Sheep in Harden County

Harden Murrumburrah: Aboriginal heritage | Cinema / Picture Theatres | Council Chambers | Fossil animals | Flying into Harden 1914 | Historic Buildings | Hotels, Pubs & Inns | McMahon's Reef Goldfield | Platypus | Postal Services | Sheep |

Australian News for Home Readers, 25 May 1864.
Let's talk about sheep and Harden-Murrumburrah.....
 
During 1880 the New South Wales Postmaster General introduced the name County of Harden to a large section of land on the south western slopes of the Great Dividing Range which runs roughly north-south through the eastern part of that state. The new country included the districts of Young, Yass, Cootamundra, Gundagai and Boorowa. The first European settlers to officially occupy the region arrived in the early 1820s, including Ned Ryan at Galong around 1825. At that time the area was designated "beyond the limits of settlement" by the governor, and official allocation of land did not occur until the following decade. Despite this, escaped convicts and free settlers seeking pasture  for their cattle and sheep had travelled to the area from as early as the late 1790s. With official settlement in the 1820s came cattle, sheep and crops such as wheat. Precise identification of the introduction of sheep to the Harden-Murrumburrah district is not available, however the following chronology lists some early references and it is obvious that there was much activity during that decade. By the 1840s most of the available land was allocated, if not granted.

1823

- Henry O'Brian introduces Merino sheep to Yass (Jervis 1955). 

- Aborigines spear sheep and cattle for food from this point.

1825

- Ned Ryan and Roger Corcoran open runs at Galong - Bookham - Boorowa, James White at Young, and Henry O'Brien at Bendenine near Boorowa (Maher 2006).

1828

- Census taken of Goulburn Plains, which includes the Yass to Young area. Matthew Conroy listed as a shepherd.

1829 

- Explorer Charles Sturt states that the land to the west of Mount Bowning, beyond the limits of settlement, was "admirably suited for sheep walks."

- Henry O'Brian takes land at Jugiong and runs sheep. He introduces stud Merino rams from John MacArthur's Camden Park property, and later imports Negretti sheep.

1830 

- William Edward Riley comments on O'Brian's sheep stations, with a shepherd for 600-1000 sheep. He had about 10,000 on the Yass Plains.

1835-7 

- Yass Bench of Magistrate books reveal some of Ned Ryan's convicts charged with "loss of sheep" and flogged.

1841 

- Ned Ryan's Galong grazing run of 38,400 acres carries 5,000 sheep. 

- Lachlan squatting district defined in the 1841 Census.

1843 

- During the depression Henry O'Brian promotes the boiling down of sheep and cattle to create tallow.

1844 

- Cumbamurra grazing run of 60,000 acres carries 4,000 sheep. Location: South west of Galong.

1858 

- Bogolong Run of 18,000 acres near Yass is offered for sale, carrying 3,700 sheep, with a wool shed and capacity of 6,000. 

1865 

- John Way, shepherd at Bobbara Creek near Binalong (Young 2016).

1869 

- 700 sheep at Balgalal near Binalong, the property of John Conway.

1888 

- The Friend brothers import sheep from the United States and stud sheep from Tasmania. 

1904 

- The Friend brothers holdings known as Bendenine carries 34,593 sheep. It includes Bendenine on the Boorowa River, Bobbara, Illalong, Kuriong and Dunderaligo.

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References

Barrett, Max, King of Galong Castle, Engineers Media, Crows Nest, 3rd edition, 2008, 216p.

Jervis, James, Henry O'Brian Started Boiling Down and Saved the Sheep Industry, The Farmer and Settler, 30 September 1955.

Maher, Rev. Brian, Binalong: Beyond the Limits, Genie Publishing, Canberra, 2006, 127p.

Young, Anne, Shepherding near Murrumburrah, NSW [blog], 8 May 2016.

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Harden Murrumburrah: Aboriginal heritage | Cinema / Picture Theatres | Council Chambers | Fossil animals | Flying into Harden 1914 | Historic Buildings | Hotels, Pubs & Inns | McMahon's Reef Goldfield | Platypus | Postal Services | Sheep |

Last updated 21 June 2022

Michael Organ

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