Welcome to the Dairy Lane Podcast, Season 2.
We're currently in Jasper's Brush. My primary
sponsor for Season 2 is Ian Zanstra, a very experienced
dairyman on the other side of the river from
Piree. Season 2 would not be happening without
Ian's support. I'm very grateful he stepped up.
Thank you, Ian. This is episode four, Crozier's
Road. I'm on the northern side of the highway
today. My name's Therese Sweeney, and I've been
engaging residents in the field for nearly 30
years, and I've initiated this project, the Dairy
Lane Project from Bomaderry to Berry, to acknowledge
the descendants and the dairying industry. the
lanes named after those pioneering families.
Croziers Road was named after the Crozier family.
There was discussion with the Host family, the
Bates family and the Croziers about the naming
of the lane. They decided that Croziers Farm
and Home were easily recognised in the lane,
as opposed to the Host family farm. positioned
at the end, up to the escarpment of Berry Mountain.
Up until 1924, the local farmers referred to
it as the Lane. Now Thomas and Rebecca Crozier,
her former name was Cowan, married in 1863. Thomas
was born in 1827 in County Fermanagh Island.
They emigrated on the ship. Sirocco in 1864 and
headed to Maitland. Their first child, Mary Ann,
was born in Morpeth, a village of Maitland, in
1865. Before their second child, Thomas, was
born in 1867, they moved to the Bury district.
Thomas W was born in Kiama. They had eight children.
Thomas Crozier purchased a land parcel on the
northern side of the highway in 1901. He died
in 1903 at the age of 71 at his farm in Jasper's
Brush and he's buried in the Church of England
section of Bury Cemetery. Thomas was a dairy
farmer and died of cramps in the bladder. He
left a widow and five children. His son, Robert,
born in 1878, continued farming the property
in Jasper's Brush. Robert married Margaret Dunn.
They also had five children. Robert sat on council
at the time of naming Crozier's Road, as did
members of the host family. His daughter, Mary
Ella, known as Ella, married Harry Bates and
they took over the farm and ran it for many years
before selling in 1973. A large fig tree sat
near their homestead, the signature sign to their
property. It may still be standing. Descendants
from the Croziers still reside in the Shoalhaven
region. The second family I'd like to introduce,
the Fawkes family. Their name is connected to
Jasper's Brush for at least six generations.
Their property was called Mount Victory, a dairy
property. John Senior was born in 1799 in Leicestershire,
England. He married Mary Yeomans in 1825 in Yorkshire.
They migrated on the ship Mary in 1830, docking
In Tasmania, John Senior came to the Shoalhaven
in 1836. He passed away in Milton in 1894. They
had six children. His first three were born in
Ireland, others in Sydney, Moreton Bay, Queensland,
Coolangatta, New South Wales, Ulladulla and Falls
Creek. John Junior was born in 1831. in Sydney
and married Martha Boxall who was born in Sussex
in 1837 and had migrated on the ship Neptune
with her parents Thomas and Mary Boxall arriving
in Geringong in 1839. They married in 1959 in
Geringong and had nine children. Three passed
at a young age. They lived in Maroo for a bit.
and then moved to land in Strong's Row, Jasper's
Brush, to the Mount Victory dairy farm. The Salvation
Army reached Nowra in 1884, and the foundation
stone of the hall was laid by W. Hannigan on
October 15, 1885. John Foulkes paid the cost
of the land and erection of the hall. It's quoted
in the book Shoalhaven, published in 1975 by
W. Bailey with a Y. Martha died of breast cancer
in 1915 and John Jr. passed in 1923. John Jr.
was one of four brothers. He was also one of
the developers of the Yalwell Goldfields, his
holding being extensive when the field was a
payable proposition. He sold his interests there
later. He resided at Maroo and Jaspers Brush
for a long time and he was active in political
affairs and he lived until age 93. Their sixth
child, Elijah Taylor, born 1870, known as Taylor,
moved from Condobolin to the family farm at Jaspers
Brush in 1902 with his wife and five children.
All five attended Jasper's Brush Primary School.
The farm was later divided into two and their
sons, Les and Cecil, dairied there. Les married
Elizabeth Devitt and they had two children. Cecil
and his wife Gwen had three children. Again,
all attended Jasper's Brush Primary School. Les
and his son Eric sold their farm in 1969 to Steve
Marsh. In 1970, Cecil sold his farm and moved
to Nowra. This brings us to the Host family.
Johann Joseph Host was born in 1818, a Catholic
from Urbach, Germany, who married Elizabeth Engelhardt,
who was also born the same year, also a Catholic
from Ostrich. They married in 1849 and migrated
that year on the ship Parland, arriving in Sydney
Harbour. Their first son, Jacob, was born in
Kiama in 1850. They had six children. On board
were 165 German immigrants connected to the wine
industry. Johan was known as Jean in Australia
and lived in Kiama for 12 years. He purchased
52 acres at Broughton Mill Creek in 1862 for
306 pounds sterling. Jean developed the property
into a vineyard and orchards and it was highly
regarded by the community. He sold the land in
1872 and returned to Sydney to become the licensee
at the Kent Hotel. In 1881, he returned to the
Shoalhaven to visit family and drowned in the
river. His son, Lewis Charles Host, was born
in Kiama in 1851 and he arrived in the Shoalhaven
at the time of his father's land purchase in
1862. He was a farmer. and married Mary Elizabeth
Reed in Bury in 1875. They had nine children.
