin disease whilst at Coolangatta which resulted in a steady decline and eventual death. It meant that he never lived long enough to see the fruits of their joint enterprise and although he and Berry often did not see eye to eye his contribution to the success of the Berry vision was vital. Half of his estate was left to his sister and the remainder to Berry.

After the death of Edward Wollstonecraft in 1832 Berry becomes obsessed with the need for a replacement to help him – he would prefer the family despite his often expressed criticisms. But not long before Edward’s death he writes to David Berry about the visit to England of Dr Cook - Berry’s general physician – and the fact that the family declined to accompany the doctor to Australia even though passages had been booked. The doctor showed Berry a letter of excuse from John and Berry angrily writes to the family “I must say that I cannot fathom what you are about……..I have often while unable to manage my affairs properly had seriously to lament that I had so many brothers who preferred a life of idleness at Cromwell Park to coming here to assist me.”

Later in 1834 again writing to the elder brother John he pointed out that he would by now have been very well off financially had he joined in at Shoalhaven – he goes on to say - “Since the death of my partner I have been struggling with my unwieldy concern……..if you do not soon make your appearance there are only two safe courses to adopt; either to break up my establishment, or to adopt some steady young man in your place and to renounce you all for ever. As the establishment is daily advancing to perfection the latter is what you will compel me to do…”

He is highly critical of the Scotch in general, although he admits there are a few exceptions, and in particular of the Berry family by saying “I imagine that the bad Scotch may be only such as have trodden the Clays of the Carse of Gowrie” – a reference to the rich farming land in Perthshire to which the family had moved at Cromwell Park near Errol.

This threat seemed to have its effect, although it was not until two years later that the family finally took ship for Sydney. However, John Berry wrote in June 1835 that all the family had finally decided to “set off immediately” and he hoped that not many months would pass before he would have the pleasure of meeting Alexander at Sydney. Nevertheless, “immediately” in the event meant another year was to pass before they arrived in the Mid Lothian from Leith.

The three brothers, John , William and David accompanied by two of his three sisters, Janet and Nancy finally settled at Coolangatta for the rest of their lives. Barbara remained in Scotland and married George Armitt.
There is very little recorded of life at the family farm in Hilltarvit Mains and later in Errol after Alexander Berry starts his travels in the first years of the new century which culminate in the settlement in 1822 at Coolangatta.

We can only surmise that, Barbara apart who married a Scot and stayed in Fife, the rest of the children namely Janet, John, David, William and Agnes (the last born as Alexander was graduating from Edinburgh University) stayed with the father and Mother and worked on the farm.

Alexander had started to exhort his family to emigrate to Coolangatta to help in his enterprise and with the idea in mind of creating a Berry family territorial dynasty, by the time his father died in 1827.

As they were tenant farmers it would not have involved selling off assets but the impression of indecision on the part of the rest of the family who had been rooted in the Fife countryside for generations comes across. On the other hand Alexander often refers to his own inborn indecisiveness which he overcame through the widening of horizons at school and at St Andrew followed by the need to take decisive actions in the face of adversity. His actions amongst the cannibals in the South Seas and his efforts to regain control of the ship which was foundering off Cape Horn are good examples of this.

During the time between Edward’s death and the arrival of the family members, Alexander and Elizabeth spent a good deal of their time at Coolangatta and she entertained the locals in elegant fashion.

But the new Berry family members were very much turned in upon themselves and although largely protected from the rawness of life in this remote area, they found it difficult to adapt to such a revolutionary change in their life styles at middle age. John himself was 50 and David 41 so it was no mean decision to uproot themselves and start a new life in a far away land.

The fact that, apart from Barbara who refused to emigrate, none of them married is curious. It is recorded that Alexander was disappointed that they never thought of marriage and the family succession of the property.

It is an intriguing fact that the Berry direct blood line ceased when, David, the last of the ten children born to James and Isabel Berry (three of them died in infancy which was not uncommon in the 18th century) died in September 1889.

John spent his life at Coolangatta almost entirely in the saddle and under his management the mixed agricultural path was changed much more to grazing. It was said that for him beef – on the hoof, in the cask and in the tin – was King.

Nevertheless, there was no let up in the drive to improve the quality of their cattle be it for beef or milk which was one of the great achievements of Alexander – an attitude which singled him out from the ordinary run of folk – and the results of this can be seen today in the dairy farms of the Shoalhaven district.

Edward Wollstonecraft had said that at one time Alexander’s infatuation for mixed agriculture had led him into forgetting the importance of stock improvement but he was impressed on the need from what occurred under the family management. And he started to see that the future might well lie in leasing out large portions to interested tenants as grazing stations and reserving one very large one for themselves.

Berry had hoped that although he had delayed marrying Elizabeth until she was past child-bearing age, the line could be continued through his brothers.
But this was not to be for the five Berrys who finally joined the Estate at Shoalhaven had no apparent inclination to marry or provide a line of inheritance for the Estate.
Wollstonecraft had built his Crow's Nest Cottage on his grant of 500 acres with an imperious and commanding view in probably the best position on the North Shore, whilst Berry later built Crow's Nest House. Edward's cottage was modest and small whereas his was an architectural masterpiece of the day and was the subject of a painting by Conrad Martens. Unfortunately, Mrs Berry did not live to see or enjoy it.
Meanwhile he also took an interest, whilst the family were consolidating the estate at Coolangatta, in the increasing exploration of the coastal regions in and around the Shoalhaven . Coastal surveys to the south had been started as early as 1827 by Surveyor Florance when he traced the coast from Jervis Bay to Conjola.
The opening forties had seen the beginning of free immigration and the introduction of clearing leases in Illawarra. These were effectively land leases at reasonable rents with conditions attaching to them to ensure that the land was properly cleared of brush and then managed efficiently. John Berry could see the advantages in these reducing work for the Berrys and increasing income.
At Upper Numbaa a windmill was erected for the milling of corn and a water-powered mill was in use at Broughton Creek to cut timber instead of the pit saws used formerly.
Salt pans were worked at Lower Numbaa beside the Shoalhaven River and this was then used for producing salt beef against Government contracts in Sydney.
The great days of the Shoalhaven as a breeding ground for young stock were drawing to a close. John Berry was a tireless stockman but his death after falling from his horse coincided with the introduction of tenant farmers. Twenty acre plots were leased rent free on the condition that they were cleared and fenced at the end of two to five years depending on their location. So that by 1850 leasing of the estate started and the tenant farmers began to establish dairying as the chief industry of the Shoalhaven district.
The centre of farming was still based on Coolangatta where by 1849 there were thirty six tenants with families totalling in all 145 bodies added to which were labourers and their families bringing the total to 222. In 1851 sixty leased farms were in place with a population now grown to 474.
The clearing leases had come to an end having outlived their usefulness and were substituted with rental payments for farms or production on what was called "halves". The estate owner allocated the land and the seed and the tenant gave back half the crop as payment in return.
By 1854 maize, wheat, barley and potatoes were growing in abundance as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald so that ten stores were now in operation. More and more vessels were plying trade between Shoalhaven and Sydney.
Wheat was well suited to this area and prolific crops were returned until the late seventies when "rust", which had started to be seen in the sixties, got out of control and the change to dairying was accelerated.
Whilst farm developments were proceeding, the Berrys continued to expand their holdings. But the tenancy system took some of the control away from Alexander but he continued to be a benevolent and congenial landlord. After the death of brother John, David took over management of the Estate.
The gold rushes of the fifties and the cessation of convict transportation led to labour shortages and, for a short period, the use of Chinese - "celestials" in Berry's words - labour.
Alexander's influence faded as David took greater management control of the estate and the various enterprises and he retired to a rather reclusive phase before dying at the age of 92 on September 17th 1873 in Crow's Nest House. He was now only survived by William and David as he was pre-deceased by his only surviving sister in March - she being buried in the family burial ground set part at Coolangatta on the southern slope of the hillside. William Berry subsequently died in 1875 leaving David as the sole survivor.
David Berry continued the management for a further sixteen years after AB's death and devoted this to land settlement. New areas were cleared and others expanded for economical working.
Under David Berry's leadership an Agricultural Association was set up in 1863 and subsequent Agricultural shows drew attention to the produce of the area and reminded farmers of the advances which had taken place within the last forty years since Berry had seen the potential for the region.
By the end of the seventies most of the cedar had been cut out and the clearing leases had given way to farms for wheat originally but which became replaced by dairying. So everything was concentrated on milk and associated dairy products. Coastal shipping was the main source of transport and communication for the Shoalhaven River and Broughton Creek had become highways for commerce and a harbour at Uladulla allowed export from there.. Overland routes were still primitive using bush tracks and packhorses which carried goods to the ports.
By 1856 some 34 years after Berry's first encampment at Coolangatta there is a description by Mossman in his book about travels around Australia of the District of Illawarra. He first of all describes Kiama as "on this bay (Kiama) 88 miles from Sydney and very beautifully situated. It is a rising place, surrounded land of the finest quality, to the water's edge: and, the scenery of the country behind strikingly picturesque." He was correct in his prediction that "it may become a place of resort for those who seek relief from illness, or repose from the toils of business. The climate is peculiarly mild for a winter residence, if we may judge from the great height which the Australian palm-tree grows; and the ranges towards the west promise shelter from the hot winds of the Australian summer, from which it is difficult to escape.

Leaving Kiama, we journeyed onwards due south, intending, if possible, to reach Coolangatta, the residence of Mr Berry, distant sixteen miles, before night. On your left is the sea, and on your right the country is hilly. It is pleasing to pass the number of small farms you see on either side of the road; the possessors of them appear independent men, made so by being industrious and expending their labour on the fertile soil. Many of them had horses and cattle, besides their farm-steadings; and those who had been any length of time on the land possessed all that was useful and comfortable in conducting the operations of a dairy-farm.

About four miles on the way you come to an extensive flat covered with a most verdant pasture; formerly it was a swamp, and at times overflowed with water. No one thought of reclaiming it, until fortune brought a Mr Richard Millar there; he saw that something could be made of it; he drained it; and now it is the richest of pasture-lands, supporting many cows for his extensive dairy, and fattening a number of oxen, which he sends to the Sydney market.
The rain still falling heavily and our destination nearly twelve miles off, we reached within two miles a part of a road where you have to travel along the sea-beach and were told that the tide was unfavourable for us to proceed; so we made the best of it and accepted the invitation of a small farmer to remain for the night under the shelter of his hut. He is a tenant under the landowner of a clearing lease; a system that has been acted upon with success by many landed proprietors in the district of Illawarra. The house was a poor tenement, but its inmates were rich in kindness; they gave us what they had with a welcome, and we were thankful. His name is John Stapleton of Gerringong.
In the morning "we started out for Coolangatta which is situated on the Shoalhaven River at the extreme south of the Illawarra country" and, after riding comfortably along the firm sands of Seven Mile beach, "we turned from the beach and entered a belt of land through which a road had been cut with a bridge over . a small creek. Crossing this bridge we emerged from the dense brushwood and suddenly came into a beautiful open country, with Coolangatta Mountain rising to a height of 900 feet before us. The view is exceedingly picturesque: on your left is the dark belt of wood skirting the sea; on your right a forest of the finest timber; and before you is the beautiful conical hill seen through an open space of considerable breadth extending for upwards of a mile to its base which slopes down to the mouth of the Shoalhaven river.
On the slope which faces south, is the residence of Alexander Berry Esq, a member of the Legislative Council. It is a cottage residence having a large verandah in front with numerous offices and small dwellings behind; the whole forming a square of some extent.
The Proprietor was from home but we were most hospitably received by his two brothers and a sister and every attention was paid to our comfort.
In the morning accompanied by Mr Berry's brothers we rode partly and climbed partly to the summit of this mountain. It is of a conical shape; and to the vry top the soil is of the richest kind and everywhere covered thickly with grass. Mr Berry has cut down the tress on the ridge which forms the spur sloping towrads the house, so that there are not any trees to obstruct the view as you ascend. After climbing many parts much too steep to ride, we arrived at the summit and were amply repaid for our toruble. The view from this eminence, as well as of the hill itself, is splendid; you are perched upon the pinnacle of a mountain, rising in giant-like grandeur from a plain, supported, as it were, by three spurs, which, from the elevation of the eye, appear like buttresses; one is towards the house, a second stretching to the confluence of the Broughton and Shoalhaven Rivers and a third towards the country inland - all three being about equidistant and giving what we should call a graceful form to the mountain. On a fine day the view of the surrounding country is one of the most beautiful we remember to have seen in the colony. Looking towards the east, you have the coast-line running north and south, strongly marked by the broad dark belt of wood which we have mentioned, and dividing the wide expanse of ocean beyond from the the open and cultivated lands lying at your feet.
Glancing your eye along the spur on which the house is built, you see a green meadow at its foot, on the margin of the River Shoalhaven which stream cuts through the belt of scrub into the sea. Beyond the river appear the waters of the Shoalhaven and the Crookhaven connected together by a canal cut by the enterprising proprietor and forming an island of the headland in between; in this channel there is sufficient water for a small steamer or coasting-vessel to enter. This brings your prospect more to the south where an extensive lagoon is visible and, in the far distance the harbour of Jervis Bay.
Turning little towards the interior, between the distant ranges and the banks of the river, are broad flat lands which the application of modern improvements in draining and culture by Mr Berry have made a valuable property. To the westward you see the Broughton River at your feet, winding through a wide plain, shewing here and there evidences of man's industry; and in the mountains beyond are the famous Shoalhaven gullies, ravines of great depth from 500 to 1200 feet and of tremendous appearance. Lastly, turning towards the north, you have the splendid view coastways terminated by Mount Keera. During our ascent and descent of the mountain, our enjoyment of the scenery was considerably disturbed by the swarms of mosquitoes which tormented us; they say they favour strangers more with their attentions than the people living in the country: we can speak of their having punished us on this occasion.
We returned to breakfast passing through the cultivated ground near the house and could not but remark the completeness and extent of this princely property. Mr Berry selected this spot in the early times of the Colony when grants from the crown could be obtained on easier terms than now. And, certainly the property, not from its extent alone, but from the richness of the land - stated to be superior to that of Illawarra - is perhaps the most valuable in New South Wales. The improvements which have been added to it from time to time, and the application of the best system of culture to the soil have made these broad lands what they are - a princely possession which we trust the respected proprietor may long live to enjoy."
Whilst this is stilted, repetitive and respectful language it does indicate the improvements made by Berry in a beautiful location - the pity is that we have no record from him about the man or his brothers. Mossman is just overwhelmed, quite understandably, by the countryside, the mountain and the bordering sea. .
This description contrasts markedly with Justice Field's impressions during his visit in 1823 - thirty two years before - " I fear in Berry's case man has taken possession before Nature has done her work. Immense swamps and lagoons have only been just left by the sea and the present land is indifferent to grazing. Still, though the cedar groves end before the Shoalhaven is reached, the sea is open for the export of any produce that can be raised up from patches of alluvial soil lying on the alternate projecting points of the river. Mr Berry need not be alarmed that any occupation of the immediate back country would shut in his cattle run."
Berry's work and drive showed what could be done despite the apparent disadvantages as described by Field and, when we come to 1875 another legal man gives his views 53 years after the beginnings.
"The lands south of the Shoalhaven are chiefly owned by Mr Berry, the heirs of the late Mr de Mestre and the Elyard family. They include three townships - Numbaa near the river and opposite the mouth of the Broughton Creek with its comfortable houses, well stocked stores and excellent farm separated by the highway. Terrara, on the sands with its big houses and little cottages almost on the banks of the river and likely to be swept into it by the next flood. Nowra on the hill and out of reach of the floods and most other things too."
He describes Numbaa as having stores, a post office and 40 inhabitants whilst Terrara is bigger with five stores/shops, three pubs, a bank, newspaper and telegraph offices with over two hundred inhabitants. Nowra, at this time relatively undeveloped had 120 citizens a Court House, one pub, one shop and a Post office.
He refers to the ferry crossings on the river - one is maintained by Berry for both his tenantry and the public. There is a river crossing by punt between the entrance of the Broughton Creek tributary to the Shoalhaven and two other ferries, one a Council initiative further inland near Bomadery Creek and an intermediate private ferry at Terrara.
Although these visits and descriptions are scrappy it gives a view of developments by Berry from the pens of actual contemporaries of the time.
Shipbuilding was an essential lifeline for getting their produce to market in Sydney and other areas and during the early forties three new vessels were launched at Shoalhaven - the Union in 1840 and the Coolangatta and the Plover of Sydney. The last-named was built to replace the Union which was lost at sea.

The Illarua Water Mill was erected at upper Numba for grinding wheat and maize and in order to better productivity with timber, a saw mill worked by water power was installed at Broughton Creek to replace the old hand sawing pits.

This was a busy “village” for the period with more than 250 people working at various trades as the innovations of the brothers and the purchase of more modern machinery took effect. Their achievements are the more remarkable when one remembers that the British industrial revolution had only been established some fifty years before.

Large contracts to supply the Government with salt beef were negotiated and became the backbone of the Berry family wealth during this period. Exports of tallow and hides were developed as complementary business to agriculture – this was big business for Berry writes to his sister in Scotland in 1846 that “in the last twelve months we have slaughtered upwards of a 1000 head of bullocks, some weighing as much as 1400 lbs., merely for their hides and tallow and we have large pots for this purpose two of which can hold a dozen bullocks.

Experiments were made in producing condensed milk, preserved meat and gelatine and the equipment which necessitated coppering and soldering were all carried out on site.

With everything going full ahead, 1848 saw the death of John Berry from a riding accident. Whilst out with his groom they gave chase to a wild dog on April 15th – John Berry was thrown from his horse and broke a leg. Complications set in and within four days he was dead. Whilst this was bitter blow to the Management such a head of steam had been built up that David and William were able to continue profitable development of the Estate.

Following the arrival of his brothers in 1836 and once the management was firmly in their hands, in consequence of his building Crow's Nest House and the death of his wife in 1845, Berry paid only fleeting visits to the Estate which he had pioneered. But we have on record many written complaints and near insults from North Sydney to the management from Alexander Berry but one feels that the bark is worse than the bite and as the letters show there is a mixture of criticism and concern for their welfare.

In 1842 tenant farmers were introduced to the uncleared flats by the river with their rich alluvial soil. Plots of 20 acres were offered as “clearing leases”, rent free on condition that they were cleared of brush and fenced within a period of five years – the time scale varied with the state of the acreage.

By 1849 arrangements for the formal leasing of parts of the Estate as a legality were well under way and William Berry was surveying the lease boundaries ahead of the arrival of a professional surveyor. The extent of these projects is shown by what Berry writes to his sister “Since John’s death David has been leasing some of the Land and has already 36 Tenants, who, with their families amount to 145 souls, and there is room on the rich soil for hundreds more……..”

By 1851 a census of population recorded the number of farms leased as 60 with tenants and their families totalling 244. To this figure should added 230 labourers. The rate of leasing continued progressively towards the date of Alexander’s death in Sydney in 1873. In 1869 Tenant farmers, some 370 in number, occupied 15000 acres of the vast Estate with twenty leases having been established each year since 1854.

After his illness and death in 1873, the Estate was bequeathed to his brother David who with William were the only surviving members of the family. Nancy had died earlier in the year, Janet in 1860 and Barbara was buried in St Andrews in 1871. William died two years later leaving all his property to David.

The estate now totalled more than 94000 square miles in area and included the towns of Bomaderry, Broughton Creek and parts of Greenwell Point and Gerringong.

David survived his eldest brother by a further sixteen years and concentrated on the promotion of land settlement. Even before Alexander’s death he had shown his interest, skills and social conscience in developing acceptable leases. This had gone on for forty years until his death in 1889 even though his brother, Alexander had given him little encouragement. Alexander retained his original vision of massive acres as far as the eye could see and fat beef and dairy cattle with as little boundary fencing as possible but as time went on he could see that being the “Laird of Shoalhaven” as he was unjustly dubbed by certain writers was unrealistic.


Although life for most of the families was hard and the climate sometimes extreme – the floods of 1870 and in other years were disastrous – we find little snippets which show the effect of the railway and visitors. This local press report appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in August 1855.

“SHOALHAVEN

It may be interesting to some of your subscribers to hear a little now and then of this very beautiful district. Blessed by nature with an excellent climate and productive soil it has long been kept in the background from the disinclination of the largest landed proprietor to let off or sell his lands; this disinclination is now passing away and a liberal and free letting of land is now taking place.

The splendid estate of Messrs Berry, without an equal in New South Wales (or perhaps the world) is being divided into comfortable sized farms and the forest and bush are fast falling in all directions before the improving hand of man; houses are been erected in all directions and the lucky tenants of the land are busy clearing and fencing.

Wheat sowing is now over and all are busy about potatoes but rain is much wanted not having had anything like the quantity that has fallen in other parts. The strong north west winds have dried the ground and water holes so that unless rain comes soon the chances of a good potato crop will no be very great. The wheat crop is, however, looking well, and is of a much greater extent than last year – the late high price of wheat having put our farmers all in the humour of growing it.

We lately had a visit from Mr Fairchild and company who gave a few concerts and finished with a Ball. We can scarcely call ourselves a musical community nor are we much given to visiting Balls. Nevertheless I think that Mr F did not do too badly although it could only be now and then that such a speculation could pay. An itinerant organ-grinder much to the astonishment and delight of the children paid us a visit. Such are some of the effects of the steam railways communication.”

Alexander Berry had loved books all his long life from his early days at Cupar Grammar School to his last days and as a brotherly tribute David was determined to erect a suitable library on the estate where the large collection left could be properly arranged and displayed.

This site is marked today on the Estate indicating that the actual Library itself was given to the local St Peter’s Anglican church at Shoalhaven Heads – (describe it after visit) It was wooden building and the bookcases were seven in number and constructed with the use of wedges made especially for the purpose by a small machine invented by David.

It is believed that David commissioned William Purdie, a fellow Scot and local cabinet maker and joiner. Born in 1819 and apprenticed as a cabinet maker in Scotland he emigrated to Australia in 1841 but found little work to employ his talents in Sydney. He obtained a fencing contract in Kangaroo Valley before joining the Berry Estate where he worked as a carpenter and builder. David’s interest in his employees caused him to recall Purdie’s cabinet making trade and thus he produced cases based on the style of a single breakfront Scottish mahogany bookcase brought to Australia by Alexander Berry. These bookcases were described in the press in 1889 as “being made at Coolangatta Park of cedar cut and sawn on the Estate”.

