Today's Stories from our Past
A podcast about Australian family stories and social history. Everyone has a story that we want to tell.
To contact us, email us at:
todaysstories101@gmail.com
or search for "Today's Stories from our Past" on Facebook or YouTube.
Today's Stories from our Past
E09 –Bound for South Australia – The Hack Family
Unearth the captivating story of John Barton Hack, a pioneering figure whose journey from England to South Australia was fuelled by ambition and adventure.
What if your investments could shape a new world? Discover how Hack's Quaker roots, career as a currier, and ties to the Wakefield family propelled him toward the opportunities of a lifetime in the burgeoning colony. Through gripping anecdotes, we follow his fateful voyages, encounters with notable figures like Captain Lipson, and his decisive move to sell everything and stake his future on South Australian soil.
Step into the vibrant life of the early settlers as we recount Barton's entrepreneurial spirit and relentless drive that helped lay the foundations of Adelaide. Despite the trials of lost livestock and harsh conditions, Hack's ventures initially flourished, cementing his influence in the community. From building bridges to pioneering agricultural innovations, including the first grapevines in the region, Barton's legacy is one of resilience and ingenuity. Join us as we paint a vivid narrative of colonial life, sharing Barton's heartfelt letters and the indelible mark he and his brother Stephen left on South Australia's frontier.
Contact us at todaysstories101@gmail.com.
We have scarcely made a meal on salt meat as we have been kept supplied with parrots, but the best meat I ever tasted is kangaroo. It resembles hair more than anything I know, but we all pronounced it superior. Stephen and another young man went out yesterday and killed a kangaroo and a native dog. The latter are very bold and numerous. Today he brought home an emu. The leg is hanging up for tomorrow's dinner. It is the size of a good large leg of lamb. The harbour abounds with some of the finest fish in the world, particularly one as large as a cod but far superior in flavour, called a snapper. Then there are wild ducks, quails and pigeons in abundance. So no fear of our starving.
Speaker 2:G'day, I'm Peter.
Speaker 3:And g'day, I'm Greg.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Today's Stories from Our Past, a podcast about a history of Australia from about 1800 onwards. The story is told through the experiences of those who lived it.
Speaker 3:We'll tell you stories about Australia that you probably haven't heard before.
Speaker 2:This is the ninth episode in our season entitled Bound for South Australia. If you haven't started from episode one, we recommend pausing here and going back to the beginning. In the last episode we explored Proclamation Day for the Colony of South Australia and the challenging beginnings of the colony, marked by ongoing disputes amongst various stakeholders.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that all sounds a bit chaotic.
Speaker 2:Well, during the earlier episodes, one name has randomly come up John Barton Hack. He was known to all as Barton, not John, and his story is typical of many of the early colonists. He's also an important player in my family's history, so it's time to chat about the Hack family.
Speaker 3:Okay, so where do we start?
Speaker 2:Well, firstly, I must acknowledge the primary source of information for much of this episode. It's a book entitled Checkered Lives, which chronicles the Hack family's story in South Australia. Their story begins in merry old England. Barton Hack was born on 2 July 1805 in Chichester, sussex, into a well-to-do Quaker family. His father, stephen Hack, was a banker and his mother, maria Hack, née Barton, was an educational writer. Barton was the fourth of ten children. Of particular interest to this story is his younger brother, stephen, who was 11 years younger than Barton.
Speaker 2:Barton received his education in Southgate, middlesex, before entering the courier trade and setting up a business in Sussex. Hang on, what's a courier? A courier is a specialist in the leather processing trade. Following the tanning process, the courier employed techniques such as dressing, finishing and colouring to enhance a tanned hide, making it strong, flexible and waterproof. Once currying is complete, the leather is ready to be passed on to the fashioning trades, including saddlery, bridal making, shoemaking and glove making. On 9 July 1827, barton married Bridget, known as Bebe Watson, who was one year younger than Barton. She was the daughter of William Watson of Hardshire in Lancashire. Over the next 20 years, barton and Beebe would have 18 children.
