Memory

Venus block, Tinnenburra, 1935. This map shows two of Queensland’s major pastoral investment companies abutting one another. Bordering with Thurulgoona, ‘Venus block’ was the most easterly paddock of Tinnenburra. Thurulgoona was owned by the Squatting Investment Company and had leased this land for a number of years. In 1934, the AML&F manager in Sydney, Mr R. Sinclair Smith, informed the Squatting Investment Company of their intention to terminate the agreement and fence off the block within Tinnenburra. In anticipation of the transfer, the local manager of Thurulgoona inspected the fences and found that they did not correspond with the surveyed boundaries. In a letter to his superiors in the Squatting Investment Company, the manager provided this rough map and explained that altering the existing agreement would be complicated. The pegs and original blazed trees were all non-existent and would need re-surveying. This would cost at least £50. The existing north-south fence would then have to be moved 50 chains west. In addition to over seven miles of new fencing, this would cost approximately £250. According to the Thurulgoona manger, the fences were probably put in the wrong place to evade the high sand hill country in the area, not suitable for erecting rabbit proof netting over. As both parties had only limited tenure on their respective leases, changing the arrangement would have no benefit. A more pragmatic solution was therefore chosen. As compensation for keeping Venus, Thurulgoona exchanged a small square parcel of land with Tinnenburra. This provided access to one of Thurulgoona’s bore drains from Tinnenburra’s ‘Gidgie Camp’ paddock and remained a novel feature of the ‘Bluegrass’ pastoral holding after Tinnenburra was sub-divided. Held in archives around Australia, pastoral run files often contain rough hand drawn maps. In this instance they demonstrate how boundaries can be a physical reminder of past activities and corporate decisions. Collection of the Noel Butlin Archives, Canberra

Paddock map of Tinnenburra, 1924. Drafted after AML&F purchased the lease in 1922, this map depicts existing pastoral infrastructure. Details were later added to the map in red pen, probably by the manager. This included two new bores and the flow rate of Tyson’s ninth bore which had diminished significantly since it was first drilled. Bore No17 is described as a ‘practical failure’ supplying water for 10,000 sheep. The Tinnenburra lease expired in 1944, however, due to war time commitments the Lands Department delayed its decision about whether another 40 years would be granted. This allowed AML&F to continue running Tinnenburra during its most profitable phase, during a postwar boom in wool prices. Until the lease expired, AML&F had spent £60,556 on improvements and upkeep. Despite this investment, in 1949 the Lands Department initiated plans to sub-divide the property. Breaking Tinnenburra into numerous blocks constituted a major turning point in the economic and social history of the landscape. However, the cultural ramifications were arguably most acute in relation to Aboriginal people who, until that point, played an active role in the landscape. Collection of the Noel Butlin Archives, Canberra, 132/17