Samuel’s Australian History
Little is known about Samuel’s earlier years in and around Melbourne or Geelong between the time of his arrival in November 1857 and his marriage to Martha Steel four years later. His father, Samuel senior, received a letter from him, dated 9th September 1858, (9 months after his arrival in Melbourne) and replied on the 5th December 1858 as follows,
Dear Samuel
We recd your letter dated September 9th. in due time and was glad to know of your being in good health. I sent off a cheque for fifty pounds ten shillings on the Bank of New South Wales Melbourne dated London 4th October. I posted it in Larne on the 6th. of said month and registered the letter. I directed it to you to the care of Mr Robert Whiteford. I expect you have got it all right before this reaches you if not write immediately to me and let me know. We are all in good health at present and going on with our business as usual. Br.John still in Mr. Boyds as yet and W.A. is in Glasgow at College this winter and was in good health last accounts from him. Your cousin McRoberts is in Wrexham in England keeping a grocery shop and doing pretty well his brother William has rented a Iittle store from David Thorburn of Belfast and deals in butter bacon and eggs. he buys pigs and salts them and sends them over to James and appears to be doing pretty well. there has few changes taken place. write when this reaches you and give us a full account of the manner of making of life in that country they think your letters too short.
This implies he may have taken up residence with the Whiteford’s, or was at least, in regular contact with this family. In the same letter was an enclosure authorizing Samuel to receive 10 pounds from a Mr. James McCarry, which “ he borrowed from me on the 23rd September, 1853 with whatever interest he thinks fit to give by paying my son Samuel I will receive it the same as payment to myself.”
In another letter written to Samuel in October 1871, Samuel senior said;
The homestead Ballyrickardmore Oct 22 1871
Dear Samuel and Mrs. We were very glad to receive a letter from you. We received it in due time but was sorry to hear of both yourself and Mrs. having a spell of bad health. I fondly hope you are both got well again and able to perform your duties among your family of children. for myself I am still as yet pretty healthy but very much troubled with rhymatic pains in my loins and knees I am very lame but thank God I might be worse. Your mother has had a spell of being unwell this some time past. She was confined to bed for about three weeks and brother William attended her twice a week. She is very weak yet but able to get about a part of the day. We are in hope that she will accompany us a little longer through this world of care Br Thomas Mrs. and family is well at present he has three fine healthy children Samuel William A and Eliza they are making great improvements on their farm and doing well. Sister Eliza Jane and husband is in good health they have three children all little girls fine healthy ones they live within one half mile of Glenarm have a farm of sixty acres pays 72.10 pounds of rent yearly. I consider it a good farm can raise wheat or beans on it. they paid 780 pounds for it if they keep in health and is fortunate they may do pretty well on it. Mother complains she does not see her daughter often enough now. Br John still the bachelor yet and so young in his appearance you would not think him above twenty yet he has been the past three years stationed on the Ballyclare circuit it being all the time their rules allow them to remain on one place if an unmarried man. He is changed to the County of Down to Ballyr….. this year He went in July and likes the place. John is considered to be a steady good preacher and well up to the rules of methodism and is much respected. brother William A is not married again as yet though his mother still advising him to try again. He had a nice agreeable woman for his wife but was not allowed to enjoy her long. I believe there is not a doctor in the town of Belfast doing more business than he is doing at present. Br Mathew mother and myself a servant man and a servant girl is all the inhabitants of the home house at present Servants wages very high now they get from eight to ten pounds half year bed and board. girls gets from four to five pounds the half year You will get no man to work for less than one shilling and four pence per day and board the potato Crop all over Ireland is not good this season we have not more than the one third of what we had this few years past the disease came on soon and cut them all down the one half in general is a part of them rotton and what is sound is quite soft and not fit for food. We had a pretty good corn crop this year and cut early in the season. It was all in storks about the 12th of September. there has been a very good crop of hay and well saved. We have got a little machine up to help us in our work it both Churns and thrashes is worked with one horse and appears to do the work well. Cows of all sorts is selling high from £10 to £20 We have a neighbour sold four May calves in Ballymena fair for the sum of nineteen pounds. Horses I never knew so dear is at present you can get no horse fit for farm use for less than twenty pounds and from that to forty. Sheep high in price. Pork pigs of all sorts getting down in price it sells from 38 shillings to 43s per cwt of 112 lbs. Butter from one shilling to 14d per lb. I must tell you something about your old comrades and friends Your uncle Andrew is dead he died about two months ago. His son Robert came home on a pension of £40 per year and got married to his old sweetheart Miss Lagan. His brother James got unhealthy and got off the police on a pension of £20 per year. They have joined together and bought a house in Larne and set up a public house in company and is doing pretty well for so far but Roberts Mrs. does not appear to have any family. Your friend John McRobert’s wife is dead. She died in March last leaving six children. Her death will be a great loss to him but the wheels of this world must revolve around as usual. His second child a girl has got married to Mr Robert McCormick son of James McCormick about two months ago. Your friend James Gilmour has got a daughter married to a young man of the name of McKinstry in June last. Brother Crawford and family was all well the last letter we got from him but he has had severe spells of sickness He told us in his last letter we got from him that he did not expect ever to be so strong as he used to be again. Their family getting up to be men and women so they will be a great help in working the farm. I think he has a good independent way of living. The war and its effects was ill on him in several ways. He holds between three and four hundred acres of land. His address is this Crawford McWilliam Unionton Cherry grove post office Schuyler County Missouri America. Before he had the last spell of sickness he wrote to us that he would come home to see us but has not spoke of it since. Your friend Matthew McRoberts and family of eight children is well. James Crawford and family is well. None of them is married as yet but Mary who lives in Jersey City at New York. The husband name is K. McFerren. They keep a shop there and is doing well. They were home seeing their parents about a year ago. Your friend Nathaniel Moore is still in the police force in England. He was over this summer to see his friend before he went away. A lady from England came over and he went down to Glenarm and got married and went home to England to live happy the remainder of their lives. If you were over and see your mother and myself you would scarcely know us each … in hand. I am in my seventy second year and mother not much less. We are not for from the grave. And may God bless you and your family is the prayer of your parents
S. and Elizabeth McWilliam
Samuel’s activities in Gippsland.
