MEASURING LAND

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18279, 23 December 1933, Page 5

MEASURING LAND

STRING TIED TO DOG’S TAIL EXPEDIENTS OF EARLY DAYS SYDNEY, Dec. 14. According to Mr. Frank Walker, Fellow' the Royal Australian Historical Society, a curious expedient, said to have been practised in Ireland, was used by various Tasmanian Governors in defining the limits of land grants in the early days. This was to tie a string to a dog’s tail. When the dog stopped running, that was taken to be a mile.

Thousands of acres were thus measured, said Mr. Walker, resulting in endless confusion in the 1820’s from the claims arising out of this procedure. Mr. Walker recalled this incident in an address on “Some Early Land Sales in Sydney and District,’’ which he delivered at the monthly luncheon of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.

An interesting scheme which had a chequered existence and died in early infancy wms the encouragement of matrimony by grants of land as marriage portions. By virtue of regulations published in 1830 the land wms granted under a pepper-corn quit-rent, and was entailed upon the wife and her children. Before that date, in 3828, an illustration of the liberal land policy was found in the custom of granting reserves as marriage portions to the daughters of well-known settlers. “This marriage portion—--20 square miles in area—wms to be reserved,’’ said Mr. Walker, “for the fortunate young ladies until young bachelors, lured by this added attraction, ‘popped the question.’” The Rev. W. Cowper’s daughter was the first to receive this marriage portion.

Mr. Walker mentioned / that the present site of the Sydney G.P.0., where stood a building used as a polico station, w r as bought by Governor Macquarrie for £3O and a hogshead of rum.