Early Settlers of Castlereagh

© Jim Low

On Easter Monday this year I went looking for the Church of England Cemetery at Castlereagh, New South Wales. From Penrith, Castlereagh Road spears across the once fertile Nepean River flats that were divided into family farms by the first government land grants. These grants were given to former convicts and free settlers in the hope that their agricultural pursuits would provide food for the struggling, infant colony of New South Wales. Many of these early farmers are buried in the cemetery I was going to find. Continue reading “Early Settlers of Castlereagh”

Ebenezer: The Mission on a Limestone Ridge

Ebenezer Mission Station (© Jim Low) – After his first visit to Ebenezer, Jim wrote the above song about the Mission. The unaccompanied snippets were sung in the now restored mission church with its amazing acoustics.
The mission church in 2008

In January 1859 both Aboriginal people and missionaries began clearing the Mallee scrub and native cypress from the site of the new mission station at Ebenezer, which meant “the rock of hope”. Situated on the vast, flat Wimmera region of Victoria, this area was one of the last to be settled by Europeans. It also saw its share of violence against the Aboriginal people. Innocent native blood had been spilt on the very site where Ebenezer was located.

Continue reading “Ebenezer: The Mission on a Limestone Ridge”