Morrison/McGee Families by L D Lyons.

My interest in this story predominantly relates to family’s McGee connections, although I have had much personal contact in earlier years with several Morrisons (school, rugby, altar boy at Fr Vivian’s ordination, and his first Mass.)  as well as the Lyons family. The whole paper is included here , consistent with this site’s aim of making local history easily accessible.

THE MORRISONS OF ‘BULGA CREEK’ and ‘TRALEE’

[With references to the related McGee families.]

By L.D.LYONS

 

The Morrison family had its origins in Ireland, being traced through grandparents, John and Catherine Morrison of County Waterford. John came to Australia about 1860 and Catherine in the early l860s. They lived for a time near the heart of present-day Canberra on Springbank and on a farm close by (Morrison’s Flat) until 1871 when they settled at Bulga Creek near Mt Stromlo.

 

The ‘Tralee’ branch of the family had its first home at Angle Crossing beyond Tharwa, then at ‘Tralee’ on the Tharwa Road in the Australian Capital Territory until 1925 – a property name transferred to the present estate of ‘Tralee’ in New South Wales just over the Territory-State border five miles from Queanbeyan.

 

John Morrison snr became associated with William Sullivan who also hailed from County Waterford and who is reported as having been in occupation of Springbank in 1855.^[1] Whether the stories of gold for the picking up or the excellent pastoral and farming opportunities in the great southern land in the Pacific or the lack of employment in Ireland following on the massive famines in that country in the late l840s prompted them to come to Australia, is not known.

 

But what is related of them is that they set their sights on the Southern Highlands on hearing of the rich ‘gold finds at Kiandra.^[2] No attempt is here made to add to the story other than to say that the two men from County Waterford, after purchasing a dray and provisions in Sydney, made the long and arduous journey to Kiandra only to find that earlier miners had scraped up the alluvial nuggets and that digging would be much hampered; by the heavy falls of snow in the winter of 1860. That is the generally accepted version of their incursion into the Highlands, notwithstanding the statement ‘in William Sullivan’s obituary notice that he had made his fortune in the Kiandra goldfields. ^[3]

 

The question arose whether they should continue to look for gold or to seek their fortunes elsewhere:  They decided in favour of farming together on the fertile river flats then forming part of Springbank — the property originally owned by John MacPherson^[4]. The nature of their occupancy of the Springbank land is not known – it was probably a lease from a large landholder of a farming area (a not uncommon practice in those days);^[5]  but what is known is that they reared cows and calves in conjunction with dairying and cropping. They apparently shared a cottage then on Springbank near the eastern end of the present Island and continued to do so until their families became too large for comfortable living. The Morrisons moved in the mid sixties to a cottage on the south side of the Molonglo and the south side of a hill known as “Morrison’s Hill, and farmed an area now in Yarralumla Bay that came to be called Morrison’s Flat. The precise location of the cottage is uncertain. One view is that they lived in the cottage later occupied by the Kinleysides, the site of which is shown on Scrivener’s Contour Map of the (Federal Territory) City site and Adjacent Lands (1914); another is that it was situated on the side of a rise about 100 yards nearer to Westlake. However, a general idea of the area as it was in the sixties may be gleaned from a panoramic picture of the Federal Capital Site. In the National Library collection; in present-day Canberra the area embraces the land not far from the Canberra Yacht Club. In addition to Morrison’s flat, it seemed that the Morrisons farmed land now occupied by the United States Embassy. John jnr of ‘Tralee’’ in later years mentioned that at one time he grew wheat in that area.

 

John Morrison and Catherine Walsh had married before he left Ireland but Catherine had remained there to attend to her sick father and to help wind up his affairs after his death. The voyage to Australia was probably not an unpleasant one for her because of her engagement as nursemaid to the captain’s children whose family accompanied him on the journey. So successful was she in that capacity that she was asked to continue to look after the children on the return voyage. The marriage tie was, however, stronger and she hastened on to Canberra to be re-united with her husband. From her hard-earned savings hidden in the hem of her skirt she bought some pots and pans in Goulburn and came on from Queanbeyan, whence she had journeyed by coach, to Springbank in William Sullivan’s spring-cart. Here she began to make a home in the land of her adoption and we have no record of her travelling far from that home during the half century that she lived in Canberra.

 

Catherine, or Granny Morrison as she was familiarly known, was the mother of seven children of whom five were born at Springbank or the nearby cottage to the south of the Molonglo. These were: Mary, Edmund, Catherine, James and John; Margaret and Michael were born at Bulga Creek.

