1864 The Arrival of the Eversdens

The Flying Cloud

Feb 1864 The Arrival of the Eversdens

For future generations of McLarans from Dalby, 1864 was the time of myth and legend.

The Brisbane Courier selected two important Queensland events that happened in Feb - Mar 1864 to write about:

18 Mar 1864 Brisbane Courier
The events which have transpired during the current month comprise subjects of more than ordinary interests.

Foremost of all was the ceremony of cutting the first sod of the Southern and Western Railway which was performed by Lady Bowen at Ipswich on the 25th of last month, and which was conducted with great eclat ... The Volunteers mustered in good force, the Artillery firing salutes from three of the new brass six pounders, which were conveyed on the previous evening from Brisbane by the steamer Settler. ... Thus the day was one of festivities, and the first railway in Queensland was commenced in a manner reflecting credit upon all parties.

25 Feb 1864 Ipswich First Sod ceremony

Next in importance ... the case of an immigrant ship, the Flying Cloud, which arrived in this port on February 19th, with 482 passengers on board, having left London on November 9th, 1863. It appears that on the representations of Dr. George F. Sandiford, the Surgeon Superintendent, to the local Health Officer, the ship was duly admitted to pratique. Although twenty deaths had occurred during the voyage from typhoid fever and other diseases, the surgeon stated that there had been no infectious disease for some time, and acting upon that assurance the Health Officer did not feel justified in placing a large number of persons under the yellow flag.

Shortly after their arrival on shore, however, it was rumoured at first among small coteries, and afterwards generally, that typhus fever had made its appearance in Brisbane, and that the persons attacked by it were passengers by the ship in question. ... the Government felt it their duly to institute a strict enquiry, which resulted in Dr. Sandiford being tried on the criminal charge of falsifying his logbook.

The enquiry at the police court extended for some days and terminated by Dr. Sandiford being committed to take his trial at the next general sessions... A strong feeling of disatisfaction has been publicly expressed at the lax manner in which the medical reports of passengers were made and received .... It was elicited in the course of the trial that various typhoid symptoms had been exhibited by some of the unfortunates who died on the voyage, and altogether the statements which have been published are of a nature which, if not proving Dr. Sandiford to have been guilty of the offence with which he is charged, show that that care was not taken which is so necessary during a long voyage in a crowded ship.

Note: the passenger list of the 1864 journey of the Flying Cloud was destroyed by a flooding event in the 1890s.

The Flying Cloud's journey to Australia and the subsequent accusations, charges, and trials are not covered in detail on this page - they deserve a separate page. (As yet unpublished.)

Nov 1923 Clara Eversden recalled the arrival of the Eversdens on the Flying Cloud and their journey from Ipswich to Tartha on the Moonie River

Almost 60 years after the arrival of the Flying Cloud, the Dalby Herald recorded Clara Eversden's journey from Ipswich to Tartha. The priceless interview allows her modern-day descendants, to relive the event and her experiences 160 years later. Over 100 years have passed since Nov 1923, but Clara's voice and character were never clearer or stronger. (Hmmm - perhaps not as clear as when, armed with a cattle whip, she chased down her offspring hiding in a barn to avoid chores? Story courtesy of her grandson Brian McLaran.)

c. 1900 Dalby Herald premises (Flickr)

In the minds of Clara, her children and grandchildren - probably not so much in her great grandchildren alive today - the stories of the Flying Cloud, the journey to Tartha, and the years spent on the Moonie always loomed large. McLaran dining rooms and lounges displayed reproductions of the painting of the Flying Cloud; stories of the Toll Bar and earthen floors in the 1923 article were retold - often verbatim.

Clara’s memories in 1923 were very clear, but in some instances they may have been incorrect, confused, simplified, perhaps modified to fit her selective narrative or memory, or perhaps mistakenly recorded or edited by the reporter – but in 1864 she was only seven and had suffered a traumatic journey on the Flying Cloud.

