Walter Harvie - Coffs Harbour's first white settler
from his biographical notes - page 3 of 11
Concerning his arrival in the area and discovery of good stands of
red cedar near Coffs Harbour that he harvested and shipped to market in Sydney
|
I
put in about 3 months in Sydney when I found I would have
start doing something I wanted to get to some wild part
of the country I found that I had hit it when I came to the
Bellinger as bullock driver for George Tucker a shipbuilder
and cedar getter. The population of the Bellinger at that
time was about 20 white men and two white women and hundreds
of blacks who went perfectly naked except for the possum rugs
when the weather was wet or cold, when my 12 months was up
I bought out Tuckers teams drays and all the gear in connection
with timber getting on terms as he had enough timber in the
bush to keep one in work for years, after I had finished my
contract with Tucker and the drawing was getting further
away I looked for something nearer the blacks was eager for
me to go to Korffs Harbour as it was a good hunting and
fishing ground, at last I went to see I reconed there could
be about 300,000 feet of red cedar got on the coast side of
the range, the longest drawing about 3 miles, it was a bit
risky in getting it shipped as the insurance offices would not
take any risks when I mentioned it to Tucker he said that
could be managed as he still had an interest in the Francis
George a vessel he had built on the Bellinger.
|
