R.R. Haverfield

Robert Ross Haverfield was editor of the Bendigo Advertiser, and an ernest promoter of of the Red Ribbon Rebellion.

E.N. Emmett, along with Dr John Owens, George Thomson, William Denovan, Captain Edward Browne, Captain John Harrison, Robert Benson, Captain Baker, R.R. Haverfield, took a leading part on the anti-license agitation in Bendigo in 1853.

Obituary

DEATH AND FUNERAL OF MR. R.R. HAVERFIELD.

On Saturday morning, Robert Ross Haverfield, a noted journalist of Victoria, and editor of THE BENDIGO ADVERTISER breathed his last at his residence, Quarry Hill, Sandhurst. The intimation of his death spread fast throughout the district, and was received with a general feeling of deep regret, as he was held in great esteem and ever affectionate regard by the whole community. He was a man singularly simple and unostentatious in his mode of life, of unbounded good nature and a disposition overflowing with the milk of human kindness, while the singleness of mind, strong sense of justice, and earnest desire to act fairly and impartially towards all parties in the discharge of his important duties secured him the good will of the general public and the warm admiration of his friends. While modest and unaffected in his demeanor he was full of hearty geniality and kindly humor and an exceedingly pleasant companion. The style of the man in some resprcts is neatly brought out in the names he gave his residence -"Norton-Holt hut," the two former being the respective names of the persons from whom his property was purchased, and the latter with which his young life and first impressions of the country were associated. With his companions in literary work he was on the friendliest and most familiar terms, and they looked on him with the respect and confidence of a father. His rare ebullitions of temper at shortcomings were as startling as a clap of thunder, but transient and invigorating as an April shower. In private life he was a most gentle, amiable and estimable man, very fond of his wife and children, of whom there are four boys, the youngest six years of age, and one grown up daughter. By his writings he exercised an influence on the public and politicial life of Victoria and of this district, the full extent of which it is difficult to estimate, and he leaves a void in the Sandhurst journalistic world that will not be readily filled.

He was born in Bideford, North Devon, England, on the 20th February, 1819. His father, a commander in the Royal Navy, was the son of a German, who held the position of curator of the Royal Gardens at Kew, and his mother was an Englishwoman, the daughter of Mr. Robert Ross, a Scotchman, who owned valuable estates in Jamaica, and who was married to a Creole. It is thus seen that he had four different strains of blood coursing in his veins. He was educated partly at a private school in Great Torrington, kept by the Rev. Morgan, rector of Torrington, and at the public Grammar School at Bideford, of which the Rev. Henry Alford, was the principal, and he read privately in classics with Mr. Alford till he was over seventeen years of age. From this preliminary training he was to have gone to Cambridge, but that expectation was not realised, owing to a sudden and serious curtailment in the family resources. His mother's income, which amounted to about £1,500 a year from the estate in Jamaica left her by her father, fell, on the emancipation of the slaves, to about £300, while very little she ever saw of the compensation money voted by Parliament to the planters. Just then there was great talk in England about Australia, and as he found himself shut out from any of the learned professions, and had to think of shifting for himself, he elected to go to Australia, though with very indefinite ideas indeed as to what he should do there. But the family being large he saw it was necessary to clear out somewhere in consequence of the great reduction in the income. His mother managed to raise the money to pay for his passage and outfit, and gave him £80 for a start in the world. On 1st October, 1837, he sailed from Portsmouth in the ship Perfect, of Greenock, Lieutenant Snell, R.N., commander, and arrived at Sydney on 1st February, 1838. The ship cast anchor at night, and a memorable event took place in the fall of a shower of rain, which is stated to be the first which had fallen in Sydney for three years. In the morning when the first flush of the rising sun spread on the placid waters of the bay, the impression made on him was that though born and bred on the sea coast of a lovely part of England, he had never before beheld so fine a sight of combined land and water. A Captain Kennedy, a retired officer of a Highland regiment, who was a fellow passenger, obtained a grant of land about twenty miles from Goulburn, and invited Mr. Haverfield to accompany him there. His next neighbor was Mr. John Murchison, an adjutant in some light infantry regiment, and brother officer of Kennedy. Both he and Mrs. Murchison showed Mr. Haverfield great kindness, and when they afterwards came over to Victoria the friendship was continued to the time of Mr. Murchison's death, some years ago. After remaining a few months with Kennedy, and at the strong solicitation of an old English friend, Mr. Daniel Stodhave Campbell, who was in business with Mr. Alfred Woolley in Melbourne, Mr. Haverfield came to Victoria. In Melbourne, which at that time was not much of a township, there being only a few wattle and dab huts, with some wooden buildings scattered here and there, and only one small brick house, he met Mr. Joseph Holloway, of the firm of Verner, Welch, and Holloway, to whom he had letters of introduction, and went with him to the Hume, on the Upper Murray, where the firm had a cattle station called Jingellac, about 60 miles above Albury. Cattle were very dear at the time in Melbourne, and the firm had parties on the road with drafts for that market, having been purchasing cheaply at Twofold Bay. For a con-siderable time he was employed in bringing mobs of cattle from Jingellac to Melbourne, and, al-though a new chum, got good credit for careful management. As a variation to his employment he had an adventurous journey in placing some of their cattle on the Warrenheip station, which he took up. He had got the cattle as far as Mount Ida (near Heathcote) and had to camp on a creek in which the water was nearly all dried up. The weather was fiercely hot, and as the cattle had little water during the day they would not rest that night. The men engaged to watch the cattle had no heart for the work, and they occupied themselves otherwise. The cattle grew mad for want of water, and at last broke away at a gallop. The night was dark and nothing could be done with them. At peep of day, however, he was off on a horse he had tethered the previous evening, following up their tracks. He passed all the crawlers, and after a fifteen miles' ride came up with the leaders, 300 strong bullocks, just the half of the lot. After watering them he turned them towards the camp, and eventually got them over the Mount Ida range and on to the M'Ivor Creek. The men who were with him left him for Melbourne, and told his employer what had happened, and two good men were sent up to assist him.

