York, Western Australia

“ Not finding the natives at York, I went 26 miles to the north to look for them; but they would not show there, where the murder was committed. On my way I passed where Mr. Logue is now settled with his family. They are very comfortable already, having taken the crops now growing on a farm. They were then building their own house, about 11⁄2 miles from where they now reside. I went to visit my own grant there, and was greatly pleased. They have 16 acres of wheat, a fine dwelling-house in progress, a kitchen, and a barn, and about 1000 sheep between mine and their own. ”

“ Off the extremity of Cape York is an island of conical shape separated from it by a very narrow rocky channel. The land to the westward of this projection trends slightly in and forms a sandy bay fronted by a reef and some rocky islets. The hills at the back of Cape York are moderately high and rugged, and only covered with a slight vegetation. ”

“ He is a recluse to all intents and purposes, for save the company he meets at the head station and the dusky sons of the soil he is shut in from the world at large. There is a romance in these lives; not the common gilt-edge romance of the city—brick and mortar type—but that in which stern solitude often wields a melancholy sway. Western Australia, with her wide domain of acres, has been extensively explored and pastoralised, and standing in the ranks of the practical pioneers is the name of Edward Timothy Hooley, whose first years in this colony were full of discouragements and difficulties. ”

“ About midway between Guildford and York on an isolated farm, an inn, built early in 1834 or late in 1833. It was already known as the Halfway House. The town locations of York were fifty acres each, and were surveyed near the base of Mount Bakewell. Messrs. Bland, A. Trimmer, and Heale were the largest settlers; the two first-named possessed a flock of 1,500 sheep. Sir James Stirling states that at the end of 1835 these gentlemen were in a most prosperous condition, and opined that did Mr. Bland live he would become man of great wealth. ”

“ The country, whether clear plain, or forest, through which they passed was alike boggy, and the horses had to wade knee-deep in mud. The explorers were, therefore, compelled to turn back. The York Agricultural Society, in January, 1868, held a meeting with the object of encouraging exploration in the east. On the 7th May Mr. H. W. Lefroy, Mr. Robertson, Mounted-Constable Thos. Edwards, and Frank Hall, pursued a course north of the route of the Dempster Brothers and Clarkson in 1862. At this time Mr. C. Smith possessed a station about 100 miles east of York, whither Mr. ”

“ But the scrubby and hilly nature of the country on Cape York militated against its speedy settlement, and it needed the lure of gold to induce men to risk their lives in a land with such hostile inhabitants. In 1872 the Queensland Government decided upon another exploration of the neck of land that forms the northern-most point of Australia. ”

“ A half-way house, so to speak, between those other capitals of London and Edinburgh, York had all the appearance of a capital in days of old, and has lost but little of it, in these, p. 2even though in point of wealth and population it lags behind those rich and dirty neighbours, Leeds and Bradford. For one thing, it has a history to which they cannot lay claim, and keeps a firm hold upon titles and dignities conferred ages ago. We may ransack the pages of historians in vain in attempting to find the beginnings of York. ”

“ This is due, in a large measure, to the fortunate fact that York is well outside the area of coal and iron, and has never become a manufacturing centre, the few factories it now possesses being unable to rob the city of its romance and charm. ”

“ The original settlement, York Town, was at the head of a shoal bight just above us; I found it almost quite in ruins, though there were one or two of the original settlers there; the chief part of the inhabitants were a lawless set, who were said to live, chiefly, by plunder.
Whilst the ship underwent these repairs, the triangulation was extended to Launceston,* at the head of the Tamar, thirty miles from the sea. Large vessels are prevented from approaching close to the town by a bar. The greatest difficulty found in navigating the river is Whirlpool Reach ”

“ Come what might, Brother Jucundus felt he must have a fling. He should die without it. Just one jolification in the twelvemonth, and then he would put up for the rest of the year with beans and cabbage, small beer and matins before dawn.
York fair approached. York fair! of all that is ravishing! The shows of dancing dogs, the whirli-go-rounds, the giantesses and dwarfs, the "spice" stalls, the drinking-booths! To York fair he must, he would go, if condemned to a bean and a thimbleful of water for fasting dinner ever after. ”

