Shoalhaven History #2 - 'Alexander Berry' Traditional Cache
TheHunterGatherers: Time to go.
Shoalhaven History #2 - 'Alexander Berry'
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The second in a series of caches that will take you to locations of
historical significance in the Shoalhaven.
This is an easy one! The only difficulty will be avoiding muggles.
You will be out in the open and in full view of everybody who
passes by. Although you could do this as an easy drive-by, I highly
recommend that you take the time to have a look around the estate.
Take a self guided tour, do some wine tasting or have a hit of
golf.
This cache marks the site of the first European settlement on the
South Coast of NSW. In 1822, Alexander Berry and Edward
Wollstonecraft settled on the foothills of a mountain named
Coolangatta, after obtaining a grant of 10,000 acres and 100
convicts from the NSW Government.
Alexander Berry wrote: “For my headquarters I fixed on the
north side of the river at the foot of a hill called by the natives
‘Collungatta’. I located the 10,000 acres grant in this
locality.”
‘Collungatta’ was the Aboriginal word for
splendid views, a description that Berry
found difficult to dispute.
On 1 July 1822, Alexander Berry climbed Mt. Coolangatta to view
his vast estate. He spent the night atop this ancient mountain,
pondering the future of his settlement and possible uses of its
fertile land.
Coolangatta quickly developed into a self-supporting village
boasting mills, workshops, tradesmen and artisans. Within years
Coolangatta was exporting thoroughbred horses to India, Cedar to
Europe and cattle, tobacco, cheese and wheat to Sydney.
In order to provide boat access, Alexander Berry had Hamilton Hume
and a party of convict labourers cut a 209-yard canal linking the
Shoalhaven River to the Crookhaven River. Completed in twelve days
it was the first canal constructed in Australia. After its
construction, Berry set up shipbuilding facilities, completing his
first vessel as early as 1824. In fact, the town of Coolangatta in
Queensland is named after Berry's vessels ‘the Coolangatta’ which
was wrecked off Point Danger (QLD) in August, 1846.
Five years after arriving at Coolangatta, Berry married
Wollstonecraft’s sister Elizabeth (cousin of Mary Godwin- author of
'Frankenstein') and in 1836, Berry’s three brothers John, William
and David and two sisters arrived from Scotland to live at the
Settlement.
Alexander died on 17 September 1873 and was buried with wife
Elizabeth, in the vault at St. Thomas’s cemetery at North Sydney.
The estate passed to David Berry and later to the Hay family
(cousins of the Berry’s) where it remained until the late 1940’s.
During this time, Coolangatta Estate had fallen into a state
neglect and disrepair and centuries of history looked certain to be
lost.
In 1947 Colin Bishop purchased his first couple of hundred acres
of farming land at Coolangatta. In 1950 he began to use the land
for dairying and often wandered through the dilapidated historic
buildings. The idea of one day restoring these buildings was always
a wild fantasy but at the time seemed an impossible task.
In 1971, in the face of advice to the contrary, Colin Bishop began
major restoration work to restore the old convict-built buildings
to their former glory. His dream of converting the once thriving
convict village into a historic resort was being realised.
Coolangatta Estate is now thriving once again. The shipbuilding,
logging and tobacco growing belong in a bygone era, but the
re-establishment of vineyards in the late 1980’s has given the area
a new lease on life.
Take the time to have a look around the estate. Take a self guided
tour, do some wine tasting or have a hit of golf.
FTF honours to Mick-Dyana who found this cache just 31 minutes
after it was published!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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