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See also Havilah Ram Sales
1882
11 March 1882
The Havilah Merino Flock.
An early start from Mudgee found me crossing the Holyoake Bridge, that spans the Cudgegong River, a little after 5 a.m., bound for Havilah, the property and residence of Mr. H. C. White. Heading north for a quarter of a mile, then steering due east (along a roughish road, since the increase of traffic to Rylstone, caused by the works on the railway line) I am flanked on either side by magnificent land cropped with maize, very sickly looking owing to the long continued drought, and the hardier lucerne which bears the dry weather best of all fodder plants. Passing to the south of Mr. A. H. Cox's Oakfield Estate, five miles brings me to the first crossing of Lawson's Creek. A little further on I come to the road side Inn of Mr. Hunt, who like many others of his fellow publicans didn't build his inn up to local option standard, and lamenting that his rooms were some 8 inches too low, a clever landlady suggested that lowering the floor until the required height was obtained, was easier now than raising the ceilings. I now enter the Havilah Estate, and enjoy a pleasant drive up Lawson's Creek crossing it some half a dozen times. The land here is poor-looking though much improved for grazing by ringbarking, and in some instances clearing the creek flats. Eleven miles, and I am at the top of Bayly's Gap, a granite ridge, and here one first gets sight of Havilah homestead furnishing a beautiful park like view; the house almost seeming to be placed in a vast basin surrounded by hills, the timber having been thinned out most artistically, leaving pretty clumps and single trees dispersed about.
Descending some half a mile, and again crossing Lawson's Creek near the fruit garden, and very complete though small washpen, a few hundred yards of gently rising ground lands me at Havilah. The house is a fine substantial two story brick building, slated roof, cemented, verandah and wide balcony all round. A beautiful little flower garden, good out-offices, and fine range of brick stabling, providing all that a reasonable man could wish for as a home. In journeying to Havilah now what first strikes the observer are the lines of substantial wire fencing now being erected, to economise labour and to enable the estate to carry more sheep, the present proprietor being a thorough believer in sheep being at large in paddocks, exactly the reverse of the late Mr. N. P. Bayly, who had all his sheep shepherded, even in what paddocks he had. Strangers often commented on the, to them, extravagant management in having sheep proof four rail fences and paying shepherds, but Mr. Bayly made it pay handsomely. The western or Lawson's Creek portion of the run, Mr. Bayly said was the poorest country on Havilah mostly clay slate hills and granite with the exception of the small alluvial creek flats. The eastern or pipeclay portion being much richer, red soil ridges interspersed with limestone and clay slate ridges, splendid wheat land most of it (barring our irregularity of rainfall) growing excellent grapes and well watered by many dams. Each side of the main stock travelling route is fenced - not as in Mr. Bayly's time - to keep his stock in, but to keep travelling and straggling stock off. Havilah, so well known and celebrated in connection with its pure merino sheep, is situated on Lawson's Creek, a tributary of the Cudgegong. The native name of the locality is "Burrama," and signified "go quick" or "make haste." Havilah received its present name many years ago, from an incident that occurred at a picnic party on Mr. Bayly's then new purchase. A gentleman, whose name is a household word in Mudgee, the late venerable Archdeacon James Gunther, having washed a dish of dirt in the creek, found some grains of gold, and handing the dish containing the prospect to Mr. Bayly, exclaimed Havilah. This being the biblical name for the land of gold, Mr. Bayly accepted the omen, and christened the place Havilah. Since then it proved indeed a land of gold to the late proprietor, but not through the means of the precious metal, but with his pure merino flocks, notwithstanding that the estate contains what is well-known as the old or upper pipeclay diggings. At the present time Mr. H. C. White has a party of men out prospecting for payable gold, with the intention of forming a company to work it. This should pay well, as there is no portion of the Havilah Estate in which gold cannot be found in small quantities, showing that only capital and enterprise is wanted to open a new Gulgong. Havilah was originally taken up by Mr. William Hayes, better known as old Billy Hayes, as a cattle station, and at his death became the property of Mr. Charles Roberts, who sold it in Sydney by auction unstocked, when the late Mr. W. F. Bayly became the fortunate purchaser. Mr. Bayly had been for many years general manager for the late Mr. William Lawson, one of the most celebrated of our earlier merino sheep breeders, the pioneer of Mudgee; and afterwards for Mr. Nelson Lawson, of Oakfield, who inherited his father's sheep. Mr. Bayly had received from time to time at his own request merino ewes in lieu of cash for salary, and when picking ewes for himself always went for length of staple, while his employer fancied the finer and denser, clothing sheep. Mr. Bayly's sheep, at the time of making this purchase, numbered about 1000, and these he removed to Havilah together with 2500 ewes purchased from the flocks of the late Mr. George Cox, of Burrundulla. These sheep and their progeny Mr. Bayly entirely did away with as his own pure Lawson bred sheep, increased in numbers to take their place, and eventually stocked up Havilah with descendants of the Lawson ewes.