Speaker 3:Okay, so why did the Hack family go to South Australia?
Speaker 2:It turns out that the Wakefield family were acquainted with the Hacks and the Bartons. As you may recall from episode one, edward Gibbon Wakefield, who conceived the idea of systematic colonisation, was also a Quaker. On 29 May 1835, barton met with Robert Gugia and several members of the South Australian Company, which shows that Barton was aware of the proposal for the new colony Australian company. Which shows that Barton was aware of the proposal for the new colony. Initially, barton seemed primarily interested in the colony only as an investment via land sales. Shortly after the land went on sale, a relative, gates Darton, bought three of the land orders as a family investment. He lent Barton £162 for two of those shares, agreeing to charge him 5% interest on that loan.
Speaker 3:If the Hacks were successful couriers, why did Barton need to borrow money from Gates Darton?
Speaker 2:Well, Barton had no money of his own. All his capital was tied up in the family business. After 10 years in the courier business, he'd save nothing, as his earnings were consumed by his growing family, a large house, servants and a carriage. Eventually, Stephen Hack was given one of Barton's shares, making them co-owners on land at the other side of the world.
Speaker 3:OK, so Barton invested in the new colony, but why did he go out there?
Speaker 2:Well, Barton can tell us himself.
Speaker 1:About the year 1836, my health had become very precarious and it was thought necessary that the next winter should be spent in a warmer climate, and the medical advice was a few months in Madeira.
Speaker 1:I was then a married man with six children and established in business in the south of England. Therefore, the prospects of breaking up my home and arranging for an absence of some months was a formidable undertaking. I was induced in June of that year to try a voyage in a steamer running from Portsmouth to Cork and Liverpool. Returning the same way at Portsmouth I saw the ship Buffalo lying and went on board. She was fitting out for the conveyance of the first governor and his staff to the new colony of South Australia. On board I made the acquaintance of Captain Lipson, who was very full of the new colony and its prospects. The subject was not strange to me. Having been much interested in Colonel Torrens's book on the new idea of a self-supporting colony to be founded in South Australia, I began to entertain the belief that it would be better for me to emigrate at once to a warmer climate rather than to endure the unsettlement of wintering at Madeira.
Speaker 2:Barton faced significant health issues, but he became so convinced of the colony's future that he sold his substantial business interests and pre-purchased three 134-acre sections along with three accompanying town acres in Adelaide.
Speaker 3:So it's bound for South Australia for Barton.
Speaker 2:Yes, as I mentioned earlier, he didn't have much cash. However, he did have the courier business. He'd partnered with Thomas Smith, and together they had a deed of co-partnership that outlined how Hackensmith would work. A key clause in this deed referred to the repayment of any money lent to the business by either partner. There is no evidence that Thomas Smith contributed any capital. However, barton had invested 2,000 pounds of his own money, and it appears that Barton's mother, maria, also lent the business 6,000 pounds from her husband's estate, per his will.
Speaker 3:So you're saying that Barton had a considerable debt to his mother when he left England? That sounds a bit like your ancestor, william Henry Neill.
Speaker 2:Yes, indeed, the Hack family left from England on 3 September 1836, aboard the Isabella, embarking on a journey that would last five and a half months. Barton and Bebe were accompanied by their six young children, along with Barton's younger brother, stephen, who was 19 at the time, and Barton was 31. Just before the Isabella set sail from Spithead, the anchorage off Portsmouth in the channel between the Isle of Wight and the mainland, a last-minute passenger arrived by boat, also heading for South Australia. This passenger was Sir John William Jeffcott, the appointed judge of South Australia, who was leaving in haste due to pressing creditors. According to Barton's later recollections, he evidently had not been expected, as all births were engaged. He was accommodated on the sofa in the saloon for the first night.
Speaker 3:Okay, so Stephen is 11 years younger than Barton and not yet married. I wonder what Stephen's motivation for going was.
