CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY
1607 – “ONE OF THE FINEST HORSEMEN
TO THROW A LEG OVER A SADDLE”
Written by Dinah Hales
"One of the finest horsemen to throw a leg across a saddle" 1
Amidst an array of teachers, public servants, tailors, drapers, gold miners, shepherds,
housewives and convicts-made-good to one degree or another, my ancestor Albert Edward
Eipper, stockman and station manager, stood out from the rest with his remarkable practical
skills and physical courage.
Born at Paterson, NSW on 25 July, 1849 2, Albert was the seventh child of parents
Christopher Eipper 3 and Harriet (née Gyles) 4. Harriet had the unusual distinction of having
completed a circumnavigation of the world by sail not long after her 5th birthday. 5
Christopher, born in Esslingen-am-Neckar, Württemburg, joined Dunmore Lang's missionary
group bound for Moreton Bay, nominally as a Presbyterian. After closure of the Zion's Hill
mission in 1843 he served as first Presbyterian minister in Braidwood, 6 and at St Ann's,
Paterson, from 1847-1851, a move that was pivotal in the life trajectories on Upper Hunter
properties of four of his sons (stockmen Hugh, Frank, Albert and Fred - unlikely products of
a town-bred cleric and a London woman).
The children's early life and education are unknown, though they clearly received a solid
background: the eldest son William Christopher ("Christie" to the family) became editor of
the prestigious Maitland Mercury, and Albert and Frank 7 in later life were published writers.
Albert commenced working on properties in the Upper Hunter, "when quite a lad", for
Campbell, Simpson & Co. of Glenrock and Tomalla (of which Albert later became manager),
and became renowned for horsemanship and stock-handling. Much of his work required
mustering wild cattle in the dense rain forest of the Barrington Tops area, daily carrying out
feats that would rival those of the semi-fictional Man from Snowy River. A contemporary
wrote, "I have known A. E. Eipper to throw and tie a big, strong bullock unaided in about 300
yards", 8 and his brother Frank described how Albert had regained his hold on the bridle after
a bucking horse had pulled the reins over its head while bolting towards the river. On one of
these ventures he broke his leg and had to be carried by his companions for 17 miles on a
sheet of bark. Albert Tops, north of Barrington Tops, is named for him. 9
Albert married Mary Johnstone Allen in Scone on 25 June 1878. Mary's mother had died in
1874, and her father had almost immediately married his late wife's cousin, a move that was
decidedly unpopular with the family. The older Allen daughters went to be housekeepers and
governesses: Mary became governess to the Campbells of Arden Hall. 10,11 Mary and Albert
had eight children, all of them born in the Scone registration district, but the eldest daughter
Brenda Harriet died of croup in 1883 at only three years of age causing deep grief to her
parents and extended family. 12 Of the three little boys born at the end of the family, two died
as babies. 13 When Brenda died, the family was living in Mungindi on the NSW- Queensland
border, where Albert and his brothers Fred and Frank were managing a cattle property called
Colly Ben. A letter from his mother showed that Albert was questioning the evangelical
teachings of his boyhood:
..... you have a notion that we shall not recognize one another in Heaven. My dearest, I think you are
quite wrong in your belief. To think that those so dear to us on earth when once removed from our
sight are lost to us for ever. 14
Albert and his family returned to Scone, where his children had a better opportunity for
education. The eldest surviving daughter, Emily, received a rare bursary in 1894 to attend
high school in Sydney, 15 and Albert and Mary moved to Sydney 16 to support Emmie in her
1607 – Croker Prize for Biography 2016
studies. After she finished school the family again lived in Scone, where Emmie was
appointed as pupil teacher at Scone Public School. 17
In the early years of the 20th century, Albert's son Frank Gyles Eipper (born 1884) was
giving concern by his unsettled behaviour and it was arranged that he should spend a few
years working in the Kimberley for the Duracks. After a promising few months there, tragedy
struck on Christmas Day 1906 when Frank was drowned swimming in the Argyle River. 18
The loss and the guilt associated with sending his son away had a profound effect on Albert
but he continued his Scone activities, selling his own improved stock (dogs, sheep, cattle,
horses), 19 shearing management, 20 and working as an auctioneer's assistant.
In 1910, Albert and Mary returned to the city to live, 21 but Albert did not cut his ties with the
Hunter properties, continuing his role as shearing "boss of the board" at Fairview for
Campbell & Simpson. 22
Albert and Mary were living in Mosman when their only surviving son George enlisted in the
Light Horse in 1914. They saw their grandchildren's early years 23 and George's safe return
from the Middle East. 24 Albert wrote extensively and evocatively about the early history of
the Upper Hunter and his experiences among the wild cattle, using the pen-name Uandoo, 25
work of significance beyond the family limits. In one of his late writings he poked gentle fun
at the excitement of cricket and football in comparison with chasing wild cattle:
Sport! it was the grandest, most thrilling sport a man could wish for. Life's tamer now. 26
With the same courage that had characterised his early life, 27 Albert died on 30 November
1925, and was buried in Northern Suburbs Cemetery. I can imagine him sitting in the sun on
his veranda during his last illness, with a straight back and a gleam in his eyes as he recalled
his adventures in the brush, and am proud to have had him as a forebear.
NOTES:
1. Anon. 'Great bushman and horseman passes: obituary, the Late Mr A.E. Eipper'. The Scone Advocate, 4
December 1925, p. 2. All local newspaper references were (re-)accessed on NLA Trove Newspapers, 8-22 May
2016.