Other articles were published about the Eversdens' arrival and their journey to Tartha (e.g. the obituary of Lewis Eversden) but this article is more informative.

The Eversdens' journey from Ipswich to the Moonie was undertaken during and after a time of extreme rainfall. This was overlooked or omitted from Clara's story, but it is vital to understanding the arduous conditions encountered, and the reasons for the three week trek from Dalby to Coomrith. Reports of the rain and flooding events in March 1864 are worthy of a separate page.

Clara's interview does not provide commencement or completion dates, but taking weather and road conditions into account, a reasonable timeline may have been:

Arrival in Ipswich - 25 Feb 1864;
Departure from Ipswich - perhaps around 15 March 1864, after a delay due to wet weather and flooding;
Arrival in Dalby after negotiating arduous road conditions between Toowoomba and Dalby - less than three weeks would be optimistic - say 10 Apr 1864 at earliest;
Departure from Dalby on packhorses - allow several days to regroup and prepare - say 15 Apr 1864;
Crossing of the Condamine at Greenbank and possible meeting with ... DONALD McLARAN - day one 15 Apr 1864 - see below;
Arrival at Coomrith - Clara said 3 weeks later - between 5 - 10 Apr 1864. This is probably a best estimate, late April may be a more realistic arrival date.
Journey from Coomrith to Tartha - dates unknown, dependant on Moonie floods abating and suitability of Tartha for occupation.

Conjecture - Possible meeting of the Eversdens and Donald McLaran
The Tartha-bound travellers would most likely have passed through Greenbank station on the Condamine, where a low-level timber bridge was washed away in Mar 1864.

We know from the inquest into Michael Kennedy's (1820 - 1864, father of John Kennedy, Susan Alice Brown's husband) drowning on 16 Jun 1864 that:

in Jun 1864 a punt was operating at Greenbank, ferrying people, stores, and horses to Condamine township and the stations beyond - Halliford, Weranga, and Moonie stations such as Tartha and Coomrith;

Donald McLaran was working at Greenbank as a "stock-keeper" and he extracted Michael Kennedy's body from the Condamine and gave evidence at the inquest.

There is no record that Dockrill, Eversden and Clara met Donald McLaran at Greenbank and Clara does not mention it in 1923. However, it is not unreasonable to imagine:

that the Eversdens spent their first night out of Dalby at Greenbank where it appears accommodation was available;
Donald McLaran was at Greenbank that night;
McLaran, Dockrill and Eversden may have met.

William Dockrill and Donald McLaran certainly crossed paths 10 years later in 1874 at the Dalby Courthouse.

The 23 Nov 1923 article in the Dalby Herald is presented in full below.
Details of persons mentioned in Clara's 1923 story have been added to assist the reader. Some opinions and explanatory notes have been inserted through the article.

Suggestions for different interpretations or conclusions are very welcome.

23 Nov 1923 Dalby Herald FILMS OF THE PAST
"THE FLYING CLOUD." Impressions of Dalby in 1864.
We often speak glibly of the hardships of the pioneers, but few have the faintest conception of the meaning of the term "hardship," save perhaps those who are still on the borders of civilisation. The telephone and motor car have robbed even these outposts of much that went to make their occupancy a labour and even a danger and the real hardship is comparatively a thing of the past. And now one needs to come into direct contact with minds that still retain their strength after half a century, of strenuous pressure, and constitutions that still are virile and respondent, despite fifty years of rigorous work, to be able to partially appreciate what life was like with the pioneer in the period that leads directly towards an avenue of countless millennia that trails into to distance without milestones, and is lost in the geological eras. Such combinations of mental and physical vitality are already few and far between, and are slowly but surely passing, mostly carrying their impressions with them, though scribes are plentiful, and pens, ink and paper are to be had for the asking.