Their nine children were named George, Susan,
Ernest, David, Alfred, Victoria, Miriam, Herbert
and Walter. Lewis bought property at Falls Creek
and farmed there for many years. Until recently,
it was known as Host Farm. Lewis sold the Jasper's
Brush farm to his son Ernest and retired to Kiama
in 1909 but later decided to return to Berry
where his youngest brother Charles built his
house Rosebank in Albany Street, Berry. Lewis
Host was an outstanding gardener and planted
a garden at the Jasper's Brush property that
had some fruit to pick all year round. His bananas
were very good for this climate and his vegetable
garden was just as plentiful and well tended.
Lewis was also a superb horseman. They say to
see him in the saddle when he was in his 80s
was a picture to remember. He loved his animals
and gardens, his home too. Lewis and his wife
kept them all in perfect condition. The tragic
death of his youngest son, Lieutenant Walter
Joseph Host, who died from wounds received in
the Battle at Somme in France in July 1916, was
a terrible blow to him. He was so proud when
Walter then only 14 years of age, was chosen
to attend the coronation of King George V in
1911 with the New South Wales cadets and again
when he received the military medal. There is
a stained glass window commemorating the memory
of Lewis Charles Host and his wife Mary Elizabeth
Reed and a memorial to Lieutenant Walter Joseph
Host in the Church of England, St Luke's, Bury.
The Hose family's property consisted of approximately
500 acres at the end of Crozier's Road, Jasper's
Brush. Built on top of the escarpment at the
back of the property was a rock wall to stop
boulders and rocks falling down onto the land.
This was built through convict labour. Lewis's
sister Mary, born 1856, married John Muller,
who was the son of Jacob Muller. They married
in the Catholic Church in Nowra in February 1877,
and they continued to live on a farm leased by
John in Koolangatta. Sixteen years later, John
bought land at Maroo from the Berry estate. John
built Pomona, where they lived, which is referenced
in Season 1, Lamman's Lane, featuring Patrick
Muller. Back to Lewis. His son, Ernest, was born
in Broughton Vale in 1880. one of nine children,
and he later inherited the farm, as I've previously
mentioned at Jasper's Brush. Lewis purchased
the two land parcels in 1896 and 1900. Ernest
married Eliza Gall in Sydney in 1909. Ernest's
next brother, David Charles, who was born in
1883 at Jasper's Mount, purchased a land grant
himself in 1911 on the northern side of the highway.
He was 28 years of age at the time and he passed
away in 1960. Ernest had a son named Ken who
married Mary Ulrich and purchased the farm from
his mother Eliza after his father passed. It
was paid off in stages. Ernest outlived his father
Lewis by one year. passing away in 1935 in Bury.
I viewed photos of Ken's sisters, some are on
horseback, they're at school at Jasper's Brush
doing concerts, they're on bicycles, and later
as mature women in very fashionable attire. Ken
and Mary had two children, Colin and Jean, who
grew up on the property called Bellevue in Crozier's
Road. Colin today is 80 years of age and is the
subject of this podcast episode. See, I got there.
When I undertook an oral history with Colin,
he was recovering from an illness. There are
other contributors in the recording, his wife
Lynn and his son Brian, toward the end. Before
I play the recording, I'd like to read some experts
from a children's book of fiction written by
a relative. Connected to the Reid side of the
family, remember Lewis married Elizabeth Reid.
The author's name is Margaret Pace, P -A -I -C
-E. Her former name was Castle. She was born
in 1920 in Brisbane and she passed away in 2016.
Her parents were Sidney Castle and Violet Berman.
Castle married a Reid in the mid -1860s. Margaret
Pace lived most of her life in Moreton Bay, Queensland.
She came to Sydney too. She has written many
fictional children's books. She was also an illustrator
and a commercial artist. Now this book was in
the archive held by Colin Host and I've read
the book. It's a short children's book and the
title of it is Trouble at Turkey Brush. It was
written in 1993. And it's set in Jasper's brush.
I've got you listening a bit today, haven't I,
with this introduction? Just some extracts. On
page eight. Above the saw pits at the mountain's
base, the track became a scrambling bridle path,
fit only for packhorses and foot travellers.
It rose through vine scrub and tree fern to Camberwara's
rim and Woodhill Gap. after which it plunged
down into Kangaroo Valley on the other side.
Edward wondered if the man lived over in the
valley. Coral Hill Farm, where the Crofts lived,
was at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by
big old coral trees, which gave it its name.
The cottage was of slabs and shingle, with a
stone chimney and stone paving on the wide veranda.
Had it been set higher up the slope, You could
have glimpsed from its windows the long curve
of Seven Mile Beach and the dunes beyond the
village. It wasn't much of a farm now, Edward
thought gloomily as he climbed over the stile,
which saved having to open the gate. Only four
cows and a calf left of their herd, and Ma had
had to sell the riding horses to pay the landlord
his rent. Goodness knows what father would have
to say about that when he came home, but Ma had
said, Well, we've got to live and no money coming
in except the little I earn with dressmaking.
The wheat had failed too. The patch of corn,
which should be flowing like a shining green
sea down the slope, was shriveled by drought,
ears only half plumped. Page 26. Jessica saw
the horse and trap bowling along the road. She
was supposed to be chasing cockatoos out of the
cornfield, but the wretched things just screeched.
and kept coming back. She'd barely have time
to get interested in her book, which she kept
hidden in a hollow stump. And there they were
again raiding the field, tearing at the ears
with their strong beaks. Anyway, the corn was
hardly worth saving. Well, she wasn't going to
stay out in the paddock chasing cockies while
Emily Hall took tea with Ma, especially since
Ma had made fresh scones. When Jessica came into
the house, trailing her sun bonnet, brown hair
damp and tangled above her heart -shaped face.
