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Dr Mitchel
Richard Windeyer
James King
John Earles
William Kelman
Cyrus Doyle
Edward Tyrrell
James Busby
George Wyndham
Dr
Mitchell, James
(1792 - 1869)
MITCHELL,
JAMES (1792-1869),
physician and
industrialist, was born
in Fife, Scotland, he
joined the Army Medical
Corps in 1810
In June 1820 he was
appointed assistant
surgeon to the 48th
regiment then
stationed in Sydney
and arrived in
November 1821 in the
John Barry.
In June 1823 he was
transferred to the
Colonial Medical
Department as an
assistant surgeon
and posted to the
Sydney Hospital. He
resigned from the
army in 1833. About
that time he opened
a private practice
at Cumberland Place
which he ran in
conjunction with his
duties at the
hospital.
He had also
developed an
interest in
agriculture. In 1822
he had been granted
2000 acres (809 ha)
at Burragorang in
the County of
Camden, where he
received much advice
from the Macarthur
family. In the next
fifteen years he
acquired many
holdings in the
Hunter district by
grant and purchase,
including the
Burwood and Rothbury
estates.
Mitchell
gained repute as an
astute land dealer
and was often asked
to buy land for
others.
His continued faith
in the Newcastle
region greatly
influenced its
future development
and the
establishment of
private industrial
enterprises
elsewhere.
His interest in
colonial industries
also prompted him to
assume an active
role in a number of
schemes for bringing
skilled workers to
New South Wales. In
the 1840s he served
as treasurer of the
Australian
Immigration
Association.
As well as being a
director of the Bank
of Australia
Mitchell took
a prominent part in
many other
commercial
enterprises. He was
a foundation member
of the Sydney
Banking Co. and
served in the 1840s
as a director of the
Hunter River Steam
Navigation Co.,
deputy-chairman of
the Sydney Ferry
Co., and a director
and later chairman
of the Australian
Gaslight Co. He
helped to establish
the Mutual Provident
Society and was a
director in 1852-59
and chairman in
1860-65. He was an
original proprietor
of the Hunter River
Railway Co. formed
in the early 1850s
to build a line
between Newcastle
and Maitland; it was
taken over by the
government in 1855.
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020205b.htm?hilite=Dr%3BMitchell
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Richard Windeyer
(1806-1847)
Sydney barrister and
politician, In February
1838 he bought his first
land in the Hunter
valley, and by 1842 he
held about 30,000 acres
(12,141 ha). Vast sums
of money were spent,
especially on draining
extensive swamp lands in
the vicinity of Graham's
Town, building a
homestead at Tomago and
on other improvements,
but with little return.
He planted thirty acres
(12 ha) of vines,
imported a German
vine-dresser from
Adelaide, made his first
wine in 1845, and
received permission to
import seven
vine-dressers and one
wine-cooper from Europe.
He
ran cattle, horses and
pigs, tried growing
sugar-cane and wheat,
and in 1846 with
Reynolds, president of
the local agricultural
society, he imported the
colony's first reaping
machine from South
Australia. Despite all
his expensive
improvements and
mechanized farming the
one prize he won was for
pumpkins. However, after
his death wine from
Tomago won a certificate
of merit at Paris in
1855.He bought
land at Tomago on the
Hunter River in 1839 to
build his grand design
for a country residence.
The magnificent
sandstone and cedar
mansion would be the
centrepiece of a vast
agricultural estate and
the outward expression
of his success and
status in the burgeoning
colony of New South
Wales.
The dream was never
fully realised and this
at great cost to the
Windeyers whose triumphs
and tragedies were to be
built into the fabric of
Tomago House for
more than a hundred
years. Tomago House is
closely identified with
three generations of men
and women remarkable for
their contribution to
the legal, military and
social life of this
country.
Tomago House, built in
1843, is a very special
location, set in five
hectares of parkland,
the mansion retains the
graciousness and style
of the Victorian era.
The wide verandahs and
lofty clerestory
http://www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au/tomhire.html
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020560b.htm?hilite=WINDEYER
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King, James (1800
- 1857)
Merchant, manufacturer
and vigneron, was the
son of James
King, a
substantial farmer in
Hertfordshire, England.
His father suffered
during the agricultural
slump after the
Napoleonic wars and in
1825, claiming a capital
of £3000, applied for a
land grant on one of the
islands off Van Diemen's
Land for the purpose of
breeding rabbits.
Nothing came of this
application although he
had already sent a
shepherd and some prime
merinos to the colony.