Speaker 2:Stephen was young and restless. He'd recently left a publishing business and found employment with a Quaker family on a farm near Horsham. Although his time there was short, he gained valuable farming experience that would later serve him well in South Australia. Stephen would play a significant role in my family's story. More on that in later episodes. Now returning to the voyage, they did not head directly to South Australia. Instead, they first stopped in Launceston in Tasmania, arriving on 4 January 1837. They spent a month there buying livestock and equipment which were loaded onto the Isabella for shipping to South Australia. Their purchases included nearly 400 sheep, 6 cows and a bull 10 bullocks, a large wagon and a tray, three horses and a Timor pony.
Speaker 3:Gee, that's a big load for that boat.
Speaker 2:Sure is, and a lot of money spent. Then they were ready to re-embark, but then Barton fell ill with a severe cold. Combined to bed on 27 January, he was treated with leeches and blistering, remaining weak until the Isabella was due to sail on the 31st of January. Thus it fell to Stephen to supervise the loading of all this stock. On 27 January, the animals were taken eight miles further down the Tamar River to a point where the sheep and cattle could be unloaded more efficiently. The Isabella departed from its lawn-sested moorings late the next day. Due to contrary winds, the Isabella could continue no further than 15 miles downstream on 31 January, allowing Stephen to make one more shore visit, during which he purchased a black goat. The Isabella finally set sail on 1 February, clearing the River Tamar on 3 February.
Speaker 2:At 8am on Saturday, 11 February 1837, the Isabella entered Backstairs Passage, the straight separating KI from the mainland. The name was a concept of Flinders, who envisaged the channel as a backdoor into the gulfs of South Australia. The entrance between the portals of Kangaroo Island and the mainland included a side room in what was called Anti-Chamber Bay. Navigating the passage could be perilous even for someone as experienced as Hart, but it posed no challenges. During daylight it was calm as they passed the gentle hills of Cape Jarvis on the mainland and reached Rapid Bay by 2pm that day. Here they could see the small settlement, the first survey camp set up on the mainland by light.
Speaker 2:The previous October, barton was amongst those who went ashore, curious to examine the now deserted rush huts that had been thatched with grass. They discovered vegetables that had grown from seeds sown by the surveyors in September and they helped themselves to them. Encouraged by the thought that it did not appear a bad omen that the settlers had found a better place at Old Fast Bay, they hurried back to the ship to sail approximately 30 miles up the coast to the settlers' encampment which they had been informed about while they were in Launceston. As night fell, the Isabella pressed on by dead reckoning.
Speaker 2:At midnight, when a squall arose, they hove to and fired a signal gun. Soon, spotting lights hoisted on five vessels a mile ahead. Eventually a boat came alongside and they learned that the five vessels anchored in Holdfast Bay were the Buffalo, the two survey vessels, the Rapid and Signet, and two migrant vessels, the Coromandel and John Renwick. Three more vessels were already in the harbour in the Port River the Afrikaan, william Hutt and the Tamar Shantner. They anchored off Holdfast Bay on 11 February 1837. That's just 45 days after Proclamation Day.
Speaker 3:OK, they reached the new colony via Tasmania, but what happened when they arrived in South Australia?
Speaker 2:Well, on arriving at Holdfast Bay, their goods and livestock were unloaded. However, due to some stuff up, the 400 sheep scattered into the bush and were never recovered. Barton set up the two pre prefabricated two-room Mannings Portable Cottages that he had brought from Portsmouth. One cottage was erected at Glenelg where the ships were anchored, while the other was placed in the town area of Adelaide on the site of what is now the railway station. A few days later he wrote a letter back home saying Glenelg, march 9th 1837.
Speaker 1:I wish you could see what a sunburnt, happy party we are, and all that we have to complain of is a little too much hard work. Glenelg, where we still are, consists of beautiful, rich plains between the beach and Adelaide, which is five miles off. We found, to our disappointment, that the town was not allotted when we arrived. The other wooden house is now erecting at Adelaide. We are also building a kitchen which we hope will be finished in a few days when we shall all remove.