She found Emily in Ma's bedroom, standing in
her shift and being tied into a peculiar contraption.
So this was the newfangled crinoline. Mrs Hall
and her mother were adjusting tapes on what looked
like a steel ribbed cage, which was intended,
one supposed, to keep the skirt away from the
wearer's legs. However are you going to sit down,
Jessica wanted to know. Ma looked up. Jessica,
your boots are all over soil. Do put your house
slippers on and comb your hair, child. Emily,
can you not turn this way a little? There, now
let's see how the gown fits. Page 37. After the
children left for school she had to light the
copper fire in the backyard and bring out the
big iron pot in which she made soap. She had
to render the animal fats which were the basis
of her recipe and then add borax and kerosene.
It was a hot and tedious job because she had
to stand there in the sun and stir the mixture
feeling as if she were a witch at her cauldron.
When that was finished and the soap set to harden
in its moulds she went inside to bake bread.
She noticed there was not much flour left so
the children would have to go to the mill and
it would have to be seconds this time for she
couldn't afford fine white flour any longer.
Then there was Emily's dress to be finished off.
She did hate to take money from her friend for
the sewing but pride must be put in one's pocket
along with the need. She was busy sewing when
she heard the sound of a horse and trap turning
into the dooryard. Surely not Eliza Hall again
so soon. Going to the door, she was surprised
to see the erect figure of Mr Petrie, the minister
from Kiama, who gave twice monthly sermons to
the villagers of Cedar Creek. He seldom made
calls on his parishioners. She whipped off her
apron and patted her hair, then hurried to let
him in. He had walked round to the front. for
it was not his way to approach the kitchen of
a house. She showed him into the front parlour,
blue eyes quickly checking its neatness. In spite
of the day's sultriness, the minister wore his
frock coat, stock and top hat, but the stock
was limp under his bristling side whiskers. Mrs
Croft offered him tea, but he declined. I have
only a moment to stay. A few little samples for
you. Anyway, I enjoyed the book. written for
young people, obviously, but it was lovely to
read something connected to the family and the
region as a children's book. I'd like to thank
the Derry family who have contributed so I can
make this production, ensuring this history is
captured. I now welcome Colin Host. I hope you
enjoy the recording. So this is an interview
with Colin Host, who grew up in Crozier's Road,
Jasper's Brush. Colin, what year were you born
and where were you born? I was born on the farm
79 years ago. And did the farm have a name? Bellevue.
And how large was the farm? 400 acres. And did
you have siblings? Yeah, I had a sister. And
her name, and how old was she? Jean, and she
was... Younger than you? Younger than me, yeah.
How old were you when she was born? Four. Yeah,
that'd be right, yeah. What did you first remember
about the farm as a child? You were operating
a dairy on the farm? The dairy had closed down
before I... Yeah, before I was born, actually,
yeah. Was the dairy still standing? Yeah, yes,
the dairy's still there. Was it a walk -through
dairy? Yeah. Do you know how many cows were milked
there? Once again, before my time, but there
was probably a maximum of 50 in there. It was
only a small dairy. What type of cows? Mixed
breed. Anything that produced milk. Why was the
dairy closed? Well, it wasn't viable, basically.
Plus there was a lot of labour involved in dairy,
which was a problem for us. You've got 400 acres.
What was happening? Basically it was billy gate
country, you know, up and down. Right up on the
escarpment, was it? Under the escarpment and
on the escarpment, yeah. Did you have to do any
clearing yourself, or was that done? We did a
bit of clearing later in life, but, yeah. Tell
me about that later in life. Well, we had a section
up on the top which was good. We recognised it
had been good country for grazing, so we basically
hit it with the chainsaws and cleared it. So
you were mechanised. Yeah, yeah. What were you...
Planning to graze? A few extra cattle, that's
all, yeah. So they were beef cattle? Beef cattle,
yeah. Type of beef cattle or colour? Yeah, we
tried two or three different breeds of beef cattle
and interbreed bred them and, yeah, we started
off with Herefords but we ran into troubles there
with ticks. Being in that sort of country, there
was a tick problem so we had to get away from
that. They had to be very... Well, we switched
to Angus, which we found did well up in that
country, so we stayed with them and, yeah. How
many numbers are we talking? Well, we maintained
50 or 60 breeders plus support stock, so we had
120 all up as a rule. And how was that managed
on the property, those numbers? Where did you
put them all? We had a number of paddocks, subdivided
into several paddocks, and depends on the terrain.
It was fenced to the terrain to make it as efficient
as possible. And who were you working with? My
father and I, just the two of us. How old were
you? And can you tell me your father's name and
your mother's name and her former name? Father
and mother, that was Kenneth and Mary. She used
to be an Ulrich from Woodhill. Dad died at 86.
He died a year after our daughter, Deborah, got
married out at the farm. So that was back in...
What year did your daughter get married? I can't
remember. That's OK, we can follow that up. How
old were you working with your dad at this point
with the Angus? I started working... Out there
on the farm when I was 14, before that even,
before I... Who'd be the carrier with the cattle
and how the hell did you get it down from Crozier's?
We mustered the cattle at the dairy, the old
dairy. We had good fencing there and the farm
sort of come down into a... A valley or something?