William Purdie and his descendants would be surprised at the value put on them today as news of two of these bookcases surfaced this year when they were bought at auction in Sydney by an unknown bidder for $51,750.00. These cases were included in a collection of Berry material auctioned by Christie’s.

Coolangatta had now become a vibrant township or village and in order to supply the wants of 400 Estate tenants every trade was represented – stonemasons, carpenters, harness makers, tailors, tanners, blacksmiths and wheelwrights and many more.

Prefabrication of timber-framed dwellings had already made an appearance at this time as it is reported that the steam-powered sawmill dealt with all the timber required and houses and barns were “framed” and sent in a ready cut form for erection on site.

Agricultural implements were also manufactured locally and the farm produce in which maize predominated was carried to Sydney market in the vessels Gimboola and Moeyan.

As David aged he decided that he should delegate the running of the Estate to Mr John Hay as General Manager. He was forty years old at this time and was cousin of David’s with 20 years of business experience in New Zealand. He soon found that there was a need for many improvements and that he had to be very tactful introducing changes in relationships as between the Model Landlord and his Tenantry.

Carriage to Sydney market by swift steamships replaced the older vessels; new schools were built and the areas of individual farms enlarged and their leases extended. New areas were cleared, surveyed, sub-divided and leased with farm buildings and fences renovated.

During David’s tenure big improvements were made to the Berry Showground with a new grandstand and outbuildings being erected. The area of the show grounds was greatly extended and a full-sized ring provided along with plantations of new trees and flower beds. The result of this was that the Berry Agricultural Show Ground became one of the finest in New South Wales outside the metropolitan area. The work put in hand at this time survives to this day with the shows at Berry attracting large crowds.

The hamlet of Broughton Creek was now replaced by the Township of Berry named in honour of David Berry. Streets were laid out on a grid system and allotments of building land leased. Banks, hotels and a Post Office soon appeared and today it is an attractive town set amidst beautiful natural surroundings between the mountain valley of Kangaroo Valley to the north and Broughton Creek, Shoalhaven River and the Pacific to the east.

It was designed by Howard Joseland who married Blanche the daughter of Jessie Mcleod who was the second wife of David Hay the son of Ann Tod and John Hay.

I recently was in touch with a granddaughter of Jessie McLeod one Mrs Brunton who carries the Berry blood in her veins to this day.


David’s funeral was attended by more than 2000 people who converged on Coolangatta where he was laid to rest in the private cemetery – a grateful Tenantry subscribed to pay for the monument to his memory which stands in the park opposite the Railway station. It is inscribed –

“This monument was erected by the Tenants and friends of the late David Berry in remembrance of a kind and considerate Landlord and true friend of the people. Unveiled by Mrs John Hay of Coolangatta 24th November 1897.
Arrived in the Colony 1836, born Fifeshire, Scotland December 1795 and died at Coolangatta 23rd September 1889.”As we see once again for some unaccountable reason the town is named after David Berry not Alexander despite the fact that the latter first travelled up Broughton Creek in 1822 to where the town lies today and it was he and not David who created the wealth which helped the invalids in Berry and the students and professors in St Andrews. In St Andrews there is not even a street named after him.
There is no clear record of what was said by Alexander to David and William on his deathbed and David appears to have become morbidly and excessively worried about carrying out the wishes of his brother and defining what were his legal and moral obligations.

It is indeed strange that there has been no comment on the fact that David Berry must have realised the what would be the financial effects of the combined size of the legacies for the University of St Andrews and the Hospital for the town of Berry on the financial future of the Estate.

My assessment is that Alexander would have asked that St Andrews should benefit from his will and David would have wanted a living memorial in the shape of the David Berry Hospital. This would, of course, relate to Alexander’s medical background and care for the sick in his early travelling days with the East India Company. David Berry who seems to have lived an isolated and unhappy existence in Coolangatta until his death then made his decision to meet both of these wishes – at the time, the break-up of the Estate seemed unfortunate but the work put in on the project was such as to allow the Shoalhaven district and its inhabitants to enjoy the area as it is today.

As a sale seemed necessary, the Trustees planned a comprehensive scheme to improve the value of the Estate, foremost amongst which was the reclamation and draining of the swampy brackish areas.

One or other of the legacies could have been taken in its stride but the combination of the two led to the necessity for the Trustees, Sir John Hay and Dr Norton to sell off most of the Estate.

Its value for probate purpose was £1,252,975 sterling and this came from Coolangatta, North Shore and personal holdings. The endowments included £100,000 sterling to the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and an equal endowment for a public hospital just to the east of the town of Berry.
One third of the estate was bequeathed to Sir John - that of Coolangatta, and soon after, his younger half-brother, Major Alexander Hay was appointed as the new general manager.
Massive reclamation of the swampy areas along the flood plains and drainage had been put in hand so that by the turn of the century there were more than 125 miles of drains and ditches dug at various depths from one to three metres.
Almost a third of the land consisted of alluvial flats. In its natural state this was a series of fresh-water marshes with surfaces at the lowest about one metre below the flood level of the region. This being at the lower end of the Shoalhaven River estuary it was subject to flooding just below the surface levels of the marshes. With flooding at spring tide these swamps would be inundated by salt water and so tidal sluices were designed to prevent the invasion of salt water. A double advantage for grazing and general farming was that these sluices also stopped the accumulation of fresh water after heavy rains to which the region is prey into stagnant pools. Thus the water was kept on the move and under control.
On 29th March 1892 the sale of the Berry (Shoalhaven) Estates began and continued for three days. The entity was divided into three for the purpose of the sale - firstly the Gerringong farms of which there were four and totalling 175 acres. Next came the sale of the whole township of Bomaderry followed on 30th March by the Numbaa estates which consisted of between five and six thousand acres. This was included in the Municipality of Numbaa which had been incorporated in 1868. The population at the time of the sale was over a 1000.
The sale terms were all standardised at 25% deposit, 15% within two years and the balance over 5 years with an interest rate of 5% per annum. In all cases preference was given to tenant farmers to secure the land they had formerly farmed and from this date many of the present family holdings date their freehold.
Despite the sale there was still insufficient money to fund the Berry hospital bequest and so land to the value of not less than that required in North Sydney was handed over to Trustees appointed for that purpose. The Government of New South Wales then passed the David Berry Hospital Act in 1906 from which date the hospital became the responsibility of the Government. The disposal by sale of the Estates in Shoalhaven and North Sydney began in 1892 and was not completed until 20 years later in 1912.












Chapter 5 - The Bishops and Australia 1827 - 1916

At about the same time that Alexander Berry was growing from a child into an educated graduate in Scotland, movements and journeys by Colin Bishop’s forbears were taking shape.

It is the history and confluence of the journeys of these independent pioneering emigrants which all end in Coolangatta that we shall trace.

The origins of the Bishops lie in a blending of English and Scottish blood – part of the Scottish branch moved to Northern Ireland before arriving in Australia.

The great grandparents of Colin Bishop were Londoners - Richard Cooke and his wife Sarah (nee Perry). Richard born a few years before Berry in 1773 who lived at about the same period, was a building and property developer from Kentish Town in London. The youngest of the eleven children born to them was christened after the Muse of Comedy with the name of Thalia and lived through eighty three difficult years in a remote part of Australia until 1910.

She was born five years after Alexander Berry had settled at Coolangatta but like Berry she had an independent and pioneering spirit and exemplified the character of the waves of free settlers arriving in Australia at that time. She was well christened as in classical times Thalia was one of the Three Graces who embodied pastoral life and comedy. She lived in a pastoral area all her life and certainly needed a sense of comedy and humour to cope with the happenings which were to befall her.

In North London, at the age of eighteen she met and fell in love with a coachman working for her father by the name of Henry Parbery. As a coachman he did not meet with the approval of her father as being a suitable husband for his daughter and he forbade them to meet. So Thalia eloped with her lover and was married to him on 11th November 1846 when she was 19. They lived and worked in the Finchley area of North London for some two years but then decided that emigration to Australia offered better prospects for the future.

Together with their first child they sailed on the "James Gibb" and arrived in Sydney on 9th June 1849. Thalia is just 22 years old and the arrival in Australia coincides with the start of the gold rushes in the Colony. The two of them decide to leave Sydney Town and travel to the south coast through the Southern tablelands and Goulburn. They then followed a southerly route from Goulburn to Braidwood and the Araluen valley to the coast at Moruya.

Braidwood established itself in 1852 after the discovery of gold but this was after the Parberys had passed through.

The young family settled at Broulee which was a small community about ten miles north of Moruya right on the coast with Broulee Island, now a nature reserve, just offshore. When the first settlers arrived twenty years before the Parberys, the island was firmly connected to the mainland by a solid sand spit covered with low growing scrub. The island and the Broulee isthmus formed part of Broulee harbour which at that time was the only major port between Wollongong and Twofold Bay at Eden. Up to six large vessels could be anchored at the same time with good shelter. With its own jetty and the sandspit connecting it to the mainland, it provided a causeway which was high and wide enough to enable stores and supplies to be carried ashore.

Under the dense bush of this now deserted island lie the original foundations of an old Inn. In 1841 a long shingled weatherboard bungalow was built near the edge of the cliff on the northern end of the island which was leased by Bernard McAuley as the “Erin-go-Bragh Hotel”. The timber cutters and whalers were regular patrons of the pub but its period of glory was to be short-lived as the establishment of the Batemans Bay port, to the north at the mouth of the River Clyde, superseded Broulee and ships stopped calling at the Island. The building was dismantled in 1850 and removed to Campbell Street in Moruya where it served as one of the first General Stores called the “Beehive”.
Local history has it that the only trace of the pub and its past is a grave – said to be that of the publican’s daughter.

Henry and Thalia were part of the second wave of free settlers – earlier ones had come in via the Island on immigrant ships from Sydney and the settlement had been there for little more than twenty years. At this time there were probably less than thirty Europeans in the district. Most of the arrivals at Moruya passed through without giving the town much more than a passing glance with their thoughts inexorably on their search for gold inland at Araluen and Braidwood. The rivers in the area all carried gold-bearing strata.

The couple made a short trip back to Sydney and stayed for a while during which time a second child was born. But they seemed drawn back to the south coast and returned later and re-settled on the south bank of the Moruya river at Gundary.

The route which they followed again went through the Southern Highlands and Goulburn, leading south easterly across the plains which are the grazing grounds today of thousands of sheep. The distance in total is about two hundred and fifty miles and, even today by modern car, we found the going rough once we had turned out of Braidwood towards Araluen where long stretches of the road follow natural contours and are still unsealed. Between Braidwood and Moruya there are many river and creek crossings, including The Shoalhaven. In those days there would have been no bridges to ease their passage in bullock carts and it is difficult to imagine the fortitude with which these settlers set out on these daunting journeys.

Today, the Shoalhaven is spanned with a bridge, a few miles north west of Braidwood, which is fully 180 feet high above the rocky gorge below.

The River Shoalhaven is one of the largest and most important on the east coast side of the dividing range south of Sydney. Like other rivers in the area, its course was highly auriferous and the term “The Shoalhaven Diggings” was applied to numerous small goldfields where the diggers scratched away for the elusive ore in their hundreds. This river, which plays a large part in the Coolangatta journeys, rises in a swamp called Coromboro at a height of 2800 feet under the main Kybeyan inland coastal range at a point almost on the same latitude as Moruya and then flows for 250 kilometres northwards almost to Goulburn before turning east towards the coast.

It passes through wild, rugged and magnificent scenery, the best of which is a series of glens with the escarpments rising as much as 1500 feet in places with perpendicular and overhanging walls to the summits.

Eventually it is joined by the Kangaroo Valley River before discharging itself into the Ocean at Shoalhaven Heads.

Henry, a skilled tradesman worked as a carpenter and coachbuilder. Two more children were born and they lived a rugged but enjoyable life together until disaster struck on 10th December 1855 when Henry was drowned in the River Moruya whilst attempting a crossing on horseback. This is a very wide river as it nears the sea – at least 350 yards wide and although relatively shallow it is very treacherous. The local cemetery records many deaths through drowning by children and adults during the 19th century.

Thus at the age of twenty eight, Thalia who had experienced the advantages of a refined education and a wealthy upbringing, finds herself a widow with young children to rear in a remote and very rural area of a strange and largely unknown continent with a small population.

But, like Berry in different circumstances, she battled on against all the odds, and never despaired even though her life was often penurious. She cultivated vegetables and found sufficient meat and fish to enable her to raise the family. Although the small white community often saw the Aborigines as a threat, many of the indigenous people befriended her. Having thus survived the immediate bleak period after Henry's death, she then obtained a part-time post as a sewing mistress and teacher at the recently established school at Moruya. This gave her some cash income and helped her to survive with greater security.

The first Bishop in our journeys now makes his appearance on the scene.

Jeremiah William Bishop lived from 1827 to 1904 and arrived in the area at the time of Thalia’s widowhood and was working as a carpenter at Thalia's school. Their friendship led to marriage in 1858. Little is known of William Bishop’s background, apart from the fact that he was born in London and travelled to Australia at the age of twenty.

However, he did not have the consistent stability of character of his new wife nor was he a model of a good family man. He was restless by nature and early on showed his own selfish feelings by forcing the Parbery children to leave home when they were still quite young. He found the building and carpentry trades boring and irksome and changed his way of life to that of a hawker and commercial traveller using a horse - drawn caravan to carry his wares around the southern tablelands of NSW.

Thalia continued to live at Moruya whilst William was away on his sales visits and bore a further eight children, seven of whom survived into adulthood.

William's absences became more and more prolonged and after a period of comings and goings, contact with his wife and children was finally lost. In his seventies his health deteriorated severely and he died in 1904 and was buried in the Wesleyan section of Bombala cemetery.

Moruya township expanded inland along the south bank of the river and thus swamped the settlement of Gundary where Thalia lived. Her cottage at 45 Murray Street still stands today – a small island amid extended building development. It was good to see this link with the past and although I could not trace her gravestone, we know that she lived in this dwelling until her death.

As the children left home she remained in Murray Street and became a highly respected local resident and the matriarch of an extended family and managed to maintain good relations between the Parberys and her subsequent Bishop bloodline. She had twelve children in all and 82 grandchildren.

William Bishop (1860-1906), Colin's grandfather, was Thalia's second child and eldest son. He grew up in Moruya where life was simple and isolated. He was called on at an early age to take responsibilities beyond his years in order to help his mother whilst his father was away.

He eventually left for Sydney as a young man and through the help of his half brother Alfred, obtained work with the NSW Government Printing Office. It was in Sydney that he met Alice. Alice Higgin came from Mudgee a gold mining town and probably the largest inland town at that period.

After their marriage in the suburb of Stanmore of Sydney in 1886, they decided to move back to William’s home area of Moruya and to start farming. First of all they lived for while at Noggarula near Bergalia. Bergalia has been by-passed by the Princes Highway four miles south of Moruya and now consists of a few dilapidated buildings. Then they moved on to a property called "Bonny Doon" not far from Wambana near Kiora about four miles out of Moruya and further inland on the banks of the river.

Nine children were born of this union, with Arthur being the second eldest.
His life on the farm was mostly devoted to work interspersed with school, Sunday school and visits to Grandmother Thalia. The area was very isolated compared with today as the railway stopped at Bomaderry a hundred miles to the north and so supplies from Sydney depended on coastal trading vessels.

A visit to the dentist was not for the faint-hearted - Arthur recalled his first experience of having a tooth removed. This entailed riding his horse four miles into town, having his tooth extracted without the use of any painkillers, getting back in the saddle and riding home.

The Bishop family have an interesting heirloom which marks the difference between Australia at the beginning of the twentieth century and how it is a hundred years later in the year 2000. At the time of Federation, Arthur receives a Bible from his Sunday School inscribed as follows:-
"Presented to Arthur Bishop to commemorate the opening of the Twentieth Century, the inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth and the accession of King Edward VII to the Throne of England" - signed - "John Emmott, Wesleyan Sunday School, Moruya , February 17th 1901".

In 1904 there was a move further south and inland up the valley of the River Tuross to the small farming community at Eurobodalla. This was a much more fertile area and had the potential within it to make the family financially independent. This however, was not to be as William was taken ill and died after an unsuccessful operation in Sydney on December 1st 1906 aged forty six. This blow was almost a repeat of the history of Thalia except that Alice was widowed at the later age of 42 and had to run a farm, keep a mortgage going and look after nine children.

Colin's mother Florence who married Arthur originated from Northern Ireland stock - her father was a Duncan and her mother an Anderson which probably indicates a farming Protestant migration from Scotland to Northern Ireland in the 1660s.

James Duncan (1847-1927) and Jane Duncan (nee Anderson) (1856 - 1939) although born in Northern Ireland, both emigrated separately to Australia - Jane as a small child with her parents and James later as a young man. They met and married in Australia.

Jane Duncan's father, Robert Anderson, born in 1831 at Ballacross, County Derry became a carpenter and joiner. At the age of nineteen he travelled to the United States and returned two years later and married Sarah in 1861 and they went to the States but when the Civil War threatened they returned to Ireland. A cousin of his, Henry Clarke, was home on a visit and asked him to join him Australia at Moruya. Henry Clarke was one of the pioneer founders of the Moruya district, had been granted land at Bergalia in the south of the area and was the first member of the NSW Parliament which meant that he had to spend much of his time away from his property and he needed trusted management.

On 11th April 1862, therefore, Robert Anderson sailed on the “Hotspur” from Plymouth to Sydney with his wife Sarah and their four children accompanied by two of his brothers. The voyage of this ship was a lengthy and disturbing one for Sarah and her young family (Jane – the second oldest and Col Bishop’s grandmother was only five at the time) for it lasted three months before it arrived in Sydney in July of that year. There were three deaths and three births during the journey.

All three men gave their trades as Carpenters and they then travelled to Bergalia to start the task of managing the estate.

Moruya is similar in geographical structure to Nowra and the Shoalhaven and lies nearly two hundred miles south of Sydney. The town lies four miles inland from the where the estuary of the Moruya River meets the ocean. Not long before their arrival during the gold rushes of the 1850s this was the port of entry for the fifteen thousand or more prospective miners seeking their fortunes at the diggings. It was the gateway to the Araluen and Braidwood goldfields which spread along the Moruya and Araluen river banks. These gold rush days were heady ones for all sorts of trades and activities so much so that private houses were well outnumbered by stores, shops, pubs the courthouse and jail. But once the rushes were over pastoral agriculture took over and today it is a tranquil dairying area with many family holiday attractions.

They eventually settled at Bergalia between Moruya and Bodalla where to start with Robert managed the Clarke estate which he eventually leased. In addition, he became more interested in his own affairs and bought a small property of 120 acres called Lakeview next to Lake Coila into an impressive 1300 acre homestead and farm. At its peak, the site provided employment for 20 people. Robert Anderson erected many buildings in the Bergalia area and was prominent in the district as the promoter of the Coomonderrry Steamship Company. He died in 1905.

Lake Coila and Lake Tuross adjoin each other and are separated by a long wide-necked stretch of land which leads to Tuross Head. The River Tuross ends its journey to the sea when entering the lake system. These are extensive shallow water systems where marine wildlife abounds and shellfish are found in abundance. Opposite Tuross Head to the south is South Tuross Head which is backed by the Bodalla State Forest and Lake Brundaree – the coast extends to Potato Point. The beaches are exceptional for being sheltered and vast.

The coming together of the journeys which will bring us to the present day occurs in 1904 in the district of Eurobodalla which is 6 miles up river from Bodalla.

The Duncan family had established their property called “Tyrone” in 1890 at Eurobodalla and in 1904 the Bishops bought a neighbouring house called “Sunny Brae”. Eurobodalla was not a village as such but a community of some ten or so farming families who had taken advantage of this very fertile valley through which the River Tuross flows on its way to the South Pacific Ocean.

It was served by a small school, a part-time sub-post office and a cheese factory. The nearest shopping was available at Bodalla on the Sydney -Melbourne coast road now known as the Prince’s Highway.

Dairy farming was the foundation of agricultural business as it was all along the south coast where alluvial land was available by the estuaries created from its geological structure. The plains were good for cropping and the surrounding hills made for good grazing. With the lack of good communications, Eurobadalla was too far away from large population centres to be able to be involved with the whole milk trade. And so cheese-making became the principal form of activity – a secondary source of income came from pig rearing as they could be fed on the whey left over after the cheese-making process. On the alluvial flats corn and maize were grown mainly for cattle and pig feed. As transport infrastructure improved crops became more varied along market garden lines.

The roads were designed for horses and horse-drawn vehicles. They were very narrow and gravelled, rough and dusty in summer and wet and muddy in winter. These roads or tracks followed the natural rise and fall of the land and made their way which would avoid river bends and rocky obstructions – rather like the “rolling English road”.

The families of the Duncans and the Bishops were about three miles apart by road with “Tyrone” on the north side of the river and “Sunny Brae” on the south. At the time of the Bishops move to Eurobadalla in 1904, Arthur and Florrie were about thirteen years old and were attending the same local school and in the same class. Public education had started officially under new legislation in 1880 and to local rural communities, in particular, the school was an essential and important aspect of their lives and much depended on the quality of the teacher in charge. Eurobadalla was fortunate in having a Mrs Johnson appointed to run the school and the achievements of her pupils surprised the visiting Education Inspectors on a number of occasions. She was highly respected by pupils and parents alike and managed a pupil registration of 40 which was spread right across the age range from infants to leavers as these were the days before the creation of high schools.

The two families had already started to form a bond of friendship between them which was exemplified at the time of William’s illness when he need to travel to Sydney for surgery. The train tracks finished at Bomaderry and in order to make the journey more comfortable for him the Duncan’s offered their comfortable buggy to the Bishop family for this trip of about seventy miles.

However, William was not to return alive from the visit to Sydney and his death meant that Arthur, who had shone at school studies and had expected to become either a teacher or preacher, at the age of fifteen had to abandon any such plans for the future and took time off school so as to help full-time on the farm. In the event he never returned to further schooling but together with his brother, Gordon, helped his Mother to run the farm and also care for the younger children. Life had become hard and there were few luxuries for the widow and her nine children.

