Ku-ring-gai Clippings Vol 18

Ku-ring-gai Clippings
Being a collection of 19th and 20th century newspaper articles with a connection to the Municipality of Ku-ring-gai.

Editor: R. N. Whitaker
email: whitsend1@optushome.com.au

Volume 18: Issued Saturday 16th January 2010

LINDFIELD.
Sydney – The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 27th February 1903.

Tho work in connection with the erection of a Public School building at Lindfield is progressing, and it is anticipated that it will be available about
Easter-time.

A movement is on foot at Lindfield to urge upon the postal authorities the desirability of providing a post office for the district and of otherwise improving postal facilities.

LINDFIELD.
Sydney – The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 12th March 1903.

Some time ago a site was purchased for the erection of a Church of England at Lindfield in close proximity to the railway station. At a meeting held the other day at St. John’s Rectory plans were submitted, and one selected at an estimated cost of £500. The work in connection with the erection will be started shortly, and it is intended to hold a bazaar m the neighbourhood in aid of the project.

PROGRESS OF THE SUBURBS.

V.-CHATSWOOD TO HORNSBY.

Sydney – The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 28th June 1913.

For the most attractively progressive suburbs of Sydney today one has to take ferry from Circular Quay and train from Milson's Point up the North Shore line. There, in what was but a few years ago heavy timbered bush, dotted with the homes of orchardists, and earlier with the huts of timber-getters, are some of the most palatial homes around Sydney, and with them many hundreds of admirable cottage residences in the most advanced architectural styles, surrounded by delightful gardens, and embowered In umbrageous trees, native and exotic.

These are truly Sydney's beautiful highland suburbs, situated In what is described by Miss Ethel Turner In one of her books as the "Red Road Country." They are grouped, and known as a specially picturesque and invigorating district of Sydney. They were once a delightful objective for drives and picnics among the orchards and the orangeries and eucalypts, which were unsurpassed by those of any district within hundreds of miles of the metropolis. It was a singular exception to the rest of Sydney's surroundings-a district remarkable for the richness of its soil as well as for its salubrity. It embraces the highest country this side of the Blue Mountains.

More than 60 years ago this magnificent area was called the Lane Cove district. It was then but little thought of except for timber getting purposes, and even years afterwards the late Mr. Henry Copeland, who was always regarded as a particularly shrewd man, told the Public Works Committee that it would be better to pull up the rails of the branch line from Hornsby to St. Leonards than to extend them to tho waters of the harbour. But what a change has come over the district which Mr. Copeland regarded so contemptuously. From that populous Chatswood district one goes to picturesque Roseville, accessible Lindfield, vigorous Killara, old world Gordon, and the fashionable group of beautiful high country suburbs of Pymble, Turramurra, Warrawee, Wahroonga, Waitara, and Hornsby, the latter the junction of the northern railroad.

Between the years 1800 and 1836, most of the land between Chatswood and Hornsby, which comprised the watershed of the Lane Cove River, was taken up by early settlers, many of whom had grants of land promised them before leaving the old country. One of the first settlers was D. D. Matthews, who had a grant of 400 acres given to him. But later this became the land of R. Archbold and others, for Matthews promised the Crown to erect up-to-date sawmills, and to furnish the young city of Sydney with plenty of timber for building houses, wharfs, etc., if he was given a grunt of some 800 acres in the district known as Rosedale, near Gordon.

Robert Pymble, long since dead, was another early settler and timber-getter, arid the first man to grow oranges. He had 600 acres as a grant. His son Robert, who recently died, (Editors Note: His funeral was in 1910 – see Ku-ring-gai Clippings, Vol 14 page 3) and who lived in the district from tho time he was 5 years old, carried on the work of timber-getting and growing fruit In succession to his father, and Robert Pymble, jun., grandson of the original, is still in the district which derives its name from this early settler. It was not long after the settlement by Matthews and others that there were hundreds of timber-getters at work in this picturesque country. They supplied Sydney with blackbutt, mahogany, turpentine, stringy- bark, and ironbark, as well as a plentiful supply of red-gum, blue-gum, and apple. In those days Sydney depended upon this district for the whole of its hardwood timbers, and in the absence of steamers arriving from abroad the people largely used the timber from tho Lane Cove district for joinery work, as well as everything else.

There were some giant trees in this rich forest. Mr. James G. Edwards, who has been connected with the district for over 50 years, tells how he and tho late Mr. Norman Selfe, another old resident, measured the stump of a tree near Wahroonga railway station, and found it to be 11ft 6in through, and there were hundreds of thousands of trees from 4ft to 6ft In diameter scattered throughout the district. It was the particularly rich soil characteristic of tho district, combined with the climate and the rainfall, which made the trees so magnificent.

Editor’s comments: The remarks about the high rainfall are correct. The North Shore ridge has the highest average rainfall across the Sydney basin. Some average annual rainfalls are: Turramurra 1432 mm; Wahroonga 1334 mm, Pymble 1444mm. These are compared with Observatory Hill Sydney with 1209 mm.