A valley, yeah, into that area and it was fenced
that way to pocket the cattle into that area.
How did you do that? Were you on a horse or...?
Tractor was a rule. Sometimes we just walked
along to the fences, opened the gates and called
them and they'd come through. Was there any call
you made to them? Did have a call, yeah. We just
yelled up the gully and... What sort of tractors
were you mustering in? Originally it was the
old TIA Fergie. petrol, tractor, and then we
got a four -wheel drive. You'd have to, wouldn't
you, with that country? Yeah, to do much work
on it, you do, yeah. Even then it was really
dangerous, but anyway, it was a fiat, actually.
And who supplied you with that? Ray Watson at
Bombardier. He's related to us, too. How? Ray
directly isn't, but his wife is. So just talking
about your father, Ken, his siblings, his brother,
and were they around, his brothers and sisters?
No, no. Do you recall their names? Vera Altizer,
Merle, yeah. I think she was the oldest. They
never lived out there in my time. Did they come
and visit you? Yeah, we had family get -togethers
there pretty regularly. And what did you do?
Just had a... Get together at Sunday's room and
had a feed and, yeah. And your mum would cook?
Mum would do the cooking and, yeah. Did Mary
brew anything at Crozier's Lane? There was a
sly grog thing up in Woodhill, wasn't there,
with the old ricks? Yeah. Anyways, I loved that
story. It was too far to come to town to drink,
wasn't it? It was. You tell them who used to
go there. That they told you about? The bush
ranger, Ned Kelly. Tell me more. He used to come
over the mountain from Robertson once a month
and pick up a supply of sly grog, which they
brewed in the gullies up there and also out on
the farm. Do you know how it was made, how they
brewed it? I believe it was from waste. pumpkin
skins and that sort of thing that they brewed
up and they did it in the deep gullies around
here so that the smell of it didn't cause any
interruption or put anyone onto their tail. Unwanted
attention. Unwanted attention, yeah. Did it have
a bit of a smell to it, do you know? I don't
know, but it must have by the sound of it, yeah.
He was, according to me, a family up there. He
was a true gentleman. He'd come in on a Sunday,
had lunch with the families up there and on his
way back he picked up his supply of grog. Thinking
of horses, did you ride a horse? I did once or
twice but I got thrown off once and I didn't
worry about pursuing it after that. So you mustered
the cattle. Then what happened? How did you take
it to the sale yards? Well, we had a carrier
that come in when we required a loadout. And
who was that person, do you know? Yeah, it was
Percy Chittick or his son. In recent times, it
was Steve Chittick, Cattle Trucks. He had it.
Cattle from Coihammer actually had a trucking
business. His father was Percy, had a property
up here in Mossvale or Robertson, somewhere up
there. Do you know where the beef went? Well,
it went from here straight to Mossvale. It was
sold there. How long were you breeding? Yeah,
we were breeding. How long did... Did that last?
It was through the 50s, 60s and right through
till today actually because there's still cattle
on the property out there which we haven't got
the property no more. We sold it recently. How
were the cattle numbers over those years? Were
they consistent or did it grow? Fairly consistent.
We maintained a... Base herd of about 50 breeders
and the rest was support stock, which we bred
our own support stock and kept them going. Did
you have a name for the breed, for your stud?
No, it wasn't a stud. No. No stud name, because
some of them do. Yeah, some of them do, that's
right. So is it traditional that... You bought
the property from your father who bought the
property from his father? Is that how it worked?
No, it didn't. When did you take over the property?
Well, I didn't actually take over. Inherited
the property? Yeah, inherited. How old were you
then? It was actually our son who went on out
and learnt to do the farming with his grandfather
and because Colin had had a... bad accident and
couldn't work anymore when he was younger. Our
eldest son went on out and his grandfather left
it to him and he's the one that's just sold it.
So let's talk about that accident if you're up
for it. How old were you and what happened to
you? I didn't work on the farm permanently when
I was much of the time because there was no money
in the place so my dad kept an eye on the cattle
and I went out and did odd jobs. I worked for
Horlicks down here or Manildra as they are now
for a while and then I got a job with the RTA
on the roads. Did a few other very small odd
jobs around just to bring the money in while
we were bringing up the family. So Horlicks,
that became Manildra. Yeah. What were you doing
there? I was a mashman and they were brewing
milo products there for 12 or 18 months or so.
What were you actually doing? Early morning shift
down there and was cooking the malt or whatever
it was for the big vats down there. Ladles? Yep,
yep. And who were you working with there at the
time? Do you remember any names? Who was there
when I was there? Gordon Thames, who lost his
life out there with a tree accident. His wife
went fighting the council and all over trees
and whatnot, the rules and regulations. He did
everything right and it was good luck too, really
good luck. So where did you have your accident?
You were at RTA for a bit on the roads? I worked
with RTA on the roads, yeah. What were you doing
there? Driving, compacting machinery. Compacting
on the roads? Yeah. Was that hand operated or...?
Big roller, yeah. Was it hard work? It wasn't
real easy. It was comparatively easy work, but
looking back on it, it did a lot of damage to
me back. On the machinery, yeah. So the machinery,
you mean the jarring of the compacting? Yeah,
yeah. Through your body? Through my body, yeah.
