Matilda Wallace

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Matilda Wallace
Wallace c. 1880
Born
Matilda Hill

(1838-11-00)November 1838
High Ham, Somerset, England
Died21 January 1898(1898-01-21) (aged 59)

Matilda Wallace1838-1898 was a 19th century pioneer Australian pastoralist. Born in High Ham, Somerset, England to Sarah and George Hill. She emigrated to Australia departing Liverpool on 31 October 1858,[1] joining members of her family in Coromandel Valley, in the Colony of South Australia. She was a twenty-year old (dairy maid) sponsored by brother, Robert Hill. Wallace and her husband Abraham were for many years frontier sheep and cattle farmers, which she documented in a memoir.

Her early life and journey to Australia

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In 1831 the Parish of High Ham, Somerset, had a population of 1,027. In 1841 census the village of High Ham had 104 males, 114 females,and there were 44 inhabited houses. Matilda’s father, worked Wishiel Farm, Lot 812, in the Northeast of the parish. His farm consisted of a stone cottage, garden and 2 acres. In 1841 the rent paid to the Rector of High Ham was 7 shillings and 4 pence. George also had 10 acres in Henley, about a mile from Wishiel. He was listed as farmer in the censuses of 1841 and 1851. It is likely that he had dairy cows, sheep and possibly some crops along with peas and beans.[2]

Matilda was baptised in St Andrew’s Church of England at High Ham on 11th November 1838 a short time after her birth. She attended the village school attached to St Andrew’s Church until the age of 11 and, at the age of 12, she was employed as a glove maker, or glover. Most glovers at the time were outworkers in their homes where they hand-stitched together the pieces they received from a manufacturer. According to the 1841 census, all five of George Hill’s children were living at Henley. In 1851 only Robert, scholar, and Matilda, glover, were at home with George and Sarah at the time of the census. Robert Hill, baptised 26/10/1834 at High Ham, stayed at school until he was 16, and then worked on the land. Matilda led a sheltered life on the farm and helped with milking. When Matilda emigrated, she was described on the passenger list as a dairy maid.[3]

Matilda Hill was the youngest child in her family. When she was born her siblings were Mary 13, Susan 12, Robert 4 and Jeffrey 1. She kept in touch by post with her three siblings who had migrated to Australia. After 1850, letters posted from England took less than 100 days to reach Australia.[4] Matilda knew why her three siblings had left Somerset and how they fared in the Colony of South Australia and decided to follow them. The main reasons for leaving Somerset at the time were the consolidation of farm holdings and the subsequent lack of employment opportunities. Matilda’s father’s landholding, recorded in the 1851 census, was only 10 acres, an area insufficient to support an extended family. The size of his property shown in the 1851 census was smaller than in the 1841 census.[5] The increase in farm size resulting from consolidation decreased the number of small landholders and led to substantial poverty in the West Country, a region that includes, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol. Between 1840 and 1900, 434,806 people left Britain through seeking a better future.[6] Many were destined for Australasia as was the case for Matilda.

She travelled from High Ham to nearby Taunton to board the train to Liverpool days before she was due to embark. Family members who had previously emigrated had made the same journey in earlier years. By 1860,it was still common practice for young women to be accompanied on rail travel. Victorian society had strong expectations about female propriety and respectability and young women travelling alone, were seen as vulnerable. Chaperonage was often a practical necessity on long journeys.[7] It seems almost certain that Matilda was accompanied by her father when travelling to Liverpool by train. As she later wrote in her memoir, I was the youngest of five, and always considered delicate, and the one who must be taken care of.[8]


Matilda’s sister, Mary Elliot Hill, married Samuel Bartlett, a farm labourer. They migrated on the ship Himalaya to the Colony of South Australia on August 1, 1849 from Southampton. The passenger list includes Samuel 29, Mary 23 and their daughter Emma, aged two, and a baby son, Arthur.[9] Both children died of disease at sea. A list of the diseases onboard was reported in the Adelaide Times on the 19th November, two days after the ship had arrived and included cholera, dysentery, brain inflammation and bowel infections. Their daughter, Sarah Emma, was born on 2nd October 1850, followed by Ann Matilda Bartlett on 27th September 1853, then Arthur Samuel, Mary Elliot, John, George Henry and Herbert. They settled at St Mary's Coromandel Valley in the Adelaide Hills.

Once Mary and Samuel Bartlett had settled in the colony other members of the family also decided to emigrate from Somerset. Samuel’s brother, James Bartlett, and his wife Elizabeth arrived later on the Sultana on 7th October 1852 from Plymouth.[10] Matilda’s brother, Robert Hill, and his wife Mary, married 29th May, 1855, travelled on the Nimroud, arriving in February 1856 He was listed as an ag labourer 20 and she was 15.[11] In 1857 Matilda’s other brother, Jeffrey Hill 19 farm labourer, and his wife Mary 23 sailed from Liverpool on the Tantivy to join them[12] The families all settled in Coromandel Valley, less than 20 km from the centre of Adelaide, then a town of about 15,000. Robert and Jeffrey both became sheep farmers.[13]

Robert Hill began working for his brother-in-law Samuel Bartlett. The property Samuel Bartlett owned in 1854 in Coromandel Valley were Sections 1086 and 1170 Hundred of Adelaide Reference SA Land Titles Office 65 70 and 95 343. Samuel's brother, James Bartlett owned the following property in Coromandel Valley Sections 1123; part Section 1036: survey B; and part Section 873 Hundred of Adelaide and Section 355 Norlunga C. Reference SA Land Titles Office Volume 84 181 and Volume 83 184 and Volume C Cx 49. The latter block of 159 acres was transferred to Robert Hill in 1869.

