Squatters and Land Runs 1830’s-1852
By 1838 others began moving
towards the east into Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula. John
Highett was the first to cross the Dandenong Creek in 1836 and was soon
followed by the Ruffy Brothers and Terence O'Connor. The five Ruffy
Brothers took up their Tomaque run between Dandenong and Cranbourne (to
the west of Cranbourne) while Terence O'Connor does not appear to have taken up his extensive Cardinia Creek run until September, 1838.
The squatting run of Cardinia Creek
stretched from an arm of the Carrum Swamp near the Eumemmerring Creek
to the upper reaches of the Cardinia Creek an area of 30 square miles.
It appears that O'Connor may have worked as an overseer for Captain
John Gardiner (one of three enterprising men who became the first
overlanders to arrive at Dutigalla from the outskirts of the N.S.W,
settlement, driving cattle) John Gardiner laid vague claims to grazing
land in the direction towards Dandenong and this would have forced
Highett, O'Connor and Ruffy to move further out. By 1838 all lands east
of Tomaque and south of 0'Connors run were unsettled.
The large squatting runs were soon sub-divided and With many
new-comers taking up land; new runs were formed and reformed throughout
the 1840's. South of O'Connors were the runs of Garem Gam (Dr. J. Bathe and T.J. Perry, 1840), and Greenmount, (C. Dodds, 1840) ; Broadhurst and King, (1843)
Cardinia Creek and St Germains (Clyde)
In 1842 Robert Henry occupied part of Greenmount to form Cardinia Creek One1 while James Buchanan formed yet another station (St. Germains) further south in 1845. The Ruffy Brothers took up the Mayune run in the 1840's with the lease for a reduced run passing in the family to Fred Ruffy in 1845. Garem Gam had also been sub-divided in that year and part of the run (Ravenshurst) was occupied by John Crewe who also acquired Mayune shortly before his death in 1850. John Crewe's widow, Eliza transferred the Mayune lease to Alexander Cameron in 1851 roughly about the same time that O'Connor took over Henry's Cardinia Creek 1. O'Connor further added Greenmount to his run in 1853.
Along the coast other squatting runs were quickly taken up following the lead given by Robert Jamieson (Yallock), Balla Balla (Robert Innes Allen, 1839; C.J. Haslewood, 1848; and later Henry Foley, 1850; Henry Jennings, 1852; J.S. Adams, 1854; A. Hunter, 1872), Bourbinadera (Thomas Rutherford, 1842; and later as 'Kilmore' Richard Corbett, 1847,) and Toorodan (Manton's Old Station) covered most of the choice land in the area. "Yallambee", Thomas Field's property. |
In 1844 Thomas Field took up the remaining crown land and formed the run known as Big Plains. This is significant to the people of Clyde because it is within Field's Big Plains Run that the major part of modern day Clyde is situated.Most of the other areas considered to be part of Clyde seem to fall into Mayune (leased by Cameron in 1851), Cardinia Creek One (0'Connor, 1851) and St. Germains. Big Plains stretched between Toorodan (Manton's) and the Cardinia Creek Runs with its north-west boundary meeting Mayune .The Mayune run of 8 square miles had two boundaries described on the lease as "on the S.E. by mark tree line bearing N.E. 2 1/2 miles" and "on the N.E. by the Clyde Watercourse general bearing N.W. 2 1/2 miles". |
Squatters and Pre-emptive Rights
Throughout the years 1831-39 a
squatter could take up a selection of land upon payment of a £10
license fee to the Crown Lands Commissioner. This allowed 12 month
tenure with an option to buy initially at 5/-an acre and then at
12/-per acre from 1839 to 1842. After that all Crown Land was to be
sold at auction at a minimum price of £1 an acre.
It was in 1847 under the Waste Lands
Act that regulations known as Orders-in-Council directed that New South
Wales (which included Victoria until 1851) was to be divided into
three classes of land - Settled Districts, Intermediate Districts and
Unsettled Districts.
In settled districts squatters were
given 12 months (the term of their lease) to exercise their pre-emptive
right. Most squatters took advantage of this to purchase their
homestead blocks upon which they had usually made many improvements.
Sources
1. The Good Country Chapters 2, 3