Florence Duncan left school at about the same time as Arthur and, as was the custom, she helped her mother and sisters in the house and became a very good cook and seamstress. What was not so customary was the fact that Florrie became a very good horsewoman until she in her turn had children. She rode side saddle and this saddle exists today and is an interesting exhibit in the Restaurant of the Coolangatta Estate.

Before the first World War the activities on the farm and in the community generally were by the sweat of the brow and labour intensive. The horse and horse power formed the basis of production and transport whereas today it is the internal combustion engine which reigns supreme and horses are for recreation and sport.

Horse power derived from draught horses for ploughing, harrowing and cultivating and hauling carts, wagons and drays. For the equivalent of today’s bicycles and cars the horse was for personal transport on horseback or by horse drawn buggy or sulky.

Home domestics by the light of kerosene lamps and candles depended on gathered wood which fed wood-burning stoves for cooking and wood-burning “coppers” for laundry needs. The old flat iron was heated in relays on the stove for the pressing of heavily starched clothing for high days and special occasions. Mail order business was popular in these early days because although there were shops in neighbouring Bodalla and Moruya the range of goods and clothes was limited. Tea chests arrived from time to time with bulk orders of dry goods provisions and boots and shoes. Working clothes for day to day use on the farm were often made in the home or by locals who were skilled in dressmaking and basic tailoring. But as can be seen from photographs of the day when family photographs were taken on special days the men were very smartly turned out with starched wing collars and ties and the Edwardian fob chain prominently displayed. Starched Eton collars were worn by the young boys and the womens’ dresses all favoured full length with a high ruffed neck.

In almost every particular the style of dress, the formal positioning of the groups in these photographs is the same as any taken at the same time in England despite the difference in climate and life style.

Timber framed houses, as today in Australia, were the norm for country construction and bricks were rarely used which made building your own home a common practice. The exterior was generally rough-sawn overlapping weatherboard cladding with the inside lined with pine panels. Again, like today, tin roofs were the fashion made from corrugated iron which was light and easy to transport and erect and was generally waterproof for long periods of time.

The traditional Australian verandah was generally at least five feet wide from front to the weatherboard and often completely surrounded the house or at the very least on two or three sides. The most popular side would be facing north so as to catch the warmth of southern hemisphere noonday sun when it sun traverses the sky from right to left as opposed to the apparent direction in Europe.

In Spring, Summer and early Autumn the verandah was a room in its own right with benches and chairs where the adult members would sit and work, read and chat and was ideal for childrens’ games. It was in effect a family room or as it is called today a “rumpus” room. As families increased, it was quite common for part of the verandah to be closed in to create an extra bedroom. Often the kitchen was a separate building for safety reasons – the use of wood burning stoves could lead to fires and these often started in the kitchen so if the worst happened at least only part of the house would be out of action.

Farming families were, to a large extent, self-sufficient in foodstuffs which were produced on the farm. Every farm had its orchard, killed its own meat, had plenty of milk which produced butter and cheese whilst potatoes, pumpkins and green vegetables were always available. Home cooking was the basis of cakes, puddings and biscuits and for a variation and enjoyable supplement fishing in the local river or off-shore was a practical pastime. In addition, prawning and oyster gathering was a family operation – no need to go to the fish market in those days.

Whilst the farming life in the area was dominated by the dairy herd – hand milking twice a day seven days a week, the milk which was turned into cheese was an important element for their financial stability. Cheese is still an important farming product all the way south from here to Bega and beyond whilst there was a Eurobodalla cheese factory to which most of the milk was sent. The Duncans at “Tyrone” had a small cheese factory of their own because of the size of their dairy herd. From wherever the cheese was produced, the bulk of it was sent to Sydney by coastal steamers.

But life was not all work and no play and like their contemporaries in rural surroundings in England, they made their own enjoyments in between farming and a fairly strict church-based upbringing. Not far away from the school at Eurobodalla was an old weatherboarded community church hall where many dances were held. Florence Duncan was a good pianist and provided the music for the dances on many occasions. Her husband to be often recalled some special event, such as a ball six miles away up in the hills at Nerrigundah when on the way home in the pony and trap they would wearily watch the sun come up as they neared home.

The Duncans were Presbyterians and the Bishops Methodists but as there were no church buildings services were held on Sundays in different homes with different denominations mixed together which led to a liberal-minded attitude to each others’ faiths. Sunday was the “Sabbath” and so only essential work was permitted but as well it was day for “visiting” and for lunching with others. It was not uncommon for 25 or 30 people to sit down to a massive roast Sunday dinner at Tyrone and Sunny Brae. Outdoor sports were limited for the young through the demands of the farming routines but tennis and cricket were played and show horses were always in training and riding was a natural pastime – they were born in the saddle to a large extent.

As the signs of the first World War grew clearer and nearer, the Bishop family began to outgrow “Sunny Brae” house and Arthur who had started courting Florrie early in his life saw a need for independence and branched out to become a cheese-maker. His cousin Harry Parberry, the eldest son of Henry Parbery who had eloped with Thalia had been brought to Australia from England as a baby. He had established a good reputation as a cheese-maker and had become the Manager of the Moruya cheese factory in 1898, a position he was to maintain for 43 years until his retirement in 1941, after which his son succeeded him. This cheesemaking venture in Moruya had grown out of the trend towards Co-operative production by local farmers so as to achieve greater economic viability. Here the Moruya Co-operative Dairy Factory was opened in November 1892 built at a cost of eight hundred pounds by the Ziegler Brothers. The land was given by Mr Harvison and work began with twelve farm suppliers and 500 gallons of milk. The modernity of the structure and its equipment were described in glowing terms in the “Moruya Examiner” and despite problems arising from its innovative nature it began to prosper. Towards the end of Harry Parbery’s management the milk supply had reached three thousand gallons a day – this reflected the change from general farming to a concentration on dairying.

Arthur learned his trade as a master cheese-maker in this factory at Moruya under the guidance of his cousin. In 1915 he returned to Eurobodalla to become its cheese-maker at the one-man factory. The factory had the advantage of providing a small tied house for Arthur.

During this year Arthur had proposed marriage to Florrie and the wedding took place on March 8th 1916 at “Tyrone” where the local Presbyterian minister conducted the service. This was very much a big event in Eurobadalla and saw the coming together of the Duncan and Bishop clans. The young couple travelled to Sydney and on to the Blue Mountains at Katoomba for the honeymoon. They returned to start their married life in the cheese-maker’s cottage.

But this year marked the effect which the War was to have on the family. Arthur’s brothers Ray and Harold were overseas and Florrie’s brother Harry was about to enlist. During July 1916, Ray at the age of 20 was killed near Armentieres and his last resting place was never established – he was interred in the new Military Cemetery in the section called “An unknown Australian soldier”. Ray saw little action before his death whereas his brother, Harold had been to Egypt and Gallipoli before seeing much action in France before his death in November that same year at Flers.

These two devoted young men were a part of the unseen army of sixty thousand Australians who never returned from their war-time journeys overseas.





Chapter 6 The Hay and Bishop families at Coolangatta 1889 -1946

During the interim period of the Estate between John Hay’s tenure as General Manager and his handing over to Major Alex Hay, his half-brother, the next generation of the Bishop family is making moves which will have an important effect on the situation later. But before we trace the history of the revival of the Estate from 1947, we need to go back in time to the last quarter of the 19th century and look at the interim years during which cousins of the Berrys managed the settlement. At the beginning of the 1880s and with half a lifetime effort behind him, David Berry had decided to appoint a General Estate Manager. His choice fell upon Mr John Hay who was about 40 years old and a cousin of David Berry.

John Hay was born on the Estate at Coolangatta but had been taken by his parents to New Zealand and was then subsequently educated at the school of Madras College in St Andrews. He made a number of return visits to Coolangatta and after assisting in the management and development of the Estate he inherited a third of it in the will of David Berry.

By the time Sir John Hay died in 1909 the cash flow problems were little better - through no fault of his own - and the problems now facing his successor were significant. The man upon whom the responsibility for the Estate now fell for the first four decades of the twentieth century was Major Alex Hay.

He, a half-brother of Sir John had been born in New Zealand at Parua in 1865 but had spent most of his life in the Shoalhaven environment.

He was always involved in military affairs and was always referred to locally as "The Major". In 1896 the No 2 Half Squadron of NSW Lancers was formed in Berry under the command of the, then, Captain Alex Hay. A photograph of Alex Hay in profile with a military-style moustache makes one understand why he was affectionately known as "The Major". He had an upright bearing and combined a disciplined approach to life with humanity and consideration for his fellow men.

The photograph which is reproduced here of the Tent peggers shows from l to r Troopers Devery, Dooley, Daley and Allen. Trooper Dooley was one of five members from the Berry Half Squadron who were selected to become part of the NSW contingent to attend Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London in 1897. During the parade Queen Victoria stopped in front of Trooper Dooley and asked him where he came from. “From Gerringong, Ma'am" was the reply. The Queen said "And where might that be Trooper ?". "Between Kiama and Nowra", replied the Trooper, adding quite innocently, "Everyone knows that Ma'am".

The following year there is a report in the South Coast Register of April 2nd 1898 which tells of the Berry Lancers being "the major military organisation in the district" . The members were planning to attend a nine day camp at Rookwood, near Homebush Bay for the Easter period.

Before leaving they had mustered at 10 p.m. for final orders before boarding the midnight train to Sydney. Earlier in the day they had taken part in a parade at the Berry Showground perfecting and demonstrating various army field movements and manoeuvres which included the lance exercise at which they excelled.

Captain Alex Hay is mentioned as being out of action through influenza so that the contingent was led by Lieutenant Osborne – a member of a well-known pioneering family at neighbouring Kangaroo Valley - to what was said to have been the largest concentration of men and horses ever witnessed at a camp in Australia at that time.

The Major, a very popular man in the district as remembered by many generations and descendants of families in the area today, commanded for some years this Berry Half Squadron of Lancers.

Alex Hay was thirty four at the outbreak of the First World War and had read widely in his youth of British military history and had spent a number of holidays on youth Army Camps but although he was very much involved in the Berry Military organisation and had rather modelled his manners along traditional Army lines, he was prevented from going to the Boer War through the necessity of taking on the management of The Coolangatta Estate on behalf of his half-brother Sir John Hay.

By this time Sir John Hay was about 60 and beginning to tire of managing the Estate and so he and his fellow Trustee, Dr Norton, persuaded Major Hay to take over the running of the Estate.

Alex Hay, once the decision had been made, threw himself into the task with enthusiasm and vigour. Despite the fact that he was now committed to the control and management of the Estate, his interest and enthusiasm for military activities continued as strongly as before and he was able to continue "playing at soldiers" through his Command of The Berry Lancers.

Sir John having delegated his Estate responsibilities to Alex Hay, now concentrated his efforts on the best disposal of the assets to meet the large bequests made by David Berry on behalf of his elder brother Alexander.

Alex Hay was a great believer in dairy herd testing and the need to upgrade and modernise the local milk industry so as to keep pace with competition from overseas.

He also wanted to raise the general of standard of education in the region and spent money freely in an attempt to found a local University. Whilst he may have failed in this project, later developments at Graham Park Campus may have benefited from his thinking on the subject.

He is reputed to have started the Junior Farmers Movement and gave substantial prizes to the Berry Agricultural Society for the encouragement of young farmer exhibits at their annual shows.

He was largely responsible for the establishment of the Berry Butter Factory -originally conducted by the Estate - but at his suggestion it became a co-operative in which all the tenants of the Estate were encouraged to buy shares and thus benefit themselves as shareholders rather than just being suppliers to the factory.

He made many visits overseas and after studying dairying methods in Canada, Denmark and England, on his return he urged the local farmers to adopt the scientific methods being used in Europe. During the 1890s many dairy farmers had been forced to give up their leases because of low prices for butter in the English market so they needed as much encouragement as possible to improve quality and efficiency.

With this in mind the Estate set up a large Creamery at Berry for the purpose of having all milk dealt with in a better-organised manner so as to ensure good grading of the cream before it was processed into butter. It was built under the control and supervision of the best Butter maker in the district and used the best of Denmark’s technology in this field in which that country was pre-eminent. After some years the quality of Australian butter equalled that of Denmark and Belgium. This was not before Alex Hay had to put over quite drastic ideas which went against traditional methods with regard to cattle breeds.

A select herd of imported pure bred dairy cattle bought from Europe were installed in the stud farm at Coolangatta and this marked the beginning of the change to Jerseys and Ayrshires from the native “buffalo” type descendants.

When the First Fleet arrived in the colony in 1788, the only cattle available were those taken out by the crew and soldiers on the ships. But during the stop-over at the Cape of Good Hope he ordered the purchase of cattle stock. The original breeds were something of a mixed bag but mainly from British breeds. After the arrival in Sydney more animals were shipped in from India and Madagascar – a number escaped from the Sydney are in the early days of settlement and founded their own cattle kibbutz near Camden in an area still called Cowpastures to this day. A number of prominent arrivals like Wentworth, Marsden and the Blaxlands were importing good stock from European mainland and the home country – this included Ayrshires, Devons, Jerseys, Durhams and Dutch cattle (the Holsteins and Friesians of today).

In the Illawarra south coast a breed called the Australian Illawarra Shorthorn developed with a foundation stock deriving from Devons, Shorthorns and Ayrshires – a dash of Dutch cattle from the Berry herds was also present. They were bred specifically for higher milk production and they were large animals, red and roan in colour.

In order to achieve improvements considerable culling based on milk quality was necessary and proved unpopular. But Alex Hay never wavered in going for his well thought-out objectives.

All milk suppliers were invited to have their milk individually tested at the Factory Laboratory with separate reports produced. Individual cows were also milked on successive days in their home farm stalls and the milk carefully recorded for quantity and quality. This was the first move towards giving the farmer an accurate knowledge of each of his cows measured by butter-fat percentage.

Given this information, culling of the weaker members could be carried out scientifically and the quality of the milk in the surrounding area increased remarkably with the passing of a year or two.

After the death of Sir John Hay on 26th February 1909, Alexander Hay along with D W Roxburgh became joint trustees of the Berry Estates.

He was able to vary the original David Berry bequest to the Berry Hospital so as to provide funding for a Stud Farm and an Experimental Farm both of which were approved by the Government and established at Berry.

Whilst Sir John comes across as a rather hard man in dealing with tenants - something of a change from David Berry - Alex Hay, on the other hand, seems to have reverted to the quieter style of David Berry and was able to persuade rather than demand.

This popularity seems to stem from a genuine interest in helping the dairy farmers in particular to try to improve the quality of their herds and their products and, secondly, from generally being a likeable, fair and quiet spoken person who had an aura of authority about him.

The advantages deriving from the draining and clean water schemes renewed the Estate at a time when it looked to be in decline and opened up the age of modernised butter making in the Shoalhaven. The water schemes were carried through by the Estate Engineer John Wright under the direction of Major Alex Hay.

Despite the strenuous work involved in organising the testing and improvements of dairy herds and pastures, the maintenance of the butter factory and milk condenseries, he still found time to support community societies in sport and pastimes.

He represented New England in the Federal Parliament and visited England, America and Canada several times on behalf of the Estate.

One another of his overseas trips he visited Denmark and looked into the methods adopted there for the pasteurisation and grading of cream and other improvements in butter production.

He was also responsible for the success of the National Agricultural Shows which were a feature of annual Berry events.

He became involved in the Queensland meat industry and bought into pastoral properties in the Northern State - these diversifications and investments probably diluted the financial strength of the Hay inheritance even further, but there is no doubting the goodness of his intentions.

George Hutchinson who is now in retirement at Shoalhaven Heads remembers Captain Hay as he then was before taking command of the Berry Lancers, as a very calm and straightforward person and says that although only a child at the time he took an instant liking to him.

He was good to all the estate workers and everyone liked him - George's grandfather was the Estate overseer and his father also worked on the estate and his mother enjoyed doing domestic work for some of his sisters.

The buildings were well maintained and they liked to be sure that there were adequate supplies of wood for the fires during the winter months - George was kept busy keeping the woodpiles at the right level.

The estate extended down to Culburra and beef and dairy cattle had to be driven down there from the main farm and, as there was no bridge across the creek at that time, they had to swim across. This was no easy task in certain weather conditions and losses of cattle through drowning were a regular occurrence.

Alex Hay had married Florence Burdekin in 1900 who came from a wealthy Sydney family lady and preferred her circle of acquaintances in Sydney to the less sophisticated rural scene. It was always said that The Burdekins owned most of Woolloomooloo and the name continues through The Burdekin Hotel in Darlinghurst, Burdekin House in Macquarie Street and the listed company of Burdekin Resources.

Their three children who were born between 1902 and 1914 were educated in Sydney and, Burdekin apart, were rarely seen in Shoalhaven.

Alex Hay is reminiscent of the old fashioned "gentry" of England between the two World Wars - they did not flaunt their wealth or position unlike the nouveau riche of today and thus lived in harmony with people of a different economic and social scale.

It was a benevolent fatherly approach which is often scoffed at nowadays but for those of us who have had any experience of it many would say it had great merit for its time and place.

Phillip Smith, a descendant of Guy Fawkes and the Faulks family who farmed at Coolangatta remembers the Major as a good friend to his family and a kindly person who was wont to go shooting quail across the Estate and leave some for the enjoyment of his tenants during these expeditions.

With the death of The Major in 1941, control of the Estate passed to his son Alexander Berry Hay who was always known locally as "Berry".

It seems that Berry Hay did not inherit directly from Major Hay after his death in 1941 but that control of the inheritance passed to his wife Florence ( the daughter of Sydney Burdekin) and that she made provisions from the estate in bits and pieces in the form of allowances for the children as she continued to live in Sydney.

Berry Hay was in no way an unattractive man - born in 1904 in Sydney, he had been well educated at an expensive private School on Sydney’s north shore situated very close to the land originally granted to Alexander Berry's partner Edward Wollstonecraft.

Berry's Bay as it is called today lay near the school grounds. Further to the west is Berry Island, above which was the vineyard known as Naboth's Vineyard and cultivated by Alexander Berry.

Berry Hay was a popular man amongst the more raffish Berry set and was a frequenter of the Berry Hotel - an appropriate haunt for a Berry as it stands on the site of the Inn which Alexander Berry is said to have constructed for his workers in 1863 and which was originally called the Broughton Creek Kangaroo Inn.

Locals, alive today, still have memories of Berry Hay coming home from a good session in town with his horse generally in charge of the wagon and taking him the right way home along Wharf Road across Broughton Creek to the road from Gerroa to Coolangatta.

One of his tricks which did not endear him to local hostelries was the habit of drawing a black cat on the blackboard when it came time for paying and saying that "I hope you have as much luck as that cat, Landlord"

It seems appropriately ironic that the almost the last of the Berry blood line to be directly involved with the Coolangatta Estate should carry the three family names of the founders and successors - Alexander Berry Hay. But , he seems to have had none of the drive and determination of his forbears nor any serious interest in improving the Estate.

After his second marriage to Elizabeth, however, desperate efforts were made to try to restore the health of the Estate. There was a renewed interest in growing tobacco during the Second World War and the leaf crop used to be dried in what was the Blacksmith's shop area. Tobacco was one of the first crops grown for shipment to Sydney by Alexander Berry a hundred years or more before and in those days it had gained a high reputation in comparison with imported leaf.

However, there are rumours of erratic behaviour by Berry and his wife Elizabeth little of which redounds to their credit, as, although Major Hay had inherited a much reduced Coolangatta Estate from Sir John, nevertheless he had worked with great enthusiasm to maintain and improve the overall set up.

In 1946, we reach the lowest point in the story of the Estate for an extensive fire started just before midnight on February 26th. The cause of the fire will never be known but it was certainly not accidental.

All local histories and newspaper reports are vague about the fire and it is often described as "malicious" and an "act of vandalism".

Whilst the local newspaper reported that Berry Hay, the son of Major Hay, was in Sydney at the time of the fire, this and the story that he was staying at a hotel in and drove down in haste to arrive at 3 a.m. on February 27th 1946 in order to see what could be saved was probably put about in deference to the general respect felt for the Berry/Hay dynasty.

Rather than driving in from Sydney, Berry is rumoured to have been watching the fire with glee from a vantage point high up on Brickies Hill and there are suggestions that far from trying to save any of the contents, others associated with Berry were doing their best to make sure that the list of items on which insurance claims could be made was as large as possible.

Berry Hay certainly knew that this fire would mark the end of the established order of the Alexander Berry settlement which had lasted through many changes for over a hundred years. After the fire, Berry Hay lost whatever intermittent interest he had had in the Coolangatta Homestead, moved out of the house across the road from the entrance called Coolangatta Park and left the district.

In 1946 there was every indication that the place would revert to nature and become just another grazing meadow with all trace of Alexander Berry and his work effaced.

Before we see how events unfurled from this time, we need to journey back twenty nine years to 1917 and the approach of end of the First World War. The grief and shadows of that conflict were still making their presence felt from afar, but a dawning of a new life for the Bishop family begins on 9th March 1917 with the birth of Gwen who becomes Alice’s first surviving grandchild. Florrie had travelled south to Cobargo for the birth – a town which sits at the inland apex of the “Golden triangle” of countryside formed with Bermagui and Tilba. And eighteen months later a second child, Bill was also delivered at Cobargo.

These two were to be the last born in the old family district and as the Armistice is signed in 1918, there are moves by both the Duncan and Bishop families to establish themselves in different parts of the South Coast.

Alice decided to sell up at “Sunny Brae” and move, with part of the family still at home, to Tilba Tilba on the coast about fourteen miles south of Eurobodalla. Here they leased a large dairy farm called “Mountain Valley” taking their own herd with them.

The Duncans were also on the move, but to the north with the parents finally retiring at Nowra. The property at “Tyrone” was not sold but leased to share farmers for a number of years until Jack, the youngest child, came back to it in 1930 to be the main share-farmer and ran it until it was sold in 1944.

The main line of our Coolangatta journey interest begins with the decision of Arthur and Florrie to buy a farm and make a permanent home at Coolangatta in the Shoalhaven. This decision was prompted by both agricultural, economic and social considerations. Eurobodalla in comparison with the Shoalhaven was isolated and rather enclosed. There was no sizeable population to support the whole milk trade and thus milk was limited to being processed for cheese and butter.

Whilst the Shoalhaven valley and alluvial plains would have looked very different in 1918 from the time a 100 years before when Berry and others had first explored the area, the basic quality of extensive river flats was the fertile foundation for successful dairying agricultural development before 1918 back to the pioneers and on to the present day.

