Chapter Five
Sussex
and Sea
George
Verrall (1807 – 1879)
Sarah
Verrall (1821 - 1913)
nee Keach
5 George
Verrall (Charles,
William, Richard, Richard) was christened 5 Apr 1807 in Hailsham,
Sussex, England. He died 12 Apr 1879 in Ipswich, Queensland,
Australia.
George
married Sarah
Keach daughter
of Abraham Keach and Susannah Hussey 27 Oct 1843 in Hailsham Sussex
England. Sarah was born 1 Jan 1821 in Bridport, Dorset, England. She
died 6 Dec 1913 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
They
had the following children:
i.
Charles
St.Vincent Verrall
was born 6 May 1844. He died 28
Jun 1923.
ii. Mary
Verrall was born 12 Nov 1845. She died 27 Apr 1918.
iii. Thomas
Verrall was born 4 Jun 1847. He died 14 May 1908.
iv. Caroline
Verrall was born 31 Oct 1848. She died 11 Jun 1933.
v. George
Verrall was born 26 Jan 1850. He died 31 Jan 1937.
vi. William
Verrall was christened 11 Mar 1851. He died 17 Mar 1891.
vii. John
Verrall was christened 4 Dec 1852. He died 9 Mar 1924.
viii. Sarah
Verrall was christened 29 Jul 1854. She died 28 Aug 1931.
ix. Phoebe
Verrall was born 4 Mar 1856. She died 5 Oct 1949.
x. Ann
Verrall was born 4 Oct 1857. She died 28 Feb 1915.
xi. Jane
Verrall was born 15 Jun 1859. She died 22 May 1944.
xii. Elizabeth
Verrall was born 6 Nov 1860. She died 13 May 1910.
xiii. Charlotte
Verrall was born 23 Sep 1862. She died 6 Sep 1939.
xiv. James
Verrall was born 3 Sep 1866. He died 15 Jul 1937
The
Brisbane Courier 22 April
1879
Says
the Redbank Plains correspondent of the Queensland Times :-" It
is my painful duty to record the demise of Mr. George Verrall, who
was the oldest settler in this district, having purchased his
property on the Plains at the first sale of Crown lands, held about
1850. He owned some 800 acres on the Ipswich Reserve, taken up under
the 1868 Act, besides increasing his first selection on the Plains by
1000 acres.
He
arrived in Sydney in 1844, and resided on the Clarence river some
time ; but, having met with disappointments in the mother-country, he
left to try his luck in Queensland, and arrived in Ipswich about the
middle of 1849, on the suburbs of which he engaged in agriculture for
a few years. In the following year he purchased a farm on the Plains,
where he resided up to the time of his death, and where he proved
himself to be a most useful and energetic colonist. He was among the
first to introduce the culture of wheat into West Moreton, and grew
it successfully on Redbank Plains for many years. His orangery, &c,
was the first of any note in this part of Queensland ; and, taken
altogether, his farm was a model for neighbors to copy from. He has
left a widow and fourteen grown-up children to mourn their loss, but,
fortunately for them, they had a father above the average of mankind,
who, by his industry, perseverance, and frugal habits, left them all
well provided for. Mr. Verrall was born in Sussex, England, and was
73 years of age when died. He was a kind husband, an indulgent
father, a successful farmer, genial and warm hearted, honest to the
core, and carried with him the goodwill and kind wishes of all who
knew him."
George
and Sarah
Story
by Yvonne Cottman.
A
report on immigrants by John Young, master of the Ship "St.Vincent"
which arrived in Sydney from Cork on the 31st July, 1844, showed
that Sarah had given birth to Charles St.Vincent, the first of their
14 children, at sea on the 6th of May, 1844, and that George (farm
servant) had been engaged by Ward Stephens of the Clarence River for
a term of 12 months for 12pounds in wages and 1 and a half rations,
the journey to the Clarence River to be defrayed by the Government.
LIFE
IN NEW SOUTH WALES
The
Richmond River was part of the Clarence River at that time and Ward
Stephens owned two cattle stations, Runnymede and Virginia. 1n 1848
Runnymede consisted of 128,000 acres on which there were 6,000
cattle. Virginia was smaller being 16,000 acres running 1,500 cattle.
From
1844 to 1849 George and Sarah worked on three properties, Virginia,
Runnymede, and Stratheden. During that time their second child Mary
was born on 12 nov 1846, their third child Thomas in 1847; and their
fourth child Caroline in 1848.
LIFE
IN QUEENSLAND
George
and Sarah then left the Richmond District and journeyed to Ipswich
with their family by means of bullock wagons. Their fifth child
George was born en route on the 26th January 1850.