Speaker 1:We continue to like our adopted country exceedingly. We have scarcely made a meal on salt meat as we have been kept supplied with parrots, but the best meat I ever tasted is kangaroo. It resembles hair more than anything I know, but we all pronounced it superior. Stephen and another young man went out yesterday and killed a kangaroo and a native dog. The latter are very bold and numerous. Today he brought home an emu. The leg is hanging up for tomorrow's dinner. It is the size of a good large leg of lamb.
Speaker 1:The harbour abounds with some of the finest fish in the world, particularly one as large as a cod but far superior in flavour, called a snapper. One as large as a cod but far superior in flavor, called a snapper. Then there are wild ducks, quails and pigeons in abundance. So no fear of our starving. If you were to see the miserable shifts our good friends and neighbors are put to, you would think us well off.
Speaker 1:We are almost the only people in the colony who possess wooden houses, all the others living in rush huts and tents. The other day, in a gale of wind we saw some poor people running after their house that had blown away. Let no one come to a new colony without one of Manning's nice portable wooden houses. I wish I had brought four instead of two. I should have saved it in workmen's wages. I could now dispose of them at a great advance on their original cost. We have already made acquaintance with many of the settlers and their ladies, whom it is a pleasure and a privilege to know, and indeed we could not have found better society in any country town in England.
Speaker 2:His bullock wagon was kept busy carting goods between Holfast Bay and Adelaide, making 15 pounds in the first week. Apart from his own work, he was also supplying milk. He had bought for 27 pounds a head a herd of cows that were subsequently landed from South Africa, and with his gardener he was developing a garden in North Adelaide and with his gardener.
Speaker 3:He was developing a garden in North Adelaide. Sounds like they were busy being entrepreneurs in the new colony.
Speaker 2:Yes, they were. Barton and Stephen set themselves up as merchants, market gardeners, dairymen, carriers and other businesses creating lucrative businesses with little competition and other businesses creating lucrative businesses with little competition. They secured contracts for public works, including the first bridge over the Torrens River and a canal to Port Misery, as Port Adelaide was known at the time. Barton focused primarily on the merchant side of the business, while also actively engaging in public life. He served either as chairman or committee member of nearly every society that was formed in those early years, including the Street Naming Committee and the Chamber of Commerce. As part of his business efforts, he was compensated 800 pounds for cutting the original channel in Port Adelaide. On 17 March 1837, at the start of the first land sales in Adelaide, Barton bought an additional 60 acres and likely met my ancestor William Henry Neal at the time. Then, on 15 May 1837, both Barton and William served on the first jury in the colony. The following day they both signed a petition expressing concern about the behaviour of the Marines.
Speaker 3:So Barton Hack and William Henry Neill must have known each other fairly well by then.
Speaker 2:Yes, indeed. Now, as it often happens in the case of a new colony, barton experienced some ups and downs. In May he lost another consignment of sheep and cattle when the Isabel founded off rocks off Cape Nelson. He then built a more substantial residence in Henley Street which a few years later was bought by the government for conversion into the police station.
Speaker 3:OK, how was Stephen going?
Speaker 2:Quite well. Stephen's skills as a bushman were starting to gain recognition. In mid-June 1837, he received an invitation to go with Colonel Light, James Hertle Fisher and John Morford on a trip down to Encounter Bay. Barton and Stephen were tasked with searching for the government's lost bullocks, of which some 60 were missing. The hacks were to be paid £2 a day, along with ten shillings for each bullock that they located. To everyone's surprise, Stephen returned just two days later with 35 of the bullocks.
Speaker 3:Well, it sounds like the hacks had some ups and downs, but they were actively engaging in being colonists.
