110 year history

Time line for Ruby Hills (1876 - ) 

1876              Adam James “Jimmy or Boss” Burgess arrived in Woolbrook at the age of 13 with his older brother John after leaving Sydney to look for work. (perhaps to find an elder brother in QLD?)Jimmy worked for Mrs Scott on Surveyors Creek Station, He went shearing and did bush work in the area.

 1890              Jimmy married Margaret Dodds of “Croft Knoll” east of Walcha, who was the nurse maid for Mr & Mrs Crawford’s children Lily and Katherine.

1896              On February 6^th, Jimmy borrowed the three shillings per acre from his father-in-law William Dodds at “Croft Knoll” needed to make a deposit on the selection Block 56 173 acres being part of the McLean’s Bergen Op Zoom run. It was one of the last remaining subdivision blocks of the squatter’s runs, as it had no permanent water. The price was one pound ten shillings per acre. The first camp (a tent) was made at the shepherd’s fold in what is now “Parker’s” paddock near a soak for water. The Burgess family now including three boys – twins Bill and Jack and Adam, moved from Woolbrook to Ruby Hills.A fossicker, Mr Bath the first owner at nearby “Echo” , found water rubies or red garnet gems nearby, hence the property was named Ruby Hills – on the top of the Great Dividing Range and 4000 feet.The first fence was a zig zag rail fence, a requirement for selection.A four roomed house was moved from Echo to the current homestead site. The stringy bark roof was replaced with corrugated iron to catch rainwater for domestic use.Jimmy bought another 400 acres to the east from his brother who moved into Walcha to start a store. “Parker’s” paddock was bought and the house moved to build the first wool shed.As other selectors and small landholders left the area, Jimmy bought their land – Arty said he was too stubborn to leave himself!

1899               Second generation Arthur ‘Árty’ Burgess was born.1902              Drought from (1894 – 1906) - water was carried to stock by horse and sled fitted with a ship’s steel water tank from a water hole at Linden Hill 5km to the east.

1917               Rabbit plague at it worst – the country was denuded by rabbits and carrying capacity reduced. Many sheep died in the harsh winters on native pastures. Cattle were not an enterprise option and only wethers were run due to the rabbits eating out the grass. Full time rabbit trappers were employed until myxomatosis was introduced in 1965?  Stocking rates were only ¾ sheep per acre. Boss had built the Ruby Hills holding up to 6000 acres by acquiring neighbouring areas.Oats were grown to feed the working horse plant during the winter.1918-1924 more drought followed by some of the best years recorded from 1924 to 1937.

1924              Arthur Burgess married Alicen Helen Steel of Mingary Walcha.

1927              Telephone 'party line'installed – Walcha 102-D1929              Third generation at Ruby Hills – K Brian Burgess born. His older brother Ian Burgess became an electrical engineer studying at night and moved to Sydney. Wool prices fell with the Wall Street market crash – wool fetched eleven pence per pound and many families left the land unable to survive tough financial times.

1934              Arty had difficulty gaining ownership of land as he did not have assets to borrow against. His wife Helen Burgess was able to buy more land with assistance from her Steel family.

1937              Arty the youngest son, acquired Ruby Hills block of 160 acres with house and wool shed. As each son married they were given their share of the 6000 acres and a house.                     Willie and Margaret Hutton at Scrubby Gully then Mt Pleasant (now Strathavon) Maggie died at the birth of her second child and Willie remarried Maime Young and continued building grazing properties at Bundarra, Armidale, and Blayney. Adam/Addie and Bessie Grieve lived at Belvue (now Marinka), John/Jack Burgess served in WW1, then lived at Scrubby Gully with Hazel Stier. The Boss bought Venter Fair for Jack and a block of Congi station.                     Major improvements to the house at Ruby Hills were made.

1946              First pasture improvements began in late 30’s, delayed by WW2 they restarted in 1946 will a wool boom.                     Arty and Helen built their holding to 4000 acres                     Jimmy or ‘Boss’ aim was to tail a thousand lambs per year – this was first achieved in 1949 the year he died! 1947 to 1964 were good rain years and good seasons.

1950 – 1951    Wool boom - fetching twenty shillings or a pound per pound of wool with average prices being seven to ten times what they had been in the 1920’s.

1952              Pasture improvements were revolutionised with the advent of superphoshate and aerial seeding of sub clovers and rye grass with Tiger moth planes. Carry capacity was now increased from one to four sheep per acre.                     Prime lambs reached record prices at $30 per lamb Provisional tax was introduced and many farmers spread super to reduce tax. Probate and gift taxes were also affecting farmers.

1952              K Brian Burgess married Winifred Jenkins of Sydney.

1954              Fourth generation, Andrew David Burgess born

1956              Merino sheep flock structured changed to a self replacing one.1962              Brian increased the holdings in buying 1000 acres of Scrubby Gully to the West from his cousin Ken for thirty pounds per acre.

1965              end of fifteen good years (1947 – 1964), and drought coincided with wool crash.                     Brian took over management of RH due to illness of Arty.                     Ruby Hills merino stud started but not registered                      Poll Hereford stud registered

1970’s            Large dams were dug and many miles of pipeline laid for stock water. Ruby Hills was now mechanised and no more horses used for stock work.