Nothing more is known about Samuel’s time in the Geelong region apart from his marriage to Martha Steel by the Rev. Joseph Dare at the Yarra St. Methodist church, Geelong, on the 6th January 1863. Martha and Samuel’s marriage certificate states that Samuel was a present resident of East Geelong but usual resident of Sale, Gippsland and described him as a Farmer.
Records found by Lloyd Evans showed Samuel’s first selection of land in the Sale district on 26th July 1863, designated in the 1862 survey as “good agricultural land”, was on the south bank of the Thompson river about 32km from Stringer’s Creek. He paid 78 pound for subdivision A of two allotments 2A and 3A, section 13, Parish of Denison, consisting of 77 acres 2 roods and 7 perches (about 31Ha) and paying 2s 6d per acre for the adjoining subdivision B of allotments 2A and 3A, completing the purchase on 5th December 1868. In the meantime he added two more allotments 3F and 3D of 32 acres, bringing his holdings up to the south bank of the Thompson to 177 acres (71Ha) in 1867. The eastern boundary of his property was the present Rosedale-Nambrok road. The land was intersected by the Sale-Heyfield road and was located about 12km from Rosedale, 19km to Sale and 11km to Heyfield. (Denison Parish Map (hot link) is shown under drop down menu of "Corowa Property Maps")
In 1865 he bought in share with another Irish immigrant, William Ross, another property about 3km east towards Sale along the Sale –Heyfield road. They paid 553 pounds 7s 6d for 100 acres bounded on the east by the Rosedale-Maffra road. On 13th August 1867, they bought another 12 acres taking this property right up to the south bank of the Thompson river. The partnership ended in 1869 and Samuel ended up with around 215 acres.
During this period, Martha had borne 4 children, William (31.10.1863) probably named after Samuel’s brother and Martha’s half brother (William Saunders); Eliza Jane (13.2.1865) named after Samuel’s sister; Crawford (14.9.1866) and John James (17.6.1868) both named after Samuel’s brothers, the first now farming in the USA and the second a preacher of the gospel.
By 1875 three more children were born: Thomas (4th March 1870), Edmund (3rd December 1871, probably named after Martha's father Edmund Steel ) and Albert, date unknown, who died in infancy. Samuel's concern for the spiritual welfare of his young family was evident in his efforts, as trustee, for the construction of a Presbyterian Church on the Public Reserve located on the Sale- Heyfield road, on the south-west corner of the property he purchased with Ross in 1865. Another trustee, George Gibson, conducted a private school at Toongabbie during the 1860s and it is possible that the children attended that school or, possibly, the private school conducted by their neighbour, Mrs. Buntine. By the early 1870s the Denison Presbyterian Church Hall was used as a rural school under the care of Edwin Weaver. On the 1st December 1873, Samuel McWilliam and George Gibson, with two other trustees, leased the Church Hall to the Department of Education established by the Education Act of 1872. It is possible that the McWilliam Children were foundation members of Denison State School which celebrated its centenary in 1974.
Meetings of the Rosedale Road Board were fully reported in the Gippsland Times during Samuel's period of office from May 1869 to July 1870, providing the only direct evidence of his expressions of opinion in Gippsland. He was assiduous, attending all meetings and speaking on a variety of motions including a number he moved or seconded. The principal issues were rating assessments; the appointment and wages of Board officials and workers; the declaration of main roads by the Road Board Department; road construction and bridge-building priorities (Samuel represented the Board in discussion with the Avon Shire Council on the construction of a bridge across the Thomson);on the collection of statistics by the Registrar General; and support for charitable causes. Members retired in rotation; and when Samuel offered himself for re-election in August 1870 he became the target of dissatisfaction experienced by Rosedale residents who managed to return Henry Luke, store-keeper and coroner, with Samuel running third in the contest for two vacancies.
The announcements in the Gippsland Mercury and in the Gippsland Times during June 1875 by C. Mackintosh & Co. that "they had received instructions from Samuel McWilliam, Esq., of Denison, who has sold his land and is leaving Gippsland, to sell by auction on the ground" his stock, equipment and furnishings, was followed by a further notice on 1 July itemising those goods.
The auction was held at 11am on the 1stJune 1875. The land transfer title indicated that Samuel transferred the title of his Denison land to the Gippsland entrepeneur, John Carpenter “on the 14th day of July at 11.42 o’clock in the forenoon”.
Samuel’s move to Corowa.
It is not known as to why Samuel moved to Corowa after selling his Gippsland properties in 1875. Records show that he purchased one of his new holdings in the vicinity of Corowa.
On the 8th August 1877, Samuel purchased 480 acres from a Robert Broomfield, grazier, of Haddon Rig near Dubbo, for the sum of 1560 pounds, six parcels of land, County of Hume, Parish of Corowa ( portions 5,6,7,18, 19,20). The land was subject to a five year lease to a William Martin Fox dating from 10th December 1875. The land had been originally owned by a Mr. Strother Meyer, who had bought it on 16th March 1858. A vineyard report in the Corowa Free Press dated 19th May 1876, stated that Mr.S. Meyer had planted the first grapes in the district at his Midarroo vineyard, situated about half a mile from Corowa and behind the show ground, in 1862 and that it now consists of 27 acres of vines, mainly shiraz, malbec, verdelho, tokay, muscatel and gouais. It is interesting that Samuel’s purchase in 1877 would appear to be part of one of Mr. Meyers original properties and his name is indicated on these lots on the parish map and the distance from town is similar. Thus it is possible that grapes had already been planted on part of the property purchased by Samuel.
On 23rd May 1878, Samuel purchased 640 acres, known as the Sandy Ridges properties on the Jerilderie road north west from his Corowa purchase made just the year before. He paid 640 pounds for 3 portions, No. 1 of 320 acres, Nos. 114 and 115 of 160 acres each from Edmund Arbon Martin of Coreen. This may have been a speculative investment as it was subsequently sold to Miss Catherine Frame, of Melbourne, for 768 pounds on 14th September 1882, only four years later.