About 1856, Mr. Henry Blomfield, the managing partner of Messrs. Riley and Blomfield, of Loowee, bought an imported Negretti ram in Sydney from the importers, and after he had used him, Mr. Bayly in conjunction with Mr. Edward King Cox of Rawden, Rylstone, purchased this ram "Billy" for £100. They both used him, and Mr. E. K. Cox, not liking his stock, sold his share to Mr. Bayly, he was an even ram, carried a lot of wool, but his stock were harsh and full of wrinkles. Mr. Bayly had another turn at the Loowee stud by exchanging with Mr. Henry Blomfield, obtaining from him four imported rams for eight hogget rams of his own breeding. Again Mr. Bayly had a pick of 20 hogget rams from this stud, the progeny of the rams he had obtained before. Only once more did Mr. Bayly patronise the Loowee stud stock, and that was after it became the property of Mr. James J. Riley, when he got a very choice selection of hogget rams, and used them freely. This was the last time with one exception that Mr. Bayly used any foreign blood in his flocks; the exception being by exchange with (twice) and a purchase from Mr. E. K. Cox, of Rawden, of some of his selected stud rams.
From this time forward Mr. Bayly never used any rams except of his own breeding, but by selection and systematically culling his breeding flocks year by year, and by throwing out and selling as culls some 800 ewes annually, and replacing them by a like number picked from his maiden flock, he brought the W.P.B. brand to the world wide renown it attained. For many years the standing number of the Havilah flocks was only about 10,000 all told; Mr. Bayly always considering that this number properly managed was better than 40,000 (which the estate was quite capable of carrying) not so thoroughly looked after. The Havilah sheep are quite a distinct type from any other of the pure merino flocks of Mudgee, with the exception of Mr. S. A. Blackman's, of Cooyal, which are from pure and unadulterated Bayly blood. These sheep are of good size, rather white looking outside, compared with the dark tip of other Mudgee flocks, and are well-covered, with a particularly bright fine elastic wool, not possessing a large quantity of yolk, thus not losing so great a proportion in washing, and when properly spout washed coming out with a brilliant lustre. 1 am unable to glean particulars of the prizes won by the sheep of the Havilah Stud in the show-yard, or the prize obtained for their wool, except a medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1865; but the following account, taken from the Australasian, may not be uninteresting to your readers, and I hope may lead to further trials of strength: - "The competition between Mr. Bayly, on the part of New South Wales, and Messrs. Leannonth, Curry, and Shaw, on behalf of Victoria, has ended for the present in a drawn battle, the Ercildoun wool of 1867 having realised the highest price (32½d. per lb.) that year, and the Mudgee wool, the highest price last year (31½d. per lb.). The challenge extends over a period of only two years, but our woolgrowers will be scarcely satisfied to rest quietly under their temporary defeat, as so many misfortunes occurred to their representatives last season."
