INTRODUCTION to this edition
These pages are about Milparinka – a town which grew up a few kilometers from Depot Glen, where Charles Sturt and his Central Australian Exploring Expedition was trapped by drought for seven months in 1844-45. Although in 2021 it was undergoing a revival of sorts, Milparinka is essentially a ghost town. However, between 1882 and the early years of the 1900s it was the administrative centre for the far north-west of New South Wales.
( image © courtesy of Kate Holmes, 1988)
Milparinka was the focus of detailed research which I completed in 1994. The outcome was a reasonably comprehensive thesis entitled “Marginal People”, intended to suggest that it addressed the lives of people living on the margins of a community – in this case the Chinese gardeners who lived outside the town boundaries. However, it rapidly became clear that the life of the town itself had to be given at least as much attention. The result was to accumulate a huge amount of information about Milparinka itself, only parts of which found their way into the final version of “Marginal People” .
When the detailed research had been wound-up and the thesis was submitted, I prepared a small book that became “What was at MILPARINKA”. It was a “thank you” to the people who had been so generous with their time and their memories, who had allowed me access to sites on their properties, and who at that time were only one generation removed from the people who had made the history I was trying to record. In some cases the people were the history itself and speaking to them was absolutely amazing. After all, the tales of what went on in the school house and the story behind those pieces of quartz that pick out the words “Milparinka Public School” are not always the things that appear in the history books. These pages follow and build upon the content of “What was at MILPARINKA” – hence the reference to a “second edition”. In addition there is more information about those Chinese men who supplied the town with fruit and vegetables, and quite a lot more about the Afghans – cameleers who plied the back country on routes from Bourke and Wilcannia – and sometimes from Beltana in South Australia.
A bit more attention has been directed also at the coach drivers and coaching. However, I have decided this detail really belong in pages about Tibooburra and it will probably all end up there when the Tibooburra information is collated. These men were deeply involved from the start – driving coaches from Wilcannia and from Bourke within a week or two of reports about the discovery of gold. The coaching network later extended from Wilcannia to Thargomindah by way of Milparinka and Tibooburra, and to Broken Hill. Coach operations had a major impact upon the economy because of the need for staging posts along the routes they travelled. These staging posts created work for grooms and handlers, and were generally back-country hotels at places like Dry Lake, Cobham Lake, Coally and Packsaddle. The tales that were told of the drivers’ trials and tribulations can still raise a smile.
What was at Milparinka remains a serious attempt to give an insight into the way life really was for people in the remote Australian outback, just before Federation. It is not about squatters or graziers, although it does touch upon Sir Sidney Kidman. It is about the Smiths, the Connors and O’Connors, Cornelius Clune, Augustus Christian Geyer, Tom Gox, Gool Mahommet, Carl Ferdinand Hugo Heuzenroder and Thomas Wakefield Chambers. It is also about pigs, suicides, school kids, drunks, storekeepers and the police. It is about a tiny township, where the people lived a very hard life, where a group of ageing Chinese men slowly faded away like most other members of the community, and where turbaned Afghan traders wearing white shirts, white baggy pants and long loose jackets, came into town leading their camels dressed up with colourful blankets, gently swaying tassels and little bells tinkling, to spread their wares on striped blankets.
Some quite radical change has occurred at Milparinka in the twenty-five years since this information was first assembled. Because of that it is now more difficult to imagine what the town was like in the 1890s. However, there is still enough to justify a wander around, and the purpose of these pages is to support such an activity by adding a little bit of substance to the shadows that remain.
If you do wander around a little just looking at what is lying on the ground, you may still come across a button, the lid of a tin can, a broken plate or scraps of worked iron. This is especially so if you arrive after rain has fallen – which in the past was not very often.
This plate, such as it is, was exposed on the side of the Milparinka “airstrip” road after rain in April 2021. The pattern is found on almost every European site in western NSW.
The plates, tin cans, and most other things usually came up the Darling River to Wilcannia by paddle steamer and barge, and then from Wilcannia by camel string or bullock waggon to this remote corner of New South Wales. However, on some occasions, such as shown in this image, things came by camel train from the rail-head at Bourke after the line was opened on 3rd September 1885.