Speaker 2:Yes, indeed, they were engaged in numerous business ventures, Such as Well. In 1838, the Hack brothers acquired a share in a whaling station in Encounter Bay, having purchased Blenkinsop's whaling station that same year. Having purchased Blenkinsop's whaling station that same year, Blenkinsop had drowned with Sir John Jeffcott at the Murray Mouth. The previous December, Stephen and Barton held a two-fifths share in the fishery, along with Captains Hart and Devlin. Now whaling had the potential to be a lucrative enterprise, driven by a significant demand for whale oil in England for lamps and candle wax, while whale bone was used in women's corsets and skirts. The fisheries at Encounter Bay targeted the southern right whale, which migrated along the coast from May to October. However, the whaling business was dirty, difficult and dangerous, requiring a large workforce and substantial capital and operating expenses. The whalers were often rough men.
Speaker 2:David McLaren of the South Australian Company described them as the uncouth off-scourings of the earth. Nevertheless, Barton and Captain Hart had seen others, such as the Henty brothers of Portland Bay, making substantial profits from whaling and believed they could achieve similar success. By 1839, the whale fisheries were being managed jointly with this South Australian company, with Captain Hart serving as manager. Earlier that year they chartered the brig, the Rapid Colonel Light's old surveying ship for whaling operations. They also constructed a rudimentary wharf on Granite Island to help the docking of ships. By August 1839, the fishery at Granite Island had produced 140 tonnes of oil. A reasonable quantity A tonne is nearly 1,000 litres.
Speaker 1:But then disaster struck, as Barton later recalled, the chief headsman, john Dutton, was a fine whaler but a hot-tempered man. On one occasion he had, for some insubordination, tied up a lot of the men to a boat cable stretched from one hut to another and given them a flogging. One of the men got away and in crossing the reef to the main was drowned. The coroner called an inquest and sent the chief headsman to town in custody on a charge of manslaughter. Of course the charge could not be substantiated, and after some time that doesn't sound too good.
Speaker 3:Did they have any other businesses?
Speaker 2:Yes, they developed a 13-acre block in Lower North Adelaide, later known as Chichester Gardens, as a market garden. Barton wrote home on 3 August 1837.
Speaker 1:He said, our dairy goes on well, though we have only as yet five calves. We get one shilling per quart for new milk and six pence per quart for skimmed, and three shillings per pound for butter which is of as fine a quality as I ever saw it in England. The government bullocks which came by the Royal George have been lost for some time. There were sixty of them and we were applied to look for them and we have agreed to do so of them, and we were applied to look for them and we have agreed to do so, our expenses of two pounds per day being paid and ten shillings per head for those we might bring in. Stephen started with our man Tom Davies and another on horseback with two natives who said they had seen them. To our great surprise, he returned in two days with thirty-five of them and afterwards went on another expedition with old Tom alone, who has a peculiar tact of his own for tracking them out and his instinct would have led him more directly to them if he had not had the others with him. We looked for Stephen's return with great interest, as he was in the highest spirits at his success, which was quite the wonder of the colony. He was, however, unsuccessful this time as the cattle he tracked proved to be some of the companies which had strayed and not those belonging to the government. He is today gone to try to bring them in, as the native states that he saw them in the tears not far off. Stephen is now nearly master of the native language and can make them understand anything. It will be of the greatest service to us in many ways.
Speaker 1:We have now undertaken to keep the government cattle and have put up a noble stockyard on the other side of the run in section 702. You would be amused to see Stephen start on one of his bush excursions. He carries on the horse, his tent, bedding and provisions for a week and is at the same time prepared for a gallop when required for the wild cattle run till they are exhausted when found. We have lived on kangaroo for some time past. One of our dogs caught five or six last week, bran a white lurcher. You will recollect him at G Wells. They weigh from forty to one hundred pounds and are by no means to be despised with fresh meat at one shilling per pound.