He arrived in Sydney in
1827 and set up as a
merchant. Soon after
arrival he obtained a
grant of 1920 acres (777
ha) near Raymond Terrace
on the Williams River;
he called it Irrawang,
built a homestead, grew
wheat, and raised
cattle, and for ten
years ineffectually
complained to the
government that he was
properly entitled to a
maximum grant of 2560
acres (1036 ha). His
undertakings at Irrawang
were supervised by
overseers, as
King spent most
of his time in Sydney,
where he shared in
whaling and shipping
ventures as well as
carrying on general
trade as an importer and
purchaser of colonial
produce.
King's
main interest,
however, was to
develop the wine
industry. At
Irrawang in 1832 he
had planted a
vineyard, using
Spanish, French and
Portuguese vines. In
February 1836 he
made his first wine
and began to extend
the vineyard.
Realizing that
expert workmen were
needed, he and
twenty-two other
producers decided to
bring out German
vine dressers; three
of them came to
Irrawang in 1848.
From this time his
wine gradually made
its reputation in
the colony; as a
result of
discriminating
selection of vines,
proper care and
processing, the
quality improved
under continual
supervision by
King who
rapidly learned the
improved techniques.
He confined his
annual output to
2000 gallons (9092
litres) and took
special care in his
cellar. In 1850 and
1852 he won the gold
medal of the
Horticultural
Society of Sydney
for white wines and
light sparkling
wines. In 1853 he
helped to found the
Hunter River
Vineyard Association
and was elected its
first president. At
the Paris Exhibition
of 1855 he and other
producers from the
area, notably Mrs
Maria Windeyer of
Tomago, attracted
favourable notice
with their wines.
King's
entries won him a
medal and some of
his wine was served
at the table of
Emperor Napoleon
III.
While in Europe for
the exhibition of
1855
King visited
the German chemist,
Baron Justus von
Liebig, who had
earlier noted with
approval the
Irrawang experiments
in blending and
maturing wines. Von
Liebig conducted
King over
some of the most
famous German
vineyards, and
introduced him to
such influential
people as the Grand
Duke of Nassau, who
encouraged
King by
assuring him that
the best Irrawang
red wines were equal
to the famous
Assmannshausen
vintages. This
triumph probably led
to
King's
publication in
Edinburgh in 1857 of
Australia May Be
an Extensive
Wine-Growing Country.
A breakdown in
health prevented
King from
returning to New
South Wales. He died
in London on 29
November 1857 aged
57.
He had married Eliza
Elflida Millner
(1812-1887) by whom
he had three
daughters and one
son. His name is
commemorated in the
James
King of
Irrawang travelling
scholarship, for
which William
Roberts of Penrith,
who married
King's widow,
left £4000 to the
University of Sydney
in 1888.
King was one
of the first
settlers to achieve
reasonable success
in viticulture, and
his example, and the
recognition he won,
encouraged
experiment by many
of his neighbours.
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020050b.htm?hilite=King |
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Wyndham,
George (1801 -
1870)
Farmer,
wine-grower and
pastoralist, was born at
Dinton, Wiltshire,
England, the third son
of William
Wyndham of Dinton
House and his wife
Letitia, née Popham.
He decided to emigrate
to New South Wales as
the Colonial Office was
offering a free grant of
640 acres (260 hectares)
for every £500 ($1000)
of capital, with a
maximum of 2560 acres
(1040 hectares).George
and Margaret arrived in
Sydney on Boxing Day
1827 on the "George
Home" with several
servants, cattle, sheep,
horses, pigs, hounds,
goods and chattels.
He purchased 2000 acres
(810 hectares) at
Branxton in January 1828
and renamed it Dalwood
after one of his
father's farms at Dinton.
George to expand his
pastoral activities over
some 100,000 acres
(hectares)
Taking
with them a number of
stock, including
Southdown sheep, he and
his wife sailed in the
George Horne
in August 1827 and
reached Sydney in
December. He settled
near Branxton in the
Hunter River valley,
naming his property
Dalwood, and began
experimental farming.
Among crops mentioned in
his diary for 1830 were
maize, wheat, hemp,
mustard, castor oil,
tobacco, millet and cape
barley. He also planted
a vineyard and began
wine-making, in which he
had long been
interested. Both red and
white varieties of grape
were grown, principally
Hermitage, Cabernet and
Shiraz; some of these
Shiraz vines were still
producing in 1966 and
were then said to be the
oldest wine-producing
vines in the world.
Dalwood wines later
became well known. By
the mid-1800s he was
exporting to England and
India. At one time the
vineyard was the second
largest in New South
Wales. Over the years a
number of prizes and
trophies were taken,
including bronze and
silver medals in the
Paris International
Exhibition of 1867.