Emigrants were generally not allowed on board their ships until the day before, or the actual day of sailing, so this meant staying several days in a Liverpool lodging house.[14] Matilda left Liverpool on 31st October 1858. She was listed as a nominated emigrant with her brother Robert being nominator.[15] As a nominated emigrant, the SA government financed her passage. Such schemes were designed to populate the colony and provide much needed labour. Of the 156 young women on the passenger list most were domestic servants in their early twenties, so Matilda had companions with a similar background.[16]

The Liverpool dock area was a busy hub for maritime activity. It dominated global trade by the early 19th century and was by far the busiest port in the UK. The Albert Dock Opened in 1846 and the speed with which ships unloaded and turned around was cut in half.[17]It was an area in which emigrants were often a target for various types of crime[18]and probably the main reason why Matilda was escorted. Emigrants, like Matilda, travelled in the cheapest accommodation, known as the steerage.This was similar to a dormitory with bunks down the sides and tables in the centre.[19] Cabins were usually situated in the rear of the main deck. Steerage passengers were housed below decks in cramped, noisy, damp conditions. Single women were housed in one area, single men often had hammocks towards the back of the ship and married couples and families were accommodated in-between.[20] It was frequently overcrowded with poor ventilation. The journey to Australia was long and often monotonous. Passengers were encouraged to get plenty of exercise and spend as much time as possible on deck. inclement weather meant that passengers were often forced to spend much of their time below deck.[21]

Emigrating in a sailing ship could be unpleasant, particularly during a storm. Seasickness was a particular problem on the early part of the journey when passengers were as yet unused to sea travel. Diseases such as cholera and typhus frequently reached epidemic proportion as infection spread through the confined decks. Each morning passengers were required to rise early and stow their bedding. Because of the risk of disease, and the need to keep all areas dry, they were required to clean their quarters thoroughly. Even so, there were four deaths during Matilda’s passage out to Australia. Meals were regulated at different times throughout the day. The diet for steerage passengers was very plain and included ship’s biscuits, bread, oatmeal, fresh meat from livestock slaughtered on the ship, salted beef, rice, potatoes, tinned carrots and dried peas.[22]

A general description of the journey taken in 1839 by John Archibald Little, later related to the Hill family by marriage, follows: The journeys long, dangerous and challenging, especially for children. The Littles lost their baby, Isobel, on the voyage out to Australia. Even in calm weather sailing ship might take as long as four months. Sailing through the equatorial waters of the Atlantic, passengers experienced hot and humid conditions. Ships sailing around the Cape of Good Hope encountered high winds and rough seas. The trip across the Indian Ocean is powered by the roaring forties that have strong, and often gale-force, winds throughout the year. Passengers lived in cramped, crowded, unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions with poor food.[23]

For steerage passengers, life aboard ship, was characterised by poor hygiene and a lack of privacy for ablutions with limited access to fresh water and toilet facilities. Washing facilities were also communal and basic, often involving buckets of seawater and limited access to fresh water. During severe storms in the Southern Ocean passengers were confined below, sometimes for days, sick and tossed around, often in complete darkness, and fearing for their lives, as water swept across the decks. Anne Grafton, who migrated from England in the same year as Matilda, wrote: Our water barrels were rolling from side to side and our cans, teapots and cooking utensils were adding to the confusion by bouncing one after the other down the area between the bunks. Journeys to Australia.[24]

The barque North, owned by Boyd and Company, was built in Quebec in 1855, dimensions 192.6’ x 36.6’ x 22.9’. Its first trip from Liverpool to Adelaide departed from Liverpool on November 1 1858. It arrived in Adelaide on January 28, 1859. The 1,238 tons North carried a full complement of passengers, including Mrs. Boyd and Dr. D.B. North, with the surgeon-superintendent in the cabin and 51 young married couples with 34 boys and 49 girls including 15 babies, five of whom were born on ship, 74 single men, 156 single women. .[25]

Captain Boyd junior logged the 87-day journey as follows. On Monday, the 1st November, she was towed by the Resolute, steam-tug, down St. George's Channel, and in 23 hours was clear of the Tuskar Lighthouse, and fairly upon her passage; and, while in the British waters, Captain Boyd had several opportunities of noticing the benefits derived from the introduction into the mercantile marine of the new Admiralty signal-lights for sailing vessels, as, on seeing a vessel's lights at night, by their colour or position they indicate the tack the vessel was on, as well as the course she was heading, sufficiently well to avoid collision. The first seven days of the passage were favourable, but unfortunately an interval of 14 days then occurred in the Bay of Biscay with scarcely a breath of wind to give the vessel steerageway. On Saturday, the 21st, made the island of Fuerteventura,located 97 km from the coast of North Africa, and in the same day passed the grand Canary Island and the Peak of Tenerife, the latter of which was seen at a distance computed to be 100 miles. While passing between those islands and the African coast a very handsome land bird, very similar to a canary, flew on board, was secured, and in company with two others now graces the ship's cabin, being quite as tame as its companions. No incident of importance occurred until the 21st, when the N.E. trade winds were entered on. On December 1 overtook and passed a smart looking American whaling barque and a very taunt brig, but neither of them having signals, their numbers were not procured.

The Equinox was crossed on the 3rd December, with strong trade winds, in 24°10'west longitude, and on the 10th the island of Trinidad was sighted, distant, about 12 leagues. Next day passed the tropic in 28°10'west; and the following day in lat.24°59', longitude 26°13'west, saw the ship New Union, from Valparaiso, homeward bound; but from the distance the ships were from each other, it was impossible to communicate by signals, although Captain Boyd was anxious to be reported. On December 20th, in 35°3'south, 13°6'west, spoke a very fine American vessel named the Juan Fernandez, bound from New York to Melbourne, 52 days out; and on the same day a Dutch barque hove in sight, with sailing qualities so nearly a match for the North that the vessels were within signalling distance for several days, although ultimately the North left her behind, bound to Valparaiso.