Speaker 1:You will recollect a memorial being drawn up to Mr Fisher respecting the landing-place at the harbour a few weeks since, understanding that a canal through the mangrove swamp would be cut if anyone would undertake to do it, which I was very unwilling to do, having so few data upon which to found any calculations of the expense. However, after much calculation, I determined to make an offer which was accepted, and a considerable part of it is now done. I have a foreman and fifteen men at work and have put up a large tarpaul intent for them and employ a cook and ration them all. This canal, which is eight hundred and forty feet long and twenty feet wide at the top, will enable goods to be discharged at the warehouses without any delay, and the harbour will then be as convenient as possible.
Speaker 1:Everyone now seems surprised that anyone could doubt that the harbour was a fine one. Two schooners are now right up the harbour discharging goods opposite the landing-place. We seem likely to be supplied with everything we can want, and a noble country. It is One plain which Colonel Light is surveying, close to the town is four miles square, covered with beautiful grass and with scarcely a tree to obstruct the plough, and all good soil oh okay.
Speaker 2:Well, what's next? Barton decided to explore the area around Adelaide and on 27 November 1837, he and his stockman Tom Davis, along with John Morford, samuel Stevens, charles Stewart, who was overseer of the South Australia Company stock, and John Wade, a gentleman from Hobart town, became the first Europeans to ascend Mount Barker. Became the first Europeans to ascend Mount Barker. At the end of 1838, the Hack brothers squatted on a large tract of land near Mount Barker. When Governor Gawler arrived in the colony, he introduced a system of special surveys to help the allocation of land for grazing and agriculture. In 1839, the Hacks bought one survey at Mount Barker in partnership with the Joint Stock Cattle Company and another at the sources of the Parra. With Governor Gawler, they established dairies on both properties. Subsequently, they rented additional land at Yankalula, resulting in three stations, the primary one being the Three Brothers Survey near Mount Barker, later known as Achunga. The property at the sources of the para was sold shortly after, while the Achunga estate became the first agricultural estate outside of Adelaide. Achunga Springs was situated at the centre of 3,000 acres where approximately 1,000 head of cattle were raised and milk and cheese were produced, alongside with eight acres dedicated to gardens and orchards.
Speaker 2:This farming venture was initially very successful and during this period Barton planted some of the first wine grape vines in the colony of South Australia. This was in December 1837. In 1840, the fourth year of the colony, barton Hack and his family moved to their property at Mount Barker where they built a two-storey house and further developed the orchard. The Quaker merchant Jacob Hagen arrived in the colony, bought some of Barker's land at the Parra and became involved in the whaling business. A Quaker meeting house was erected on Barton's land at Pennington Terrace and Henry Watson, a relative, moved into his cottage next door. Five months after acquiring the survey, stephen summarised the progress in a letter to his mother on 21 June 1840.
Speaker 1:I have now 36 men employed on the estate, 4,000 acres of land, 1,000 head of cattle, two dairies, 60 working bullocks in constant full work, 30 horses and brood mares and colts. That's very good.
Speaker 2:Yes, progress is great. Stephen's letters often return to a theme of a surprise visit to his mother. Given the circumstances, it would be understandable a surprise visit to his mother. Given the circumstances, it would be understandable for this visit to become a reality. He'd been in the colony for nearly three years, during which time he had fulfilled his intention of supporting his brother in case of ill health and helping establish his family in a new life.
Speaker 1:Barton later wrote I felt very proud when I sent my first basket of grapes to Colonel Gawler. Some bunches were very large. At the end of the year the official government return showed that the estate had grown to 12 acres of gardens and orchard, 60 acres of wheat, 4 acres of barley, 2 acres of oats and 6 acres of potatoes. It said the plantations contained 700 vines and 400 fruit trees. The farm had a large number of employees In the workshop, a foreman, carpenter, blacksmith and miller Farming hands, three plowmen, two boys, two labourers, one gardener and assistant Stock department, one overseer, one groom, four stockmen for a chunga and yankalilla, also a storeman and two pairs of fences. With the dairy hands this staff meant an outlay for wages of about two thousand pounds per annum.
