‘S Q U A T T I N G ’ O N C R O W N L A N D S IN
N EW SO U TH W ALES
Exploration and Early ‘Squatting’
T he following notes and observations are given with a view
to indicate the p a rt taken by [explorers and] squatters in the
prim ary inland explorations of the colony. T he m ovem ents of
squatters, in the app ro p riatio n of C row n lands for pastoral p u r
poses, were for m any years practically uncontrolled owing chiefly
to the inadequacy of G overnm ent supervision, and vast areas were
privately explored and squatted upon long before the central
governm ent had any definite knowledge of such proceedings.
In O xley’s report while passing over the tableland of New
England, in the year 1818, we read, with regard to the likelihood
of previous exploratory visits to that elevated plateau, as follows :
. . . O ne of th e m en, w ho h a d ta k e n th e dogs o u t a fte r k an g aro o s,
fell in w ith a p a rty of natives, am o n g w h o m w ere som e w om en and
c h ild ren . T w o of th e m en a cc o m p a n ied h im to th e tent. It w as
e v id e n t fro m th e w hole to n e of th e ir b e h a v io u r th a t th ey h a d been
prev io u sly a cq u a in te d w ith w hite p eople, m o st p ro b a b ly fro m the
settlem ent at N ew castle.
A fter the return of Oxley from his journey across country
to the coast a t P o rt M acquarie, pastoralists lost no tim e in follow
ing his trail, and the Liverpool Plains becam e largely occupied
prior to A llan C unningham ’s journey, by way of these plains, to
the D arling Downs in 1827. Five years later, in the same region,
tw enty-three squatters were displaced by the W arrah and Peel
R iver exchange grants of the A u stralian A gricultural Com pany.
ON “W ARRAH •
I
C attle
abt 1200
abt
R un
M ookie
500
K ilcoobil
700
M u rillo o
2000
Y a rra m a n b a h
1200 sheep
1600
B ooram bil
1200
W arrah
1000
P h illip s Ck.
8200
O ccupiers
1\ — R obertson
1 — Burns
Jo h n B laxland
i1 — F itzg e rald
I W illia m L aw son
O tto B aldw in
W illiam O sborn
Jo h n U p to n
G eorge Y eom an
R ich a rd Y eom an
P a tric k C am pbell
1 Jo h n O nus
1 R o b e rt W illiam s
T h o m a s P arn ell
P h ilip T h o rle y
W illiam N ow lan
M a io r D ru itt
R esidence
Sydney
R ichm ond
N ew ington, P a rra m a tta
W in d so r
V e tera n H all, P a rra m a tta
P a tric k ’s P lain s
L iv e rp o o l P lains
R ichm ond
M aitland
do
do
R ichm ond
do
do
do
P a tric k ’s P lains
M t. D ru itt, n e a r P ’m atta
O N “ P E E L R IV E R "
1100
1700 sheep K u w erh in d i
n/v>+
( G eorg e L o d er
| A ndrew L ow er
d
1200t
VVolIomal*
-
B row n
1300
W ollom al* &
W aldoo
W illia m D a n g a r
E. G ostw yck C ory
W. H . W arlan d
W indsor
H u n te r R iv er
W ollom bi B rook,
D a rlin g to n
P a tric k ’s P lains
P aterso n R iver
P ag e’s R iver
3600
T he above persons were all well-known landholders in the
settled districts, and were unauthorised occupiers of Crown lands
beyond the “ limits of location” .]
In H enry D an g ar’s Hunter River Directory and Emigrants’
Guide, published in E ngland in 1828, it is stated th at “from the
early p art of 1822 to the end of the year 1825, all parts of the
colony m ade extraordinary advances in settlem ent . . . It is
difficult to determ ine which division of the colony, during the
time, m ade the greatest progress” .
A s stated by D angar, a sim ilar expansion of pastoral settle
m ent occurred throughout the west and south, especially along the
principal rivers; b u t care would ap p ear to have been taken by
m any of the squatters to locate their prim itive stations in incon
spicuous places, for obvious reasons. In course of tim e it becam e
necessary to increase the geographical knowledge of the interior,
and, of the various rivers explored, m ention m ay be m ade of the
M urrum bidgee w ith reference to an incident which, whilst it
occasioned uneasiness to C aptain Sturt and his party at the time,
would indicate occupation by squatters.