Eleven sons and two
daughters were born
to
George
Wyndham and
his wife. For the
first decade his
enterprises
prospered, but the
crisis in labour and
prices in the 1840s
hit the property
hard. After trying
various expedients
including dairying
he decided in 1845
to leave Dalwood
under a manager, and
with his wife and
children he set out
with horses, cattle
and sheep, a few
trusted stockmen and
a string of covered
bullock-wagons to
cross the New
England plateau to
the Richmond River.
After an adventurous
journey he took up a
property known as
Keelgyrah (Kilgra,
near Kyogle, named
after a Wiltshire
village). Stocking
the property with
cattle and leaving
it in charge of a
member of the party,
they next year
recrossed the
Dividing Range and
took up a property
near Inverell, named
Bukkulla. By 1847
prices had risen and
the party returned
to Dalwood. A son
had been born during
the journey. More
prosperous times
ensued; Hereford
cattle were imported
and bred, a vineyard
at Bukkulla was
worked in
conjunction with the
Dalwood vineyard,
and a racing stud
was established.
George
Wyndham died
in Sydney on 24
December 1870, three
months after the
death of his wife.
The properties
passed out of
Wyndham
hands, except for
Bukkulla which was
later reacquired.
The Dalwood vineyard
was bought by
Penfolds Wines Ltd,
in whose hands it
has remained.
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020576b.htm?hilite=George%3BWyndham
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EALES,
JOHN
(1799-1871),
grazier and
pioneer
pastoralist,
After a brief
stay he went to
Sydney and
thence to the
Hunter River
district, where
he selected his
grant of 2100
acres (850 ha)
about four miles
(6.4 km) from
Morpeth. With
the aid of one
servant,
'Jim-the-Londoner',
he cleared some
200 acres (81
ha) and planted
it with wheat.
The estate,
which he named
Berry Park, soon
became one of
the finest in
the district and
by 1831 was
yielding an
annual return of
10,000 bushels.
Trouble with
rats forced him
to build giant
iron tanks to
hold grain,
possibly the
first silos used
in the colony.
At the
beginning of
the 1840s,
he
established
a boiling
down works
at Berry
Park. In
August 1844
the
Sydney
Morning
Herald
claimed that
he was a
pioneer in
boiling down
on his own
property
instead of
sending
sheep and
cattle to
public
establishments
for
treatment.
Although the
prevailing
feeling in
the colony
was against
the
importation
of coloured
labour,
Eales
brought out
a number of
Chinese to
work on his
estate, and
in 1842 his
name
appeared as
a member of
an
association
formed to
promote the
immigration
of Indian
labourers to
the colony.
In 1844 he
was one of a
number of
graziers who
protested
vigorously
against the
new
squatting
regulations
of Governor
Sir George
Gipps.
As a result
of a public
meeting held
in Maitland
in April
1844 he was
appointed to
a district
committee
who drew up
a petition
for an
inquiry into
the system
of letting
lands beyond
the
boundaries,
and the
means of
imposing and
collecting
tax on
cattle and
sheep in
these
districts.
In company
with many
other large
landed
proprietors,
Eales
suffered
from the
effects of
the
depression
in the early
1840s but
soon made
good his
losses. He
had more
than 16,000
acres (6475
ha) of
freehold in
the Maitland
district and
some twenty
stations in
New South
Wales. In
1853-54 he
sold many of
these
stations and
a number of
his suburban
allotments.
About this
time he
began
building a
mansion on
the
Duckenfield
estate. The
mansion,
Duckenfield
Park House,
was
completed
and enlarged
by his son
John.
Throughout
his life,
Eales
was actively
interested
in
horse-racing,
and as early
as 1833 had
organized
the first
race meeting
held in the
Hunter River
district. At
Duckenfield
he made a
private
race-course
and bred
blood stock.
He died at
Duckenfield
on 1 April
1871. Known
to many as
the
'One-Man-Settler',
Eales
was
reputedly
one of the
wealthiest
men in New
South Wales.
A man of
great
versatility
and
independence,
everything
he touched
seemed to
prosper
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William Kelman
James Busby was
granted land
near Branxton (Kirkton
Estate) where
wine grapes were
cultivated by
his
brother-in-law,
William Kelman
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In 1824
William
Dalrymple
Kelman
(1800-1863)
and John
Busby(1765-1857)
arrived
in
Australia
from
England.
Busby
was
commissioned
to
provide
the
township
of
Sydney
with a
water
supply
(his
famous
“Busby
Bore"
was
sufficient
for
Sydney’s
water
needs
until
1948).