Speaker 2:By mid-1840, barton's two-storey timber house in Echunga Springs was finally completed and the family moved in. The house overlooked the springs that fed Echunga Creek and was later known as Echunga Springs, while the vineyard and orchard were later known as Echunga Gardens. The following year, governor Gawler painted a watercolour of the property. This sketch depicts the two-storey house along with numerous outbuildings and yards. The house was spacious enough to accommodate Barton's growing family and their frequent visitors. It featured a large veranda where the children could play on rainy days. On 20 April 1840, barton wrote back to his mother.
Speaker 1:He said I have 3,000 acres of land, 600 of them enclosed and improvements to a great extent, plus, on the estate, 1,000 head of cattle, 60 horses and mares and all the comforts of civilised life about us, and as beautiful a garden of about six acres as I ever saw. Soutour would never forgive me if I omitted this from my enumeration. He brought me in this afternoon a watermelon, fourteen and a half pounds weight, and six beautiful fruit melons. We have many hundreds. I am going to send a sample of our produce in this way to the Governor, who is a very kind and friendly person. He has been a very steady friend to me.
Speaker 1:We have at least 500 vines planted in circular rows in a warm aspect and as many plums, apples, cherries, pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, all growing most luxuriantly. We had one plum this year. The climate up here is very much such as I have always believed the higher land in Madeira to be very cool indeed cold in winter and seldom hot in summer, save in the very middle of the day. We have reaped about twenty-five acres of wheat and have a beautiful sample of grain, about four hundred bushels we suppose it will thresh out. We live now on our own ground in a steel mill and it tastes sweet indeed, after the horrid stuff we have had imported, we have only nowhere to buy luxuries tea, sugar, wines, ale, etc. Beef, of course, we raise and kill every week and salt down all not sold or consumed on the station to be used as needed.
Speaker 2:Now, by June 1839, Stephen believed that he had sufficient capital to marry, although Stephen was only 23,. He was successfully employing a large number of people. He remarked that amongst his employees I have hardly one troublesome one, which is saying more than most folks can in this country. So by the end of 1839, stephen felt very confident about his progress and began planning his trip back home. In a letter to his mother, barton expressed his approval of Stephen's trip and mentioned that Stephen would be taking home documents and accounts detailing their situation.
Speaker 2:Barton indicated that these documents would show that if Tom, a family member, were to join their rural business, it would almost insure him a fortune. He also hoped that his mother would come out and join them. When Stephen finally made his decision, it was expected that the vessel would sail soon after loading oil at Encounter Bay in October. However, scandalous delays on the part of its master, arthur Fell, meant that it was not until January that the oil was taken on board. Ultimately, stephen did not depart until 11 April 1840, arriving in England on 23 September 1840 and then travelling directly to Gloucester to reunite with his family.
Speaker 3:OK, the Hack family is making strides and let's revisit your ancestor, william Henry Neill. I see he served on several committees alongside Barton. How was William's career developed since he resigned as a surveyor and launched his auctioneer business on the 12th of August in 1837?
Speaker 2:I discovered a letter written by William to the Colonial Secretary on 2 October 1837. In this correspondence, William is responding to a government tender for the supply of water to Port Adelaide and Glenelg. He proposed not to charge the government for transporting the water to Port Adelaide and Glenelg. He proposed not to charge the government for transporting the water to these ports provided he secured the rights to return loads from the ports to Adelaide City. It appears that he sought this water supply contract to facilitate the movement of his goods and those of others from the ports to the city. As part of his auctioneering business, William either imported goods from England or bought them from ships. Upon their arrival, he then sold these items in his store in Adelaide, necessitating their transport from the ports to the city. By ensuring that this transport cost him nothing, it would benefit his operations. This is William's proposal Franklin Street.