In spite of the immense drain upon the supply, hundreds of other trees grow vigorously; and while there are not many of these giants loft today, for most of the land has been cleared, yet happily in some instances these trees have been carefully preserved by tho present owners, and no doubt in years to come they will be regarded as one of the sights of Sydney.

This timber industry lasted for many years, and there are men still living who spent their earlier life in it. These early settlers and master timber-getters, such as Robert Pymble, the late John Brown, and the late Mr. Hinds, were in a large way of business, and employed several hundred men. When the sawyers first entered the district and built their slab huts made from the bark of the trees, and dug their old-fashioned saw- pits-for there were no steam mills In those days - they found still more primitive dwellings already existing, the gunyahs of the blacks. There was no lacking of sport with the gun, for the district, rich in vegetable life and forest foods, swarmed with game. Kangaroo, wallaby, opossums, and many other furred beasts roamed the plateau, and dwelt in the rocky and cave - like portions, or climbed the massive trees.

But there were no roads, only tracks for the bullock drays. The main track led down to what was and is still known as Fidden's wharf. This wharf is situated near the head of the waters of tho Lane Cove River, near the present golf links of what is today picturesque Killara. It was to this wharf that the timber was hauled, and there landed on timber boats or punts, which were propelled to the old Market wharf in Sydney by oars used by boatmen like "old Joe Fidden," Lewis, Waterhouse Bros., and others. The provisions for the sawyers were brought back from the city by the same boats, which occasionally got stuck in tho mud, and it was not an uncommon thing for the teamsters to be waiting upon Fidden's wharf until 2 a.m. for the arrival of the timber boats before the sawyers could get anything to eat. But those were days when no attempt was made by the settlers to utilise the soil for growing vegetables, fruit, etc. It was "get timber," and men purchased the land at £1 per acre, for that was the ruling price, simply for the timber that was on it. They did so well out of it that they secured more land for tho same purpose. But all good things come to an end, and so did the 'timber-getters' days as far as this district was concerned. They were compelled to go further north towards the Hawkesbury, and indeed they have been going further north ever since. The Lane Cove district, as it was called in those days, was getting worked out as far as timber-getters went, and the orchard period made its
appearance.

The late Robert Pymble was the pioneer orchardist. His orchard was at the side of the Pymble railway station, and here it was learnt for the first time that the district was well adapted for citrus fruits, as well as for the ordinary summer fruits-peaches, apricots, pears, apples, nectarines, etc. Mr. Pymble imported the first orange seed into the district. It was not long before other orchards sprang into existence, and they were magnificent. Some of the heavy timber remained around them, and protected the orange trees from decimating blasts. There were no diseases, no blights, no other troubles. Everything in the orchard was lovely, and the branches of the different trees touched each other, although they were planted 22ft apart. Some of the fruit trees grow to a height of from 20ft to 30ft, and were laden with delicious fruit. Close by Pymble's orchard was the famous one of the late Hon. Richard Hill. This was one of the show places of Sydney, to which Governors and distinguished visitors were driven as a thing not to be missed. Delightful social functions took place under the shade of the old apple trees. Mr. Hill's orchard ran from Pymble to the site of Mr. Carson's residence. This magnificent orchard was sold by Mr. Hill to Mr. McKeown for £7500, which gives some idea of the value of a good orchard around Sydney 40 years ago. But not long after a hailstorm, the worst which ever visited Sydney, destroyed that orchard; in a few minutes stripped the heavy fruit-Iaden trees as bare as they are In the dead of winter. On another occasion, in the early days, the residents had a heavy fall of snow, and for the first and only time local people indulged in snowballing near Sydney.

Editor’s comment: It is likely that this latter weather event was the celebrated snowfall of 1836 that was recounted in the Sydney Herald on Thursday 30th June of that year:

“A STRANGER - For the first time in the memory of the oldest inhabitants, snow fell in Sydney on the morning of Tuesday last. About seven o'clock in the morning a drifting fall covered the streets, nearly an inch in depth; and it really was amusing to witness how the “ natives" stared at so unexpected a visitant. A razor-keen wind from the west blew pretty strongly at the time; and altogether it was the most English-like winter morning-always "barring" the fog-ever experienced in this part of the Colony. Heavy rain succeeded; but in the course of the day, the thermometer sank very low, and at night the air almost denoted a " biting frost." Some of the “old hands" express a hope that their old acquaintances, Messrs. Frost and Snow do not intend emigrating to New South Wales. They say that the old fellows are still remembered with kindness, as the invariable attendants on Merry Old Christmas, in the land where his approach annually gladdens so many honest hearts; but, somehow, their apprehended emigration to New South Wales does not seem to diffuse universal gladness here. For our own parts, we may say that a remonstrance against any such design was at our fingers' ends nearly all day on Tuesday.”