It m ay be noticed, upon reading S turt’s report, th at he
encountered no opposition by the natives w orthy of note, until
nearing the confluence of the D arling R iver, when, upon being
opposed by a band of natives on the right b an k of the river, “ he
m ade signs to them to desist, but w ithout success” . W hile about
to act in defence of his party, he wrote ;—
M y p u rp o se w as checked by M acleay, w ho called to m e th at
a n o th e r p a rty of blacks had m ad e th e ir a p p e a ra n c e u p o n the left bank
of the river. T u rn in g ro u n d , I observed fo u r m en at th e to p of th e ir
speed. T h e fo rem o st of them , as soon as he got ahead of th e boat,
th rew him self in to th e w ater. H e struggled across th e channel to th e
sa ndbank, a n d in an in cred ib ly sh o rt space of tim e stood in fro n t of
the savage a g ain st w hom m y a im had been d irected . Seizing h im by
th e th ro a t, he push ed him backw ards, and fo rcin g all w ho w ere in th e
w a ter u p o n the b ank, he tro d its m argin w ith a vehem ence a n d an
a g ita tio n th a t w ere exceedingly strik in g — at one m om ent p o in tin g to
th e b o at, a t a n o th e r shaking his clenched h an d in th e faces of the
m o st fo rw a rd , a n d stam ping w ith passion on the sand; his voice, th a t
w as at first d istin ct and clear, w as lost in h o arse m urm urs. . . .
* W allam o u l, by M itchell
: A bt. 1600, by M itchell
Sturt, while “overwhelm ed w ith astonishm ent” a t the action
taken ap parently on his behalf, offers no explanation regarding
the incident, but had he been aw are of the ap p aren t squatting
interests endangered by such bellicose proceedings on the p a rt of
the aggressive natives, com m ents would probably have been m ade
on th e friendly action of interested parties whose native stockm en
had, it m ay be assum ed, been instructed to secretly w atch, and,
if necessary, ensure the safety of the exploring party against such
attacks w hile passing through the occupied areas. Needless to
say, the m ovem ents of Sturt would be know n to the squatters, and
care would be taken to rem ove any stock depasturing on the river
during the passing of the G overnm ent explorers.
F u rth e r south, the unlicensed occupation of Crown lands was
also becom ing fairly general, regarding which m ention m ay be
m ade of th e H enty B rothers, who were in occupation of the
P ortland B ay district six years before their presence there, as
squatters, becam e known to the Surveyor-G eneral in Sydney.
[O ther explorers, whose reports helped to m ake the inland
country better known w ere H um e and Hovell overland to
W estern Port and district in 1824, and A llan Cunningham
over the Liverpool R ange to the D arling Downs in 1827.
T hen in the 1830s, as M ajor M itchell’s explorations into the
interior becam e widely known, stock was being m ustered in
great num bers by squatters eager to follow his well m arked
routes to locate suitable spots to establish a squattage.]
This irregular m ode of pastoral occupation of Crow n lands
beyond the lim its of location continued u p to the year 1840, when,
in accordance with the Land A ct of th e previous year, these outer
lands were subdivided into districts and, as stated by G overnor
Gipps, “ com m issioners were appointed to exercise a control over
the num erous grazing establishm ents which have been form ed in
those districts” .
[It m ay be m entioned here th a t two earlier A cts concerning
Crown L ands “beyond the lim its” w ere brought in during 1833
and 1836 respectively, both of which will be referred to later.]
Prior to the publication of Com m issioner Bigge’s report of
10 Jan u ary , 1823, unauthorised occupation of Crown lands for
pastoral purposes was largely confined to the unappropriated
lands, adjoining o r in the vicinity of grants to settlers; but, upon
the issue of th a t report, which, in conjunction with a general
review of public affairs, described the successful efforts of colonial
pastoralists in the rearing of sheep and cattle, and the grassland
discoveries of explorers, a stim ulus given pastoral pursuits [by
squatters] which soon overflowed the “ limits of location” or the
external limits of the nineteen counties into which the 34,505
square miles of settlem ent area around Sydney was divided [later].
