The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 1/Chapter 33
CHAPTER XXXIII.
BLACK THURSDAY.
SYNOPSIS:— The Eventful 6th of February, 1851. —Dandenong Race Meeting. —Burning of the Course. —Narrow Escape of Doctor Ronald and Family. —Death of Edward Doversdale. —Destruction of Messrs. Williamson and Blow's Station. —The Loddon Country Ablaze. —Darkness in Gippsland. —Mr. Thomas Earle's Wedding. —"Dick" Ryan and the Magistrate. —Shocking Tragedy at the Plenty. —Mrs. M'Lelland and Five Children Burnt to Death. —Relief of the Sufferers. —Mal-Appropriation of Relief Funds. —Indignation Meetings. —Insurance Companies: Formation of the Fire and Marine Insurance Company." —Mr. James Smith, Manager. —The First Fire Brigade.
THE day following the Easter Sunday of 1351 is commemorated in English History as "Black Monday," because, in the language of the quaint old Chronicler Stowe, it "happened to be full dark of mist and hail, and so cold that many men died on their horses' backs with the cold," and by an extraordinary providential contrast, five hundred years after (6th February, 1851) there was a Black Thursday in Port Phillip, so called from the country being overwhelmed with fire and smoke, as if a destroying angel had winged its way through the air, scattering firebrands far and wide; its wake lit up with flaming forests, the fire and smoke, as if waging a war with each other, spreading consternation and dismay throughout the length and breadth of the Province.
From an early hour in the morning a hot wind blew from the north-north-west, and as noon approached, vast gusts of dust enveloped the town to such an extent as to obscure the rays of the sun. The atmosphere became so dense as to render out-door life almost intolerable, for every mouthful of air was like flame puffing out of a furnace, which, added to a strong stifling smell of smoke, reduced anything in the form of physical work or exercise to nearly an impossibility. Short, hot, blinding spurts of wind whizzed into the wayfarer's face, so stunning in their effect as to make him imagine himself ablaze, an illusion dispelled only when he felt and found his clothes unburned and his hair unsinged; and when the dust got a chance it half-choked him. Not only out-door, but mostly all in-door avocations were suspended for three or four hours in the mid-day, and the Supreme Court was compelled to strike work by adjourning the business, and giving lawyers and suitors a half-holiday. At 12 o'clock the thermometer of Fahrenheit was 110 degrees in the shade and 129 degrees in the sun at the shop of Brentani, a jeweller in Collins Street. At 11 o'clock in another place it was 117 degrees in the shade; at I fell to 109 degrees; but at 4 p.m. went up to 113 degrees. In the evening a reviving southerly breeze began to blow, before which the pestilential exhalations of the day vanished, and a grateful feeling of relief was the result; whilst later on some showers of deliciously refreshing rain fell like manna from the heavens. There was then not only no electric telegraph communication, but scarcely any communication, unless a slow and scattered course of post, so that it was not possible for the townspeople to obtain any intelligence from even a few miles in the country until next day, and the citizens accordingly strayed forth in small groups to the Flagstaff and Batman's Hills to look about them, in the expectation of beholding some distant indications of anything that might have happened in the interior. All that was observable was a reflected glare from the south and south-east, and an occasional temporary illumination-a sudden flare of light like a house on fire a few miles from town, which immediately disappeared. This was afterwards ascertained to be about Dandenong, where great preparations had been made for a Race meet that day; but a bush-fire rushed the course, causing both sport and sportsmen to decamp without ceremony, and doing such general damage that the Three newspapers were issued the next inn was about the only house left standing in the neighbourhood. morning, and, singular to record, only a tame six-line paragraph referring to the day before appeared in the Herald, the Argus observed a solemn silence, whilst the Daily News exploded in the following hyperbolic style:—" Yesterday yvas the most oppressively hot day remembered in the colony. T h e sirocco that prevailed during the day yvas as hot as the blast of a furnace—really scorching; clouds of dust accompanied by stifling heat penetrating every building in the city. People going out on business were like millers dealing in very dirty flour. If readers can imagine the atmosphere of dust, ashes, steam, heat and suffocation that one might experience in looking into M o u n t Etna immediately after its being extinguished by a yvaterspout, they can form a tolerably fair idea of Melbourne on the 6th February, 1851." If the volcanoism and yvaterspouting be excised from the above, there is a strong substratum of reality in it. But it was not long before accounts of yvoe and desolation came trooping into town, and for a week after every wind that blew bore upon its yvings tales of general ruin, individual losses, and suffering that harroyved those w h o listened to them. East, yvest, north, and south joined in the same refrain of the ravages caused by the bush conflagrations. Amongst the Plenty Ranges the calamity yvas hardly capable of description. T h e lire had, it was said, originated in that quarter through the carelessness of two bullockdrivers, w h o had camped on the AVednesday evening by the D i a m o n d Creek, and left some logs burning when they went ayvay next morning ; these settingfireto the long drought-parched grass, the flames spread everywhere, and fanned by the hot winds fired the bush in every direction. T h e conflagration sped along to the surrounding ranges, and the yvhole country side yvas so rapidly turned into a billowy ocean offire,that the few settlers looked on half dead with fear, and, in the words of one of them, "thought there yvas an end of the world." T h efirekept enlarging its orbit, rolling about like some huge