1981               Brian bought Venter Fair and sold it in 1994.      

1983              Andrew married Dr. Margaret Lowman from USA a botanist and ecologist. Much of Ruby Hills tree plantings commenced. Edward and James born then returned to the USA in 1990.Andrew took over property management from KB1986              Fine wool merino stud registered #4120

1987               Fine wool prices rose significantly. New England die back of eucalyptus trees – researched by Meg Lowman-Burgess.

1990              Eucalyptus radiata plantation started for eucalyptus oils.

1993              Drought and bore sunk to drought proof Ruby Hills for stock water.                     Genetic measurement and evaluations of sheep began.

1995              Andrew married Carol Watson of Brisbane, an honours degree graduate in Agricultural Science with post graduate study in psychology.

1996              Centenary celebrations on ruby hills - the Land January 1996

2001              Drought commenced

2007             drought continues  

 Women’s roles on Ruby Hills

Margaret Dodds-Burgess (1864 – 1944)

Margaret was an amazing woman, rearing her own family of five as well as her grand children, Jean and Gladys Burgess and other children like Charlie Hogno. Flour was bought at a ton each time and the weevils sieved out prior to use. They say Margaret rose at 4am to make bread for the workmen. Potatoes and pumpkins were grown. Sheep were killed and provided fresh meat for three days, then salted. It was rare to kill a beast as they never grew fat enough to eat! The women worked all the time and never went out anywhere! They washed in the copper with boiling water over the fire, made their own butter and soap and candles.

 Helen Steel-Burgess (1897 – 1989)

Helen was educated in Melbourne at PLC, a keen gardener, like her mother Elizabeth Steel, of Mingary she grew many fruit trees and preserved their produce. Helen was well read and one of the few people interested in collecting family history before it became popular as it is today.Helen was very connected with the community and recorded the daily events in her life in a diary.
In those times and till the 80’s women’s roles at Ruby Hills were clearly defined to the domesticity of the house and garden. The important rituals for the day were smoko and lunch breaks. If the men were too far away from the house, they would boil their quart pot over a fire, drink black tea and eat their sandwiches.

Winifred Jenkins-Burgess (1930 - )

Win the  1950’s domestic hostess, arriving in Walcha as a kindergarten teacher, she quickly married at 22yo. She was actively involved in many women’s committees.

Meg Lowman-Burgess (1953- )

Meg continued her research into trees and ecology, lecturing at UNE and working for Earthwatch. She returned to the USA in 1990 to pursue her career and now is Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, New College of Florida USA. Her work on dieback in the New England has been published in a book … Dieback in the New England.

Meg pushed out the boundaries of women’s roles on Ruby Hills striving for gender equality and balancing life and a career off farm. As a single mother back in the US she worked hard to promote child friendly work environments where family values were celebrated. She found this practise too difficult on Ruby Hills where notions of gender equity at work and home were unsupported. (Lowman, Burgess & Burgess 2006).It's a Jungle up there.

 Carol Watson (1957- )

Carol has also changed traditional women’s roles on Ruby Hills, being the first woman to fully understand the science of agriculture (BAgSc) and farming as well as working outside with stock on Ruby Hills. She is also balancing life on the farm, family and her own career off farm. Carol has contributed to the business in strategic terms, and had been awarded the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation scholarship by the wool industry. She has developed an interest in family farm business relationships with psychology training and path finding roles for professional women in the changing social structure on the farm.  

Early History of Walcha

The Danggadi people lived in this region for about 6,000 years in the colder months retreated in the gorge country to the east, where fish and animals were plentiful. The tablelands had places for ceremonies and trade of goods, and there are traces of bora grounds near Walcha.

The explorer John Oxley passed through the area in 1818 and named the Apsley River after the secretary of state for the colonies. He also noted the Apsley Falls, the spectacular waterfall where the river begins its descent to the coast. European settlement began in 1832 as squatters moved from the Hunter Valley and from Port Macquarie seeking pastures for their sheep.

The first squatter in the district was a Scot, Hamilton Collins Sempill, who made his base near Oxley's Camp beside a good waterhole on the Apsley River. This became known as Walcha. But the spelling and possibly the origins came from the association of the two early pastoral properties- the Walcha run and the Bergen-op-Zoom Run- with places in The Netherlands where the town of Bergen-op-Zoom stands on the Walcheren River. These places were well known to the early settlers because of a major campaign of 1809 called the Walcheren Expedition, fought during the British wars with Napolean.

Other settlers arrived in the 1830s and 1840s, runs were taken up and a town began to appear. In the 1850s and 1860s some of the early squatters were able to start purchasing their runs, and selectors struggled on their smallholdings. The town had its first school and churches established in these years. The population grew in the 1870s with the small gold rushes to Glen Morrison, Tia and Nowendoc. By 1900 the town had almost a thousand people and the surrounding districts another 1600. In Walcha there were four hotels, four blacksmiths, two flourmills and a tannery, as well as over thirty shops.

The town has not changed a lot in the last hundred years: timber has relaced wheat as a major employer, trucking is a activity as horse and bullock wagons were in the past. The region still relies on fine wool production and cattle, but the pastoral properties employ fewer workers than in the past.

The town boasts two points of national interest. The celebrated overlander Nat Buchanan is buried here. He opened up much land in Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia with his great cattle drives from 1859 to the 1890's. In 1950 the first aerial spreading of superphosphate in Australia was done on Mirani, a property owned by AS Nivison, grandson of an 1840's squatter. The Tiger Moth plane, used in this important innovation, is preserved in good condition by the local Historical Society.

 Visit Walcha website   http://www.walchansw.com.au/