As to the Corowa purchase, where the Sunnyside Vineyard was located on Portion 20 at the south east corner (which became known in Corowa as McWilliam's corner), it appears very likely that Samuel and his family not only occupied the property or portion of it, despite Martin's lease noted in the title, but could have been in occupation as early as 1876 when William Fox Martin became licensee of the Royal hotel in Sanger Street, Corowa. That would account for Samuel's style on the title of "Farmer, of Corowa" for his participation in the affairs of the recently formed Pastoral Agricultural and Horticultural Society early in 1878 and his success in the two shows held that year with stock and equipment; and for the McWilliam family's oral tradition that the planting of the Sunnyside vineyard began in 1877.
At this very same time, a daughter, Isabelle, was born on the 5th August 1877. Two more daughters were to be born at Corowa, Rose May, on the 20thAugust 1880; and Mary (Mollie), on the 20th July 1882, completing a family of five surviving sons and four daughters. It was Mary who provided much information about her father’s family’s life through a scrap book she made and passed down to her daughter.
On their arrival at Corowa, which lacked a Presbyterian church, the children attended the Sunday school at St. John’s Church of England where William and Eliza Jane won prizes for regular attendance in 1878 and Isabelle was a prize-winner as late as 1889. A resident Presbyterian pastor arrived in 1885 and the family became involved in a variety of fund raising activities for the purchase of a site and erection of a Church. Initially, the Corowa School of Arts was the venue of meetings, concerts and drama presentations where Eliza Jane, the first member of the family to reveal exceptional musical talents, was a generous contributor.
Virtually the whole town passed “Sunnyside” enroute to the showgrounds on the south side of the Jerilderie road. The “Pastorial Agricultural and Horticultural Society” had been established in December 1876 to foster improved husbandry in the parish and held its first shows in February and August of 1878. On the 8th January, Samuel was appointed one of the three expert farmers to judge the Poultry, Dairy Produce and Garden Produce sections. In April he was appointed by the committee to a subcommittee of three to draw up a program for a ploughing competition. At the August, 1878, show he won second prize in section 10. Cattle-Durham, for the “Best Cow with Calf at foot”. He became a Vice President in 1888. Statistics supplied by the Cowora Progress Association giving information on farms within a 10 mile radius of the town, listed S. McWilliam as the proprietor of 480 acres on which he ran 310 sheep, 17 cattle and had 10 horses. His early days in Corowa were not without incident. The Cowora Free Press, on the 9th November 1877, ran two articles about Samuel having been sold two stolen horses (a mare and a colt) by a John Gibbs, for 15 pounds each on the 13th September 1877, and details the testimony given by Samuel and others. Police had taken possession of the mare with a CK brand and the body of the colt he had bought at the same time was also found.
Samuel had a great interest in the completion of the Culcain to Cowora railway line which would give direct link to Albury and Sydney. Samuel was noted as the seconder of a motion protesting at the NSW upper house’s blocking of the bill in 1886. The line was opened in 1892 and was most advantageous to Samuel with the terminus being located within a few hundred metres south east of “McWilliam’s corner”.
Samuel’s involvement in winemaking was well established by 1888 with the Corowa Free press publishing an article on him on the 3rd January that same year and reading as follows;
Unfermented Wine - We understand that Mr. S. McWilliam, of Corowa, as the result of a series of experiments, intends devoting a large portion of this year’s vintage to the manufacture of unfermented wine. The manner in which a few bottles made last year have retained their quality has induced him to go into business on a larger scale and he intends to turn out at least 1000 bottles this season. Only a portion of this number is intended for sacramental uses, as the sale for this description of wine is necessarily only limited. Mr McWilliam seeks rather to manufacture a light and palatable beverage suitable for the use of abstainers and with this object will mainly use the lighter sorts of grapes such as Chasselas and Reisling. It is evident that once the initial difficulties are overcome there is plenty of sale for such a beverage as Mr. McWilliam proposes. The “teetotaler” has not hitherto been particularly fortunate in hitting on a substitute for alcoholic liquors. The capacity of the average stomach as regards lemonade is limited; soda water is decidedly not cheering and the various temperance beverages have not up to the present been an unqualified success. There is thus a splendid opening for a new drink- something that can unite the invigorating properties of wine with the harmlessness of water. If Mr. McWilliam can fill this particular “long- felt want” he bids fair to do a large and profitable business.
Further evidence of Samuel’s involvement in viticulture at the time is again reported in the Cowora Free Press of the 12thApril 1889 under the heading of the “Corowa Vine and Fruit Growers Association” report wherein Mr. McWilliam moved that Mr. Buggy be appointed as the association’s representative to visit Sydney to visit the operations of the Vine Diseases Board. At the same meeting, Mr. McWilliam moved a motion that Messrs. Lindemann (Dr Henry Lindemann) and Piggin represent Corowa at the Vinegrowers conference.
Samuel also presented a paper in 1890 to the conference of “Fruit and Vinegrowers” titled “planting Vineyards”.
"In this paper I desire to give you a short sketch of the planting of the vine in the Murray District, round Corowa, from the preparing of the land to the time when we reasonably expect to get a payable crop. Land in the police district of Corowa consists of a chocolate soil on a many subsoil, sandy loam, and a rather lighter sand, both of which have a stiffish clay subsoil. All the varieties of soils have proved very suitable for the growth of those vines which produce rich fruity wines. The total area of vines planted in this district amounts to about 1,000 acres(404.9ha); 706 acres have been in full bearing for some years and the balance has not yet come into bearing. The oldest vines in this district have been bearing upwards of twenty-five years. The system of planting in those days was as follows:- The land was trenched at a cost of about £80 per acre, and the vines were planted 4x4 feet apart; now we find it only necessary to plough 12 inches deep, which can be done for 35s. per acre, and on the light, free, loamy soils, 6 or 7 inches is found all that is necessary, and that can be done at a cost of 12s. per acre; the ground is then laid out in squares 8 x 8 feet, and in some cases 9 x 9; short pegs are driven in where the squares cross; a hole is dug to a depth of about 12 inches; the cutting is then placed in the hole in a slightly slanting direction; the top soil is placed round the bottom of the cutting, and gently but firmly pressed down. The best length for cuttings I consider to be from 16 to 18 inches, with five buds in each. In planting, we find it best to leave only one eye above ground, thereby presenting a smaller portion exposed to the heat of the sun; we find that if-the top eye misses, the second eye is so near the surface that the shoot from it easily pierces the topsoil. The cost of laying out, pegging, and planting amounts to 35s. per acre. Cuttings for all or nearly all varieties are procurable in the district at a cost of 10s. per thousand. The cost of the first year for ploughing, hoeing, etc. I place at 35s. per acre; second year, pruning included, £2 per acre; third year, pruning included, £2 10s, per acre. A small crop is then expected covering about half the expense of that year; this you will find brings up the total outlay to some £10 per acre. Some varieties require staking the second year, which can be done for about £6 per acre. Of course the above figures do not include the value of the land, which varies in value according to locality. All varieties of grapes do well here, with the exception of Muscat of Alexandria, which, as a rule, when planted from cuttings, bears shyly. The favourite kinds in our quarter are, for dark wines: Shiraz, Malbec, Brown Muscat, Roussillon, etc.; for white wines: Pedro, Gouais, Riesling, Aticarot, Tokay, and Chasselas; and for drying purposes we find Muscat of Alexandria and Zante Currant the best, especially the latter, as it ripens early and is very easily dried, having simply to be exposed to the sun for three or four days on corrugated iron, and the operation is then complete; but at present very little the scarcity of labour preventing us from competing with the imported article. All kinds of table grapes do well here, especially Black Prince, Muscat Hamburgh, Silver Champion, Merillien. Some years ago a considerable trade in table fruit was done with Melbourne, but, for the past two years, as you may be aware, we have been excluded from this, our only market."