monster, destroying everything it touched, its track marked by charred timber, embers and ashes, cries and lamentations. Not content yvith dashing along the ground, it ran up the highest trees, and the flames leaped in monkey fashion from tree to tree. T h e scrub and brushyvood were ignited as if by the wind, which acted as an avant courier in piloting the course of the fiercer element. T h efirealso glided swift as lightning along the margins of the several creeks up one side and d o w n another, and some of the people ruined by its operation, never even saw it until it crashed in about them with a crackling and roaring clamour positively astounding. A shepherd in the employ of Dr. Ronald saw a large column offireappear suddenly on the top of a hill opposite to yvhere he yvas, deploy, and m a k e rapidly towards him, w h e n he rushed to his hut to warn his yvife, who, with their child, had just time to save themselves by taking refuge on some burned ground over yvhich the blaze had passed. All the chattels they recovered was half a blanket, and some of the personal effects yvhich sought to be rescued were burned in the man's arms. T h e damage done in the Plenty district was considerable. A n unfortunate settler named M'Lelland lost his wife, five children, h o m e and 1100 sheep. Mr. John Bear suffered m u c h by the loss of cattle, and more than 100 persons were left homeless and penniless. A farmer named M'Pherson left h o m e on the Thursday morning to borrow a threshingmachine, but on returning in a couple of hours he found all his worldly property a heap of ashes. Everyone about there was more or less a loser, and there was nothing talked of but thefireand its horrors. Mr. John Harlin was nearly quite burnt out. Every inch of the fencing at his place yvas destroyed, and four m e n in his employ only saved themselves by plunging into a waterhole. O n e Edward Doversdale was with a mate herding cattle when the flames suddenly encircled them. T h e mate escaped to an eminence clear of timber and grass within a short distance, and Doversdale jumped into a creek, where he was afterwards found so maimed that he was conveyed to the Melbourne Hospital, and died after lingering in excruciating agony for a yveek. Every place was a scene of misery and lamentation; the dead carcasses of sheep, horses and cattle blocked up the waterways and thoroughfares ; and an excursion such as I m a d e in that quarter two days after was a sickening trip to take. In one portion of the D i a m o n d Creek yvas a pile of sheep and bullocks, most of them dead, but some of the bullocks yvere in the last agonies of life ; and yvhen anything was seen to approach some of the poor creatures yvould emit a yell enough to freeze the blood in one's veins. Amongst them yvas a valuable mare, alive and othenvise uninjured, except being rendered stone blind from the effects of the fire. About twenty bullocks yvere blind and half roasted, though alive and yvrithing with torture, and moaning in a heart-rending manner. Another remarkable occurrence yvas the finding in several places of hundreds of dead opossums and snakes, some of the latter several feet long. From the Plenty head to Diamond Creek was one vast area of desolation ; and had not the wind changed at a critical period of the day, m a n y believed that the ruin would have travelled along the Yarra to Heidelberg, and thence by the Merri Creek to the Moonee Ponds. The country between Geelong and Ballarat suffered extensively, and m u c h property was destroyed for miles around Geelong, especially on the Barrabool Hills, the western side of the Moorabool, and the Leigh. At the Barrabool Hills one James B o w m a n yvas burned to a cinder whilst endeavouring to extinguish a fire; Phoebe Horslop, a young girl, was severely burned; and Stephen Hopper, a farmer, had to run for his life. Dr. A. T h o m s o n declared that not one house in ten yvas left on the Barrabool Hills, and all the small farmers were either burned out or ruined. T h e quantity of hay lost there and around Geelong was put doyvn at 3000 tons, and the wheat at 50,000 bushels. Ballan, and Bacchus Marsh also suffered, and Buninyong forest was for several days in a furious blaze. Messrs. AATtliamson and Bloyv, of the Pentland Hills, had a station completely destroyed—everything consumed save the clothes worn by the people there, and Bloyv was obliged to come to Melbourne to procure a supply of covering for them. At the AVerribee, 4000, sheep belonging to Mr. Inglis perished, and his yvhole loss including crops and wool yvas estimated at £ 4 0 0 0 , whilst the hands employed on the station were unable to save their wearing apparel. M o u n t Macedon yvas lit up in numerous places in a style that would gladden the hearts of the Druids of antiquity, in yvhose worship the old Baal-fires yvere instituted, and three m e n were k n o w n to have perished there ; whilst along the overland route to Sydney commencing at Campbellfield, and on by Kinlochewe and Donnybrook, m u c h injury was done. Mr. R. H . Budd, an innkeeper, yvas in Melbourne, and on returning h o m e found himself a poorer m a n by a thousand pounds. His yvife and several children had had hair-breadth escapes. Attached to the premises yvas a dairy sunk six feet in the ground, and yvhen the flames closely menaced the place the mother thought the youngsters might be safely stoyved away in the butter-vault, and there they were planted accordingly, but it yvas soon apparent that if left in their hiding-place they yvould be baked to cinders, so they yvere, after m u c h difficulty, safely extricated, and the family safely got away. T h efiresreached northward as far as the Goulburn, yvhere the sheep on several stations yvere considerably thinned, Mr. H . N. Simson alone losing 7000. A s to Kilmore, how it escaped yvas inexplicable, as the country for a circuit of miles in every direction was a black burned-up desert, in the midst of which stood the township, yvith several large ricks of wheat and oats scattered about, and the grass destroyed almost to the corn-steads. If this had not been verified by ocular evidence