T he term ‘squ atter’, as applied to the unauthorised occupier
of Crown lands in A ustralia, would ap p ear to have had its origin
in the United States of A m erica, where it continues to have a
reproachful significance as regards sim ilar occupancy of State
lands. In A ustralia, however, this originally opprobrious term
gradually assum ed a com plim entary significance as the squatters
increased in num ber and becam e opulent.
[S. H. R oberts, in his book History of Australian Land Settle
ment, a t p. 175, says, “ T he word was first used in V an
Diemen’s L and— in the twenties there emerged a class of w hat
m ight be term ed frontiersm en, ‘bushrangers’ or ex-convicts—
shingle splitters— o r small cultivators who gathered flocks both
by legal and illegal means. These people were known as
‘squatters’— even in the twenties and their holdings were
term ed ‘runs’— a m ost convenient depot for stolen sheep . . .” ]
T he “ limits of location” or the boundaries “ beyond which
land was neither sold nor let” [nor settlers allowed], was originally
decided upon in 1826, but m ore definitely located in 1829.
[It m ight be explained here th a t the origin of action regarding
the division of the territory for land settlem ent in the colony
above referred to, originated in a D espatch No. 1, from the
Secretary of State to G overnor Brisbane, 1 January, 1825, for
the appointm ent of three Com m issioners called Com m issioners
of V aluation and Survey with instructions signed by Sir
T hom as Brisbane, 23 June, 1825, that their duties w'ere ;—
apportionm ent of the territory into counties and parishes, the
valuation of the W aste L ands of the colony, issue of grants
and provision for reserves, etc. The original Comm issioners
were Jo h n Oxley, Surveyor-G eneral, Chief Com m issioner,
W illiam C ordeaux and Jo h n Cam pbell. In 1828 M ajor
M itchell, owing to the d eath of Oxley, becam e SurveyorG eneral and Chief Com m issioner and G. M. C. Bowen was
added. In 1829 a further change took place which then com
prised M ajor M itchell (S.G.), John Stephens and G eorge Innes.
A fter ab o u t three years of investigation the w ork was con
sidered sufficiently advanced tow ards com pletion for the
Secretary of State to advise G overnor D arling th at any further
duties regarding this work should devolve on the SurveyorGeneral (T. L. M itchell). T he office of the Com m issioners
was then discontinued by R oyal Instructions from the Secre
tary of State and the Surveyor-G eneral advised by the
G overnor in a letter from the Colonial Secretary, 28 O ctober,
1830.
Following the report of the Commissioners, Sir R alph
Darling issued a G overnm ent O rder on 14 O ctober, 1829,
defining the “ limits of location” or the settled district which
com prised the Nineteen C ounties mentioned before by J. F.
Campbell.]
T his central area, which em braced the nineteen counties, and
w hich was then considered as of am ple extent for the requirem ents
of settlem ent, m ay briefly be described as having been bounded on
the n o rth by th e M anning R iver up to its source in M ount R oyal
Range, thence by th a t range and the Liverpool R ange westerly
to th e source of the C oolaburragundy Creek, and thence in a
south-w esterly direction to the town of W ellington. O n the west
the bo u n d ary followed an irregular line in a southerly direction,
by w ay of the sites of the townships of M olong, O range, Cowra,
Boorowa and Yass, and south to the M urrum bidgee, which it
followed upw ards for a distance of ab o u t sixty miles; thence on
the south by the heads of the Q ueanbeyan and Shoalhaven Rivers,
and by the M oruya R iver to the ocean (see m ap, page 16). In the
following year (1830) the County of M acquarie was added to the
settlem ent area.
T he delim iting of ru ral settlem ent, as above described, did
not, however, restrain the advance of pastoralists, as we read in
G overnor D arling’s despatch of 17 F ebruary, 1831, th at “ precise
boundaries being established, beyond which settlers are not allowed
to receive grants or to lease land ; b u t it is im possible to prevent
their sending their cattle to graze beyond those lim its” .
[In C. J. K ing’s book. An Outline of Closer Settlement in
New Soutii Wales, P art 1, pp. 45-46, he writes, “ F rom about
1831 a significant change took place, as G. E. R anken states,
‘A state of aff'airs arose which was unprecedented, unrecog
nised by authority, and was totally unintelligible according to
all official and business au thority— the population was expand
ing, and the sheep and cattle were increasing still faster—
Im pelled by a com m on impulse, the pioneers headed for the
boundary (The Nineteen C ounties ‘Lim its of L ocation’).
