Timeline: Working Conditions on Jondaryan Station

Almost all the earliest settlers on the Darling Downs were men of substance, with wealthy backers in the home country. To have any chance of success in the venture they had undertaken, it was very necessary that this be the case. They had to develop virgin runs, far from any help, stock and run their properties for some considerable time before they could obtain any income from them. The first to go under were those that did not have sufficient capital to back their enterprise.

All were men of good families from the middle or upper class; they were well educated with a genteel upbringing. When these first settlers arrived on the Darling Downs, their background and upbringing counted for little, they had to muck in with their convict and hired hands and carry out every type of menial task. The primitive conditions of this new land were a great equaliser of men. The master-servant relationship of the old country was gone forever. This was replaced by a landowner-employee relationship, but the landowner had to be a leader and earn the respect of his men, for he had to be able to count on them, at times, for his life.

As time went by and the properties were developed and conditions became more civilised, attitudes changed between management and employee. However conditions never reverted to the master-servant relationship of the old country, although there were some that tried to bring that about, but these attempts failed, the diverse population of Australia would not cop that.

From the earliest times Australia has had a cosmopolitan population as a result of its early migration schemes to bring people from many countries of Europe and Asia to fill the need for labour. The opening up of the goldfields then saw a great influx of people from all over the world. Nowhere in Australia was the population more diverse than that to be found on the Darling Downs. A look at the index of names of the people of Jondaryan is a clear indicator of this.

 

Left: These days Jondaryan is a registered stud with a flock of 150 sheep - a far cry from the days when the flock numbered 200,000. Resident volunteer Trevor Colley is shown here working the flock. Right: Sheep in the woolshed.

Many of the early landholders on the Darling Downs became wealthy and powerful. They were able to control governments and most treated their employees badly. This was particularly so after the initial rush to the goldfields was over and large numbers of men were looking for work. Very harsh working conditions prevailed on many stations, including Jondaryan, particularly under the ownership and management of JM Andrew from 1845 to 1854.

There were incidents of isolated shepherds being starved to death, or dying from scurvy-related complications, as a result of a stations neglect to supply them with provisions. Single men were crowded into corrugated-iron huts, in which they slept and ate. Employees had to work long hours for little pay. From the 1860s to the 1890s wages remained almost unchanged on most pastoral runs. Many bush workers worked for rations alone.

Very stringent laws aided and abetted the unscrupulous landowners. The law stated that any employee deemed to be insolent, disobedient, negligent, or absconded from lawful employment, could be stripped of all wages and be given up to six months imprisonment. For the destruction or loss of goods, including stock, the offender had to make recompense at double the value of the goods and could receive from one to six months imprisonment as well. The prosecution of employees for neglect was a ploy frequently used by some unscrupulous employers to reduce their wages bill. Justice, such as it was, was meted out by the landowners taking it in turns to sit as magistrates, findings were always in favour of the employer.

Henry William Coxen, the first manager of Jondaryan, held ideals very similar to William Kent I and treated his men and the Aborigines he had contact with very well. It was after his uncle, Charles Coxen, was forced to sell the station to Campbell and Andrew, that there was a marked deterioration in the treatment of employees on Jondaryan. It was not until 1856, when James Charles White took over as manager for the Tooth Brothers that a significant change took place in the treatment of employees on the station. JC White held many of the principals of William Kent I, but he was restricted in what he could do by the Tooth Brothers. When Jondaryarn came under the control of the Kent and Wienholt partnership in 1858, JC White remained as their manager until 1861. From 1858 on, he fully implemented William Kent's ideals and principals and all subsequent managers continued in the same vein until the station was finally broken up in 1946.

No greater contrast of employee's circumstances can be found, than when comparing the conditions that existed on the majority of stations on the Darling Downs, with the situation that prevailed on Jondaryan station under William Kent I. William Kent recognised that he had a duty as well as rights towards his employees, but more than that, he could see that it was good business principles to have happy contented employees.

There was little if any social intercourse between employer and employees on most Downs stations. On Jondaryan, however, regular sports events such as cricket, tennis and horse events were organised, along with dances and balls that were held for everyone on the station. William Kent believed he had a responsibility towards his long-term aged employees. He allowed them to stay on the station after their retirement, doing what work they wished. They were paid a living wage and given accommodation. Large numbers of employees were unable to read or write. William Kent made it his business to see that all the children of his employees had the chance to obtain an education, providing a teacher and school facilities for that purpose. This continued up until the government school opened in Jondaryan township in 1872.

William Kent I and his family helped many of their faithful long-term employees to get a start in their own business enterprises. These actions, combined with his far-sighted policies on terms of employment for the station's employees and his unique commitment towards the station's families, set Jondaryan aside from all other stations on the Darling Downs. Each succeeding manager carried on these policies until Jondaryan was finally broken up in 1946.