John and ‘Granny’ are more identified with Bulga Creek than Springbank because it was at Bulga Creek that the family lived for thirty years or more. Their move to this area was helped by the liberal terms as to conditional purchase under the Robertson Land Acts of 1861. Much of the land on both sides of the Molonglo had already been granted on a freehold basis so it became necessary to look for unalienated land farther out from what was to become the city of Canberra. Some such land was available at Bulga Creek in the Parish of Yarralumla, County of Murray, but the problem of ready money to meet the instalments to pay for the land by conditional purchase had to be faced. Ted Rolfe of ‘Tea Gardens’, Ginninderra, came to the assistance of the Morrisons with a loan of £40. With this loan they were able to apply for Portion No 29 – a conditional purchase selection – at Bulga Creek, and on it their home was built. Six adjoining portions were conditionally purchased in the following six years; three were of sixty acres, two of fifty, and one each of forty and thirty-eight. In 1894, Portion No 67 of 168 acres, between the junction of the southern bank of the creek with the Murrumbidgee, was acquired in the name of John Morrison, together with Portion No 68 of 298 acres in the name of the youngest son, Michael.^[6] These 554 acres and Michael’s parcel constituted the family acres as at the time of John’s death in 1897.^[7]

From this increase in acreage it may be deduced that they were successful farmers but the land was not sufficient to occupy fully the time of four active and energetic young men and so the three eldest sought work as shearers at stations in the Riverina, particularly those of Sir Samuel McCaughey.^[8] They had their regular run of sheds with the last being timed to enable them to be home for Christmas when they shore the home sheep and harvested the crops. As blade shearers they were above average – John’s top tally was 232 in one day while Jim’s was 234.^[9] Besides being good shearers, they were careful with their earnings which they would bring home and leave in the safe-keeping of their mother and, as a result, they had saved a considerable amount when they came to buy land for themselves.

 

The old home at Bulga Creek as it was in later years consisted of three rooms – a bedroom on either side of the central room called the parlour – and a detached kitchen. The kitchen was a large one with an earth floor and from here Granny kept up a good supply of nourishing food. A tin of jam at Christmas was the ultimate in luxurious living but this did not mean that the family lacked sweet foods. Honey was in abundance and there were ample supplies of other foods such as mutton, vegetables, eggs, butter and milk to which must be added the home-made bread that Granny baked twice weekly. She was noted for her ‘green’ fingers – not unnaturally in the case of one from the Emerald Isle – and had much success in growing vegetables, particularly onions. The bee-hives stationed on a rise up from the Creek were under the care of her daughter, Margaret (a hobby passed on to another Margaret Morrison through her mother’s life-time interest in bees).

Certainly Bulga Creek was nothing pretentious, possessing only the bare essentials of furniture, but it was a home radiating kindliness and hospitality that made it a place at which the neighbours – the Moores (Bill and Dick), the Flints, the O’Connors and the Browns – could look forward to having a pleasant game of cards or a chat on the seasonal prospects and other matters of rural interest. Another recreation at Bulga Creek in the nineties was dancing in a nearby cottage which attracted people from miles around, more particularly from Duntroon. Frank McGee, who later married Mary Morrison and \vas for many years in charge of Tuggeranong School, provided the music on his violin while John jnr enjoyed a reputation for skill as a master of ceremonies at dances.^[10] The Cotter River close by was a favourite picnic spot while there was the occasional visit to Queanbeyan and to neighbouring farm houses. As another form of diversion a hare drive, whether for sporting or purely pastoral protective purposes, was sometimes held; that held on 2 June 1893 was promoted by William Moore and J. Morrison (probably John jnr) when fourteen shooters and nearly twenty drivers turned out. At the end of the day they had bagged 140 hares.^[11]

 

A few words must be said about the schooling of the Bulga Creek children. In 1849 a National School was established at Yarralumla but it did not operate for very long.^[12] At Bulga Creek itself there was a school^[13] which was functioning in the nineties but by then the Morrison children had left their school days behind.

 

At the time of the move to Bulga Creek two of the children would have been of school age but there is at present no available information about the schools they or their younger brothers and sisters attended. John used to say that he did not attend school beyond third class and it is said of James that he left school at the age of fourteen years. Schoolmaster Frank McGee conducted some evening continuation classes which the Harrison boys attended. Whatever the deficiencies in their formal education, they afterwards had many opportunities of learning in the school of practical life and could hold their own in conversation on a variety of subjects and in public affairs.

 

John snr farmed at Bulga Creek until his death on 21 July 1897. He was buried in the family grave in the Catholic portion of the Riverside Cemetery at Queanbeyan. His obituary notice in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post was short and to the point in its description of him as ‘a well known old selector who would be missed by many’. No photograph of him is known to exist but he is spoken of by his grandchildren as being quite a big man, with a dark beard, and inclined to be a little stooped at the shoulders. His eldest son, Edmund, is said to have been much like him in appearance.

