The Parish of Larras Lake

*Larras Lake as shown on John Rogers’ 1829 map of Creeks on the East Side of the Bell River (Archives Authority of NSW)*

Introduction

In the New South Wales system of land records, McKinnons Spring is located within the Parish of Larras Lake and the County of Wellington. The Parish name is derived from the original European name for a watercourse – Larra’s Lake – that forms the northern boundary of the Parish.
What follows is the outcome of research into the origins of that watercourse’s name – a topic that was debated almost from the day it first appeared. That the watercourse involved is now called Kerrs Creek is another story … which will only be given a very brief mention.

As the map extract that heads this page suggests, the watercourse involved may originally have been entitled Lara’s Lake rather than Larra’s Lake Creek. That the same map, dating from surveys made in 1829, shows the first-mentioned name, tends to suggest it was the one in general use at the time. However, less than three years later, a short article in the Sydney Gazette referred to a point on the Bell River as “Larry’s Lake”. Although the article did not definitely associate Larry’s Lake with the watercourse shown as Lara’s Lake on the 1829 map , the locality suggested was sufficiently close to suspect they were one and the same. Thus, barely three years after John Rodgers had completed his survey, a question arose about the naming of a watercourse that he had recorded as Lara’s Lake, or, even more interestingly, was there a Larry’s Lake as well as Lara’s Lake.

“At a distance of one Mile from Molong is Copper Hill, where some fine specimens of that mineral have been found. The road to Boorsi branches off at this place, and Mount Lachlan, or as the three lofty peaks are more familiarly called, the Canobalas, elevate their summits almost to the clouds. Our course now lay through a fine champagne country, agreeably diversified with gentle undulations of hill and dale. A pretty sheet of water, called Larry’s Lake insects the road, crossing which brought us to the Three Rivers, where we halted the second night. The river at this place takes a serpentine course which compels you to ford it three times in one mile whence its appellation originates. Noorai or the Ten Mile River is at present the only stock establishment maintained, and this will be discontinued at an early period.” (Sydney Gazette – 19th January 1832 – p3)

Seventy-four years later, on 2nd February 1906, the name received another airing when the Molong Argus (p5) disputed the essence of an article that had appeared in ‘a metropolitan newspaper’… and put forward an explanation as to how Larras Lake acquired its name.

The Molong Argus advised:

“How Larras Lake ¹ came to be so-called is a question that has frequently been discussed; it was suggested in a metropolitan newspaper quite recently that a man named Larra mentioned in his “reminiscences of Old Sydney” by a scribe who called himself “Old Chum” was the originator of the title; but this theory is untenable. The true solution of the problem seems to be found in the fact that many years ago a man named Lawrence Lake was employed on the property, and for some reason or other it got to be called “Larry’s Lake” after him – the name of Larras Lake being eventually finally applied to it… The original Lee was the father of the present holder – William Lee, who came here in the very early days, and secured several grants, notably that upon which the homestead presently stands…The present manager is Mr. B.J.Lee, son of Mr. James Lee, who in his turn is the son of that hardy old pioneer who did so much in the early days to open up the country between Molong and Wellington…Those were the times when hardships had to be undergone … But William Lee was an Englishman of the sturdy type… “

A initial search of newspapers, magazines and gazettes via Trove (www.trove.nla.gov.au) and some of the newspapers that had been passed over by Trove failed to find the “recent article in a metropolitan newspaper” mentioned by the Molong Argus. However, when the difficulty was revisited using more relaxed criteria, an earlier Molong Argus ² article that also mentioned “a recent article in a Sydney newspaper”was located…

In a recent article in a Sydney paper on “Old Sydney”, mention is made of one James Larra, who was a licensed spirit dealer at Parramatta in 1813. In the memoirs of General Joseph Holt, the Irish insurgent of 1798, and who came out as an exile in 1800, mention is made of Larra. Holt’s memoirs are rarely seen to-day outside the great Public Libraries or the collections of such literary treasure-seekers as Mr. David Mitchell, the gentleman who has given the people of N.S.W. a wealth of books and manuscripts, worth many thousands of pounds, and to house which the Government intend, after much tardy business, to erect new Public Library buildings. Holt had no trial – he was simply deported; and he records the fact that being in Parramatta with Father Harold in 1802 they “dined together at a tavern kept by James Larra, ‘an honest Jew,’ where we had some nice lamprey and some hung beef. Holt says that whatever was put on the table by Larra was of the best. The host prided himself on the style in which he conducted his business, which was purely Parisian. IN 1820 when public house signs were the order of the day, Mr. Larra called his hotel “The Freemasons”. The writer of the “Old Sydney” records aforesaid says: “I cannot find that the name of Larra has come down to us except it being in Larra’s Lake, the property of Mr. James Lee, between Molong and Wellington.” Whether or not there was any connection between the man who catered for the wants of customers and the source from which the name was derived which Mr. Lee’s splendid property bears, remains a dark secret – but it seems strange that to-day, as far as the writer is aware, there are no direct descendants of Larra, “the Honest Jew,” in the state of ours.

