FIRST CENTURY OF DAIRYING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



dairy cattle came prosperity to the settlers, and a,s years rolled on 

 the highway.- and byways that were for many years before mere cedar 

 sings were bridg-ed over with logs and sawn planks. It was only 

 from the stories told by the mothers or grandmothers of the present 

 generation that the real truths of the pioneering days could be ob- 

 tained. Their husbands, or brothers, or .fathers, as the case might be, 

 were as a rule away in the bush working whilst the mothers and 

 daughters were looking after the little home, and attending a few 

 cows, poultry, and other live stock of the little bush farm. While this 

 was being done the rich .settlers had large or small gangs according 

 to circumstances of convict and emigrant servants employed clearing 

 and improving their holdings, which they had obtained either free 

 from the Crown or for a few articles that at that time were considered 

 current coin in New South Wales by way of barter, from some po/or 

 unfortunate who had lost heart r er some family trouble. It goes 

 without saying that nrany lalrge holdings were put together in this 

 way. Yet in the midst of all the struggling^ of the poorer classes 

 and all the graspings of the rich ones, there was much genuine friend- 

 ship and very little crime. In the midst of all those wild days mothers 

 thought nothing of walking with a child in arms to and from Kiama, 

 JambeToo, or Shellharbor, or from either of these three places to either 

 Shoalhaven or Wollongong to see and comfort a sick friend, and they 

 in turn received visits from their lady friends from those localities 

 over twenty miles distant. Those mothers who could afford a h^rse 

 constantly carried a baby and sundries in front of them, and rode 

 from Kiama to Sydney. From Shoalhaven and Kangaroo Valley over 

 the bush tracks to and from Wollongotng on horseback was quite 

 common. The monotony of these journeys was broken by the thou- 

 sands of birds that were to be seen by day, and the various kindsr of 

 marsupials that kept constantly moving by night. Human beings, 

 however , were practically safe from injury whilst travelling by day 

 or night. The smaller settlers welcomed the stranger, and shared the, 

 best *they had w ( ith him ; thq rich, on the otheir hand, passed him 

 round to their kitchen and saw him no more. But the poorest wejre 

 rich in those days, because they had plenty and were contented. 



1820-23. In the January of 1820 Mr. Geo'rge Johnston, the eldest 

 son of George Johnston, Esq.. of Annandale, Sydnev. nnid a visit to 

 Illawarra, where his father had received some very valuable grants of 

 land. It was Mr. George Johnston's intention he being at the time 

 in an important and responsible situation namely, Superintendent of 

 Government Stock to settle in Illawarra and turn his attention to 

 breeding purebred cattle and horses, but he was unfortunately thrown 

 from his horse and killed a few weeks after his visit to Illawarra, at 

 the age of 31 years. His fatheJr, George Johnston, Esq., formerly Lieu- 

 tenant-Colonel in the I02nd Regiment, and Acting Ruler of this colony 

 for some months in 1808, during the memorable suspension of Gover- 

 nor Bligh's authority, died at his seat at Annandale January 5th. iS_M 



About the year 1823 many settlers were establishing good homes in 

 and around the Liverpool district, and as Illawarra was adjacent 

 thereto a number of these well-to-^o settlers obtained grants of 1-md 

 from the Crown in Illawarra, and by means of the packhorse (an 

 animal which greatly assisted the early settlers to pioneer every nook 

 and corner of this country) they commenced settling on the fertile 

 lands of one of the most beautiful districts in Australia. The pack- 

 l-.or-rs and tin- dairy cows grazed side by side in Illawarra. The cow 

 produced the wealth and tlie horse packed it to market, out of difficult 

 yullio. o\er flooded Creeks, through di-nx.- limber, and over rocky 

 ranges for years and years before a wheeled conveyance could be 

 brOUftht into the (greater part <>f tins country. About Dapto Forest, 

 in Illawarra, many small grants <>f land were made of from fifty to 

 one hundred acres each. Then came the larger and more important 

 grants which were carefully surveyed into convenient areas. Each 

 of the larger settlers, who were anxious to improve their holdings, 



38, 