"What we want is training in our business, and, if I may be allowed to suggest what I consider to be the best plan, I would be in favour of an agricultural and viticultural college, where our boys could be sent on payment of £25 per year, and give their labours for a period of four years; they would then get a thorough knowledge of the business, and could then return home and teach their brothers. I would also suggest that a local board of advice be appointed, so that if complaints of management were made a local inquiry could be held and the particulars sent to the department. I consider that, with proper management the College would be self supporting in five years. We don't want to use the State as a wet nurse for any length of time. Cheap and quick transit to market is also badly wanted; although we are in the home of the vine, we are a long distance from the market.
The whole of the country on the Murray, in the South Riverina, and for a distance of thirty miles back, is well suited for the growth of vines and fruit trees and only wants developing."
Martha’s death announcement was published in the Corowa Free Press of the 24thMay 1889 stating “ McWilliam- On May 18 at Sunnyside, Corowa, Martha, the beloved wife of Samuel McWilliam. Aged 48 years” and her obituary was printed in the same issue. This provides some details about her father, Edmund Steel, and his activities in the Geelong area and indicates Samuel took up land at Corowa about 1877. Within two years, Samuel retired from Corowa to Blue Points road, North Sydney, taking with him his four daughters, three still of school age. He sold half of the Corowa property (lots 5,18 and 19) on July 18th 1891, for 2040 pounds. The remaining portions, excluding “Sunnyside” were sold on 19th May 1899.
His sons stayed on to run the farms, with John James being elected to the board of the Corowa Vine and Fruit growers committee in 1895. They even tried their hand at mining. Reports by mining experts that the Rutherglen lead seam was likely to run a course that would emerge just north of Corowa and saw the formation of the Corowa Deep Lead Company in the 1890’s. The Corowa Free Press reported on the 30th August 1895, that a mines department examination of the diggings revealed 10 to 12 shafts sunk at the Redlands diggings and that the “McWilliam Bros. were down 40 feet with no sign of bottom”.
Samuel’s death notice and obituary were printed in the Corowa Free Press on 13th June, 1902, with a further report on his burial published on the 17th June. He died at his residence at 28 Upper Bayview Street, North Sydney and was buried, 14th June, at the Old Corowa cemetry in the family plot. There is no record of his location but it is assumed he was buried in Martha’s original location.
In his will, Samuel left his 9 sons and daughters one seventh of his estate each except John James and Crawford who were given one fourteenth each and eldest son William was excluded. It maybe assumed that he had previously given financial aid to the older boys. His will stipulated that the vineyard ( being portion 20 of about 80 acres) known as “Sunnyside “ was not to be sold for 3 years from the date of his death but in the meantime to let the vineyard and divide the rent equally to his 4 daughters. Eliza Jane and Thomas were executors along with Alexander Piggin, a Corowa auctioneer.
Although, the auction notice of 13th Sept 1902 indicates that considerable winemaking equipment was to be sold. An article in the same paper of the 16thSeptember 1902, indicates that the auction “effected a clearance”.
Eliza Jane and her sisters, Rose May and Mary, returned to Sunnyside after Samuel’s death. They had raised 200 pounds each from a Mr R W Holt of Petersham, Sydney, and used it as capital to set themselves up at Sunnyside, possibly buying some of the plant and equipment at the auction. The Corowa Free Press reported the celebration of their first vintage on 8thApril 1904. Mary’s scrap book included an article from the Sydney Morning Herald entitled “On the Land” and mentions Eliza and her sisters managing an 80 acre vineyard. In the Corowa show of 1904 she was awarded first prize in the White fortified wine section. However, late in 1905, Sunnyside was sold to brother John James and they left for New Zealand.
Eldest brother William, had moved to Wagga Wagga where he held a wine licence and eventually became a chicken farmer. Crawford became a wine merchant in Redfern, Sydney. The Indenture for the sale, by the executors, of Sunnyside vineyard to Samuel’s son, John James, dated 6th June 1907 , indicates how the proceeds were split to the family members. JJ paid a total of (pounds) 1325/10/- but was to make a considerable gain on this property as he sold it later for 2560 pounds on 10th August 1911, to Messrs W A Taylor and R G Henderson.
The indenture of the 6thJune 1907, regarding the dispersal of Samuel’s estate, also indicates that his children had widely dispersed. Three daughters, Eliza Jane, Rose May and the youngest, Mary, are all described as being spinsters and living in Christchurch, New Zealand. Thomas is described as a winegrower from Bathurst. Isabella had married a Mr. Norman Holden of Tamworth. Crawford is stated to be from Sydney and John James, a vigneron, from Junee. Edmund, described as a labourer from Orange, does not appear to have been a beneficiary but by a prior indenture, dated 22ndMay 1906 , appears to have signed over his share to Messrs. Alexander Piggin and Robert Taylor for 50 pounds, quite cheaply, considering they received 175 pounds from the estate four years later.
