Gympie and District Farming and Grazing – 1905- Widgee Crossing and Chatsworth Part 1

This is another story featuring the articles published in the The Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette in 1905.  This one is the first part of a series about the Widgee Crossing and Chatsworth.  The names of the farmers in this story are: Elworthy, Mellor, Best, Dean, Briere, Mulholland and Heilbronn.  You will find Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

“Gympie and District Farming & Grazing.

NO. VII. WIDGEE CROSSING AND CHATSWORTH ROADS.
(By Our Special Reporter.)
Two of the favorite roads on which to take a drive are without doubt those lead-ing to the Widgee Crossing and the Chats-worth. The scenery is pretty, but the main attraction is that these are the two best formed roads leading out of town, and they are kept in good repair. This is not only an advantage to those who take a drive for pleasure, but is an inestimable advantage to farmers and dairymen who have to cart pro-duce into town. This again adds to the value of the land, for a man will rather purchase a place with a good road leading to it than where the means of communica-tion are indifferent.

When leaving the town with the intention of going to the Widgee crossing the first paddocks passed on each side of the road are those of Messrs. El-worthy and Mellor, used in connection with their slaughter yards on the Chatsworth road. “The Camp” where the first Com-missioners or Wardens of the field used to live, and the old race-course, where the field’s races were held in the later sixties and seventies, comprise two paddocks of good grazing quality with a long frontage to the Mary River, where there is on the lower bank a fair accumulation of tailings. In these holdings there are 192 acres on which are run the spare horses, and those requiring a spell after doing their turn of work in the butchers’ carts, or other branches of this firm’s extensive business. Here also are placed temporarily the fat cattle which the slaughterman will soon have under the knife.

The same firm have two paddocks across the river below the Widgee Crossing, known as the “tailing paddocks,” belonging to the estate of the late Mr. John Elworthy, comprising about 1750 acres. The large paddock and the sur-rounding country, is the land on which the butchers’ cattle were tailed in the days when Elworthy, Mellor, and Best were carrying on the trade, and before there was any land selection in the neighbourhood of Gympie. There is about one and a half miles front-age to the river, with good flats and fine patches of standing scrub. The smaller pad-dock, comprising 300 acres, on the Glaston-bury road, has also good flats and perma-nent water, but unfortunately the second growth after ring-barking has obtained the upper hand on the ridges. These two pad-docks are where the fat cattle, in mobs of about 100 head, are put when brought from Teebar, or elsewhere, and from here they are taken in smaller drafts to the Old Race course, and in still smaller numbers into the small paddocks in direct connection with the slaughter yard.

The first farm is on the right hand side, and is owned and worked by Mr. James Dean, who milks from 12 to 14 cows and sells the milk in town. Besides dairying Mr. Dean has a market garden of three acres on the side of the ridge facing the road. Being the off season for vegetables very little is growing, but preparation of the land is well forward for the sowing which will soon commence. A few pigs are also kept. The land about the house con-sists of 60 acres, and is called Belle View Farm, but besides this the same owner has 200 acres on the other side of Widgee Crossing, adjoining, and higher up the stream from, Messrs. Elworthy and Mellor’s ”tailing paddock.” Part of this was scrub, and this land is now under cultivation.Tailings were to be seen on the ploughed land that the last fresh had covered, and heaps of the same were on the banks lower down. Mr. Dean considers that the ticks would be as bad this year as they have been before, if precautionary measures were not persevered with. He lost 15 cows in 1902 and a few have died from redwater since.

The next place can hardly be called a farm, but Mrs. M. Briere uses “Mary Vale,” which contains 144 acres of forest land, as a resi-dence, and she also has 400 acres further down the river, some of the land being on each side. 16 acres of the scrub have been felled, and there is a good deal more stand-ing on the river bank. There are only 10 head of cattle, as redwater caused very heavy losses ; the milk run in town had, in consequence, to be given up and dairying abandoned. About 30 pigs are kept at the lower farm.

The name of Heilbronn has been associat-ed from the very early days of Gympie with Widgee crossing, for it was the father of the family, so well known in this town, that cleared the road through the scrub on the river bank at this spot, he later on ap-plied to Mr. Commissioner King, and was granted the right to keep a toll-bar, in con-sideration of his paying a rent of £50 a year to the Government and keeping the road in order for two miles on each side of the river. In 1878 or 1879 this toll gate was given up, partly on account of the friction and unpleasantness caused by col-lecting the toll, but more because the traffic had been diverted through the opening of the Channon street bridge.

Mr. Heilbronn did flourishing business in those days in the hotel that stood on the top of the bank on the right hand side of the road, just op-posite Mr. Mulholland’s gate. £17 was taken over the bar in one day during the time that the Kilkivan rush was on. This will tend to show the number of travellers passing, and confirms the statements of Mr. Betts at Glastonbury, of the traffic in those times. At present the crossing is only used by the local residents and parties ????ing.

The banks of the river on the Reserve show the quantities of tailings that are going down the river, as there are heaps of this sand all through the scrub, on the lower bank : and on the higher bank the height to which the tailings have been carried can be seen by the growth of “devil grass,” or as some people call it, “water couch.” But before we really get to Widgee crossing the farm of Mr. J. M. I. Heilbronne is passed. The house is situated on the last hill : the land on that side lies between Mrs. M. Brier’s and Mr. A. Mulholland’s, and on the other side from the Old Racecourse pad-dock to the crossing.

This property, com-prising 88 acres, was taken up, as might have been expected, among the first of what were then known as “King’s Homesteads,” and consists mostly of forest land, which has been ring-barked. On this as on many other properties in the neighbourhood, the second growth of suckers from the ring barked trees, and seedling wattles, still give a lot of trouble. The 25 acres which lie between the river and the road are devoted to the cultivation of ordinary farm crops. but special attention is devoted to hay, and in winter, as much land as possible is under oats for this crop. There are five acres of lucerne. Only a few head of cattle are kept.”

 This story was compiled by Kathy Punter.

Sources:  Trove; GFHS Record Collection; Bing Maps: