The Great Western Road illustrated by Frank Walker FRAHS

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The Great Western Road was rather ta ll ami stout, w ith a very p leasing m anner, though not a handsom e w om an. The p a rty le ft that day, continuin g th eir Journey to Bathurst, and th ey w ere to stay w ith Sir. W illiam Law son [th e explorer] at M acquarie j Plains fo r three days. Captain andsMrs. |Bull w ere a ls o invited to join in the I festiv ities. | • . ON T H E G R E A T W E S T E R N R O A D — A L A N D M A S K — B U L L ’S CAM P— A S T O R Y O T T H E ROAJJ-I/IAKIJTO G A N G S — W H A T ‘‘T R A D IT IO N ” D O E S F O R H IS T O R Y — SOM E M O U N T A IN ’ L E G E N D S . I have to thank m any correspondents fo r letters and telegram s con veyin g good w ishes on havin g passed the- 81st m ile post on L ife ’s H ighw ay. '* * * W h e n -M r . Sydney C unyngham e made his first trip over the Blue M ountains with his unoies. C harles and Jam es W halan, o f Oberon (see "T ru th ” 16V5/’ 2I), in the year 1841, they p assed a lan dm ark on the Bat hurst-road m ilea ge 50, then know n as IS Milo H o llo w ; to-d a y as B u ll’s Camp, and w h y so nam ed? W ell, it was this >.ay. i n . i.icre cv.u o to Sydney w ith the 9»th Regim ent. Captain J. H . N . Bull. w ho was Im m ediately detailed fo r d u ty with 50 n on -com s and p rivates o f his regim ent. to take charge o f a road-m aking gan g, cam ped V, IS M ile H ollow , in w hich charge he su cceeded Captain Day, who w ent *vith the B arn ey expedition to P ort ' 'u rtis to fou nd a n ew settlem ent, w hich did n ot then becom e "fou n d ed ” . Captain Bull cam ped w ith his fa m ily it the spot now known a s B ull’s Camp, w hile a hou se was bein g built for his accom m od ation at 'Blackheath, so named b y G overnor M acquarie on his trip over the M ountains in 1S15. Captain Bull w a s appointed a m agistrate and engineer in ch arge o f the G reat . W estern R oad from the R iver Nepean to B ath u rst. The headquarters o f the road gan g w as at Blackheath. a very health y loca lity , and somew’ liat ch illy in w in ter. Captain Bull was on these hills fron j 1842 to 1848. ‘and we have heard mjeny legends and* 'tradition s con cerning h im and his treatm ent o f the helpless convict w retch es under his com m an d W e have heard o f Captain B u ll’s b a th cut in solid rock, and Captain B u ll’ s arm chair a lso cut in the solid rock, in w h ich the Captain used to reclin e, “ m onarch o f all he su rveyed ” . T he “ ba th ” and “ the ch a ir” have been w iped out by the railw ay line. It has been said also, and by som e alleged historians. I am sorry to say. that a certain corru gated stone near Linden was used as a "su refo o tin g ” fo r the (logger when plyin g his dreadful office; it w'as said, also, that certain "du g-ou ts” were punishm ent cells f o r w rong d oers. W ell, X have the testim ony o f an eye witness, a lad y now in her 91st year, who states that the alleged c ells o f punishm ent were stone hou ses for tools and explosives, used in road m aking. and, as C aptain m ill never had a man w hipped, the sto n f in qu estion could n ot have, been put to the use su g gested b y th e leg en d . To m y m ind the stone m entioned w a s the site o f a b la ck sm ith ’ s forge, bu t we w ill com e to that p resen tly . * * * A s I h ave said. Captain B u ll w as on these h ills from 1S42 to 1848. In 1843 we g o t a Parliam ent, a m ixed c h a m b e r , o f G overnm ent officials, nom inees an d electives, there being 6 official m em bers, G nom inee m em bers, and 24 e le ctiv e s. A m on gst those who lvad seats in that H ou se w ere W . C . W en tw orth , Dr, Bland, W . H . Suttor, s e n r., ot B athurst, R ob ert Low e, C h arles C ow per, D r. Lang, Sir T hom as M itchell, D r . N ich olson , R oger T herry, John B la xla n d and m any o f sim ilar tem peram en t and sta n d in g . Som e o f these w ere c o n s ta n t' tra vellers betw een th e m e tro p o lis and the country, not flyin g b y ex p ress tra in as to-d ay, but ■In their ow n h orse-draw n g ig s and coaches. T h e y m ust have d a ily passed the gan gs o f road-m akers under Captain B ull, and it m a y fa irly be asked w ou ld it b e possible fo r the Captain to so b ru ta lly ill-u se his helpless ch arges a s tradition has d ebited him w ith ? W ere he so guilty, you v e ry soon w ou ld hear o f som e o f the A ustralian p atriots I have nam ed ta k in g P a r ' Ijam entary a ction to b rin g him to book. W ith P a rlia m en ta ry representation even in a lim ited degree, the old dark 3ayS o f p en al h is to ry had p assed aw ay fo r e v e r . s * * W hen I first heard o f C aptain Bull and B u ll’ s Camp, the site o f which, b y the w ay, I am ov e rlo o k in g as X w rite, I little th ou gh t that I knew him , n o t certa in ly when he w as in com m and on the M ountains, but in the ea rly six ties in V ictoria , where he w as a Captain o f V olun teers, and I a fu ll p rivate 'in one o f th e com p an ies. C aptain B u ll w as the second son o f C olon el Bull, a C om panion o f the Bath, a K n igh t o f H anover, w ho had served in the P eninsular and W a terloo cam paign s, in the R oy a l H orse A rtille r y . Our Captain Bull w as born in the centre o f Ireland in the yea r 1S06; he entered the M ilitary C ollege a t Sandhurst in 1820; he received h is first com m issio n iiN the 78th H ighla n d ers in A p ril 1825: he purch ased his lieu ten a n cy in June. 1826, and w a s fo r tw o years on the sta ff o f the Q uarterm aster-G -eneral’ s D epartm ent in K an dy, which sw eetlynam ed tow n w’ as a t one tim e the cap ital o f th e islan d o f C eylon, w'here B ishop H eb er has told us “ T h e sp icy breezes b lo w ’’ . In O ctober, ,1838, L ieu t enant B u ll obtain ed his cap tain cy, and in ■1840 .was appointed D eputy-Ju dge A d voca te o f the N orth ern D istrict o f E n glan d. In January. lS4t2. t e e x ch a n g ed into th e 99th, com m anded b y C olonel D espard, who. w h ile occu p y in g the old. G eorge-street B arrack s in Sydney, •earned th e sobriqu en t of. “ K eep oft the grass D espard” from the fa ct th at he w ish ed the green sw ard in fro n t o f the b a rra ck s b e kept fo r the use o f his fa m ily cow . * m * T he 99th arrived in Sydn ey in O c tober. T.842, aijd Captain B u ll w a s
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The Great Western Road illustrated by Frank Walker FRAHS

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