On December 26th, in 37°53'south lat,1°1'east long, saw a very long vessel, but could not ascertain her name, although it was supposed to be the Lady Clarendon. On January 1st the Cape of Good Hope was doubled, and since that time a favourable run was made to near the Kangaroo Island, when, from the inferiority of the charts and their not indicating a strong northerly set from the Great Australian Bight, the vessel's passage was protracted at least two days longer than it would have been had Captain Boyd been furnished with charts corrected to Captain Douglas's late surveys. On nearing the island, the Cape Borda light (from the lighthouse, built in 1858, located on Kangaroo Island to guide ships travelling along the Roaring Forties trade route heading into the Investigator Strait towards Port Adelaide) excited the admiration of all on board who saw its brilliance, and it was affirmed that it was equal to any light on the coast of Great Britain. Register 31/1/1859[26]

Matilda Elliot Hill arrived in Port Adelaide on 28th January 1859 and was met by her brother, Robert, and travelled via Adelaide to Coromandel Valley to meet her sister Mary, brother-in-law Samuel, and her nieces, Ann Matilda and Mary Elliot. She stayed with her sister Mary and brother Robert. She later recalled:

I had made up my mind on leaving 'home' to make the best of everything, so now was the time to begin. I need not tell you how thankful I was for my bed, for when you think of it, walking, railway journey, coaching, and lastly riding 20 miles, was not so bad on the day of arrival, after three months cooped up on board ship. My waking thoughts were varied, and scenery I beheld on rising was most charming; and after a very hearty breakfast, two of my little nieces took me for a stroll, during which I came to the conclusion that life in Australia could be endured.[27]

Matilda later reflected on her arrival in the colony: 'I, then a girl of twenty-one, having left my native land (Somersetshire), father and mother. What for? I used often to ask myself'.[28]

While in Coromandel Valley, Matilda became acquainted with Australian farming on the sheep runs of Robert and Jeffrey. Matilda travelled around the colony for about two and a half years staying with friends and relations in almost every inhabited part of South Australia, and finally settled in Mt Gambier in early 1861 where she met her future husband. Abraham Wallace, the youngest son of Jeremiah and Anne Wallace, was born in 1828. At the age of sixteen he emigrated from Ireland with his parents and two brothers, Jeremiah, and John, arriving in Australia on 24th November 1850 on the Joseph Somes [29]from Plymouth. The Wallaces kept a shop and were well known in Mt Gambier.

Abraham first settled at Mt Gambier but went to the Victorian goldfields before returning to the Southeast where he met Matilda. Matilda and Abraham were married at Weshill, the residence of Anne Wallace, on 9th December 1861 by the Reverend J. Sheldon. The couple stayed in Mt Gambier for 18 months. During that time Matilda helped in the Wallace’s shop and the couple suffered the loss of their first child, a boy. .[30][31]

From this time, they may be regarded some of South Australia’s earliest European settlers and pastoralists (Nicholas, 2000, p.3).[1][32] "My husband not caring to remain any longer in these parts, we started for Queensland equipped thus: a waggon and pair of horses, bedding and provisions, our trap answering the purpose of house by day and night, it being well fitted up with canvas and green baize. Our route was from South East to Swan Hill where we stayed a night; then from Swan Hill to Talbot's Pont; from there to Balrandeel (Balranald), and from there to Scott's Back Country, where all our troubles began, having to travel ten miles through `Mallee' desert (no road) sand up to the horses' knees, and where we were told the natives were in scores on the alert to eat 'white man'; consequently our chance of coming out alive seemed very poor. My husband wanted me to go in the back of the wagon to be out of their sight should they attack us, but feeling quite as safe by his side I preferred to keep my place; however, we arrived safely on the other side by sundown, having only seen two of those 'dark sons of Australia's soil', who were comfortably shepherding a flock of sheep in the desert, which desert, I must here tell you, my husband had to walk through whilst I drove, he having to cut and pull down trees and bushes to make a way to drive through, and well was he rewarded, for what should meet our gaze when through this labyrinth, but a most delightful lake of fresh water, hundreds of wild duck and other birds, a shepherd's but and a flock of sheep -most picturesque. We camped here for a day or two; the shepherd looked on us as great curiosities, having made our way through, and wanted to know where we were bound for. He told my husband he had made a great mistake in bringing his wife into such rough scenes and country, that I was not at all suited for such a life as these parts of the country offered. He told us it was about thirty miles from here to the River Darling, which we thought we could do in two days; so we started, leaving the pleasant scenes to find the country very sandy, but pretty and nicely covered with timber, and here and there beautiful clear lakes of fresh water, bordered with box trees and covered with game. By one o'clock we reached the banks of the 'River Darling', and on its waters was a boat (the largest paddle steamer then on the river), 'The Lady Daly'. It was a pretty sight after seven weeks' travelling, though I was too ill to appreciate anything, suffering from the impure water I drank the other side of the desert." They travelled on to Menindee. "On the following day we started for Mount Murcheson, that being the only place where you could go on to the banks of the river when flooded (as then) for 300 miles. I not being strong enough to travel, we stayed here and opened a store. After sending to Adelaide for goods, my husband then applied to the New South Wales Government for land to purchase; in four months' time we received an answer that we could buy land, and that a surveyor had instructions to survey it, in the meantime my husband put up a house 28 by 18, divided into two rooms, in which we had to pack our stores as well as ourselves, but as the surveyor never made his appearance, of course we could not open a store. My husband got discontented having nothing to do, and started hawking to dispose of his goods." [33] In her later reflections Matilda wrote that during that epic overland trip she was filled with fear and trepidation.

Due to governmental entry restrictions for livestock into Queensland, they returned to Adelaide, travelling against advice over the Barrier Ranges, risking death from thirst on what would have been a hot dry journey to Mingary (South Australia). A year later, they returned to the Barrier region of the Colony of New South Wales with two men, 25 horses, 1,400 sheep, and supplies for 18 months. They intended to settle at the frontier of white settlement. In early January 1864, they squatted on land in New South Wales to the north east of Boolcoomatta.[34][35] They were now at the remote front of European settlement.