 

And what of Granny? Her daughter-in-law, Mrs Mary Morrison of ‘Tralee’, has recollections of her as she was in the late nineties and the early part of this century. She was a hardworking, kindly soul who in earlier years busied herself with the working of the farm; indeed, she was the inspiration and spur to the successful cultivation and grazing of their lands. On her weekly journey on horse­back to Queanbeyan to sell eggs and butter, she was greeted with respect by shop­keepers and other townsfolk. A slight stoop gave her the appearance of being small in stature. After her husband’s death and when the other children married, she lived on at the farm with her then single son, Michael, although it had been proposed that she live at ‘Tralee’ with John and Mary when extensions to their cottage were completed. However, illness overtook her in 1906 and she died at the home of her son, Edmund, at Royalla on 3 March 1907. She too is buried in the Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery. Her obituary notice which appeared in the two Queanbeyan papers was written by a ‘Special Correspondent’ whose identity was not altogether concealed and it is likely that the writer was none other than her schoolmaster son-in-law, Frank McGee. The report noted:

 “… in 1871 [the Morrisons] selected at Bulga Creek, being the pioneer selectors of that locality.

 

Up till the last couple of years Mrs. Morrison had lived there, retaining that wonderful energy for which she was noted, working from daylight till dark, never sparing herself, and with one unselfish motive, viz, the betterment of her children, and, although practically unlettered, she had acquired a goodly store of that sound wisdom which goes to make good citizens, and which she handed down in full measure to her sons and daughters. Of these she was, and might well be, pardonably proud, and in their early and impressionable years untiringly inculcated in them those sterling qualities with which she herself was so liberally endowed; and it must have been a great consolation and’ happiness to the good old mother in her declining years to see that her good example and earnest teaching had borne such good fruit – to see her four stalwart sons grow into manhood without contracting any of these vices (alas, too common) gambling, drinking and smoking; to see them all-men of independent means, respected by all, and to see her daughters comfortably provided for. One of the old school, so rapidly passing away, she was lavish in her hospitality, and was the possessor of many virtues and good qualities, which we, as young Australians, might do well to emulate.

The end, which was not unexpected, was calm and peaceful, so much so, as to give the impression that she passed to the unknown in her sleep.”^[14]

 

Members of the family, other than Margaret and Michael, had married by the time Granny died. Michael lived on at Bulga Creek until it was acquired by the Commonwealth in 1912 at the not over-generous price of £3 per acre, being its value as at 8 October 1908,  the valuation date fixed by Act of Parliament. Michael obtained a lease of the old property remaining there until the latter part of 1915. The property was later leased to the Brown family and is now leased by another family also bearing the name Brown.

 

The ‘Tralee’ Morrisons.

The third son of the Bulga Creek family, John, and his wife Elizabeth Mary and children built up the well-known station property of ‘Tralee’, Tharwa Road, via Queanbeyan.

 

John was born not far from the site of present-day Parliament House. He met his wife-to-be, Elizabeth Mary Clowes, at Bulga Creek in 1899 when she was visiting the Morrisons during the time her brother, John, was teaching at the local Public School. Her father came from Durham in the north of England and she herself was born at Clifton near Wollongong on the South Coast. John and Elizabeth Mary were married at Bulli in 1902 and took up residence at their small house called ‘The Angle’, near the Murrumbidgee at the Angle Crossing about six miles from Tharwa.

 

The manner in which ‘The Angle’ was acquired is noteworthy. Three blocks of land were available for conditional purchase in 1899 in the Parish of Cuppacumbalong, County of Cowley. A ballot was held and John, his brother James, and Patrick Kelly of Williamsdale were successful for blocks Nos. 1, 2 and 3, John’s block being No.1. At the time of the announcement of the result of the ballot, John and James were shearing in the Riverina but hastened home when told that the Land Court was to be held at Queanbeyan to approve conditions before the actual contracts for the land were signed. Their blocks adjoined and, because the two brothers were bachelors, the Lands Department agreed that the residence condition would be satisfied by the building of a one-roomed hut on the common boundary; actually the hut was built on James’ block. The blocks ran down to the Murrumbidgee but between block 1 and a nearby block there was a block of eighty acres which it would be convenient to acquire. The problem was solved by the purchase of this block in the name of John’s wife. Some years later more acres were added to ‘The Angle’ by purchase from C.H. McKecknie. It was on the 80-acre block that their house was built in 1902. It consisted of two rooms of galvanised iron built off the kitchen; there is little left to indicate the location of the house – a pine tree and some fence posts are all that remain. The house on a property also purchased from McKecknie was later enlarged and used by Frank, a son of John and Mary.

 

The amenities at ‘The Angle’ were simple enough . A camp oven was the universal means of cooking larger commodities such as bread and joints of mutton – lamb then being a luxury. Here John and Mary lived for four or five years during which time three children were born. The first child, Isabel, was born at the home of her aunt, Mrs Francis McGee who was then living at the residence attached to the Public School at Tuggeranong. John Walsh, the first son, was also intended to be born there but, as ever, being in a hurry, he first sawthe light of day at ‘The Angle’ itself. The birth-place of the third child, Margaret, was Bulga Creek. There were seven other children.