it would be incredible. T h e neighbouring ranges were onfireearly on the Thursday morning, caused, it was reported, by tyvo m e n engaged in burning some stubble not far from the toyvn. For some time it was in imminent peril,fifteenfarmers in the vicinity being ruined, and 10,000 bushels of corn destroyed. I h e small townships of Seymour and Honeysuckle luckily escaped—though they were like islets in an ocean of flame for some days. T h e creeks were crammed with festering carcases of working bullocks, through the famished animals rushing into them for a drink, and finding no water, being unable to gel out, they perished. N o quarter of the district escaped, for the conflagration might be said to be general, from Gippsland to the Murray, and from the Plenty to the Glenelg. At the Pyrenees, for a distance offiftymiles, thefiresskipped along in every direction, playing some curious pranks, skirting a marked-out road or small creek in their courses, and not crossing them; then suddenly jumping over, disdaining to meddle with small trees, and when they were impeded by one of u n c o m m o n height or width, clutching it without mercy, and choking it off with an explosion like a gun-shot. T h e Loddon country was fire-swept over a large portion of its superfices, and for six days the conflagration held high revel on the AVimmera. Colac was not spared, and disastrous intelligence was received from the " far west." Over what yvas then known as the "Portland country " the bush was onfirein every direction, and creeks and waterholes yvere never known to be so low. Amongst the suffering squatters was Mr. Neil Black, to the tune of 4000 sheep. At M o u n t Gambier, near the Glenelg (the South Australian boundary), the township was almost completely extinguished. T h e AVestern Port District and the wild Gippsland country, then nearly a terra ignota, were not spared. T h e Dandenong division was devastated byfirein such a manner that every vestige of tillage or verdure was burned from off the ground. T h e homestead of Dr. Bathe, of Western Port, yvas besieged by the flames, and Mrs. Bathe had the presence of mind to rush to the stable and release the horses, yvhich flew out, but, terrified by the burning, returned to their shelter, and perished. Mrs. Bathe herself took to the bush, and escaped. Dr. Bathe was reported to be a heavy loser, and it was said a sum of £ 3 0 0 m bank notes had been destroyed in the house. In Gippsland there was luckily no loss of life, and the destruction of property was trifling, oyving to small population and sparse settlement. But the fiery tempest there lost none of its fury, and was even more awe-striking, as m a y be imagined from the folloyving extract, printed about a fortnight after in the Church of England Messenger:— "DARKNESS IN GIPPSLAND."
" Among the effects of those terrible fires which will make the 6th of February memorable in the annals of this colony, was one of which very little notice has been taken, and which is perhaps almost unknoyvn to the public generally, but excited the greatest awe, and even terror, in the minds of many who witnessed it. W e allude to a total darkness which overspread the whole of Gippsland, and literally changed day into night. This darkness, according to the accounts which yve have received of it, began to be perceived about one o'clock in the afternoon, and gradually increased until it became so intense as to hide from sight even the nearest objects. Settlers yvere obliged to feel their way from their out-houses to their huts. O n e gentleman told us that in unsaddling his horse he actually could not see the animal while he was standing close beside it. Throughout the remainder of the day it continued perfectly dark, and many went to their beds fearful lest they should never see the break of day again. Such a phenomenon was indeed calculated to inspire in all a vague and undefined dread of some impending evil. For the smoke, yvhich, carried by the north winds from the burning forests on the ranges over the plains below, totally intercepted the sun's light, yvas so high as scarcely to be perceived by the smell, and to produce none of that suffocating sensation yvhich might have been expected, and hence few conjectured the real cause of the sudden and complete darkness in yvhich they yvere enveloped. W e do not wonder, therefore, that thus, unaccountable as it appeared to them, accompanied moreover by the rolling of distant thunder and occasionalflashesof lightning, deepened also, rather than relieved, in m a n y places by the blaze of the fires yvhich were crackling in the neighbouring woods, running with a fearful rapidity through the open country, or perhaps threatening their home-stations with destruction, it should have suggested to m a n y the thought that the end of the world was at hand, and that m a n y trembled under the expectation of the immediate coming of the Lord to Judgment. That expectation was indeed groundless. O n the following morning the sun rose in unclouded brightness, and the terrors of the preceding day were dissipated." S o m e of the Gippsland aborigines, yvho had acquired a small smattering of the English vocabulary, accounted for the physical phenomenon in a very matter-of-fact way, by sagely wagging their curly heads and declaring that " bright fellow (pointing towards the sun) had got the blight in his eye." Throughout the country generally traffic yvas temporarily suspended, and the carriers of several of the inland mails yvere intercepted by bush fires. T h e coasting vessels at sea so perceptibly experienced the immense heat bloyving from land, that several passengers were oppressed with mingled feelings of sleepiness and incipient suffocation. Even twenty miles from shore flakes offirewere seen shooting about, and the air wasfilledwith cinders and dust, which fell in layers on the vessels' decks. There are not m a n y n o w in the colony yvho had actual experience of the horrors of the Black Thursday of 1851, to yvhom one can apply for any written recollections of the calamity. From a kind friend (Mr. A. C. L e Souef, Usher of the Legislative Council) I have