Suppied by Tracey Hall
PIONEERS OF THE KIEWA VALLEY
Hugh Reid, of Newtownards, County Down, Ireland, was a teacher in the county school, but tiring of that he later worked for some time in a draper's shop. In 1880 he married Anna Bella Welsh.
He had one son by a previous marriage, but little Alexander's mother died when he was born, and he was brought up by his mother's sisters, the Misses McCutcheon.
He was gassed while serving in France during World War 1, and died from the effects soon after the war ended.
In 1883, Mr. & Mrs. Reid decided to emigrate to Australia, as Mr. Reid's doctor had advised him that he must move to a warmer climate because of lung weakness. His three older brothers, James, Robert and George, were already in Australia, so he and his wife and his elderly father - Robert Reid, sailed for Melbourne.
The voyage was long and slow - about three months - and Mrs. Reid was very ill the whole time. On arriving in Melbourne they proceeded to Yackandandah, where Mr. Reid obtained employment in a store owned by his brother George and Mr Robb.
Here, their son, Robert George, was born, and two or three years later the grand-father died. Feeling that they might do better on the land, Mr. and Mrs. Reid selected some heavily timbered bush country in the Kiewa Valley, at Tawonga.
Some land was cleared and four- roomed dwelling built, with the assistance of Mr. Jack Platt, a local "Bush Carpenter". George Reid bought a few cattle for them at the market, but unfortunately some had pleuro, so all had to be destroyed.
Mr. Reid then obtained work as a farm hand with Mr. Roper, a landowner, three or four miles further up the Kiewa, the wages were one pound a week, and he rode to work each day on horseback along a narrow footpath beside the river.
A daughter, Ellie, had been added to the family, a local "midwife" assisting at the birth, and Mr. Roper lent three dairy cows to keep the family in milk and butter.
He also made the offer of a small farm to be purchased on easy terms, though how it was ever paid off, on even the easiest of terms, with a family of four to be kept on one pound a week is a mystery.
When Robert was eight and Ellie two, relatives in New Zealand paid Mrs. Reid's fare, with the two children, to New Zealand, hoping that the family might leave Australia and settle there. (one of the relatives was her youngest brother, Rev. Robert Welsh. The other was a sister, Mrs. Watson. One of Mrs. Watson's sons was in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was killed in World War 1. A grandson of Rev. Welsh - Peter Welsh - took part in the 1968 Olympic Games.) However the climate did not suit Mrs. Reid and she returned to Australia after six months.
Eventually Mr. Reid obtained pick and shovel work on the road which had been commenced over the mountains between Tawonga and Bright. For this he was paid 2 pounds a week, but had to camp on the job, getting home only on the weekends.
Meantime, they had purchased a reliable heavy delivery type mare, and this was Mrs. Reid's mode of transport. Robert was able to sit behind the saddle and Ellie was held in front of her mother. In those days, a lady never rode astride a horse, but used what was called a side-saddle, with a padded leather horn on one side, one foot in the stirrup and the other draped over the horn on the same side.
On one occasion, Robert unfortunately pressed the mare's flanks with his feet, and as Old Jess strongly objected to being tickled she promptly bucked him off. He landed on his feet, but his mother and his little sister kept their seats, and none of the eggs in the basket his mother carried were broken.
Robert was not the only one to incur swift punishment for touching old Jess on the flanks. Some crockery having been ordered from the store in Yackandandah, Mr. Reid and his nearest neighbour , Mr. Tom Briggs, went over to the road across the river to collect it form the delivery man. Jes was the mode of transport, for there was no bridge over the river, nor any road for a vehicle. Having collected the crockery balanced carefully in front of them. But Mr. Bigg's feet must have touched Jess's ticklish spot as they came up the bank, and in an instant the riders were seated on the ground, with the package of crockery. As a testimony to their packing only one cup was broken.
Dingoes were one of Mrs. Reid's main worries in those lonely days. When one of the cows had calved in the bush some distance from the house, Mrs. Reid heard dingoes howling and went out to investigate. She found the calf had taken refuge in a hollow log, and the dingoes were trying to drag it out by its tail. Their usual method was to attack in packs, and while some of their number drew the cow's attack and led her away from her calf , others pulled the calf down.
A turkey which was sitting on eggs under the house was also a great attraction to the dingoes who would howl around the house at night. Mrs. Reid would occasionally open the door to scare them away.