 

John grazed cattle and sheep on his own account at ‘The Angle’ besides continuing for a few years to shear in the Riverina. In this early pastoral venture, he was greatly assisted by his young wife who, besides tending to her children and cooking for the men, helped John with the shearing of his sheep and rolled the wool, a task at which she became expert and continued to do for eighteen years.

 

In 1906, John’s first opportunity to extend his acreage away from ‘The Angle’ arose when he was asked by an early Tuggeranong settler, Peter Cahalan, whether he would be interested in a block of 600 acres on the Tharwa Road about six miles from Queanbeyan. John quickly accepted that offer and confirmed it with a golden half­ sovereign and a suitably worded written acknowledgment of the deal. It was indeed a golden opportunity and the ‘Tralee’ acres began to increase. Because of the residence condition in respect of ‘The Angle’, John sought and obtained approval to the condition being satisfied by his residing at the new property to which the name ‘Tralee’ was given.

 

What of the name ‘Tralee’? It has no connexion with the birth-place in Ireland of John’s parents who came from County Waterford; Tralee is in County Clare. The fact is that his wife’s schoolmaster brother, Jack Clowes, had sat for a geography examination and one of the questions asked was to state the location of the principal towns of Ireland. One of those towns was Tralee and although he knew where it was situated, Jack forgot to mention it in his answer. As John and Mary were seeking a name for their new property, Jack suggested the name ‘Tralee’ – a name that he was not likely to forget – and the name was accepted and was later transferred to the property that was the nucleus of the ‘Tralee Station’ of today, with one of the house-gates displaying a huge green shamrock of sheet metal surrounded by the name. The original ‘Tralee’ property in the Territory is now, in the occupation of the Johnston family and bears the name ‘Couranga’.

 

The boundaries of ‘Tralee’ were extended during the first decade or so by purchases of land from Patrick Sheedy and James Moran. This land was in the Australian Capital Territory also and was on the Tharwa Road as far down as the Tuggeranong Public School some eight miles from Queanbeyan, and bounded, in part, by the Goulburn-Cooma railway line. With these purchases, the property had been built up to almost 1,400 acres. John worked hard to improve it; there was much fencing to be done as some of the original ‘log-fences’ consisted merely of logs piled one upon another. There was ring-barking, scrubbing and rabbit eradication to be attended to. Mary Morrison ably seconded his efforts. There was, in the first place, the care of her large family; then there was cooking, not only for that family but also for the shearers, sewing, washing, attending to fowls, turkeys and bees, feeding poddy calves and lambs – all sizeable tasks filling her day. Of course, as the children grew they helped in the many tasks inseparable from the management of a farm and large household.

 

 

Some mention should be made of Mary Morrison’s interest in fowls, flowers, vegetables and bees. Her fowls had to be of first quality and she did not begrudge paying a fair price for a good rooster. As improved breeds were developed she was not slow in acquiring sufficient new-type fowls to re-stock her runs. Until she was 90 years of age she cared for them herself and lavished much care on her chickens. Her interest in flowers and vegetables continued and, until quite recently she grew them with much the same skill and success as in earlier days; not undeservedly had she been called the ‘Rose of Tralee’ by friends in more romantic moments. Each year she pruned some sixty or seventy rose bushes spread over three large, circular beds gracing the front lawns of the homestead. Of bees, one hive remained until late 1973. It recalled those other days-when bees were her business and the honey produced was much sought after by local stores. Here again she strove for perfection and wished to have her bees produce the best possible honey. To this end she obtained queen bees from the Hawkesbury Agricultural College and other well ­known sources of supply.

 

With the establishment of the Australian Capital Territory in 1911, prospects began to alter for landholders, and many had their lands acquired by the Commonwealth Government. On 21 December 1912, John Morrison lost his first area of land – eighty acres forming part of portion 38, Parish of Queanbeyan. In 1921 the Commonwealth acquired a further 714 acres of ‘Tralee’ but in return sold John 1,400 acres in New South Wales which had formerly been the property of John Fitzgerald of Tuggeranong. This land lay on the eastern side of the railway and adjoined the original ‘Tralee’ holding. In 1924, John purchased 1,040 acres close to ‘Tralee’ from William Blyth of ‘Murrumbucca’, Cooma, when he subdivided Hill Station, the balance of which is now located near the junction of Tharwa Road and Jerrabomberra Avenue. The following year, yet another 800 acres of Hill Station were added to John’s land when James Heaton retired and disposed of his interest in that property. Two years later another 1,400 acres known as ‘Red Banks’ were bought at a sub­divisional sale of C.H. McKeachnie of ‘Booroomba’ Station. These lands were in New South Wales and were held on a freehold basis. The land nearer to Queanbeyan constituted the property now known as ‘Tralee’. In all, the family properties totalled 8,200 acres by 1951.

