WILLIAM BRADLEY

WILLIAM BRADLEY, who was the son of an army surgeon, lived principally in Goulburn in the early days In 1842 he held a number of properties on Maneroo, known then as Myalla, Cooma, and Bullanaming, the latter opposite Billylingra Inn, belonging to Mr. John Cosgrove, to whom it was later sold. These were managed for him by Mr. William Adams Brodribb. In 1848 Mr. Bradley was gazetted as the applicant for a lease of the runs known as Dangelong, of 15,000 acres; Cooma, 19,000 acres; Myalla, 42,000 acres-, Upper Rock Flat, 25,000 acres; and Lower Rock Flat, 2,200 acres. He also acquired Coolringdon from Dr. F. L. Wallace, of Sydney. In addition, he held Bibbenluke Station. Amongst the men who worked for him at Coolringdon was Mr. James Litchfield, who later was overseer of his Myalla Run. After selection before survey became operative he, in 1866, sold out his Coolringdon, Myalla and Dangelong properties at so much per head for the stock, with the leases given in. The purchaser was Mr. Hugh Wallace, of Nithsdale, Braidwood, who was buying for his sons - William, Henry, and John. 'Mr. Bradley made his Bibbenluke property freehold, and died one of the wealthy men of the State.
'Back to Cooma' Felix Mitchell pp73

My thesis is a study of a well known Monaro Pioneer, William Bradley. He was born in 1800 at Windsor, on the Hawkesbury River to Jonas Bradley, a sergeant (not surgeon as reported in Back to Cooma, by Felix Mitchell), in the New South Wales Corps and Catherine Shiel, a transported Irish convict. Bradley died in 1868 a self-made multi-millionaire and was remembered as a "respected colonist."

William Bradley's currency lad roots disguise a zealous and industrious man, motivated by his father's desire for respectability and security. Bradley was among the first settlers on the Goulburn Plains, securing this region as an agricultural base for his systematic domination of the southwest frontier and beyond. Bradley constructed a substantial headquarters at Goulburn, which was the center of his operations.

Bradley was for the Australian historian Manning Clark, the epitome of a monster squatter, one who exploited the environment for selfless gain. He was in fact, as W.K Hancock described him, a manager who was a user of land and one who worked with his environment for profit. Bradley's management was characterised by the selection of shrewd managers on his Monaro properties. Bradley's Monaro properties were advertised as the "very pick of the Monaro" and included the properties of Bullanamang, Coolringdon, Myalla, Bibbenluke, Maffra and Dangelong amongst others. Had Bradley fathered a son who lived beyond infancy, the history of today's Monaro plains may well have been very different.

My thesis will be a study of the man and the entrepreneur who was William Bradley. It is the first in-depth and specific historical evaluation of William Bradley. By examining the life and career of William Bradley, a pastoralist, politician, financier, capitalist and paternalist, a reconstruction of a life and career obscured from historical inquiry can be illuminated. Bradley constructed his interests so that they were all economically viable and he could control them from afar. Bradley became a respected colonist who had a major influence on the development of agriculture in Goulburn and on the Monaro.

William Bradley is invisible in the historiography. He left no significant paper trail. The built environment throughout Goulburn and the Monaro, does however, provide evidence of his existence. Primary sources have been elusive and no personal papers remain to document the comprehensive life of this man. Hancock, Manning- Clark and G. P Walsh, examine Bradley's achievements to an extent, but none go so far as to document his life. Myths surround both Bradley's Monaro and Goulburn enterprises and the debunking of these myths is essential in delivering an accurate record of Bradley's life and times.

William Bradley’s contributions to the Monaro were immense. He employed a number of men and their families across his runs in a variety of occupations. William Bradley was a man of substance. He was described as a "splendid man," a wonderful employer" and that he had "zeal, industry and integrity." Bradley was also, however, a capitalist and a ruthless manager of his stock. He was an opportunist but he believed in paying his men well and expected good results. Above all, William Bradley was a man with a vision for the southwest frontier and for the Monaro. Without this vision, lesser men would have abandoned the harsh and inhospitable environment. William Bradley stayed and with "prophetic eye" turned his family's ambitions into an unanticipated reality.