The mishap was reported to his employer, Mr. Holloway, in this fashion: "That d—d fool of an overseer of yours has let all your cattle go - lost 'em all." The late Mr. D. S. Campbell, who was present, told Mr. Haverfield subsequently that Holloway laughed quietly and remarked, "If that d—d fool' has lost 'em, he will find 'em again, or lose his life." He did find them all, except three or four head, which found their way on to a cattle run near the Goulburn, the owner of which bought them from his employer. When the firm discontinued the cattle traffic he was introduced to Mr. Lachlan M'Kinnon (of Wilson and M'Kinnon, of the "Argus"), who had brought 6,000 sheep from New South Wales to the Goulbourn river, and was engaged to take charge of them there, take them to the westward and place them on a new run, and he took up MacCallum's Creek. The sheep were subsequently sold to various parties, and he proceeded again to Melbourne. Mr. George Cavanagh was proprietor and editor of the "Herald," then a morning paper, on which Mr. Edmund Finn ("Garryowen" of the "Herald") was then chief reporter, and being an old friend of the family, Mr. Cavanagh gave him a billet to keep the office books, but the work did not suit him. He used to draw faces, a practice he maintained until his latest years, particularly pretty female faces, but as this was on the margin of the books, Mr. Cavanagh disapproved of the practice, and besides complained of the incorrectness of his additions. Soon after he left the office of his own accord to take charge of a sheep station at Honeysuckle Creek (Violet Town) for Mr. Lilburne, and remained there about a year, when Mr. Lilburne sold out. After this he did some cattle work, for Mr. Holloway, which took him a good deal into the Grampian, Glenelg, and Tatiarra districts. Next he went into part-nership in 1847 with Mr. Joseph Jardine in about 3,000 sheep, and took them to Lake Tyrill, where they occupied a run which he called Eureka. This journey partook of the nature of exploration, as he was the first to cross the Mallee from Lake Tyrill to Lake Hindmarsh. Jardine went wrong in his head, and there was considerable trouble with him. In addition to this there was no permanent water at Tyrill, and altogether he had such a bad time of it, that he was glad to get rid of the connection, and the Victorian goldfields having then been just dis-covered (1851), he sold out and went to Bendigo with £1,400 to his credit in the bank. Of course he tried the digging for gold, but only did fairly well. Though a law abiding subject, he was, like many another good man, taken up for not having a license, and it happened thus. The diggers had been allowed to the 14th of the month to take out their licenses, but a new order of which he was ignorant, had just been issued, making it compulsory upon them to take them out on the first of the month. The police pounced upon him and his mates while they were at work in their claim on the first White Hill. Mr. Foster, the police magistrate, misunderstood something he said when they were marched before him at the point of the bayonet, and he was ordered to be put in the lockup for four and twenty hours. However, his mates came up about an hour afterwards, and the lockup keeper released him on their paying him £5. But he felt the indignity put upon him so much that he took off his serge shirt and moleskin trousers and never dug again, but took up the pen determined to make an effort to put down the tyranny of the Government, the corruption of officialdom, and the rule of the bayonet. The agita-tion against the license was then going on, and as he was not a very good speaker he conceived the idea of starting a local newspaper. Mr. Arthur Moore Lloyd joined him in the venture. It took all the money they had to buy plant, etc., but after all they started the BENDIGO ADVERTISER in a very