In 1896, it was decided to move the dwelling to a site on the farm which was being purchased from Mr. Roper. A large timber sleigh was constructed and on this the house was taken in sections to the new site. Jess, assisted by a horse belonging to a neighbour, Tom Stewart, supplied the necessary 'horse power.'
The going was rough, for there was not a road. When going down hill, a tree tied behind was used as a brake. Mr. Platt again acted as carpenter, and meantime the family used a log hut about half a mile away as their temporary home. By this time, the road over the mountains to Bright had been completed. From the Kiewa Valley it wound five miles up hill, then over the Gap and four miles down hill towards Bright on the other side. It was not wide, and when a traveller had the misfortune to meet a conveyance coming from the opposite direction, there were anxious moments while the two edged past each other slowly and carefully, those on the outer side glancing fearfully down the steep slopes to the gully far below, and hoping desperately that the horses would not become excited.
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The horses going up hill were not usually in a flighty mood. When they reached the top they were allowed to rest, the sweat pouring off their bodies in streams. Often they would be given a nosebag, while their passengers ate sandwiches. On resuming the trip, a sapling would be tied behind the conveyance to keep it from running up on the horses. The brakes alone were not strong enouth.
Soon after the move to the new home site, another daughter Elsie, was born. This time, Mrs. Reid was a patient in the Bright Hospital.
At monthly intervals, a grocery van from Yackandandah would make a trip up the Valley along the very rough road on the other side of the river from the Reid's home. If the river was not in flood, Robert, at the age of twelve, could ride Jess across the river and bring home the required groceries in a sack. The twice weekly mail was also collected in this way. Bread of course was home made, while meat was usually purchased in quantity from Mr. Roper when he killed a sheep or bullock. It was salted down, dried and kept for weeks. IT was indeed a red-letter day when Father made a trip to Bright or Yackandandah on business and brought home a few sausages or maybe even some chops. But Bright was twenty five miles away and Yackandandah thirty, so those occasions were very rare. By this time, a number of cows were being milked on the farm, and the cream had to be taken across the river to be collected by the factory transport. As the children grew older, they usually attended to this, balancing the can of cream in front of them on the horse. They were 10-gallon cans and were set on a sugar bag stuffed with chaff to keep them from damaging the saddle or hurting the horse. The safest place for crossing the river was just above where two branches of the river met. Below the point of meeting there was a hole of unknown depth in the river bed. A tea traveller once mistook this for the crossing place. Days later his gig and the bodies of himself and his horse were recovered.
A strong black draught horse, Tom, had been purchased, he was a strong swimmer. There was also a spirited young mare, Polly, strong and sturdy and very active - she was described as a 3/4 thorough bred. Two foals were bred from her - Bonnie, a draught horse, very useful in the plough team, and Pet, Bob's own special hack - but not of the type for carrying 10-gallon cans of cream. On one occasion when the river was flooded, Robert took the cream on Polly, accompanied by Ellie on Tom. It had to be left at Red Bank, a couple of miles down stream from the farm, and Ellie was to ride Tom beside Polly, on the up-stream side, to make the going easier for Polly. However, about half way across, Polly stumbled over a large stone that the flood waters had washed down, and Bob and the cream both came off. With Ellie's - and Tom's - help, Bob and Polly got safely out, but the cream can was never seen again, though weeks later the lid was found about five miles down-stream.
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The melting snows from Mt. Bogong were the source of very heavy floods in the Kiewa, especially in October, when higher temperatures melted the snow quickly. For this reason, the river would often rise swiftly and unexpectedly, and be running a banker after only a little rain. Occasionally the paddocks on both sides of the river would be under deep water, and the cream would not be taken out by the usual track, but had to be taken through several paddocks; and as Ellie remarked reminiscently, "It wasn't easy opening and shutting gates on horse-back while balancing a 10-gallon can of cream. The water came up to the saddle-flaps, but that didn't worry Tom. However, the mailman was two hours late, and meantime a heavy thunderstorm in the mountains brought more snow-water down-stream. But the nearest bridge was five miles further down the Valley so Ellie decided to risk swimming Tom across. Before long she found he was being swept on to the upturned roots of a large tree that the flood waters had carried down, so she decided that the only way to save her life would be to try to turn him back, though she had been warned never to try to turn a horse when it was swimming. However, Tom managed to keep his balance, and they struggled out again to where they had entered the river. She rode round by the bridge and finally reached home, much to the relief of her very worried parents. Another time, it was a large parcel containing an old fashioned gramophone that had to be carried in front, but of course that was a mere trifle compared to the cans of cream.