 

This increase in the size of holdings did not result from an over-abundance of ready money. Wool prices have fluctuated ever since Australia engaged in the wool industry – for example, when John Morrison began to enlarge his holdings around about 1908, the average price of wool was 9d. per pound and, for many years, there was little advance in price. Even in 1939, the average price of wool in Australia was 10½d. a pound and rose to 15½d. during the war years, 1939-45. With the cessation of war, the price rose to 25d., then 48 – later 63d. and in 1950-1 reached its all-time high average price level of 145d. per pound. John Morrison lived to benefit from these rises and in 1951 realised 285d. per pound for his top line in fine to medium  Merino wool.

 

Mention should perhaps be made of the dealings between John Morrison and Henry F. Halloran & Co., real estate agents of Sydney. Henry F. as he was sometimes called was anxious to consolidate the company’s land bordering the Australian Capital Territory and which was advertised as being the ‘nearest freehold’ to Canberra. On the eastern border of the Territory this extended from Environa to Letchworth, a little to the south of Queanbeyan. The hopes of those purchasing these freeholds –  ­some sales being made as far away as Australia House, London – were much strengthened by the company’s assurances expressed in the following terms:

 

Canberra

The World’s Most Wonderful City.

Buy a Block of the Nearest Freehold for £1 per month

Great as were the fortunes made by earlier purchasers of Sydney and Melbourne lands, those who buy the nearest freehold to the Capital of all Australia will make greater profits still.

 

 

If only one had heeded – but that is another story!

Henry Halloran’s daughter, Joyce, with her husband David Larcombe, built a large, modern home on ‘Environa’, one of the estates close to Canberra and which the Morrisons had leased for grazing purposes for many years. John Morrison and Henry F., although they respected one another, were spirited opponents in their several dealings but always concluded their bargain with a friendly cup of tea in the ‘Tralee’ kitchen, each believing that he had done well.^[15]

 

The Tuggeranong Public School was the principal place of schooling for the Morrison children, all having attended there for their primary education. The school, established on 15 May 1880^[16], was a brick building with residence attached and it still stands among a few remaining pine trees although the voices of the teacher and pupils are no longer heard there. Because of dwindling numbers of pupils and ready transport to Canberra, this little country school has been closed for many years. The residence was the birthplace of several of the McGee family as well as two of the ‘Tralee’ children. During the time that the ‘Tralee’ children attended, the teachers were Francis McGee and S.J. Duffy. Frank McGee played a major role in the educational development of the older Morrison children and took care to make sure that they knew how to spell, to write a good letter and to appreciate English literature, especially poetry. In that task he was supported by their mother who always satisfied herself that their lessons were properly learned. Some of his pupils were later to attain fame in the ecclesiastical and scholastic world. While anxious that his pupils be both literate and articulate, Frank McGee was not averse to the girls doing a little knitting when he was not looking (whether deliberately or not they could only guess) – especially during World War I when ‘socks for the soldiers’ was a rallying cry on the Australian home front

 

To reach the school the Morrison children had a daily four-mile walk carrying with their books a picnic lunch – a loaf of home-made bread, divided by the eldest sister among the several other Morrisons, garnished with home-produced honey and, for quenching the thirst, pure rain water in abundance. But mother saw to it that they had an ample breakfast and a baked dinner with plentiful helpings of home­ grown vegetables.

 

While much emphasis was placed on the need for education, church affairs and religious training loomed largely in the Morrison’s upbringing. They attended Mass regularly at the Sacred Heart Church, Tuggeranong which was built on one acre of land leased by James Cunningham for 1s. per annum;  on the acquisition of ‘Tuggeranong’ on 20 July 1916 the Commonwealth leased the land to the church on the same terms. This small weatherboard church was opened and blessed in 1902 – the year John and Mary married. It was here that their eldest child, Isabel, was one of the first babies to be baptised and for the next sixty years or more it was the principal place of worship for the ‘Tralee’ and other Morrison families living in the area. Mass was celebrated monthly in the first part of the century and it was usually a late Mass (11 a.m.) which meant that those receiving Holy Communion fasted for almost twelve hours, a not inconsiderable period when it is remembered that some of the chores around the farm were performed before the family set off for the church. The early means of transport was a sulky, underneath which was often suspended a wicker cot in which a baby slept. After Mass each family dispensed the contents of its food basket which were washed down with tea made from water boiled in a kerosene tin in a nearby shed. Each family had its favourite spot on which to spread the cloth and after a satisfying breakfast all mingled and discussed the latest news on matters of interest to the man and woman on the land:

