English-born Hunter
Valley settler Captain John Pike first arrived in Sydney
as a Lieutenant with the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which
detachment accompanied Governor Lachlan Macquarie to New
South Wales in December 1809.
English-born
Hunter Valley settler Captain John Pike first arrived in
Sydney as a Lieutenant with the 73rd Regiment of Foot,
which detachment accompanied Governor Lachlan Macquarie
to New South Wales in December 1809. The Regiment’s
primary task was to support their former commanding
officer in ending the insurrection of rebel officers who
had deposed Governor Bligh (the so-called Rum
Rebellion). This task was accomplished without real
opposition or bloodshed.
In 1814, the Regiment was re-deployed to Ceylon (Sri
Lanka). Following his term of service, the by now
Captain Pike returned to England in 1821. Having decided
to retire and sell his commission in April 1824, John
Pike then sailed to NSW as a free settler on the Phoenix
in 1825. He was accompanied by his wife and daughter,
(plus 10 Saxon ewes, 4 rams and 10 Merino ewes). After
first selecting a land grant of 2,000 acres in the
Hunter River district that he named Pickering, Captain
Pike, his wife and daughter, travelled from Sydney to
their new home-site, on the last part of the journey by
horse and cart.
As well as farming sheep in the colony, Captain Pike
also bred stockhorses and was listed in the Maitland
Mercury as a leading exporter of “Walers” to the British
Army in India. Under the provisions of the Squatters’
Act of 1846-47, John Pike received land in the Clarence
River Pastoral District, Red Bank 14,000 acres,
Glenugie
25,000 acres and with a Mr Besnard, Woodenbong 25,000
acres. John Pike also acquired Tabulam West of 32,000
acres from William Tucker Evans in April 1848 and in the
Darling Downs Pastoral District, the Pikedale property
of 100,000 acres under the Squatter’s Act.
Parliamentarian Thomas Bawden in his remarkable Bawden
Lectures wrote that while residing at Pickering in the
Hunter district, “Captain Pike usually visited his
properties once a year, accompanied by a groom. The
captain always rode a splendid hack, the groom leading
an equally good one. The captain rode them half-a-day
about, while following him were two pack mules conveying
tents, rations, and camp utensils. These mules were
about the best I ever saw.”
At the end of 1854, West Tabulam was sold to former
India-based Army officer, Captain Charles George Temple Chauvel (grandfather of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry
Chauvel C.B, K.C.M.G of British Desert Mounted Corps,
World War 1, fame) In 1859, before embarking on a tour
to Europe Captain Pike sold the by now 8,000 acre
property Pickering to Archibald Bell jnr. After the
death of Captain Pike at Tours (France) in 1863, Glenugie was sold to James Devlin who later sold it to
Samuel Cohen. No doubt the other properties were also
sold around that time. In his will, Captain John Pike
bequeathed large sums to various charities in
Queensland.
Author: As a result of having published “Horsemen of the First
Frontier (1788-1900) & The Serpents Legacy”,
I regularly
correspond with readers seeking additional information
on their pioneer ancestors. This research study on Capt.
John Pike is a recent example.