On the river frontage adjoining the farm, lived a very eccentric old pensioner named Ned Wright. He appeared to be without any relatives or friends, and Mrs. Reid often visited him with eggs, milk, butter etc. He had a hut and a little shed, and had fenced off a small portion of land known as a "miner's right". He kept a couple of horses grazing in his little paddock, and usually kept his gates open so they could graze on the frontage, of which Mr. Reid had the grazing rights. This led to a good deal of friction between the two and "Old Ned" several times threatened to shoot Mr. Reid.
One day as Mr. Reid drove past in his spring-cart the old man came out, gun in hand, and watched him drive past. As soon as he was past, the old man made good his threat, and fired the gun, spraying Mr. Reid's back, neck and shoulders with shot, then turned and walked back into his hut.
Mr. Reid turned round and drove home, and while Mrs. Reid attended to his wounds and removed some of the shot, Robert rode across the river to Mr. Arthur Spencer for help. Mr. Spencer and another neighbour, Mr Trebilcock, took Mr. Reid to the Bright Hospital and notified the police. (there were no telephones back then,) and when Mr. Spencer got home again he brought his gun and sat all night with the anxious family, in case the old man might attack again.
Next day he was removed by police. He was eventually imprisoned for a time, and ended his days in Beechworth Mental Asylum.
Mr. Reid was in hospital for a week, but some of the pellets of shot were embedded too deeply to be removed. In fact, the doctor remarked that had one of the pellets gone just a fraction closer to the spine, the result would have been fatal. His hearing also was permanently impaired. As the years went by Mr Reid developed a bad limp due, he thought to sciatica, and Robert did most of the farm work, ably seconded by Ellie.
But when Robert went to the First World War, Ellie and her father carried on the farm work to the best of their ability. Crops of potatoes were planted and dug (the hard way, there were not mechanical potato planters or diggers then.) Large crops of pumpkins were grown as pig feed.
Neighbours who had a reaper and binder were employed to cut the oat crop, then it had to be stocked and carted in and chaffed for the cattle by hand chaff-cutter.
A new cow-yard and dairy had to be built, and Mr. Platt agreed to fell the timber and do the building, but he certainly would not drive that wild, unmanageable team of horses to transport the timber from the bush to the site. Father was much too lame to attempt the task, for the horses, (tom, Polly and Bonnie) certainly were lively. However, Ellie managed that task as well as many others that fell on her during those hard years. The pigs fattened by the pumpkins and other crops grown on the farm, had to be transported to market in Bright. This was usually accomplished by Mr. Tom Briggs, who would arranged with all interested pig owners to bring their pigs to him at a certain time, clearly marked (by clipping a patch of hair, or by paint etc), so as to prevent any confusion when the pigs were put into a large mob.
Actually there was plenty of confusion among the pigs, for there were ferocious battles when different mobs met. However, by the time they travelled a few miles there was little energy to spare for fighting or anything else except plodding steadily along the road. All the pig-owners had to supply sufficient food to feed their animals on the two day journey. This was taken ahead in a dray or spring-cart by one of Tom's lads, who at a spot agreed upon, would construct a yard to hold the pigs overnight.
Weary with the unaccustomed travelling, and with a good supply of food, they were not inclined to wander, and I believe Mr. Briggs lost only one pig during all his years of pig droving. Next day the journey to market would be completed at a very slow pace so that all the pigs would arrive in very good form.
The war ended, and Robert returned home, his health much impaired by recurring bouts of malaria, contracted while in Egypt. When his health improved somewhat, he married Phyllis Egan, a school teacher friend of his sister's and when soon afterwards his sisters were also married, he and his wife took over the farm and his parents retired to Geelong, where the daughters were living.
Here Mrs. Reid died in 1933 at the age of 83, and in the following year Mr. Reid passes away as the result of an accident, in his ninety-first year, and was buried with his wife at Point Lonesdale cemetery.
Throughout those long, difficult years, Mr. And Mrs. Reid always maintained a faithful Christian witness and never lost their trust in God's goodness.