“The congregation stood about,

Coat collars to the ears,

And talked of stock and crops and drought,

As it had done for years.^[17]

 

Periodically on a week-day the Catholic children from the Public School went to the church for religious instruction by Fathers Hogan and Haydon and other priests.  The instructions were supplemented by regular catechism lessons at home. Their mother was the catechist and the knowledge thus imparted stood the children in good stead in the years to come. Vocations to the religious life were nurtured in those years and the little church – in moments of oratory referred to as ‘The Cathedral of the Pines’ because of the huge pine trees surrounding it – was to become the scene of the first Masses celebrated by four members of families living in the Tuggeranong region: Laurence and Brian Gallagher, John and Vivian Morrison. These were justifiably proud moments for their parents and their old schoolmaster, Frank McGee, who returned from his coastal retirement at Conjola to join with others in felicitating the new priests.^[18]

 

Some mention has been made of the pastoral activities at  ‘Tralee’ which were but part of a busy life of domestic, social, recreational and public activities.

 

Many readers will be aware of the varied activities undertaken by Mary Morrison around and about the farm. She was forever improving the home by internal and external painting, modern floor coverings and furniture and, by using her talents as a needlewoman, creating beautiful clothing and head-gear for her daughters and first-class tailored clothes for all the family even to the extent of a suit for her husband on one occasion and a riding habit for her daughter. Fancy work in the form of designs on tablecloths and garments too filled up what time was left of her otherwise busy days. Possessed of great drive and determination to do well the several tasks she set herself, she achieved much and was not satisfied with anything less than the best of which she was capable.

 

Many were the mornings when the family awoke to the singing of their mother sewing away on the old pedal sewing machine. This habit of working in the early morning lasted for seventy years. The early rising was assisted by the noise of the railway engines puffing up the steep grade on this section of the Goulburn to Cooma railway line and on many a day it was the signal for her to be up and about notwithstanding that it was 4 a.m. The day, though long, usually ended early for her as she lived by the motto current in those days:

Early to bed and early to rise,

Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise –

and she was off to bed as soon as the evening meal was over and the kitchen fire set for the morning.

 

Her daughters were taught to play the piano at the Convent in Queanbeyan and a modern piano adorned the ‘front’ room at ‘Tralee’. Two of the daughters learned Irish dancing and with their brother Ted and cousin, Mick McGee, formed a quartet for reels and jigs. With the coming of Public Service exiles from Melbourne in 1927, ‘Tralee’ experienced a fresh infusion of musical talent and warm was the welcome accorded to them. Sunday afternoon tennis matches were followed by musical items on the violin and piano with ‘sing-songs’ of popular melodies of the day. Mary contributed to the evening with more serious songs and her powerful soprano voice was heard not only at ‘Tralee’ but on other social occasions in the district.

 

On these Sunday visits Mary Morrison and her daughters displayed their ability as first-class cake makers. Her provision of wedding breakfasts at ‘Tralee’ when her two daughters, Margaret and Clare were married will long be remembered as will her ability to make magnificent multi-tiered cakes for these and other family weddings.

 

John Morrison loved the outdoor life in its many forms and apart from the field work around the farm, was interested in horsemanship, working sheep dogs and playing cricket and tennis. Not only did he join in these activities himself but he encouraged his children to do likewise; his sons were expert horsemen and his daughter Margaret achieved considerable success with her horses at Queanbeyan and other district agricultural shows. However, their mother was able to show them a thing or two in the art of riding side-saddle. As a young woman, before her marriage and her conversion to Catholicism, she would ride side-saddle from Bulga Creek to St John’s Church, Canberra and back – a distance of some 20 miles and no mean feat. But it was in 1962 that she surprised everybody by staging a wonderful comeback in equestrianism when at the age of 86 she donned the riding habit and rode side-saddle in the Canberra Day Procession of that year. She received the plaudits of the crowd and the official party including the Governor-General, Lord de Lisle and Prime Minister Menzies, rose in their places to salute the grand old lady.

 

John’s interest in the breeding and training of sheep dogs began early in life. As a boy at Bulga Creek he would work his dogs on his mother’s turkeys while ploughing up and down the fields. He spent long hours in the training of dogs on a few sheep about the farm in preparation for shows. As far back as 1913, he won sheep dog trials at Queanbeyan with a dog named ‘Skip’ and over the years was a highly successful competitor at agricultural shows throughout the southern region of New South Wales, and at the Sydney Sheep Show; on one occasion he extended his winning performances to the south-west Queensland town of St George. He had the unusual experience of working a white collie dog on three black sheep at the National Trials at Manuka, completing the course to the delight of spectators and in the presence of the then Governor-General, Lord Gowrie.