They
rented a farm from Mr. Fleming and engaged in agricultural pursuits,
being the first to introduce wheat
growing. In this they were successful,
so much so that they were instrumental in getting Mr. Fleming to
erect a flour mill. Their sixth child William was born in 1851; their
seventh child John in 1852 and their eighth child Sarah on the 29th
of July 1854.
After
spending about four years on Mr. Fleming's property they purchased a
freehold farm on the
Redbank
Plains and started cotton and wheat growing. This farm appears to be
portions 40, 41 and 65 consisting
of about 165 acres in the Parish of Goodna, County of Churchill.
Whilst here their ninth child Phoebe
was born on the 4th of March 1856; their tenth child Ann on the 4th
of October 1857; their eleventh child
Jane on the 15th of Jun 1859; their twelfth child Elizabeth on the
6th of November 1860; their thirteenth child Charlotte on the 23rd
of September 1865; their fourteenth and last child James on the 3rd
of September 1866.
On
the 23rd of April 1868 George applied for selection 26, portion 285
adjoining the freehold farm,
consisting
of about 640 acres of second class pastoral land at sixpence an acre.
His application was
successful
as he fulfilled all conditions under "The Crown Lands Alienation
Act of 1868".
On
the 23rd of February 1869 he applied for two more selections:
1.
Selection 476, portions 83,84,88 and 89, Parish of Normanby, County
of Churchill consisting of
333
acres of agricultural land at one shilling and sixpence an acre.
On
the 18th of july a Deed of Grant was prepared in favour of George.
2.
Selection 477, portions 99, 100,101 and 102, Parish of
Normanby,County of Churchill consisting of 55o acres of first class
pastoral land at one shilling an acre. On the 11th of September a
Deed of Grant for this property was issued in favour of George.
He
used these three selections for pasture and to graze his cattle.
It
is interesting to note that portion 285 was coal bearing and that
mining activities on this property go back to around 1854. In the
late 1800's Mr. Alex Bennett drove a tunnel ( the original Belmont
Tunnel) on the outcrop of a seam about a quarter of a mile north of
'Verrall's Tunnel'.
It
is reported that Bennett later re-opened Verrall's Tunnel and that
later he sold out his interests to H.G. Noble, known as Noble
Collieries. A few years later the Bergins Seam was worked by a
tunnel (Noblevale No. 2 ) driven into the estate across Six Mile
Creek. Noblevale Tunnel was not abandoned until 1929. In 1939 James
Gilliat opened a tunnel which he called East belmont, and in the
following year he began a second tunnel known now as New Aberdare
East. No. 2. The New Aberdare Company took over the property a year
or two later and renamed it New Aberdare East. A washing plant was
installed in 1940.
In
a proclamation by the Department of Works dated at Brisban on the
17th of February, 1871 and
signed
by William Henry Walsh, a block of land on the east boundary of
portion 285, 49 chains and 16 links south from its northeast corner
amounting to an area of 5 acres 3 roods and 4 perches was resumed for
a deviation in the road from Redbank Plains to the main Ipswich Road.
George
died on the 12th of April 1879, and was buried on his property at a
burial site donated by
him
and which became the last resting place for a number of Redbank
Plains settlers. It is hoped this old burial
ground can be preserved as a memorial to the Pioneer Days of the
Ipswich District.
Many
references were made of George Verrall by people who knew him:
A
proven, most useful and energetic colonist -
A
kind husband and indulgent father -
A
successful farmer , his farm a model for neighbours to copy from -
A
genial, warm hearted man, honest to the core -
A
man who carried with him the goodwill and kind wishes of all who knew
him -
A
man who possessed all the good qualities that man is heir to
Sarah
passed away at the residence of her son in law, Mr. Fred. Bassett of
Riverview on the 6th
of
December 1913 at the age of 92 years 11 months. Eleven of her
fourteen children survived her. There were
78 grandchildren, 100 great grandchildren and 4 great great
grandchildren.
Although
Sarah was cared for by members of her family, she still remained
active and independent, choosing to do her own chores and often
travelling alone about the country to visit up until a short
time before her death.
Frank
Verrall relates that he remembers his grandmother quite well and that
she had told him about her early days in Australia when aborigines
used to come about to steal tea and sugar - she would fire a gun in
the air and they would run away.
That
she was a very capable and determined woman.
That
she lived alone in a small house adjacent to the home of Alf and Mary
Reed at Mutdapilly, doing
her own chores, cutting her own firewood, coming and going as she
pleased.
That
when Bill Ruddle or anyone tried to take the axe from her to cut her
wood she would object strongly and send them on their way.
That
she became deaf to some degree and when doing the washing up she
would crack the dishes.
That
he loved to tease her by pulling her apron strings, she would usually
reply "Get out of here you little varmint"
That
because of failing health she finally consented to live with her
daughter and son in law at Riverview.
George
and Sarah Verrall were in every sense of the word, True Pioneers, a
credit to their adopted homeland.