| BIOGRAPHY: Jane Henderson |
When Jane and Arthur first arrived in the Riverina, all they had left were three pennies. They lived for nearly 12 months with Arthur's mother, Minnie, at Bonnie Doon. They stayed in an old share-farming house, which was later used as a barn.
In 1912 Arthur started share farming. Share farming is an agreement between the property owner who supplies the land, seed and fertiliser and the share farmer who supplied the horses, working machinery and labour. Profits are divided equally between both parties. Arthur's daughter, Jean continues the story...
The first year Arthur Sherwood brought his wife and two eldest sons from Nhill to New South Wales and settled in the Culcairn District, he share farmed on the Round Hill Station for 12 months. That year he had a very good wheat crop but unfortunately the following year was one of the worst droughts on record in that district. The following year he started share farming on Allens and for the next 7 years grew some very good wheat crops and was able to save enough money to buy a small farm for himself (Oakvale).
This was thickly timbered except for 60 acres on which he grew wheat. He also share farmed on another farm nearby. In the meantime every spare hour was used to clear his own property. He first cut or pulled down the timber which he sold to brick kiln in Culcairn. He burnt the tree stumps and the charcoal from this was sold to the power station at Culcairn to produce electricity for the town. He was able to sell this property at a good profit and was able to buy a better property at Munyabla. This was closer for the children to attend school and the land was completely cleared.
He stayed here for 2 years where he grew 2 very good crops and was told by the neighbours they were the best they had seen grown on this land. As he had five sons that were growing up, this place was not large enough (600 acres). He was offered a farm nearby with 1200 acres. It had a much larger house, a large orchard and was the same distance from the school. This was Boxdale at Pleasant Hills
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The first year on this property, the price for wheat and wool was good. The next year the price was good early in the year but it dropped suddenly. Unfortunately Arthur held onto his wheat hoping it would improve but it dropped suddenly from 5/- a bushel to 1/6. This was the start of the Great Depression when many people lost their properties. Although the Sherwood family grew good crops here owing to depressed wheat and wool prices and high interest rates it was very difficult to carry on. The former owner of this place had already lost the new property he was buying and offered Arthur a sum of money to have Boxdale back. As the price of farm produce was not improving this offer was accepted.
The next 2 years were the worst of the depression years so it would have been foolish to look for another farm but in 1935 Arthur leased a dairy farm at Culcairn where the family milked between 30 and 40 cows and grew tobacco seedlings which were sold to the tobacco growers at Myrtleford for their tobacco fields. He stayed on this farm until Jane died of a stroke in 1943. He then sold his cattle and retired to a farm at Pleasant Hills where he lived with his son and daughter-in-law until 1954. In 1954 other members of his family had built a home in Clayton, Melbourne so he moved down to live with them until his death at the age of 93 in August 1978.
When Jane and Arthur bought Boxdale in 1928, it had an established house. The house was in two sections. One section contained the kitchen pantry and boys room where Syd and Claude slept. The main part of the house was about three metres from the kitchen. It had three bedrooms, a lounge room and sleep-out. The house had a tin roof and wooden floor. A verandah extended around part of the house. As well as a large orchard, there was also a tennis court at the back of the house.
The family left Boxdale in 1933, and not long after moved to Culcairn. They leased the property known as Mulaba, (a dairy farm) in 1935. The family left Culcairn the year Jane passed away. She died at Culcairn, NSW in 1943 at the age of 59.
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© Robert Sherwood 2007 |
Last update on 14 February 2008 |
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