The historic farming patterns first established along North Creek continued for some decades

The historic farming patterns first established along North Creek continue for some decades

The pattern of growing corn and cane in association with raising animals – principally cows, horses, pigs and chickens – established in the 1860s along North Creek continued for a number of decades. The identity of the many farming families that settled here in the late nineteenth century is evident in many, but dispersed records – from newspapers to family histories, and official government publications and records. Some of the earliest families to establish stayed for several decades, others lasted a few short years – and varied circumstances influenced such fluctuations. But fundamentally the way the Europeans occupied or relocated from the land along North Creek reflected their need to turn it to profit – so when this could not be managed some cut their losses and moved to other locations.

Among the numerous factors that shaped fluctuations in farming along North Creek were: the creek itself enabled the (water) transport of goods to and from farms located along it, as well as the residents’ access to goods and services that developed and gradually expanded at Ballina. The soil was fertile and especially suited crop production; some Europeans were drawn to the North Creek locality to farm its rich ‘bottoms’ land – i.e. land that lies along the estuary bank or within its wide-riparian zone – which was sought after for its fertility. Land that was more elevated and away from the creek, was equally fertile – its volcanic soil originated from the ancient influence of Mount Wollumbin located further north in the Tweed. The capacity for farms and farmers to grow enough produce from the land they had and market it at a profit also saw farming fluctuate – as the historic record shows that a number of North Creek farmers became insolvent during the 1890s depression. But despite these variable influences on what was, and who, farmed at North Creek the practices European-origin settlers used to work the land remained stable for a number of decades.

However, the key change that impacted land use in the 1870s, and for a couple of decades after, was population. Reflecting the growing population in the first decade of closer settlement, shipping advice from 1870 indicated that industry undertaken on the river resulted in the movement of 8.5 million feet of timber; 120 thousand bushels of maize (corn); 36 thousand staves and spokes and other farm and station produce from the Port of Ballina. 22Between the years 1881-1884 the first census taken at Ballina indicated its immediate (European) population was 570 (Shaw’s Bay, West Ballina and North Head);23 and a decade later the (European) population was over recorded at 2760 people.24

As the population expanded more land was occupied, cleared and farmed; this included sections of ground characterised as low or swamp land. At the northern end of North Creek, the farmers occupying land in the vicinity of the Newrybar Swamp, and in accordance with farming practices brought from the United Kingdom, undertook to drain water from inundated land using a system of human-made channels. Such works were considered ‘improvements’ to the land. In 1906, the Newrybar Drainage Trust established – under the NSW Water and Drainage Act – ‘to drain off the flood waters, and so rendering the land fit for grazing and agriculture’. Water was drained from the swamp into North Creek.25

Historic Parish maps that record land allocations dating from the closing decades of the nineteenth century show that much of the land along the

22 BALLINA. (1870, June 28). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW: 1859 - 1889), p. 2. Retrieved October 14, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61876386 23 Hall, Glen. The Port of Richmond River: Ballina 1840s to 1980s. Northern Star Print, Lismore (1983), 113-114. 24 Population Returns. (1893, February 4). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW: 1876 - 1954), 2. Retrieved October 14, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72415628 25 A DRAINAGE TRUST. (1906, February 3). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW: 1883 - 1930), 8. Retrieved October 4, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239450948

eastern side of North Creek was surveyed for farming and or was occupied.26

The following developments also reflect the growing density of settlement along North Creek and in this era: by the late 1870s families living along North Creek had sufficient numbers to petition the NSW Colonial government asking for the establishment of a school in the locality; in 1881 the Pioneer Cemetery was established at the mouth of North Creek (many early North Creek settlers are buried here); and in 1890 the North Creek Progress Association established to lobby for municipal services – including the sealing of roadways, which the shell-midden located at North Creek was mined for from this time.27

The occupation of land along North Creek in the closing decades of the nineteenth century increasingly restricted the use of this environment by Bundjalung families. Notwithstanding impacts from diseases previously unknown to Bundjalung families brought to the region by Europeans, expanding settlement also pushed Bundjalung families out, or to the margins, of the areas they routinely used. Bundjalung families responded in a number of ways to the restrictions the Europeans imposed, including; some continued to work for Europeans; some resisted contact for as long as they could, and continued to live in places they had always occupied; other families either voluntarily moved or were forcibly relocated to government established and monitored Aboriginal Reserves or Stations.

26 NSW LPI, Historic Parish maps for Town of Ballina, County of Rous. 27 Richmond River Historical Society Bulletin, From North Creek to Lennox Head, no. 162 (1999), 5-11; Lennox Head Public School Centenary Committee, Lennox Head Public School Centenary, Northern Star Print, Lismore (1982).

Vessel anchored at one of the wharves located along the main arm of the River c.1920s. European settlement saw the river become the main means of transporting goods to and from the district until the early twentieth century. Image courtesy of George Young/Ballina Shire Council.