Whilst the fertility of the land at Eurobadalla alongside the River Tuross would be comparable with Coolangatta, the Shoalhaven area had benefited from the work of Alexander and David Berry - the estate only having been broken up six years before - so that it now gave the opportunity to independent settlers, families and farmers to capitalise on those preparatory developments.

It had become the largest population and farm centre in Australia at this time.

The existence of a direct rail link to Sydney was very important for the financial health of farmers in the area – the line from Bomaderry and Berry to the capital enabled whole milk to be sent there as well as providing expanding markets for more varied crops. Conversely, supplies from Sydney were much easier to obtain. So, taking into account the agricultural and general economic considerations, the move made good sense.

But, in addition, there were probably social and family reasons for the move - for example, Florrie's younger brother was already married and living at Cambewarra, high enough inland to overlook Mt Coolangatta and be a point from which Pigeon House Mountain can be seen in good weather conditions – and the remainder of the Bishops all moved northwards to the Nowra area.

The choice of the position alongside Coolangatta was made because that was where they found a farm of a suitable economic size and at a price they could just afford. The price of four thousand pounds was lower for an acreage of 103 acres than land of equivalent quality on the westerly Nowra side of the Broughton Creek. The price was lower because of the difficulty of access caused by this waterway which flows from Berry to join the Shoalhaven River a few miles upstream from where it disgorges into the sea. Nowadays the Bolong Road over the new bridge makes the journey seem insignificant but the seven miles between there and Nowra and Bomaderry was a great disadvantage to the farm’s position. At the time of its purchase the only crossing was by a hand-operated ferry (called a punt) which could take one vehicle at a time. This inconvenience added to the time and cost of getting supplies in and out but the capital cost of the farm was right and so the next generation of Bishops started their lives together having journeyed north from Eurobodalla to Coolangatta.

The total purchase price of the farm and its stock and various implements came to £4024, six shillings and threepence and is recorded in an old notebook of Arthur Bishop as follows:-

“Purchased at Coolangatta
£ S D
37 cows @ £15 555 0 0
1 draught horse 15 0 0
12 cans 24 0 0
cart & harness 10 0 0
Plough 5 0 0
Harrow 4 0 0
3 buckets & strainer 18 0
Slide and 3 bars 3 0 0
2 backbands & chains 1 0 0
4 calves @ 2 8 0 0

Total purchase £4,024. 6. 3

It almost adjoined the boundaries of the original Berry settlement area and at the northern end the family could see the monument to the founding Scottish family which had been erected in 1894 at the behest of Sir John Hay.

The financing of the farm was to be a burden during the Depression years of the 1930s and it was many years before the couple, who must have had considerable confidence in their farming abilities, were able to pay off the Bank mortgage and call the farm their own.

The hundred acre farm was originally named Glenleigh by the earlier owners but it became changed to Coralholm later on and was roughly rectangular in shape and running on a north south axis. The southern boundary was the salt water Bevan Creek between them and Bevan Island with Berry’s Bay to the east which adjoins the Shoalhaven estuary which turns back on itself to flow through Alexander Berry’s original canal to the ocean. To the north lay the foothills of Mt Coolangatta lying in relation to the successors to Berry as they had to him a hundred years before.

One other disadvantage of the farm was that it was also split in two by the Bolong Road which made farm management more difficult and increased the cost of fencing. In addition two acres had been cut out of the site with a northerly frontage to the road for the construction of the local school and school house in 1863.

The original farmhouse was small and basic and rather run down so it was essential with an expanding family to plan for something bigger and better. But, for the first two years they concentrated on making the farm productive and the basis of their family life in the tradition of working farmers of the period.

Given that there was no electricity or mains water and that the outbuildings were in a dilapidated state, the tasks ahead must have seemed daunting. But, as in England, this was the age of buckling down to it and accepting the situation as it was and trying to improve it - without complaining.

As well as being run down, the old house was badly sited and subject to regular flooding as it was in a low-lying area close to the creek. Despite these inherent problems the Bishops lived there for the first three years. During this time, sudden floods would cause the house to be surrounded by deep water which emanated from the Camberrawa hills.

The need to build a house for the future and the family was evident and so Watty Graham the builder from Berry agreed to build it on the western side of the Bolong Road for a price of seven hundred pounds. It was then on slightly higher ground, nearer to the milking parlour and the farm buildings. Again it was a traditional timber-framed weatherboard house which, in its original design had three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry and plenty of verandah space. With a growing and active family, life was much less cramped for Arthur and Florrie. The building still stands today although it has been expanded and altered many times.

Despite the move of Coralholm across the road it still had the advantage for the family of being very close to the school. Coolangatta Public School was a one-teacher school with a tied residence. All six Bishops did their primary schooling here and one or more Bishop children were enrolled in the school for twenty one years beginning with Gwen's first year in 1922 and Jeff's last in 1942.

There was an avid interest in learning and a simple but effective co-operative approach with the older children helping the teacher like "prefects". The school was one large classroom with a blackboard and dais at one end with rows of desks. The first year pupils started at the front and in successive years moved back a row.

The school day started with an assembly at which the children stood and made their daily pledge with the Australian flag behind the teacher “I honour my God; I serve my King; I salute the flag.” Then the morning school session was under way until playtime for half an hour at 11.30. The activities were typical of playgrounds around the country and regardless of rules they enjoyed their marbles, cricket, rounders, football and made up games such as red rover and drop the handkerchief. Being nearby, the Bishop children usually walked home for lunch between 12.30 and 1.30 and hurried back for more games and serious study.

Periodically, school concerts would be held and these brought the Bishops into the first contact with Berry’s first settlement just a mile or two away. These would be held in the Homestead Hall which, at this time was owned and managed by Major Alex Hay who also arranged for social meetings for the local residents and tenants of the Estate. These were the days before the decline of the Estate in the 1940s.

Coolangatta school is no more as it was re-located in the centre of what is now Shoalhaven Heads two or three miles up the coast but the old school building teacher’s residence is still to be seen at Coolangatta although it is now a privately owned pottery and craft centre. The Bolong Road is a modern road with fast traffic speeding over the more leisurely sand and gravel road of seventy years before.

Colin Bishop was born in the "new" house in November 1921 and at that time there were four children under five in residence and from an early age the children started to help with the herd - their first task being that of "bailing up" - getting the cows into the milking parlour and securing them in their halters. When old enough or big enough, the children learned the art of hand milking which was hard on the hands and muscles at first but practice soon made it seem as though they had doing it since birth. Their days started with milking before breakfast followed by the walk to school and on the return in the afternoon there was another visit to the milking shed by which time they would be ready for their tea, after which homework was done on the kitchen table by the light of kerosene lamps.

It was a seven day a week routine, year in year out, with the only difference being that on Sundays there was a rest from work between milkings. This doesn't mean that there was no childhood fun but it was self-created with bicycle and horse riding, swimming in the creek and occasional visits to the beaches and surf at Seven Mile Beach. Increased and more regular church attendance at Nowra on Sundays increased as the motor car appeared whereas the eight mile journey by pony and trap made church visits intermittent.

During the first years on the farm it was not possible to market on the whole milk potential so milk was separated which left only the cream to be sold for butter manufacture. The skimmed milk left over was used to fatten the pigs. But once entry to the total market opened up it mean that year in year out farm production had to be managed with fodder conservation and silage production. A great deal of maize was grown for silage whilst hay came from lucerne and normal pasture. The first silage was made in a pit dug into the side of an earth bank near the milking parlour but for greater efficiency and quality of preserved green feed, a concrete silo was built 14 feet in diameter and 22 feet high. This was soon followed by another as demand increased.

Whilst the years leading up to the 1930s were hard going, the achievements were satisfactory and in line with the post-war economy which had been picking up steadily so that by they were able to buy their first car – an american Willey's "Overland". It was a basic open-sided tourer with a canvas roof and although it was nothing like the Holden Commodore of today it at least kept out the rain and speeded up travel, and increased social contacts with a number of their relatives who had also moved into the district.

!930 saw the family at full complement with five boys and one girl to feed, clothe and educate all from a hundred acres and although the mortgage payments were being met the great financial depression mean that the next decade would be far from easy.

By the Thirties conditions were improving and the first car was replaced with a Buick which, although second-hand was bigger and better and widened the family's horizons and their contacts with many relatives and friends in the farming community.

But no sooner had these brighter days dawned than the Depression started to settle like a dark cloud over the Bishops just as it did over the whole Western world.

The Bishops are growing up in a period when financial stringency was an inevitable part of life. There were now eight people living and surviving off 103 acres. Milk, cream and butter prices fell alarmingly but farmers probably managed better than city folk as they could to a certain extent live off the land - plenty of milk, meat and vegetables all from the farm and the farming community shared and bartered to the good of all. Provided the mortgage payments could be met each month, the farmer would survive. But survival depended on good husbandry and household management and this is what the family were good at. Those whose managing skills were good and practical in hard times were the survivors and the less disciplined went to the wall with farms being taken back by the Banks.

The lifestyle reflected the needs of the family - as by breakfast time two or three hours of work had been put in, this was a substantial meal and formed the basis of the day. It generally started with porridge made from rolled oats or maize meal - maize meal was one of Berry's changes for convict and employee rations . This was followed by a hot dish which consisted of fried eggs and a version of "bubble and squeak" with reheated vegetables so that nothing was wasted. A batch of hot scones would then appear accompanied by plenty of bread and butter, honey home-made jam and golden syrup. Toast was never made - just plain bread and butter.

The mid-day meal was a hot dinner. Meat and or fish were generally on the menu and a wide variety of vegetables accompanied it. The puddings were eagerly consumed and varied from rice pudding with raisins and custard, stewed fruit with jelly, junket, baked apples and quinces. steamed golden puddings and Mother's apple pie.

Evening meals reflected the seasons - in summer time it was generally a cold salad meal whereas in the winter it would be soup followed by pies, curries, corn on the cob and sometimes oysters from the local creek.

Water was always a precious commodity and generally scarce. The supply came from tanks for roof water - one of 1000 gallon capacity and made of iron and the other larger one of 2000 gallons made from concrete. This had to supply all the needs of washing, drinking, cooking and so water-saving attitudes were a way of life.

Every one in the family mucked in but the least attractive chore was that of attending to the outside dunny. Sewerage systems did not exist and the septic tank was years away. The simple one pan system dunny had to be emptied every two or three days and the deposits put into deep holes scattered around the farm.

After primary school Colin Bishop chose to travel by bike to Nowra High School and he helped himself by hitching a lift with the local milkman as far as Bomaderry in the morning but had to pedal all the way back in the afternoon.

A big step forward in communications was the construction of the bridge over Broughton Creek in 1935 which released Coolangatta from its previous isolation. Arthur Bishop had been a very active promoter of this bridge. So much so that at the opening ceremony performed by the local Member for the NSW Parliament, Harry Bate, the bridge was dedicated to "his good friend Arthur Bishop". Since that time the original timber bridge has been replaced by a more modern structure but the event was one of great significance which is hardly noticed by present day motorists streaming down the Bolong Road.

Another important change for the betterment of life occurred shortly after the building of the bridge. And that was arrival of electric power - today taken for granted but in those days a revolutionary step forward for the farming community in particular.

Milking machinery was installed thus cutting labour costs and the pain in the arms from hand milking - electric lighting made life more agreeable and electric motors started to reduce the hard hand labour from chaff cutting to corn grinding.

On the home front, the replacement of the old meat safe on the wall by the refrigerator was a real blessing in this warm climate and the world opened up as the wireless became more and more available even though it meant the exchange of accumulators at the local garage.

However, the reliability of electricity supply was subject to storms and other natural disasters as well as primitive transformer technology. The dreaded cry from Arthur that there's "another blackout" meant another session of hand milking until power was restored.

Life on a dairy farm is driven by the needs of the herd - caring for their condition, milking them twice a day and growing the feed to ensure their continuous milk production. The day would start at 5.30 in the morning with the morning milking finished before breakfast as the milk had to be ready for collection by the carrier to take it to the factory by 7.45. The remaining time before breakfast was used for cleaning utensils and equipment whilst the herd would be temporarily put out to a lucerne paddock during breakfast.

At 3.30 p.m. the herd would be back in for the second milking session with the milk being collected at five o'clock - again, before tea-time there was much cleaning to be done as well as replenishing the feed stalls.

The coolness of the winter slowed the growth of grass in the grazing areas so that this, the most economical way of feeding for milk production had to be supplemented by fodder conservation.

Hay making was the main activity in the summer between milkings. The system was based on having a paddock of lucerne which would be cut 3 or 4 times each season for hay. Normal pasture if it had a good content of clover could also be cut and saved for hay.

Hay making was very slow and labour intensive at this time. A two horse-drawn mower would cut the grass. It would be left to dry for a day or two and then with pitchforks turned into stooks. When properly cured it would be taken from the paddock to the wooden barn with a horse and cart. Two or three men in the paddock would pitch the hay on to the cart with a boy on top stacking and tramping it down.

Timing is of the essence in hay making for well-cured hay will keep for months and years whereas a rain storm can quickly bring all the best efforts to waste.

Compared with the effects on Britain, the Second World War here it was more at a distance although the call-up, rationing and disruption of the normal routine were the same.

As in the UK food production was vital for everyone's survival and Colin was now full-time supporting his father on the farm and gaining invaluable experience for the future at Coolangatta.

But, a new journey is about to begin when, this well-known young dairy farmer who had farmed with his father from the day he was born in 1921, Col Bishop buys his own farm on the Coolangatta Estate shortly after the end of the War, in 1947.










Chapter 7 - Father and son – the Estate Restorers and the Vineyard – 1947 –

But, fortunately, it is during this period that the present owner, Colin James Bishop makes his appearance on the Coolangatta Estate stage, even though with his family he had been waiting in the wings.

From his childhood in the 1920s, Col had been on the edge of the Coolangatta
Estate and watched its glory fading whilst it and the area which is now Shoalhaven Heads and originally called Jerry Bailey, became geographically more and more isolated as the towns of Nowra and Berry expanded and became the main service centres of the Shoalhaven District.

Shoalhaven Heads in the 1920s was home to two familes – the Hutchinsons and the Bolts. They provided the first camping sites which were mainly used by holidaymakers from Sydney and keen fishermen. These holiday areas were basic in comfort but were equipped with the essentials. Gradually, by word of mouth, more residents started to arrive and build small cottages but the impetus for a population explosion was brought about by the 1929 Depression as Sydney folk sought a cheaper way of life in the country for survival. The building of shacks and shanties was allowed by Council and the Lands Department for a yearly ground rent of £3. This resulted in shabby and uncontrolled development which was later partly tidied up. At the eastern end of the area land was sold off in blocks which resulted in a more orderly village development. But, looking at Shoalhaven Heads today one can see that “it just growed”.

Coolangatta at the mouth of the Shoalhaven River had developed its trade with Sydney by sea from the very beginning but now that there were road and rail links from Sydney to Berry and Bomaderry, it was by-passed as a main route. The railway line from Sydney had reached Bomaderry in 1893 and the first official train from Redfern arrived on June 2nd. Although, in 1885 Parliament had voted to extend the railway to Jervis Bay, this was never carried out, mainly because of the cost of bridging the Shoalhaven at West Nowra.

When Col started going to the local school in 1927 the area was becoming a neglected and forgotten outpost whilst the incumbent Manager, Major Alex Hay struggled to keep up appearances on the Estate. Fourteen years later after his death, the slide to oblivion accelerated.

The population of the Estate had dropped to a very low level compared with its heyday in the century before – now there were only three tenant farmers and their families – Alan and Harold Knox and Bill Evans. Bill milked his dairy cows in what used to be the old Plumbers’ Shop which has now been demolished. Other workers on the Estate were the Ryans, Hutchinsons, Rankins and Lloyds and now and again family members of Alex Hay would stay for varying periods.

Dairy farming was the mainstay of the area and all the work was hard and laborious with all chores done by hand. Single furrow ploughing with horses was normal.

Changes for the better in the district came after the first timber bridge was built across Broughton Creek on the Bolong Road just south of the school in 1935. The only obvious casualty was George Banks who had propelled the punt across the Creek for many years and was now redundant. By now motorised milk trucks were making the collection of milk from the outlying farms much quicker and easier. Ten gallon churns were transported from the farms to the processing factory at Bomaderry. There were three drivers in those days – Aubrey and Bert Elyard serviced the farms along Broughton Creek (Back Forest) and Toby Bevan those in Coolangatta. Later on Col used to drive for Toby when he was on holiday or playing cricket.

The installation of electric power changed life for the better on the dairy farms as milking machines took over from milking by hand and as tractors and mechanised farm machinery increased, so living standards improved. These improvements were allied to the general raising of herd testing standards and pasture improvements strongly promoted in the Berry area in particular by Major Alex Hay.

But whilst these general improvements gathered pace, the Estate continued to decline.

The fire of 1946 which was centred on the old Homestead made it unsafe and had to be demolished. The old Coach House in front of the Billiard Room had been allowed to fall into decay, and whilst Berry Hay, Alex’s son, was officially in charge of the Estate, his second wife, Elizabeth made the decisions whilst her husband was away.

Col was aware of all this on the borders of his property and in the forties asked her if she would consider selling the Plumber’s Shop which had the potential for conversion into a home. In the event, she offered to sell the Servants’ Quarters (now the Reception and guest room centre) in which she was living and which was right in the heart of the Village. The deal was done and Col now had his bridgehead in the centre of the Estate proper.

By now Col was married and the total population was down to two – except on the occasions when Miss Nona Hay, the aunt of Berry Hay, came to visit and stayed in the cottage adjoining the Servants Quarters. She loved coming at April when the weather was usually at its best. Widely travelled and cultivated, Miss Nona was upset at the shambles that the Estate had fallen into but had no power to do anything about it.

Elizabeth Berry Hay seemed to have a negative effect on all and sundry and in apparent financial desperation turned to any means of bringing in some income. So she started renting the buildings to a number of people and this increased the inhabitants to about thirty but this was not to last.

The demand for milk from the expanding population of Shoalhaven Heads was substantial and what is now the Hotel’s Restaurant kitchen was converted into a dairy from which a milk vending business was started. An adjoining 32 acre property was where the dairy cattle were grazed. But the Estate Blacksmith’s shop was gutted and a range of timber feed stalls constructed within for supplementary feeding of the herd. Alf Blighton and Ray Merridith ran this business and were encamped in what is now Berry’s Bar and Berry’s Room next to the Restaurant.

But the milk boom was not too last and within months the business foundered and most of the residents had either left or been removed. There was an attempt to breed white rabbits in the Stables in wire cages but this was short-lived also. So the circle was completed again with the population back to two and the new family.

Col and his wife continued to restore new accommodation adjoining their home and let it as holiday accommodation to many interesting people. Col could see that with the rapid changes taking place within the farming industry, an increase in the size of dairy farm holdings was essential for individual farmers if they were to survive, let alone succeed. The days of the small units were coming to an end. So it was that Col had eyes on the 32 acres which Elizabeth had inherited and he negotiated the purchase of this acreage from Elizabeth through the agency of Gordon Cook. Included in this purchase was free use of the Dairy so as to establish a milk quota but it meant the usual twenty hour day for Col in running two dairy herds for the next eight months. Col employed “Bloody” Bill Schofield to run the second dairy who was accommodated in the adjoining flat but was not usually at his best in the early mornings as he had become addicted to Col’s television ( the first in the district ). This meant that Col was often helping out to ensure that the milk carrier was not late in receiving his load.

This flat was also occupied by other farm workers as the farming business expanded. Amongst these was Freddy Grims of Dutch origin who had always wanted to work with Col’s cows. Although his family had returned to Holland Freddy stayed on and married a local girl.

By 1955 Berry Hay had left Elizabeth who regained control of what little was left of the Estate but by now Col Bishop was able to buy more property on the Estate through negotiations with Berry Hay’s Solicitor, Mark Morton and this included the Plumbers’ Shop, the Stables, Nona Hay’s Cottage and the Billiard Room.

Whilst Col was building up the dairying side the Hay era was declining further with the Bishop stewardship in the ascendant – the residue of the property was bought from Miss Lyons who after the death of Berry Hay In Western Australia became Executrix of the Estate. This included some acreage, the old Hall and adjoining rooms which were to become the centre of the Estate’s regeneration.

The purchase of the 278 acres in 1947 was for the Estate and for the Bishop family the turning point in our story of the journeys to Coolangatta on the way to today, and, therefore, 1947 is as significant a year in the history of the Estate as was 1822 when Berry first decided to build his homestead here.

This was the year in which Col made his first moves in reviving the Estate whose history had intrigued him for years. The position was superb and he had a vague vision of re-establishing the glory days and at the same time carving out a farming career for himself.

As we know, until about 1922 all the land formerly owned by Berry and the Hays covered the whole Shoalhaven district but by Col’s schooldays because of sub-division and sales there were only two farms left which were part of the Estate Village controlled by Major Hay. One lay to the south of the road and the other to the north where Reg Salway had been the last tenant farmer. This northern farm was bought by Col and it took in most of the southern face of the mountain and adjoined the northern boundary of his father’s farm called Coralholm.

Col felt that his best career prospects would be in farming (he had spent some time working as a carpenter which would be useful later) and so as the last remaining tenant farm was on the market, Col decided to buy a large part of this farm in 1947. The problem was that he had no capital of this size but the Rural Bank came to his rescue and advanced the whole sum taking the guarantee of his father as security. The interest rate at the time 4.75 %. The price was £4125.00 (almost the same price as his father had paid for 103 Glenleigh acres thirty years before) - equivalent to £14 an acre and included an old dairy. Col wanted the boundary to be changed so as to include an old run down house. Harry Stokes who had Power of Attorney at the time only agreed to this on the proviso that it be demolished or removed within twelve months of the purchase.

So Col soon demolished the house and carted the materials to Bomaderry where it was re-erected and sold to his brother Ray at Tanning Street in Nowra on a block of land which was owned by him. Ray subsequently moved from Sydney to establish the Bishops seed and fertiliser business which is still in existence and family run. This enterprise helped ease the mortgage situation for Col.