 

A foundation member of the National Sheep Dog Trial Association, John was elected patron at the association’s inaugural meeting held on 17 January 1950. He had competed in the first trials held in Canberra in 1943 and in the following year his dog ‘Tralee Lass’ finished in second place in the Canberra Maiden trial and in 1945 was third in the National Open Championship. His death in 1951 occurred about the time of the trials of that year and the assembled competitors and spectators observed a two-minute silence out of respect for one so closely connected with the trials.^[19]

 

But the working of sheep dogs and his interest in the trials were but one of John’s pastimes. He was an enthusiastic supporter of a local cricket team that fielded at Tuggeranong in the days of Dr C.E.W. Bean from 1919 until 1924 and after­wards into the 1930s.^[20] Both his brother-in-law. Frank McGee and sons, John and Ted were active supporters of the local team.  John snr also enjoyed a game of tennis and played at the ‘Tralee’ court until he was near sixty years of age. Tennis was, in the main. a friendly family and neighbourly game played with zest and in good spirit. Quite outstanding bursts of play were witnessed and occasionally more competent players from visiting neighbouring teams were to be seen in action at ‘Tralee’.

 

For almost forty years: from the turn of the century until the beginning of World War II, one day in the year was especially set aside at Tuggeranong for a sports or race meeting as a means of raising funds to support the Tuggeranong and Queanbeyan Catholic Church. At first the meetings were held in Brennan’s Paddock not far from Tuggeranong homestead and the secretary was, as a matter of course, the local schoolmaster, Frank McGee. An advertisement in the Queanbeyan Age in March 1907 indicates the variety of events for all and announces that Mr Fitzgerald’s woolshed had recently been enlarged so as to accommodate 100 couples. The Queanbeyan band was to be in attendance and luncheon was timed for 12.30 p.m. A single ticket admitting to the ground and luncheon was 1s. 6d

 

A year or two after the Morrison family had moved from ‘The Angle’, the location of the meeting was at their new property, ‘Tralee’, with luncheon as usual one of the drawcards of the day. Mary Morrison, aided by thirty or more local ladies, prepared individual packets of sandwiches which were wrapped in tissue paper and placed on tablecloths at intervals under the pine trees that extended from the entrance gate to the house. If tablecloths were in short supply, the linen cupboard was ransacked for clean sheets to ensure that the luncheon arrangements were in accordance with the best traditions of outdoor entertaining. A steam-copper provided a plentiful supply of hot tea and after all had enjoyed an elegant sufficiency of the goodies, the sports were resumed with the hardy ones continuing on until evening when they proceeded to Mr McDonald’s woolshed (now ‘Tralee’ woolshed) to complete the great day of the year.

 

The ‘Tralee’ woolshed has resounded to dance music, be it played by a band or Frank McGee on his fiddle, and to the joyous laughter and singing of dancers for many years. Dances were held to raise funds for church or hospital and other charitable purposes and one’s recollection of them goes back to the big dances held regularly on Easter Monday nights following sports or race meetings. (In later years, race meetings were held on Easter Monday at Tuggeranong homestead and a sports meeting or two took place at ‘Environa’, not far from the present ‘Tralee’ Speedway. John Morrison enjoyed these dances;  and his wife’s hot milk beverage conveyed in kerosene tins to the dance floor and there dispersed by pannikin was a specialty in the catering which usually consisted of coffee, corned beef sandwiches, cakes and scones. Yes, these woolshed dances – well conducted, and generously catered for – would take some beating and the ‘Tralee’ shed is still in demand for socials and parties.

 

It should not be thought that the woolshed was used only for social gatherings since it was a depot shed of six stands and was available to other local graziers. In one year in the days of John Morrison the number of sheep shorn reached a total of 22,000.

 

Yet another interest of the Morrisons was the annual Queanbeyan Agricultural Show in which they played a prominent role both as exhibitors and in its management. Mention has already been made of the success of daughter Margaret in equestrian events. The family entered exhibits in several classes of commodities at these shows; be they scones, cakes, jams, honey, wax and other articles, the Morrison name was often to be found on the blue first prize cards for these articles of 40 or more years ago. In addition, the ‘Tralee’ folk had entries in the poultry; sheep, cattle and other sections and in the ring, and in one memorable year entered seventy ­two separate exhibits. John Morrison also took an active part in the management of the show, being a member for forty years and President for a number of terms. During his presidency, a commodious grandstand was erected and other improvements made.

 

John Morrison was one of the prime movers in the promotion of a memorial in Queanbeyan to William Farrer who contributed so much by his experiments to the breeding of new strains of wheat. These experiments were conducted at ‘Lambrigg’ on the Murrumbidgee and it was deemed appropriate that a suitable memorial should be erected to his memory in the town of his adoption.^[21] The memorial took the form of a bronze bust of Farrer surmounting a stone pediment and is situated in the part of Monaro Street bearing the name; ‘Farrer Place’ and adjoining the Show Ground. John also provided an enlarged framed photograph of William Farrer that hung for many years in the Tuggeranong School, doubtless with the concurrence, if not at the suggestion, of Frank McGee.

