Stories and paintings of Maitland Bar. Avisford and Meroo River (1900’s) by Kay Frances Gorringe

“When my father was seven his father took a bullock wagon load of onions they took the onions to Maitland Bar. There were 30,000 Chinese living there without counting the others. My dad said to his father do you think we can sell all these onions? When they arrived after driving from Cudgegong they had scurvy there, and the Chinese got up on the wagon and optioned off all of the onions. The Chinese built a wall of rocks and soil along the bluff and ran the course of the river around the top of the wall and mined the base of the river. Very clever way to mine. Dad was born in 1907.”

Painting 1. “The house was built by Tillie Devine, we bought it off the Warnaminde family in 1944 when I was a baby. ( they left us the piano) music I still have with Helena Warnamindee written on it. Tillie also owned the Mudgee Hotel.”

Painting 2.  “The house is just before the turn off to Maitland Bar. My Father sold it to Mr. Maffio who worked for us for many years. The 4 paddocks were ours on the road and the little house our hay shed. The road is from Mudgee to Hargreaves and the house at Avisford. Before the two bridges to then go up the second big hill to Hargreaves.”

 

The river “goes from the main road to meet up with Louisa Creek from Hargreaves. The famous big rock of gold was found on Louisa Creek on our property. After Hargreaves the creek goes over a bluff/ cliff which has a waterfall then flows along to meet the Maroo. There is a huge willow tree where they meet. We used swing from the branches into the pool. The bluff was always covered in wild goats. This paddock was covered in mines which were boarded up but the boards were decayed. We threw pebbles in them and the pebbles never stopped falling for ages.”

“The river travels its way from the bridge at the main road 5 miles to our homestead. There was a cement crossing about half way the she oaks all along the river. Many cars were washed of the crossing in floods the river ran very fast. After a heavy rain the water could come down 12 feet high taking everything in its path (even logs on top of water) then it would not be safe to cross until you could see the top of the rocks at Maitland Bar part of the river. Our property was 4,600 acres but the homestead is all broken up and the homestead is only 600 acres. Our Original neighbour was Mr. Sibley, then in the early 50’s Malcolm and Carmel Petrie bought the property from Mr Sibley. After they sold their property which was 2 miles before ours they started the Mitre 10 buildings.”

Additional edits 15 November 2023.

“The Chinese auctioned the onions. Our home was sold to a Malaysian family I think but not sure. The small wattle and daub house on the main road was sold to Mr. Maffio who worked on our farm after the war. He would arrive on his motorcycle and work all day. They had 4 boys I think and lived next to our land. They were a delightful family. Loved off the land themselves. I will look for a photo of him and his red tractor. Also would you mind if I use the photo you sent me so I can do a painting from the back view with the river in sight. The rocks at that spot guaged if the river was safe to cross.”


© Kay Frances Gorringe, 2023


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