The Imlay Brothers (Peter Imlay, Dr George Imlay, Dr Alexander Imlay)

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THE BROTHERS IMLAY.
Pioneers of the Eden District

H. P. Wellings, an author and historian known for his works on the history of Eden and Twofold Bay, wrote the following about the brothers Imlay. It appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 28th June and 12th July 1930 (note: his original piece has been edited for inclusion here). It presents an interesting summary of the historical significances of Peter, Alexander and George Imlay:

The perpetuation of the name Imlay in Australia is mainly by means of the naming of an isolated mountain towering behind Twofold Bay and the main street of the little township of Eden.

The recognition of the actual pioneers of that district by means of those place-names is, in reality, the only public testimony to that splendid and successful effort made by three brothers, who pioneered the Eden-Pambula-Bega districts away back in the early 1820s.

Owing to the fact that Benjamin Boyd left behind him a remarkable testimony to his lavish expenditure of his company's funds by erecting an Elizabethan hostelry, and an incomplete church and lighthouse, to-day rapidly falling to dust, historical recorders have allowed the glamour of Boyd's spectacular undertakings at Twofold Bay to override the importance of the work done by the brothers Imlay, without which Boyd would not have been interested sufficiently to inaugurate his various enterprises at that sea port.

Peter Imlay was the first of the three brothers to reach Australia, and was followed at later intervals by two brothers, George and Alexander. The Imlays were born of Highland stock in Aberdeen. Of the family, three sons came to Australia, Peter, born in 1791; Dr. George, born in 1792 (a surgeon in the Royal Navy); and Dr. Alexander, born in 1800 (a surgeon in the Army Medical Service).

Peter Imlay came out to Australia as a "free settler" in about 1820, and took up land at Bega (or Bigga, as it was then called). Drs. George and Alexander Imlay followed their brother to Australia, but under different circumstances.

Dr. Alexander Imlay came in 1824, and, after a spell of hospital work at the Sydney Infirmary, joined his brother Peter at Bigga.

Dr. George did not reach Australia until 1832.

AN ADVENTUROUS FAMILY.

The spirit of adventure, or rather of discovery, was deeply rooted in the Imlays, for their forbears had all made their mark in the world. An older brother, Walter Imlay, went to America, and founded Imlay City, in Wisconsin, in 1840. Others of the Imlay family, prior generations, which survived the Jacobite rising of 1745 in Scotland, were distributed over Canada and India, Colonel Henry Imlay of the Indian Civil Service, being granduncle of Dr. George Imlay. In further evidence of the activities of the family, it is interesting to notice that the town of Imlay in Nevada takes its name from yet another brother of the Imlays of Australia, whilst in later years Peter Imlay has to his memory a prosperous suburb of Wanganui (New Zealand) named Imlay.

Peter Imlay was the first to take up land, and his selection of agricultural land and of grazing land in the Bega-Pambula districts, and the use of Twofold Bay as his outlet for the cattle and sheep fattened on his south-eastern holdings, are undoubted testimony to his fitness as a pioneer and a judge of country.

Previous to the Imlays' selection of land in that quarter of New South Wales, it would appear as if no other attempts had been made to settle the country, although there were evidently scattered settlers on the highlands of Monaro.

At this period any occupation of lands south of Broulee, carried with it no guarantee of protection from the inevitable attacks and depredations of the aborigines, as the limits of authorised settlement did not extend to within over a hundred miles of Bigga, Twofold Bay, or Monaro. Thus any settlers daring the ever-present danger of attack from natives could not safely count upon any assistance from the Government towards security from attack.

No regular and reliable communication was in existence between those areas and Sydney, and the occasional items of news which drifted in to Sydney gave little or no information as to the holdings or operations save in a very generalised manner.

