In the early 1800's, a tiny settlement was founded around the point formed by the Myall Lake and Boolambayte Creek, and became known as Boolambayte.

The reason for the founding of this settlement was those types of timber suitable for boat building, ie. schooners, ketches, barges, droghers and paddle-wheelers, had been found there. Tallow wood was used for below the water line and Flooded Gum for above the water line. To supply suitable logs, timber-getters were hired and bullock-drivers with teams were hired to do the hauling.

The settlement progressed rapidly, with small dwellings springing up along the Lake and Creek shores, and back into the bush north and west of the Point.

Names, which appeared in the Government Gazette 1832- 1842, were: -

Charles Dee I

William Squires (later to start brick kiln)

Thomas James

William Masters

? Hunter (General Store)

? Chapman (School Teacher)

? Mills j

Andrew Johnson

William Bonney

T. McGrath

W. Maybury

Thomas Sims

J. R. Styles

George Heath

For information on the A.A. Co.'s settlement of this area, we recommend that our readers obtain a copy of "Stroud and the A.A.Co.", by John Chadban, ($1.00 from Stroud Historical Society).

Also, for snippets of information on early days around the Myall Lakes, there is "Myall Lakes: Creation to Controversy", by H. K. Garland and Joy Wheeler.

1832 saw the withdrawal of the A.A. Co. from the Myall Lake area. From then on, gaps appear in the information we have of the established families around the Boolambayte and Myall Lake area. Little is known of how they fared, or even of how they existed.

1839 In January 1839, the first land near the Myall was advertised for sale. This was Lot 103 and it had previously been applied for by E. J.Stacey in 1836. Lot 104, advertised at the eame time, was a village reserve at Myall Lake (Tranpane Village Reserve), just east of what became Boolambayte Village.

1840 Joseph North purchased Portion 90, of 1063 acres (430 ha.) on the Myall River opposite the town of Bulahdelah in 1840. His two sons, Francis and William, purchased two adjoining portions, being Portion 91 containing 618 acres (250 ha.), and Portion 92 containing 803 acres (336 ha.), all in the Parish of Willabah. The North family had paid 5/-, 4/7 and 7/10 per acre (50c, 46c and 79c). 1840 was the year Charles Dee II was born.

1841 In 1841, the price of land went to a minimum of £1 ($2) per acre. Little land dealing followed unti1 1845.

1845 on the 12th April, 1845, William Bramble and James Wort purchased 80 acres (32 ha.), the deeds being dated 30th April, 1846, and the land being in the corner formed by the Myall River and Fry's Creek (later it became known a Portion 29, Parish of Boolambayte).

1852 The County of Gloucester Land Sales Register was opened in 1852. The first entry in it for the Myall Region was G29, in the name of Bruce Gilbert on Boolambayte Creek, consisting of 771 acres (314 ha.), which later became Portions 75 to 86 in the Parish of Bulahdelah.

1853 At an Auction of leases at Dungog, on 13th April, 1853. Thomas Mayers and Charles Dee I were successful bidders for the four adjacent portions of land, totalling 4,380 acres (1760 ha.) in the, Wallingat River Western shore of Wallis Lake area (where Coomba Park now stands), for 10/- ($1) rental

The next entry in the Gloucester Register is for G50 by Charles Dee I, on the Myall River, 164 acres (66 ha.) which later became Portions 13. 14 and 15 in the Parish of Bulahdelah.

G52 was reserved for Crown Land; became Portions 29, 30, 31 and 32 in the Parish of Boolambayte, just across the Myall River from the North properties.

G53 was in the name of George Pile, being for 620 acres (250 ha.) which became Portions 58, 59 and 60, Parish of Bulahdelah. G55 in the name of Richard Russell, was for 53 acres (21 ha.) on the Myall Lake, which later became Portion 86, Parish of Topi Topi. This land was later part of "Burraduc" and on which Burraduc School was established much later.

Other dates and names which appear in the Gloucester Register were:-

1857 1857 Charles Dee I)1858 Thomas Mayers ) )-Sections ) No.1 and No.2 1859 John WearGeorge Heath )Witts Butcher Shop

1860 The year Charles Dee III was born. This was also the year William Henry Masters came from Stroud to Bulahdelah to manage a store for Messrs. Lotts and Larnic. He later left the store and worked for Duncan McRae at his mill at goolambayte. Mr. Masters is credited with bringing the first iron axle for the timber trucks. which before had cumbersome wooden axles. (Ref: "Obituary of William Henry Masters: a Pioneer" -see separate article this issue).