Once settlers arrived at the frontier of white settlement, they "squatted" on Aboriginal land, became pastoralists, grew food, selected land - later applying for leases, built homesteads, fences and watering points. These early settlers relied on each other for support far from the jurisdiction of the law. Matilda’s memoir seems to indicate that she and Abraham did not see themselves as invaders of another’s land, but as hard-working pioneers in a land yet to be developed, a view promulgated by governments at the time.[36]

The British government had sought to occupy Australia exclusively without any agreement or treaty. All land was declared to be owned by the Crown. Reynolds (1998) has stated: I think it was quite possible in the nineteenth century for people to say: ‘Look, these people do not really own the land they just wander across it, and it does not matter whether they have this bit or the next bit, we can push them off. They are simply nomads.’ We now know beyond question, that particular pieces of land are of critical importance for Aboriginal groups, not just economically but also deeply important for their cultural and religious life. We know that. We cannot say now, we do not have the excuse of the pioneers, ‘We did not know.’[37] It is of course equally possible that they did know what they were doing! Early European accounts of frontier settlement did not include recognition and reflection on the conflict and violence committed against Indigenous people, initially by the British, then by pastoralists, then by police, and then by Aboriginal militia, conflicts that are now recognised as frontier wars in which Indigenous people battled to defend their country.

Once the Wallaces had decided to settle,they entered a nomadic phase, moving throughout the Fowlers Gap area to meet their livestock's need for water and feed. Despite the arid climate, wool production proved viable, in part due to the compressibility of wool for economic transport.[38] The Wallaces were some of the earliest settlers in the region,[39] with a pastoral run, Sturts Meadows, located approximately 110 kilometres north of yet to be established Broken Hill.

The first station in the Barrier region was Mt Gipps, established around 1865, followed shortly after by Poolamacca and Sturt’s Meadows The latter property was formally leased in September 1869 and the prior occupant, squatter George Raines, displaced.[40]

The Wallaces depended on local Aboriginal knowledge of the land and sources of water and feed for their stock. The main water source at Sturts Meadows was Caloola Creek. In this semi-arid area creeks are intermittent and cease to flow for months or, in some cases, years. They are fed by local rainfall and from the catchment areas to the north. Some of this water is stored in the sands below the creek bed and becomes a soak, an important source of water in drought years. The Wallaces had to frequently relocate during droughts, seeking water at locations such as Cobham Lake returning after it rained. Matilda recalled one trip. "I had to get the sheep gathered up and make a start to travel the seventy miles between the last camp and Cobam. The weather was dreadfully hot, and the dusty track was not at all pleasant travelling along. My little baby was blind with sandy blight, and we had to travel the sheep two days (hot windy days) without being able to give the poor things a drink. You can imagine with what delight we welcomed the sight of a big hole full of water, in a creek eighteen miles from Cobam Lake.[41]

Matilda managed the property independently during her husband's frequent absences, relying on Aboriginal people, men as stockmen and women for home help, to source local food and as midwifes. Dame Mary Jean Gilmore in later life recalled: "In our beginnings, the black woman was always the stand-by of the interiors as nurse and midwife. I remember two of the most trusted nurses in Wagga Wagga who told my mother that what made them so successful was that they had learned from the blacks. Indeed, one said that she had to teach the doctor, as he had come to the town a surgeon, but not an accoucheur (male midwife)”.[42]


The teenage Blore brothers, Fred and George, gave assistance to Matilda. Frederick Blore and family had migrated from England in 1851 and were among the first to move to the Barrier Region. George Blore built the Albert Hotel[43], using sandstone cut from just outside the town of Milparinka. Matilda tells of her stay on the opposite side of the lake to where the Cobham Lake Hotel was later built by George Blore. There is still evidence of where she was at the site, including a well formed spherical underground tank. The lake was also home to the Malayngapa people.[44] In her memoir, Matilda noted the serious threat dingoes posed to the sheep she shepherded. They target the outliers from the flock, chase, panic and kill them.[45]

The carrying capacity of Sturts Meadows was lower than expected when the Wallaces first settled. The vegetation is mainly saltbush (Atriplex semibaccata) and bluebush (Mariana sp.) with scattered mulga (Acacia aneura) and belah (Casuarina cristata), river red gums (Eucalpytus camaldulensis) along ephemeral creeks and a variety of low growing grasses. The climate is typical of an arid region with fairly mild winters and hot summers and low and variable rainfall, averaging about 10 inches (250mm) per annum.[46]

Members of the Hill family maintained regular contact with the Wallaces. Robert Hill carried goods by horse and wagon from Adelaide to the Barrier region for his cousin, Arthur Bartlett. On the return journey he followed the Darling River down to Wentworth and then on to Adelaide. He often camped on the banks of the Darling at Sturt’s Billabong[47] and decided to apply for a square mile of land there. Robert and his wife Mary later lived at Sturt’s Billabong. On one of his trips, Robert left his eldest son, Tom, who was ten years old, with the Wallaces (ie. his sister and brother-in-law). They had settled on land adjoining Bartlett’s house. While staying there, Tom used to wander all over the country with the local aboriginal tribe. One place which he visited was the Mootwingee cave where the natives used to make hand prints on the low ceiling of the cave. They chewed up charcoal, placed their hands on the ceiling, spat the charcoal all over their hands, and then let it dry before taking the hand away.The engravings on the red-brown rocks (petroglyphs) [48] found at Sturt’s Meadows reminded the Wallaces of an earlier history of the area.These rocks weather to form the red-brown sand hills found here and the stone used for buildings on the property.

