Governor and Lady Gawler Visit Port Lincoln

Winter was getting on with his surveys. McLaren and Flaxman having purchased a big interest in the association's plant were presumably like "Brer Rabbit lying low and saying nothing." But this state of affairs could not go on indefinitely. The northern boundary was still undecided.

Winter being the most concerned, took the first move and on September 7, 1839, wrote to Matthew Smith and submitted a plan of his proposal. A plan very meagre and unfinished, but the severity of the weather prevented him doing much outdoor work. He asked that the Governor should give a ruling as to the mode of determining the centre of Boston Bay. His own suggestion was a line from Kirton Point to a high, sandhill on the northern shore of the bay, and to make the point of departure for the northern boundary two miles to the north of the middle point of that line. It was also desired to know whether the line should run directly west. Matthew Smith submitted the letter to the Governor on September 16, and on the 19th the Governor's Private Secretary replied to him, in which letter it was stated "that the northern boundary line of your survey, as marked on Mr. Winter's sketch is unquestionably too far to the northward and must be made to agree more nearly with the terms of your application" and the boundary line could run in any direction to the southward of west, but not to the northward.

As far as I can make out Winter's suggested line was only about half a mile north of the probable boundary previously contemplated, however, for the time being the Governor would not agree. There may have been further correspondence on the matter, but the next letter of which we have any trace is on January 8, 1840, when Winter, in response to a request from G. H. Barnard, the association's secretary (and to whose granddaughter we are indebted to for saving us the Barnard papers) stated that the subdivision of land was not contemplated and could not be until he got possession of the land. Being in Adelaide he was meeting the assistant Commissioner that afternoon and hoped to come to terms, and terms which he "expected that the proprietors of the survey would long since have come to some agreement with the Government." He expressed regret at the delay it completing the survey, "a delay which appears to me to have arisen from the several parties concerned not having had a very clear understanding of their relative positions."

On January 15, 1840, Winter was able to advise the association that the Governor (who was also the Resi-dent Commissioner) had fixed the northern boundary three-quarters of a mile further south than he (Winter) had, thus excluding a large portion of good land which he had hoped to include in the survey, still the approved area would contain a large portion of arable land over and above the 4,000 acres.

Prof. Perkins records his version of McLaren's plight as to this final decision — the inner quotations are from letters written by McLaren to E. S Wheeler : — "The Governor had 'at length come to a decision as to the boundaries' of the Adelaide Syndicate (Association) special survey at Port Lincoln, and this decision in McLaren's opinion would render 'almost valueless' the adjoining survey which he had claimed for the South Australian Company and G. F. Angas. Notwithstanding the fact that the syndicate's claim for a special survey had set out officially that is was to be 'from the centre of Boston Bay, extending generally southward' the Governor had allowed the survey to 'extend one and a half miles to the northward of the centre' and to such an extent as to affect the survey to a depth of four to five miles inland. 'This decision,' wrote McLaren, gave to the syndicate 'a valley a mile at least to the northward of the centre in which' was 'a succession of water pools and which' conducted 'into a good country about four or five from the shore' including 'that part of the bay I was most anxious to secure.'

McLaren then fell back upon his favorite theme when in trouble : "The utter hopelessness of obtaining any redress in this colony so long as the position of Governor and the Resident Commissioner were vested in one and the same person." This latter contention of McLaren's is the original scheme of appointment. Hindmarsh as Governor and Fisher as Resident Commissioner could not work amicably together, so when Gawler was appointed the two positions were merged. The professor points out that the decision of January, 1840, was only carrying out the verbal understanding of March, 1839, when the Governor told McLaren that the association could go further north than the centre of the bay, and it was on that basis that McLaren lodged his claim.

E. J. Wheeler, the London manager, in reply to that January letter of McLaren's wrote on June 22, 1840, "You must be very cautious in your proceedings lest you presume too much upon advantages expected from the Governor, for after much expense you may find your hopes disappointed. It is quite evident that Colonel Gawler is aiming at strict impartiality, and will seldom confer exclusive advantages on the company or anyone else. Therefore before doing much take care to have a good understanding beforehand. You will generally make better bargains before rather than after works are done."