With your spine? Mm -hmm, that's right. Is that
what's resulted in, was that the accident or
is there more? That's resulted in the problems
I've got as a result of it, yeah. So you were
working for the government. That was when the
government employed people, isn't it, to do the
public works? Yep. They also got contractors
in with their machinery. Oh, they were doing
that then? Yes. And he was driving a machine
and something on the machine broke. So they told
him to cross his legs and hold this particular
thing down. He did. I came home from shopping
in Nowra. And I find him out in the back room
laying down on the night and day and he couldn't
move. So how long ago was this? How old was he?
He would have been in his 30s. The kids were
only real little. About 85. Because they'd brought
in good occupational health legislation around
that time. Yeah. In 83 and 87, I remember, because
I had to work with that legislation. What happened?
Got a very small payout. After waiting about
10 years, pulling. So this has been the problem?
Yeah. 50 years of pain? Pain, yeah. How have
you managed the pain? Medication? Yeah, medication
and... Exercise? Exercise, yeah. Who was liable?
No one helped you sort that out? No. I'm sorry
to hear that. That's tough, Colin. In those days...
the solicitors weren't allowed to advertise.
So all we could do was to ask the union boss,
what do we do now? And he just said, you go and
see this solicitor. I was working for Cotire,
which were... Private. Private. And they hired
to the RTA. Yeah, so they were a contractor.
Yep. And they didn't do the right thing by you.
Probably my own fault for not knowing. What?
You can't know everything. No. That's not your
role. No, I just had to wear it. So where did
that leave you after that? Were you medically
retired or you were just left? Just left, yeah.
I still battled on and did what I could, but
yeah. When did you meet your wife? What's your
wife's full name? Your name, yeah, Lynn Ann Kerr.
Those days, weren't you? Yes, I was Kerr in those
days. My husband had passed away. I was a Coombs.
A Coombs? How do you spell that? C -O -O -M -B
-S. Coombs? Yeah, Coombs. And you married a Kerr
who passed? The same as what used to be on the
banknotes. Okay, Coombs. Is that relation? Very
distant. You grew up in Homebush? Yes, and I
attended the school at Flemington. It was the
home science school. How did you meet? We met
at the Young Liberals' do in Nara. They had a
ball. Nara School of Arts. Yeah. I'd taken my
younger brother with me. He's handicapped. We
were dancing together on the floor, the pair
of us. He was nearly knocking people over with
his crutches. He was enjoying himself and so
was I. Colin came on over and that was virtually
it. I had the shop at Currarong. It was a general
store and a post office with a 24 -hour switchboard.
Everything you could think of and a petrol station.
And my younger brother was put in charge of that.
filling the cars and checking the oil. I worked
the switchboard and also the shop. How long were
you doing that? I was 26 when I first started
down the shop, bought it in conjunction with
my parents and my grandma. We just called it
Coombs, Kerr and Lovett, Currarong Post Office
Store in the 60s. What was Currarong like in
the 60s? It was a mad place. For surfers, used
to go and surf and then they'd come on in, Grandma,
I love it! Give me a milkshake with an egg in
it. They all called her Grandma. And what was
the population? The regular population for living
in Currarong was about 300 at that stage. Now
it's even less. Did you ever see cow, dairy cows
down there? No, but there was plenty of wild
horses. Get them coming through and very few
of the houses had fencing right round. So lots
of the houses had cracked walls where the horses
had bumped into as they went through. So wild
Brumbies? Yeah. Where was your shop located?
Right on the beachfront at Currarong. We had
to have one section wall where we opened it up
and closed it like the old -fashioned houses
had, which was the post office window and people
used to come there and we had one telephone outside
that they could ring up if they were not local.
All the locals had their own phone. When you
got a phone call coming in, you'd answer it and
they'd say, can I have Mrs So -and -so? OK, one
minute, she's number seven. My mother told me
that number seven has gone to town today. Would
you plug them in? Yes, we had to plug them in
and we couldn't put it onto a night switch or
anything. Had to answer it if anybody rung during
the night. What was the community like back then
in Currarong? They were all very friendly and
with it. There was one lady, she was a dressmaker,
and another lady, she made wedding cakes. all
that sort of thing. And there was a beautiful
shell house where you paid to go on in one room
and they had all the different shells that you
could imagine in that room. It was absolutely
gorgeous. And fresh fish. Yes. The fishermen
went on out in their boats and... Trawlers. Yes.
Few spear fishermen. Yes. So where was the co
-op for the fish? That was at the bridge at Nowra.
On the far side. You know, there was like a fish
place there going towards Nowra? Yes, on this
side. On the left -hand side. Yeah. That was
fully the fish co -op. The fishermen used to
have big plastic boxes like... Like big tubs.
Yes, really big tubs. Most of the fishermen had
some sort of ice -making set up. They packed
the fish in the ice. So was there a pub and a
church at Currarong? No. No, not like here. There
was a bowling club, but it had only just been
started up. It hadn't been even built. My mum
and my sister became committee members on the
committee. Mum was the brains in our family and
had the mathematics. She did all of the official
books and stuff. Now, I'm just going to get back
to Colin for a minute. Yep. So we're still in
this love story. So you were travelling to...
Currarong, to visit your girlfriend. Yeah. Was
it love at first sight or...? Basically. Oh,
yeah. Yeah? Yeah. How lovely. And then we used
to... I used to drive over, go to the local dancers
that... At Jasper's Brush? Yeah, here at School
of Arts. School of Arts here in Bury. Alan Ford
and his band used to... Come down from up on
the table and we had a big dance up here once
a month. Mm -hm. And then they used to torment
him. He was on making sure people behaved themselves.