On
retiring
in 1837
he
received
a
gratuity
of £1000
and 2000
acres in
the
Hunter
between
Branxton
and
Singleton.
James
Busby
(1800-1871)
was born
in
Scotland,
the
second
son of
John. He
arrived
in NSW
with his
father
in 1824.
A
Scottish
viticulturist,
he is
generally
regarded
as the
founding
father
of the
industry
in NSW.
Prior to
his
arrival
in NSW
he had
studied
viticulture
and wine
making
in
France.
In 1825
he was
given a
grant of
land in
the
Hunter
which
was
named ‘Kirkton’,
after
Lord
Saltaun’s
estate
in
Scotland
where
William
Kelman
had been
employed
before
leaving
for the
colonies.
William
Kelman
settled
in the
Hunter
Valley.
He had
met John
Busby"s
daughter,
Katherine,
on the
ship and
later
married
her.
James
Busby
did not
participate
in the
running
of
Kirkton
and it
was
William
Kelman
who took
care of
the
vineyard
established
in 1830
on the
property.
In 1924
one
hundred
gallons
of
chablis
and 100
gallons
of
burgundy
were
made
from the
remaining
Kelman
vines
and were
served
at the
centenary
celebrations
of
Kirkton
in 1930.
Unfortunately
that was
the last
vintage:
shortly
after
the
centenary,
the
property
was
sold. |
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Doyle,
Cyrus
Matthew
(1793 -
1855)
was born
on 27
November
1793 at
Palmerston,
near
Dublin,the
eldest
son of
Andrew
Doyle
(1774-1841)
and
Sophia
Isabella,
née
Norris
(1769-1855.
Andrew
and
Sophia
had
four
sons.
By
1880
their
descendants
held
properties
from
the
Hawkesbury
through
the
north
and
north-west
of
New
South
Wales
into
southern
Queensland
and
the
Gulf
country;
many
of
them
were
in
the
van
of
pioneers
in
the
north,
and
they
produced
solid
settlers
who
contributed
a
fair
share
to
its
development.
Of
them
perhaps
Cyrus
Matthew
was
the
most
notable.
By 1833 Cyrus had holdings on the Hunter River and in 1839 he moved his home to Midlorn, Maitland, though he still retained his properties at Sackville Reach.After moving to Maitland Cyrus was active both in community affairs and in extending his holdings. He held office in the Anglican church, the Hunter River Agricultural Association, the racing club, and on the Maitland Hospital Committee and was chairman of the Maitland Steam Navigation Co.; he won prizes at the Hunter River Show and raced horses. By 1852 he had been appointed a magistrate of the colony.By family tradition his eldest son, Andrew (1815-1878), was sent in 1832 with four assigned servants and some Aboriginals to what came to be known as the Narrabri district, acting swiftly after Major (Sir) Thomas Mitchell reached that area in January. A run of 150,000 acres (60,704 ha) was taken up for Doyle by his overseer, Patrick Quinn, and was taken over by Andrew when he came of age in 1836
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Edward
Tyrrell,
a
vigneron
from
England,
and
his
native-born
wife
Susan,
née
Hungerford.
Edward
senior
had
come
to
Australia
in
1850
on
the
advice
of
his
uncle
William
Tyrrell,
the
Anglican
bishop
of
Newcastle
and
had
ten
children
In
1858
Edward
occupied
Ashmans,
330
acres
(134
ha)
of
limestone
country
at
Pokolbin,
where
he
built
a
slab
hut.
He
named
his
property
Ashmans
after
the
family’s
English
estate.
He
planted
out
his
first
vines
in
1961
to
create
his
vineyard.
The
cuttings
were
drawn
from
the
collection
planted
by
James
Busby
at
Kirkton,
a
nearby
property,
in
1832.
Edward
had
his
first
vintage
in
1864.
His
eldest
daughter
Susan
married
William
MacDonald
who
planted
the
Ben
Ean
vineyard.
Only
two
of
Edward's
children
stayed
on
Ashmans:
young
Edward,
known
as
'Dan',
and
Avery
(b.1891).
Dan
made
his
first
wine
in
1885
when
he
was
14
years
of
age
and
his
last
in
1959—seventy-four
consecutive
vintages.
After
his
father
died
in
1909,
he
ran
the
winery
while
Avery
cared
for
the
vineyards.
He
continued
the
simple
winemaking
practices
taught
to
him
by
his
father,
believed
that
earth
floors
helped
wine
to
mature,
and
distrusted
gadgets
such
as
thermometers.
When
wine
was
fermenting
during
vintage,
he
tested
its
temperature
by
plunging
his
arm
into
the
vat
and
relying
on
his
judgement.
