Previous Find of the Month - 6/2023

June 2023

The Big Gun Dairy

From Floodplain to Wetlands

Aerial photograph circa 1980s. Wetlands/Dairy Flat area shown in centre left of image1

One of Canberra’s most popular recreation sites is the Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve, an important sanctuary for local and migratory birds as well as native fauna such as frogs and platypus. It is located on a floodplain of the Molonglo River that is now managed as a protected area to allow visitors to enjoy its wetland and woodland habitats and to watch the resident wildlife.[i] Of course, the area wasn’t always a nature reserve and in earlier times much of the land it now covers was referred to as Mill Flat, and then Dairy Flat, when it was used for the production of dairy products for the growing city of Canberra. Our June Find of the Month explores some of the ACT Government records that tells us more about one section of this land that was previously leased as a dairy and now makes up part of the wetlands.

It was possibly due to flooding of the Molonglo floodplains in 1922 and 1925 that the Federal Government decided to offer commercial dairy leases over the land that was then known as Mill Flat.[ii] There were four blocks offered for dairy production on Mill Flat towards the end of 1925. A Territory Lease file for one of these blocks shows that William Clutton applied for one of the leases, his first preference being Block No. 1 that covered an area of 211 acres. At the time he was living nearby at ‘Molonglo Settlement, Federal Territory’ with his wife and six daughters, where he had a dairy herd of seventy cows and heifers. The cattle had been grazing there since selling his ‘Hope Lawn Dairy’ at Queanbeyan just four weeks earlier.

1925 plan of Dairy Block No. 1.2

Clutton’s application was successful and by March 1926 he was ready to make some improvements to the block. He- sought permission to install fences to divide No 1 Dairy into paddocks and to erect an engine shed and fowl yard. The fowl yard was refused, but the other two requests were granted and he was also authorised to obtain posts and battens from Black Mountain for his fences.[iii]

Clutton held the lease to Dairy Block No. 1 until May 1930 when it was transferred to John Sellar. Correspondence related to the transfer reveals that the Federal Capital Commission equipped the farm with a cottage, cow-bails and other out-houses and that the farm was ‘a unit of the milk supply of the City’. At this time the farm was still being referred to as ‘Dairy Block No.1 Mill Flat’ in the files, but it was to become known as the ‘Big Gun Dairy’. It is thought the farm was given this name after a WWI war trophy that was captured in Amiens was temporarily located at the nearby Canberra Railway Station in 1923 (it was later relocated to the Australian War Memorial[iv]). The first mention in the files of this name appears in correspondence relating to the next transfer of the lease to David Cargill in September 1933. One of his referees considered that Cargill ‘should be able to handle the ‘Big Gun Dairy’ and the subsequent lease transfer paperwork also refers to the ‘Dairying Block known as the “Big Gun Dairy.[v] The more colourful name must have entered popular use before 1933, but for official purposes it was still referred to as Dairy Block No. 1.

Transfer of 'Big Gun Dairy' in 19333

The Territory Lease files are a helpful source to track who the lessees were and what conditions were attached to the leases. The dairy block leases also include information about renovations and improvements made to the buildings because they were owned and maintained by the responsible government department or agency. Cargill leased the block as a dairy for the longest period and became the most well-known owner of the ‘Big Gun Dairy’ business. The files document the size of his herd and other farming activities such as growing forage crops that included lucerne and sorghum.[vi]

Part of inventory following 1945 flooding of Dairy Block No.14

The lease files can also help to identify other records that may provide further information. In the case of the lease files for Dairy Block No.1, there are several plans that list references to surveyor’s field books. One of the field books relating to the dairy blocks is titled ‘Buildings on Dairy Farms – Mill Flat’ (Field book F4348). This book shows the location of buildings on each of the four original dairy blocks in 1925, at the time the first leases were issued. The relevant page for the ‘Big Gun Dairy’ shows details on the positioning of the cottage, cow yard, cow bails (for securing the cattle while milking), the milk room and stables on the block.

Surveyor's field book showing layout of buildings5

Another online resource that can be used to build on the story of the ‘Big Gun Dairy’ is the digitised copies of the Department of Interior’s Property & Tenancy registers. These registers list tenant’s names, rental details, type of house and addresses for each block of Government housing in the ACT up to 1968. The register entries for the ‘Big Gun Dairy’ include a reference to the corresponding territory lease files and can be used as a handy summary to the changes in ownership and rental conditions that are detailed in the lease files.

Rural Land & Property Register entry for the 'Big Gun Dairy'6

Archival research can often require accessing more than a single record to build a complete picture. The ‘Big Gun Dairy’ provides a good example of the ACT Government sources available to historians. Some of these, such as the surveyor field books and tenancy registers can be readily accessed online, while access to many other records will involve visiting the ArchivesACT reading room. If you would like to know more about the Territory Lease files mentioned in this article, or if you have any other questions about accessing other ACT Government records, please contact us by filling out our online form.

Images

1 – ArchivesACT – ACT3, 680 - Aerial View of Fyshwick - Dairy Road - Molonglo River - Pialligo - Canberra Railway Museum - Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve - Jerrabomberra Creek - Monaro Hwy - Fyshwick Retail Markets

2 - ArchivesACT – TL2480#01 – Dairy Block 1, Section 1 Fyshwick – D W Cargill – Part 1

3 - ArchivesACT – TL2480#01 – Dairy Block 1, Section 1 Fyshwick – D W Cargill – Part 1

4 - ArchivesACT – TL2480#02 – Dairy Block 1, Section 1 Fyshwick – D W Cargill – Part 2

5 - ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate -  ACTmapi website – Surveyors Field Book F4348 - https://actmapi.act.gov.au/fieldbooks/F4225-9201/F_4348/ .

6 – ArchivesACT – 2012/03846 - Tenancy Management - Tenancy Register - A-Z Suburbs - Rural Land and Property Register. https://www.archives.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/556577/Fyshwick_S1_B1_2012-03846.pdf

References

[i] ACT Government website – Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve - https://www.parks.act.gov.au/find-a-park/jerrabomberra-wetlands-nature-reserve - accessed 30 May 2023.

[ii] Resources & Values of Jerrabomberra Wetlands – Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve Board of Management – 2013 – p. 44.

[iii] ArchivesACT – TL2480#01 – Dairy Block 1, Section 1 Fyshwick – D W Cargill – Part 1

[iv] N. Swain - One of the last workers' cottages at The Causeway stands as a lonely reminder of Canberra's dairy history – Canberra Times – 11 July 2020 - https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6823233/raise-a-glass-to-the-big-gun-dairy/?cs=14236#gsc.tab=0

[v] ibid

[vi] ArchivesACT – TL2480#02 – Dairy Block 1, Section 1 Fyshwick – D W Cargill – Part 2

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