received an extremely interesting communication corroborating some of the particulars embodied in m y narrative. From this document I transcribe the following sombruous, eloquent extract:—" For some days before, the weather was exceedingly hot, and bush fires were burning in several directions. T h e sun in the morning rose like a ball of blood, and an intensely hot wind bleyv from an early hour, which, as day advanced, fanned and spread the fires already burning. B y eleven the heat was almost unbearable; a fierce, scorching, and blasting wind withered all before it. Dense volumes of smoke, rising in all directions, enshrouded portions of the country in partial obscurity. T h efiresextended from Cape Otway to Cape Schanck"; and northwards to the Murray. In viewing it from an eminence all Victoria appeared a vast conflagration. Vesselsfiftymiles at sea had their decks covered with leaves and ashes. Going over the big hill on the Sydney R o a d after dark yvas a sight I shall never forget—the yvhole forest lighted up with a most indescribable unearthly glare—the lofty trees burning to their very tops with a sullen, angry roar—while above hung a dense canopy of heavy lurid smoke. As yve rode along on our trembling horses the trees crashed down close to us, and on one occasion the burning leaves struck in our faces as a huge old tree—a species of the stringy b a r k — c a m e thundering down, a mass of fire and flame. Every n o w and then some cattle or horses, stupefied or maddened by thefire,would gallop wildly by. A s yve entered the open ground near the toyvnship of Kilmore, the surrounding hills, burning from base to summit, presented a grand and terrible sight." But, in chronicling all the saddening consequences of this day of terrors, the yvriter cannot overlook Uvo amusing incidents that occurred in Melbourne, one at each extreme in the City—tyvo separate and distinct acts in the drama of life—the one flashing like a small gleam of sunshine, a sparkling bit of comedy ; and the other a queer black mark, a scrap of bouncing farce. T h e first refers to the moral courage evinced by a lady and gentleman yvho, disregarding all the inauspicious o m e n s of the clerk of the weather, rushed from the syveltering heat of Melbourne into the Plymeneal Sanctum, and contracted a life partnership, which it is to be hoped m a d e them happy ever after. This auspicious event is thus announced in the Daily Ncivs of the 7th :—" Married on Thursday, 6th February, at St. Peter's Church, Melbourne, Mr. T h o m a s Earle, late of Hull, to Miss Hortensia Hoyves, daughter of Captain John Hoyves, of Cliff House, Gorleston, Suffolk." It is evident from this that " Black Thursday/' yvas a " yvhite " day for one "happy pair" of Melbournians, at all events; and that the presence of mind necessary for setting sail on the ocean of yvedlock under such Simoon discouragements ultimately found its reward is evidenced by the fact that the two, noyv old Earles, are still alive and prosperous—the gentlemanfillinga responsible position in a leading yvool warehouse, and the lady the centre-piece of a family ring of nine young colonists. AVhilst the nuptial knot yvas being tied on the Eastern Hill, the Police Court on the AVestern Hill was solemnly engaged in the untying of a different complication. M r . Edward Bell, J.P, and Private Secretary of M r . Latrobe, the Superintendent, and M r . Richard ("Dick") Ryan, a squatter, yvere having some personal altercation. " D i c k " somewhat unpolitely informed Mr. Bell that " he did not care a d for him, orforall the Magistrates in the country," and for this heinous offence a s u m m o n s was taken out against him of the unruly tongue. T h e charge was laid as " cursing," though it is doubtful if the phrase complained of could bear that interpretation, as it was simply communicating an item of intelligence, and not conveying either invocation or imprecation. However, the case yvas investigated by a Bench of Magistrates, who, either from the lassitude provoked by the atmospherical condition of the weather, or the legal difficulty involved in the issue, reserved judgment for a week, and in the end " D i c k " was fined one shilling. A s to this defendant cared neither a " d " nor a d u m p , and could well afford to laugh at such a trifle, for, outside the restricted circle of the Melbourne Club, he yvas accounted a better fellow than his prosecutor. A n d such were the two odd episodes—the two comic flashes that shot up like rockets amidst the general gloom. O n the Friday rain fell lightly in several parts of the interior, and on Sunday, the 9th, prayers for rain were offered in several of the Melbourne churches.
SHOCKING TRAGEDY AT THE PLENTY.
All the smoke and fire, the crashing of burning forests, the lands laid yvaste, and the pyres of sheep and cattle carcasses festering in the broiling sun, sink into insignificance beside a horrible incident which occurred at the Plenty, yvhere a mother and five children were killed by roasting and suffocation. T h e deceased w o m a n , before referred to, was Mrs. M'Lelland, wife of George M'Lelland, a thriving and industrious settler, residing on the banks of the D i a m o n d Creek, a tributary of the Plenty. Their family consisted of five children, of ages varying from one to eight. Their names were John, James, Joseph, M a r y Anne, and AVilliam, and these with their mother were the victims of the terrible catastrophe. Their homestead was situated near what is termed " T h e Ranges, and about thirty-five miles from Melbourne. M'Lelland was what is k n o w n as a well-to-do m a n , worth about £ 8 0 0 and gradually bettering his condition until crushed by this overwhelming misfortune. O n the day of the occurrence M'Lelland and his family were in their hut, little thinking of the destruction which was hurrying upon them with lightning speed from the mountains. Mrs. M'Lelland looked out from the door, and feeling the effect of thefierywind sweeping along, she hastily re-entered, declaring it was like the Day of Judgment. In a few minutes a crash yvas heard as of a peal of thunder, and instantly the hut was a sheet offire.T h e horror-stricken inmates endeavoured to break through the flames, the father madly trying to save the children. All, however, he could do yvas to take the boy Johnny, his pet child, eight years old. and dash out yvith him through the furnace. A creek of yvater was close by, and almost surrounded the hut, and for this M'Lelland m a d e ; but short as was the distance, it was too m u c h for the little boy, yvho faintly begged his " daddy to lay him down," and, with the words, died from heat and exhaustion. M'Lelland then placed the body on the ground, and, maimed and half dead himself, succeeded in reaching a creek about ioo yards off, into yvhich he plunged, and, buried to his neck in the water, was able with m u c h difficulty to keep alive until the worst yvas over. T h e yvife and the other four children forced their yvay out of the hut after the father, but died a feyv yards away in the bush. T h e six corpses, or what remained of them, were collected, placed in a bullock dray, and sent to Melbourne, and they arrived at Fitzroy about 9 o'clock on Saturday evening. T h e husband was brought in about half-an-hour after, and was an object of deep commiseration. H e yvas so severely burnt and yveakened that there yvere but faint hopes of his recovery. O n e of his arms was little more than a charred bone. AVhere the King's College noyv stands in Nicholson Street, facing Faraday Street, there yvas a rakishly rigged-up hostelry known as the Traveller's Rest, and here the bullock team with its load of roasted corpses pulled up, and the dead yvere moved inside. Dr. AVilmot, the Coroner, decided upon holding the inquest there the same night, and this having become generally known, there was a large exodus of people from Melbourne to the place. It was moonlight, and the m o o n has hardly looked upon a more ghastly spectacle from that day to this. It yvas m y painful duty to be present, and the impression engraven on m y mind has never been erased. Stretched on a bed yvas the invalid husband, writhing and groaning piteously; and though his evidence yvas considered desirable, to use him as a yvitness was out of the question. Laid out on a tarpaulin in an outhouse yvere the six corpses, unshapen masses of blackened bones and grilled flesh; all except the poor mother unrecognizable, and the baby more than half consumed. A jury yvas empanelled, and after the sickening though necessary ceremonial of " viewing" yvas gone through, Alexander Miller, a shepherd in M'Lelland's employ, was examined, and his testimony disclosed as additional facts : That, though there were fires in the Ranges for some days before, they did not approach nearer than ten miles to M'Lelland's place until the Thursday morning. H e yvas out driving his sheep to yvater when he saw the flames coming rapidly toyvards him through the bush with a loud hissing, crackling noise ; and getting alarmed he hurried the sheep back toyvards the homestead to have them as m u c h as possible out of danger. O n arriving there about noon the place yvas onfire,and he shouted loudly but received no answer. T h e fire n o w began to press him so closely as to compel him to abandon the sheep and run for his life, the flames almost up to his heels. AVith his utmost speed and much difficulty he kept ahead until he arrived at the creek, into yvhich he plunged head foremost, and remained there with only his chin upyvard above water, scarcely daring to move, and not emerging from his unpleasant bath until dark, when he crept forth and approached to yvhere he had left the hut; but there yvas not a trace of it remaining. Going back to a portion of the creek from which the family used to fetch water, he there found M'Lelland up to his neck, and helped him out. Inquiring after the woman and children, he was told they were all dead, and both he and his master then lay d o w n on the bank of the creek, remaining there until the morning, when M'Lelland proposed that they should go in search of the bodies; but the witness strongly advised that before doing so they should proceed to the station of Dr. Ronald (about three miles distant) for assistance, and this they did. Here M'Lelland, w h o was unable to travel further, remained, and Miller procured at the Bridge Lnn a bullock team and dray, and returned to M'Lelland's, where he found Dr. Ronald, Peter Hunter and John Parish. H e was then shown, lying with their faces to the ground, the six dead bodies or what remained of them. They yvere found some twenty yards from the hut, and had not been moved. T h e eldest boy was about a dozen yards from the others. Not a scrap of clothing remained on any of them. They were stark naked, black, and burnt. A verdict of " Accidental Death " yvas returned. Next day, Sunday, all the burnt remnants were coffined and interred in the Melbourne Cemetery, and M'Lelland was transferred to the Hospital, where he slowly recovered, and lived for a few years. T H E RELIEF OF THE SUFFERERS. It yvas the Geelong Advertiser that first designated the 6th February " Black Thursday," and to the credit of Geelong a movement to raise funds to alleviate the distress occasioned by the misfortunes of the day, was c o m m e n c e d in that town, where the considerable s u m of £ 1 1 0 0 yvas soon raised, and it was subsequently augmented to £ 1 5 0 0 . O n the 18th February a public meeting ofthe citizens of Melbourne was held at the Mechanics' Institute, to devise means for the relief of the Bush-Fire Sufferers, but the attendance yvas not so numerous as one would have expected from the nature of the object. T h e Mayor presided, and addresses were delivered by Messrs. J. P. Fawkner, J. F. Palmer, W m . AVestgarth, N . L. Kentish, John Hodgson, J. T. Smith, Abel Thorpe, T. M'Combie, and J. C. King. Resolutions were passed (1) "Declaring the movement to be one deserving ofthe hearty support of all persons w h o have under Divine Providence been exempted from the ruinous losses occasioned by the late dreadful conflagrations, and that by liberal contributions in money or kind to aid in the alleviation of the misery and distress." (2) "That