Several Aboriginal groups are recognised as having an association with Mootwingee, a sheep station run at one time by George Raines who had previously squatted at Sturt’s Meadows. Their forebears lived and travelled along the length of the Darling River. Matilda commented on this as most people in Somerset seldom ventured outside the boundaries of the County.Tom is frequently mentioned in Matilda’s memoir as both a companion and helper at Sturt’s Meadows.[49]

Matilda was a strong woman who lived up to her name (German: might and strength, battle) as she faced many hardships and challenges. The environment at Sturt’s Meadows as depicted in her memoir, seemed uninviting in comparison to the green and well-watered pastures of Somerset. Flies, mosquitoes,rats, loneliness, isolation and shortages of water and fodder for stock were a constant battle. Some hardships were minor and short-lived. After a flood she wrote ‘I must here tell you the air at night and day was black with mosquitos, preventing me from reading or writing unless I smoked to keep them away.’ Other hardships became enduring battles. Loneliness is a recurring theme in Matilda’s memoir. She recalls an Aboriginal man ‘making me understand it was very wrong of big one white fellow no good leave you along y'rself, black fellow no leave min lubra [Aboriginal girl or woman].’ Matilda was destined to have a much- interrupted married life with Abraham. She recalled when a visitor appeared ‘this was quite “a red- letter day”, as I had not seen a stranger for eleven months’ . Near the end of her memoir she wrote 'I should not have said I was left alone, for I had my dear little baby, and you can imagine, dear reader, what a great comfort my baby was to me after so many years of loneliness. I often prayed fervently to the Lord to spare my darling to me'.[50][51]


Although she had resolved that ‘for weal or woe’ she would go with her husband and ‘share the same fate’ whenever possible, she was left alone for weeks-on-end. She records being left ‘to look after one thousand eight hundred sheep to lamb’ for ten weeks while he took sheep for sale to Adelaide where he got 25 shillings per head for them. Matilda found it hard work. ‘With the help of Tom and an old lubra I looked after them, sending him with them first thing in the morning, and I went out afterwards to gather up the lambs, for if any were left out the dogs [dingoes] would eat them. Many a time I have sat on the sand hills and had a good cry, and then thought how very wrong it was of me, as all went so well this time.’

Unfortunately, the challenges that settlers faced only increased over the years, often because of unsustainable practices by many pastoralists. The settlement of the remote West Darling region was unruly, resulting in overstocking, land degradation, and the destruction of flora and fauna. This is already evident in a photograph from 1886 of a sand drift near a home by the Darling at Menindee, a little over 40 years after white settlement.[52]

Grazing had a significant impact on creeks, soaks, and waterholes as a result of extensive trampling and fouling by stock. The fundamental unsuitability of the land for such intensive grazing should have been evident from the outset. Other challenges that Matilda reported facing included heat, droughts, plagues of rabbits and rats, dust storms and floods. Some of these hardships were described in detail in Matilda’s memoir which, in later years, recorded only those incidents that seemed significant and were sometimes cryptic. For example, ‘[arrived] at our destination in 1868, New Year’s Day. Got a stone house put up. February had a little son, which we buried the end of April.’[53]

The Darling River largely flows through plains and relatively flat land, having an average gradient of just 16 mm per kilometre. After significant rainfalls it becomes flooded, and the floodwaters recede slowly. Matilda describes a downpour in which they lost most of their sheep as they did not move them to higher ground. At another time their home overlooking Eight Mile Creek was flooded, so they built a new one on higher ground. It is now in ruins. At Sturt’s Meadows Matilda was often left on her own to manage the sheep, horses, and staff. She endured much hardship, and while shepherding their sheep to prevent wild dog attacks, she remembered wearing out ‘nine pairs of the very best kid boots’ in the harsh country. She later used her leatherwork skills to replace her boots with some hard cattle hide leather tanned by Abraham. She was a good horsewoman and could round up lost sheep and work dogs. Matilda recalled that on one occasion she rode 25 miles ‘with a bucket, a leg of mutton, a loaf of bread, pair of boots …shovel and an axe’ strung to her saddle.[54]

There are many reports of attacks by Aboriginal men on early sheep stations in the colony. However, Matilda and Abraham did not experience such raids at Sturt’s Meadows nor are there any known massacres recorded in the Barrier region on the map of Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia, 1788 to 1930, University of Newcastle, Centre for 21st Century Humanities. At one time she and Abraham were entrusted to protect a number of Aboriginal women from men from another tribe at the request of their husbands. After the women were guarded overnight ‘the Murray blacks went away next morning and the husbands returned and performed Corrobborees for some days after’ to express their thanks.[55]

Matilda was probably the first white woman in the Barrier area and soon made friends with the local Aboriginal people. They brought her game and eggs,[56] worked as stockmen, helped in the house, and acted as midwives. However, it was not always smooth sailing. Some knew Matilda had supplies in her storeroom. She had to keep them safe as she could not afford to lose stores as supplies infrequently arrived from Menindee or Wilcannia and were often late. Sidney Kidman knew Matilda and when he was interviewed in 1935 by Ion Idriess for his book The Cattle King (1936), he recalled that when Cheeky Jacky tried to break into the Wallace homestead storeroom he was foiled by Matilda who scared him off ‘with a gun and savage dogs’ In her storeroom Matilda had supplies of biscuits, tea, coffee, sugar, flour, and in all probability, potatoes, and onions. Other vegetables came from her garden or were foraged. She may have learned what could be foraged during their nomadic years. Her memoir mentions bread, killing sheep, being unable to keep meat for a day even after ‘trying all sorts of means’ , and shooting wildfowl. There is no mention of milk, fruit, vegetables, or other staples but there are many references to drinking water.

