Pioneer History of Albury Wodonga

In the 1830's, religion in Prussia, ( Germany ) was in a state of turmoil. There were two branches of the Lutheran Church, and a decree was put out by the " King " that the people must support the Union Church, or face prison. This had the effect of driving the other Lutheran Church underground.

A Pastor Kavel defected from the Union Lutheran Church, and joined the underground branch, taking many parishoners with him. To avoid prison, Pastor Kavel was investigating emigrating with his parishoners to another country, perhaps Russia. Pastor Kavel heard of the South Australian Colonisation, and went and met with an English Merchant named George Angus who was forming a Company to establish a colony of free settlers in South Australia. George Angus was sold on the idea of the Lutheran Emigrants and agreed to help finance the journey. It took two years and international political pressure to simply obtain the necessary passports from the Prussian Government.

The fist of three groups left Prussia on the 8th June, 1838. There were about 200 in the first group and they sailed to England, and on 7th July 1838 set sail for Australia. The journey took about 19 weeks, arriving on 21st November 1838. The details of the trip are in a book which is sold at the museum, explaining the total cargo of food, and how it was calculated and rationed, and detailing the many deaths at sea.

Land in South Australia was short on supply and so was expensive and hard to get. In 1861 the Robertson Land Act of NSW stated that land was available for families at one pound per acre. The minimum acreage was 40 acres, and the maximum 320 acres. This minimum was for each member of your family. Payment was on a time period basis, with a relatively small deposit. Thus a family consisting of two adults and two children could obtain a maximum of 1,280 acres. This made land in NSW very appealing to the South Australian migrants.

A Mr Schultz was deputised to spy out land on the Upper Murray ( Albury ), suitable for 700 to 800 families. He selected Dight's Forest, Jindera.

In 1867 approximately 60 migrants left South Australia and trekked using wagons all the way to Jindera. The trip took about 6 weeks. One of the original families, the Funk family came to Jindera in this wagon pictured below in 1867, and have donated the wagon to the museum. The historical significance of this wagon cannot be underestimated. The wagon which is kept under cover is in very good condition considering that it was at least 133 years old at the turn of this century.

THE ORIGINAL PIONEER WAGON BRINGING THE FUNK FAMILY TO COMMENCE THE TOWN OF JINDERA IN 1867

When the migrants came to Dight's Forest, they camped by the Four Mile Creek, where stands today a Pioneer Cairn. Previous to these migrants, Hume and Hovell blazed a trail from Sydney to Port Phillip, ( Geelong ), in 1824. British pastoralists took up large tracks of land around Albury soon after. In "Jindera" John Dight, a relative of Hamilton Hume, took up 45,000 acres known as Dight's Forest. Other relatives being Mitchel and Huon also took out pastoral leases.

THE OLDEST REMAINING ORIGINAL COTTAGE IN THE ALBURY DISTRICT, GIVES AN EXCELLENT LOOK AT LIFE IN THE LATE 1800'S.

On arrival in 1867 the pioneers found a Wattle and Daub cottage in what now the grounds of the Jindera Pioneer Museum. This is the earliest known cottage still remaining in the Albury District. The cottage could date back to the 1840's, nobody is really sure, as the town of Jindera was planned in 1867, and the cottage was here then. It was probably used by a boundary rider for the Dight's Forest Pastoral Lease, which dates back to the 1840's.

The Wattle and Daub Cottage was made by placing wattle branches upright and clamping them top and bottom, as in the picture on the right below, and filling the cracks with mud and cow manure. The cottage was restored in March 1988, and now supports a metal roof, unlike the shingle original.

Above the Wattle and Daub Cottage, the walls made of saplings or branches and the gaps filled in with mud and cow manure. This is the oldest cottage in the Albury region.

The furniture in this cottage is furniture of the pre 1900 era. The kitchen was the heart of the building, with the cooking done on the open fire. The rooms are as if the occupants have just stepped out for a while. Just looking at this fully furnished cottage you can feel the hardships our ancestors had to bear.

This slab hut is a combination of three slab huts from the region, the largest coming from East Albury. This is a typical example of the construction of this type of timber hut.On the verandah above you can see a complete set of washing equipment of the late 1800's.

The kitchen table takes centre stage, with the fire and cooking utensils on the left, and the crude but effective beds to the right. All the furniture is of the period 1870 to 1900.

Inside the slab hut is this magnificently built fireplace with warming oven, and the mantlepiece with a grand old clock, the old faithful rocking chair and the cooking utensils built to last forever.

WHEN VISITING ALBURY WODONGA PLEASE ENSURE YOU COME AND SEE THIS AWARD WINNING MUSEUM FULL OF PIONEER HISTORY

Page 1 Index	Page 2 The Residence	3 Wagons & Engine
4 History & Slab Hut	Page 5 Residence Cont.	Page 6 Wagners Store
7 Cronology & Sundry	Other Museums	Regional Attractions