small way. Crippled for want of capital they had to sell out at a loss. The first number was published at the end of 1853, and the paper was purchased by Mackay and Co. in May, 1855. Mr. Mackay wished him to go into partnership with him, but as he was just then sick of newspaper proprietorship he declined. However, he worked some time for the paper. Then he went, with Mr. Bright, afterwards cattle agent, etc., in Eaglehawk, to White Horse Gully, and worked for some time on a quartz reef. At this time a number of printers formed a Co-operative Company for the purpose of starting a second paper in Sandhurst, and they came and begged him to edit it. After much pressing he agreed, and the Courier of the Mines" was started, but it had a short life if not a merry one. He ceased his connection with it disgusted. Then on behalf of Mackay and Co., he went to Heathcote and started the "M'Ivor Times or News," and having got that under weigh he went back to the 'TISER, and remained till 1859, when he was engaged by Captain Cadell to go to the Darling. When it was publicly known that he had resolved to leave the district and resort once more to adventurous work of exploration, which had a peculiar fascination for him, the leading men of the town determined not to let him go without marking in a substantial manner the high esti-mate they had placed upon his character and abilities, and the universal esteem in which he was held. On 28th June, 1859, therefore, a very numerous meeting of the friends and wellwishers of Mr. Haverfield was held at the Lyceum Theatre for the purpose of presenting him with an address and testimonial. Mr. R. Benson occupied the chair. Mr. J. F. Sullivan, in an eloquent speech, made the presentation. The address, amongst other things, expressed "deep regret at your departure from the district of Bendigo and town of Sandhurst, to both of which you have rendered such essential service by your ability, zeal, and impartiality as a member for so many years of the local goldfields press of which you were the founder and to the residents of which you have endeared yourself by your honorable and amiable qualities in private life." At the conclusion of the reading of the address Mr. Haverfield was also presented with a richly-chased silver cup containing £215 sovs. In referring to this public mark of respect the BENDIGO ADVERTISER of the day said "Mr. Haverfield has the distinction of having first established the press in this district and on the goldfields of the colony, although previously Messrs. G. E. Thomson and J. H. Abbott issued the "Goldfields Advocate," a journal printed in Melbourne. The BENDIGO ADVERTISER was the first journal started upon the Australian goldfields. Many will remember how chimerical it seemed to attempt to establish a newspaper among the roving population of the olden days of the goldfields - the vagabond diggers - as they were so politely named. Now the man who projected what seemed so hopeless an undertaking was Mr. Haverfield, and the seed thus sown five years and a half ago has since grown into a vigorous tree." Mr. Haverfield's next great claim to public recognition consists in the fact that to his intelli-gent and persistant advocacy of the advantages of quartz mining is beyond question, chiefly owing the great enterprise manifested in this branch of mining. His writings in the earlier numbers of this journal unquestionably first directed attention to our quartz reefs. He was laughed at as a visionary and his arguments treated as absurd; but we are rapidly realising his predic-tion that the district would ultimately have to depend upon its quartz reefs. A district whose wealth and prosperity depend in a great measure upon its quartz mining, acts a becoming part in recognising the merits of the man who was chiefly instrumental in directing public attention to its inexhaustible resources.