2. The Maitland Mercury and General Advertiser, 4 August, 1849, p.3, Family Notices.
3. For a summary of Christopher Eipper's career see Gunsen, N., 'Eipper, Christopher (1813–1894)',
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/eipper-christopher-2020, accessed 22 May 2016, Australian Dictionary of
Biography, Vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966.
4. The names and birth years of the children, except for Frank Ross b. 1847, are readily found in NSW Births,
Deaths and Marriages Index so are not detailed here.
5. Harriet's father John Gyles and family had sailed from England to Sydney per Friendship in 1817 and thence
to Tahiti with the intention of establishing a sugar industry. Returning to Sydney, John Gyles attempted to
persuade Governor Macquarie to support sugar planting on the NSW north coast, but when support was not
provided the family returned to England, departing Sydney on 20 March 1820 for England via Cape Horn.
Harriet had been born in London on 21 March 1815. See Gunsen, N., 'Gyles, John (?–
1827)'http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gyles-john-2138, accessed 20 May 2016. Australian Dictionary of
Biography, Vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966.
6. Grant, Y. A., '150 Years of History: St Andrew's Uniting Church, Braidwood, "A Combined Heritage"'
(Pamphlet), 1993, 6 pp.
7. A series of short papers by Frank Ross Eipper was published posthumously in the Scone and Upper Hunter
Historical Society Journal, Vol. 2, 1961. pp. 108-111, 112-114, 115-116, 117-118. 119-120, 121-122.
8. "Tomalla" 'Rough Riders of the Past' The Scone Advocate, Fri 2 Nov 1928, p. 2.
9. Anon. 'Peeps into the past. Rev. Christopher Eipper, Warland's Range, Crawney, and Red Bank'. No. VII.
The Scone Advocate, 25 June 1920, .p. 2
1607 – Croker Prize for Biography 2016
10. Personal communication from B.M. White (his granddaughter), 1998.
11. The Campbells of Glenrock, Tomalla and Arden Hall were close relatives: Alexander "the black" and James
"the red" were brothers and their children and grandchildren continued on the same properties. See Armitage,
Audrey M., 'Dam will make valley evergreen', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 3 June 1950,
p.5. Presumably interchange of staff and social events among the properties enabled Mary and Albert to meet.
12. The Maitland Mercury and General Advertiser, 26 May 1883. Page 1, Family notices.
13. The names and birth years of the children are readily found in NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages Index, as
are the deaths of the two babies, so are not detailed here.
14. Letter from Harriet Eipper to Albert, 6 August 1883, in author's possession.
15. General news: Scone Public School. The Scone Advocate, 23 January 1894, p.2.
16. District News, 'Scone: Departure', The Maitland Mercury and General Advertiser, 23 November 1894, p.4.
This seems a late decision, but at the beginning of the year Emily's mother was pregnant with her last child, who
was born in May and died in August. Perhaps Emily stayed with Allen or Eipper relatives in Sydney for her first
year at high school. Albert seems to have been collecting materials for craft work before his departure: e.g.
kangaroo skins for stuffing and emu eggs, see The Scone Advocate, Fri 17 Aug 1894, p.3, Advertising.
17. Teachers Rolls, Reel 1994, p. 333, State Library of New South Wales.
18. Telegram, Durack to Cliff Johnson, Scone, 7 January 1907; M. Durack, Sons in the Saddle, 1983, Constable
& Co., London. Chapter 16 quotes letters from Frank Eipper and describes his death.
19. For example, The Scone Advocate, Friday 6 March 1908, p.2, and many similar advertisements.
20. Local and General News. The Scone Advocate (NSW : 1887 - 1954) Thursday 24 December 1908, p.2.
(shearing at Fairview)
21. The Scone Advocate Tuesday 18 Jan 1910, p.3, Advertising; The Scone Advocate , Friday 21 January 1910,
p.2.
22. 'Local and General News. The Scone Advocate Tuesday 13 December 1910, p.2; Fairview Cut Out' The
Scone Advocate, Friday 11 December 1914, p.2. Also, A.E. Eipper was fined in the local court for catching
opossums for their skins at Tomalla, The Scone Advocate , Friday 13 September 1912, p.2, Moonan Flat.
23. One of his grandsons accidentally started a fire and clearly remembered Albert's efficiency in putting it out:
personal communication from J.W. Cornforth, 2001.
24. National Archives of Australia: World War I Records, B2455, EIPPER G J.,
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/NameSearch/Interface/ItemsListing.aspx, accessed 20 May, 2016.
25. See for example 'Uandoo', 'Peeps into the Past. Tales of the Tops. Way back in the sixties: After the
"Brumbies" and "Scrubbers"' The Scone Advocate, 6 July 1920, p.2; 'Peeps at the Past. Tales of the Tops. Back
in the Sixties' XI, The Scone Advocate, 9 July 1920, p.2. The editor of the Scone Advocate later mistakenly
credited the Uandoo writings to Frank Ross Eipper (Albert's brother): see 'The Late Mr. Frank R. Eipper:
Scone's oldest resident', The Scone Advocate, Tuesday 16 June 1942, p.2.
26. Baal Gammon, 'The best sport', undated typescript from papers of Emily Eipper, in possession of author.
Albert Eipper usually wrote as Uandoo and the pseudonym Baal Gammon was used by a sheep farmer from the
Hillston district, but internal evidence and provenance allow the paper to be ascribed to Albert Eipper with high
confidence.
27. Personal communication from B.M. White (his granddaughter), 1998.
1607 – Croker Prize for Biography 2016