subscription lists be immediately opened, and all be asked to subscribe to meet the emergency of the case; " and (3) " That the Clergy of every denomination be solicited to grant their aid and assistance in promulgating the views and objects of the meeting, and stirring up their congregations to co-operate." T h e folloyving Committee was appointed to take the steps necessary to effect the purposes contemplated:—viz, the Mayor, Messrs. J. F. Palmer, John Bear, J. B. Bennett, G. S. Brodie, J. Dinyvoodie, J. S. Griffin, Robert Kerr, M . O'Connell, N . Guthridge, John Lush, A. F. Greeves, Peter Davis, Abel Thorpe, Dalmahoy and D. S. Campbell, J. R. Pascoe, J. Dunbar, AAT. U . Tripp, T, Lane, M . Lynch, J. P. Fawkner, J. T. Smith, David Young, Joseph Raleigh, Captain G. W . Cole, and Major AA'. Firebrace. T h e Mayor and Mr. Charles Bradshayv yvere nominated co-Treasurers, and £ 3 0 1 6s. was subscribed in the room, the Chairman, M r . Ar. Nicholson, heading the roll with a cheque for £ 2 5 . A meeting of the subscribers yvas held on the 22nd April, yvith Dr. Palmer as Chairman. T h e Committee's report shoyved the total receipts at £ 1 6 7 1 17s. 8d, viz, £ 1 6 0 3 4s. 8d. subscriptions, and £ 6 8 13s. donations from the neyvspapers in account for printing and advertising. T h e expenditure consisted of—Various Grants, £ 6 3 3 12s.; T o Kilmore Relief Committee, £ 2 8 1 5s.; Incidental Expenses, £ 9 17s. 4d. ; Commission for collecting, and grant to Secretary, £ 2 0 ; Balance, £ 7 2 7 3s. 4 d . — £ 1 6 7 1 17s. 8d. T h e balance yvould be reduced by some outstanding claims to £ 6 5 8 ios. 4d, and this the Committee, not deeming there was any further relief use for it, thus appropriated—£250 each to Melbourne Hospital and Benevolent Asylum, £ 4 0 each to the Friendly Brothers and St. James' Visiting Societies, £ 3 0 each to St. Peter's Visiting and the Strangers' Friend Societies, and £ 1 8 ios. 4d. to the Ladies' Society, established in connection with the Church of England—the uncollected balance when received to be distributed, pro rata, to the same purposes. T h e report declared that the damage supposed to be suffered, fell considerably short of general expectation. T h e losses sustained by persons w h o had been relieved were m u c h over-estimated, and amounted to £ 6 5 0 2 5s. 5d. T h e returns as furnished by a Relief Committee appointed at Kilmore amounted to £ 3 1 4 5 , a n d the Plenty £ 2 3 6 0 , or an aggregate of £12,007 5s- 5 d T h e number of individuals, inclusive of children, relieved by the Committee was 255, and the amount £ 9 1 4 16s. Separate collections had been m a d e for the Plenty and Kilmore, and for the latter, £ 2 8 1 5s. had been given to purchase seed corn, whilst the Plenty had £ 1 3 1 12s. for the like purpose. T h e relief was administered upon certain principles determined by the Committee, and to be regulated by the losses and position of the sufferers. Such a summary appropriation (or mal-appropriation, as many preferred to term it), evoked m u c h dissatisfaction; but as the Committee had not only disposed of, but actually paid away the balance to the several Charities there was no alternative but to grin and bear it. T h e credit, or discredit of the " sharp practice " was accorded to Dr. Palmer, w h o had an unhappy knack of often doing a good thing in a wrong way ; but there is no doubt that he was freely aided and abetted by three-fourths of his co-Committee m e n , who were members ofthe Directories of the several Institutions so pecuniarily benefited. T h e surprise and dissatisfaction prevailing amongst the general body of subscribers found vent at a public meeting held in the Mechanics' Institute, on the 6th May, presided over by Mr. T h o m a s M'Combie. Here a letter was read from the Rev. A. M . Ramsay, Presbyterian Minister, expressing strong disapproval ofthe action ofthe Committee. Addresses vehemently denouncing the unauthorized alienation of a fund contributed for a special purpose were delivered by the Chairman, Messrs. John Hodgson, John Hood, N. Guthridge, J. S. Johnston, J. P. Fayvkner, and AV. R. Belcher. A personal encounter took place between J. P. Fawkner and N. L. Kentish, which was prevented from ending in a pugilistic "set to" only by the strong personal interposition of some of the parties present. Mr. Guthridge stated that M'Lelland, who had lost, wife, family, and all he had in the world by the conflagration, all he received yvas £ 4 0 . Resolutions were passed (a) strongly censuring the Central Relief Committee for alienating to other purposes funds collected for the relief of the sufferers by the bushfires; (b) declaring that a gross breach of faith had been committed; and (c) appointing Messrs. R. Grice, N. Guthridge, T. M'Combie, W . K. Bull, J. Hood, J. R. Pascoe, S. Croad, E. Sayce, AV. R. Belcher, M . Cantlon, R. Duff, J. Bennett, and R. Kerr, a Committee to carry out the intention of the subscribers, and to apply to the several Charitable Institutions specified to refund the money wrongfully paid over to them. As might be supposed the several applications so made met yvith refusals, and not a farthing yvas paid back, for which the several Charities yvere not to be blamed ; for, so far as they yvere concerned, the cash reached them in a regular yvay, and they did right to stick to it. The next course adopted was the presentation of a requisition to the Mayor to convene another indignation meeting, which he declined to do. It was held, hoyvever, yvithout his co-operation on the 27th May, when the proceedings were stormy, recriminatory, and very unedifying. A resolution yvas, however, affirmed insisting in strong terms that the Fire Relief Committee should make restitution of the £ 6 5 8 ios. 4d. so misapplied, and a Committee yvas appointed to urge the demand accordingly. The demand yvas made, and treated yvith contemptuous silence. N o one anticipated any other result, and this yvas the last publicly heard of a transaction, the undoubted irregularity and injustice of which could not be defended on any honest or rational grounds. INSURANCE COMPANIES, AND THE FIRST FIRE BRIGADE. INSURANCE.