1861 The Crown Lands Alienation Act (known as Robertson's Alienation Act) came into force on 18th October. 1861. The first land affected by this land act was at Sugarloaf Point (Seal Rocks). Where 1 1/2 square miles (389 ha.) of land was reserved from sale, for the preservation of water supply or other public purposes, on 24th December, 1861. The potential of the sand beds at Seal Rocks was recognised as a possible source of water supply as early as 1860. Aboriginals had drawn attention to the presence of fresh water.

Also reserved for public purposes in 1861 were the two largest islands in Myall Lake, Johnson's Island and McGrath's Island.

Clause 13 of Robertson's Alienation Act introduced the concept of Conditional Purchase, and the 40 acre sized blocks came into being. The conditions on the purchase of these blocks was that for 25% downpayment (of 20/- per acre), the Conditional Purchaser could develop and improve the land, and at the end of three years, pay the remainder of the purchase price.

1862 In, or around, 1862 ,. Duncan McRae set up his sawmill, on the west bank of Boolambayte Creek, near the mouth. .To the right of the mill, and right on the point formed by Boolambayte Creek and the Myall Lake, the "dock" of the shipyard was made by scooping out the ground, and was used to cradle the boats as they were built. (Date reference Letter to Ruth Pile from Alex McRae, son of Duncan McRae.)

1863 In May 1863, Portions 1 and 2 in the Parish of Bulahdelah, were measured by Surveyor John Hall, for purchase by Duncan McRae. Portion 2 was the site McRae chose for his timber mill and shipyard at Boolambayte (G96).

Also in 1863, Charles Dee II won the contract to carry mail on horseback from Stroud to Bulahdelah. This contract was extended to include Boolambayte, Bungwahl and Forster, when these areas grew into milling centres. (Ref: "Myall Lakes, Creation to Controversy" by H. K. Garland and Joy Wheeler.)

In 1863 Breckenridge applied for Portion 1, Pariah of Bulahdelah, 40 acres (G96).

G90, 1863, Davies and Campbell, in March applied for Portion 28 Parish of Bullah Delah, 40 acres. Deed went to Aubrey John Somerville in August 1866. (Ref: "Myall Lakes: Creation to Controversy" by H. K. Garland and Joy Wheeler.) 1864 Mr. Samuel Richards, grandfather of Merv Richards, reported in 1864, that there was a shop and a number of houses at Boolambayte (sunny side). Mr. Richards had stayed there after looking for cedar in the district. In 1864 Joseph Dickson applied for Portion 29, Pariah of Bullah Delah, 40 acres (the Dickson mill, 1866), G111. In July 1864, Thomas Mayers applied for Portion 2, Parish of Topi Topi, 40 acres (G138)

.Also in July 1864, Mrs. E. M. Russell, Portion 1, Pariah of Topi Topi, 40 acres (G139). This land was adjacent to Richard Russell's Portion 86, taken up eight years before.

1865 Around 1865 (three years after the mill was erected), two young Scotsmen, Alexander Croll and John Wright (shipwrights), walked over the hills from Stroud to the Myall River at Bulahdelah, on their way to work at Duncan McRae's mill. (Ref:Letter to Ruth Pile from Minnie Sutton.)

There is a story which has been handed down through the Ireland family that, Mrs. Ireland, when Croll and Wright hailed her to row across the Myall to get them, thought that they could well be bushrangers. So, as a precaution before leaving, she locked her children in a cupboard, then rowed over to fetch the two "strangers"

G177, September 1865, Christopher McRae, Portion 33, Parish of Fens, 40 acres. It was from this site at Winda Whoppa, that timber was transhipped to oceangoing vessels, and on which Allen Taylor's mill (Birdwood) was later built.It was in 1865 that Joseph Dickson II (1831-1900)(known in the family and the Sydney area as "Old Myall River Joe", because of the 26 hard, healthy years he spent from 1865 in our timber country around Bulahdelah, becoming ''as tough as ironbark") came to live at Bulahdelah. He came with his whole family, "lock, stock and barrel". The fulfilling of a personal ambition, to supply timber "bush to Builder", became a reality. Joseph Dickson Bet up his mill at what they called Green Gully. He had married, on 6th July. 1853. Ann Hughes Plaice Williams at Ebenezer Chapel. They brought six children with them and five were born later at Bulahdelah. (Ref: "Dickson Family" by Jack Atkins).