Speaker 4:Sir, in pursuance of the notice issued by the colonial government bearing date September 26th 1837, relative to supplying water to Port Adelaide and Glenelg, I beg to say I will undertake the same without making any charge to the government, provided the weight of the return load be not restricted to less than half a ton for each pair of bullocks. Drawing the said load, I am, sir, your most obedient servant W H Neal, 2nd October 1837. To the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, pro Tem.
Speaker 3:Okay, sounds like a good proposal. How does he go?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure about the outcome of the tender. I couldn't find anything, but I did come across something interesting. The Hack family once owned a ship called the Lady Wellington, which they bought to facilitate trade between Sydney, launceston and Adelaide. Unfortunately, the vessel was eventually wrecked in Port Adelaide. This account was published in the Australian on 2 October 1838.
Speaker 5:I am sorry to state that the Lady Wellington has been condemned in consequence of damage received whilst lying on the bank in this port, having been driven ashore in a stormy south-westerly gale at the top of an extraordinary high tide with about 60 tonnes cargo on board. At the time she went ashore, she broke all her floor, timbers on one side, beside several knees, etc. Etc. Which completely deformed her, making her leaky to the extent of 6 feet of water every 12 hours. I had a survey held on her, the result of which was condemnation. The hull, sails, rigging etc. Have realised by public sale nearly £1,000 an unprecedented sale, seeing the horrid state of the vessel.
Speaker 3:Well, that doesn't sound good for the Hack family. But what has this to do with William?
Speaker 2:Well, the South Australian newspapers provided a further explanation of the affair.
Speaker 5:The landing place at Port Adelaide was a long way upriver and captains were tempted to bring their vessels as close as possible at high tide. But the channel was narrow and the Lady Wellington was forced out of it and onto a sandbank. Since the channel was narrow and the Lady Wellington was forced out of it and onto a sandbank, since the tide was exceptional, the vessel was left high and dry when it went out. Worse, only part of the hull was supported by the bank, so the weight of the cargo broke her back. She had to be unloaded passengers and goods from where she lay.
Speaker 5:After being condemned, she was sold for the benefit of the underwriters who had insured her. The obtained sum of one thousand000 was a good return on a vessel presumably insured for the purchase price of £1,800. The South Australian Gazette and Colonial Record for the 8th of September reported that the hull was sold on 7th September for £450. The purchaser was the auctioneer and general agent William Henry Neal, who used her as a in the harbour. So Henry could purchase goods as they arrived at Port Adelaide and store then there until he moved them to the city for sale.
Speaker 3:Well, this sounds like William's business is moving forward.
Speaker 2:Yes, but he soon faced some competition. A man named John Bentham Neals began his own auctioneering business after William had already established his. To avoid confusion with William Henry Neal, the new auctioneer changed his name to John Neals Bentham and advertised this on 10 November 1838.
Speaker 3:Okay, so how did William go as an auctioneer?
Speaker 2:Well for the next few years. There are many small advertisements in South Australian newspapers listing goods for sale by William, but you'll have to wait until a later episode to see how he went a later episode to see how he went Alright.
Speaker 3:Is there anything else of interest about William?
Speaker 2:Yes, on 31 October 1840, the first city council for Adelaide was elected. William was elected as one of the councillors on that first council.
Speaker 3:Okay, so by the end of 1840 the business ventures of William Henry Neill and the Hack brothers are progressing quite well.
Speaker 2:Yes, but it is important to note that William Henry Neill went bankrupt in England owing £6,000, while the Hack brothers also owed £6,000 to their mother in England, to their mother in England.
Speaker 3:Are you suggesting that some chickens will come home to roost soon?
Speaker 2:Well, we'll discuss this in later episodes, but it's time to look into a third of my ancestors who were part of the early colony of South Australia. This is John Watts. I wanted to uncover the reasons behind John's move to Australia. Like Charles Neddy's and William Henry Neill, the answer to this question lies in understanding his family's life in England. We'll explore that in our next episode.
Speaker 3:Sounds good. Thanks for listening. So it's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from me, thank you.