A camel train on the cut line between Wanaaring and Milparinka c,1893. (Photograph attributed to George Bell for Kerry & Co. Tyrrell Collection, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney)
And what was in the cans? Lots of stuff. For me one of the biggest surprises was Lobster– but the best way to learn the possibilities is to read the newspaper advertisements. Wilcannia, Milparinka and Tibooburra storekeepers regularly advertised newly arrived stock and the masters of various paddle-steamers did likewise in terms of what was in their cargo. The advertisement below was published in The Sturt Recorder Tibooburra and Mount Browne Advertiser on 29th October 1898
Have received the following and to arrive per S.S.Mundoo and barge Duck -50 bags Walker’s flour,144 bags Chaff, 50 cases Boom Brandy, 30 cs Hen * Brandy,20 cs Hen***do, 20 cs OGV Whisky, 30cs special do, 2qt cask Rum,3 octaves Brandy,24 bags Bran,6 bags pollard,20 cs Derby Tobacco,20 cs JDKZ Geneva,20 cs Daggar QT Stout,20 cs Dawson’s Whisky, 10 cs Martell’s Brandy,2 qt casks Port Wine,2 qt casks Sherry,30 Cs Walker’s Whisky,50 cs Kerosene 150 deg,15cs Wolf’s Schnapps,3 qt casks Lime Juice, 5 cs Hall’s Sarsaprilla,25 cs Glen Ewen Jam,5 tons 1A Sugar,1 sack Crushed Linseed,15 cs Nestle’s Milk,5cs ½ pt Salad Oil,5 cs Hoffman’s Soap,2 cs Victory Tobacco,25 cs Girl Brand Lager,25 cs McEwan’s Ale qts,2 qt casks Shamrock Whisky,5 qt casks Vinegar,10 cs Tomato Sauce,10 cs L & P Sauce,2 cs Neave’s Food,10 ½ chests No 3 Tea, 6 boxes Fry’s Cocoa, 1 Sack whole Green Peas, 5 cs Golden Syrup 24, 1 ton coarse refined Salt, 15 boxes Mildura Apricots, 5 cs Fresh Herrings, 1 sack Carraway Seeds, 5 cs Keiller’s Marmalade, 10 sacks 7s Fine Salt, 2 sacks 7s Rice,20 bags Japan Rice,2 crates Preserved Potatoes,15cs Neilgherry Tea,10 cs Econowie Tea,15 cs Honey 1s,3 cs Oysters,5 cs Kippered Herrings,3 sacks Split Peas,5 sacks 7s Oatmeal,2 sacks Flake Tapioca,3 cs Keen’s Mustard,50 boxes DRO Candles,10 cs Assorted Fruit,1 cs Epsom Salts,10 cs Red Mandrin Tea,5 cs Karagalla Tea,1 cs Honey 60s,3 cs Lobsters,3 casks Whiting,1 cs Nestle’s Milk Food,4 sacks 7s Pearl Barley,5 boxes Sultana’s 20 ½ cs Carrots,5 boxes Devilled Ham,15 cs Hops,33 half chests Hoves Tea, and a quantity of general merchandise.
To arrive by S.S.Cato and barge Albermarle-50 bags Japan Rice,25 cs Glen Ewen Jam,15 qt Assorted Fruit,20 boxes Raisins,5 Sacks Oatmeal,15cs Golden Syrup,1 cs Tricopherous,5 cs Kargalla Tea,16 cs Econowie Tea,3 sacks 7s Sago,10cs Salmon,139 bags Walker’s Flour,14 bags Pollard,15 cs Vestas,10cs Honey 2s,30 cs Milk,9 casks Washing Soda, 20 x ½ case Currant,100 boxes DKO Candles,10 half cases Neilgherry Tea, 5 cs ditto,10 boxes Sultanas,6 cs Sardines, 3 sacks Pearl Barley,24 bags Bran,10 cs Hall’s Sarsaparilla,20 boxes Apricots,1 cs Icing Sugar 1s,40 bags NZ Oats,20 cs Dommer’s Stout,3 cs Special OVG Whisky,5 octaves Shamrock Whisky,30 cs Kerosene,1 cs Plaster Paris,5 cs Glass,1 bale Kapok,20 cs “Girl” Brand Lager,3 cs Patent Medicines,15 cs Tomato Sauce,15 cs Wolf’s Schnapps,20 cs Hen *Brandy,20ca OVG Whisky,10 ton Chaff,9 Metters Stoves,100 kegs Champion’s White Lead,25 ,3cs Spring Head Nails 10 tons 1A Sugar,2 casks Fuse,and a quantity of general merchandise. (Sturt Recorder Tibooburra and Mt Browne Advertiser, 29 October 1898)
In the 1880s and 1890s the far west of New South Wales was a frontier. In fact, it was very like the American “Wild West” depicted by the motion picture industry. As with the American West, most people simply wanted a quiet life and an opportunity to succeed, but there was a lawless element too. People had their cattle stolen. Others helped the police and had their the favourite horses killed in reprisals. A dynamite store just happened to blow up, perhaps by accident but maybe with a little bit of help along the way after charges were laid about something. There were street fights, and bar room rows. Children found a bottle of strychnine with fatal results, and the medical profession became actively involved in seeing their competitors removed from the scene. You rarely hear about these aspects of Australia’s history, but they all happened in the far west of New South Wales. At Milparinka, whenever the law was not around, there was trouble…and sometimes even when the law was around.
The information in these pages came from records which are held in obscure files, diaries, police records and archives spread across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Some also came from people who I interviewed in 1988 and 1997. They are no longer with us, but that they were very much alive when the original research into Milparinka was completed was amazingly valuable. Their personal insights and memories are now totally irreplaceable. Another irreplaceable resource were the local newspapers. Of these The Sturt Recorder, Tibooburra and Mount Browne Advertiser stands out as a truly meritorious account of life in the town.
Some features of Milparinka that were mentioned in the first edition of What was at MILPARINKA have suffered with the passage of time. Many of the ruins are now even more ruined and some have disappeared altogether. Sadly, that is exactly what ruins tend to do – even without any help. However, the Albert Hotel is still in place and in better shape than ever, thanks to some thoughtful restoration and the removal of one of two less than sympathetic features. In addition the town now has the Historical Precinct which incorporates the old government buildings. It is very much a work in progress but well worth an inspection. If you are visiting Milparinka take the time to stay a few hours at least, have a proper look around and perhaps have lunch or dinner at the Albert Hotel.
The big thing about Milparinka is that you can still get a real feel for life as it was in a very remote Australian town more than a hundred and thirty years ago. It is still very remote. However, to really understand, you need use your imagination a little more than was the case in 1995.
Milparinka is a township that deserves to be remembered, not for its success, but for the fact that most of the people who lived here had enormous courage and, in the end, almost no hope of success.
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