Frogmore - the first McLaran property
1869 - 1879
In Apr 1869 Jimbour Station land was opened for selection and Donald McLaran took the opportunity to become a landholder. He secured a rectangular lot of 1686 acres, north of Dalby and west of Mocatta's Corner. It was a scrubby lot in 1869 with several stony ridges protruding into an area of flat black soil - see today's aerial view - and a path worn by the aboriginals passing north - south through the middle.
28 Apr 1869 Dalby Herald
LAND UP DALBY WAY.
On Thursday next the 28th April, 135,000 acres of land, being portion of the lands resumed by the Government out of the consolidated runs of Jimbour, Cooranga, and Cumkillenbar (Bell and Sons' stations), will be again thrown open to selection.
Donald played along with the game of constructing the improvements prescribed by The Homestead Act while minimising his outlays. By 1871, Donald had built a 4 roomed weatherboard cottage 25 ft x 21 feet with a shingle roof, yards, several out-buildings and a well. During inspections, his father, Malcolm McLaran, resided in the house, posing as a permanent resident. Donald realised that the farm was too small (the arable land area was restricted by the stoney areas) to support a family, had insufficient water and at some time in the future the property would revert to a large land holding. 10 years later, Frogmore was purchased by G.M.Simpson, the local M.L.A. and owner of one of the adjoining properties (and many others).
Simpson accumulated properties through the 1870's. This article was published about his practices (called "dummying") in 1874:
18 Nov 1874 Darling Downs Gazette
A number of selections on the run improperly named 'Bon Accord' by Mr G. M. Simpson, have been declared forfeited, on the ground of fraudulent acquisition. 'All Amiss' would have been a more suitable name for the station, according to present appearances, although we believe the position held by Mr Simpson with regard to these selections has been considered absolutely unassailable. The question, no doubt, will be referred to another tribunal, the property in dispute amounting to no less than 24,000 acres, with improvements valued at £10,000.
Simpson was a law unto himself, as this 1877 article suggests:
15 Dec 1877 Western Star and Roma Advertiser
Another very irascible letter has appeared in the local paper from Mr. Simpson of Bon Accord, relative to the town dogs; as well as an advertisement threatening dire vengeance against the police and owners, and against "Dogs within that Act," whatever that may mean. This so overwhelmed the dogs, who must have heard the news, that next morning after the issue of the paper, about ten of those animals were found dead on or near their master's premises in various parts of the town, the symptoms showing they had agreed mutually what death to die, all having taken poison. Much indignation has been felt and enquiries instituted to sift this matter, but as dead dogs tell no tales, it has not transpired yet where they obtained the poison.
28 Apr 1869 Dalby Herald
LAND UP DALBY WAY.
On Thursday next the 28th April, 135,000 acres of land, being portion of the lands resumed by the Government out of the consolidated runs of Jimbour, Cooranga, and Cumkillenbar (Bell and Sons' stations), will be again thrown open to selection.
Donald played along with the game of constructing the improvements prescribed by The Homestead Act while minimising his outlays. By 1871, Donald had built a 4 roomed weatherboard cottage 25 ft x 21 feet with a shingle roof, yards, several out-buildings and a well. During inspections, his father, Malcolm McLaran, resided in the house, posing as a permanent resident. Donald realised that the farm was too small (the arable land area was restricted by the stoney areas) to support a family, had insufficient water and at some time in the future the property would revert to a large land holding. 10 years later, Frogmore was purchased by G.M.Simpson, the local M.L.A. and owner of one of the adjoining properties (and many others).
Simpson accumulated properties through the 1870's. This article was published about his practices (called "dummying") in 1874:
18 Nov 1874 Darling Downs Gazette
A number of selections on the run improperly named 'Bon Accord' by Mr G. M. Simpson, have been declared forfeited, on the ground of fraudulent acquisition. 'All Amiss' would have been a more suitable name for the station, according to present appearances, although we believe the position held by Mr Simpson with regard to these selections has been considered absolutely unassailable. The question, no doubt, will be referred to another tribunal, the property in dispute amounting to no less than 24,000 acres, with improvements valued at £10,000.
Simpson was a law unto himself, as this 1877 article suggests:
15 Dec 1877 Western Star and Roma Advertiser
Another very irascible letter has appeared in the local paper from Mr. Simpson of Bon Accord, relative to the town dogs; as well as an advertisement threatening dire vengeance against the police and owners, and against "Dogs within that Act," whatever that may mean. This so overwhelmed the dogs, who must have heard the news, that next morning after the issue of the paper, about ten of those animals were found dead on or near their master's premises in various parts of the town, the symptoms showing they had agreed mutually what death to die, all having taken poison. Much indignation has been felt and enquiries instituted to sift this matter, but as dead dogs tell no tales, it has not transpired yet where they obtained the poison.