The next three years were spent in clearing away accumulated rubbish, wild blackberries and the lantana creeper. In their place Col attempted market gardening and planted catch crops of peas, bean, pumpkins and tomatoes. This was not a consistently successful venture and so he decided to restore the old dairy on the northern edge of the property and start dairying in earnest. The first step was to buy 10 milkers with a loan from his Mother of £400.00. Within a year, things looked brighter and the loan was repaid.

During the very early days, Col still lived at home in Coralholm and used his father’s tractors and equipment whilst in good farming family sharing traditions his father used part of the acreage to graze his cattle.

Col recalls mixed emotions once he had become the owner of this formerly famous property – there was a certain mount of pride in stepping into the shoes of Berry and his successors but he was faced with enormous tasks to fulfil if his vision were to be successful. Like Berry, 135 years, before he was to experience frustration with establishing his agricultural business. And then, when turning to a diversification, the dead hand of government bureaucracy and indecisiveness was to give him sleepless nights. But Col had in him a background of experience of difficulties as had Berry and this seems to have given impetus to his inherited determination to succeed and, again like Berry, he never despaired.

Whilst Berry has often been referred to as The Laird of Shoalhaven, Col refers to himself as “The Beast” because of his driving persistence which he thinks must have worried his children on many ocasions.

As a child he had attended Sunday School in the Hall and been to dances on the Estate and being on the fringes of the property and so had been aware of the gradual decline in its status.

Now there were just two people living and running the place whereas in its heyday it had been a village of six hundred souls and on which had been built the foundations of Shoalhaven City and the dairying industry.

Col and his wife started to bring up their family on a 20 hour a day operation. The buildings in which they based their accommodation consisted of the following:-

1 The Coachman’s quarters on the street frontage facing the stables and adjacent to the old Coach House
2 A storeroom centrally situated from where the rations were distributed to the workmen and their families.
3 To the west of this was an old Laundry and Housemaids’ room – a large building with a dilapidated tin roof which flapped in the slightest breeze
Col’s life became a routine of farm work in daylight hours, including milking the herd and building restoration at night – ultimately this resulted in a comfortable family home.

Because of the pressure and need to establish a home and keep afloat financially with the farm, plans at the back of Col’s mind to restore the Estate had to take second place at this period. The dairying had become very important, and time-consuming and the buildings seen as facilities and accommodation for the workers. The Cottage and flat were occupied by farming staff and the rest for storing equipment and forage. They were not pretty to look at but served their farming purposes well.

By 1960 when all the residue of the Estate of the estate including the stables, blacksmith’s shop, cottage, Billiard Room and probably most important of all, the Community Hall had been finally sold to Col by Miss Lyons, Berry Hay’s de facto wife of the later years, the Berry era had come to an end.

For the first time the property had been sold to an unrelated family of the original settler. But it was to be a Renaissance for the Estate with new visionaries with new concepts.

It was during this decade that a revival of interest in the past seemed to be stirring in Australia generally. One incident sparked new ideas for Col when a freelance photographer, Keith Chatto, asked for permission to film the “Historic Remains” with an eye to a television item. Col was rather sensitive about the look of the site and initially turned down the suggestion but after further discussion it was agreed that the filming should take place on condition that any filmed story would not be made public until full restoration, which was now under way, was complete.

Keith kept his agreed word and returned in 1972 to film again at the opening of the Motel by the Hon Tom Lewis. A short documentary film was produced which is available for visitor viewing called “Coolangatta – Living with History”.

It is an interesting period between 1960 and 1968 for these were the years when the next significant decisions were taken after much discussion and debate. It is much in character with Col’s background to have a combination of carefulness and inspiration and a feeling for the past and the future. It reminds me of Alexander Berry again who came from farming stock and broke out into something quite new in the same way that Col moved from a farming upbringing to move into the tourism, catering and the entertainment business. Probably the love of music and practical construction work combined well to produce this project.

Restoration year, or rather the start of restoration was 1968 and Col had, and needed, full family support in spite of his own inherited physical strength, endurance and being blessed with good health – his good sense of humour sustained him during some black periods. The first of these was when through delay and indecision the Council refused to consider in practical support terms the classification of Coolangatta as of historic value nor as a Museum. Two years had been wasted around this time with fruitless discussions with Councillors, the National Parks and Wildlife Services and with local Historical societies.

Out of all the advice offered, the suggestion of creating a holiday resort set-up with accommodation within the existing buildings seemed the most viable.

The old Metropole Hotel in Sydney was due for demolition and, having finally realised that no financial support would be forthcoming from any local council source, Col decided to take the plunge. He bought at the sale during two days enough materials and furniture to take up four lorry loads which were brought to Coolangatta and stored in the Hall and Billiard Room whilst discussions went as to how to finance and organise the project.

Col gives much credit to John Munro a rural bank valuer whose main job was to keep him on track with his bank commitments but who became enthused with the need for the restoration and over the next few years was of great help in sourcing extra funds when needed. The Council Chief Engineer and Town Planner, Gordon Craig had fought a hard fight to get funds for the venture, but although this did not succeed, he was personally supportive.

Now a decision had to be made on a suitable builder with flair and imagination to carry out the master plan which had been drawn up by John Fisher, head of a Sydney architectural practice. The plan received Council approval within a week which contrasts markedly with the delays over its being asked to contribute earlier.

Stewart Priddle of Berry was told of the project and plans and the problem was that a contract price could not be entertained as there were too many unknown factors involved. Stewart agreed to work in conjunction with Col with complete openness as only estimates of costs could be made. But with these estimates as near to reality as possible an approach to the bankers was required. Although the farming business was profitable and provided background financial stability, the bankers, understandably, could not believe that a motel in what was seen as a “remote area” would succeed.

After much discussion and refusal, Keith Angel, Col’s Bank Manager told him that the only way forward would be for him to raise half of the estimated cost privately and the Bank would contribute the other half.

With the assistance of his Accountant in Nowra, Tom Tait, this private money was raised within three weeks and this meant that the work could start. Col’s feeling of relief and pleasure after all the years of planning and effort was counterbalanced with a question in his head “What have I done”. But as the noise of construction started so these doubts disappeared.

For the next two years work continued under the supervision of Stewart Priddle but it was a financial close run thing for half way through the restoration work the Bank started to waver in its support based on the general financial climate existing at the time. Col took the bull by the horns and went to the Head Office to thrash things out. After much delay and excuses, Col finally gave them an ultimatum which succeeded by saying to Mr Williams who had impressed on him how busy the Bank Directors in Sydney were, “I too am a busy man and expect the Bank to honour its pledges. I am going home and I shall continue to write cheques up the amount agreed”. This he did and no cheques were ever dishonoured. Stewart Priddle knew nothing of this crisis until some time later.

Stewart Priddle was the son of a well-respected building firm in Berry and Col and he had played Rugby Football together – Stewart was fully involved in all the area’s activities and was asked by Col to build his first Herringbone Dairy and feed store. From there on his integrity, building skills and organising abilities ensured that he was the first choice for the project now underway.

The first deadline set was that for the wedding of Col’s niece on 10th December 1971 and arrangements were ready just in time with the bridegroom helping with the cleaning on the morning of the ceremony. The wedding guests were the first occupants of the ten motel rooms which were then available. The second deadline was to meet the re-opening date of the sesquicentenary of Berry’s arrival – June 23rd 1972.

On this day, the Coolangatta Estate and settlement was opened as a Motel by the Minister for Tourism. A good publicity effort was made to emphasise the fact that it was exactly 150 years since Berry had first decided on this spot for his settlement in the south. An enormous crowd attended and was probably larger than any seen here since David Berry’s funeral.

The usual problems associated with catering and accommodation and casual labour were experienced so that eventually the Restaurant management came back to the family which continues to this day. Greg’s involvement has been of the essence in the Motel’s success as we can now learn from the period up to today which has been a combined operation between father and son and other members of the family.
I came in early 1999 during an exceptionally wet vintage to talk to Greg about his journeys around Coolangatta and to look at the next and present generation’s involvement with the Berry Estate.

We sat in what used to be the Groomsmens’ Quarters next door to the Reception area which was attached to the old Servants’ Quarters which have been restored and converted into Hotel suites. The old Berry central Homestead site, later occupied by his brother and sisters, was destroyed by fire in 1946 and today, of that particular area. only the eastern wall of Berry’s bedroom stands. When this is finally restored the picture of the Estate will be much clearer.

Greg has followed the past family tradition of coming in to help before his educational wishes had been fulfilled. He would have liked to have followed a University course in Agronomy. But, at the age of seventeen after school at Bomaderry High and Scotts College at Bathurst beyond the Blue Mountains he found himself drawn into helping on the farm and the Estate which his father had spent twenty five years in rebuilding and renovating to a point where it was officially opened in 1972. This new beginning was as a Motel utilising the existing buildings.

Before that year the dairying side of the farm had continued and the three sons helped at week-ends with the milking. Greg says that although his interest in growing plants was strong, this interest was made even stronger by having to milk the cows at inflexible times. From an early age he had grown plants from seeds and cuttings and as he grew older he was always the one in charge of the family vegetable garden. He entered exhibits at local agricultural shows with considerable success.

With the Motel launched in 1972 he found himself in at the deep end, partly because family help was needed and because he wanted to learn “hands on” how to manage and run the hotel and tourist business which was now beginning to take shape.

By 1974 there were 25 rooms available for occupation – more than double the number at the opening in 1972.

At this time it was run as a basic Motel but, in many ways inconveniently spread out as the old Estate layout had been followed and left undisturbed. Dinners were only provided at the week-ends whilst during the week visitors could have a “TV dinner” delivered to their rooms or they would be directed to the local Bowling Club’s Restaurant at Shoalhaven Heads for something more grand. Although the initial work of restoration had been done, maintenance of these old structures was a serious drain on time and money.

Greg lived in the Servants’ Quarters before moving to a new house on the outskirts of the Estate so as to be able to convert these to office and reception areas.

Also 1974 saw a period of world recession arising out of the OPEC Middle East pricing problems and the increase in world inflation which was to haunt governments for years to come.

The family pitched in as in the past so as to keep outside labour to a minimum which strikingly contrasts with staffing levels of between 60 and 70. The cleaning, administration, cooking were family matters and it was a bit like a large sprawling Bed & Breakfast set-up with historical connections and beautiful country surroundings and the sea.

Greg says it was a Motel in those days which is now a word they want to get away from.

Between 1974 and 1988 there was no clearly defined marketing development plan as no outside financing was available and the Bishops had to be opportunistic and use profitable periods to the full. Depending on the cash flow situation, Greg and Col would get together and decide what to do next. General refurbishment was always important and then an extension to the Restaurant was started - the first extension was in the Barrel Room area which is now between the north entrance and the Conference area.

Here they started a small self-cook indoor barbecue grill which was run by one staff member so that the guest would come in and select his meat and take it to the grill where salads would be available. This introduction enabled them to open for food every night.

Whilst Col was in the States on a trip Greg decided to extend the Restaurant further – the two of them seemed to make a habit of starting something new and major whilst the other was away from the Estate. Col and his son Bruce returned to find an outside paved pergola area with a roof - when Col saw it he said “I’ve only got one complaint – you didn’t make it big enough”.

At about the same time they started providing for parties in the old pit where a whole pig would be barbecued and where they could cater for sixty or more people. Whilst Col was again away this was extended into what they called the Garden Restaurant which became extremely popular and meant that they could cater for nearly 150 people. This was the beginning of wedding receptions and other parties.

In those days the reputation and popularity developed from word of mouth referrals although they did some regular advertising in the NRMA hotel and tourist guide. The market has always been from Sydney – interest had grown to such an extent that by the mid-eighties they sometimes had accommodation booked nine months in advance.

They have maintained a homely family atmosphere in the accommodation quite deliberately and have gone for value for money. This creates a nice contrast between the sophistication of the Restaurant and the Conference rooms and the guest rooms. They could spend a fortune on completely modernising the accommodation but this would mean a leap in charges which would change the profile of their clientele and mean the sacrifice of the structure and shape of the original settlement.

The one thing which really boosted their cash flow position was the innovation of the Bush Banquets. Col happened to call in at The Journeyman Restaurant and Bistro at Berrima one evening on his way back from Sydney and was very impressed with The Goodtime Bush Band” who were in full swing. It was nearly Christmas and Col made a happy and profitable decision to book the band after taking the family and staff up to Berrima for a party and to discuss the possibility of a new venture. The Bush Band were booked to come to Coolangatta every Thursday night for a month during the Christmas summer holidays. So popular was the entertainment that it ran and ran for nearly eight years.

It was a big money-spinner – they took so much money through the till that Greg used to be embarrassed depositing it at the Bank. This was at a time before drink driving random breath testing came in – visitors would be four deep at the bar the whole night. This seven year period built up their capital so as to expand facilities - the Golf Course was laid out at this time and continues to be an attractive nine hole course on the lower and gently undulating slopes of Mount Coolangatta which appeals to all sorts and conditions of players.

Maintenance costs have always been a problem especially repairing and replacing roofs and the dispersed nature of the site creates administrative problems. Most resorts have the front office linked to the Restaurant but that is not the case at Coolangatta – however, despite the problems, they are so well diversified that when one department falters the others seem to take up the slack. At the present time the wines and the catering are in the van of progress and wine and the food are a winning combination.

In 1988 the Restaurant business was on the crest of the wave and the present day restaurant which can seat 300 was built in its commanding position with views across the Shoalhaven estuary and finished in 1989. This coincided with another recessionary period in Australia and, the Bishops, like many other businesses somewhat over-extended themselves and suffered some worrying times but, like the Bishops of earlier days. they always had the strength of the family to hold things together. They had to economise and cut services but they got through and living on the site became rather like living on the farm in the old days.

But the story is not over and one important piece of restoration still awaits financing and official approval – The Homestead and Berry’s bedroom and living quarters between reception and the restaurant. Paul Bishop, Col’s architect son prepared a plan for the restoration and submitted it to Council for approval mid 1985 – the basis of the plan was a spacious reception area and a further seven en suite hotel rooms. This was when the Heritage Council became involved and at a first meeting it seemed that this body would be good supporters. Their recommendation which was followed was to apply for an excavation permit for the Homestead site. In February the application was refused and to add insult to injury an Interim Conservation Order was placed on the whole village for a period of two years.

The journeys to the Coolangatta Estate Vineyards start from many parts of the world and beam in on the seven hectares first planted here in 1988 by Col Bishop’s eldest son Greg and celebrating the year of Australia’s founding.

I first saw a vintage in February of 1998 just after sunrise before the heat of the day had started to build up. About 30 busy pickers were moving relentlessly between the rows filling their plastic buckets with Chambourcin grapes, tracked in their progress by Col Bishop on his beloved tractor gathering the fruit into the mouth of the hydraulic shovel which was then emptied into waiting lorries. The lorries once filled and the drivers having had their breakfasts, the grapes then went on their last journey to the wine presses and vats of Tyrrells in the Hunter Valley some 360 kilometres up the coast to the north.

As there is now a vineyard on the Coolangatta Estate we will start our journey by taking a look at part of the history of vines in Australia and how Alexander Berry had an influence at the beginning of wine culture in Australia and the Bishops at this end of this historic voyage.

As there are no longer any vineyards nearer the centre of Sydney than Penrith – a drive of nearly an hour to the west – or Camden to the south west, few people think of Sydney as the true birth and nurturing place of the Australian wine industry. There were vines as cargo on ships of the First Fleet under Governor Phillip’s command obtained from the Cape en route to Botany Bay and within weeks of the arrival in January 1788, the first efforts at farming took place on what is now the site of the Inter Continental Hotel on the north facing corner slopes overlooking the harbour. This was next to the Governor’s tent. The ground was thin, sandy and poor but it was here on the Governor’s plot that the first vines were planted. Judge Advocate Collins records that “………ground having been prepared near His Excellency’s house on the east side, the plants from Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope were safely brought on shore…….we soon had the satisfaction of seeing the grape, the fig, the orange, the pear and the apple, the delicious fruits of the Old taking root and establishing themselves in our New World”.

A further journal entry describes the growth of vegetables and fruit including cauliflowers and melons as thriving and “…….the orange trees flourish and the fig trees and vines are improving still more rapidly. In a climate so favourable, the cultivation of the vine may doubtless be carried to any degree of perfection; and should no other articles of commerce divert the attention of the settlers from this part, the wines of New South Wales may perhaps here after be sought with civility and become an indispensable part of the luxury of European tables”. These were indeed optimistic thoughts but a remarkable and accurate prediction for the development of the great Australian wine industry as it is today.

Whilst Australian wine growers developed a good family tradition they were more influenced by climate than soil, in contrast to the French and have always been uninhibited in experimentation. As for climate, all the best vineyards are between the four latitudes of 34 and 38 with Melbourne at the former and Adelaide and the Sydney region at the latter.

Five years later in the Sydney Gazette there appeared an article translated from the French called “Method of Preparing a Piece of Land for the Purpose of Forming a Vineyard”.

By the early 1830s, when the Hunter Valley saw the start of their wine growing activities, there were at least 25 vineyards in various stages of development ranging from Campbell’s Farm at Mona Vale on the Northern Beaches, through to Castle Hill, Penrith, Cabramatta, Parramatta and Camden.

The growth of suburban development across Sydney has destroyed these early vineyards but we should never forget where the wine initiative was born and nurtured and the names of Alexander Berry and James Busby are linked in this.

James Busby, another Scot with vision, was born in Edinburgh in 1801 and came to Australia with his family at the age of 22. He had shown an interest in viticulture at an early age and once he learned that his father had decided to emigrate to Australia he spent four months in the South of France observing and studying viticulture and wine making processes. He had in mind to turn that acquired knowledge and experience to his advantage when established in the Colony of New South Wales. His determination to make good is shown by the fact that during the long sea voyage of five months in the Triton that he wrote his “Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and the Art of Making a Wine” which was published in Sydney in 1825 – the first print of the Colonial Press.

The Busby father and son followed different careers and although both were involved with liquids his father looked after water and his son the wine. John Busby, the father, had emigrated with his family to take up an appointment as Engineer and Mineral Surveyor in the Colony. He was in charge of building the foundations for Sydney’s first good drinking water supply system – it was to become known as Busby’s Bore.

Whilst his father was preoccupied with this project, James Busby had been appointed as a teacher at the Cabramatta Orphanage which looked after nearly 500 boys. By 1825 Busby was in charge of the Orphanage farm and brought his wine-making knowledge in to full play by specialising in the teaching of viticulture. This brought him a salary of “a hundred pounds per annum and one third of the whole increase and produce of the farm”.

This was encouraging for Busby and a justification of his studies but the Trustees of the Church and School Corporation who took over control of the Orphanage in 1826 saw this in a different light. A year later after he had selected a good site at Bull’s Hill and planted a small vineyard close to the Cabramatta Creek and on the present day site of the Orange Grove Golf Club, the Trustees decided that Busby’s terms of remuneration were far too generous and removed him from his position in 1827.

Nevertheless the work he had started was not wasted for, as he recalls in a letter to Alexander Berry in 1870, “excellent wine was made by my successor Commander Sadler RN” which he tasted in 1830. The Commander gave him a small cask of this wine which he took to London in 1831. There he had it bottled “and distributed it amongst various parties who took an interest in the Colony – by all of whom it was highly approved.”

So in 1831, nearly a hundred and seventy years ago, we see the first export of Australian wine to England in a small cask – this has now turned into a flood of wine exports of high and ever increasing quality world-wide. The birth of the new vineyard at Shoalhaven in 1988 – a journey in time of 160 years – is a new descendant of the early family of Australian vintners.

Busby’s career suffered from bad luck rather than incompetence – he was appointed to the Inland Revue and the Land Board but was abruptly dismissed not long after. He had continued to research wine making and in 1830 published “A Manual of Plain Directions for Planting and Cultivating Vineyards and for making Wine in New South Wales”.

He then sailed for England in order to appeal to the Secretary of State Lord Goderich against the unfair treatment he had received in the Colony. This resulted in his appointment as the first British Resident in New Zealand where he found himself in a very weak position which was attacked from all sides.


“Naboth had a vineyard” and lost it. And so did Berry who named his land under vines as Naboth’s Vineyard. This was on the north shore of Sydney near Berry’s Bay and was exchanged with the Government for development land after the Hospital Bill was passed so that the David Berry Hospital could be managed in perpetuity without dependence on individual owners.

In the mid-nineteenth century there were ten vineyards in the inner Sydney area stretching from Vaucluse south of the Parramatta to Mona Vale and Lovett Bay. To the more open west and south west of Sydney there were at least another twenty in a triangular area bounded by Parramatta, Penrith, Camden and Liverpool.

Today all the inner Sydney vineyards have disappeared leaving only six on the western outskirts from Richmond to Camden.

Berry's interest in agriculture and his remarkable agricultural experiments developments at Shoalhaven naturally included grape production although we have no clear record of wine being traded. As a founding member of the Agricultural Society he had access to the best plants in the Colony for propagation and this included vines for Naboth’s Vineyard.
Before going to Europe in 1988, Greg Bishop put in two acres of Sauvignon Blanc vine stock just above the present Golf Course. One reason for starting vines was because of the availability of the vacant dairy farm site which was now overgrown with blackberries, and the second Greg’s interest in agronomy was still strong and thirdly they could envisage this as an adjunct to tourism.

The “hobby” aspect was a very strong influence for Greg remembers very well at the age of four becoming interested in grapes. He recalls his uncle’s house at East Nowra where the pergola by the garage was covered by a grape vine. He became fascinated with this particular vine and used to sit there picking and eating the grapes and admiring its growth and beauty.

The first vineyard was "babied" to an extreme – not a weed in sight and someone would be there every second day tying vines. Within eighteen months they had the vines established up the wires with arms outstretched ready for the first crop. The weight of grapes was two and a half tons from that little vineyard – the quality was doubtful and it was wet year. Greg had over-dosed with nitrogen so that the skins were very thin. The yield was taken to Tyrrells in the back of an old farm truck – the crates for the grapes were made from plywood and lined with plastic sheet but the movement of the truck caused the nails to pierce the plastic and not long after leaving Coolangatta, the juice started to leak away and it was running into the Sydney roadside gutters as they drove through. A quarter of the juice was lost before they arrived at their destination.

Murray Tyrrell met the truck and said “What the hell have you got here ?” – called for someone with brains. Then Spin arrives – the chief winemaker who has remained an exceptionally loyal and helpful person and become a close friend.

1990 marks their first vintage only two years after planting.