A day or two ago a representative of this paper was vouchsafed an hour's conversation with a lady, who though a native of Cambridgeshire in the Homeland, has had a wonderful experience of this district, reaching back to the days of the early sixties. Mrs C. S. McLaran (Clara Sophia Eversden 1856 - 1956), whose father, Mr L. Eversden (Lewis James Eversden 1835 – 4 Oct 1924), by the way, still hearty and well at the age of nearly 90 at his residence (Belle Vue) at Southport, is the mother of Mrs R W Thomas (Jean McLaran 1896 – 1978), of this town, whose husband, Mr R. W. Thomas (Robert Walter Thomas 1886 – 1976 - his first wife was Jean's sister Laura Annie McLaran (1888 - 1916) who sadly died of typhoid), is the popular manager of the Dalby butter factory (where some of his children and his McLaran relatives by marriage gained employment). Mrs. McLaran's life is typically a career through the pioneering stage in this portion of the State.

Mr Eversden, with his wife and four children, left the East India docks in London in '63 on board the famous old sailing ship, the "Flying Cloud," ( Note 1.) on her second voyage between the hub of the universe and the distant antipodes - almost as far removed in that generation as Mars will perhaps be to the next. The history of many of the families of the present generation of Queenslanders connects up through their forbears' association with the old sailer, who was a "bit of a clipper," and made more than one "record voyage”.

A FATEFUL VOYAGE
This particular voyage, however, was destined to be anything but pleasant to anyone on board. Dropping her pilot in November, 1863, she reached Queensland on 20th February, 1864, with her consignment of 500 immigrants reduced on the voyage by 30 through an outbreak of typhoid which occurred while she was still in the tropics and which clung to her until she anchored at the mouth of the Brisbane. Many others were still down with the fell disease, in those days more seriously fatal than now, and of them no less than 80 succumbed at the hospitals on shore. The voyage was disastrous to the Eversden family for the mother (Sophia Dockrill 1836 - 1864, William Dockrill's sister) and three children fell victims to the typhoid fiend during it (Note 2.), while the remaining only daughter recovered in hospital ashore (Note 3.). This was indeed a bad start to the new life in the land of promise.

In those days, the Brisbane river was of vast importance to the young colony, for it furnished the chief means of communication between the metropolis and the bay, and the capital and its rival at Limestone; and the old paddle wheelers 'Bremer' and 'Brisbane’ and the already old fashioned stern wheeler 'Settler' were in constant travel between the bay and the 'modern Athens' (more prosaically known as Ipswich).

Comments:
Note 1. The clipper belonged to the Black Ball Line. Today the Black Ball Line is controlled by the family of a 2 x great grandson of the original owner and runs a vehicular ferry service from Port Angeles WA, USA, to Victoria in Canada. The famous flag with a black ball on a red background is still in service. In 2015, one of Clara's 2 x great grandsons travelled (unwittingly) on the ferry to propose to his future wife on Vancouver Island.

Note 2. James Eversden 1859 - 1863 / 1864 and Anne Eversden 1863 - 1863 / 1864 died aboard the Flying Cloud - probably around Rio de Janeiro "in the tropics". Laura Eversden 1859 - 1864 died in Brisbane on 21 Feb 1864.

Black Ball flag

Note 3. Perhaps the reporter was confused by Clara's description of Laura's hospitalisation and the number of children who died on the boat - only two children died on the Flying Cloud. Clara was the "remaining daughter" but there is no indication she was hospitalised. This is either the reporter's error or Clara was hospitalised for several days in Brisbane 21 - 24 Feb 1864 or later in Ipswich.

23 Nov 1923 Dalby Herald (cont)
TO LIMESTONE
It was by one of these steamers that Mr Eversden brought his daughter to Ipswich, just at the turning of the first sod for the first railway line in Queensland (Note 4.) : the line to the west from Ipswich. Mrs McLaran can describe in detail the cedar barrow used on the occasion with its coat of arms embodying the emu and the kangaroo - whose quaint shape must have attracted her young imagination, and the silver spade which Lady Bowen, wife of Queensland's first Governor, broke in the formal act.