Shortly they were pouring across th e frontiers in scores, north,
south and west— T he G overnor could not have prevented this,
because all the police and m ilitary in A ustralia could not have
guarded an open frontier of 500 miles— the trespassers had
found a new nam e for them selves;— T he inland frontiers of
the U nited States were then infested by outlaw s and vagrants
who called themselves “ squatters” , and this nam e was adopted
by the A ustralian adventurers who had fluttered the dovecotes
of th e Colonial Ofl'ice about 1855’.”
(This brings vividly to m ind some of A. B. Paterson’s
lines, from “Song of the F u tu re”—
“ T he m ountains saw them m arching by;
T hey faced the all-consum ing drought.
They could not rest in settled land.
T heir faces ever w estward bent
Beyond the farthest settlem ent.
R esponding to the challenge cry.
O f ‘better country fu rth er o u t’.
Could braver histories unfold
T h an this bush story yet untold—
T he story of their westward m arch ” ) ]
T hen again on 4 July, 1834, G overnor Bourke, in his despatch
of th a t date, w rote as follows :—
I w ould observe th a t it is n o t beyond the so u th e rn b o u n d a ry alone
th a t flocks a n d herds of th e colonists h ave w andered fo r su itab le
pastures. T h ey a re n u m ero u s to th e south-w est along th e b a n k of the
M urru m b id g ee, and to th e n o rth they h ave crossed th e m o u n ta in range
in to L iv e rp o o l P lains. H e re, in d eed , and still m o re n o rth erly * on the
banks of P e e l’s R iver, five h u n d re d th o u sa n d acres of land h a v e been
g ran ted to th e A .A . C o m p an y .J In every d irec tio n , th e desire of
p ro c u rin g good p astu res f o r sheep has led th e co lo n ists f a r beyond
th e lim its of locatio n . T h ese u n a u th o rise d o c cu p a tio n s m ust not.
how ever, be p e rm itte d to c o n tin u e so long as lo create an y title to the
lan d in th e occupier. U n d e r th e p ro v isio n s of an A ct o f C ouncil,
passed last y e ar (1833). m easures m ay be taken to prev en t such a
frau d on the C row n.
T he A ct referred to is entitled “An Act for protecting the
Crown Lands of this Colony from Encroachment, Intrusion, and
Trespass”, and quoting from B ourke’s despatch of 26 N ovem ber,
1833, “It authorises the appointm ent of Com missioners to act as
the representatives of the Crown in all m atters relating to property
in land, and m ore particularly to m ake such entries as should pre
vent the rights of th e Crown from being atfected, or lost sight of, by
m ere occupation w ithout purchase for a long space of time. 1 do
not, however, propose” , he adds, “nor could 1 recom m end it as
a m easure of sound policy, to seclude settlers from the tem porary
occupation, w ithout paym ent, o r those tracts of country in the
rem ote interior which are already occupied as stock stations” .
[The following persons were approved by the G overnor
as Com m issioners of Crow n L ands for the purposes of the Act,
and published in the New South W ales G overnm ent Gazette,
30 O ctober, 1833 : Samuel A ugustus Perry, Percy Simpson
and M ortim er W illiam Lewis. They were to be arm ed with
authority to w arn off all trespassers on Crow n L ands beyond
the “ limits of location” , but the task was already quite hope
less. T he ever-increasing num ber of squatters continued to
cross the prohibited boundaries, and as one observer said, not
a hundred thousand soldiers scattered throughout the bush
could drive back our herds within the limits of the nineteen
counties. T he Governor, however, had already decided not to
displace any tem porary occupier of a stock station w ithout
paym ent.]
* See th e R oyal A u stra lia n H isto rica l S ociety’s Jo u rn a l of 1922, V ol. V III.
P a rt V.
t
F o r a b rie f acc o u n t of th e p roceedings of th is com pany, w ith regard to
th e lo ca tio n of p a rts of th e ir g ra n t in th e L iverpool P la in s d istric t, sec
the R oyal A u stra lia n H isto rical S ociety ’s Jo u rn a l of 1923. V ol. IX .