He explored a good deal of country, and was the first to cross from the Menindie on the Darling to Booligal on the Lachlan, the intervening country being wholly unoccupied and waterless, and also examined for Captain Cadell and Mr. Hugh Jamieson, of Mildura, on the lower Murray, the Barrier and Grey Ranges, and amongst other adventurous feats of exploration he was the first to cross from the Barrier Ranges to the "Far North" stations of South Australia. At the time when Burke and Wills arrived at Menindie, and started on their journey across the continent he was north-west of that place, and though he did not meet the leaders he became acquainted with most of their party. Finally he returned to Vic-toria in 1862, and was appointed secretary to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the death of Burke and Wills. Afterwards he obtained an appointment as Government arbitra-tor under the O'Shannassy administration in the re-assessment of runs in the Ovens district. In May, 1863 he was married to M. E. Collier, sister of Harry Collier, a clever pressman, who from his style of writing, was termed the Sala of Victoria, and went to Echuca to start the "Riverine Herald" for Messrs. Mackay and Casey. There he remained until 1869. During this period he held for a short time a seat in the Echuca Borough Council, but was proceeded against under a law which prevented contractors from holding seats in public representative bodies. Being part proprie-tor of the "Riverine Herald," and the firm having contracted to insert the Borough Council advertise-ments in the "Herald," it was held by the court at the hearing of the case, that he came within the operation of the law, and he was consequently un-seated. The Chief Justice in giving his decision said it was one of the hardest cases he had ever known. The injustice of the law in such a case was so apparent that the law was subsequently altered. In 1869, as the paper did not pay very well, Mr. Haverfield began to look about for other employment, and eventually obtained a position as sub-editor of the "Age," but as matters did not turn out to his liking, he did not stay long, and on leaving went back to Echuca. In August, 1870, at the request of Messrs. Mackay and Co., he undertook the editorship of the BENDIGO ADVERTISER, and he continued in that position until the day of his death. That he should for 18 years have continuously occupied the responsible position of editor, main-tained the high standard and steered this journal safely through times of great political excitement, and amidst the difficulties of burning social ques-tions without losing, but rather increasing its hold on public estimation, is strong evidence of unusual ability, great vigor of intellect, clear judgment, and love of fair dealing. Deceased possessed a highly nervous temperament, and as a writer had a facile pen, an easy, smooth, flowing style, strik-ingly characterised by the absence of bitterness. At the same time there was force in the language that like the silent powers of nature, surely and effectively served its purpose. Tyranny of all kinds was abhorrent to him, and in his denunciation of wrongs his stroke was incisive as the cut of a two edged sword, rather than the blow of a sledge hammer. A considerable tone of persuasiveness generally pervaded his arguments which won its way frequently when fierceness or vehemence would probably have irritated and rather abused opposition than allayed it. Besides newspaper work, he contributed, in the early days before the diggings, stories and verses to "Ham's Monthly Melbourne Magazine" chiefly under the signature of O.W.N.Y. - that is old woofs, new yarns. About the end of 1869, he contributed tales and rhymes to the "Leader" newspaper and to the "Melbourne Monthly Maga-zine" whilst under the proprietorship of Mr. J. J. Shillinglaw, and he also wrote in both these periodicals in his own name. He also contributed to "Once a Month," a more recent publication, edited by Dr. Mercer. His lighter prose writings have a vein of humor, and his poetic productions are characterised by a strain of gentle sweetness and of tender pathos. ...

