The
Life of Mr. J. Gormly M.L.C. 1
February 1918 Cootamundra Herald (NSW : 1877 - 1954) Friday |
Seventy-Eight
Years Ago and Since. Mr. James Gormley,
M.L.C., may indeed be called an old colonist, having arrived with his parents
in Sydney on the 20th January, 1840, just 78 years ago, and his earliest
recollections are fall of interest. In 1841-42, he says, there was a keen
financial crisis in the colony, many of the banks suspending payment. At this time, land, stock, and
stations became a drag in the market, so that many of the large property owners
who had incurred financial obligations became bankrupt. In the early forties a ditty was often
heard hummed in the streets of Sydney and in the other parts of the colony,
describing how the sheriff, under a writ of the Supreme Court, had sold a sheep
station and stock. Two lines of the ditty ran as follow:- He
took them and sold them, I'm
sure 'twas a sin, At
six pence a head and
the station given in. Money had become so scarce in
consequence of the want of a profitable market for agricultural produce and
stock that the owners of cattle and sheep found it expedient to boil down
their fat stock and to export the tallow. This depression continued until gold
was found in large quantities in 1851. Pioneering
Days. In the pioneering days most of the
boys had to begin work at an early age in order to assist their parents. In '44, when only 8 years of age,
James Gormley was able to ride a horse and assist
his father to drove cattle from the Illawarra district to the Murrumbidgee,
where the family had settled, about 15 miles below Gundagai. This was three years before the site
of a township was marked out at Wagga, the first buildings being erected in
1847. In '46 James Gormley's
father joined one of his neighbours in sending a mob of cattle to Gippsland,
where there was then a brisk demand for store cattle. Young Gormley,
although then only 10 years of age, was allowed by his father to assist to
drive the cattle, which numbered about 700 head, to Gippsland. The journey proved a most difficult
one. There was no track across the
mountains and the peaks in many places were covered with snow. During three weeks of that journey no
single habitation was seen. After crossing the Dividing Range the
party followed down the McAllister River to near where the town of Sale now
stands, and there the cattle were sold and delivered. Overland.
In 1840-47 there was a brisk demand in
the: new province of South Australia, for young bullocks, to be used as
workers to haul the copper ore from Capunda and
Burra mines to the ports for shipment. The Gormley
family were residing on the main track down the Murrumbidgee, upon which
numerous mobs of cattle found their way to South Australia. Near the end of '46 young Gormley's father sold some of his cattle to Tom and Dan
Tool, who then owned Tool's Creek Station, near Wagga. The Tools were then collecting a big
mob of young bullocks to take over to the copper mines in South Australia. Anxious for another overland journey
with stock, and all it means, James induced his parents to allow him to
accompany the Tool brothers, both of whom were reliable men, with stock to
South Australia. This journey, which took place in the
summer of '47, occupied six months. It was during this trip, whilst
travelling through the mallee scrub, away back for the Darling River frontage, that one night the cattle,
which were very wild, were stampeded by a large tribe of hostile blacks. They were so widely scattered that it
took weeks to get them together again. When the junction of the Darling and Murray
Rivers was passed large tribes of hostile blacks were frequently met with. As soon as it became known that a
party of overlanders were approaching the tribes used their smoke signals,
and collected together in large numbers to block the passage of the stock. At night the bullocks could smell the
blacks when they appro-ached the camps and would rush and scatter in all
directions. In the dense mallee
scrub collecting the scattered stock was difficult and dangerous work, as the
blacks were often in ambush watching to get a chance to spear the white men. The party, however, overcame all
difficulties and made a profitable sale of the bullocks. In 1850 there was no rain of any value
on the Murrumbidgee, and during the summer of '51 the drought continued, when
nearly half of the stock on the river died for want of grass. The drought broke in scattered thunderstorms
in April and May, and the winter proved an excessively wet one. The
Finding of Gold. Gold was found in the summer of 1851
at Lewis Ponds Creek, in the Bathurst district and as winter approached there
was a general rush to the diggings. Mr. James Gormley,
the subject of these reminiscences, and his two elder brothers were amongst
the first to rush the goldflelds, first to Summer
Hill, near, the site of the early discovery, and afterwards to the Turon
River where the three brothers worked in the bed of the river, undergoing
great hardships and privations. The winter of '51 on the Turon
goldfields was no-ted for storms and floods. The Gormley
brothers, who had a claim in the bed of the river, were fre-quently
flooded out, and the tools, pumps, and other plant swept away by the rush of
water. When the rich goldflelds
of Mt. Alexander and Ballarat became widely famed for their richness, as they
did in the summer of 1852, the Gormley brothers
left the Turon and made their way over to the New El dorado. On their way they called at Gundagai
and spent some time with their parents. Only the very old residents of
Australia will recall the great flood which occurred on the 25th June, 1852. It swept down the valley of the
Murrumbidgee, carrying death and destruction in its wake. In the then flourishing town of
Gundagai nearly the whole of the houses were swept away and nearly 100 of the
residents drowned. And this flood is indelibly im-pressed
upon Mr. Gormley's memory. Among those who perished were the
whole of the Gormley family, with the exception of
James (the author of these reminiscences) and his elder brother, Thomas. They had a swim for a very long distance,
when they were fortunate enough to find a big tree, in the branches of which
they took refuge. They remained there the whole of one
very frosty night and the greater part of the next day. Undeterred by the bitter experience
the two brothers continued their journey to the Victorian gold fields and
searched for the precious metal at Bendigo, Ballarat, Forest Creek, and the
Ovens. Diggers
and Police. To tell in detail all the adventures
of James and his brother on the goldfields would be to give a history of
these two fields during their most turbulent times. A state of revolt existed amongst the
diggers, brought about by the high handed tyranny of the goldfleld
commissioners and other Government officials.