Despite this meagre information, it was becoming steadily impressed upon the minds of the authorities in the early thirties that the far south-eastern section of the colony was being profitably exploited in the raising of livestock. Consequently, in 1834, Governor Richard Bourke found it advisable to suggest to the home Government that in view of the rapidly increasing activities of the squatters occupying territory adjacent to Twofold Bay, it might be advisable to give serious consideration to the authorisation of an extension of the "limits of authorised occupation" to include the country round about Twofold Bay. Sir Richard made a tour of the country he referred to, and expressed himself as surprised at the vast herds and flocks which were then depastured even as far south as Cape Howe (now the easterly end of the NSW-Victoria border). His remarks, contained in a lengthy despatch to the Home Government, are full of interest, and showed him to be a very keen observer of the possibilities of this area. In due course permission was given to the Governor to proclaim a township on the shores of Twofold Bay, but although this authority was granted in 1836, it was not until the late 'forties that a definite move was made towards the establishment of the township of Eden.

AN OBSERVANT GOVERNOR.

The underlying reason for Sir Richard's observations was doubtless that during his tour of inspection he had been given an opportunity to see the operations of the Imlay Brothers at Twofold Bay, where cattle shipping yards had been established by them, at Pambula, where certain of their holdings were under both cattle and cultivation, and through the back country to the foot of the coastal range of mountains, where their cattle were depastured in great numbers.

The Imlays used Twofold Bay as their outlet for both cattle and sheep. As some indication of their activities in this direction it is of interest to find that during 1834 and 1835 they had a number of vessels engaged in carrying cattle and sheep from Twofold Bay to Hobart, and it is definitely proved that not less than 12,000 sheep and 1,500 head of cattle were so conveyed for them in that period.

They had quite a number of vessels engaged in the trade, amongst which might be mentioned the barque Britomart, of 242 tons register, Captain McDonald; schooner Industry, of 96 tons, Captain Dawson; the ship City of Edinburgh, of 336 tons, Captain Browne; schooner, Prince of Denmark; Merope (Captain Clinch): the James, 358 tons; brig Amity; Children, 254 tons; Craigievar, 263 tons; Caroline, 150 tons; and others of varying tonnage.

LARGE AREAS CONTROLLED.

Governor Bourke referred to his journey from Twofold Bay to the Limestone Plains (Monaro) in 1835; having been the guest of Dr. Imlay at his station about twelve miles from Twofold Bay—this being what is to-day known as Pambula. The holdings of the Imlays in that district were very extensive, and some idea of their operations might be gathered from a letter submitted to Sir George Gipps in 1844 by a Mr. William Willmington of Broulee, touching on the Squatting License system. Mr. Willmington goes on to say "at Bigga an immense station is owned by Dr George Imlay, of 1,500 square miles in extent, and employing 100 persons." The exact truth of the statement need not be here questioned.

Suffice it to say that the area controlled by the Imlays was certainly large, but the manner of its acquirement was no different from that under which the greater bulk of the station holdings of the Colony had been acquired, and which in 1844 to 1848 formed a subject of very great difficulty to Sir George Gipps.

Not only did station activities occupy the attention of these pioneers, but the whaling industry at Twofold Bay attracted them. For it is recorded by Sir George Gipps in his despatches in 1842 that Mr. J. Lambie had reported to him in reference to the state of the aborigines of that district that "Messrs. Imlay employed three boats' crews, eighteen aborigines, in the whale fishery at Twofold Bay"; and on another occasion "that the Imlays had the most peaceable relations with the aborigines and whites whom they employed . . .free medical services were rendered by these gentlemen to both the aborigines and whites who frequented their holdings."

Not only did the Imlays transport their livestock to Tasmania, but they extended their operations to New Zealand, and it is not difficult to trace the various shipments made by them direct from Twofold Bay to that destination. Altogether it is open to assumption that this business was of very great importance in the trade of New South Wales.

Sir George Gipps was favourably impressed with the manner in which the Imlays handled their stations, and refused to take any steps towards breaking up their holdings, as he was so strongly urged to do.

It is of course only reasonable to state that the activities of these pioneers was more or less referred to in the newspapers of the day, and of course in due time the Home newspapers found it to be a subject of comment in their columns. Thus the news of his industrious trio's operations became of interest to the many persons in London who were giving their attention to the possibility for their capital in New South Wales and the various subsidiary settlements which had been established in Australia.