The delay and uncertainty entailed in effecting insurances through Sydney and Van Diemonian agencies, suggested the formation of a local Company; and accordingly at a public meeting in the Lamb Lnn, on the 6th April, the project was started and the folloyving prospectus adopted : — FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY.
Directors : R. H. Browne, Esq, S. J. Browne, Esq, Rev. J. Cloyv, John Gardiner, Esq, Arthur Hogue, Esq, Charles Hoyvard, Esq, D. C. McArthur, Esq, AV. F. A. Rucker, Esq, James Simpson, Esq, R. S. Webb, Esq, P. AV. AVelsh, Esq, AV. H. Yaldwyn, Esq.; Auditors : Skene Craig Esq, and William Highett, Esq.; Surveyor: Robert Russell, Esq.; Solicitor: AVilliam Meek, Esq.; Secretary: J. Smith, Esq. Capital, £50,000 in 1000 £ 5 0 shares. The shares were in tolerably good demand, and another meeting yvas held on the 2nd August, yvhen thefirstAnnual Board of Management yvas elected; the difference betyveen it and the Provisional Directory being the substitution of Messrs. G. B. Smyth, F. A. Powlett, Alex. Thomson, R. Jamieson, J. O. Denny, and C. Williams, for Messrs. S. J. Browne, John Gardiner, AV. F. Rucker, J. Simpson, P. AV. AVelsh, and W . H . Yaldwyn. Further changes in the personnel were subsequently made. The manager was the same Mr. James Smith yvho so assiduously yvatched over the infant destinies ofthe Savings Bank. AVhatever he undertook he stuck to with a zeal and perseverance not to be excelled. Though sloyv, he yvas sure, and honest as the sun, and any project with yvhich he was responsibly associated, if it did not rise to an absolute success, never descended to a dead failure. The Insurance Company yvas conducted in the same offices as the Savings Bank, in Collins Street AVest; and, though it never did a large share of business, it contrived to pay a dividend. It yvas not fated to enjoy a long life ; but when it died it gave up the ghost with a clear conscience, for it had not much to answer for. There had been feyv fires, and the working expenses of the concern were very small, for outside the managerial expenses no outlay was incurred, exceptfora few buckets and ladders (not to be found when yvanted) and a moderate remuneration to the yvater-carters on duty. There yvere six classes of risks, at premiums ranging from 5s. 6d. to 42s. per cent. Loose strayv, hay, or any kind of dry fodder knocking about the yards or street corners, was a constant source of terror to the manager for fear of afireaccident; and if he saw a haystack within a dozen yards of any premises insured, it assumed the proportions of a terrible bogie in his eyes. T o make it worse, the toyvnspeople yvere careless in this respect, and the innkeepers and others used to pile up hay and strayv in the enclosures near their houses. In March, 1840, Mr. Smith persuaded his Board to issue a notice " declaring the existence of one or more ricks of hay or strayv in the immediate vicinity of a building or other property yvhich has been previously insured by the Company, if not duly notified and additional premium paid, to be a violation of the policy, and no such risks yvould in future be accepted." The rates of premium on marine risks graduated from 1% per cent, to Launceston, to 3 per cent, to England. Toyvards the close of 1842 there yvere tyvo extensivefiresin Collins Street, which gave the Company such a twist as it never got over, and the next year it shut up. It yvas said to be the only one of the early companies that yvas able to return the capital invested. In 1840 there yvas established in Melbourne a branch of Lloyd's Agency, yvith Messrs. Arthur AAmlis and Co. as its representatives, and Mr. David Goodsir as Surveyor. In 1841 the Australian Trust Company, incorporated by Royal Charter, yvith £1,000,000 capital, and a Colonial Board of Directors at Sydney, appointed Messrs. Montgomery and M'Crae as its Melbourne Solicitors. In 1840 there yvas started in London the Australasian Colonial and General Life Assurance and Annuity Company, with a capital of £200,000 ; and in 1841 it opened an agency at Melbourne under the control of Mr. Alexander Andrew, yvith Dr. E. C. Hobson as its local Physician. Its leading features were described as participation in the profits, and lower rates of premium than those of most Societies yvhich do not give profits to the Assured. The Melbourne Fire and Marine Insurance Society yvas started in April, 1847, yvith the folloyving Provisional Committee :—Messrs. James Simpson, E d m u n d AVestby, Joseph Raleigh, AV. F. Splatt, George Annand, Henry Moor, Charles Williamson, James Jackson, F. G. Dalgety, Isaac Buchanan, F. I). AVickham, and Dr. Thomas Black. It issued a preliminary address, in yvhich it was declared as a reason for its establishment that there are at present about 2536 houses in the T o w n of Melbourne; and it appears by the late Census, taken in February, 1846, with the increase since that period, that the population of Melbourne exceeds 12,000 souls, with every prospect of a rapid extension of the T o w n and suburbs. For some years the only means of effecting Insurances yvas in the Cornwall Fire and Marine Insurance Company, established in Van Diemen's Land, which derived annually a large profit from its operations in Port Phillip. The capital of the Company was to be £50,000—namely, 1000 shares of £ 5 0 each, on which £ 1 0 per share was to be paid on allotment. Though this undertaking was inaugurated under the auspices of some of the best business names in Melbourne, it collapsed in a few days, as only 15 persons applied for shares—in all 405—and the Preliminary Committee determined not to go on unless the whole thousand were taken up. THE VICTORIA FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY.
