History
The Dunghutti people have been living in the Macleay valley for well over 6000 years. The indigenous history of the valley is covered here.
European settlement of the Macleay valley began in the 1830s. Smokey Cape received its name from Captain Cook as he sailed north up the east coast of Australia and Trial Bay was discovered and named after the wreck of brig Trial was discovered there. The next exploration of the Macleay River was in 1820 by John Oxley using the schooner Prince Regent. He was unimpressed by the swamps, marshes, and sandy, infertile soil he found but thought that Trial Bay was a good sheltered bay.
Governor Macquarie then started a new penal settlement at Port Macquarie. In 1826 a glowing account of a river 25 miles north of Port Macquarie was published in The Sydney Gazette based on information by an Aboriginal named "Mooney". An expedition travelled up the river as far as Belgrave Falls and in April 1827 Captain A.C Innes established a cedar party on the bank of the Macleay river a little north of Euroka Creek. Captain Innes married the daughter of Hon. Alexander McLeay after whom the river is named.
In 1829 the land up as far as the Macleay River was gazetted Crown Land and could be bought legally. Enoch William Rudder was the first settler on the east bank of the Macleay River in what is now the East Kempsey. He had the land surveyed and sold allotments and is consequently regarded as the founder of Kempsey. Squatting licenses were granted to permit grazing across the river on the non-Crown Lands. The stock for these Upper Macleay stations were driven down from the New England Tablelands.
Red cedar, white cedar, mahogany, tulipwood, rosewood, ironwood, lightwood, sassafras, corkwood, Australian tamarind, myrtles, Australian palms and brush figtree grew thickly in rainforest or brush along the banks of the Macleay as far as Belgrave Falls. However it was the cedar that the timbercutters wanted (they burnt the rest), and despite being illegal to cut it on Crown Lands it was ruthlessly plundered. In an attempt to control the cedar trade licenses were introduced in 1839. Sawyers would cut the cedar and make rafts of the logs which were floated down the river to the ships at Trial Bay. Three shipbuilding stations were on the Macleay. By 1842 most of the accessible cedar had been cut and now was only found in the Upper Macleay. Cedar cutting in the Upper Macleay continued until the 1960s.
The Dunghutti people in the Upper Macleay strongly resisted the spread of the squatters and made attacks on both settlers and stock. Reprisals were frequently in the form of massacres.
Transport to the Macleay was via small vessels which sailed up and down the coast from Sydney. timber, tallow, hides, whet and maize were shipped from the Macleay to Sydney. The bar at the mouth of the Macleay was particularly dangerous and caused many shipwrecks. To improve the safety work on a breakwater at Trial Bay was started in 1886. The Trial Bay Gaol was used to house the prisoners who worked on this.
In 1850 another private town, Central Kempsey, on the riverbank where the central business district is now was started and finally in 1855 the government town of West Kempsey was proclaimed and auction sales of town allotments began. So at one point there were three Kempseys, although now as they have merged together this is less obvious.
The present road to Armidale from Kempsey did not come into common use until the end of the 19th C, being used for horse and bullock teams until the 1890s. It became accessible to general traffic in 1902. The isolation of the area can be seen by the creek names: Three Day Creek (Nulla Creek); Five Day Creek; and Seven Day Creek (Lower Creek).
Maize, potatoes, pumpkins, oranges, sugar, were the main crops and pigs and poultry were raised. There was even a sugar mill at Gladstone.
In 1848 the Kempsey Public School was one of the first four public schools opened in Australia.
The 1890s saw a new industry develop-dairy. There were butter factories at Frederickton, Kempsey, Warneton and Toorooka. The dairy industry prospered for over sixty years.
A bridge connecting East Kempsey and Central Kempsey was finally opened in 1900, replacing the ferry. Horse drawn carriages carried passengers from Kempsey, Fernmount, Bellingen, Macksville, Nambucca and Armidale. But until 1917, when the railway reached Kempsey, steam vessels were the main transport link to Sydney.
By the 1960s dairying was in decline with beef cattle taking over. Other industries were timber milling, beach sand mining, and limestone quarrying.
Neil M. (1972) Valley of the Macleay: The History of Kempsey and the Macleay River District Wentworth Books, Sydney
European settlement of the Macleay valley began in the 1830s. Smokey Cape received its name from Captain Cook as he sailed north up the east coast of Australia and Trial Bay was discovered and named after the wreck of brig Trial was discovered there. The next exploration of the Macleay River was in 1820 by John Oxley using the schooner Prince Regent. He was unimpressed by the swamps, marshes, and sandy, infertile soil he found but thought that Trial Bay was a good sheltered bay.