A few years ago he delivered at the earnest request of many friends, a series of lectures in the Temperance Hall, giving reminiscences of his experiences in the early days of the colony, and of the goldfields. They proved highly interesting, not none on account of the stirring nature and novelty of the incidents related, but of the literary excellence which characterised them, and the hearty, genial, sympathetic manner in which they were presented. Deceased was a member of the Masonic brotherhood.

On 29th January, 1888, the pressmen and expressmen of the city and representatives from the Melbourne and country press held a jubilee banquet in the Metropolitan Hotel, Sandhurst, presided over by Mr. R. D. Mackay, and presented Mr. Haverfield with an address and purse of sovereigns as a memento if its being 50 years on 1st February, 1888, since he set foot on Australian soil. The gathering was a most enthusiastic one. Mr. Haverfield received a great ovation, and made a characteristic reply while thanking his friends for the honor done him. The following is the text of the address presented:—

"TO ROBERT ROSS HAVERFIELD, Editor of the BENDIGO ADVERTISER,—On the first day of February, 1888, it will be fifty years since you set foot on Australian soil. In commemoration thereof, we, the undersigned members and ex-members of the Press, more or less associated with you in your long career as a pressman, offer you our heartiest congratulations, and ask you to accept this address as a jubilee memento of the event, and as a testimony to the affectionate regard and high respect which have been inspired by your vir-tues as a man, and your great abilities as a journalist. Your pen has been as a scourge to the oppressor, and has ever been formost in suggesting, helping forward, and firmly establishing the best social movements of the community in which you lived, and in wisely promoting the progress and political freedom of the people generally. We look back with pride to your fearless denunciation of official incapacity and tyranny in the early days of the goldfields, when the taxes of a law-abiding people were collected at the point of the bayonet; and with equal pride do we ac-knowledge the rare discriminating justice with which you have held the balance between the rights of labor and the privileges of capital. To you the mining com-munity owes a lasting debt of gratitude, as to you belongs the honor of first pointing out the wealth to be obtained by deep sinking on the reefs, an honor all the greater because you had to combat the plausible theories of dogmatic scientists, and overcome the inertia of deplorable ignorance. It must be a source of the highest satisfaction to you to know that the country has begun to reap the golden fruit which you saw with the glance of a prophet. That you may be spared for many years to give the country the benefit of your ripened judgment and wise counsels is the earnest wish of all who have the pleasure and honor of your acquaintance, and of the friends whose names are herewith attached."

Deceased had for twelve months back been in weak bodily health, though his mental faculties were bright enough. He suffered much from a severe attack of bronchitis. Medical attention and careful nursing brought him round, but he was never very strong afterwards, and seldom moved from home. A week or two ago he very reluctantly had to cease his contributions to the paper in which his heart and soul were bound up. His last illness was one of excruciating agony arising from disease of the kidneys, and operations had to be performed by Dr. Penfold, who had at-tended him throughout his illness, and Dr. Hinchcliff, to bring relief. Their efforts, however, were futile so far as permanent alleviation of pain was concerned. It was quite evident the hand of death was upon him, and that the final result was merely a question of weeks if not of days. He was quite conscious a quarter of an hour before the great consummation. Then he had a spasm, under which he sank exhausted and unconscious in his beloved wife's arms. For a quarter of an hour he breathed heavily, then all was still, the vital spark had fled.

His funeral took place yesterday afternoon from his residence to the Back Creek Cemetery. There was a long cortege of carriages and a large assemblage of leading men of the city. Mr. Oakley, undertaker, arranged the funeral procession. Immediately behind the two mourning coaches marched on foot a body of the locomotive engine drivers; then followed the proprietors, the literary, composing, and mechanical staffs of this journal. There were representatives of all the Melbourne and Ballarat papers present, and the former employes of the BENDIGO ADVERTISER were represented by Messrs. Adams, Pascoe, and Neilson. From the hearse to the grave the coffin was borne on the shoulders of six of the compositors of the paper, while the pall-bearers were Mr. J.H. Abbott, M.L.C., Mr. R. Burrowes, M.L.A., Messrs. Wm. Brown, T. H. Henderson, A. Bayne, G. Lansell, W. G. Blackham, M. Moran, R. D. Mackay, and J. Cohn. Around the grave to pay the last mournful mark of respect to a departed literary chief, besides those referred to were Mr. A. M. Lloyd, one of deceased oldest and closest friends, Dr. Quick, G. Pallett, J. T. Hill, P. Hayes, T. S. Gibson, D. O'Keefe, P. A. Kennedy, J. Robshaw, J. Emery, Kershaw, G. Minto, C. Houston, S. Herman, J. D. Crofts, H. Marks, W. W. Barker, R. Williamson, Fogarty, Fahey, D. J. Moorhead, J.G. Edwards, E. Banks, M.J. Cahill, P. Ellis, M. Brennan, R. O'Neill, J. Waller, S. Max, J. Reed, Nicholls,

Dr. Penfold and others. From this it will be seen that representatives were present from nearly every class in the community. The Ven. Archdeacon MacCullogh conducted the funeral services at the grave, and before concluding he said that when he came to Sandhurst nineteen years ago some of those were present who spoke to him of the deceased as a true and honorable man, a proved councillor, trusted and admired by all who knew him. His duties in the press were arduous and responsible, and though from the position he occupied he was able to inflict deep wounds on those who might be opposed to him he was of too generous a nature and kindly disposi-tion to take such an advantage of his position. He dealt out equal justice to all parties. He was a loving father and a true friend. At the conclusion of his remarks a short prayer was offered up, and the benediction having been pronounced the assembly dispersed.

Also See

Red Ribbon Rebellion