In 1840 we find that Mr. Benjamin Boyd had so much interested himself in the possibilities for employment of his capital in Australia, that he approached the Home Government with a request that he might be permitted to make purchases of Crown lands at five or six places along the coast at a figure of £1 per acre. His request was that he might be permitted to secure from 100 to 500 acres at each place, and have a prior right to extend his purchases in those places when and where he might find it advisable.

He also drew attention to the confidence he had in the possibilities of inaugurating a coastal steamship service between Sydney and Adelaide, he having already despatched to the colony a large steamship of 250 horse-power and nearly 600 tons burthen, at his personal cost of £30,000, for the purpose of trading in those ports. His desire to secure freehold lands was explained by him in a letter addressed by him to Lord John Russell, dated October 24, 1840. Lord John Russell transmitted a copy of this letter to Sir George Gipps, with instructions that Mr. Boyd might be afforded the necessary assistance in carrying out this useful project.

THE RISE OF "BOYD TOWN."

In order to more fully connect Mr. Boyd's project with the effects of the Imlay Brothers'activity, it might be permitted to suggest that Mr. Boyd was not in ignorance of the fact of the existing pastures adjacent to Twofold Bay, for it was common information that the rich pastures of that territory were responsible for the very excellent quality of cattle and sheep which were raised thereon and exported at Twofold Bay.

The result of his negotiations was, within two years, his inauguration of the famous "Boyd Town" on the shores of Twofold Bay. Whether or not, Mr. Boyd might have been attracted to that port and the adjacent district, had the Imlays not created its importance by their pioneering efforts, is hardly to be doubted, for every indication is that his project was based upon the necessity for a better and more reliable system of sea transport along the coast of New South Wales.

With the inception of the industry headed by Mr. Boyd, it should not be assumed that that of the Imlay brothers declined, for, as late as 1851, these brothers had vessels loading cattle at Snug Cove (Twofold Bay), and had very successfully cultivated the rich river flat lands at Bega and Pambula. It is on record that they grew wheat successfully on Pambula Flats. They were the inaugurators of the beef and mutton "boiling-down establishments" in that district, a business which was later on carried on very successfully by others who followed them there.

As has so often been the case, the pioneers bore the brunt of the work and expense, whilst the succeeding people reaped much better returns.

As the Hobart Town Courier related in 1835, Dr. Imlay made subsequent residence in Tasmania, and there are on record certain land holdings at Wilmot Harbour, a place where much activity was displayed and with success.

Peter Imlay finally, migrated to New Zealand, and, perhaps, the finest testimonial to the name of Imlay to-day, in addition to the place names in New South Wales, is Imlay, a suburb of Wanganui, in New Zealand.

Wellings concludes by suggesting ‘The story of the Imlays is not fully told herein but would well form the subject of a very interesting book, which would be a useful contribution to the historical records of Australia.’

Dr George Imlay, apparently having contracted an incurable disease, committed suicide on 26th December 1846 on what is now known as Dr George Mountain. His death was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald of 11th January 1847:

‘We have received intelligence from Bargo, in the Twofold Bay district, of the melancholy death of Dr George Imlay, which we regret to state took place under his own hand, under the following circumstances : On the morning of the 26th of December, he went out early, telling his family that he had received information of some bulls he had previously lost, and that he should go in search of them and might probably be absent four or five days. He declined taking his blankets or anything to eat with him, and would not allow any person or even his dogs to accompany him. He said he should go round the mountains at Bargo, but took quite a different direction, into a small thick scrub.

Suspicion having been aroused by his horse coming home, Mr. Peter Imlay, accompanied by twelve men, went in search of him, when, after a search of four days they by chance hit upon the body lying in a dreadful state. The unfortunate gentleman had apparently laid himself down, and tying the trigger of his gun to his spurs, had shot himself. There can he no doubt from the lonely nature of the place to which he retired to effect his deadly purpose, that he did not intend that his body should be found .’ A monument, beside the road over Dr George Mountain, marks the spot where he shot himself.

Image: Alexander Imlay