Little is known about Samuel’s earlier years in and around Melbourne or Geelong between the time of his arrival in November 1857 and his marriage to Martha Steel four years later. His father, Samuel senior, received a letter from him, dated 9th September 1858, (9 months after his arrival in Melbourne) and replied on the 5th December 1858 as follows,
Dear Samuel
We recd your letter dated September 9th. in due time and was glad to know of your being in good health. I sent off a cheque for fifty pounds ten shillings on the Bank of New South Wales Melbourne dated London 4th October. I posted it in Larne on the 6th. of said month and registered the letter. I directed it to you to the care of Mr Robert Whiteford. I expect you have got it all right before this reaches you if not write immediately to me and let me know. We are all in good health at present and going on with our business as usual. Br.John still in Mr. Boyds as yet and W.A. is in Glasgow at College this winter and was in good health last accounts from him. Your cousin McRoberts is in Wrexham in England keeping a grocery shop and doing pretty well his brother William has rented a Iittle store from David Thorburn of Belfast and deals in butter bacon and eggs. he buys pigs and salts them and sends them over to James and appears to be doing pretty well. there has few changes taken place. write when this reaches you and give us a full account of the manner of making of life in that country they think your letters too short.
This implies he may have taken up residence with the Whiteford’s, or was at least, in regular contact with this family. In the same letter was an enclosure authorizing Samuel to receive 10 pounds from a Mr. James McCarry, which “ he borrowed from me on the 23rd September, 1853 with whatever interest he thinks fit to give by paying my son Samuel I will receive it the same as payment to myself.”
In another letter written to Samuel in October 1871, Samuel senior said;
The homestead Ballyrickardmore Oct 22 1871
Dear Samuel and Mrs. We were very glad to receive a letter from you. We received it in due time but was sorry to hear of both yourself and Mrs. having a spell of bad health. I fondly hope you are both got well again and able to perform your duties among your family of children. for myself I am still as yet pretty healthy but very much troubled with rhymatic pains in my loins and knees I am very lame but thank God I might be worse. Your mother has had a spell of being unwell this some time past. She was confined to bed for about three weeks and brother William attended her twice a week. She is very weak yet but able to get about a part of the day. We are in hope that she will accompany us a little longer through this world of care Br Thomas Mrs. and family is well at present he has three fine healthy children Samuel William A and Eliza they are making great improvements on their farm and doing well. Sister Eliza Jane and husband is in good health they have three children all little girls fine healthy ones they live within one half mile of Glenarm have a farm of sixty acres pays 72.10 pounds of rent yearly. I consider it a good farm can raise wheat or beans on it. they paid 780 pounds for it if they keep in health and is fortunate they may do pretty well on it. Mother complains she does not see her daughter often enough now. Br John still the bachelor yet and so young in his appearance you would not think him above twenty yet he has been the past three years stationed on the Ballyclare circuit it being all the time their rules allow them to remain on one place if an unmarried man. He is changed to the County of Down to Ballyr….. this year He went in July and likes the place. John is considered to be a steady good preacher and well up to the rules of methodism and is much respected. brother William A is not married again as yet though his mother still advising him to try again. He had a nice agreeable woman for his wife but was not allowed to enjoy her long. I believe there is not a doctor in the town of Belfast doing more business than he is doing at present. Br Mathew mother and myself a servant man and a servant girl is all the inhabitants of the home house at present Servants wages very high now they get from eight to ten pounds half year bed and board. girls gets from four to five pounds the half year You will get no man to work for less than one shilling and four pence per day and board the potato Crop all over Ireland is not good this season we have not more than the one third of what we had this few years past the disease came on soon and cut them all down the one half in general is a part of them rotton and what is sound is quite soft and not fit for food. We had a pretty good corn crop this year and cut early in the season. It was all in storks about the 12th of September. there has been a very good crop of hay and well saved. We have got a little machine up to help us in our work it both Churns and thrashes is worked with one horse and appears to do the work well. Cows of all sorts is selling high from £10 to £20 We have a neighbour sold four May calves in Ballymena fair for the sum of nineteen pounds. Horses I never knew so dear is at present you can get no horse fit for farm use for less than twenty pounds and from that to forty. Sheep high in price. Pork pigs of all sorts getting down in price it sells from 38 shillings to 43s per cwt of 112 lbs. Butter from one shilling to 14d per lb. I must tell you something about your old comrades and friends Your uncle Andrew is dead he died about two months ago. His son Robert came home on a pension of £40 per year and got married to his old sweetheart Miss Lagan. His brother James got unhealthy and got off the police on a pension of £20 per year. They have joined together and bought a house in Larne and set up a public house in company and is doing pretty well for so far but Roberts Mrs. does not appear to have any family. Your friend John McRobert’s wife is dead. She died in March last leaving six children. Her death will be a great loss to him but the wheels of this world must revolve around as usual. His second child a girl has got married to Mr Robert McCormick son of James McCormick about two months ago. Your friend James Gilmour has got a daughter married to a young man of the name of McKinstry in June last. Brother Crawford and family was all well the last letter we got from him but he has had severe spells of sickness He told us in his last letter we got from him that he did not expect ever to be so strong as he used to be again. Their family getting up to be men and women so they will be a great help in working the farm. I think he has a good independent way of living. The war and its effects was ill on him in several ways. He holds between three and four hundred acres of land. His address is this Crawford McWilliam Unionton Cherry grove post office Schuyler County Missouri America. Before he had the last spell of sickness he wrote to us that he would come home to see us but has not spoke of it since. Your friend Matthew McRoberts and family of eight children is well. James Crawford and family is well. None of them is married as yet but Mary who lives in Jersey City at New York. The husband name is K. McFerren. They keep a shop there and is doing well. They were home seeing their parents about a year ago. Your friend Nathaniel Moore is still in the police force in England. He was over this summer to see his friend before he went away. A lady from England came over and he went down to Glenarm and got married and went home to England to live happy the remainder of their lives. If you were over and see your mother and myself you would scarcely know us each … in hand. I am in my seventy second year and mother not much less. We are not for from the grave. And may God bless you and your family is the prayer of your parents
S. and Elizabeth McWilliam
Samuel’s activities in Gippsland.
