Timeline: Unearthing the Jondaryan Station record books

It was general knowledge that there were no records left pertaining to the operations of historic old Jondaryan station, for all records had been lost in the fire that burned down the old homestead in 1937. That, however, had not deterred Lance Cockburn and myself on that December afternoon in 1973, in making the trip to the old station complex, to look through what remained of the historic old complex.

On entering an old building that had been the station store, we found it stacked high with artefacts of all kinds, part of an almost forgotten way of life, some of the tangible evidence of history and the people that had gone before.

 

The Jondaryan record books include meticulous accounts, beautifully handwritten. The page on the left dates from 1862.

We could hardly believe our eyes, never had we seen such a wealth of artefacts from the pioneering days of the last century. We started to dig amongst them and buried under a pile of all kinds of old household items, we came across an old tin trunk. It had almost certainly not been disturbed since it had been placed there in the previous century. It was battered and rusty on the outside, but it was not locked and opened easily, inside it was as clean and dry as the day it had been closed up and placed there.

The trunk was packed full of huge leather bound books. Opening one of the top books, we discovered that it was a station record book, covering a period in the 1890s. We were astounded. How could this be? Hadn't all the records been lost in the disastrous fire that destroyed the homestead? Excitedly, we took out and examined the old books, which progressively became more ancient as we dug deeper. On the bottom of the trunk was the largest book of all, still in remarkably good condition for its age. We opened it at the beginning, to see how old it was. The first entry was dated 2 February 1858, taking us back to a time before Queensland existed as a state, to a time when that northern part of the colony of New South Wales was known as Cooksland. We had discovered a veritable treasure trove of recorded history of Jondaryan station and its people.

What had started us on this search had been an offer made to the people of the district by the then owners of the old Woolshed, Mr and Mrs Laurie Rutledge. They were prepared to donate the historic old Woolshed and 12 acres of land surrounding it, to the people, if the people of the district were prepared to take over the old Woolshed, restore and preserve it, and hold it in perpetuity for future generations. A public meeting had been held a little over a week before that eventful day, to consider the generous offer that had been made by the Rutledges and a committee had been appointed, to investigate the possibility of the district being able to accept the very generous offer and carry out its requirements.

Thus began a truly remarkable and ongoing story, that saw the gift and the challenge accepted by the people and over the ensuing years the Jondaryan Woolshed historical complex grow to what it is today. Many relics of our history were brought together, restored and preserved as a living memorial to the rural pioneers of our great country. This remarkable development of the Woolshed complex came about because of the efforts of dedicated people, whose tenacity and single-minded objectives, matched those of the early pioneers.

My commitment to the project began at that first meeting, but that visit to the old Jondaryan station complex, was my first insight into the lives of our rural pioneers. The discovery of the old trunk with its invaluable contents on that fateful afternoon began a new phase in my life. I became a member of the first board of directors of the newly-formed Association, remaining a member of the board until the end of 1988 and was its president for two years. I have always had a love of history and historical research and right from the beginning, I became the Association's historian, a position I have held ever since.

With the discovery of the old station record books, I realised that we had a unique opportunity for research. For not only did we have firsthand knowledge of the operation of the station, but we had a considerable amount of information about the people who were involved at all levels. As it is, people who make history, not just the leaders, for those at all levels have an influence on what happens to a greater or lesser degree. Right from the beginning I set out to find out just what degree of influence each and every one of the people of Jondaryan had on the events of their time, on the people around them, how they lived their lives and the kinds of people they were. In this way, I could more accurately reconstruct the history of the station and make it live again.

It has been a long and painstaking task, only made possible by the cooperation of many descendants of the people of Jondaryan. I am continually endeavouring to make contact with descendants of the people of Jondaryan, so we can compile the history of their ancestors who were involved with the station. To date, I have been successful in unearthing information on over 5000 people who were involved with the station over its 105-year history. This is far from being a complete list of the people that were involved, but it is becoming more and more difficult to find records of the remaining unknown people of Jondaryan. Over the 25 years that I have been involved in this research, some truly remarkable stories have been unearthed