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SINGLETON OF OTHER DAYS
ITS PEOPLE AND AFFAIRS.
BENJAMIN SINGLETON.
(By SIR SOLOMON).
The question as to what constitutes
a pioneer has repeatedly crop-
ped up, and some time, ago the His-
torical Society decided that only
those that had arrived in the col-
ony prior to 1820 could lay claim
to the coveted distinction. That,
of course, applied only to the
County of Cumberland.
One person made certain to comply
with that part of the qualification by
arriving in the colony in 1792, fourteen
years after it was founded, and that
person was Benjamin Singleton. He,
was only four years of age at the time,
he having been born in 1788. He was
accompanied by his father, William
Singleton, who was appointed a private
in the historic "Rum" corps. Both
hailed from Yarmouth, where the tasty
bloaters are to be found. After a time
Singleton, Senior., obtained a land
grant of 90 acres at Wilberforce, on the
Hawkesbury, and then launched out as
a farmer. In between times he took
a prominent part in public affairs, and
he and a Mr Henry Baldwin were ap-
pointed joint secretaries to the Eman-
cipated Colonists' League at Wilber-
force.
As young Ben reached man's estate
he proved himself one of the most en-
terprising and progressive young men
of his time. He had a penchant for
converting wheat into flour, and had
erected at various centres on the
Hawkesbury all the gristing mills
required, and these were all named
"Singleton's Mill". The one he built
at Wiseman's Ferry is still in a good
state of preservation.
In certain quarters it has been stated
that Ben Singleton discovered these
regions two years before Howe's party
came along. There is nothing to warrant
that wild assertion. Indeed, some
writers on old Hawkesbury history
assert that Singleton was not a member
of Howe's first expedition. To the
writer that contention is equally ab-
surd. There is evidence that for a
couple of years before Howe organised
his party Singleton was in possession
of facts, obtained from the blacks, that
there were fertile plains, and copious
rivers, on the opposite side of the
mountain from Windsor.
In 1817 Singleton and a man named
Parr (no relation to the family of that
name living here) attempted to explore
the country specified by the aborigines.
Accompanied by three convicts, who
were in the service of Singleton, and
two blackboys, the party set out, but
soon returned, and the abortive effort
was soon abandoned. They felt that
the Bulga mountains presented an
unsurmountable difficulty. Singleton
then imparted to Howe his information,
and the latter acted. Had the former
discovered the place before Howe it
would have been proclaimed from the
house-tops. He, too, would have been
entitled to better recognition than he
received, and his land-grants would
have preceded the latter, which was the
third issued in the district. Why it was
not the first is hard to understand.
Singleton's was the twelfth.
If any doubt on the matter existed
it is cleared by Governor Macquarie's
notice issued on September 18th, 1820:
"Government House, Windsor. I do
hereby certify that Mr John Howe,
chief constable at Windsor, has obtained
my permission to graze his flocks
and herds at St. Patrick's Plains on
Hunter's River (which he himself
first discovered) until further orders,
or until such time as he shall have
the grant of 700 acres promised him as
a reward for his discoveries in that
quarter of the colony."
Singleton married Miss Mary Lane
Sherland a young lady who was born
at sea (Bay of Biscay) whilst her mo-
ther was en route to these shores. Mo-
ther and daughter arrived in the colony
in 1793, when the infant was only a
few months old. The couple had 10
children and the eldest (Elizabeth)
married George Yeomans; William
married Jemima Gullege; Hannah be-
came the wife of Patrick Campbell;
Ben, Junr., wed Miss Eliza Horne
daughter of Mr Sam Horne, who was
chief constable here way back in the
forties; Mary married Thomas Lloyd,
a native of Bristol, England, and at one
time the couple kept an hotel at Bel-
ford which place was then named
Jump-Up. Mrs Coughlan, mother of
Mr George Coughlan, of Grainger and
Falkiner, and the late Mr G.B. Lloyd,
were two of their children. Other child-
ren of Ben and Mary Singleton were
John, who married Miss Jane Rotton,
but the union was cut short when the
husband died at sea whilst en route to
California. Emma married James Solo-
mon, and that union too was shortened,
by his premature death, and then the
widow married George Vindiu. A de-
scendant lived in William street in the
nineties, and he died unexpectedly in
the train whilst travelling from the
North to Sydney. Sarah married
Bourne Russell, and Louisa first became
the wife of William Newsham, and af-
ter his death she married Dr. Schul-
zen. George married Miss Sophia Tod-
hunter.