A report on Donald McLaran’s selection (and others) was published in 1874. It describes Lot 148 perfectly and inspired a return to Frogmore in Jun 2015. The stoney homestead area had not been used or inhabited since the sale to G.M. Simpson, so many artefacts from the 1870's remained on site where Donald left them.
My explanatory comments are in red, photos from 2015 are on the left.
My explanatory comments are in red, photos from 2015 are on the left.
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1 Aug 1874 The Queenslander The Sketcher. Darling Downs Selections. No. XI. IN an angle formed by part of the northern and eastern boundaries of Simpson and Co.'s selections, a Mr. McLaren has secured a fine block, No. 148, of 1686 acres. A scrub which clothes one of the extremities of what are known as the Wabba Ridges bounds it on the northward; on the west and south the boundaries are common to this selection and Messrs. Simpson and Co., and are fenced by that firm. Along one of these lines a surveyed one-chain road intervenes, and prevents actual contact of the selections, but on neither of these sides has this selector either fenced on his own account, nor, I believe, borne any proportion of the cost of the fencing erected by his neighbors. The eastern boundary is unfenced, but the selection here adjoins the leased portion of the Irvingdale run, the fence of which being by some mistake about a quarter-of-a-mile to the eastward of the correct boundary, cuts out a strip of country, so that the selector of this block has the accidental advantage of fencing by other parties on three sides, giving him a paddock, enclosing a good deal of land besides his own selection. Donald had spent little on fencing by 1874 and took advantage of the lack of an eastern fence to enlarge his pastures. By 1878 the property was fully fenced with a 7 wire fence. One must realise that a property of this size requires about 50 miles or 80 km of wire for a 7 wire fence!! The scrub forms a sort of natural fence on the north, and the only open point is to the north-east, where the recession of the scrub leaves a gap between it and the Irvingdale and Cumkillenbar fences. This gap, however, leads only into a sort of pocket lying between the scrub and the Cumkillenbar and Jimbour fences, and which is mostly absorbed in the selections of Messrs. Twine and Deane. Mr Twine: Robert Cumberland Twine 1840 - 1909. His nephew Joseph White Twine 1865 - 1914 married Donald's niece, Agnes Sullivan. Thus these three selectors have among them a piece of country comfortably enclosed, free of cost. Mr. McLaren, although, under the circumstances, he has not yet seen fit to erect any fences, has some very good improvements. A very nice four-roomed cottage, of sawn stuff, shingled, floored, and provided with a fire-place, stands at the extremity of the Wabba Ridge, where it sinks into the level country, and is at present the residence of the selector's father and a married couple employed on the place. At the back of this is an old bark hut, tolerably spacious, which was the residence prior to the new cottage being built, and is now used as a store for appliances, and I believe was utilised as a miniature woolshed last shearing. A small patch of garden ground has been fenced off in front of the cottage, but has not, up to this time, been broken up. Evidence of the garden - a line of stones - remains in place to this day. A spade (Donald's perhaps?) was recovered from this area in 2015. It is an ancient design and probably dates from the 1870's. A small stockyard and a cart shed stand near, and at a little distance on the open flat which the house faces, a well has been sunk. The depth, I believe, is about seventy feet, the water rising thirty feet in it. Today the well is filled with rubbish. The current farm manager (my brother-in-law's brother-in-law!) says the well passes through a coal seam. A good whim, constructed after the design of Mr. Simpson, is used for raising the water. There is a trifling difference in details, the buckets being guided during their passage up and down the weft, by a light framework of sawn timber, instead of by the wires which governed them in other wells I have seen. The buckets recovered from the house site in 2015 are rectangular in plan with reinforcing bars riveted around their rims. Water raised from the well was also stored in wooden barrels. Only the barrel hoops remain today. The tank for storing the water also is smaller than in previous cases. Three lines of troughs are laid down for watering stock. The land comprised in this selection consists of an open flat of good black soil, well grassed, and skirted by box timber. The north-western corner includes part of a ridge wooded with gum-top-box, and crested with a scrub which harbors quantities of wallabies. And the scrub is not fenced off, no doubt these game make some havoc with the grass on the selection. The land is used solely for grazing purposes, and not the slightest attempt at cultivation has been made. As regards the flat, it is in reality the outlet for the water thrown off a good deal of ridgy country at the back, and in heavy rains is a sheet of water one or two feet deep, as I am informed. The land is classed as 1200 acres first and 486 second pastoral. Passing up this flat in a north-easterly direction along the scrub, a short line of fencing is, in sight of McLaren's house, and marks the boundary of a small selection of 160 acres by E. Deane, by whom the fence was commenced etc etc. |
18 May 1874 Part inspection report - Frogmore.
Bottom hand writing: "Selector residing in the house himself. There was no one but an old man (who knew nothing and said less) about the place when I visited it. He could not tell me how long the Selector had been living there."