Unfortunately the actual piece by “Old Chum” remains elusive, but the outcome of research to date does justify perseverance with the idea that Larra’s Lake was indeed named for a “man named Larra” and that William “the original” Lee was involved in the process. Further, it is suggested that the tale about Lawrence Lake be discounted, because ³ the name “Larras Lake”was already in use when, in 1832, the last of the Government Stock Stations in the vicinity were abandoned and the lands were thrown open to acquisition by lease or purchase. Thus, when Larras Lake creek acquired that name there was no pastoral property in the vicinity where a man named Lawrence Lake could have been employed…

In summary, from the beginning of this research it was obvious no clearly documented explanation for the name exists and that its origin has been debated on and off for at least a hundred and ninety years. During that period a variety of stories, in addition to that about Lawrence Lake, have been put forward. Most made reference to someone (sometimes an old aboriginal shepherd) called Larry who pronounced his name as Larra and had a lake named after him, or Larry who found a sheet of water and called it a lake, or a man called Larry who drowned while attempting to escape from custody, or (e.g. Lawrence Lake) a faithful worker on a pastoral property in the vicinity.

So, let’s jump right in… “Lara’s Lakes” were most likely a pretty series of three or four small lakes on a watercourse that fed into the Bell River, but the entire watercourse eventually became known as Larra’s (or Lara’s) Lake Creek. William Cox, while Commandant of the newly created European settlement at Bathurst, probably at the urging of his protege, William Lee, and with the agreement of the Assistant Surveyor-General, George William Evans, suggested the name as a tribute to James Larra. Larra had been more than superficially involved in the welfare of abandoned children in the Colony of New South Wales long before anyone else seemed to care. It might be suggested he also became involved in advising and encouraging young adults ⁴ who had been born in the Colony. The name of Larras Lake (Creek) most likely dates from 1818 when Cox was accumulating stores and equipment at Wellington Valley for John Oxley’s journey of exploration along the Macquarie River, but the possibility exists that it dates from 1815 – very shortly after Europeans first found a way into the lands west of New South Wales Blue Mountains..

The first part of this long tale is the story of three convicts – John Harris, Mary Green and James Larra – transported to the Colony of New South Wales in 1787 and 1790 – whose lives became intertwined. Although this researcher’s initial evaluation was that Mary Green may have been James Larra’s sister, there is more to support the proposition that John Harris was Larra’s brother and that Mary Green became involved with Harris subsequent to their transportation. ⁵ It is a complex tale, and, unfortunately, it has been necessary to make one or two leaps of faith in the form of deductions and assumptions along the way. For this reason I welcome any input that might help resolve some of the issues involved.

The story I have assembled contains several significant departures from earlier accounts of key players’ lives. The present effort is not intended to reflect unfavorably upon the earlier research, but, since almost all of the earlier work was done, an enormous investment has been made by both public and private enterprise into digitising historical records and making them available on the Internet. This enhanced availability of critical records has been invaluable in clarifying some previously unresolved anomalies and in firming up the situation with several others. That said, the outstanding resource for the Larras Lake pages has been a book published thirteen years before the internet was born. That book is Australian Genesis. ⁶

Individual pages in this series can be accessed through the CONTENTS menu (above), the page entitled ‘THE CENTRAL WEST OF NSW, or directly through one of the links below.

1
(note the spelling has changed again – and that this is, minus an apostrophe, the spelling now in use
2
Friday 5th May 1905 (p5,c3).
3
As demonstrated by John Rodgers when he used the name on his 1829 map
4
such as William Lee
5
The entomology is a little confused here. It may be that Harris was Larra’s natural brother or half brother, or he may have been a Masonic brother – that is a ‘brother member of a Masonic Lodge’. Regardless, at least one of the children for whom he became responsible believed Larra was the brother of John Harris.
6
J.S.Levi and G.F.J.Bergman, Australian Genesis, Robert Hale & Co, London, 1974