Chardonnay was planted in 1989 behind the Blacksmith’s Shop and on the Mountain slope called Falcon Crest which was cropped in 1991. It was an exceptional year – good early rain followed by hot and dry weather for weeks. Irrigation had been put in and although it was not a huge yield its quality was very high and was called the Alexander Berry Chardonnay. It achieved a Gold Medal at the National Wine Show and this indicated that they were justified in their initiative and had the potential to be in the front rank of wine quality. Although the 1990 Sauvignon was fairly ordinary the 1991 Chardonnay was exceptional and rated by Spin as the equal of the best coming from the Hunter Valley.

They then became over-confident and had started to plan to plant a hectare each year. 1992 brought them back to earth with a bump. This was a very wet year and their over-enthusiastic vine culture now bit the hand that fed it. They had been feeding their vines so much that they were far too vigorous and lush. Too much growth means the vine is out of balance and too much leaf shaded the bunches of fruit from the sunshine.

Greg had been up to Cassegrain in the Hastings Valley to get some advice on these problems and through them he heard of Richard Smart who had been one of the main advisers at Cassegrain. He was invited to Coolangatta which was to be the beginning of an essential relationship. He arrived in 1992 and his first recommendation was to pull out every other one vine – a terrible shock to Greg’s system.

The trellises were then converted to stop ended ones so that the grader could follow the tractor between the rows and push the good soil to the roots of the vine and at the same time create better drainage. This had the added advantage that the tractors could get on to the ground quickly even after very heavy rain and spraying was not delayed at crucial periods of infestation.

Richard Smart saved the day by his powers of observation and analysis on the ground – he could see deficiencies in the vine or the soil and Greg carried a tape recorder so that he didn’t miss any comment. This method is now used by Richard himself when visiting other vineyards. The combination of Tyrrells and Dr Smart had the greatest influence in wine growing for the Shoalhaven.

He is an expert in growing grapes in a wet climate – he also does not believe that soil is the criterion.

It seems to be the question of balance – you need to know when the leaf area to fruit ratio is correct. Good viticulture means that by the time the fruit starts to ripen and goes into raisin you want the shoot tips to stop growing so that all the energy goes into the bunches of fruit. When Greg said that Richard made them pull out every second plant, the objective was to bring the vines into balance. Smart is a promoter of the big vine theory so that in a standard Hunter Valley vineyard ( a summer rainfall area ) you have two standard poles and wires with one main vine attended, as it were by two shorter ones. This prevents a mass of leaves creating humidity and causing rot. The big vine can have its buds spaced out and the two attendant vines get their bunches hanging in little “windows”. Eight wires are on the Coolangatta trellises which is a variation on the Hunter system – it works because it gives vital ventilation.

Ventilation apart, Dr Smart’s book called “Sunlight into Wine” emphasises that when the sun can actually focus on the majority of bunches and leaves, it will aid all the quality processes for the living vine. Better sugar, acid and colour levels – it is a productive way of cultivation as the quantity as well as the quality is increased markedly.

Shoots must not be shaded otherwise they just produce leaves and not the fruit which is to be the following season’s crop. Without this advice they would be in the doldrums and, at best, they might have gone under completely or have achieved one good year in four.

They have had their work cut out this year because of the exceptional summer rainfall – three times the normal average – the yield is down but the Chambourcin in particular is the best they have picked. Semillon not as good as last year and the Chardonnay is a worry but their move in to Methode Champenoise looks very promising.

There are rose bushes at the end of each row and is the most asked questions at the Estate. Now it’s aesthetic and a bit of a gimmick but in the old days they were planted to monitor fungal diseases – different mildews and powdery blight – as they are so susceptible to the first signs of blight. Disease always hits the sensitive roses first and so by watching them each day, they would know when to start spraying sulphur.

Greg continues to experiment and run trials with different species every year and different methods and as they have plenty of space they can expand their volume. But, from their present annual 55 tons of fruit they are able to supply most needs at the present time.

The Cellar Door sales is based on the Caves of France – wine tourism is the way ahead for them. The two unique features are the history (AB) and the way the wine integrates into the history. Good for Coolangatta Estate and good for the region and district – with a new emerging wine region it acts as a catalyst to develop tourism and the local council here are now encouraging their efforts. The area is beginning to compete with the Hunter valley and although there is not the same volume and number of vineyards there are many more attractions in the hinterland – fishing, touring through the Morton National Park and sightseeing at Kangaroo Valley. All, and more, and a little more than two hours drive from Sydney.

The Coolangatta Estate wines are not blended – just like the wines of the Loire – and so variations of the vintages year on year adds an extra charm and mystique to the boutique wine producers.

This is business horizontal integration with farming roots and there is now good local interest and support to add to the regular visitors from Sydney. The Conferences business has grown enormously – last year they provided for 77.

Greg’s objective from the beginning was to convince the locals that they had a good product. Ninety five percent of the wines sold in the restaurant are their own which means that the locals are buying as well - the locals take their visitors from overseas or Sydney and show them a new wine industry plus the history of the settlement.













Chapter 8 - Present day Coolangatta

Alexander Berry and Colin Bishop although distant from each other in time, origins and background resemble each other markedly in many aspects. Both came from farming families with inherited doggedness to create successful ventures in unpromising circumstances. Very few people had any confidence in Berry’s ability to build a promising settlement in Coolangatta in 1822 as, although there were areas of fertile land available this was subject to flooding and much of the rest was swampy. Add to that the lack of communications between the Shoalhaven and the main market in Sydney, except by sea, then Berry’s achievements, with the assistance of his brothers and sisters, by the end of his life is remarkable. The cattle we see today grazing in the local farmers’ fields are descendants of the import of quality cattle which Berry initiated, and which was continued by Major Alex Hay in the 20th century, so that he is the “father” of the dairying industry in New South Wales. Berry started from scratch on the site below the mountain of Collangatta whereas Colin Bishop bought the original 300 acres of the homestead area which was in a ruinous and dilapidated condition after the fire of February 1946.

Both had visions of developing a beautiful but inhospitable situation into a viable business and in spite of the frustrations of bureaucracy and lack of official support both pressed on regardless and achieved successful goals.

Both men created a “village” as opposed to an agricultural operation. At its zenith, Berry’s village had as many as 300 people working in the area, not including tenant farmers, but over the years it declined to a population of just 2 when Colin Bishop bought his acreage. At the present time, the Bishop Estate gives employment to a hundred people, full-time, part-time and seasonal, and that does not include the suppliers to the enterprise.

All this has developed since the re-opening of the site in 1972 but nothing stands still in the Bishops’ Coolangatta Village today any more than it did in Berry’s time there. The present family management are forever looking to improve and expand their Hotel/Motel/Restaurant business so as to adapt to changing modern demand and lead the way in innovation.

It is a happy coincidence that Berry chose a site which was to be within twenty four hours reach of Sydney by boat for the export of his produce for this in modern motor travel equates to about two hours which means that Sydneysiders have this area more or less on their doorstep.

So, by modernising and enlarging the layout and accommodation the Bishops are able to count on regular conferences and weddings both large and small There are now 35 hotel rooms with the accompanying facilities of golf, tennis, swimming croquet and games rooms. The Restaurant seats 100 and when combined with the reception area and breakfast room and bar can accommodate 300 or more people for major functions. In addition the Great Hall is now a Banquet Room which can seat 140 and is the scene on Saturday nights of Mr Berry’s Banquet which is described “as a nostalgic night of entertainment with bush dancing, old time dancing, singalongs, variety and rock and roll”.

The Bishops have followed French tradition with their Cellar Door wine and cheese tastings and sales along with Regional produce and cuisine linked to Estate produced wines in the dining areas – this is Wine Tourism in comprehensive form. Produce comes from Milton for meat, fish from Wollongong Seaview Fish market, oysters from Jim Wild’s beds at Greenwell Point, fruits from Kangaroo Valley and cheeses from Nowra, Tilba and Bodalla.

Within the last eighteen months the area abutting the Cellar Door has been cleared so as to give good views of the Pacific and surrounding landscape and on which has been established the James Busby Luncheon Marquee (in honour of Berry’s lifelong friend) which complements the Cellar Door Café and Alexander’s Restaurant. This area provides an excellent venue for regular Jazz Concerts, holiday celebrations and Open Days.

All these up to date activities have not been allowed to disturb the original layout of Berry’s settlement and Homestead although new accommodation has been built there still remain nine of the original buildings. These include The Cottage which was originally the home to the daughters of the Hay family who inherited the Estate from Berry and is now six resort rooms following restoration and modernisation:

Convict Cottage has also been restored and is a free-standing resort suite and its design which was typical of many of the convict cottages scattered around the village has been carefully preserved as it is probably the only surviving one of its kind in the district and The Stables which have been converted to six rooms and originally stabled many notable horses like “Jack”, the mare “Sellem” and “Jerry Bailey”.

Also in hotel use today are the Billiard Room and the neighbouring Surveyor’s Rooms, The Servants and Groomsmen’s Quarters and six more stables, The Harness Room, Blacksmith’s Shop, Plumber’s Shop and the Community Hall.

The last restoration effort for the time being is now being planned after much thought and that is the remains of Alexander Berry’s bedroom, fireplace and accommodation which was almost destroyed by fire in 1946. Colin Bishop plans to build around the original a new Reception and Office Administration complex with more resort rooms. This would make the task of administration easier and more efficient for staff and guest alike and give contiguousnes to the shape of the original site.

And so the journeys to Coolangatta are nearly at an end but inevitably the questions of what Alexander Berry would think of his Estate today come to mind as well as why his name and achievements have not been properly celebrated in Scotland nor in Australia.

What would Alexander Berry think of the Coolangatta Historic Village today ? One feature is still unchanged and unchanging – Mount Coolangatta. This brooding mountain just under 1000 feet in height has been watching over the scene from time immemorial so that our two hundred year travels are small in comparison. Its tree covered slopes look very different from varying view points. Seen from the Kingsford Smith memorial Gerroa on the northern edge of Seven Mile Beach it has that flattened conical “sugar loaf” shape.

When viewed from where Berry landed at the sandy bar of the River Shoalhaven, it has a much sharper and peak-like shape as it lords it over the settlement and the developments at Shoalhaven Heads. Wherever you travel around the original hundred square miles of the Berry territory, be it from Gerroa to the north or out past Terara, Numbaa and Jindiandy to the south, one is always conscious of the benign sight and influence of this central feature. We can get a good idea of how Berry saw Coolangatta from his boat The Blanche in 1822 by standing at the eastern extremity of Black Point at Gerroa.


If Berry came by sea today from Sydney he would certainly dislike the unplanned sprawl of camping and housing developments at the southern end of Seven Mile Beach but approaching his old Homestead along the Bolong Road in the lee of the mountain he would certainly approve of the sight of the well-laid out golf course, which would remind him of St Andrews in miniature, sloping down to the north, and the vineyards which stretch from the higher ridges to the edge of the road.

He would delight I think in the three flags welcoming visitors from far and wide – The Flag of Australia, the Union Flag of Great Britain and the Saltire of St Andrews and I have little doubt that he would approve of the changes and achievements of his present day successor Colin Bishop and his family.

He was also a very long-serving and outspoken Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales but on retirement to North Sydney he became rather reclusive and kept to an intimate circle of intellectual acquaintances. This may explain a lack of recognition in his lifetime and beyond and also perhaps that his wealth did not become distributed until sixteen years after his death in 1889 through the will of his brother David. He also made this comment in one of his letters “Neither must you imagine that the people of New South Wales are thankful to the town of Cupar for giving me as an Australian Colonist – I have told you how they pitied me and condoled with me for taking Shoalhaven – but when they found that I did not ruin myself but was to a certain extent successful – they began to envy me and abuse me for obtaining so much land.”

However, as can be seen in the description in the Appendix of the Legacy at St Andrews it came at a time when the University was at a low ebb in its Finances and many Professors and others benefited enormously from this huge bequest. It founded the Chair of English Literature and has benefits to this day in the form of endowments and University support.

Therefore, it seems the more strange that Alexander Berry is not recognised in his Alma Mater except in the Minutes of the Senate and University Court. After 127 years since his death, it now seems appropriate for the University Senate to consider some posthumous recognition of the University’s greatest Benefactor since Bishop Kennedy founded the University in 1411. A position in the annual Kate Kennedy Procession which heralds Springtime would be the best way to commemorate this remarkable former student.

I feel sure that his represented figure should be seen walking the streets of St Andrews once again after an absence since his first student year just over 200 years ago in 1796.

As an Englishman educated at St Andrews I have tried to draw out the journeys of two men and their families who all have Scottish blood in their veins and so I leave this quotation from another Englishman, Edward Topham in 1775 to sum up the Scottish influence:-

“Go into whatever country you will, you will always find Scotchmen. They penetrate into every climate: you meet them in all the various departments of travellers, soldiers, merchants, adventurers, domestics. Consult the history of their own nation from the earliest period, and that of other nations, and you will find that if any dangerous and difficult enterprise has been undertaken, any uncommon proofs given of patience or activity, any new countries visited and improved, that a Scotchman has borne some share in the performance”

Appendices
The grant of Land to Berry and Wollstonecraft by Sir Thomas Brisbane

By His Excellency, Sir Thomas Brisbane, KCMB, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over His Majesty's Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whereas by His Majesty's Commission, bearing Date, the Third Day of February, in the second year of his Reign, His Majesty did give and grant unto me full Power and Authority to agree for such Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, as should be in His Majesty's Power to dispose of; and them, to grant to any Person or Persons upon such Terms, and under such moderate Quit-Rents, Services and Acknowledgements, to be thereupon reserved to His Majesty, according to such Instructions as should be given to me, under His Sign Manual, which said Grants were to pass, and be Sealed by His Majesty's Seal of His said Territories and Dependencies and being entered upon He and Such Officers of His as I should appoint thereunto, should be good and effectual in Law against His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors. AND WHEREAS by His Majesty's Instructions to me, under his Sign Manual, bearing Date the Fifth Day of February, in the Year of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-one and in the Second Year of his Reign,I am restricted from granting more than One Hundred and Thirty Acres of Land to each Free Settlers____________Twenty Acres more in Case he shall be married, and Ten Acres for every Child who may be with him at the Settlement at the Time of making such Grant, without the approbation of His Majesty.
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that I, the said SIR THOMAS BRISBANE, in Pursuance of the Power and Authority so given and granted unto me as aforesaid, have Given and Granted, and by these Presents do Give and Grant, unto Alexander Berry & Edwd Wollstonecraft their Heirs and Assigns, all those Ten Thousand ----------Acres of Land situate, lying and being in the County of Camden and District of Coollomgatta (exclusive of Rocks and Swamps) Bounded on the East by a line bearing South Three Hundred and ten.......(Chains) to the Shoal Haven River, commencing from a point arising from a line drawn West from the extreme South East point of ..............................
.............................................................
saving and reserving to His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, such Timber as may be growing, or to grow hereafter, upon the said Land, which may be deemed fit for Naval Purposes; also such Parts of the said Land as are now, or shall be hereafter, be required, by the proper Officer of His Majesty's Government, for a Highway or Highways. To have and to hold the said Land hereby granted to the said Alexander Berry & Edward Wollstonecraft their Heirs and Assigns, for ever; free from all Taxes, Quit-Rents, Services, and Acknowledgements whatsoever, for the Period of Five Years from the Date of these Presents; but from and after the Expiration of the said Term or Time, yielding and paying therefore to His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, the Quit-Rent or Sum of Ten Poundsof lawful Sterling Money, yearly, and every Year for ever; Provided always, and it is hereby expressly stipulated , that so much of the aforesaid Ten Thousand Acres of Land hereby granted, as exceeds the Quantity I am enabled to Grant to the said Alexander Berry & Edward Wollstonecraft under the before-recited Instructions, is to be considered as granted subject to the Approbation of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors; And Provided always, and it is hereby expressly stipulated, that the said Alexander Berry & Edward Wollstonecraft and their Heirs, shall in no Wise, either directly or indirectly, sell, aliene, assign, transfer, or set over the said Land hereby granted, or any Part or Parcel thereof, within the said Term of Five years; and Provided always, that the said Alexander Berry & Edward Wollstonecraft their Heirs, and Assigns, shall use their best Endeavours to procure to be assigned to their Service, by the proper Officer of His Majesty's Government to be employed exclusively on the Land hereto granted One Hundred Life transported Convicts, whom the said Alexander Berry & Edward Wollstonecraft their Heirs and Assigns, shall until the Remission of their respective Terms of Transportation, duly victual and clothe, agreeably to the Government Regulations for the Time-Being; and shall (if required) execute a Bond to the said Officers of Government for such due Employing, Victualling, and Clothing; Otherwise the Whole of the said Land hereby granted shall become forfeit and escheat to His Majesty , His Heirs and Successors, and those Presents shall be held and deemed null and void.
In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my Hand, and the Seal of the Territory, at Sydney, in New South Wales, this thritieth Day of June in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and twenty five
Signed and Sealed in our Presence
Rob Crawford Signed Thos Brisbane
Wm Elyard Fresen















St Andrews University and the Berry Legacy
Alexander Berry died 17th September 1873 aged 92 and David Berry on 23rd December 1889 aged 94. There were 3 wills in all dated 1875, 76 and 89. After the 1876 will was made, a codicil was added but the final testament was signed and dated the day David Berry died in the presence of Jas. Robertson and Thos. Ross Lewers.
In this Will he appointed his "cousin John Hay of Hazlebank Auckland New Zealand at present residing with me and my friend the Honourable James Norton of Ecclesbourne near Sydney Solicitor, Trustees and Executors of this my will."
James Norton was also solicitor to the University of Sydney and a Fellow of St Paul's College of that University.

The Will stated that the property went to Hay except for certain legacies, which David, after much soul-searching, considered Alexander would have approved.

The Will recites a number of relatively minor individual legacies before launching into the main bequests. The first in order was the endowment of a local hospital - " I direct my said Trustees to set apart the sum of £100,000.00 for the purpose of erecting and endowing a hospital for non-infectious diseases for the benefit particularly of the inhabitants of Broughton Creek (now the township of Berry) and the district of Shoalhaven"
Then "I bequeath unto the Trustees of the Sustentation Fund of the Presbyterian Church of Australia the sum of £30,000....."
"I bequeath unto the University of St Andrews in Scotland the sum of £100,000.00 for which the receipt of the Trustees or the Treasurer of the said University shall be a sufficient discharge".
In a further paragraph he summarises the extent of the settlement of his brother in bequeathing unto "John Hay the house in which I now reside known as Coolangatta together with the land on which the same stands and the five adjoining grants comprising altogether twenty-one thousand two hundred acres more or less bounded on the north by the northern boundary lines of two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land granted by the Crown to John Bourke and four thousand acres granted to my late brother Alexander on the west by the western boundary lines of the said four thousand acres and of four thousand acres granted to the late Edward Wollstonecraft on the south by the Shoalhaven River........and also all other lands lying to the eastward of the original Coolangatta grant which I may hereafter acquire. And also all cattle implements stores household furniture books and other effects being upon any part of the said lands or in any of the buildings erected thereon. And also all steam vessels and other vessels punts and boats which shall belong to me."
The good news arrived at St Andrews in the form of a letter dated 20th November 1889 sent to Principal Donaldson from James Norton enclosing a copy of the will. He writes "I have not produced Mr Berry's will to any one in the colony but under the circumstances of the case I have thought it right to send you a full copy (enclosed) rather than a mere extract of those portions in which your University is interested...." He says that "You must allow me to congratulate yourself and your University on the large gift which will, I hope, be effectual in resuscitating the oldest institution of its kind in the British Isles".
However on December 19th John Hay writes to The Principal to inform him that a claim against the will has prevented its being proved and proceedings cannot begin until the middle of February but he hopes they will finish in March. "It is only the question of delay. It is our desire to pay off all legacies as soon as we are in a position to do so".
In the Senate Minutes of 13th January 1890 the entry records the "Bequest of £100,00 to the University by the late Mr David Berry, Coolangatta, Shoalhaven, N S Wales".
There was knowledge of a deteriorating financial position within the University but the terms of the Will meant that the legacy of £100,000 was not due to be paid until 5 years after the death of David Berry viz the 23rd September 1894. In a letter from James Norton to Principal Donaldson he refers to John Hay's awareness of the financial problems and believes that an instalment of £10,000 would probability be acceptable and that he would not only be performing a pleasing duty but complying with Berry's wishes. £5000 of this advance was used to pay off immediate debts and increase the salaries of the Principals and teaching staff. £2000 was invested for and on behalf of the Principal and Professors of St Mary's College and the Professors of Chemistry and Education.

Honorary degree of LLD granted to James Norton on 17th April 1890 (in absentia) - note the proximity of this to the sending of the Will by Norton.
Letters from John Hay in February 1890 to Principal Donaldson "I desire briefly to mention that to my Co-Trustee, the Hon James Norton, who was acquainted with the wishes of the late Alexander Berry, the University owes a debt of lasting gratitude."
5/5/1890 Letter from J Hay to Principal Donaldson saying that ....."the conferring of the degree of LLD on my Co-Trustee, the Hon James Norton, was very gratifying to me, and he is very proud of the honour you have done him".
Mr Norton to Principal Donaldson 5th November 1890..............."Will you be good enough to express my thanks to your Registrar, whose letter I have mislaid, for forwarding the Faculty conferring on me the degree of LLD, which came duly to hand, and for which I again thank you, and the Senate...."
It has always been rumoured amongst the historians and others of the Berry era that the legacy for St Andrews was not as straightforward a gift from David Berry honouring his elder brother's intentions as it might seem.