Philobert
Terrier,
who
worked
the
Kaludah
Winery
and
later
St
Helena,
both
at
Lochinvar,
exerted
an
early
influence
on
Dan.
For
some
years
Dan
ran
the
Kaludah
Winery
and
vineyards
as
well
as
the
Tyrrell
Winery.
He
bought
high
quality
grapes
from
other
local
growers
for
blending
with
his
own,
and
sold
most
of
his
wine
to
merchants
and
other
vignerons
(particularly
Maurice
O'Shea)
who
retailed
it
under
their
own
labels.
When
Avery's
son
Murray
joined
him
at
the
winery
in
the
1950s,
he
tried
to
persuade
Dan
to
bottle
some
wine
under
a
Tyrrell
label.
The
old
man
would
not
listen.
He
believed
in
doing
things
the
way
they
had
always
been
done.
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James Busby, (1801-1871)(1801-1871), viticulturalist and civil servant, was born on 7 February 1801 in Edinburgh, the second son of John Busby and his wife Sarah, née Kennedy. He accompanied his parents when they migrated to New South Wales, where they arrived in February 1824. . James Busby received a grant of 2000 acres (809 ha) in the Hunter River district and obtained employment at the Male Orphan School near Liverpool. He had previously studied viticulture in France and had written A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and the Art of Making Wine, which was published in Sydney in 1825. At the orphan school he was to take charge of the school farm and teach viticulture. Busby sailed for England on 19 February 1831. Viticulture was still his main interest. In 1830 he had published A Manual of Plain Directions for Planting and Cultivating Vineyards and for Making Wine in New South Wales (Sydney). In September 1831 he began a four-month tour of Spanish and French vineyards, which resulted in two further publications: Journal of a Tour Through Some of the Vineyards of Spain and France (Sydney, 1833); and Journal of a Recent Visit to the Principal Vineyards of Spain and France (London, 1834). But it was a memoir on New Zealand, which he presented to the Colonial Office, that gained him an appointment. In March 1832 he was appointed British Resident in New Zealand
Of the two books Busby published ton viticulture during his Parramatta tenure, neither volume much impressed the influential New South Wales Agricultural Society - a matter which, given Busby’s prickly personality, inevitably resulted in a celebrated and very public feud which ended only when Busby departed for a sabbatical in England.
Returning some 18 months later, Busby was to cement his place in Australian colonial history.
His legacy stems from the ‘Busby Collection’ - a selection of some 433 grape vine cuttings collected by Busby in France, Spain, England and probably from points en route to Australia during his second voyage out. These cuttings were initially planted in Sydney’s Botanic Garden and later at least partially replicated at Kirkton in the Hunter Valley. Kirkton was owned by William Kelman, a fellow passenger with Busby and his sister Catherine on the Triton. Kelman had married Catherine and taken up a land grant in the Hunter by the time that Busby returned with his vines after a sojourn in Europe.
Busby’s posting to New Zealand was relatively short-lived. He was repatriated to England due to ill health and died shortly afterwards.
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010172b.htm?hilite=james%3Bbusby
http://www.winecountry.com.au/Content/?ids=Media/NotableCharacters
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Hunter Valley VineyardsBy 1823 some 20 acres of vineyards had already been planted on the northern banks of the river and what is now the Dalwood /Gresford area between Maitland and Singleton.
The early pioneers of the Hunter Valley’s long winemaking history were George Wyndham of Dalwood, William Kelman at Kirkton and James King of Irrawang.
The Hunter Valley’s future was further assisted by the arrival of amateur viticulturalist James Busby - an opinionated gentleman who, returning from the second of two extensive study tours of the winegrowing regions of Europe, arrived back in the Colony of New South Wales with a collection of some 500 vine cuttings drawn from collections and private plantings in Europe and South Africa.
It was a replica set of more than 300 varieties and clones from these cuttings which established the Hunter Valley’s claims to viticultural fame. When Busby had first arrived in the Colony, he was accompanied by his sister, Catherine, who became enamoured of another fellow passenger, William Kelman. The couple married and took up one of the first official land grants at Kirkton on the Hunter River near today’s Morpeth. With a small vineyard already established, the Kelmans happily accommodated James’ replica benchmark vine collection. By 1840 the Hunter Valley’s registered vineyard area exceeded 500 acres.
From these beginnings, the Hunter Valley flourished, with several families establishing vineyards in the area. The Tyrrell, Wilkinson and Drayton families’ history all started in the latter part of the 19th century as did the viticultural pursuits of Dr Henry Lindeman.
http://www.winecountry.com.au/Content/?ids=History
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