 

On 11 April 1951, following upon a heart attack, John Morrison, then aged eighty, died in the Canberra Community Hospital which overlooked the land on which his father had settled so many years previously. After a Requiem Hass at St Gregory’s Church, Queanbeyan and celebrated by his son, Father John, he was buried in the Catholic portion of the Queanbeyan Cemetery. His death was the subject of an editorial in the Queanbeyan Age ^[22] and an appreciative and affectionate article in the Goulburn Cathedral Chimes written by a friend of the family, the late Miss Eileen Arland. After mentioning the large crowd, estimated at 1,500, Miss Arland referred to him as ‘a man of high integrity and strength of purpose, innate honesty, quiet dignity and old-world courtesy, with a delightful sense of humour – and above all, he lived the fundamental truths of his religion.^[23] The Most Rev Dr Guilford Young, Auxiliary to Archbishop McGuire of Canberra-Goulburn and later Archbishop of Hobart, preached at the Requiem Mass and spoke of him in deeply moving terms:

He was a good man, an exemplary father [and] an outstanding representative of a generation of great .Australians … He was a true Australian. Around him was the authentic Australian aroma, as pure, as healthy, as strong, and as fresh as the aroma of our Australian gums. He loved things Australian, he loved the bush, he loved the good earth.

I recall my first meeting with him. I was conscious of a dignity and nobility and poise attaching to him such as you find in so many of Australia’s men who have battled with the bush, with fire and drought. Good times and bad, spurred on by honest motives of independence and the desire to build a home, not a mere house, on their own acres

This love was with him to the end because it was himself. We shall remember him in these latter days, zestful and keen about his sheep dogs – perfection in their training, as in all other things, his constant aim. How typical of the man! How peculiarly Australian.

He believed in the soil. He saw the dignity of ownership and independence. With his good wife, a loyal, loving, true helpmate~ he sent his roots deep into Australian earth. He believed in work.

John Morrison taught his children to value work also. If he had done no more than this, he would have already done much.  I see this manly man, this just man of faith, high representative of our great, land being welcomed by the strong, loving handclasp of his God, Our Father in Heaven.

And so a great man of the land passed on but his name continues through-his family and their children. For her part, Mary lives on full of years and as anxious as ever about her garden and things which have for so long been a part of her life.^[24]

Space does not permit the extension of this study to include other members of the Morrison family of Bulga Creek but their lives might be summarised in the words of Hilaire Belloc:

From simple homes and first beginnings

Out into the undiscovered ends,

There’s nothing worth the wear of winning

But laughter, and the love of friends.

 

 

DESCENDANT REPORT

1 John M. MORRISON b: 1826 in Co. Waterford, Ireland, d: 21 Jul 1897 in Bulga Ck, NSW
+ Catherine WALSH b: 1841 in Co. Waterford, Ireland, d: 05 Mar 1907 in Royalla NSW now ACT

…2 Mary Anne MORRISON b: 12 Jun 1864 in Bulga Ck, NSW, d: 12 Sep 1946
+ Francis Joseph (Frank) McGEE b: 08 Jul 1866 in Milton NSW, m: 11 Jan 1893 in Bulga Creek
NSW, d: 13 Feb 1950 in Conjola NSW
…2 Edmund MORRISON b: 20 Mar 1866, d: 16 Apr 1926
+ Elizabeth W D MOORE m: 1902, d: 29 Jun 1958
…2 Catherine MORRISON b: 15 Dec 1867 in ‘Springbank’ now Canberra, ACT, d: 11 Feb 1932 in North
Sydney NSW
+ John Joseph (Jack) McGEE b: 16 Sep 1864 in Ulladulla NSW, m: 10 Jan 1900 in Bulga Creek,
Queanbeyan NSW, d: 16 Feb 1937 in Conjola NSW
…2 James Patrick MORRISON b: 17 Mar 1870, d: 01 Sep 1946
+ Margaret Catherine GREGORY m: 1906
…2 John Joseph MORRISON b: 08 Aug 1871 in Queanbeyan NSW, d: 11 Apr 1951 in Canberra ACT
+ Elizabeth Mary CLOWES b: 06 Mar 1882 in CLIFTON, Woolongong NSW, m: 1902 in Bulli NSW,
d: 29 Aug 1975 in Canberra ACT
…2 Michael Peter MORRISON b: 12 Jun 1877, d: 16 Oct 1956
+ Gladys Elizabeth MATES m: 1932
…2 Margaret E MORRISON (Sr Mary Lucy) b: 18 Jan 1875, d: 25 Jun 1943

Further generations of the two McGee families can be found here.

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