Nothing more is known about Samuel’s time in the Geelong region apart from his marriage to Martha Steel by the Rev. Joseph Dare at the Yarra St. Methodist church, Geelong, on the 6th January 1863. Martha and Samuel’s marriage certificate states that Samuel was a present resident of East Geelong but usual resident of Sale, Gippsland and described him as a Farmer.
Records found by Lloyd Evans showed Samuel’s first selection of land in the Sale district on 26th July 1863, designated in the 1862 survey as “good agricultural land”, was on the south bank of the Thompson river about 32km from Stringer’s Creek. He paid 78 pound for subdivision A of two allotments 2A and 3A, section 13, Parish of Denison, consisting of 77 acres 2 roods and 7 perches (about 31Ha) and paying 2s 6d per acre for the adjoining subdivision B of allotments 2A and 3A, completing the purchase on 5th December 1868. In the meantime he added two more allotments 3F and 3D of 32 acres, bringing his holdings up to the south bank of the Thompson to 177 acres (71Ha) in 1867. The eastern boundary of his property was the present Rosedale-Nambrok road. The land was intersected by the Sale-Heyfield road and was located about 12km from Rosedale, 19km to Sale and 11km to Heyfield. (Denison Parish Map (hot link) is shown under drop down menu of "Corowa Property Maps")
In 1865 he bought in share with another Irish immigrant, William Ross, another property about 3km east towards Sale along the Sale –Heyfield road. They paid 553 pounds 7s 6d for 100 acres bounded on the east by the Rosedale-Maffra road. On 13th August 1867, they bought another 12 acres taking this property right up to the south bank of the Thompson river. The partnership ended in 1869 and Samuel ended up with around 215 acres.
During this period, Martha had borne 4 children, William (31.10.1863) probably named after Samuel’s brother and Martha’s half brother (William Saunders); Eliza Jane (13.2.1865) named after Samuel’s sister; Crawford (14.9.1866) and John James (17.6.1868) both named after Samuel’s brothers, the first now farming in the USA and the second a preacher of the gospel.
By 1875 three more children were born: Thomas (4th March 1870), Edmund (3rd December 1871, probably named after Martha's father Edmund Steel ) and Albert, date unknown, who died in infancy. Samuel's concern for the spiritual welfare of his young family was evident in his efforts, as trustee, for the construction of a Presbyterian Church on the Public Reserve located on the Sale- Heyfield road, on the south-west corner of the property he purchased with Ross in 1865. Another trustee, George Gibson, conducted a private school at Toongabbie during the 1860s and it is possible that the children attended that school or, possibly, the private school conducted by their neighbour, Mrs. Buntine. By the early 1870s the Denison Presbyterian Church Hall was used as a rural school under the care of Edwin Weaver. On the 1st December 1873, Samuel McWilliam and George Gibson, with two other trustees, leased the Church Hall to the Department of Education established by the Education Act of 1872. It is possible that the McWilliam Children were foundation members of Denison State School which celebrated its centenary in 1974.
Meetings of the Rosedale Road Board were fully reported in the Gippsland Times during Samuel's period of office from May 1869 to July 1870, providing the only direct evidence of his expressions of opinion in Gippsland. He was assiduous, attending all meetings and speaking on a variety of motions including a number he moved or seconded. The principal issues were rating assessments; the appointment and wages of Board officials and workers; the declaration of main roads by the Road Board Department; road construction and bridge-building priorities (Samuel represented the Board in discussion with the Avon Shire Council on the construction of a bridge across the Thomson);on the collection of statistics by the Registrar General; and support for charitable causes. Members retired in rotation; and when Samuel offered himself for re-election in August 1870 he became the target of dissatisfaction experienced by Rosedale residents who managed to return Henry Luke, store-keeper and coroner, with Samuel running third in the contest for two vacancies.
The announcements in the Gippsland Mercury and in the Gippsland Times during June 1875 by C. Mackintosh & Co. that "they had received instructions from Samuel McWilliam, Esq., of Denison, who has sold his land and is leaving Gippsland, to sell by auction on the ground" his stock, equipment and furnishings, was followed by a further notice on 1 July itemising those goods.
The auction was held at 11am on the 1stJune 1875. The land transfer title indicated that Samuel transferred the title of his Denison land to the Gippsland entrepeneur, John Carpenter “on the 14th day of July at 11.42 o’clock in the forenoon”.
Samuel’s move to Corowa.
It is not known as to why Samuel moved to Corowa after selling his Gippsland properties in 1875. Records show that he purchased one of his new holdings in the vicinity of Corowa.
On the 8th August 1877, Samuel purchased 480 acres from a Robert Broomfield, grazier, of Haddon Rig near Dubbo, for the sum of 1560 pounds, six parcels of land, County of Hume, Parish of Corowa ( portions 5,6,7,18, 19,20). The land was subject to a five year lease to a William Martin Fox dating from 10th December 1875. The land had been originally owned by a Mr. Strother Meyer, who had bought it on 16th March 1858. A vineyard report in the Corowa Free Press dated 19th May 1876, stated that Mr.S. Meyer had planted the first grapes in the district at his Midarroo vineyard, situated about half a mile from Corowa and behind the show ground, in 1862 and that it now consists of 27 acres of vines, mainly shiraz, malbec, verdelho, tokay, muscatel and gouais. It is interesting that Samuel’s purchase in 1877 would appear to be part of one of Mr. Meyers original properties and his name is indicated on these lots on the parish map and the distance from town is similar. Thus it is possible that grapes had already been planted on part of the property purchased by Samuel.
On 23rd May 1878, Samuel purchased 640 acres, known as the Sandy Ridges properties on the Jerilderie road north west from his Corowa purchase made just the year before. He paid 640 pounds for 3 portions, No. 1 of 320 acres, Nos. 114 and 115 of 160 acres each from Edmund Arbon Martin of Coreen. This may have been a speculative investment as it was subsequently sold to Miss Catherine Frame, of Melbourne, for 768 pounds on 14th September 1882, only four years later.