“ Around is the fair region of Yorkshire, a landscape of massive cows and renowned pigs, the head-quarters of all English hams and bacons; and the streets in York are old and pretty, with projecting gables and black rafters. ”

“ Frank and Alec Jardine jointly led up the Cape York Peninsula an expedition that in its hardships and dangers emulated that of Kennedy's, but fortunately without a tragic ending. The year 1863 was one of great activity in the northern part of eastern Australia. At Cape York, the Imperial Government had, on the recommendation of Sir George Bowen, the first governor of Queensland, decided to form a settlement. John Jardine, the police magistrate of the central town of Rockhampton, was selected to take charge, and a detachment of marines was sent out to be stationed there. ”

“ My sons have at present formed their station near Point Vallack, on the north shore of Newcastle Bay, between two or three miles from the settlement of Somerset. They are on good terms with the natives, and their black servants fraternise with them, but are kept under strict rule. The natives of Cape York from the first have shown a friendly feeling towards them, having, on their first arrival, met them about twenty miles from the settlement, and shown them the nearest way to it, and they have since been very useful in carrying timber to build huts, stockyards, etc., etc ”

“ We have too long accepted the roof of a railway station as our first view of such places. It is not an inspiring view. But to see York Minster from afar, shining under the evening sky and lifted high above the city; to watch it growing larger and larger, rising higher and higher, increasing in beauty every moment, until at last one drives slowly into its huge shadow ”

“ Those in Italy again are in a different taste; that at Pavia is, I believe, anterior to any we have in England. It is very ugly, and bears the rugged marks of tasteless cost and unskilful labour. York is one of the oldest cities in the island, and to a lover of Shakespeare all around it is classical ground. The remains of the walls, the city gates, and the ruins of an old nunnery near the river make it altogether a place rather worth seeing. ”

“ He granted a charter to the town, constituting it the capital of the East Riding, with many privileges and extraordinary rights; in consequence of which opulent merchants flocked to the town, and it soon began to flourish mightily, and became one of the wealthiest and most important of the trading towns of the realm. He also assigned the manor to the Archbishops of York, who built a palace there on the south of the church ”

“ The society further suggested that a bonus be given to those pensioners and ticket-of-leave men who cleared and brought under cultivation the largest area of land, and that annual fairs and shows be held. They hoped that producers throughout the eastern districts would unite in promoting agricultural interests. The York Agricultural Society chronicled that cultivated fields in the York district had been broadened by 1,575 acres during the year 1854. ”

“ These gentlemen made a slight variation in the course taken by previous explorers E.N.E. of York, who described the country as barren. Messrs. Foley, Meares, and Parker reported that much of the land was equal to the best in any part of the colony.
The English Government despatched two expeditions to north-west Australia in 1837, to elaborate the survey of the coast, and to explore the interior. Captain Wickham, R.N., in the tried world-rover, the Beagle, conducted the coastal party, and Lieutenant George Grey, now the noted pro-consul, Sir George Grey, took charge of the land party. ”

“ The barriers were at length burst, and York entered the town, and then in the streets were heard the shouts of "A Warwick! a Warwick!" on the other side "A York! a York!" and in the midst the war cries of "King Henry! a Somerset! a Percy! a Clifford!" etc., all intermingled with the clash of swords upon armour and shield; the whir of arrows flying through the air; the groans of wounded and dying men, and the screams of flying women; whilst the market-place was strewn with the bodies of fallen men, and the streets flowed with blood. ”

“ Most of them have, at a short distance from the town, a small farm, which they go and visit every morning, but that scarcely fills the mind or time; and the inhabitants of York, who live on very good terms with each other, occupy both better in dining together, drinking punch, playing billiards; to introduce more variety in this monotonous kind of life, they often change the place where they meet.... ”