Your security. I was, yeah. You were the doorman.
Doorman, yeah. With all your fitness. Is this
before your injuries? Yes, well before his injuries.
They'd all play up a bit, would they? A little
bit, but they weren't too bad. Back in those
days, we didn't have much. As soon as I walked
in the door, they'd switch it round and play
beautiful brown eyes. And he used to go, brilliant
red. So this is the 60s, is it? Yes, the 60s,
yeah. Your father and Mary, they bought the farm
from Ernest. Yeah, that's right. Do you know
what they paid for it back then? I wouldn't have
a clue. You don't have to tell me, but it's interesting
to follow how things change. Yeah. It wasn't
actually from Ernest, was it? Your grandfather
took a heart attack and died. Yeah, he died.
And then your dad paid your grandma the money
to gradually pay off the farm when he took it
over. He took it over when he was 15. Your dad.
Yeah. So can we talk about who his parents were?
Ernest was Lawrence's son? Yeah. Was he your
father's father? Would have been, yeah. My father's
father. He was the one that died. Ernest died?
Yeah. He was only 50. So do you know what he
died of? A heart attack, I think, yeah. Haven't
got a good history for hearts. What about his
wife? Do you know who he married or did he marry?
He must have. Yes, he married. You would have
just known her as Grandma. She came and visited.
That's right, yeah. For long periods of time
around the family. So tell me what some of your
memories of your grandmother. Do you remember?
I don't remember very much of her, to be honest
with you. She was staying in the centre room
out there because the house out there was a big
six -bedroom. Do you know who built the house?
Was it family? Yeah, it was family. One of my
uncles built the house. Do you know his name?
No. Self -taught builder, I'd say. Like everybody
in those days. Did you always have electricity
on as a child? Do you remember? Yes, we always
had originally set up our own electricity. When
they were dairying out there, they were generating
their own power. They had a big battery, 32 -volt
battery system set up to supply the house and
keep the milking machines and everything going.
So that was your grandfather? Grandfather and
probably my father too. What about water? Water,
I don't know who actually set it up in the first
place. worked out that because we were on a certain
level they could gravity feed water from the
creek flying fox creek yeah flying fox i'm sorry
which is uh the creek that goes down up there
yeah and i asked why it was called flying fox
creek apparently there's a big flock of flying
foxes used to be there before our time in our
time they got probably shot yeah So that was
their watering hole somehow? It was, yeah. They
were there because of the fact that there was
regular, a permanent water supply there, yeah.
So you gravity fed from? The creek. Creek. Down
to the house. And what about the dairy? Dairy,
yeah, it was connected to the dairy as well.
Was that all the time? Yeah, yeah, that was permanent
water supply. Well, it's still there now, to
be honest with you. Just added a water tank and
that's all. That was the clincher for the sale.
Yeah. Let's talk about where you went to school
and who were some of your classmates. You went
to Jasper's Brush? Went to Jasper's Brush initially,
yeah. Who was your teacher there? Do you remember?
Bob Williams was a one -teacher school. and there
was 20 kids going there most of the time. How
did you get to school? We rode a pushbike down
to the road and got the bus along to the school.
Narrow buses used to travel up and down. We got
hopped on that. Who were some of the people there
that you went to school with? Well, it was the
ones from Croziers Road. Dick Bates, Dick and
Ellie Bates. Tell me about the Croziers. I know
there's a bit of history on them. I've got some
of that. They lived in Bates' house before Bates
came in. I don't know where they came in from,
but they did. So you have always held that 400
acres? Yeah, yeah, it was an original allotment.
It was originally a lot larger. One of his grandparents
sold off the top section. Dad sold it off a little
bit. A little bit. How much? 100 acres. So it
was 500 acres. Would have been 500, yeah. When
they had the original farm and were dairying,
the dry cows went up to the top paddocks. And
your father, on occasions, even though he went
to Jasper's Brush School, he also went up on
the mountain. Bellawonga. Yeah, Bellawonga. There
was a school up there. So he most of the time
went to Jasper's Brush, but on occasions they
went through the hill. There was apparently some
sort of track and they went on up there as well.
Right, on a horseback. So it could have been
an old butter trail or something. Yes. Could
have been, yeah. Because Angus Miller from here
in Bury, he used to sometimes go to the farm.
Before Dad was married, Grandad, they'd both
go up that way and down into the valley for the
dances, Gus and Ken. Thinking about Jasper's
Brush Cooperative and the railway station, did
you ever go to the railway station yourself?
No. Why not? Too far away for me to be. His auntie,
she used to have to go to high school in Nowra.
I don't know which one it is. OK. She used to
travel down to Jasper's Brush Railway Station
and they had to flag it down if they wanted to
catch the train there and then she'd travel into
Nowra. That'd be Aunty Elva, which is... The
eldest one. She became a nurse. So let's talk
about your son inheriting the property. What
year was that? You accepted that? We got... professional
advice and they because of my back injury they
didn't want i was advised not to take full possession
of the place to pass it on straight through to
my son which meant there was no inheritance tax
or anything like that or that's the way it went
so tell me your children how many and their names
in their year of birth and four children the
Eldest, he's the one that took over the farm.
So his name is Robert? Yes, Robert Colin Host.
Then after that we had Brian. We were just waiting
to adopt a child and then I got pregnant. So
along came Brian, seven years after his brother.