As to the Corowa purchase, where the Sunnyside Vineyard was located on Portion 20 at the south east corner (which became known in Corowa as McWilliam's corner), it appears very likely that Samuel and his family not only occupied the property or portion of it, despite Martin's lease noted in the title, but could have been in occupation as early as 1876 when William Fox Martin became licensee of the Royal hotel in Sanger Street, Corowa. That would account for Samuel's style on the title of "Farmer, of Corowa" for his participation in the affairs of the recently formed Pastoral Agricultural and Horticultural Society early in 1878 and his success in the two shows held that year with stock and equipment; and for the McWilliam family's oral tradition that the planting of the Sunnyside vineyard began in 1877.
At this very same time, a daughter, Isabelle, was born on the 5th August 1877. Two more daughters were to be born at Corowa, Rose May, on the 20thAugust 1880; and Mary (Mollie), on the 20th July 1882, completing a family of five surviving sons and four daughters. It was Mary who provided much information about her father’s family’s life through a scrap book she made and passed down to her daughter.
On their arrival at Corowa, which lacked a Presbyterian church, the children attended the Sunday school at St. John’s Church of England where William and Eliza Jane won prizes for regular attendance in 1878 and Isabelle was a prize-winner as late as 1889. A resident Presbyterian pastor arrived in 1885 and the family became involved in a variety of fund raising activities for the purchase of a site and erection of a Church. Initially, the Corowa School of Arts was the venue of meetings, concerts and drama presentations where Eliza Jane, the first member of the family to reveal exceptional musical talents, was a generous contributor.
Virtually the whole town passed “Sunnyside” enroute to the showgrounds on the south side of the Jerilderie road. The “Pastorial Agricultural and Horticultural Society” had been established in December 1876 to foster improved husbandry in the parish and held its first shows in February and August of 1878. On the 8th January, Samuel was appointed one of the three expert farmers to judge the Poultry, Dairy Produce and Garden Produce sections. In April he was appointed by the committee to a subcommittee of three to draw up a program for a ploughing competition. At the August, 1878, show he won second prize in section 10. Cattle-Durham, for the “Best Cow with Calf at foot”. He became a Vice President in 1888. Statistics supplied by the Cowora Progress Association giving information on farms within a 10 mile radius of the town, listed S. McWilliam as the proprietor of 480 acres on which he ran 310 sheep, 17 cattle and had 10 horses. His early days in Corowa were not without incident. The Cowora Free Press, on the 9th November 1877, ran two articles about Samuel having been sold two stolen horses (a mare and a colt) by a John Gibbs, for 15 pounds each on the 13th September 1877, and details the testimony given by Samuel and others. Police had taken possession of the mare with a CK brand and the body of the colt he had bought at the same time was also found.
Samuel had a great interest in the completion of the Culcain to Cowora railway line which would give direct link to Albury and Sydney. Samuel was noted as the seconder of a motion protesting at the NSW upper house’s blocking of the bill in 1886. The line was opened in 1892 and was most advantageous to Samuel with the terminus being located within a few hundred metres south east of “McWilliam’s corner”.
Samuel’s involvement in winemaking was well established by 1888 with the Corowa Free press publishing an article on him on the 3rd January that same year and reading as follows;
Unfermented Wine - We understand that Mr. S. McWilliam, of Corowa, as the result of a series of experiments, intends devoting a large portion of this year’s vintage to the manufacture of unfermented wine. The manner in which a few bottles made last year have retained their quality has induced him to go into business on a larger scale and he intends to turn out at least 1000 bottles this season. Only a portion of this number is intended for sacramental uses, as the sale for this description of wine is necessarily only limited. Mr McWilliam seeks rather to manufacture a light and palatable beverage suitable for the use of abstainers and with this object will mainly use the lighter sorts of grapes such as Chasselas and Reisling. It is evident that once the initial difficulties are overcome there is plenty of sale for such a beverage as Mr. McWilliam proposes. The “teetotaler” has not hitherto been particularly fortunate in hitting on a substitute for alcoholic liquors. The capacity of the average stomach as regards lemonade is limited; soda water is decidedly not cheering and the various temperance beverages have not up to the present been an unqualified success. There is thus a splendid opening for a new drink- something that can unite the invigorating properties of wine with the harmlessness of water. If Mr. McWilliam can fill this particular “long- felt want” he bids fair to do a large and profitable business.
Further evidence of Samuel’s involvement in viticulture at the time is again reported in the Cowora Free Press of the 12thApril 1889 under the heading of the “Corowa Vine and Fruit Growers Association” report wherein Mr. McWilliam moved that Mr. Buggy be appointed as the association’s representative to visit Sydney to visit the operations of the Vine Diseases Board. At the same meeting, Mr. McWilliam moved a motion that Messrs. Lindemann (Dr Henry Lindemann) and Piggin represent Corowa at the Vinegrowers conference.
Samuel also presented a paper in 1890 to the conference of “Fruit and Vinegrowers” titled “planting Vineyards”.
"In this paper I desire to give you a short sketch of the planting of the vine in the Murray District, round Corowa, from the preparing of the land to the time when we reasonably expect to get a payable crop. Land in the police district of Corowa consists of a chocolate soil on a many subsoil, sandy loam, and a rather lighter sand, both of which have a stiffish clay subsoil. All the varieties of soils have proved very suitable for the growth of those vines which produce rich fruity wines. The total area of vines planted in this district amounts to about 1,000 acres(404.9ha); 706 acres have been in full bearing for some years and the balance has not yet come into bearing. The oldest vines in this district have been bearing upwards of twenty-five years. The system of planting in those days was as follows:- The land was trenched at a cost of about £80 per acre, and the vines were planted 4x4 feet apart; now we find it only necessary to plough 12 inches deep, which can be done for 35s. per acre, and on the light, free, loamy soils, 6 or 7 inches is found all that is necessary, and that can be done at a cost of 12s. per acre; the ground is then laid out in squares 8 x 8 feet, and in some cases 9 x 9; short pegs are driven in where the squares cross; a hole is dug to a depth of about 12 inches; the cutting is then placed in the hole in a slightly slanting direction; the top soil is placed round the bottom of the cutting, and gently but firmly pressed down. The best length for cuttings I consider to be from 16 to 18 inches, with five buds in each. In planting, we find it best to leave only one eye above ground, thereby presenting a smaller portion exposed to the heat of the sun; we find that if-the top eye misses, the second eye is so near the surface that the shoot from it easily pierces the topsoil. The cost of laying out, pegging, and planting amounts to 35s. per acre. Cuttings for all or nearly all varieties are procurable in the district at a cost of 10s. per thousand. The cost of the first year for ploughing, hoeing, etc. I place at 35s. per acre; second year, pruning included, £2 per acre; third year, pruning included, £2 10s, per acre. A small crop is then expected covering about half the expense of that year; this you will find brings up the total outlay to some £10 per acre. Some varieties require staking the second year, which can be done for about £6 per acre. Of course the above figures do not include the value of the land, which varies in value according to locality. All varieties of grapes do well here, with the exception of Muscat of Alexandria, which, as a rule, when planted from cuttings, bears shyly. The favourite kinds in our quarter are, for dark wines: Shiraz, Malbec, Brown Muscat, Roussillon, etc.; for white wines: Pedro, Gouais, Riesling, Aticarot, Tokay, and Chasselas; and for drying purposes we find Muscat of Alexandria and Zante Currant the best, especially the latter, as it ripens early and is very easily dried, having simply to be exposed to the sun for three or four days on corrugated iron, and the operation is then complete; but at present very little the scarcity of labour preventing us from competing with the imported article. All kinds of table grapes do well here, especially Black Prince, Muscat Hamburgh, Silver Champion, Merillien. Some years ago a considerable trade in table fruit was done with Melbourne, but, for the past two years, as you may be aware, we have been excluded from this, our only market."