Governor Macquarie then started a new penal settlement at Port Macquarie. In 1826 a glowing account of a river 25 miles north of Port Macquarie was published in The Sydney Gazette based on information by an Aboriginal named "Mooney". An expedition travelled up the river as far as Belgrave Falls and in April 1827 Captain A.C Innes established a cedar party on the bank of the Macleay river a little north of Euroka Creek. Captain Innes married the daughter of Hon. Alexander McLeay after whom the river is named.
In 1829 the land up as far as the Macleay River was gazetted Crown Land and could be bought legally. Enoch William Rudder was the first settler on the east bank of the Macleay River in what is now the East Kempsey. He had the land surveyed and sold allotments and is consequently regarded as the founder of Kempsey. Squatting licenses were granted to permit grazing across the river on the non-Crown Lands. The stock for these Upper Macleay stations were driven down from the New England Tablelands.
Red cedar, white cedar, mahogany, tulipwood, rosewood, ironwood, lightwood, sassafras, corkwood, Australian tamarind, myrtles, Australian palms and brush figtree grew thickly in rainforest or brush along the banks of the Macleay as far as Belgrave Falls. However it was the cedar that the timbercutters wanted (they burnt the rest), and despite being illegal to cut it on Crown Lands it was ruthlessly plundered. In an attempt to control the cedar trade licenses were introduced in 1839. Sawyers would cut the cedar and make rafts of the logs which were floated down the river to the ships at Trial Bay. Three shipbuilding stations were on the Macleay. By 1842 most of the accessible cedar had been cut and now was only found in the Upper Macleay. Cedar cutting in the Upper Macleay continued until the 1960s.
The Dunghutti people in the Upper Macleay strongly resisted the spread of the squatters and made attacks on both settlers and stock. Reprisals were frequently in the form of massacres.
Transport to the Macleay was via small vessels which sailed up and down the coast from Sydney. timber, tallow, hides, whet and maize were shipped from the Macleay to Sydney. The bar at the mouth of the Macleay was particularly dangerous and caused many shipwrecks. To improve the safety work on a breakwater at Trial Bay was started in 1886. The Trial Bay Gaol was used to house the prisoners who worked on this.
In 1850 another private town, Central Kempsey, on the riverbank where the central business district is now was started and finally in 1855 the government town of West Kempsey was proclaimed and auction sales of town allotments began. So at one point there were three Kempseys, although now as they have merged together this is less obvious.
The present road to Armidale from Kempsey did not come into common use until the end of the 19th C, being used for horse and bullock teams until the 1890s. It became accessible to general traffic in 1902. The isolation of the area can be seen by the creek names: Three Day Creek (Nulla Creek); Five Day Creek; and Seven Day Creek (Lower Creek).
Maize, potatoes, pumpkins, oranges, sugar, were the main crops and pigs and poultry were raised. There was even a sugar mill at Gladstone.
In 1848 the Kempsey Public School was one of the first four public schools opened in Australia.
The 1890s saw a new industry develop-dairy. There were butter factories at Frederickton, Kempsey, Warneton and Toorooka. The dairy industry prospered for over sixty years.
A bridge connecting East Kempsey and Central Kempsey was finally opened in 1900, replacing the ferry. Horse drawn carriages carried passengers from Kempsey, Fernmount, Bellingen, Macksville, Nambucca and Armidale. But until 1917, when the railway reached Kempsey, steam vessels were the main transport link to Sydney.
By the 1960s dairying was in decline with beef cattle taking over. Other industries were timber milling, beach sand mining, and limestone quarrying.
Neil M. (1972) Valley of the Macleay: The History of Kempsey and the Macleay River District Wentworth Books, Sydney
Kempsey Shire Council
Kempsey Shire Council has information on local history, including historical photographs, history of Macleay Valley, history of the villages and towns
Kempsey Shire Council has information on local history, including historical photographs, history of Macleay Valley, history of the villages and towns
Kempsey Historical Museum
Kempsey Historical Museum has artefacts, the Angus O'Neil photograph collection, and personal local histories.
Kempsey Historical Museum has artefacts, the Angus O'Neil photograph collection, and personal local histories.