Week 36: 'Work'
I was thinking about the ’work’ prompt and started to reminisce about my father and his hard work on the orchard. Then back to his father who came out from Scotland to become an orchardist in Victoria. That led me to wonder how long orchards had been established in the Goulburn Valley where we lived.
Regarding the ‘white’ habitation of Victoria - in 1800 the ‘Lady Nelson’ was first to sail through Bass Strait from West to East, and in 1802 she brought the first Europeans to Port Phillip, ten weeks before Flinders arrived in the Investigator in April 1802.
Another year passed and in January and February 1803 Grimes, for Governor King of NSW, also surveyed Port Phillip and discovered the Yarra River but discouraged settlement. It was over 30 years before Melbourne was established when the explorers helped with opening up the land and influence the further settlement of the Port Phillip region.
In 1835-6, Surveyor-General of NSW, Major Thomas Mitchell crossed the Murray River and proceeded south to Portland then northeast finding fertile land which impressed him so much that he termed the region ‘Australia Felix’, thus inspiring subsequent settlement.
Aboriginal groups inhabited Victoria including the Goulburn Valley region prior to European settlement. There was an existing culture and peoples specific to this area, fully formed and complex. (It is still living and vibrant today.) Downstream at Shepparton, the area was inhabited by the Yorta Yorta people.
“The Aboriginal peoples lived harmoniously according to the natural cycles of the land and rhythms, and moved through country on a seasonal basis, occupying the cooler more mountainous areas in summer and autumn, and the tributaries of the Goulburn in winter and spring.
Food was plentiful around the region’s waterways with emus, kangaroos, possums, wombats, freshwater fish and abundant plant foods harvested by the clans”.
I haven’t been able to find how these first inhabitants were treated by the European settlers. But I know there was an Aboriginal Protectorate Station from 1840 - 1853 at Murchison 34.5 km (21.4miles)North of Shepparton on the Goulburn River. It was the focus of interaction between Aboriginal communities, including the Yorta Yorta peoples, government officials, and settlers during the early years of contact in the Port Phillip District. The site continued to hold significance to Aboriginal people after the 1850s, linking pre- and post-contact histories and geographies.
In 1836 Major Mitchell crossed the Goulburn at Mitchellstown near Nagambie and soon afterward overlanders and other early settlers began to use this crossing place on the Melbourne-Sydney route (now known as the Hume Highway).
Commercial fruit growing in Australia began with the First Fleet and can be said to be based largely on introduced species. On the voyage to Australia, Governor Arthur Phillip obtained seeds and plants of fruit trees en route from Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope, which were planted at Farm Cove in Sydney, in 1788. Early settlers created a growing demand for fruit, vines and other plants for their estates, and many cultivated their own orchards and vineyards.2
The Goulburn Valley has some of the most fertile soils in Australia and is a major fruit-growing area. The Shepparton Fine Sandy Loams which dominate the fruit growing areas are highly suited to irrigated annual and perennial horticultural crops. The Mediterranean climate suits the production of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the season and is renowned as the food bowl of Australia.
This sub-region of the Hume consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. Water for irrigation is sourced from Lake Eildon and Goulburn Weir, with Lake Eildon supplying over half the water used in the Shepparton irrigation district. The fruit grown, supplies the processing plants in Shepparton and nearby. The SPC Ardmona plant, founded as SPC in Shepparton is one of the world's largest fruit canneries.
The industry, which is labour intensive and seasonal, comprises small-scale family farms, but with a fast growing trend towards larger scale operations. Production involves the growing of fruit and vegetables for domestic and export markets, as well as large-scale processing and canning operations. With its soils, irrigation water and connectivity to capital cities and export markets, the Goulburn Valley has prospered. The industry has a long-held reputation for quality, primarily due to the high standards across all stages of the supply chain, from farmer to consumer.
The first fruit growers association was formed in the Goulburn Valley in 1891.
Before the 19th century industrialization, 'paddock to plate' distribution usually involved face-to-face contact between growers and consumers. Local farmers brought their excess produce into town for direct sale at the market. Time taken getting produce to market took its toll on quality and productivity as carting goods by road took farmers from their fields.
Transportation by river, rail, and motorized vehicles saw increased productivity while canning, drying and refrigeration allowed for long distance freighting without waste.
Since the mid 20th century, most products on our grocery store shelves have usually travelled countless miles and been handled by many people by the time they are ready for purchase. The increasing number of processes between the farm gate and our plates has seen primary producers and consumers pushed ever further apart.
Up until the 1980s, the industry was cushioned by protectionist policies; but in later years, Goulburn Valley growers have unfortunately been put under increased pressure by international markets and retailers.
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So back to how my family joined the hard working orchard community. I am including below memories from my Aunt Tib, my father’s sister, that she wrote in her later years.
“In August 1912 settlers were needed to take over the irrigation blocks then being opened up in the Goulburn Valley. With eight sons in our Pearce family, there was not enough work for them all in the family business: Wm Pearce & Sons. Soft Drink Factory.
Four of the boys decided to emigrate, three to Canada and one to Australia.
George Francis Pearce [‘Geordie’, My Grandfather] thought there would be good prospects in Australia for his family. He and his wife Isabella and their five children sailed on the Demosthenes on 25 June 1912“.
'Demosthenes'
Notice in paper 10 August 1912 re: the arrival of 'Demosthenes'
“Our family had a short stay in Melbourne while Dad [Geordie] came down to Shepparton to choose a block of land a few miles east of the town in what was called No 2 Settlement and later became known as Orrvale and Shepparton East. Irrigation channels were new and mostly had just some muddy water lying in the bottom. Blocks were marked out with surveyors pegs. The land had been used to grow wheat and there were old farmhouses here and there, but our block had no home on it and we lived in a tent for 6 weeks all through a rainy September, while our two-roomed house was being built. It was the standard type of weatherboard dwelling provided for the settlers - 2 large rooms and a verandah, roofed with corrugated iron and lined with tongue and groove boards. There was a corrugated iron tank for water on a strong stand at the back door.
Dad built all the fences and then planted the young trees with help from us.
[There was a lot of work to maintain the trees and keep them watered, working the irrigation system day and night depending on the weather.]
By 1916 fruit trees were coming into bearing and markets had to be found. A Fruit Grower’s Association had been formed and we had all learned that orcharding was to provide our livelihood, and we would all be involved. Dad had been employed by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission as a channel guard for the statutory wage of eight shillings per day, 5 1/2 days per week.
In late 1917, a meeting was held in the Orrvale church with a parliamentary representative, some Shepparton businessmen, and leaders of the fruit growers. The meeting determined to build a cannery - Shepparton Preserving Company. The cannery opened in early 1919, ready to process the peach harvest. This was all overshadowed from the background by World War One and the restrictions that that imposed."
Geordie Pearce
Summertime in the old days on the orchard - I think of the routine - sorting and packing fruit, stamping boxes, cutting ripe apricots and spreading them out on trays to dry in the sun. Oh my, how good it was to come to ‘knock off’ time at the long day’s end”.6
The first farm tractor
Boxes for packing fruit for the Melbourne market
Hand sorting and grading
James, Sarah (Ray), William and George Pearce
William spraying the trees
Sultanas drying on racks