Benjamin Singleton, as we have al-
ready stated, was a most progressive
and enterprising man, but unfortunate
ly the results of his labours were not
commensurate with his efforts. After
the discovery of Patrick's Plains he
went back to Windsor. The date of
his return here is not definite, and
one Hawkesbury historian gives it as
probably being about 1828, but that is
altogether wrong, for there is evidence
that about the year 1822 he engaged in
farming pursuits in the vicinity of
Neotsfield. Why he chose that area
instead of his own grant is one of the
many incidents of our early history
which is hard to follow. It is known
also that in 1822 Singleton and his
friend Phillip Thorley brought their
wives here, and these ladies were the
two first white women to cross the
Bulga and become residents of the
district. On the January following
Benjamin, Junr., was born, and was the
first white child to see the light of
day in Patrick's Plains. Later on Ben-
jamin, Senr., brought his aged father
to reside here, and in May, 1835, the
old gentleman passed peacefully away
at the ripe old age of 90 years. It
has been stated that he was buried in
the plot in which his son's house in
John street was situated. There is
nothing extraordinary in that, for it
was quite a common thing in the long
ago, and even at the present time is
occasionally practiced.
On April 29th of this, year (1935)
the ''Sydney Morning Herald" pub-
lished a statement that the town of
Singleton was on that day, celebrating
its hundredth birthday, and based
the statement on the fact that 100
years previously "The Sydney Ga-
zette" stated that Benjamin Single-
ton had that day received a grant of
200 acres, and on the same day the
town of Singleton received its name.
There was no necessity for Ben-
jamin Singleton to wait till 1835
to establish a town on his grants if
he considered the time opportune ear-
lier. The first grant was made him
on March 31st, 1821, and a second one,
which adjoined the first, some little
time later, and it is on these that the
town is built. Early in 1835
Ben decided that a town should
be built on his land and named
Singleton. He had the area survey-
ed, the streets aligned and named, and
allotments made available to buyers.
His desire to keep close to the river
and the proximity of Macquarie Place
and Redbournberry on the other side
is responsible for the ugly triangles,
and the annoying street corners of the
town.
After a further very exhaustive
search amongst early records we find
that Benjamin Singleton was the
recipient of two land grants in 1835. Re-
presentations were made Governor Sir
Richard Bourke on his behalf, and he
(Singleton) expressed a desire to es-
tablish a town at Patrick Plains to be
named Singleton. On April 28th, 1835,
a Commission appointed under the Act
recommended that Benjamin Singleton,
of Wallis River, or Creek, be granted
100 acres of land which had been pro-
mised to Joseph Bigge, but it was not
till December 20th, 1835, that letters
patent were issued conferring the land
to him. On the day following (29/4/
1835) the recommendation of the Com-
mission, Mr Richard Bourke made a
grant of 200 acres to Singleton, which
was separate from the other, and the
notice clearly stated it was being made
by virtue of a promised grant by Sir
Lachlan Macquarie in 1821 during his
term of Governor. In this grant Sin-
gleton's address was given as Darling-
ton, Patrick's Plains, though the prev-
ious day it was stated to be Wallis'
River or Creek. The total area of the
two grants of 1835 was less than half-
mile square, and most of it subsequent-
ly became the property of four mem-
bers of the Burdekin family, including
Sydney, who was so prominent in Syd-
ney civic life and N.S.W. politics.
Certain conditions were attached to
the grants, such as a certain amount to
be put under cultivation or failing that
improvements of at least £150 to be
substituted. The grant of 29/4/1835
to be known as Singleton.