1866 Rachel (Henning) Taylor wrote private letters to relatives from Bulahdelah. The N.S.W. Public Schools Act of 1866. Forced Bulahdelah's Church of England School to close when less than thirty children enrolled (the minimum number required for state aid).

1867 On 26th October. 1867. a local committee, mostly parents, made application to the "Council of Education". for a school, as the nearest public school was at Boolambayte (old Boolambayte). Their application was approved on one condition, that they guarantee enrolment of twenty children. Fourteen families promised forty-two. A dilapidated 24' x 14' wooden "Church of England" and three room residence with dirt floor was to become the school and teacher's cottage respectively. Leased by the Council of Education from the Bishop of Newcastle. it contained a simple stipulation. "that divine service could be conducted in the Church; secondly, approval for conducting school in these buildings was the committees". (Ref: "The Dickson Family of Sydney and Bulahdelah" written by Jack Atkin for Waverley Historical Society.) The presence of good boat-building timber had drawn other people to the area, such as John Wylie Breckenridge Snr. and family. He lived and milled on Pumpkin Point for some years. The Breckenridge family moved to Forster in 1867. (Ref: "Winds of Change" by Mick Constable.)

G306, November 1867. Stewart Smith. Portion 7, Parish of Fens, 40 acres. Site of the first hotel in Hawk's Nest -Tea Gardens area. (Ref. Lands records, Gloucester.)

During 1867, the keel of the schooner "Caledonia" was laid at McRae's shipyard; built by Croll and Wright (shipwrights) , for Duncan McRae at Boolambayte (Sunnyside), completed and launched that year. (Ref: "Winds of Change" by Mick Constable.)

1868 On 8th October, 1868, the Council of Education was notified that the school buildings (Church of England) at Bulahdelah had been repaired by the local people at their own expense. During 1868, Duncan McRae took his family to Sydney, purchasing land at White Horse Point and Fig Tree Point. He built a "nice big stone house" on Fig Tree Point. The McRae children (Chris,Janet, Duncan Jnr. and Alexander) were educated at Balmain Public School. Duncan McRae intended to open a timber yard on the waterfront and work on the wharves was begun. However, the Harbour and Rivers Trust wanted the waterfrontage for something else and so work ceased on the project. Duncan McRae had left Mr. Tom James as manager of the Boolambayte mill. (Ref: Letter to Ruth Pile from Alex McRae (son of Duncan) in 1948 when he was in his eighties).

G353, July 1868, J. Mayers, Portion 85, Parish of Topi Topi, 40 acres. (Ref: Land records Gloucester.)

1869 The first school board of the Bulahdelah School were elected in 1869. They were:- Joseph Dickson II, Proprietor Steam Saw Mills. Edward Davies, owner of River steamer. Thomas Laman, Clerk, C.E. George Davies, Carpenter. 1 (Ref: "The Dickson Family" by Jack Atkins.) "

Names of Myall Lakes people who appeared in the Williams River Electoral District (1869-1870)

William Alway -Myall Lakes

George Anderson -Resident

Joseph Abbott -Violet Hill

William Henry Abbott -Violet Hill

John Garlic -Myall Lakes

Samuel Garner -Myall Lakes

Alexander Gregory -Myall Lakes

G360, December 1869, William Squires, Portion 79, Parish of Boolambayte, 40 acres.

G364, December 1869, James Wort, Portion 75, Parish of Forster, 40 acres.

G373, December 1869, W. Henderson, Portion 10, Parish of Fens, 40 acres (mill site in 1866 and the site of the first Hawk's Nest School).

G374, March 1870, T. McGrath, Portion 1, Parish of Boolambayte, 40 acres. (Ref: Land records Gloucester-

To be continued This is all the information we have to 1870.Maybe some of our readers can supply information. If so, please contact the Bulahdelah Historical Society.

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