Correspondence between Dr E P Ramsay of Sydney and four members of the University Senate show the steps leading up to the bequest and that influence was brought to bear to secure a serious contribution.
Dr Bell-Pettigrew asked Dr Ramsay to try to find out after his return to Sydney after visiting St Andrews in 1884 whether or not the University was down for a legacy in the late David Berry's will. During his stay in St Andrews when Ramsay was introduced to Principal Tulloch the subject was a matter for discussion and speculation.
On his return Ramsay arranges with his friend James Norton to examine the will and check on the contents. He discovers that St Andrews is not mentioned and informs Tulloch of this fact in a letter dated 24th July 1884 - eleven years after Alexander Berry’s death and five before that of David.
On September 12th 1884 Bell-Pettigrew gets in touch with Ramsay with the news that as St Andrews was apparently not in the will a special meeting of the Senate was called to discuss the matter as it was of great importance. He writes "we thought on the whole that the application to David Berry should be made either through you or your friend the Hon James Norton, or both conjointly. Mr Norton has the advantage of knowing everything, and a word or two from him might be followed up by a donation to the University or an actual Codicil to the will, or both..................my colleagues all feel that we may with a certain degree of propriety approach the present Mr Berry, inasmuch as his brother, the late Alexander Berry, intended to leave the University of St Andrews a large sum.
If the present Mr Berry were gently reminded of this fact by Mr Norton it might go far to bring about the desired result. The brothers were greatly attached to each other, and the present Mr Berry is stated to have expressed his intention of fully carrying out his deceased brother's wishes when he made his will". He went on to say the present Mr Berry is a very old gentleman and therefore it was necessary to "not only remind him of his late brother's intentions, but to keep quietly at him until he gives them effect.............Mr Berry's estate, from what you say, is a very large one, and the relatives and Australian institutions may very well spare a handsome legacy to St Andrews, the more especially as the late Mr Alexander Berry, who made the money, clearly intended that St Andrews should largely benefit by his (unfortunately unsigned) will".
Dr Ramsay's advice in response to this circumlocutory letter - obviously Bell-Pettigrew was somewhat diffident about asking for money - was to apply to David Berry formally and in the event Vice-Principal Tulloch outlined the reasons for the request in a letter - the late Dr Alexander Berry was a student at St Andrews, had remembered it with gratitude for the advantages it gave him and helped towards his later success in his chosen career; it was understood, from the affection he bore to his University, that he intended to bequeath to it a considerable endowment and that he had prepared a will leaving a certain portion of his estate for its benefit and that his signing of this will was frustrated only by his sudden and unexpected death. The University had grown in numbers but was suffering from diminished resources owing to the depression in land values from which it derived its main source of income. "At no previous period in the history of the University could such a donation, as it was the intention of your brother to make, be more opportune or more productive of public good than at the present time."
The role of the University of St Andrews as the oldest and most historic University in Scotland, and chief feature of the county of Fife from which Dr Berry's family have descended along with the University's pride in Dr Berry's ability and distinguished career would make "the carrying out of his intentions to enable the University to establish lasting memorials of him and thus associate his name honourably and permanently with its work and its whole future history."
Tulloch told Ramsay in a further letter that he had written to David Berry care of his Solicitors (one being James Norton) and went on to say "we feel that Dr Berry's good intentions towards the University of St Andrews - as expressed by his will - give us a claim to address his brother as we have done.

Notwithstanding that the will remained unsigned, we have always been encouraged by Sir Charles Nicholson and others to think that its provisions on our behalf would not be entirely laid aside if from no other reason than because Mr David Berry had so much regard for his brother and respect for his wishes, and never certainly was there more urgent need for something to be done for the old and still (intellectually) vigorous University to which Mr Berry was so much attached and to which he believed he owed so much."
Ramsay writes at the end of November 1884 that he had learned from talking to James Norton and a cousin living near David Berry that the "late Mr Berry was induced by some old friend (Rev Geo Walker) to leave a good round sum to St Andrews in his will...but not such a sum as you were led to believe".

James Norton seems to have prevailed upon David Berry to leave such a legacy and reported that it was quite possible that we shall get a few thousands. Ramsay hinted that St Andrews could possibly do with £20,000 and that it would take fully that to put the old University on its legs again. James Norton said that he could not recommend any specific sum and that the amount would entirely depend on that mentioned in the will of his late brother. "It is a great point", he writes "to get Mr Norton to write and recommend Mr David Berry to carry our Dr Alex Berry's wishes and your request".
In early 1885 Tulloch writes to Ramsay indicating that as he (AB) had "certain liberal intentions toward us...we must trust that his brother will acknowledge this in some substantial form". Later on Ramsay tells Bell-Pettigrew that "now the University was down for a handsome legacy" but without mentioning the amount.
................................Letter in The Times 27th November 1889 to the Editor from Sir Charles Nicholson of Totteridge in Hertfordshire.
Sir,
In the various obituary notices that have recently appeared respecting the late Mr David Berry there are some statements which are erroneous and which in justice to his elder brother Mr Alexander Berry, ought not to pass without notice.
The large property of which Mr David Berry was possessed at the time of his decease was accumulated wholly by my old friend Mr Alexander Berry a man gifted with great intelligence, foresight and originality of character...............
When Mr Berry finally settled in Australia he became associated in his business with the two brothers John and David, Edward Wollstonecraft whose sister he subsequently married, and through whom he also acquired a valuable estate, the Crow's Nest in the neighbourhood of Sydney.
Although a violent politician of the old-fashioned Conservative type, he was a man of considerable culture fond of scientific speculations and well-versed in Spanish literature. Some time prior to his death he had instructed his solicitor to prepare his will by which he bequeathed the greater part of his property to the University of St Andrews. The testamentary document was duly prepared and ready for execution; he, however, died a few hours before the time he had appointed for affixing his signature to it.
His property in consequence passed to his next immediate and sole heir, his brother David, who has nobly given effect to the intentions of his deceased brother by the benefactions he has made to the University of St Andrews and for other meritorious objects......."
The Fife Herald November 13th 1889
Mr Berry's bequest of one hundred thousand pounds to St Andrews University was discounted many years ago. It was known to be coming. But it has come at length when the University authorities had got to be aware of what the Government were going to do for them and of the improbability of charitable finance.
All at once, therefore, the view of the future is altered, and the University raised into a position of propriety and independence. The terms of the bequest are not as yet as known but the presumption is that they make provision for adding to the Professorial salaries.
That is the first need and care of the University and Mr Berry was no doubt aware thereof as much. The Professors therefore are in the first instance to be congratulated on the news of the handsome windfall, for recently they have been working under conditions of impoverishment. As there is a fashion in these things, as public institutions occasionally get into groves of luck, who knows but bountiful Mr Berry's example may be followed more and more ? In the meantime, Cupar, the place of Mr Berry's birth, and St Andrews University the objects of his pious affection may well cherish the memory of such a generous benefactor.
We only refer to it here to emphasise the service a friend at home may render in writing to distant and well to do correspondents by reminding them of the needful circumstances of an old and highly meritorious institution. There is no doubt that the idea of bequeathing something to St Andrews University was put in the mind of Berry by an old school friend and although Mr Alex Berry had somehow omitted to sign the will by which he had intended to leave £250,000 to the University, his presently deceased brother, David, has implemented his wishes to the handsome extent of £100,000.
Nov 16th 1889 St Andrews Citizen
Magnificent gift to the University of St Andrews - a legacy of £100000
All interested in our ancient but rather impoverished University have greatly rejoiced this week to learn that the magnificent sum of £100,000 has been bequeathed to it by a wealthy Colonist of New South Wales - the late Mr David Berry of Coolangatta the last survivor of a remarkable family of four brothers and two sisters belonged to the district of Cupar and who till lately had relatives still residing there. The good news was communicated to Mr Woodcock, writer, on Monday by his client Mr John Hay belonging to Leuchars who was a cousin of the late Mr Berry and who with his wife were heirs to the whole of the Berry wealth.
The history of the Berry family is a very remarkable one. Each of the four brothers had his individual characteristics. They were all over 6 feet in height and they had indomitable courage and perseverance.
But it was to the eldest of the four, Alexander Berry, that the family owed their wealth and their position in New South Wales. In 1867 he began to correspond with his old and "dear school fellow" the late Rev G Walker of Kinnell and extracts from that correspondence in which he recounted much of his remarkable career and history were published in the Fife Herald, News and Citizen in 1874.
When Mr Alexander Berry died in 1873 he left an unsigned will in which he bequeathed a certain sum to St Andrews University and there is no doubt he was induced to do so by his former school fellow Dr Walker who in one of his letters hinted that his old alma mater was not "over -rich" and was worthy of remembrance. Dr Walker was a brother of the late Mr John Walker of Homelands, Largo who left £7,000 to St Andrews University.
News of the unsigned will reached St Andrews at the time of Berry's death, and at that time the University Senate held a meeting to discuss the subject when the late Principal Shairp was instructed to draft a letter expressing condolence with the family at the loss it had sustained and alluding to the generous disposition as was reported to St Andrews University by the deceased Mr Alexander Berry. The letter of the Principal was approved and forwarded to the latterly deceased David Berry - but no answer was received. It is generally recognised that David Berry seldom, if ever, wrote letters and it would appear that while being exceedingly generous to his tenants and those around him, he was peculiarly silent in manner. He has not been unmindful of brother's wishes and his memory must for ever be held in grateful remembrance by our ancient Fife University.

The various debates which ensued within the University Court and Senate show much in-fighting and squabbling over who should be the main beneficiaries and the actual Minutes of these events are recorded in the Appendix.

The period of time between the formation of the Committee formed in 1890 to “watch over” the Berry Bequest and the appointment of Mr Alexander Lawson as the first Berry Professor of English Literature in the University of St Andrews was just over seven years. During those years progress in making decisions seems painfully long drawn out. The University Commissioners for Scotland became quite tetchy and demanding of information on progress which seems to have irritated the University Court.

On 23rd May 1892 Norton had written to Hay to say that it is gratifying that “through the liberality and large heartedness of our much respected friends, the late Alexander Berry and his brother David, the venerable institution has escaped the destruction with which it was threatened……There can be no question that raising adequately the salaries of the Theological professors would be entirely in accordance with the wishes of our late friend Mr. David Berry. The only suggestion I should like to make is, that, if it is found possible to establish new Chairs, the principal one should be named after our dear departed friend….and it would be a graceful tribute to you that the second in importance of such Chairs should be named after yourself…”

This exchange in 1892 between James Norton and John Hay illustrates how the ideas of naming a Chair or Chairs became confusing – John Hay also writes to Donaldson to say that after discussion of the Court Minute of January 1892 with Norton “that to increase the status and usefulness of the University is necessary to raise the salaries of the Principals and Professors, and if possible establish new Chairs and Lectureships.” It would be, he goes on “pleasing to me if a Chair should be named after him as suggested…….the late David Berry fulfilled the wishes of his late brother, Alexander, and perhaps I may suggest to associate Alexander’s name with medicine and David’s name with theology – but I do not agree with associating my name as suggested by Mr Norton, for I believe in giving honour to whom it is due…”

The enormous size of the legacy (probably in the region of £ 5,300.000.00 in today’s terms) is recorded in the Senate Minutes of 13th January 1890 in a very matter of fact way.

“Principal Donaldson stated that he had received a communication from the Hon. James Norton, Solicitor, Sydney intimating that Mr David Berry had left £100,000 to the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

It was agreed to remit to the Business and Finance Committee to watch over this matter”

After this announcement there was a protracted period before the establishment of the first Berry Chair of English Literature with the Rev Alexander Lawson BD of Mintlaw installed as its first incumbent. His appointment to the Chair is recorded seven years later.

Although there was a great deal of argument for and against the various wishes of Members of the Senate and the Court, part of the reason for the apparent slowness was due to the fact that the total bequest was not due to be paid before five years had elapsed. Because of the straitened financial circumstances of the University, John Hay felt that an instalment of £10,000 would be helpful and in the event borrowed this sum to enable this to be sent to the University. In November 1890, Principal Donaldson was able to report that he had received from Mr Norton a Bill of Exchange for £10,000 which was to be paid in Edinburgh without the usual delay of 60 days and without any deduction for premium of exchange. It was decided to allocate part of this advance payment in a number of ways. £3000.00 in total was used to relieve three debts which the United College had incurred – monies owed to the Scottish Widows Fund Society, overdue Bursary payments and a tax debt of £795.00. A further £2000.00 was invested and the interest applied to upgrade and equalise the salaries of the Principal of St Mary’s College, the Professors of Biblical Criticism, Chemistry, Ecclesiastical History and Education. The £5000.00 was to be invested as the Business & Finance Committee thought fit.

There is then a gap of nearly three years before, in March 1894, The Finance Committee was requested to prepare a scheme for the utilisation of the Berry Bequest. We are now at a date five years since the death of David Berry and the balance payment of £90,000.00 is nigh. The Minutes of this date also record that Principal Donaldson gave notice of his intention to propose that a Chair of English Literature be established at St Andrews and to be called “The Berry Chair of English Literature”. The endowment was to be £500.00 per annum derived from the revenue of the Berry Bequest and the normal salary to be £600.00 with all the fees going into the Fee Fund. The Senate was to be asked to agree the proposal and to favour the Court with any suggestions or recommendations it might have.

In July the proposal was tabled in Senate but the scheme was postponed until a comprehensive plan for the allocation of the total bequest had been worked out. Come December the waters become muddied with regard to the establishment of the Chair of English Literature when Dr Balfour moved that two chairs should be founded and called respectively the Berry Chairs of Anatomy and Materia Medica and with a view to giving two years of medical lectures at St Andrews. This motion was seconded but an amendment put by Principal Donaldson that it should be referred to the Business and Finance Committee carried the day. On 26th January 1895, Dr Balfour again moved that two Chairs be established at St Andrews to be endowed out of the Berry Bequest – a repetition of his motion of December. On this occasion the proposal was countered by Professor Knight who moved as an amendment “that inasmuch as the Arts teaching at the University is incomplete without a Chair of English Literature, and as the amount of money at the disposal of the Court for the founding new Professorships will not probably be adequate for the establishment of more than one Chair, it is inexpedient to found new Medical ones in St Andrews.” The Court was clearly divided on how to deal with these conflicting proposals and no clear decision was reached apart from trying to refer it back to the Finance Committee for a full report.

In February a letter from the Senate recommended that a sum should be set apart from the Berry Fund for the founding of Scholarships and Bursaries in order that they might be advertised along with others currently available. The Senate unanimously placed the founding of these in the forefront of its proposals for the distribution of the Berry Fund on the grounds that it should be used to strengthen the University and that this was probably the most effective means of doing so. By March 11th 1895, the Minutes of the Court and that of a meeting of the Finance Committee finally recorded firm recommendations for the disposal of the Bequest.

Firstly, there were to be a number of Scholarships and Bursaries in Arts, Sciences and Theology; secondly, the salaries of the Professorial staff were to be augmented and it was proposed that there should be a foundation of three new Chairs in Anatomy, Materia Medica and English Literature. The total income to be generated from the Bequest to fund these benefits to the University was £3360.00. This was endorsed by the Senate and the Universities Commissioners were to be asked to frame Ordinances instituing these three Chairs. It is notable that the different Chairs were proposed by different Members of the Senate.

The confusion of different views of the Senate members is illustrated by the Minutes of the meeting held on 27th March 1895 – the University Commissioners had written to ask for the views of the Senate regarding the proposal of the Court to found the three new Chairs. The Senate Minutes record Motions, counter motions and amendments on the subject of whether or not there should be a Chair of English Literature and or Medical Chairs. After all the arguments had been minuted the matters seem to have come to a halt. The proposals for the Medical chairs melted away and there is little more for nearly a year when in January 1896 at a University Court Meeting a somewhat critical letter was read out from the University Commissioners. The Commissioners had received a copy of the late David Berry’s last Will and Testament they wrote to say that “with reference to the Draft Ordinance instituting a Berry Chair of English Literature in the University that they are not satisfied that enough has been done by the Court to constitute the proposed contribution of £500 from the Berry Fund an irrevocable endowment…..”. No comment on this letter is minuted.

On 8th April 1896 at a Court Meeting it was reported that the University Commissioners had given notice of an Ordinance laid before Parliament viz: “St. Andrews No 23 Foundation of Berry Chair of English Literature. It was then “resolved that an advertisement for applications for the Professorship should be published as soon as the Ordinance founding the Chair has received Her Majesty’s assent”. The delay in moving to the appointment extends to January 1897 when there is still disagreement amongst the Court members on when the appointment should be considered. But eventually a Committee was formed to report on the qualifications of the candidates. At the same time certain University students presented a Petition praying the Court to consider favourably the appointment of the students’ choice – their own Professor McCormick.

There were ten applicants for the post – eight from Scotland and the other two from Washington USA and Calcutta respectively. The Rev Alexander Lawson was duly elected on 19th March 1897 seven years after David Berry had signed his Will.

Appendix – Extracts from the recorded Minutes
The University Court Minutes record "Bequest of the late Mr David Berry - a Certified Copy of the Last Will and Testament of Mr David Berry of Coolangatta on the Shoalhaven River in the Colony of New South Wales, dated 23rd September 1889, was laid before the Court."
The Court requested Principal Donaldson to write to Mr Berry's Solicitors in suitable terms expressing their gratification at the Bequest and informing them that it will be of much advantage to the University.
On 8th December 1890 "Committee as to Berry Bequest - on permission being given by two-thirds of the members present it was agreed to constitute the Business and Finance Committee a Committee to watch over the interest of the University in connection with the Berry Bequest, with powers to add to their numbers for this purpose.
University Court Minutes 7th February 1891
Business and Finance Committee - Berry Bequest
In accordance with a request of the Business and Finance Committee, Principal Donaldson submitted a Statement or Proposal as to the sum of £10,000 received since the last Meeting of the Court, in part payment of the Bequest by the late Mr Berry as reported in the Minutes of said Committee of 11th ult - the statement was fully considered and discussed.
Thereafter Mr Campbell Smith moved and Dr Cleghorn seconded the following Resolution, viz The Court having regard:-
(1) To the Letter received by Principal Donaldson from the Honble James Norton, Sydney, one of the late Mr Berry's Trustees, dated 3rd November last, which accompanied the remittance of £10,000 to account of the Berry Bequest, in which letter he wrote as follows, viz:- "You are aware that the Legacy was not actually payable for five years, but Mr Hay, believing that an instalment would be very acceptable in the circumstances under which he knows your University to be placed, considered that in making the sacrifice which the immediate payment to you involved, he was not only performing a pleasing duty but was really carrying out what he felt would have been the wish of the late Mr Berry, and in order that the £10,000 may be available to the University in its entirety and as quickly as possible, Mr Hay has arranged that the Bill shall be paid in Edinburgh without the usual delay of 60 days and without any deduction for premium of exchange, and
(2) To the following facts viz:- That the United College is in debt (a) to the extent of £1149 or thereby to the Scottish Widows Fund Society; (b) to the extent of £1377 or thereby to the Endowments for certain Bursaries; and, (c) that the University Court having been called on to purchase from the Crown in terms of Sect 32 of the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889, the Fen and Teind Duties payable in respect of the lands which belonged to the United College, a sum of about £795 or thereby is required for that purpose, - these sums amounting in all to £3321, - are of opinion
First, - That the sum of £3000 of the amount received in part payment should be applied towards relieving the United College of these Debts and Liabilities,-
Second, - That in order to equalize to the Principal of St Mary's College and the Professors of Biblical Criticism and Hebrew therein (who participate in the Revenues of that College) the amount of relief proposed to be made available to the United College as above set forth, or sum of £1000 of said Bequest should be set apart and invested in name of the Court for their behoof, - the Interest thereof to be paid to them annually in equal proportions, and
Third, - That, with the same view of equalisation, a further sum of £1000 should also be set apart and invested for behoof (a) of the Professor of Chemistry in the United College who does not participate in the Revenues of that College (b) of the Professor of Ecclesiastical History in St Mary's College who receives no share of the Revenues thereof, and (c) of the Professor of Education in the University who derives no benefit from the Revenues of either College, - the Income of said last mention sum of £1000 to be divided annually among said Professors in equal shares.
The said Resolution was unanimously adopted and agreed to, and therefore the Court Resolved and Hereby Resolve to apply the said sum of £10,000 to the extent of Five Thousand Pounds, being the aggregate amount of the several sums of £3000, £1000, and £1000 before mentioned , in the manner and the purposes before specified, and remit to the Business and Finance Committee to make arrangements for the investment of the remainder of the said £10,000.
Further the Court directed the Secretary to forward a copy of the foregoing Minute to the Secretary of the Universities Commissioners for their information.
University Court Minutes 14/11/91
X Bequest of the late Mr Berry. A Communication from the Commissioners of date 29th July. stating that with a view to the consideration of the financial arrangements which require to be made for the Universities of Scotland, they request to be informed as early as convenient, as to the purposes to which this University propose to devote the money bequeathed to it by the late Mr D Berry, was remitted to the same Committee with instructions to report as to the reply which should be made thereto.
31/3/1894
XII Berry Bequest. The Business and Finance Committee was requested to prepare a scheme for the utilisation and administration of the Bequest and to bring up same to an early meeting of the Court.
XI Chair of English Literature. Principal Donaldson having given notice of his intention to move "That a Chair of English Literature be established in St Andrews to be called 'The Berry Chair of English Literature', the endowment to be £500 per annum, derived from the revenue of the Berry Bequest and the normal salary to be £600, all the fees going into the Fee Fund", it was agreed to remit to the Senatus Academicus to consider the proposal with a request to favour the Court with any suggestions or recommendations thereanent.
It was resolved that the same arrangement as to teaching English Literature at St Andrews as existed last year should be continued next Winter session.
1/12/94
Berry Bequest In accordance with previous notice, Dr Balfour moved "that two chairs, to be called respectively the Berry Chairs of Anatomy and Materia Medica, be founded and equipped at St Andrews, out of the Berry Bequest, with a view to giving two Anni Medici at St Andrews". The motion was seconded by Dr Dow. Principal Donaldson moved, as an amendment, that the matter be remitted to the Business and Finance Committee for consideration and report, which was seconded by Dr Anderson. After discussion, Dr Balfour with the consent of his seconder, and of the meeting, withdrew his motion, whereupon the amendment was declared to be the resolution of the Court.
A memorial from certain members of the United College as to compensation from the Berry Fund was also remitted to the Business and Finance Committee for consideration and report.
11/1/95
Business and Finance Committee extract
Berry Bequest A letter from Mr Hay, dated 4th October last, was read, expressing the thanks of himself and his co-trustee, Dr Norton, for the Court having extended for two years the time of payment to the University of the £90,000 still remaining due in respect of the late Mr Berry's legacy and agreeing to pay interest thereon half yearly at the rate of three and a half per cent.
University Court 26/1/95
Berry Bequest Dr Balfour moved "That two chairs be founded at St Andrews, and endowed out of the Berry Bequest, to be called respectively, the Berry Chair of Anatomy and the Berry Chair of Materia Medica with a view to giving two complete Anni Medici at St Andrews". The motion was seconded by Dr Dow.
Professor Knight moved as an amendment "That in as much as the Arts teaching of the University is incomplete without a Chair of English Literature, and as the amount of money at the disposal of the Court for founding new Professorships will not probably be adequate for the establishment of more than one Chair, it is inexpedient to found new medical ones at St Andrews" which was seconded by Professor Purdie.
Mr Scott moved as further amendment that the Court defer consideration of the motion till the Business and Finance Committee present their report anent the distribution of the Berry Bequest which was seconded by Sir Ralph Anstruther.
The Court having divided on the amendment of Professor Knight and that of Mr Scott, the former was declared to have been carried. Thereafter Professor Knight's amendment was put against the motion of Dr Balfour, when the latter was carried by 8 votes to 6. Principals Donaldson and Peterson and Professors Knight, Purdie and McCormick dissenting.
University Court 13/3/95
The Court approved of the recommendation of the Business and Finance Committee that the income of the Bequest should be divided into three portions and, subject to certain amendments, adopted the scheme contained in the last-mentioned minute. The proposedScheme, as adopted by the Court was as follows viz:-
I Scholarships and Bursaries
3 Scholarships in Arts, 2 Scholarships in Science and 2 in Theology
2 Bursaries
a Six Bursaries of the value of £40 each - United College £240
b Three Bursaries of £40 each - St Mary's College £120
(Out of the remainder of this third viz £1100 or thereby - such sum
as the Court may judge suitable may be applied in grants to the
Students' Union and the Students' Representative Council)
II Augmentation of Salaries
To augment the salaries of the two Principals and thirteen
Professors in St Andrews £750