Comments
The old man may have been Malcolm McLaran and if so, it appears he was under instructions to appear dumb. Several years later Malcolm displayed signs of senility. In 1874 Malcolm probably resided with his daughter Catherine Milford in Dalby.
By coincidence, the inspection took place a week before the highland games in Dalby and the subsequent loss of Donald's watch and 3 weeks after Donald's court appearance in relation to a late night hotel altercation.
Bottom hand writing: "Selector residing in the house himself. There was no one but an old man (who knew nothing and said less) about the place when I visited it. He could not tell me how long the Selector had been living there."
Comments
The old man may have been Malcolm McLaran and if so, it appears he was under instructions to appear dumb. Several years later Malcolm displayed signs of senility. In 1874 Malcolm probably resided with his daughter Catherine Milford in Dalby.
By coincidence, the inspection took place a week before the highland games in Dalby and the subsequent loss of Donald's watch and 3 weeks after Donald's court appearance in relation to a late night hotel altercation.
An incident involving Donald McLaran in the 1872.
3 Sep 1872: A Dalby accident.
On Saturday afternoon, the 27th ultimo (says the Dalby paper) intelligence was brought into town that a man, apparently dead, was lying in Mr. Simpson’s (G.M. Simpson, M.L.A., eventual owner of Frogmore) paddock, on the road to Jimbour, about four miles away, and that close by was a smashed carriage with a horse lying dead in front of it. Senior-sergeant McKiernan and Constable Stack at once started out, accompanied by Dr. Howlin, to the place indicated, and on arriving there found the man alive, clinging to one of the wheels of the carriage, but so much injured that he was perfectly helpless, and only partly conscious. He had been there since the previous day.
The unfortunate fellow proved to be John Eaton, coachman in the employment of Messrs. Bell and Sons, and well known and much esteemed in this district. He had come into town on the previous day (yesterday week) with the carriage, driving two splendid horses, both of them somewhat fresh, and he left about 4 o'clock that afternoon to return to Jimbour. Eaton does not recollect how the accident occurred, further than that the horses bolted; but an examination of the tracks and the general appearances led to the belief that the mishap occurred in the manner following:-
When Eaton left town he had fixed on the carriage a bar of iron, eight or nine feet long, and somehow this bar was jolted about on the journey until one end of it got between the spokes of the near hind wheel. The horses were then going steadily, but the noise occasioned by the bar coming in contact with the wheel set them off at a tearing pace. They swerved from the track, jumped and plunged about, and before Eaton could again get them under control the carriage was brought violently against a stout sapling and smashed, the driver being pitched out with considerable force against the tree, and at once rendered insensible. He sustained a fracture of the thigh bone, had two ribs broken, and was frightfully bruised about the face. The force of the shock - which broke the swingle-tree and the pole to pieces - must have brought the horses down upon the broken timbers, and probably the poor animals struggled to get free. One horse was found dead about six yards away, with one foot smashed and two stakes in its flank, The other was found dead a couple of days afterwards, nearly a quarter of a mile distant, also staked. How Eaton escaped with life is a mystery.
No one witnessed the accident, and the unfortunate driver, as mentioned above, was not found until late on the following day, having been lying out in the forest twenty-four hours. Donald McLaren, while out looking for horses, was the first to see the wreck, and he lost no time in riding into town to obtain assistance. Eaton, who is about fifty years of age, was brought to the Royal Hotel, where he now lies in a precarious state, but hopes are entertained that he will recover. We learn that Eaton is a steady abstemious man, and knowing that the horses were rather spirited he refrained from taking any drink while in town.