One very exciting, incident will
suffice. At Reid's Creek, on the Ovens diggings, a squad of police who had
been chasing diggers who had no licenses, were
captured by the infuriated miners. During the trouble a miner was
accidentally shot dead. The excited crowd jumped to the
conclusion that a police-man had wilfully shot the miner. A rope was procured, a noose placed
over the head of the unfortunate policeman and the limb of a nearby tree was
about to be used as a gallows. The Gormley
brothers who, were aware that the shot was quite accidental, came up just in
the nick of time. As the infuriated diggers were just
about to pull up the policeman Thomas Gormley. cut the rope just in time to save the man's life. Mr. James Gormley
returned to the Murrumbidgee in 1853 and was not, therefore, a spectator of
the famous Eureka Stockade riot on the Ballarat goldfields in 1854. He settled in Wagga that year, and is
still a resident of that flourishing and progressive Riverina township. For over 80 years he has taken a
leading part in all movements having for their object the advancement of the
town and district and the institutions connected there with. Horse
Racing All sportsmen know that for the last
60 years Wagga has been a great racing centre. With a true Irishman's love of sport
Mr. Gormley utilised the fast horses he had to
promote and encourage race meetings. As far back as 1864 the sportsmen of
Wagga and district subscribed no less a sum than £1000 as the prize money for
a champion race. Other money was provided and sufficient
funds made for a three days' meeting. On that occasion the three miles'
championship was won by Mr. P. J. Keighran's
Mormon, which had previously won a championship race in Tasmania. It was soon after the meeting that the
Murrumbidgee Turf Club was established. It is still in existence and
flourishing. In those early days it was established
an annual race meeting, extending over three days, and gave substantial
prizes. In many cases these prizes were oven
greater than those given by the Australian Jockey Club. Being about midway between Sydney and
Melbourne, Wagga attracted the good horses from both cities and some stern
contests were witnessed. Mr. James Gormley
was a great admirer of racing, and was one of the first and principal
promoters of the sport in that centre, and in the early days he used to ride
his own horses on the flat and in steeplechases. He won many prizes. In the boom days
of racing in Wagga, the principal prize was £1000 and a gold cup. Mr. Gormley
acted as starter, judge, and honorary handicapper, and in 1885 he donated a gold
cup, valued at £120, as a prize to be added to the principal race. Probably no other race attracted quite
so much attention as the 10 mile event, which was run on the Wagga course in
November, 1868, the prize being a sweepstakes of 5 sovs., with £300 added
money. There were 13 starters, William Yeomans, who was then considered the best jockey in
Australia, winning on H. J. Bowler's Australian.
Richard Grosvenor, who rode his own horse, Comet, came second, and W. Bowmen, or Bowen, on M'Allister's Riverina,
was third. Three years before Riverina ran third in the Melbourne
Cup. The time of this great race
(welterweights) was 23min 34 secs., which shows that
the pace was fast and furious throughout. Camel, the horse
that Mr. Gormley selected out of his stud to run in
this long race, was fast, but fractious and very difficult to manage. During the first three miles he led
the field by two-thirds of a mile and notwithstanding this mad rush lie was
very close to the first three at the finish. This particular horse won Mr. Gormley 24 races, including the Gundagai Cup, a race of
two and a half miles. Yeomans, who rode the
winner, received a great ovation when he weighed in and was rewarded with the
prize. |