Hawdon was born at Wackerfield, Durham, England and sailed to Australia, arriving in November 1834 at the suggestion of his elder brother who was already settled in NSW with property at Cowpastures and Batemans Bay. (1)
In October 1836 Joseph Hawdon mustered a mob of cattle and brought them to Mr Howe’s on the Murrumbidgee. Here he was joined by John Gardiner and Capt. John Hepburn to be the first to overlanded cattle to Port Phillip. They set out from the Murrumbidgee and Hepburn noted that both sides of the river were already taken up with squatting stations. (2)
At Gundagai they met part of Major Thomas Mitchells expedition which had come from Portland Bay, Mr Stapylton was in charge and gave them useful information on the route. (2)
They reached the Murray River in about 14 days by following the tracks of Major Mitchell’s carts and crossed near Howlong. Joseph Hawdon must have given his brother John excellent reports of the land around this area as before long John Hawdon took up Holwong station. This was the place Joseph Hawdon would use as a mail depot when the Melbourne to Yass mail run began on 1st Jan 1838.
The Murray was running bank high and they crossed by taking the wheels off the dray and tying a tarpaulin round the body to get all safely across. The horses and cattle were far more troublesome. Capt Hepburn’s horse drowned. (2)
Black dog creek was so named because it was here that Joseph Hawdon shot a native dog. (2)
Capt Hepburn wrote that at the Ovens River they broke an axle and a number of natives made their appearance but disappeared when guns and pistols were produced. (2)
Joseph Hawdon rode after them and convinced one, who had seen white men before to return to the camp. (2)
This fellow caught tortoises and made fire by friction and joined the overlanding party till they crossed the Goulburn when he took his departure without ceremony. (2)
Gardiner wrote that this native man ‘was no use to them other than to lighten the load of their provisions.’ (2)
At the Goulburn, they saw many signs to induce them to think the numbers of indigenous people in the area were many but they never saw one. Then, on the track made by Major Mitchell’s party, they came to an encampment of about 70 mia mias but Hepburn wrote that all the natives fled on their approach. (2)
At the camp, they noticed small fragments of bottle glass. (2)
Hawdon’s overlanding party then travelled towards Mount Macedon and from an elevation with the aid of a spy glass saw a ship in the bay of Port Phillip. (2)
The settlement of Melbourne was less than two years old and consisted of just a few huts. However, optimism was high the place would quickly grow into a thriving centre of commerce. (2)
Hawdon, Gardiner and Hepburn’s cattle were the first to come from New South Wales and were a welcome arrival. (2)
Impressed with the potential of the new settlement, Hawdon took up land near the present site of Dandenong in August 1837 – Wikipedia entry for Josepth Hawdon.
On 1st January 1837 Joseph Hawdon sailed with Capt John Hepburn from Port Phillip Bay for NSW. (2)
Hawdon stayed some time with his brother, John and family at Bergalia near the Moruya river.
During the visit Joseph must have given favourable reports about land opportunities on the Murray River because later in 1837 John Hawdon set up a station at Oolong or Howlong west of the crossing place. John Hawdon placed Mr Weatherall in charge according to AA Andrew’s. (4)
There is an account of the Hawdon brothers reaching the flooded Murray River in the winter of 1837 and crossing the swollen waterway by removing the wheels from a dray and strapping a tarpaulin under the body of the vehicle. This appears to be much the same method used the year before when Joseph crossed the river with Hepburn and Gardiner.
The result was a rough punt they launched into the stream in the hope of having it drift across by the aid of a tow rope. However, the rope broke and the three men on the punt feared for their lives.
One of their ticket of leave men dived into the flood and succeeded in guiding the punt across the river. (5)
This daring chap was John Conway Bourke and after congratulating him on his rescue Joseph Hawdon proposed that someone should swim the river bearing a tow rope to help the others across.
The water was raging and the men fearful to enter it. However, JC Bourke agreed and a few hours later the whole party was safe on the Victorian side. (5)
Joseph Hawdon was so impressed with Bourke’s willingness to face challenges he made an offer telling the young man he intended to make a proposal to the Governor to carry the mail between Melbourne and Yass and if successful Bourke could have the job. (5)
Hawdon was granted the mail run for £1,200 a year and true to his word sought out Bourke and offered him the job. (1)
The overland mail had to be taken fortnightly to Yass, at which point it would be passed to the mailman from Sydney and the south-bound mail would begin its journey to Melbourne. This was a pioneer service as hitherto the mail had gone by sea. (1)
Joseph Hawdon used the Howlong station as a staging place for his post man to rest and change horses.
Early in 1838 Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney drove cattle from the station near Howlong to Adelaide following the course of the Murray River for most of the way.
Joseph Hawdon kept a journal that was later published and gives a full account of the events along the way. (6)
They drove 335 head of cattle with nine men in the party on an overland route to South Australia, travelling for a large part of the journey along the banks of the River Murray in very hot weather.
When Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney arrived in Adelaide on the 3 April 1838 they were greeted with some jubilation by the settlers as there had been a shortage of meat for some time and the herd of cattle they had brought was a welcome sight.
They had travelled nearly 1000 miles in ten weeks and only lost four bullocks who had been killed by lightning in a violent thunderstorm.
Hawdon still desired another journey to South Australia and at noon on Thursday 11th July 1839 he and Lieutenant Alfred Mundy, late of 21st regiment left Melbourne. They drove tandem over a more direct route between Melbourne and Adelaide. (7)
On his return, Hawdon made his headquarters in Melbourne, where he lived on his property, Banyule, at Heidelberg. He was a founder of the Pastoral and Agricultural Society and the Victorian Horticultural Society. In 1848 he took the Tallarook run of 27,520 acres (11,137 ha) at the junction of the Goulburn River and Sunday Creek on crown lease.
He remained in Victoria until 1858, when he returned to England. In 1863 he migrated to the Canterbury province of New Zealand where his name was given to the Hawdon River and Lake Hawdon. He took up large pastoral runs, visited England in 1867, and was a member of the Legislative Council in 1866-71. He died at Christchurch on 12 April 1871. (1)
THE REFERENCES;
(1) Australian Dictionary of Biography – Joseph Hawdon
(2) John Hepburn, Letters from Victorian Pioneers,
(4) AA Andrews, First Settlement of the Upper Murray
(5) John Conway Bourke, Letters 1886 held at The Royal Historical Society, Melbourne.
(6) Joseph Hawdon, Journal of a Journey
(7) Newspaper article printed in the South Australian Register, Saturday 17th August, 1839