Abraham Wallace relied on shearers to come each year to shear by blade. The Wallaces built a shearing shed and Matilda supervised shearing. At one shearing the menfolk sustained injuries and so Matilda, despite her diminutive stature, ‘shore the last five sheep herself’.[57]

In 1870 Abraham Wallace paid rentals of £10-10-0 for Sturt’s Meadows and £12 for Sturt's Meadow North. In the Barrier region most stations were held under a ‘Western lands lease’. There was no compensation for those whose traditional country had been alienated. Land was deemed to belong to the Crown and was leased under the condition that it be used for the agreed purpose and could be resumed.Leaseholds along the Darling stipulated that the property owners had to furnish the Aborigines on the properties with provisions and permit the hunting of traditional game.[58] n 1861 rentals for pastoral leases were 0.15d per acre, which attracted new settlers. However, in 1880 they were raised to 0.37d per acre. The burden of higher rentals together with the high costs of providing water and fencing for permanent occupation put the individual squatter without capital at a considerable disadvantage. Many of them left the newly occupied areas in the dry years after 1865, particularly during the 22 period of depressed wool prices from 1868-70. The Wallaces from Sturt’s Meadows were among them. In the 1880’s large company holdings began consolidating small pastoral runs. Parts of Sturt’s Meadows and Cobham Station then became part of what is now Fowler’s Gap Station.[59]

The Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 4th November 1870, reported that a parcel of greasy wool had reached a high of 12d/lb or about £32 /bale.In her memoir, Matilda recalled scouring her wool before it was sent for sale. As greasy wool contains as much as 50 percent dirt and other matter, woolgrowers could save on freight by having their wool scoured before being sent for export. By that time Australia had become the world’s largest producer of wool. In that year Sturt’s Meadows is reputed to have produced in the order of 250 bales.[60]Wool from the Barrier region was first transported by bullock wagon, horse teams and later by camel trains. Afghan cameleers initially came to help in the exploration of the harsh interior of the country that had proved difficult by horse and wagon. By the time the Wallaces had settled at Sturt’s Meadows camels were used to cart supplies to outback pastoral properties.The first river boat travelled up the Darling in 1859. These steamers had an immediate effect, making settlement more attractive by reducing the cost of transport, making it possible for settlers to enjoy comforts and conveniences available elsewhere. Transport by paddle steamer increased in those years when the Darling was navigable. The river dried up on no fewer than forty-five occasions between 1885 and 1960. It is estimated that by 1870 the Wallaces would have had a wool clip of up to 30 tons and probably used the river port of Wilcannia as an alternative to purely land transport. The boats were regarded as quicker and much cheaper than bullock trains. However, the paddle steamers were often unable to travel on the Darling during floods or droughts when the river was very low.The wool travelled down the Darling River to Wentworth, at the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers. By 1870 Wentworth had become a bustling port with paddleboats carrying goods to and from towns on the Darling and Murray Rivers and the outside world. In 1895, 485 vessels passed through this port.[61][62]

Transport was critical to the success of the early settlers. Their livelihood depended on regular and reliable supplies of goods, building and fencing materials as well as the ability to get wool and other produce to market. People and goods were moved by walking, horseback, bullock wagon, camel teams, paddle steamer or by coach. A day’s travel on foot might cover up to 20 miles, 25 by horse, 15 by bullock wagon, and 50 miles by paddle steamer. Coaches could cover up to 90 miles a day. In his extensive travels, Abraham moved about the colonies of Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales on horseback and bullock wagon. Matilda travelled on foot, horseback, and by horse-drawn wagon, buggy and coach.[63]

Sheep graziers became prosperous during the 1880s and this period is often called the Golden Age of Wool. Demand was driven by the textile industry in Europe, particularly England, which relied heavily on Australian wool to produce fabrics and garments. This led to high wool prices, creating a profitable market for Australian wool producers. Wool was a major export contributing to Australia’s economy and helped establish a wealthy class of sheep graziers, built on land which is now considered to have been illegally taken from the Indigenous owners. This prosperity was often reflected in the homesteads they built and the lives they led.[64]

It was not until 1871 that a substantial homestead above flood level was built at Sturt’s Meadows using local stone as was common in the Colony of South Australia. The homestead and stock were supplied with water from a permanent well sunk on the creek near their original camp, sited with the help of local Aboriginal people. By this time, a flock of 18,000 sheep occupied the run and substantial improvements to the property had been made.[65] Further improvements were made by the time the property was advertised for sale again.A description of Sturt’s Meadows in the Barrier Miner on Thursday 27th Nov 1890, p.2 includes some important details including a realistic estimate of its sheep-carrying capacity. Sturt's Meadows hss leasehold area of 109,720 acres, about 54 miles from Broken Hill;loamy soil with slate; level and undulating country; with ranges of stony country running through; gums along water courses;stock on holding, including resumed area, 37,000 sheep; inspector's estimate, 54 acres per sheep; rainfall average for 5 years, 11.46in; water supply afforded by soakage in Caloola Creek, in which two bottomless tanks are sunk to keep back sand, fit to water 5,000 sheep in 24 hours; wells near station afford unlimited supply, and tanks have cubic capacity of 20,000 yards; rabbits numerous on watercourse and thicker than in any place in the district.

In 1860 Thomas Pain was contracted to take mail on horseback once a fortnight along the Darling between Wentworth to Mount Murchison.[66] Two years later he established a shanty inn at Menindee, the beginnings of a town that would service the needs of travellers and, later, the large stations being established in the area such as Kinchega.[67] The mail delivered to the Wallace homestead almost certainly came via Menindee. This small town was the closest centre and a source of their supplies as Broken Hill was not founded until after 1883, when silver, lead, and zinc began to be mined. When the mail came, Matilda reularly rode on horseback to take it to Abraham. [68]

Matilda was several hours from Menindee, so she gave birth to her four sons at home with the help of Aboriginal midwives, whose care and hygiene she regarded highly. Even so, when she was due to give birth in late 1870, Matilda left home by buggy to go to Menindee with her husband. This was one of the few times Matilda left Sturt’s Meadows. In her memoir she later wrote: ‘this was the first-time I had seen civilisation in its entirety for seven years.’

