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84
WESTBURY
Sadly leaving a tiny grave behind them Edward Swarbreck, Mary
and their four small daughters , Mary Jane, Alicia, Josephine and
Victoria, set out from Bothwell in the late winter of 1843. Already
flowering trees in the settlers ' gardens were covered with pink and white
blossom and yellow wattles in the bush were breaking into bloom . The
journey through the wind, still biting cold from snow deep on the mountain
peaks , was long and slow ; over the difficult Den Hill to the Cross Marsh ,
northwards along the main highway to Launceston, and thence south
westwards for twenty two mi les to Westbury . Possibly Hal l drove the
family in his gig with their possesions fo l lowing behind in horse or
bullock- drawn carts, or Mary and the children travelled by the faster
stage coach .
Westbury, un like Bothwell, was a small settlement lying in the
midst of open, gently-undulating country on the plainlands separating
the central mountain rea from the sea.
It was fert ile land , heavily
forested, softer to the eye and mi lder in climate, its cold tempered by
winds from the sea. In 1843 the numb er of free settlers in the district
was insufficient to support a medical man without the assistance of a
Government salary 1 , but it was increasing as more land was cleared .
Bridges , roads and a sufficient supply of labour were especially needed.
Some time prior to Hall 's appointment the residents , in an
effort to get their roads and bridges built by prisoner labour, erected
buildings to accommodate a road gang in accordance with the Government 's
po licy. The wooden buildings enclosed by a high paling fence were only
temporary , but as time went on they were extended by the Convict
Department wh ich estab lished a male hiring depot hous ing three to four
hundrea prisoners who wre engaged in clearing land and agriculture when
not contracted out for service. In May 1847, at the time of La Trobe's
visit, there were three hundred and thirty four prisoners ; one hundred
and eight acres were under cultivation; fifty more were ready for use
and fifty more being cleared . 2 The station was considered ideal for
agriculture and well suited to passholders whose labour was much in
demand .
1
2
Courier, Dec. 10 , 1841.
G.O. 33/60 p. 1656.