To bring up the salary of the Principal of St Mary's College
to £550 and the salaries of the Professors of Biblical Criticism
Ecclesiastical History and Medicine to £460 each
III Foundation of New Chairs
For Berry Chair of Anatomy £450
For Berry Chair of Materia Medica £350
For Berry Chair of English Literature £500
The Court remitted to the Faculty of Theology, and to the members of the Faculty of Arts, and the Committee on Science in St Andrews, to determine with the Sanction of the Senate, the subjects to which the Berry Scholarships in their respective Faculties should be assigned, and the conditions under which they shall be held and resolved that the Scholarships and Bursaries be announced to the Students before the end of the Session, and be published in the Calendar and elsewhere.
On the motion of Principal Donaldson, the Court resolved to request the Universities Commissioner to frame an Ordinance instituting a Berry Chair of English Literature in the University of St Andrews and the United College thereof to be on the Fee Fund with an endowment of £500 annually from the Berry Bequest and a normal salary of £600.
On the motion of Dr Dow, the Court further resolved to request the Commissioners to frame ordinances instituting Berry Chairs of Anatomy and Materia Medica in the University of St Andrews with the endowments of £450 and £350 respectively and class fees.
27th March 1895 in the University Library - Senate Minutes
Sederunt: Principals Donaldson and Stewart, Professors Roberts, Birrell, Pettigrew, Meiklejohn, Knight, Lang, Butler, McIntosh, Purdie, McCormick, Burnet, Walker, MacKay, Ritchie
A letter was read from the Secretary of the Scottish Universities Commission stating that the Commissioners would be glad to have the views of the Senate with regard to the proposals of the University Court to found Chairs of English Literature, Anatomy and Materia Medica at St Andrews.
Professor Knight moved that "The Senatus Academicus of St Andrews respectfully inform the University Commissioners in answer to their request for information that it approves of the establishment of a Chair of English Literature". Professor Pettigrew dissented from the motion, as it split the matter into two. On Professor Lang moving an amendment on the motion it was ruled out of order by the Chairman - Professors Lang and McIntosh dissenting. Professor Knight's motion was then agreed to - Professors Pettigrew and McIntosh dissent - opinion that there should be a Chair of English in the University of St Andrews, and as English is practically a compulsory subject for M A candidates in the University of St Andrews the Senate is of the opinion that it ought to be founded out of public funds rather than out of the Berry Fund as it understands the proposal is" ................................................................................................................p17
Professor Knight then moved: "That the Senatus Academicus disapproves of the establishment of Chairs of Anatomy and Materia Medica in St Andrews". The motion was seconded. Professor Pettigrew moved as an amendment and Professor McIntosh seconded "That the Senatus heartily approves of the establishment of these Chairs". Professor Lang moved as a second amendment "That the Senate, taking into account the existence of the Taylor Thomson Bursaries for Women which can only be legally given to assist them in qualifying for the Medical Profession in St Andrews and the assurances of Mr Hay and Mr Norton, the executors ...............................................
13/1/1897
University Court
Residence for the Principal
Under reference Minutes of the Business and Finance Committee No 1 of 16th October 1891, it was reported that Dr John Hay of Crow's Nest, North Sydney, had now transmitted a draft on his London Agents for £5000 towards the donation which he agreed to make for the purpose of defraying the price of Scores Park, and that payment of the sum in the draft had been received. The Secretary was instructed to convey the thanks of the Court to Dr Hay for the remittance. The Meeting remitted to the Business and Finance Committee to make arrangements as to the date of repayment to the extent of the sum now received of the money borrowed from University Funds at the time Scores Park was purchased with power to invest same on sound securities.
XVI Berry Chair of English Literature - Dr Metcalfe gave notice that at the next meeting he would move that the requisite steps be taken for the appointment of a Lecturer or Professor of English Literature.
29/1/97
University Court Minute
IX Berry Chair of English Literature - In accordance with previous notice.....Dr Metcalfe moved "that the requisite steps be taken for the appointment of a Professor of English Literature" which was seconded by Dr Anderson.
Principal Donaldson moved as an amendment "that the appointment to the Chair of English Literature be deferred till the Conference with the Universities Commissioners, agreed to by this Meeting, with reference to the duplication of Chairs in St Andrews and Dundee, has taken place and the result is knows".
The amendment was lost on a vote of 6 to 3. The original motion "accordingly became the resolution of the Meeting and it was resolved to publish an advertisement for applications for the Professorship....and such applications to be lodged by 10th March.
The Court remitted to a Committee ......to bring up a report on the qualifications of the candidates. For some reason the original minute defining the report as "detailed and reasoned" was deleted.
It was also minuted that "A Petition numerously signed by students of the University praying the Court in the appointment...........to have due regard to the eminent and approved services of Professor McCormick, to his high distinction as a Scholar, and to his keen interest in the welfare and progress of his own students...."
19/3/97
Berry Chair of English Literature
There were ten applicants for the Chair and the Committee reported that Principals Donaldson and Stewart plus Prof Meiklejohn were in favour of recommending Professor McCormick (the students' choice) and the others recommended a short list of Professor McNeile Dixon, Rev Alexander Lawson, Professor McCormick and Mr Gregory Smith.
"Thereafter the Meeting proceeded to the election .............. when the above named Mr Alexander Lawson was declared to have been elected. It was resolved that Mr Lawson should enter upon his duties on 1st October next."
A curious note in the Minutes refer to a Protest (presumably from the students supporting McCormick) in these terms "The Secretary was instructed when notifying the appointment to Mr Lawson, to inform him that, at the commencement of the meeting and previous to the Court proceeding to consider applications for the appointment, the above mentioned Protest was read by the Principal of the University and delivered to the Chairman of the Court and that immediately thereafter the gentlemen whose signatures are appended to the Protest quitted the Meeting".
21st April 1897
VI Berry Chair of English Literature "There was read a letter dated 22nd March from the Rev Alexander Lawson in intimating acceptance of his appointment to the Berry Chair of English Literature upon the terms specified in the Minutes of last Meeting".
















The Bull Park and Berry Campus

You take your life in your hands when turning into the gates of the Campus on the western side of the Berry – Nowra Road. They lie just short of the crest of the road and the entrance signs only give you warning at the last few metres. The Campus has an unconventional history and an unconventional enthusiast as its Head.

On the Berry side of the site and to the west are what look like acres of disused white painted cattle holding pens – they were used for the mollycoddled bulls which between 1952 and 1990 formed the basis of the main Artificial Insemination centre for Australia.

The Berry area had always been in the forefront of herd testing and improvement as we know from the work put in by Alex Hay following on the efforts made by Alexander Berry to establish good dairying stock. In 1950 the Berry Better Farming League suggested to the Ministry of Agriculture that an artificial breeding centre should be set up in the Berry district. This was quickly approved and the centre opened by E H Graham, the Minister for Agriculture and Food Production on 17th October 1952.

The impetus for Artificial Insemination, which is standard breeding practice nowadays, goes back to pre-war and the late 1930s when both Germany and Russia were experimenting with artificial breeding of sheep and cattle – the German interest at one time extended to thoughts of selected human beings breeding to produce a Herrenvolk.

By the middle of the war in 1942 a commercial basis for such breeding had been developed in England. In spite of the war and post-war difficulties prevailing in Europe, progress was fast. By 1947 in Denmark their co-operative farming system was annually inseminating more than half a million cows and by 1952 over one third of all the dairy cattle in England were being serviced in this way. The system had come along way in ten years during unfavourable economic conditions.

At the time of this commercial basis for breeding being established in England, plans were being discussed in New South Wales to provide a limited service on a trial basis. The first calf to be born by AI was at Glenfield Vterinary Research Station in November 1944 and in the same year semen was exchanged with the New Zealand Research station at Ruakura which resulted in four calves on the Camden Park Estate. Whilst all this based on Glenfield was a satisfactory in many ways, the scale of the operation needed to be increased and this was when the Berry Farmers made their initiative.

The laboratory facilities and accommodation for the extra bulls required at Berry had become inadequate and the situation was likely to worsen. In October 1954 the Minister set up a Committee to advise him on the development of the Berry Centre as well as the establishment of sub-centre. The Committee quickly came to the conclusion that the NSW Milk Board would be the best organisation to promote artificial breeding based on the progress and success of the English Milk Marketing Board. Thus the NSW Milk Board accepted in 1956 the responsibility for the Berry Centre and for the development of AI throughout New South Wales and decided to acquire a bigger site than the Wharf Road centre.

A site of 186 acres was bought which it was confidently thought would meet requirements for years to come. The Chairman of the NSW Board, Mr J Ferguson had attended the International Dairy Congress held in Rome in that same year and was able to obtain a clear picture of the UK developments and add to that the latest scientific knowledge available. Once the plans had been completed an investment of two hundred thousand pounds was made to make the Centre the most modern in the world. As a tribute to the late Minister who had fostered these schemes originally, it was called the Graham Park Artificial Stock Breeding Centre.

The problem was that like many projects of the time world-wide it was “over engineered” and thus became “over-managed”, over-staffed and inflexible. The bull pens which are still there were built with reinforced concrete bases and supports of old railway lines. There they stand today as a monument to the founders after forty years and their removal and disposal will be an expensive operation. They were also widely dispersed over the site which made for many lengthy journeys and for poor staffing communications. The first brochure proudly proclaims its size “This Centre, situated at Berry on the South Coast, comprises a main block of some 10000 square feet containing a laboratory, offices, infertility wing, lecture hall, cold room, store room and staff facilities. Paving for bullyards covers a total area of 70000 square feet. There are five miles of fencing and ¾ mile of made roads on the site.”

The concept certainly put AI on the map in Australia but at a cost and although running flat out during the 60s and 70s there were signs that market forces would catch up on the bureaucratic growth and internal committee feuding. In the 70s there were 14 or more graduate veterinarians and the support administration staff was swollen in numbers.

The transfer of semen did not need such a bureacratic organisation. It was now a relatively simple and cheap method which competed strongly from other independent centres set up privately. Financial losses increased at an alarming rate and by 1990 it had closed completely.

All was not lost, because before the closure independent operators, some of whom had worked at the Berry Centre had seen the warning signs – one of the present day centres of excellence in this breeding technology is located not far from Berry in the heart of the Southern Highlands north west of Kangaroo Valley at Bosem Park on the edge of the Morton National Park.

The company is registered as Bovine Semen (Aust) Pty Ltd, is privately owned and was formed originally in 1970. The operation and layout is almost the same as that of the original Graham Park Centre but it has been designed on a flow line system so that the logistical problems encountered at Berry have been eliminated. Their stated objective has been a commitment “to the concept of controlled herd improvement through artificial breeding”. In addition to having processed stocks of semen from a wide range of top producing cattle, they have also diversified into goat herd development.

This company is one of many Australia-wide who stand in the international front line of technology and environmental control.

The Australian industry today owes much to the foresight of the Berry scientists at Graham Park who started their race some lengths behind Europe but caught up despite the mistakes that pioneers are often prey to. Their successors have, and will continue to benefit. The gates and the entrance to Graham Park Campus tell a little of the history – the iron fretwork of the gates reveal a design representing bull spermatozoa and centrally positioned on a high plinth is a statue of a bull. It is not on public view but has been boarded up by Ray Cleary against the time that the Berry Campus undergoes its next period of development.

The Artificial Insemination story may seem a far cry from Alexander Berry and Coolangatta but there is a very direct connection. Berry himself saw the need to improve the quality of cattle on the Shoalhaven and his efforts were the starting point for the NSW dairy industry. His successor in the 20th century was Major Hay whose interest in herd testing was essential to the strengthening of the dairy industry in Australia and it is a natural progression to the Berry Centre and Graham Park.

But the original site set out in 1958 was to see a different class of student when, instead of research vets from University in 1993, Ray Cleary was appointed Head of the Campus as a satellite to the University of Wollongong. Rather like Col Bishop at Coolangatta, Ray had to pitch with his own bare hands to restore the shambles of the old research station. Maintenance of the place had been at a minimum.

The University of Wollongong has a relatively short history having been found in the 1960s when academics travelled by steam train from the University of NSW to the steel town on the South Coast. It was expected to be sponsored and fostered by BHP and other related industries – Chair of Metallurgy for example – but within twenty five years it had developed so rapidly in size and quality that it was autonomous. In recent years its academic standing is on a par with the leading, and much older, Australian Universities. Assessments and gradings are the same as for Sydney University and this means that more Federal funds are being allocated to its development and that of its satellite colleges for the South Coast Higher Education plans.

The student population of the Berry Campus is nearly 200 and its main disciplines are Economics and Business Studies for B. Com and General Arts for BA. Apart from Dr Cleary there are no resident teaching staff - the academics commute from Wollongong but interactive video conferencing links enable, lectures, seminars and tutorials to take place in live fashion.

On my first visit in November 1997 the talk was of the new University site at West Nowra to be funded by $ 15 million of Government money and to be opened in the year 2000. The Berry Campus under Ray Cleary had proved its worth in the space of no more than three years and would then translate to Nowra to form the nucleus of Higher Education expansion for the South Coast.

It was seen to be likely that Graham Park would be ideal for its third life cycle – that of a Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Catchment studies along with forestry. This latter subject had been long neglected since the days of cedar clearance but such an educational project has not so far come to fruition.

Alex Hay had often thought of a University in the area and had unsuccessfully tried to influence such educational establishments but now a hundred years later such dreams are to become a reality. The construction work at West Nowra has been under way for some months and the growth is being monthly recorded on film from the ground and from the air.

The firm date for its inauguration is yet to be decided but is likely to be in April 2000 – in due course Nowra should become a University town for what should appropriately be called the University of The Shoalhaven.




The journey of the brigantine “Coolangatta”

Courtesy Alan Clark

The Coolangatta was a brigantine, a two masted schooner with square sails, of 88 tons, 63 feet long and 17 feet wide was built for Alexander Berry by John Blinkcell in 1843.

Used mainly for the transport of cedar from the Shoalhaven to Sydney it had been designed to carry heavy loads with speed a secondary consideration. The “table top” construction allowed for deck loading of general cargoes like timber, sacks of grain and livestock.

Three years later there was not the demand for South Coast shipping to carry cedar as it had been almost worked out. Thus the Coolangatta was chartered by a Mr Sutton to ply between Sydney, Newcastle and Moreton Bay (Brisbane).

Rafts of cedar from the shores of the River Tweed were floated out to the waiting vessel offshore where they were slung aboard in a manner which was originated at Seven Mile Beach near Black Head at Gerroa on the South Coast. A full cargo was aboard when a cyclone struck the area on August 18th – for a while the boat held firm but eventually the anchors gave way and the ship was blown on to the sandy shore. As the weather improved the crew lightened th boat and just as they were about to re-launch under the command of Capt Steele a gale blew up and the ship was driven into a position from which it could not be righted. The ship’s boat had been damaged in the cyclone so the Captain and crew swam through the surf and walked many miles to the safety of a pilot station.

In 1848 it was decided that the small town near to where the Brigantine had finally foundered should be called Coolangatta. It is now a favoured holiday resort.

The wreck was sold and stripped of everything of value as salvage but an attempt to burn the wooden hull failed. During another cyclone in the 1890s it was carried out to sea and was not seen again until 1925 when it was exposed on Bilinga Beach near the new town of Coolangatta. In 1973 an effortwas made to destroy the remains with High Explosive as it was a hazard to boats and surfers. This was also unsuccessful.

The final chapter in the story of the Coolangatta was written in March 1974 when cyclonic conditions uncovered the wreck and swept it a mile to the north and left high on the beach.

Souvenir hunters quickly removed what the sea, explosives and fire had failed to do over a period of 127 years. This is a tribute to the quality of shipbuilding emanating from the yards in the Shoalhaven promoted by Alexander Berry.

Article by Alan Clark










GERROA & SIR CHARLES KINGSFORD SMITH’S FLIGHT TO NZ 1933

This is another journey which starts from land originally settled and grazed by Berry. On my last visit I looked at the Sir Charles Kingsford Smith lookout point and memorial reserve which gives a commanding view of Seven Mile Beach and Mount Coolangatta. This is the inscription on the monument.

The Kiama Independent January 14th 1933.
“SMITHY TAKES OFF”
Great gathering at Seven Mile Beach.

Over a thousand people were there on 10th January 1933 as The Southern Cross landed in the afternoon and left in the early hours of Wednesday morning with Air Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith at the controls. The SC took in 250 gallons of petrol at Mascot Airport Sydney (now re-named Kingsford Smith International) and a further 412 gallons at the beach along with 30 gallons of oil sufficient for 22 hours flying. The flight from Mascot to Gerringong took 35 minutes with Capt Taylor the co-pilot at the controls. The SC made a perfect landing on a large tarpaulin placed near the Surf shed at the northern end of the beach and was made fast with a number of railway sleepers.

They carried aluminium powder “bombs” to be dropped into the sea from time to time on the flight to ignite and be used for navigation by checking drift.

The SC arrived at New Plymouth New Zealand after a flight time of 14hrs 10 minutes.

The memorial has the aircraft identification engraved on the wing representation VH – U SU. The memorial has a direction finder indicator showing the line of flight to NZ erected in 1968 to commemorate the first commercial flight from Australia to New Zealand – this direction finder stands on a ¾ scale replica of the Southern Cross.

The plane stood in an enclosure guarded by police. Captain Taylor was checking the instruments and that the aluminium powder bombs were in order. Just before dark there was a very large crowd on the beach – many made the long journey down to Crooked River and along the sand or via Tullijooa and Berry on foot. Some were on horseback and every kind of motor vehicle was in evidence from luxurious limousines to antique motor cycles. The beach had never been in better condition as the sand was firm and hard and with a good wide speedway at low tide. The interest taken in aviation generally and in Kingsford Smith and the Southern Cross in particular was evidenced by the enthusiasm of the crowd on its arrival. When the five members of the crew alighted they were immediately surrounded and escorted to the Surf Shed. Scores of photographs were taken and later on the whole beach was illuminated with the huge and powerful flares used by the Fox Movietone Operators who took a good many sound pictures during the night. Soon after dark the crew was satisfied that everything was in order in their various departments and adjourned to the Surf Shed for a meal and rest. At 9.30 p.m. Kingsford Smith turned in orders being given for him to be awakened at midnight.

Soon after twelve Smithy was awakened and given the latest weather report – he said this was so generally favourable that he would he would be justified in pulling out about three a.m. The universal popularity of the famous pilot can be readily understood by those who saw his unfailing courtesy and patience in giving answers to questions and his general aura of cheerfulness and quiet confidence.

Sir Charles said that the Tasman Sea did not worry him. He had full confidence in the Southern Cross and expected to land at New Plymouth on Wednesday at 4 p.m. He added that he expected to be in New Zealand for about two months after which he would fly the aircraft back to Australia.

At half past two Sir Charles left the Shed accompanied by Constable Brogan and a press representative and went down to the plane. The three propellers were swung and Kingsford Smith taxied the SC across the beach for about a mile escorted by flares and followed by hundreds of people on foot who braved the biting sand which was lifted by the wheels and the tail skid of the plane and driven in their faces by the wind.

Finally, Smithy leaned out of the cockpit waved his hand and called out “Cheerio everybody” and the engines were revved up and the SC was off – a fine sight with her blue wings and silver tail. The plane took off splendidly after a run of about half a mile and turned at the end of the beach sending up several Verey lights. Then she came back right over the Surf Shed again with the searchlight on and after circling the beach went straight out to sea the only lights then being visible were in the cabin.

Kingsford Smith’s selection of the Seven Mile Beach with the heavily loaded plane to take his departure was fully justified. The Southern Cross arrived at New Plymouth at 5 p.m. – the weather was fine but the plane was blown further south than was anticipated otherwise K-S’s estimate of 13 hours would have been adhered to.

Acknowledgements, references, bibliography

· “A Congregation of Bishops” – The Bishop Family -Jeffory Bishop
· The University Library – St Andrews
· Dr Philip Hill’s Lecture on St Andrew’s Day 1981
· Professor Michael Alexander
· Mrs Mary Lidbetter
· Col and Greg Bishop
· James Jervis – “Alexander Berry, the Laird of Shoalhaven
· Reminiscences of Alexander Berry
· The Sydney Morning Herald 1850
· Meg Swords “Alexander Berry and Elizabeth Wollstonecraft”
· Antill “Settlement in the South”
· Alan Clark and the Shoalhaven Historical Society

Disclaimer

In writing this compilation and reading widely from a very broad range of published material after having talked to many people who had an interest in the related subjects, it is likely that some of my views will be controversial, and probably inaccurate, whilst some phrases will be reminiscent when they should have been quotations.

For this I seek indulgence from the reader and past writers, bearing in mind that my aims and objectives throughout have been to enlighten a wider public to the achievements of the Berry and Bishop families over an historical period of more than 200 years and their determination to succeed against the odds.