On 28th January 1871, her daughter Mary Ann Sarah Wallace was born at Menindee.After returning home Matilda took her three week's old baby to our old camp."In the morning my husband said he had something wonderful to show me, and when I went out he pointed out the ground covered' with rat tracks. The rats had passed in thousands during the night, all travelling south... I may mention this rat invasion happened in March, 1871. My husband is now started for Adelaide with some fat sheep, leaving me and my little baby alone. He was to have been away ten weeks; but it's quite three months before he arrives back. In July 1872, I arrived at what was to be my permanent home. We had splendid rains, and a very good supply of good stock water in the new well." [69]

Later years

[edit]

"After getting my home nicely arranged, in about four months I started with my little daughter for Adelaide, which is the first visit I had paid that city for twelve years."[70]Pregnant again, after having lost five sons, one at Mt Gambier and four buried at Sturt's Meadows Matiilda travelled to Adelaide late in 1872 for family support, giving birth to Alfred Abey Tom Whitfield Wallace, on January 24, 1873.The name ‘Abey’ was an affectionate name that Matilda called her husband, and ‘Whitfield’ was the maiden name of Abraham’s mother. Both children were baptized at Holy Trinity Church, the first Anglican Church in Adelaide. After her sixth son died in early infancy, she began writing her memoir, "Twelve Years' Life in Australia, from 1859 to 1871". She concluded her memoir: ‘I have now recorded the most stirring incidents of my life in the bush, so I will say good-bye to my readers. Her memoir was typeset. [71]

Abraham Wallace secured a lease for a cattle-run in the Northern Territory, establishing Elsey Station in 1881.[72][73]By 1882. Sturt's Meadow Station shore 32,000 sheep, so the Wallaces at last were doing well. However, Abraham Wallace, like all the other pastoralists who ventured into the Territory during the first wave of pastoral settlement, threw it all away in the north. [74]The first Elsey Station homestead was built soon after at Warlock Ponds and later transported to Red Lily Lagoon.[75][76] The lagoon was the site of a massacre after Duncan Campbell was murdered on Elsey Station on 15 July 1882.[77]


After retiring in 1884, Wallace re-joined his wife and bought a substantial home at Reynella, The Braes, designed by the eminent Adelaide architect, Sir Charles S Kingston, and built in 1868.[78] It is believed that the proximity of The Braes to Coromandel Valley, ten miles away, was one of the main reasons the Wallaces chose to retire here so as to be close to the Hill and Bartlett families, and to receive their support for her daughter. Matilda does not seem to have ever returned to Sturt's Meadows. Matilda’s account, Twelve Years Life in Australia, demonstrates that she could write competently, in contrast to her parents, who signed with a cross. She would have wanted Annie to go to school. It is believed Annie went to school in Coromandel Valley, but her name does not appear on a list of enrolled students in 1877. She would have been only six at that time, and so may not have started school.

Shortly after, Abraham died by his own hand after an accident. His buggy had collided with a hay van when returning from Adelaide. This left him with serious head injuries, melancholy, and derangement. On 27th April, 1884 his coachman found him lying with his throat cut six weeks later. At his inquest it was found that he had committed suicide while in an unsound state of mind. [79] [80][81] Abraham had died intestate and Matilda was appointed administratrix.[82] Matilda was left to oversee two properties, Elsey River Station and Sturt's Meadows, each having a resident manager. It was reported in the Evening Journal, Mon 29 Sept 1884,that there were significant losses in connection with these properties at the time of Abraham's death.[83]

The Elsey property was sold several years after Abraham's death but Matilda still owned property in NSW in 1891.[84] Elsey River Station had several owners before being purchased in 1901 by a group that included Aeneas Gunn. He managed the property until his death in March 1903. In 1908 Aeneas Gunn's wife, Jeannie published her autobiographical novel We of the Never Never, an account her experiences at Elsey Station. In 1998, Elsey Land Claim No. 132, made under the provisions of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, was upheld.[85] On the 23rd February 2000 Elsey Station was handed over to its traditional owners. Thus it is especially relevant to note a condition of the original lease of 7th June 1883 of the All Saints Well block on Elsey Creek. The parties to the lease were Her Majesty Queen Victoria and Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson (then Governor of the Province of South Australia) and, of course, Abraham Wallace. The condition reserves the right to ‘…Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors for and on account of the present Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Province and their descendants during the continuance of this demise full and free right of ingress egress and regress into upon and over the said Waste Lands of the Crown hereby demised and every part thereof and in and to the springs and surface water thereon and to make and erect such wurlies and other dwellings as the said Aboriginal Natives have been heretofore accustomed to make and erect and to take use for food birds and animals ferae naturae in such manner as they would have been entitled to do if this demise had not been made….’ The wheel has turned full circle.[86][87]

In 1892, Matilda sold her home and moved to a rented cottage at Port Adelaide to be closer to family. Following a period of illness, starting in 1896, she moved in with her daughter, living at Largs Bay, South Australia, where she died on January 21, 1898, at the age of 60.[88] She was buried in St. Jude's Cemetery, Brighton, with her husband and granddaughter in Section A, Grave No106.[89] Probate for her substantial estate was granted in Melbourne on 15 August 1898. Matilda was a relatively wealthy woman despite the losses Abraham had at the time of his death. She left all her estate to her daughter Mary Ann (Annie) Sarah Woodhead and authorised the bank of NSW to hold a fixed deposit for £1000 for her husband, William Henry Woodhead, to repay an advance that allowed him to continue in business as stockbroker. After her death, Matilda’s typeset memoir, Twelve Years Life in Australia, found its way to the South Australian Public Library where it sat for years waiting to be discovered.

Annie's Family

[edit]

Mary Ann (Annie) Sarah Wallace married William Henry Woodhead on 4th February 1888. William knew of the discovery by Charles Rasp, a boundary rider on Mt Gipps Station, of metal deposits at the ‘hill’of silver and lead.[90] In 1883, Rasp and two others registered their claim. A syndicate was formed, and it issued shares on various Australian stock exchanges in 1885 in the name of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited.[91] William Woodhead became a shareholder and director.