In October, 1848, another, but successful, effort was made to float a local Company under the above designation, and on the 'nth a preliminary meeting yvas held at the Royal Hotel. The capital was to be £100,000 in 4000 £ 2 5 shares, and the chief projectors were Messrs. C. H . Ebden, Henry Moor, F. D. AVickham, Henry Condell, AV. Meek, and W . Mortimer. A further meeting followed on the 12th January 1849 'when it was announced that 3000 shares had been subscribed, but dissatisfaction was expressed that' the name of the Chairman (Mr. Ebden) was not down for any. The following Provisional Committee was appointed to promote the object contemplated, viz. :-Messrs. J. R. Murphy, Henry Moor, William Highett, A. M'Lachlan, George Annand, J. W. Howey, Henry Miller, George James, Hugh Glass, Matthew Gibson, George AVhite, and AV. B. Burnley. A special meeting of shareholders yvas convened at the same place on the 9th March, Mr. M'Kenzie (the Deputy Sheriff) in the chair. A report from the Provisional Committee disclosed the fact that 3653 shares had been allotted to 370 applicants, of yvhich 3150 yvere paid for; and of the applicants 300 had signed the deed of settlement. Shareholders of twenty shares yvere qualified for the Directorate, and there were tyventy candidates for the dozen seats of yvhich it was to consist. T h e election was at once proceeded with, under the scrutiny of Messrs. D. S. Campbell, Frederick Cooper, and Samuel Thorpe. The ballot showed the following result:—Henry Moor, 431; A. M'Lachlan, 416; J. R. Murphy, 413; A. M'Kenzie, 407 ; Henry Miller, 368 : F. D. Wickham, 360 ; AVilliam Highett, 359 ; George Annand, 322; J. AV. Hoyvey, 320; AV. B. Burnley, 288; E. B. Greene, 285; M . Gibson, 281. These twelve, as the pollers of the highest numbers, yvere declared to constitute thefirstBoard. Appended are the unsuccessful aspirants :—George James, 251; J. T. Smith, 162; H u g h Glass, 148; Joseph Hall, 139; John AVatson, 109 ; David Young, 85 ; Thomas Black, 83 ; Robert Robinson, 58. For the Secretaryship there yvere three candidates, in which contest George Frazer received 187 votes; James Damyon, 173; and Edward Courtney, 156. Frazer continued for several years as Chief Executive Officer ofthe Institution. Messrs. J. B. Bennett and J. H . Ross had afightfor the Solicitorship, but thefirst-namedyvon by nearly tyvo to one, the voting being—Bennett, 318 ; Ross, 190. Subsequently the Board of Management nominated Messrs. Charles Laing and James Ballingall to be House and Marine Surveyors respectively. Such is the origin of a Company yvhich prospered in its work, and continues in its thriving condition to the present, GEELONG.
An attempt was made in 1847 to start the Australia Felix Fire and Marine Insurance Company at Geelong, yvith a capital of £100,000 in 2000 shares of £ 5 0 each. A prospectus was issued, and a small, though substantial, Provisional Directory named; but the time had not arrived for the thorough development of such an enterprise. In August, 1850, the Geelong and AVestern District Fire and Marine Insurance Company was initiated on a proposed capital of 4000 £ 2 5 shares (£100,000). O n the 23rd January, 1851, a meeting yvas held at Mac's Hotel, yvith Mr. Charles Nantes as Chairman, yvhen the following Directors were elected by ballot :—Messrs. C. J. Dennys, C. Nantes, Silas Harding, G. A. Lloyd, and Edward Willis. Mr. J. S. Hill was appointed Manager; Mr. J. A. Gregory, Solicitor; and the Bank of Australasia, Bankers.
THE FIRST FIRE BRIGADE.
The occurrence of several fires in Melbourne and notably the one at Condell's Brewery, in Little Bourke Street, in July, 1845, quickened into activity a long slumbering desireforthe formation of some recognized body outside the military and police to assist in the extinction of fire. T o effect this purpose a public meeting, convened by the Mayor (Moor), yvas held at the Royal Hotel, Collins Street, on the 21st July. The result yvas the formation of a "Fire Prevention Society," to be supported by voluntary subscriptions. In September the Society made the following appointments, viz. :—Inspector : T h e City Chief-Constable (Mr. AV. J. Sugden). Foreman : Mr. Jeremiah Dalton. PTremen : Henry Rankin, Peter AVartmough, Daniel MTntosh, John Cross, Robert Knox, and AVilliam Jordan. It was bitterly complained that the public, support was not accorded as liberally as it ought to have been, for the maintenance of such an institution, and it was mentioned as a reproach upon the public spirit of the time that out of a town population of 12,000, only 204 persons opened their pockets in the good cause. The Directors of the Victorian Insurance Company, in February, 1851, took the concern under its wing, and reformed it very considerably. In its reconstructed condition it thus appeared :—Superintendent, Chief-Constable Bloomfield; Foremen Jeremiah Dalton, and Daniel O'Reilly; Firemen, Michael Lynch, J. AV. Roberts, R. AATlliamson, D. M'Carthy, John Ryan, P. Ryan, M . Heaphy, M . Doolan, Oliver Johnstone, and David Rosier.