I am pleased to see this statement as the prevailing opinions were and are that the all powerful company swayed the Governor to their will. It is certain that Wheeler was not then writing for perusal 100 years ahead, therefore, we can take the letter as written without any ulterior meaning, and that the company's aim was not to dictate to the Governor, but that all should be treated "impartially."

In the course of the next few months, McLaren appeared to be taking no action as to the special survey of the South Australian Company. The Governor, through the Surveyor-General, asked him for something definite about fixing the boundary of the claim.

It may be possible that G. F. Davenport was making overtures for a special survey in the district. As a matter of fact on April 13, 1840, he applied for a special survey in the neighborhood of Port Lincoln, on behalf of his father and others ; £4,416 had been paid in to the London office of the S.A. commissioners. "The best description," he said, "I can at present give of the survey thus claimed, is that it should commence at or about the Gawler Ponds (near to Mount Gawler) and run generally up the principal valley of the Tod River." However, on June 10, he applied to withdraw this application and ask for another near Dutton's and Morphett's claims near the "Three Brothers survey." The Commissioner agreed to this subject to the condition that it was not to interfere with the boundaries of any other survey.

At the beginning of April, 1840, His Excellency the Governor, Mrs. Gawler and suite went to Port Lincoln and no doubt arranged to meet McLaren there. The doings of the Governor on this trip, have been dealt with fully previously. On April 10, the settlers presented an address and welcomed the Governor to Port Lincoln and settlement. On the same day McLaren, at Port Lincoln, wrote to the Governor: — "May it please Your Excellency, I enjoyed with much pleasure the opportunity of joining in the hearty congratulations, with which the inhabitants of Port Lincoln hailed the safe arrival of Your Excellency, and Mrs. Gawler among them. I have the honor of stating to Your Excellency, that, in accordance with Your Excellency's command of communicated to me, by the Hon. the Surveyor-General, and as preparatory to pointing out the boundaries of the special survey, claimed by me on behalf of the South Australian Company, etc., Messrs. Henry Nixon and John Hill, with their assistants, have been employed during the last fortnight, in examining the portion of water frontage towards Boston Bay, and the country lands, which I might include within the boundaries of that survey, and I am very sorry to add, that the unanimous reports furnished to me, by these gentlemen, are very unfavorable as to these points. These reports have been lamentably confirmed by a personal examination, made by myself yesterday, in company with John Hill, esquire, so that I feel constrained, in accordance with the advice given me by Messrs. Nixon and Hill, to apply to Your Excellency for permission to relinquish that survey altogether," and to take up land elsewhere and he based his application for the transfer "on the very liberal interpretation which Your Excellency is accustomed to put on the regulations of the Colonisation Commissioners, as to the subject of special surveys."

McLaren's request was acceded to on May 16, 1840, the official reason for such act being that the survey did not contain within the outlines described a reasonable proportion of suitable land and that the survey had been claimed at a period when the geography of the country was very indistinctly known. Prof. Perkins quotes largely from McLaren's letters of 25/4/1840, 16/5/1840 and 29/6/1840 :— " ' I relinquished Port Lincoln with deep regret,' wrote McLaren, 'the board and the shareholders must feel much disappointed ' ; but 'I am morally certain that disappointment will lesson as time revolves, and unfolds the incapacity of the country there to support a population of any extent.' ... 'Mr. Hill, who is a better judge of land than 'the Governor, went over the country 'and maintained that it can only be said to be fair sheep runs. Again 'I give it as my decided opinion that Port Lincoln, even as to survey No. 1 will be virtually a recurrence of what has been seen and done at Kingscote. The harbor, in each case, is unquestionably safe, capacious and beautiful ; but there is no contiguous country to support it. The population will be left for a long time very limited, wages excessive, the grog shops will take all the money, and the laboring population discontented, dissipated, dishonest. The resemblance between the two will be modified by the circumstances of there being a Government establishment at Port Lincoln ; and there being pasturage for sheep, and some patches of good land for agricultural purposes ; but the general resemblance I am certain will be very apparent.' "

What would McLaren have had to say about Eyre Peninsula nearly 100 years after uttering those sentiments, when told that one of its settlers took the premier position in the State — the champion wheat crop, 1937-38. This means that in 12 years Eyre Peninsula annexed this honor twice.