Annie and William had a child Elsie, on 11th November 1888. Elsie was nearly six months old when she died on 24th April 1889 and was buried at St Jude’s Church Cemetery in the same gravesite as her grandparents. Her name is included on their large tombstone. Annie and William went on to have four more children: Mabel (b.17/9/1892, d.6/8/1940), Eric Wallace (b. 6/10/1896, d. 9/1964), Sylvia Mary (b.9/4/ 1901, d. 3/1985) and Nora Elsie (b. 7/7/1910)[92]

The family moved to live in England in 1913. William died on 8th July 1924 and his ashes were brought back to St Jude’s Church Cemetery, Brighton (South Australia). He had been a member of the Stock Exchange of Adelaide, a company director and director of the British Broken Hill Proprietary Company for 25 years.[93] He left personal effects and £8656 6s to Eric Wallace Woodhead wool merchant and Robert William Emmet solicitor.

Mabel returned to Australia and married on 13 April 1914 and lived in Sydney. Eric remained in England at that time as he had established himself as a wool merchant in Bristol. Annie continued living in England. The 1939 Register, taken just after the outbreak of WW2, showed Sylvia and Nora were at home with their mother, housekeeper and a domestic servant. Annie died on 27th April, 1940, at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire leaving personal effects and £53411 0s 10d to Nora Elsie and Eric Wallace.[94]

Recognition

[edit]

Matilda is recognised as a Barrier region pioneer settler in a Matilda Wallace Barrier Ranges Lookout is located at Lat: -31.386975 Lng: 141.611988 and a silhouette statue near Sturts Meadows Station[95] It is a feature on the Sturt’s Steps Touring Route that approximates the path taken by Charles Sturt when his Inland Expedition came into the Corner Country in 1845.[96] He reported that there was a wide plain on the other side of the Barrier Range with good grass across the plains near the ranges and cypress pine on the sandy country further to the east. It was this plain that attracted settlers including Abraham and Matilda. [97]

Ruth Sandow, OAM, was founder of the Milparinka Heritage and Tourism Association and instrumental in the formation of the Sturt Steps project. [98]The touring route connects about 1100 kilometres of sealed and unsealed roads in an easy and safe to navigate circular route from Broken Hill to Packsaddle, Milparinka, Tibooburra and Cameron Corner.[99]The project erected installations and signage along the route including a metal silhouette statue of Matilda, the Milparinka town sign, a replica of Sturt’s whale boat[100], and Sturt’s Cairn on top of Mount Poole erected during the 1845 expedition when his party was stranded at a waterhole on Preservation Creek at Depot Glen from January to July 1845.[101]

Matilda is recognised at the Milparinka Heritage Precinct in the Pioneer Women's Room of the lives of pioneering women including Matilda Wallace who was one of the earliest female pastoralists in the area and the first European woman to cross the Barrier Ranges. The room features A portrait of a young woman and child, representing Matilda Wallace of Sturt’s Meadows Station, was painted by award-winning artist Jodi Daley together with the quote:

I should not have said I was left alone, for I had my dear little baby, and you can imagine what a great comfort my baby was to me after so many years of loneliness. I often prayed fervently to the Lord to spare my darling to me.[102]

[103]

Memoir

[edit]

In 1922, A. T. Saunders, with the help of John Lewis who had met Matilda at Mingary, South Australia in 1867, identified her as the author of an anonymous memoir previously posthumously deposited in the Adelaide Public Library.[104] Mr Lewis also paid a tribute to the wonderful pluck of the woman. It is a big thing to say, but it is questionable whether the annals of the Australian bush reveal a more courageous character among the women pioneers, than was Mrs Abraham Wallace. Her self-told story is indeed an inspiration. Her memoir recounts her experiences since arriving in Australia and was retold and later reprinted in the Mt Gambier South Eastern Times in 1927.[105]Like many other narratives written at that time, this retelling had an emphasis on the role of Abraham and down-plyed Matilda's role.[106]

Her biographical account [107] has found a place in various collections. Matilda is included as Mrs Abraham Wallace (Matilda Hill), in the Australian Autobiographical Narratives: An Annotated Bibliography, Volume 2. The authors recognised that the ‘revolutionary event of coming to Australia’ inspired some immigrants to become autobiographers. Often the primary reason for this was to explain to those left at home ‘the extraordinary differences of Australia’ from their native land. Individually and collectively ‘these narratives form a remarkably rich cultural resource, providing multiple perspectives on the early European settlement of Australia. In Matilda’s case, she made constant reference to the harshness of the environment, distances, loneliness and isolation. The authors recognised that the ‘revolutionary event of coming to Australia’ inspired some immigrants to become autobiographers. Often the primary reason for this was to explain to those left at home ‘the extraordinary differences of Australia’ from their native land. Individually and collectively ‘these narratives form a remarkably rich cultural resource, providing multiple perspectives on the early European settlement of Australia. In Matilda’s case, she made constant reference to the harshness of the environment, distances, loneliness and isolation.[108] She is also recognised by her inclusion in the Settler Literature Archive digital collection of the English Department of the University of North Dakota[109] and cited in a number of other publications.[110][111]

The original booklet of Matilda's memoir is held at the Holdfast Bay History Centre, Brighton SA together with local history relating to Abraham and Matilda. Although Matilda attended school only until the age of eleven, her memoir is articulate. She wrote: Five days after we had a delightful thunderstorm and rain, which I may say saved our lives, for the extreme heat and privations were telling on us and our animals. The rain filled all the water holes, but was not sufficient to make the feed grow, though it freshened up the dry bushes.

Photograph of Matilda are archived in the South Australian library collection.[112][113] A studio photograph of Matilda, her daughter Annie and husband Abraham was taken by Townsend Duryea, Adelaide, about 1877.[114]

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