“ The pedestrian from the town, by a half-hour's easy walk, can here place himself in the midst of a forest solitude; and from what he sees he can form an idea of the whole surrounding region, as it was when York was first laid out. Here he can find in abundance, to this day, specimens, gigantic and minute, of the vegetation of the ancient woods. Here at the proper seasons he can still hear the blue jay; the flute notes of the solitary wood-thrush, and at night, specially when the moon is shining bright, the whip-poor-will, hurriedly and in a high key, syllabling forth its own name. ”

“ Though customs have greatly changed since those days of unsafe travelling, the quaint streets, the great gateways of bold architecture, and the magnificent church all lend the city of York the wonderful fascination of age, heightened by the situation of the river Ouse at its junction with the Foss.
In what county of England the famous city and glorious minster of York are, requires little mental effort. It is the most ancient metropolitan see in England. At one time great controversy arose between York and Canterbury as to precedence. ”

“ After the abortive attempt to establish the colony of 'North Australia' at Port Curtis, at a cost of L.15,000, and the abandonment of Port Essington, it is not uninteresting to learn that Cape York presents many natural capabilities for a settlement. There is a good harbour, safe anchorage, abundance of fresh water all the year round, and a moderate extent of cultivable land, all of which will help to constitute it a desirable coaling station for the contemplated line of steamers from Sydney to Singapore and India. ”

“ We are now leaving Durham for a ride of sixty-seven miles to the city of York, the other fashionable metropolis of England. The passage is through the county of Yorkshire, which, for the combination of good agriculture, population, manufactures, beauty of scenery, and historical renown, is not excelled if equalled by any other county of Great Britain. The people are peculiar, and have a dialect of their own; they are tall in stature, shrewd at bargains, and are tenacious of their own manners and customs. ”

“ There were many visitors in York on this forenoon; people from roundabout who had Tory inclinations, or who were ready to sell to the enemies of their country such of vegetables or farm produce as might bring them in a few shillings. A number from Gloucester who had been allowed to come across the river, and I even saw two lads whom I knew lived on Mobjack bay, roaming around with mouths wide open in astonishment at this vast encampment wherein, to their uneducated eyes, were soldiers enough to over-run all our colonies. ”

“ In odd contrast to European towns, men everywhere preponderate over women in the streets. Perhaps because of its newness, the attitude of the other states to Western Australia is still a little patronising. Western Australians themselves are fully conscious of this, they on their part always talk about “the East” in tones of desire: “I hope we shall go to the East next year,” is often heard in Perth. At first we thought they meant China or Japan, but we soon found that in Western Australia “the East” means Melbourne or Sydney. ”

“ Of the aborigines of Cape York I can say little more than has already been so often repeated in descriptions of the natives of other parts of the Australian continent. The only distinction that I can perceive, is that they appear to be in a lower state of degradation, mentally and physically, than any of the Australian aboriginal tribes which I have seen. Tall well-made men are occasionally seen ”

“ In its outward aspect, York is varied. It runs the whole gamut, from the highest antiquity to the most modern of shops and villas; from the neatest and tidiest streets to the most draggle-tailed and out-at-elbowed courts and alleys. From Clifton and Knavesmire, which is a great deal more respectable and clean than its evil-sounding name would lead the stranger to suppose, to the Shambles, Fossgate, and Mucky Peg’s Lane (now purged of offence as Finkle Street) is a further social than geographical cry, and they certainly touch both extremes. ”

“ Its very stateliness is exaggerated by the dead level of the town and today it rises dim and vast against the leaden, rain-swept sky, but though it is easily the most conspicuous object in the town, the fine old church does not constitute Doncaster’s chief claim to fame. Here is the horse-racing center of York [Pg 255] shire, and on its “Leger Day” it is probably the liveliest town in England. The car shops of the Great Northern Railway keep it quietly busy for the rest of the year. ”