About that time Matthews and Pymble began to sell their holdings, and this was the beginning of tho end of tho orchard period. Thus the sequence of progress up to 1870 had been aboriginal life, timber-getters paradise, and orchardists' pride. The latter was beginning to pass to make room for another period, the pre-railway residential pioneer. Railway settlement had been promised. Land which had been selling at £1 per acre was in the market at £2 and £3 per acre, and up to £5 per acre nearer the city; but around Wahroonga and Hornsby large tracts of country changed hands at £1 per acre.

An estate of nearly 1400 acres at Wahroonga, Waitara, and Hornsby, owned by the late Mr. Terry Hughes, was purchased by a syndicate consisting of J. F. Burns, G. Withers, and R. B. Smith at £1 per acre, and the Government engaged the unemployed to make roads round this land. This created quite a furore In Parliament. With the promise of a railway to the district land began to rise in value, and reached as high as £10 per acre. Up to this period tho district had been visited by hail and snow storms, tremendous bush fire, and now blights caused by the destruction of the bush made their appearance. Residential values went up, and, with the trees giving reduced returns, it did not pay to hold land that was getting dearer every year. Although it was the opening of the railway which brought about rapid settlement, yet it cannot be forgotten that there were many pioneer settlers before tho arrival of the iron horse; in fact, there was quite a little township about Gordon. These people revelled in the beautiful bush scenery and the delightful mountain air of this line. Some were attracted by the desire for rural surroundings In contrast to their city associations. Others went on a visit in search of health, and they found it there in abundance; delicate women became robust, and rundown men found new zest In nature's health-restoring sanatorium. ,

The dawn of the railway was witnessed, but not before there was some hard fighting by the residents, in which men like J. G. Edwards (first secretary of the league), C. C. Bullock, Loxton, Dugald Thomson, M. M'Mahon, W. H. McEwan, Cullen, and .T. S. Smldmore took an active part. Land sales became more frequent, and in 1870 Messrs. Richardson and Wrench sold a big estate for the trustees of the late Mr. R. Vance at Wahroonga, known as Vancevllle. It consisted of 255 acres. Fifteen acres of this subdivision brought £5 per acre, 57 acres realised £3 10s per acre, and 182 acres brought £3 10s per acre. Total: £917. What is the value of the same land today! It is on both sides of the railway line near the station.

At last the railway was constructed. The first sod was turned in 1887, and the line officially opened from Hornsby to St. Leonards on April 30, 1893. With the completion of the railway came the naming of tho districts and the stations. Hornsby until this time was South Colah, but as there was another Colah, confusion in the delivery of letters, etc., continually arose, and it was decided to call the place Hornsby, after a constable named Horn, who had a grant of land given him for meritorious service in the capturing of a gang of bushrangers. Waitara got its name through a suggestion from the owner or part owner of the land where the station was erected. Warrawee was named by the late Mr. Remington, who got it from a Killara resident. Turramurra was the name the blacks had given to tho district above Pymble. Wahroonga is also a native name. Pymble is called after the original grantee. Gordon took its name from the parish. Lindfield was the name of a cottage standing close to tho station; and Roseville was also mimed after a cottage which stood where the station is, but was resumed by the Works Department.

With the railway open, it was but natural that hundreds of people should decide to buy land in this district, and when subdivision of estates was commenced it was not surprising to find men of the stamp of Messrs. Chas. Hayes, Jas. Toohey, Sargood, Saddington, Parish, and others, buying large-sized blocks in the neighbourhood of Wahroonga, Pymble, and Turramurra. Killara sprang into existence much later, for it is only 15 years since Mr. Edwards went there, and only within the last 10 years that the big rise in land values has taken place. Today we find this group of suburbs from Chatswood to Hornsby containing a large residential population of leading Sydney citizens, having all the facilities of advanced suburban life, including sports clubs of every description, gas, water, the telephone-in fact, the amenities of a high standard of civilised comfort, and even luxury -and they have as well the inestimable boon of spacious grounds, ample gardens, fruitful orchards, wide roads, and great bush stretches in the gullies to the waters of Lane Cove, Middle Harbour, and Cowan Creek, to say nothing of that superb scenery around that grand and natural park-like lands, Ku-ring-gai Chase, which will be the happy resort and especial pride of the people of this line.

But what a development in 50 years! How land values rose from £1 per acre to as high as £15 per foot, which price is being paid today for business corners at Hornsby and other places. How a wild bush, which less than 50 years ago was inhabited by blacks, afterwards timber getters, and later orchardists, is now well laid out suburbs with all the advantages produced by civilisation, including a splendid railway service and other requirements necessary to progress is evidence of the progress this highland district has made. What of the future, with a bridge spanning the harbour, and the railway carried into the heart of the city. Truly the future of these suburbs must be great indeed!

PYMBLE’S ROLL OF HONOUR

Sydney – The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 17th April 1916.

Editors Note: On Saturday 15th April 1916, at Pymble Railway Station, and before a large crowd, Mr. C.G. Wade, MLA, unveiled the Pymble and St. Ives Roll of Honour – those who had served their country in World War 1. Two photographs of this event were published in the Sydney Morning Herald on the following Monday.