Book has stories of first settlers
People who are interested in the early history of Brisbane Water might be interested in the book Gosford and Kendall Country by Charles Swancott.
It is available in the reference section of the Gosford City Library.
There are great stories of the first settlers of the Gosford area such as Andrew Murphy of Koolewong.
He was born at St Albans on the Macdonald River in 1850.
He walked overland to Woy Woy in June 1876 and pitched his tent just north of the now Woy Woy bridge.
He earnt his living by digging shells from Aboriginal middens to be burnt to produce lime in the making of mortar.
He soon had saved 75 gold sovereigns and bought 100 acres of land where he was camped.
He now turned his attention to farming fruit and vegetables for sale at markets in Gosford and Woy Woy.
Andrew could neither read nor write so he was fortunate when he married a well educated young lady, a Miss Lloyd, daughter of the licensee of the Gosford Hotel Joseph Lloyd.
"The couple were well off by now financially as Andrew had been well compensated when the NSW Railways resumed six acres of his land for the railway line to pass through.
Now his life had another turning point when JH Maiden, curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens made a request for Andrew to collect seeds of the Swamp Mahogany (eucalyptus robusta) to be sold to Ethiopia and Italy to drain swamps in those countries.
Acacias seeds were also collected to provide tanning bark for the leather industry in South Africa.
With the help of his wife, Andrew was able to identify the trees for his seed collections.
Some years later he employed Lou Dillon to travel to Western Australia to collect seeds of Karri, Jarrah, Spearwood, Gimletwood and Red and White flowering gums.
In two years, he collected half a tonne of seeds.
He learnt to climb trees from an Aboriginal who was assisting him, cutting limbs off to gather the seeds.
Andrew Murphy was an experienced sailor and built his own sailing boats winning many races in the 16-footer class.
He had three sons and four daughters.
One son Percy carried on the seed collection business for many years after Andrew's death at the age of 79 in 1929.
Letter, 3 Sep 2010
Harry Strong, Blackwall