P a rt III.
A bo u t this tim e the increasing irregularities of a certain class
of “ squatters” becam e so pronounced th a t special m ention of
their crim inal practices was m ade by Judge B urton in addressing
the jury, upon closing the proceedings of the Suprem e C ourt, at
the end of 1835 :
. . . “ A n o th e r source of crim e, h e th o u g h t to be, th e o c cu p a tio n
of th e w aste lan d s of th e colony by u n a u th o rise d a n d im p ro p e r p ersons
b o th b o n d and free, w ho com m encin g w ith n o th in g , o r a v ery sm all
cap ital, soon a fte r a cq u ired b y a degree o f w ealth w ith w hich m ust lead
every re aso n a b le m an to th e conclusion th ey d o n o t get it h o n e stly .”
This assertion was freely com m ented upon in the local press,
and editorials descriptive of the various m ethods of squatting
appeared. N o r did the G overnor fail to represent the true state
of affairs respecting “squatters” as m ay be perceived upon reading
the following extract from his despatch of 18 D ecem ber, 1835 :—
. . . “T h e p ersons to w hom M r. B u rto n alludes, fa m ilia rly called
squatters,* a re th e o b jec ts of g reat anim o sity o n th e p a rt o f th e
w e a lth ie r settlers. A s regards, how ever, th e u n a u th o rise d occu p atio n
of w aste lands, it m ust be confessed th a t these sq u a tte rs a re only
follo w in g in th e steps of all the m o st in flu en tial a n d ex cep tio n ab le
colonists, w hose c a ttle and sheep sta tio n s a re everyw here to be fo u n d
side by side w ith th o se of the o b n o x io u s sq u atter, and held by n o
b e tte r title .”
[These were apparently the types of persons referred to
in C. J. K ing’s book w here in quoting G. E. R anken he says,
“T he report of the select Com m ittee of the Legislative Council
issued in 1835 stated, ‘T he nefarious practices of these m en
are greatly facilitated by the system of taking unauthorised
occupation of Crow n L ands, or squatting as now prevails’. It
appears th a t m any convicts who becom e free of servitude, or
who hold the indulgence of ticket-of-leave, take possession of
C row n Lands, in rem ote districts, and screened from general
observation, erect huts for their tem porary purposes, and
becom e w hat is generally term ed ‘squatters’. T here were
thousands thus living precarious lives in the bush on land to
which they had not title. G angs could loot the respectable
establishm ents or harry the stock; individuals could erect
shanties to serve as grog shops; so-called settlers could live
off their neighbours and cover their bushranging and stealing
activities with a m ask of legitim ate stock raising; vagabonds
could ‘do a thousand and one things th at sufficed to carry on
their brutish existence’.” . . .
* T h e g e n era l im p o rta n ce of the sq u a tte r class of p io n ee rs is a p tly referred
to b y L o rd S tan ley in h is d espatch of Ja n u a ry 30, 1845. “ . . . 1 k now ,”
h e w rote, “ th a t th e g re at source o f th e w ealth of N ew S o u th W ales, th e
p ro d u c tio n of w ool, has been m ain ly th e w o rk o f th o se w h o a re term ed
sq u atters. I a m also w ell aw are, th a t a lth o u g h d escrib ed fa m ilia rly by
th is te rm o f A m e ric an orig in , th ey differ g reatly , a n d in m o st im p o rta n t
p a rtic u la rs, fro m th e class w hose n a m e h as b een tran sferre d to th em ;
th a t in stea d of con sistin g m ain ly of th e least e d u cated of th e p o p u latio n ,
as is often th e case w ith the pio n eers of c iv ilisatio n in A m erica, th ey
in clu d e m an y of th e m ost ed ucated, the m ost in tellig en t, and the
w e alth iest of th e in h a b ita n ts of the colony. I believe, m oreover, th a t they
c o n stitu te a b o d y w hose influence in th e colony, out of th e L egislature,
is very great, and in it, a t th is m om ent, p a ra m o u n t to every o th e r.”
The term “ settler” , on the other hand, was a m ark of
honesty, w hether a m an had a large or small holding.
W hether it applied to all settlers all the tim e is doubtful—
very doubtful.]