The debate over Thomas Park Milliken's death is certainly causing some angst for some people. Attached please find a PDF scan of the Sydney Morning Herald note reporting Thomas' death in January 1854 (under the BDM section). Whilst the top of the paper doesn't appear (and I am happy to get same) there are other references on the page that indicate the year of publication was 1854 (see for example left hand column and bottom of column 5).

History research is always full of surprises and I find it puzzling that the SMH would report on Thomas' death in 1854, 4 years prior to his alleged death on his headstone in 1858. I am puzzled as to how they could fabricate a death notice in 1854 for someone who was going to die in 1858? This makes for some really interesting predictions by the SMH. I wonder what else the SMH has been able to foretell and predict?

Further evidence that I provided previously that Thomas had died in 1854 comes from the National Library of Australia's manuscript collection:

MS 1154/33 Boyd and Co Order List and Account Book 21 July 1851 to 28 May 1867. In these books it states "Bibbenluke 1853, Superintendent: T P Milliken (died 6 January 1854)." These are readily accessible for all people to view at NLA. It would seem unlikely that as these employment and account books continued to 1867 that Milliken was not recorded as a Superintendent of Bibbenluke from 1854 onwards - all other superintendents are recorded as are all the other employees so it is again puzzling that Milliken does not appear in this historical record from the end of 1853.

It seems puzzling and strange again that if Milliken died in 1858 then why wasn't there any record of his employment on the Bibbenluke Station for the years 1854 ~ 1858? His diary supposed to be written in 1857 has not been written then at all. It was written in 1851 and a number of people have continuously used this diary as a reference for him working for William Bradley at Bibbenluke Station in 1857. He was never employed by Bradley on the Bibbenluke Station as Bradley never purchased same until 1855, 12 months after Thomas died.

I am interested, John, that you write that "/there is also good grounds for believing the death occurred in 1858/." I am most interested in what other evidence you have to support this claim, besides the gravestone? Do you have evidence of him working at Bibbenluke, of his engagement in local society perhaps or children being born, his marriage?

Historical debate is a useful tool for testing hypotheses and ideas. I suspect that as with some local histories, oral histories that are passed down become 'fact' with each retelling - this is even true of some of Bradley's land. There is a oral history legend that one could walk from Bredbo to Bibbenluke and not step off Bradley's land. This is often quoted and reported but Bradley never held land both at Bredbo and Bibbenluke concurrently, so to do the walk from Bredbo to Bibbenluke and not step off his land was incorrect. This myth has been perpetuated by a number of eminent historians. Hancock, Manning-Clark, Dawson, Frank Allen and other local histories of Cooma-Monaro all perpetuate the same

myth. It simply couldn't have happened and it demonstrates again that not all research undertaken has exhausted all avenues of inquiry or gone to primary source material, in this case, land records.

I look forward to hearing from you John with your other evidence to support your claim for a death in 1858.

I refer to the July newsletter where you respond to Amanda > Day's email about the death date of Thomas Park Milikin.

As the author of the story about the graves of Nehemiah Thomas and Thomas Milikin and co-author of the genealogical material listed under William Thomas, I am a bit surprised to read that you have changed the date of death of Milikin to 1854 based on the material provided by Amanda. I acknowledge that Amanda's research is thorough and her conclusion that Milikin died in 1854 is well-based but there is also good grounds for believing the death occurred in 1858. In these circumstances, it would be better to leave the date as 1858 as it appears on the actual gravestone and note that there is good evidence supporting a year of death of 1854.

Extract from Sydney Morning Herald 14/1/1854 supplied by Amanda Day [mailto:ajday@tpg.com.au]

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