The Settler

Comment:
Note 4. This was a supreme effort by Lewis and Clara Eversden - the first of many. They disembarked on 21 Feb, buried Laura the following day, and caught the ferry to Ipswich on 25 Feb. The wording suggests they arrived in Ipswich on the day of the ceremony.

It is likely that the Eversdens were met in Brisbane by William Dockrill (1830 - 1913), Sophia Dockrill's brother. Lewis Eversden was only 16 when Dockrill sailed to Australia in 1851 and it is possible they had never met in Cambridgeshire. Imagine Dockrill's greeting: "Where is my little sister? And where are her other three children?" Dockrill was an emotional man.

The journey to Tartha could not have been undertaken by the Eversdens under their own steam. It is highly likely that William Dockrill (or his agent) met them in Brisbane or Ipswich and controlled the itinerary from that point. Dockrill's 13 years of experience in the Moonie would have been vital to the success of the second leg from Dalby. It is possible he only accompanied the Eversdens on the final leg of the journey from Dalby.

23 Nov 1923 Dalby Herald (cont)
THE TOLL BAR
Mr Eversden and his daughter were destined for the Moonie River, where a relation had already taken up much country (Note 5). The journey from Ipswich to Dalby, via Toowoomba, could only be made by means of bullock drays (Note 6.). The journey to Toowoomba doubtless was full of strange adventure to the newcomers, culminating in the awful climb up the Toll Bar, down which drays were being brought, gingerly, steadied by a drag of sapling trees, and controlled at the turns and the pinches by ropes around the gum tree stumps. No. wonder it left a lively impression upon the mind (Note 7.).

The drays were loaded, however, with stores and requisites for stations lying in different localities to the destination of the travellers, and at Dalby they had to be abandoned (Note 8.), and the rest of the long, long journey pursued by means of a pack horse.

The Toll Bar

Comments:
Note 5. William Dockrill worked for Tartha's owners from 1851 to 1866 when he purchased the property - two years after the arrival of the Eversdens - he had not purchased any property prior to 1866, over two years later.

Note 6. The black soil road between Toowoomba and Dalby was in a poor state of repair following several weeks of intensive rain.

Note 7. The story of the Toll Bar was still being retold verbatim by Clara's eldest son, Duncan James McLaran (1879 - 1965) in 1960, 94 years after the event.

Note 8. Following the wettest March in history, conditions west of the Condamine were unsuited to drays and the Moonie and its tributaries were flooding.

21 Apr 1864 Toowoomba - Dalby road report

May 1864 Tartha advertised for sale - an excellent description of the property awaiting the Eversdens

1868 Transfer of runs to William Dockrill

1872 Map of Moonie River runs
Tartha comprised (approximately) Wild Horse Paradise, Starvation Camp, Burning Thirst, and Vexation and eventually Haran (to the left of the "D" in "Darling".

23 Nov 1923 Dalby Herald (cont)
DALBY IN 1864.
Dalby, though then in the first year of its municipal dignity, must have presented a striking contrast to the Cunningham Street of today. Bark roof and slab walls in close groups on the south side of Myall Creek, with scattered suburban residences of the same materials, mainly constituted the town over which Mayor Roche (Note 9.) and his successor John Healy flaunted their civic honours.

Reputedly the last bark hut in Dalby

Comment:
Note 9. Frederick William Roche 1817 - 1904, aka The King of Dalby. Roche printed his own currency at one time and was the district registrar for births, marriages and deaths for many decades. Roche's records of McLaran deaths contain many errors.

