History

Land grants

See also Yallah history page

Charles Throsby Smith and 'Calderwood'

In 1840 a grant of 1,280 acres was given to Charles Throsby Smith. The property was named 'Calderwood' and was granted in virtue of a promise made by Governor Darling in 1829. "The 'Calderwood' grant is a long narrow strip of land, about half a mile wide and about 4 miles long, squeezed in between the Marshall Mount grant and the less attractive land of the mountain range." (Lindsay 1994, p.23)

Alfred Elyard and 'Avondale'

600 acres known as 'Avondale' was granted to Alfred Elyard, Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court, in the 1840's. Elyard was a member of a family who had large holdings on the Shoalhaven. His connection with 'Avondale' however was neither long nor close. (McDonald, 1976).

Both the 'Calderwood' and 'Avondale' grants became part of Henry Osborne's holdings in the 1840's. He also acquired a considerable area on the mountain slopes adjacent to these grants. (Lindsay, 1994)

For more information on Henry Osborne and his large Illawarra estate of 4,400 acres see the Yallah - history page.

Early residents

See also the Dapto - history page and the Yallah - history page.

Charles Throsby Smith of 'Calderwood'

A grant of 1,280 acres was given to Charles Throsby Smith in 1840 it was named 'Calderwood'. It was an awkward shape and would have been very expensive to work as a separate holding hence its subsequent purchase by Henry Osborne. (Lindsay, 1994)

Charles Throsby Smith was Wollongong's first pioneer. He was born on the 1st March 1798 in Cambridge England. In 1816 he arrived at Sydney Cove and stayed with his uncle at 'Glenfield' near Liverpool. He assisted Throsby, his uncle around his properties. "In 1820 Charles assisted his uncle to move stock from the Illawarra to Bong Bong near Mossvale. It was at this time that he resolved to stay in the colony. As settlers needed sponsorship, his uncle formally requested Macquarie to allow Charles to stay in the colony, receive a grant of land and become a settler." (Monks 1997, p.6)

In 1835 Charles Throsby Smith was granted 300 acres by Governor Bourke. He had occupied this land for many years before the grant under a promise to him by Governor Macquarie. He called the grant 'Bustle Hill' and the town of Wollongong eventually extended over the whole of his property. (Lindsay, 1994) This is the site of the present day Central Wollongong District.

Charles Throsby Smith was the first recorded person to have taken the conscious choice to establish his home in Wollongong. He selected 'Bustle Hill' because of the boat harbour and he envisaged a bustling port and for the remainder of his life he championed the cause of a township called 'Bustletown'. (Monks, 1997)

Charles became the Crown Land Agent for the Illawarra and a member of the Illawarra Steam Packet Company; which secured the first steamship service to Wollongong in 1839. His barn became the first school and was also used for Church of England Church Services. (Illawarra Pioneers, 1988) From 1862 to 1869 Charles was an Alderman on the Wollongong Municipal Council and he later became the Mayor. In 1867 he died unexpectedly as a result of a gangrenous toe.

In terms of Avondale's history he was an instigator in developing local roads, one of which was the road that lead from Dapto to Bong Bong on the highlands known as 'Bong Bong Pass'.

Henry Osborne of 'Marshall Mount'

See Dapto - history page and Yallah - history page.

Early industry

In the early days Avondale had some fine cedar trees. A creek flowing through the land grant 'Avondale' became known as 'American Creek' after the American cedar cutters who cleared the land along it. In 1857 some traces of kerosene were found in the creek and shale was found on the mountain. In 1863 Edward and William Graham rented part of the Avondale estate and their brother had shale from their farm tested by the Government Analyst. "This test proved so satisfactory that he decided to open a shale mine and manufacture kerosene". (Cousins 1994, p. 182) See the Mount Kembla - history page for details on the Kerosene Works at American Creek.

In 1866 fourteen alpacas were purchased by one of the Osborne's. They travelled from Wingello in the highlands down the Bong Bong Road and seven weeks later were "now depasturing at Avondale, and apparently doing very well." (McDonald 1976, p.41) Gradually the flock depleted due to the need for attention and lack of acclimatization and by 1880 all traces of the imported alpacas had gone.

Avondale was part of Henry Osborne's large estate and dairying was its primary industry. See Yallah - history page for more information on early dairying in Avondale and Yallah.

In 1893, Henry Hill Osborne's executors put up the 'Avondale' farms for sale and most were sold at a price of 14 pounds per acre. Some of the purchasers included Thomas Armstrong, C. Heininger, George Thomas, James Dawes and E.R. Evans. (McDonald 1976)

In 1911 Avondale mine was opened by the Illawarra Steam and Coal Company Limited. Four and a half miles of railway was to be built to the colliery. (Illawarra Mercury, 1911) This colliery mined the Tongarra and Wongawilli coal seams, it closed in 1920 only to be reopened in 1939. It closed again in 1982 due to a loss of contract to supply coal to the Port Kembla Steelworks.

Huntley Colliery was a new colliery developed by the Joint Coal Board in 1952. It was purchased in 1951 by the Board and the Federal Government to meet the requirements of the new Tallawarra Power Station under construction. (South Coast Times, 1952). Prior to its closure in 1989 about 2,300 tons of coal was mined a day at Huntley which worked the Wongawilli and Tongarra coal seams.

Early transport

One of the major roads in the early days of Dapto's history was the road that lead to the Tablelands via Bong Bong Pass. In 1820 Charles Throsby had written to Governor Macquarie "I have fully established the practicability of a short communication between the coast, at the District of Illawarra, and the new country, in the county of Camden, by a pass in the mountain, several miles to the southward of the original road behind Bulli…" (McDonald 1976, p. 38)

The construction of a road from Dapto to Bong Bong was proposed by George Underwood Alley in 1842 at a cost of 150 pounds for a bridle road to be made to the top of the mountain. A meeting in September 1842 resolved that Alley's line was capable of being made into a good dray road.

In 1843 Surveyor Burke reported that Alley's line was the best 'natural road' for a horse track but the gradient was too steep for the passage of wheeled vehicles. Eight years later in 1851 Surveyor Shone reported negatively on Alley's line as "being exceedingly difficult and abrupt…I cannot ..see the utility of laying out a few hundred pounds on this line of road, when some thousands would be required to render it safe, and practicable even for limited traffic." (McDonald 1976, p. 39)

In 1860 the pass was said to be in a dangerous state because of the increased traffic over it, as late as 1897 efforts were still being made to make the pass usable again. However in 1897/98 the establishment of Macquarie Pass as a respectable road up the mountain caused Bong Bong Pass to be finally written off as a main road.