He's Brian Kenneth. And then three years after
that I had Deborah, our only daughter. She got
my middle name. She's Deborah Ann. And then we
had a surprise baby when I turned 40. So I had
Stephen. So Robert's never been married. Brian's
married. He has two girls. Stephen's married
and he has three girls. Deborah's married and
she got two of each. So there's a few grandkids?
Yes, nine. You worked a bit with Robert on the
farm? Yeah, yeah, we worked. Side by side at
times? Side by side. Yeah, got along all right.
Yeah. Did you go to Sunday school? No, I didn't
go to Sunday school. Were you raised with a religious
focus or...? Not really, no. I wasn't, no. What
about your family, Lynne? Were you raised with
a focus? Yes, I was raised with a Church of England
focus. I used to look after the minister's kids
when I was a teenager and then after that we
lived with my nana as well. She used to regularly
talk to us about Christian beliefs, etc. Then
we had a partial church round the corner that's
singing in the choir there. When we came down
here, we never ever worried about church. And
then they started a little church at Currarong,
which was open to one week the Anglicans, another
week the Catholics, another week, etc. And so
we used to go once or twice. So you moved to
the farm. How was that move for you? No, we didn't
move into the farm. We had the shop for about
seven years. Five. And you're helping Colin?
And Colin was helping at that stage and going
to the farm. So he was spending two days at the
shop and five days at the farm before we were
married. And then... After we were married, no,
it still was the two and the five. And then we
bought this little house here. That we're in
today? Yes. Yeah, okay. When Robert was, he was
three months old when we bought it. He was two
when we were fully here after we'd sold the shop.
So you live next door to this RSL. Has that been
active? It doesn't seem very active. No, it's
a return serviceman's. They have... One meeting
a month, and they used to let it out. They found
that there was too much work replacing what had
been damaged to keep letting it out for parties
and stuff like that. It became then very quiet,
just the occasional meetings, and then they started
once a month. The women's section of the RSL
would organise doing a dinner. Supper, yeah.
Yeah. The men would barbecue the sausages and
the risoles and the women would do the rest.
You've been in Bury a number of years then? Yes.
Let's hear what you've got to say, Colin. Peter
and Rosemary Muller. Muller's an old resident
of the town. What about across at the showground
here? You would have seen a bit going on over
the years. Over the years, yeah. Yeah, it's changed
pretty dramatically over here with the monthly
markets, etc. The only thing that used to be
on over here was the Royal Easter Show. And at
Christmas time, the train would quite often bring
in different works for a works party here in
the showground. What about the agricultural shows?
Did you ever show your bulls? We didn't, no.
Your Angus bulls, what did you like about them?
Quiet and behaved themselves pretty well and
threw good calves. What did they eat? What grasses
were you growing or how were you feeding them?
Mainly koi kiwi up and they're out in the open
farm, yeah. We didn't supplement, we fed them.
A couple of times we brought in a bit of hay
when it got really dry out there, but normally
they just survived on what was in the paddock.
What about cedar? Was there a lot cut on the
property? Before my time, there was umpteen truckloads
of it cut out there, yeah. Colin used to tell
me that's where, when we went for a walk, that's
where they used to saw them. They had a special
machine, a four -wheel drive. It was one of the
first that came to the district and they used
to snig them out at the gullies up there. Pretty
hair -raising, cut them down and snig them to
the top of a ridge and then they'd pull them
over and let them slide to the... Sometimes they'd
use the machine to run them down and it was a
pretty hair -raising job. You'd be on a bit of
an angle. Yeah, oh yes, yeah. Did you ever see
any remnants of saw pits? They were obviously
dug out, certain spots on the place to operate
a saw pit there. I thought it was old stump.
that had been dug out, to be honest with you.
I think that's what it might have been, actually,
because it would have been hand -dug, big trees
that had really fallen over and the stumps had
left a big hole in the ground. Up high on the
inclines, they just dropped them. They dropped
the trees and snagged them out one way or another.
Any stories you might recall from... No. Your
dad or before? What sort of trees were on Crozier's
when you were there that you cleared? Turby was
the main one up on our place, yeah. So what's
the full name of that tree? Turbondyne. Was there
any evidence of a creamery on the property? No.
Near the dairy or? Oh, well, we used to separate
the milk because we had pigs out there in the
early days. So you were breeding pigs? Yeah,
they were breeding pigs, yeah. What sort, was
there a type? I don't know what type they would
have been. So when you say breeding pigs, your
family are breeding pigs? Yeah, yeah. Well, there
used to be old sour pits down near the stalls,
long gone now, yeah. Did you have a big veranda
on your house? Yes, right round, three sides
anyhow, yeah. Did you see any fires, terrible
storms come over that mountain? Oh, yes. It was
a wild storm that placed two big pine trees we
had out the front. When I was a kid, one of them
got hit by lightning, or they both got hit by
lightning, actually, and we lost one. The other
one survived. It's still out there now. I replaced
the one that got hit by lightning and killed.
The new one's growing, yeah. There was a sleep
-out for the summer time, which we'd sleep there
if the nights were hot, too hot inside. Did you
have your own room? Yeah. He had his own room,
but in the back area, it had a double bed and
then two single beds. It came in very useful
for when my daughter got married. First of all,
she had her... wedding crew sleep there they
all slept on the on the veranda that night that
night before the wedding oh yes and then then
they all got dressed up and made up and and then
my daughter was very calm cool collected She
came and did my eyebrows for me because I was
shaking so much. You were a bit nervous, were
you, Lynne? I was, losing my baby girl. Oh. Oh.