3 Sep 1872: A Dalby accident.
On Saturday afternoon, the 27th ultimo (says the Dalby paper) intelligence was brought into town that a man, apparently dead, was lying in Mr. Simpson’s (G.M. Simpson, M.L.A., eventual owner of Frogmore) paddock, on the road to Jimbour, about four miles away, and that close by was a smashed carriage with a horse lying dead in front of it. Senior-sergeant McKiernan and Constable Stack at once started out, accompanied by Dr. Howlin, to the place indicated, and on arriving there found the man alive, clinging to one of the wheels of the carriage, but so much injured that he was perfectly helpless, and only partly conscious. He had been there since the previous day.
The unfortunate fellow proved to be John Eaton, coachman in the employment of Messrs. Bell and Sons, and well known and much esteemed in this district. He had come into town on the previous day (yesterday week) with the carriage, driving two splendid horses, both of them somewhat fresh, and he left about 4 o'clock that afternoon to return to Jimbour. Eaton does not recollect how the accident occurred, further than that the horses bolted; but an examination of the tracks and the general appearances led to the belief that the mishap occurred in the manner following:-
When Eaton left town he had fixed on the carriage a bar of iron, eight or nine feet long, and somehow this bar was jolted about on the journey until one end of it got between the spokes of the near hind wheel. The horses were then going steadily, but the noise occasioned by the bar coming in contact with the wheel set them off at a tearing pace. They swerved from the track, jumped and plunged about, and before Eaton could again get them under control the carriage was brought violently against a stout sapling and smashed, the driver being pitched out with considerable force against the tree, and at once rendered insensible. He sustained a fracture of the thigh bone, had two ribs broken, and was frightfully bruised about the face. The force of the shock - which broke the swingle-tree and the pole to pieces - must have brought the horses down upon the broken timbers, and probably the poor animals struggled to get free. One horse was found dead about six yards away, with one foot smashed and two stakes in its flank, The other was found dead a couple of days afterwards, nearly a quarter of a mile distant, also staked. How Eaton escaped with life is a mystery.
No one witnessed the accident, and the unfortunate driver, as mentioned above, was not found until late on the following day, having been lying out in the forest twenty-four hours. Donald McLaren, while out looking for horses, was the first to see the wreck, and he lost no time in riding into town to obtain assistance. Eaton, who is about fifty years of age, was brought to the Royal Hotel, where he now lies in a precarious state, but hopes are entertained that he will recover. We learn that Eaton is a steady abstemious man, and knowing that the horses were rather spirited he refrained from taking any drink while in town.
Frogmore: Various images relating to Donald McLaran's ownership between 1869 and 1879.
Q & A: Questions and (possible) Answers:
Q1. What is the origin of the name "Frogmore"?
A1. It is difficult to find any Scottish connection to the name. Perhaps Donald intended a joke about the royal Frogmore House (beside Windsor Castle) where various royal mausoleums were constructed in the 1860's.
Q2. Would Donald have made a good living from this property?
A2. It is unlikely that income from Frogmore made Donald a wealthy man. He ran about 1500 sheep on the property and he was described by the government inspector as a "farmer and grazier in a small scale" - see above. It is more likely that endeavours away from the farm provided him with a base income, sufficient to allow him to proceed with selection of his second, more fertile farm, Kilkevan, where there was a more reliable source of water. The sale to G.M. Simpson in 1879 allowed him to expand his holdings via the purchase of Haran and hence achieve a degree of wealth "momentum".
The Dalby Herald 1 Jul 1876 records Donald McLaran moving 2000 sheep from Frogmore to his Oakey Creek property:
Travelling Stock.— The following lots have crossed the Dalby Reserve during the past week: 2000 sheep from Frogmore to Oakey Creek; on account of Mr Donald M'Laren.
A1. It is difficult to find any Scottish connection to the name. Perhaps Donald intended a joke about the royal Frogmore House (beside Windsor Castle) where various royal mausoleums were constructed in the 1860's.
Q2. Would Donald have made a good living from this property?
A2. It is unlikely that income from Frogmore made Donald a wealthy man. He ran about 1500 sheep on the property and he was described by the government inspector as a "farmer and grazier in a small scale" - see above. It is more likely that endeavours away from the farm provided him with a base income, sufficient to allow him to proceed with selection of his second, more fertile farm, Kilkevan, where there was a more reliable source of water. The sale to G.M. Simpson in 1879 allowed him to expand his holdings via the purchase of Haran and hence achieve a degree of wealth "momentum".
The Dalby Herald 1 Jul 1876 records Donald McLaran moving 2000 sheep from Frogmore to his Oakey Creek property:
Travelling Stock.— The following lots have crossed the Dalby Reserve during the past week: 2000 sheep from Frogmore to Oakey Creek; on account of Mr Donald M'Laren.