23 Nov 1923 Dalby Herald (cont)
THREE WEEKS ON HORSEBACK.
Scattered as the population had seemed to the travellers so far, the last stage of 150 miles (Note 10.) must have appeared weird, a three weeks' trip through an almost uninhabited region to Coomrith. And a rigorous and rough experience that three weeks' journey must have been to the young English girl, seated behind her bundle (Note 11.) on the back of the old pack horse. What a contrast to the trip one makes today in a luxurious motor car, in about the same number of hours! Rigorous and rough to the young English girl, and yet but a foretaste of the long life of isolation and hard work before her!

Comments:
Note 10. Clara has provided some clues as to the route followed to Tartha. If the length of the journey was anywhere near the 150 miles (250 km) she claimed, then it would not have been directly down the Moonie River to Tartha along what is now the Old Moonie Hwy.

The words "almost uninhabited region to Coomrith" support an indirect route was taken via the watershed separating Undulla Creek from the Moonie River to Coomrith initially. Tartha would have followed in due course. (It is a strong possibility that Tartha was flooded at the time - the homestead in the neighbouring downstream property Cooroora was flooded up to the dining table level.)

Clara (or the reporter) has glossed over the saturated conditions and flooded streams encountered on this leg of the journey. Drays had been the transport of choice in this area for years, so conditions must have been confronting.

Below is a map showing a possible route: Dalby - Greenbank - Halliford - following the higher ground to Coomrith, then on to Tartha when conditions allowed. The township of Condamine seems a step too far with too many creeks to cross.

Another feasible route may have been Dalby - St Ruth - Halliford - Dunmere - Tartha, but the mention of Coomrith suggests the route stuck to the higher ground along the northern side of the Moonie River.

1863 Pugh's Almanac Map showing rivers and higher ground between Dalby and Coomrith and a possible route.
Note:

the route shown (Dalby - Tartha via Coomrith ) entails approximately 150 miles;
a map of this area in 1872 (see above) shows the area between Undulla Creek (Tara on the map) and Coomrith matched Clara's description of "uninhabitated";
one must keep in mind that various newspaper articles support that Clara Eversden possessed a wonderful memory of events, right down to minute details. eg. The Tartha Graves.
Greenbank was the most likely Condamine crossing available to the party;
this route would minimise river and creek crossings;
the main route west to Roma in 1863 was via Condamine township - not Chinchilla;
St George did not exist in 1864.

Note 11. What was in Clara's "bundle". Some of the Eversden relics closely held (some may say "zealously held") today by descendants provide an insight into the Eversden luggage:

the famous but rarely sighted "Eversden Bible". This book, reputed to be approximately 250 x 300 x 150 thick and to be over 200 years old, may hold handwritten family births, deaths and marriages; today, only a single McLaran descendant, who holds little interest in McLaran or Eversden family history, knows what it contains; in possession, lies power over others?
the equally mythical "Eversden Verge Watch" - in the possession of another McLaran descendant, not sighted since 2005; this watch is not expected to emerge from secrecy anytime soon.
tickets from the voyage on the Flying Cloud; perhaps destroyed in a house fire in the early 2000s?
silver cutlery originally owned by Lewis Eversden's father and dating from around 1820; this cutlery survived Tartha to be utilised at Cambridge House, Southport. It was given as a wedding present to the first Eversden grandchild to marry, Sophia McLaran, in 1900.

Conjecture
Were the Eversdens properly equipped and kitted out for a life at Tartha, several days' journey from Mayor Roche's emporium in Dalby? The relics suggest they had little or no inkling of what lay ahead of them - the journey or the destination.

A typical Verge Watch from the 19th century

The handle of an Eversden spoon
"JSE" - see McLennan McLaran marriage

23 Nov 1923 Dalby Herald (cont)
“Even the station buildings were of slab and bark build in those days. And very comfortable they were too with their hard antbed floor. Cool in summer and warm in winter!” Spoken with a fervent loyalty to the old impressions to which we older people will cling. (Note 12.)