What does she do? A minister? You mean a politician
or a... No. A... A Presbyterian minister's wife.
Plus she's also a teacher's aide. Where does
she live? Townsville. Do you know why Crozi is...
Like, the Crozi has lived... At some point in
Crozier's Road. They were the first house on
Crozier's Road. On the right -hand side. Do you
know the story behind, because there was their
own municipal councils and whatnot, do you know
why it was named after them? I've got my understanding
that I can remember from Grandad, and basically
when it came down to naming the road, because
before that time the roads weren't... actually
named, Grandad opted not to call it Host Road.
The Croziers, from what I understand, had left
their house by that stage or had only a few people
still living there and Grandad went, no, call
it Croziers Road. Mum, is that correct from your
understanding? Yeah, they had a meeting between
Croziers and Grandad. and they decided that seeing
as Grandad was right up the back and it was easier
to call it Crozier's rather than Host because
you'd go past and you wouldn't really know. So
it was better that the one in front and then
people would call in there and, oh, yeah, Host
is up the back up there as far as you can go.
So that was Ernest Host you're talking about?
My Grandad is Kenneth Host. That was the story
I heard as a child. It would have been earnest,
I'd say, that he talked with the baiters or the
croziers or whatever. A lot of farms had orchards.
You haven't mentioned that yet. What do you recall
about... Did you have the orchard when you were
growing up? It's been there all my life. It still
remains there now. Not a functioning orchard,
but there's still fruit trees there. How big
was it in terms of acres? Acre and a half, two
acres at the most. What are you growing there?
Seasonal fruits? Seasonal fruit, yeah. Apples,
pears and plums and whatever, yeah. It also acted
as a free -range chicken pen. Yeah. You had chooks.
Because it was fenced in, we had chooks and we
had a shed there for the chooks to... Go in at
night time and, yeah, hopefully lay their eggs.
So you're saying the orchard was covered? It
was surrounded with fencing, which was approximately
two and a half metres in height. And the fruit
trees, from what I understand, would have netting
thrown over them at different times of the year.
Yeah. That's quite a big fence. Yeah. High fence.
Who had made those fences? The fence was made
high. Try and keep the foxes out, but that didn't
exactly work because they just climbed up and
over the top. How'd the chooks go then? They
didn't. That's terrible, isn't it? Didn't survive,
some of them, but anyway. Originally, who would
have built the orchard? Back of me grandfather.
Lewis. Yeah, Lewis, yeah. So the original pioneer.
Yep. So those fruit trees that are there today,
are they the original trees? Perhaps some are.
Some would be, yeah. It's incredibly important.
They're the ones Lewis used to supply what came
off the trees and take it to the Aboriginal mission
that is in Bombardieri. So all surplus fruit
he would deliver? Yes. So this is Lewis' host
and it went on after. Lewis to the next one,
it didn't keep going. At some point, the host
moved. Yes. To Kiama. Kiama, yeah. Who was that?
That's another brother. Lewis was the original.
He purchased the property. He got awarded the
land grant? Yes, yes. Yep. Then after that point,
he was from... Kiama originally, I think. Moved
to Broadden Creek where they had a winery and
apparently from all the history diving that I've
done, it was a very, very well -known one. He
then purchased or got property up at Falls Creek.
Yep, Falls Creek. And then came back down to
the coast here. He then handed over to his son,
moved back to Kiama. Then from that point...
He moved back to Berry into the house, Albany,
which one of his sons had built. Yep, the one
that built the house out the farm. It's somewhere
in Albany Road. Yes. We know which house it is.
Yep, okay. But we don't know the number. Again,
it's one of the original houses in Berry. The
dairy technology, the innovation that your family
were the first. The milking machine. that was
out at the farm was the original one that was
imported to Australia. Dairy in Australia, even
though it wasn't connected to power, mains power,
they had their own generator. That's since, in
the last 12 months, been taken out of the dairy
there to be remanufactured and reconditioned
by another one of Dad's cousins. Who imported
that? Which relative? That probably would have
been Ernest. Yeah. So hence the generator you
referenced earlier. Yeah. To power that. It was
very similar to what's used in dairies now. It
would actually have a boiler system in it, which
would then pump and create suction, would have
the cups, rather than being a... Rather than
manual, in the stalls it actually had... Very
similar to what the technology is now in run
-of -the -mill dairies. He must have had some
connections there. We don't know. Yeah, he must
have been doing well to have done that, I think.
But Ernest was also part of the council, wasn't
he? Yes. So he was sitting on the council. And
was Grandad 14 when he actually took over the
property? 15. So there was definitely some financial
side of things that they had and as a property
owner that's a large property owner, that's probably
something that was definitely there. Because
it's kind of turn of century early, sort of early
20th century innovation, isn't it? Yes. And from
what I understand from this region, we were one
of the first families to switch from dairying
to beef as well, weren't we? Yeah. And when was
that switch made? Before my time, but it would
be in the 30s, probably. Before you were born?
Yeah. As a result of the Great Depression, I'd
say. I don't know, but that's what I would imagine
was the sequence of events. Yes. We'll see. But,
yeah, I'm sure that... Thank you for tuning in
to Episode 4. Crozier's Road, Jasper's Brush.
I hope to bring you Episode 5 in coming weeks.
Please contact me through my website, theresesweeney
.com .au if you have any queries or questions.
Thanks for listening. Till next time, Episode
5, Season 2. You'll hear from me then.