John Eckford - Early Settler at Wallis Plains
John Eckford was born in the colony in 1801 one of the eight children of William and Mary Eckford.
For many years William and Mary Eckford resided at Newcastle where William was employed as harbour pilot. Their children John, Jane, Henry, William, and James were among the pupils under Schoolmaster Henry Wrensford at the first school at Newcastle in 1816.
Maitland
In 1812 the district of Maitland was also known as The Camp and Schank's Plains. Lachlan Macquarie in his Journal kept on his visit in 1812, referred to the area as The Burying Ground. [1]After this it was re-named Wallis Plains after Captain James Wallis, commandant at Newcastle. After Macquarie's visit in 1818 the land was opened for settlement in a limited way. The first three men to settle in the district were John Eckford, John Smith, and William O'Donnell. The fourth person to receive a promise of land was Molly Morgan, who became so well known as Molly Morgan that for a number of years the district was known as 'Molly Morgan's Plains,' and the track from the settlement to Singleton as 'Molly Morgan's line of road'.
There were few buildings in the district in 1820 when a great flood swept through the land. Many years later John Eckford described the only buildings then in existence in the densely wooded brush.....there was a hut of William O'Donnell's, nearly opposite the site of the later Waterloo Hotel; a hut belonging to Molly Morgan, situated nearly on the site of where Messrs Dickson and Co later built their stores; and a hut built on the slope just in rear of the later Angel Inn. All three were nearly on the line of what would become High Street, West Maitland. The 1820 flood reached O'Donnell's wall to the shingles and was up to Molly Morgan's window sill. [Maitland Mercury 4 August 1857].
John's allotment was 30 acres and became known as Brush Farm. Here he built a barn and a wattle and daub cottage with a garden and orchard. In a Memorial to Governor Brisbane dated 11 January 1823 John Eckford petitioned for an increase of land - 'Memorialist obtained from His Excellency, late Governor Macquarie, a Grant of thirty acres of land on the banks of Hunter's River, but the same being all low land, Memorialist humbly begs that His Excellency will be pleased to grant an additional allotment adjoining the present location that Memorialist may thereby have high land to build upon.'[2]
Colonial Life
In 1825 he was established enough to provide 100 bushells of wheat to the Commissariat Department at Newcastle for which he was remunerated 9/- per ton [3]. Brush farm was increased to 100 acres by 1825. He worked this land for ten years before he married Eliza Duff, daughter of a former soldier in December 1828. Their marriage is recorded in the Register Book of Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle. Eliza was the sister of Ann Clift who had married another early settler, former convict Samuel Clift in 1824.John and Eliza Eckford's children included Jane Eliza b. 1830; Harriet Sophia b. 1832; John William b. 1834; Mary Anne Eckford b. 1836; John William b. 1839; James William b. 1841; Joseph Henry Eckford b. 1842; George Alfred b. 1846 and Robert Francis Maitland b. 1852.
John Eckford became Chief Constable at Wallis Plains in September 1825. He also ran the pound at the settlement.
Liverpool Plains
In the years to come John Eckford and Samuel Clift took up land on the Liverpool Plains and New England districts. Malaraway, John Eckford's selection was situated on Boggy, Waterloo, Geehan and Bumble Creeks which discharged their waters into the Barwon River. Malaraway was a sheep station. John Eckford managed and superintended his own land, often travelling between Maitland and this station near the Barwon. John and Eliza's son Joseph Henry drowned while bathing in the Barwon River in 1873 aged 30 years.Death
John Eckford had been a widower for many years when he died in 1884. He had lived to a great age for the times and had not been ill in any way. He resided on his land at Brush farm where he enjoyed a quiet comfortable life. After a day of fishing, his then favourite occupation, he suffered a seizure passing away soon afterwards.[4]He was buried in the Glebe Burial Grounds.
Notes and Links
Some of the convicts assigned to John Eckford included:Casey, Michael per convict ship Java 1833
Driscoll, John per convict ship Java 1833
Evans, John per convict ship Asia 1837
Keenan, James per convict ship Hercules 1830
Robinson, Richard per convict ship Hooghley 1834
Rook, Elizabeth per convict ship Mary 1835
Thompson, William per convict ship Ganges 1797
References
[1] Governor Lachlan Macquarie's Journal 30 July 1812 - State Library NSW[2] Colonial Secretary's Correspondence. Memorials To The Governor, 1810-1826
[3] Sydney Gazette 28 April 1825
[4] Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 21 Jun 1884
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