At the death of the late Mr. N. P . Bayly, Havilah stud and estate were put in the market at the price he himself fixed, viz., £80,000, but no purchaser was found, and for nearly two years the management of the breeding of the sheep devolved upon two of the executors, Messrs. S. A. Blackman and A. H. Cox. However, after a very successful sale of the hogget rams at the annual Mudgee Fair, a purchaser turned up in Mr. H. C. White, who had for many years made periodical and profitable purchases of the Havilah sheep, and in July, 1881, he became the owner at the stipulated price of £80,000. This seems a long price for 25,000 acres of purchased land, some 30,000 acres of preemptive, and less than 10,000 sheep, but as the late proprietor derived from them the princely income of about £10,000 annually, let us hope that the present proprietor may be suitably rewarded for his enterprise and pluck. When Mr. White had taken delivery of the Havilah Estate and sheep, he carefully went through the prime lot of 444 selected stud ewes, the essence so to speak of the Havilah sheep, and selected from them 120 ewes, in his opinion, the creme de la creme. It was now that Mr. White shocked many of the sensitive Mudgee sheep-breeders by his bold departure from the beaten path in which the late proprietor of Havilah, in common with other Mudgee breeders, had travelled, viz., in breeding. Mr. White being in Sydney at the time of Messrs. Mort and Co.'s annual sale of Messrs. William Gibson and Sons' Tasmanian rams, he inspected the sheep, and saw the celebrated Prince the 2rd, who had been sent over with the sale rams, with a high reserve, viz., 300 guineas, in fact not for sale, but 1 presume as an advertisement. After the sale of all the other sheep, Mr. White got the agents to ask the proprietors if they would sell Prince the 2nd at the price named. They replied no, 500 guineas, putting on what they thought a prohibitive price. If this was their idea they clearly did not know their man, for Mr. White was not to be denied, and became the owner of Prince the 2nd. This ram had proved himself a most successful sire while in Tasmania the Messrs. W. Gibson and Sons having used him for their crack stud ewes for five successive years, and wrote regretting very much losing him. Mr. White wanted this ram for a particular purpose, for, having seen the wonderful improvement the Tasmanian rams had made in many of the crack Victorian stud flocks, he determined on trying an experiment in breeding, hitherto untried with the Havilah flocks, viz., an admixture of Tasmanian blood. Whichever way it turns out, and I trust it will be a success, it will either show Mr. White that he cannot improve on the Havilah blood, or that he has found out a new road to success as a pure merino breeder. Mr. White has certainly given the Tasmanian a remarkably fair trial, by running out 60 of the 120 selected ewes as his consorts, and intends keeping the increase entirely separate from any other sheep, until he can judge how the cross turns out. The other 60 ewes were placed at the same time with the Nonpareil ram of pure Havilah blood, whose progeny will also be kept entirely separate. They will then be fairly judged by companion with the sons and daughters of Prince the 2nd, who, though in my opinion, set a very difficult task, has at the same time a wonderful chance given him to keep up his foreign reputation. Time alone will tell how Mr. White's future system of breeding will be carried on. Whether he will stick to the old Havilah blood pure and unadulterated, or whether it will fall to the lot of Prince the 2nd to raise the Havilah flocks another rung up the ladder of fame.
In the early days of the shows of the Mudgee Pastoral and Agricultural Association (now amalgamated with The Farmers' and Free Selectors' Association), Mr. Bayly was a frequent and successful exhibitor, but owing to some differences of opinion (I believe as to the number of sheep to be shown in each pen) he retired from the arena of the Mudgee convincing ground as an exhibitor, and only once of late years did he enter the lists, and that was for two special prizes of 10 guineas each given by the present proprietor of Havilah for a pen each of 20 hogget rams and 20 ewes - and the late squire of Havilah was triumphant1
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1939
8 June 1939