Even as far back as the year 1864 the aborigines had practically ceased to debate the advance of the settler. Hopeless in the struggle with a 'superior' stage of civilisation, the original possessor, where he still struggled for existence, was kept in check by the Police Commissioner's station in this district, which controlled by an adequate force (Note 13.) a huge area of back country.

THE PEAR
We are inclined to regard the growth of prickly pear as very modern, but our informant had heard it remarked back in the 60's that a small portion of it was in growth at the Commissioner's station on the Dawson as early as 1854. On her station of the Moonie, it was to be found upon her first arrival though in very small patches - even occupying places of honour in the garden. One patch which was flourishing in an enclosed yard, was cut out and thrown into the creek, by which it was doubtless carried in times of heavy flood, for many miles down the river and deposited at intervals upon the banks to form little isolated colonies which, connecting up in time consolidated into the huge areas with which we are at present cursed. At Weranga and Tartha and many other stations it grew under the care of the gardener, and selectors calling would beg a leaf to take away with them. Little wonder it now dominates its millions of acres! (Note 14.)

2016 Moonie River

2016 Site of original Tartha homestead with prickly pear still flourishing

Comments:
Note 12. In 1960, Clara's son Duncan (80) still clung to this phrase. When asked by cheeky grand nephews why he insisted on wearing a thick woollen spencer with sleeves throughout the year, particularly at the height of summer, Duncan replied "Because they are cool in summer and warm in winter!"

Note 13. The Queensland Native Police - refer Duncan McLaran's page and Cullin-la-Ringo.

Note 14. In 1923, Clara and her family's extensive selections in Kupunn were still suffering from pear infestation. By 1927 the pear problem was solved and the McLarans sold their holdings. Clara (71) was finally freed from the land: she and Donald first farmed at Kilkevan (1879 - 1890); lived in Dalby running a cordial factory (1890 - 1900); and (long story) selected land in Kupunn 1900.

In 1936, eradication of the prickly pear which had engulfed Tartha since the turn of the century, revealed the 1874 grave of James Halliday. Examination of articles describing the grave have led to an amazing discovery.

A Question:
How fast could one travel in the Moonie area in dry conditions?

In the police chase reported on the right undertaken prior to the rains in Mar 1864, it was claimed the officers travelled up to 65 miles in one day. The Eversdens journey to Coomrith on pack horses averaged around 7 miles a day, indicating the degree of difficulty they encountered.

Dalby's Acting-Chief-Constable George Devine also featured in a report from the township of Condamine which describes the widespread flooding of the Condamine in Apr 1864:

19 Apr 1864 The North Australian
We are reluctantly compelled to abridge our Condamine Correspondent's report. The principal items are the murder of the unfortunate man Hauser ...The murderer, Michael Collins, had been apprehended by Chief Constable Devine and committed by Mr. Ferrett. J.P. Mr. Devine's conduct would seem to have been most praiseworthy, as he had great difficulties to contend with from the country being in numerous places under water; he had to guard his prisoner entirely by himself, and was eleven days out, returning quite knocked up; at one time he had to wade through some eight miles of water. The Condamine Is described as having risen to a greater height than was ever before known by (our venerable friend) the oldest inhabitant.

Feb 1864 George Devine in action prior to the floods

What became of William Dockrill, Lewis Eversden, and Clara Eversden?

Skipping other (unpublished) pages, below is a family tree showing 2 generations of the descendants of Eversden descendants. (William Joseph Brown, son of Jane Rider, is assumed to be the son of Lewis Eversden - refer this page.

Malcolm Lewis McLaran was my grandfather.

William Dockrill married Martha Goss, they adopted Edwin Gransden, and retired to Southport in 1899, defeated by prickly pear. Dockrill had spent 48 years of his life at Tartha.

Lewis James Eversden: after 22 years at Tartha, ownership of Tartha and Haran was consolidated via sale of Haran by Donald McLaran to William Dockrill, and Lewis and Jane departed for Southport to commence a new life.