"What we want is training in our business, and, if I may be allowed to suggest what I consider to be the best plan, I would be in favour of an agricultural and viticultural college, where our boys could be sent on payment of £25 per year, and give their labours for a period of four years; they would then get a thorough knowledge of the business, and could then return home and teach their brothers. I would also suggest that a local board of advice be appointed, so that if complaints of management were made a local inquiry could be held and the particulars sent to the department. I consider that, with proper management the College would be self supporting in five years. We don't want to use the State as a wet nurse for any length of time. Cheap and quick transit to market is also badly wanted; although we are in the home of the vine, we are a long distance from the market.
The whole of the country on the Murray, in the South Riverina, and for a distance of thirty miles back, is well suited for the growth of vines and fruit trees and only wants developing."
Martha’s death announcement was published in the Corowa Free Press of the 24thMay 1889 stating “ McWilliam- On May 18 at Sunnyside, Corowa, Martha, the beloved wife of Samuel McWilliam. Aged 48 years” and her obituary was printed in the same issue. This provides some details about her father, Edmund Steel, and his activities in the Geelong area and indicates Samuel took up land at Corowa about 1877. Within two years, Samuel retired from Corowa to Blue Points road, North Sydney, taking with him his four daughters, three still of school age. He sold half of the Corowa property (lots 5,18 and 19) on July 18th 1891, for 2040 pounds. The remaining portions, excluding “Sunnyside” were sold on 19th May 1899.
His sons stayed on to run the farms, with John James being elected to the board of the Corowa Vine and Fruit growers committee in 1895. They even tried their hand at mining. Reports by mining experts that the Rutherglen lead seam was likely to run a course that would emerge just north of Corowa and saw the formation of the Corowa Deep Lead Company in the 1890’s. The Corowa Free Press reported on the 30th August 1895, that a mines department examination of the diggings revealed 10 to 12 shafts sunk at the Redlands diggings and that the “McWilliam Bros. were down 40 feet with no sign of bottom”.
Samuel’s death notice and obituary were printed in the Corowa Free Press on 13th June, 1902, with a further report on his burial published on the 17th June. He died at his residence at 28 Upper Bayview Street, North Sydney and was buried, 14th June, at the Old Corowa cemetry in the family plot. There is no record of his location but it is assumed he was buried in Martha’s original location.
In his will, Samuel left his 9 sons and daughters one seventh of his estate each except John James and Crawford who were given one fourteenth each and eldest son William was excluded. It maybe assumed that he had previously given financial aid to the older boys. His will stipulated that the vineyard ( being portion 20 of about 80 acres) known as “Sunnyside “ was not to be sold for 3 years from the date of his death but in the meantime to let the vineyard and divide the rent equally to his 4 daughters. Eliza Jane and Thomas were executors along with Alexander Piggin, a Corowa auctioneer.
Although, the auction notice of 13th Sept 1902 indicates that considerable winemaking equipment was to be sold. An article in the same paper of the 16thSeptember 1902, indicates that the auction “effected a clearance”.
Eliza Jane and her sisters, Rose May and Mary, returned to Sunnyside after Samuel’s death. They had raised 200 pounds each from a Mr R W Holt of Petersham, Sydney, and used it as capital to set themselves up at Sunnyside, possibly buying some of the plant and equipment at the auction. The Corowa Free Press reported the celebration of their first vintage on 8thApril 1904. Mary’s scrap book included an article from the Sydney Morning Herald entitled “On the Land” and mentions Eliza and her sisters managing an 80 acre vineyard. In the Corowa show of 1904 she was awarded first prize in the White fortified wine section. However, late in 1905, Sunnyside was sold to brother John James and they left for New Zealand.
Eldest brother William, had moved to Wagga Wagga where he held a wine licence and eventually became a chicken farmer. Crawford became a wine merchant in Redfern, Sydney. The Indenture for the sale, by the executors, of Sunnyside vineyard to Samuel’s son, John James, dated 6th June 1907 , indicates how the proceeds were split to the family members. JJ paid a total of (pounds) 1325/10/- but was to make a considerable gain on this property as he sold it later for 2560 pounds on 10th August 1911, to Messrs W A Taylor and R G Henderson.
The indenture of the 6thJune 1907, regarding the dispersal of Samuel’s estate, also indicates that his children had widely dispersed. Three daughters, Eliza Jane, Rose May and the youngest, Mary, are all described as being spinsters and living in Christchurch, New Zealand. Thomas is described as a winegrower from Bathurst. Isabella had married a Mr. Norman Holden of Tamworth. Crawford is stated to be from Sydney and John James, a vigneron, from Junee. Edmund, described as a labourer from Orange, does not appear to have been a beneficiary but by a prior indenture, dated 22ndMay 1906 , appears to have signed over his share to Messrs. Alexander Piggin and Robert Taylor for 50 pounds, quite cheaply, considering they received 175 pounds from the estate four years later.