For a very brief period Ben took
up residence at Clarence Town where
he built a flour mill. This, with the
one he had built locally, but only had
for 10 months, and those at Wilber-
force, Kurrajong, and, Wiseman's
Ferry, made a chain of five. He also
built what, at that time, was a pala-
tial structure for a place like Single-
ton—the first hotel, and it looked down
Campbell-street towards the Cale-
donia. He named it the "Barley
Mow," but it was generally called
"Singleton's." Later it was named
"The Forbes," after the same gentle-
man that Castle-Forbes derived its
name. In later years the building be-
came the home of the "Argus," till the
present offices were erected.
In the thirties Ben extended his field
of operations to the north. At Liver-
pool Plains he acquired a station and
installed his son-in-law, Pat Campbell,
as superintendent. Another large
property of his was named "Pine
Ridge,"' and he appointed a Mr Pen-
son overseer. He had another estate
on the MacIntyre, which his son-in-law,
George Yeomans, managed. Here he
established one of the first cheese fac-
tories in Australia, and waggon loads
were brought here for local consump-
tion and for transit to Sydney. Yeo-
mans was progressive like his father-
in-law, and to overcome the difficulty
of getting wool, cheese, and other com-
modities to market he built two small
vessels of between 20 and 30 tons
each. He also had built an accommo-
dation House at Liverpool Plains, and
this was regarded as a boon by the
many travellers along that road.
In 1842 Singleton was occupying
Glenridding, but whether as an owner
or tenant we are unable to determine.
His son Benjamin was in charge and
had nine employees, all free men, en-
gaged. One named Scott subsequent-
ly turned very nasty on his employer.
This year (1842) there was a crop of
42 acres of wheat on Glenridding.
Early in 1840 a Mr Stubbs, acting
on behalf of Mr Singleton, held an auc-
tion sale in Sydney of 100 building al-
lotments in this town. This was not
the first auction sale of local land, as a
short time previously Castle Forbes
had been subdivided. On 12th Aug-
ust of the same year a second auction
sale by Stubbs was held, and the ad-
vertisement referred to our town as
"the future Manchester, or Leeds, of
N. S. Wales." The locations of the
allotments, were well defined and ad-
joined those of Captain Russell, Messrs
Dangar, McDougall, Doyle, Duguid,
Millar, Fleming, Nowland, Joseph,
Long, Cullen, Atkinson, Horne, Perrett,
Johnstone, Alcorn, Pilcher (this gentle-
man was a near relative of the erst-
while well-known barrister C. E. Pil-
cher), and Dr. Dowe. The latter mar-
ried a daughter of Mr G. Loder, who
accompanied Mr John Howe in 1820.
Therefore, he was connected by mar-
riage with the latter.
The streets which Singleton had
named in 1835, and in which the allot-
ments were located, were: William,
Pitt, Bathurst, Church, Kent, Cam-
bridge, Market, High, and Gipps. The
blocks realised about £15 each. For
fully 50 years these thoroughfares were
regarded as the back streets of the
town.
Late in 1840 Mr Singleton visited
his native land, and whilst away his
many enterprises appear to have suf-
fered through the want of his guiding
hand. Early in 1842 he sequestrated
his estate, though his assets appear to
have greatly exceeded his liabilities.
The want of ready cash appeared to
have seriously hampered his operations.
His principal creditors were Messrs
Burdekin, Cullen, M'Intosh and Smith.
To Burdekin his indebtedness was
£2100, to Cullen and M'Intosh £1000
each, and Smith £600.
The above Mr Burdekin was a mem-
ber of the well-known family of that
name. He donated to the town Bur-
dekin Park. The gift was originally
intended as a market place, and at one
time was known as "Market Square."
On May 3rd, 1853, Mr Singleton
went the way of all flesh, but it was
not till August 5th, 1877, that he was
rejoined by his good wife. Inscribed
above their last resting place in the
Church of England cemetery at
Whittingham is this Biblical quotation:
"And herein is that saying true, one
soweth and another reapeth." St.
John iv., 37.
It should be mentioned that the land
on which the Church of England and
other parish buildings adjoin was
presented by Mr Singleton for the above
purposes.
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