Early Jottings of the Upper Page and Isis River Districts
By the turn of the century (1900) there were no indigenous Aboriginals left in the Murrurundi area.
They were of the Kamilaroy tribe, and advancing civilisation had pushed them further back in the bush. In the Murrurundi area, there are no old stories of troubles with the aboriginals. Most people treated them well ~ the few who were cruel to them spoilt it for the many who did treat them well.
Thomas Haydon used them as guides and said they were of little use outside their own tribal grounds, but were useful when meeting other tribes and making contact with them. He used them in various jobs on the properties he was managing.
The name Murrurundi, was the aboriginal name for the area. The name indicated the meaning of the five prominent rocks that stand out on a piece of land jutting out on a headland on the Page River near Temple Court. Their meaning being five fingers representing a hand. Combo and Mrs Bloomfield with Frances and Jimmy ~ Manny not yet born. The Aboriginal tribes had their well-defined trading routes ~ one wonders what they had to trade, An example can be cited, in regard to Walgett, where there are no stones, so they would need stones to fashion their weapons, grinding stones and flint stones and stone axes. Likewise there were special woods for making spears and wimmeras.
The story of the Bloomfield family is an interesting one. Bernard Haydon, on one of his many trips to the Gulf country in Queensland, rode across a policeman who had two little black boys with him, Their tribe had killed a white man and were being pursued by the police, These children could not keep up with them and were left behind, The policeman suggested to Bernard that he take the boys home with him and rear them for station work, Bernard said he could not take them as he lived in New South Wales. However he did agree, as those children would have perished if left alone in the bush.
They travelled with a droving outfit bringing cattle to Murrurundi, a journey of at least six months. The tucker would have been beef and damper, golden syrup and perhaps milk if there were any cows in the mob with young calves at foot. The two boys were brought up at Bloomfield, Combo was about the same age as Fred Haydon, Bernard's eldest son and my father, They were about six years old at the time. These children played together, hunting possums and the like. Father used to tell us how quick they were spotting anything that moved in the bush.
Combo means black man. The other boy was called Jimmy Combo who worked all his life for the Haydon family on the various properties they were managing. Jimmy did not stay at Bloomfield and had various other jobs. At one time he was looking after the stallions at Bloomfield. Combo won a Tattersall's Sweepstake, One thousand pounds. The Aboriginal people share their goods and Combo's friends all had new bicycles.
At this time he was working at Yarramin Station, which the Haydons had leased, He met an English immigrant woman, who was cooking at the Pine Ridge Hotel on the Liverpool Plains. She was a Cockney ~ a Cockney is a Londoner living within hearing of Bow Bells Church bells, They were married after she insisted Combo be christened and given a proper name and they took as a surname Bloomfield, which was often done to take the name of the property they worked on, Her name was Frances Charlotte Wilshire.
Bernard Haydon provided them with a home, the old Callinan house on Scotts Creek, There were three children of this marriage: James Joseph, Frances Eve and Emmanuel Phillip Combo contracted T B. and died in this home when the children were quite small. Bernard provided a home for them in Blandford and provided them with rations. Mrs Combo, as she was always known to us, started to help with the laundry work at the Fred Haydon's home, referred to jokingly, as The Humpy, The children came with her until old enough to go to school. The Haydon children always dropped off a can of milk for them on their way to school each morning.
Emmanuel, always called Manny, was born on the same day as Frederick Bloomfield Haydon, always known as Jim for some strange reason. These two referred to each other as their twin. They all grew up to be splendid people. Jimmy, when old enough, came to work as a cowboy at The Humpy. Later, securing a better job, he went to work for the Buckley family out of Tamworth. Later still, he worked for Warrah Shire.
In June, 1969, Jimmy died. Family and friends had a picnic on the Murlo Mountain behind Blandford hunting rabbits. Jimmy did not return to the picnic place and a search found he had died of a heart attack.
Frances went to work with the Guy Haydon at Warrah Ridge. She was trained in all aspects in regard to running a home. She is an excellent laundress and an extra good cook ~ her fruit cakes are something special and she still makes them for special occasions. Frances later went to work for the Wrights and when my sister Blanche married Archie McLellan, Dad was left on his own in the big Bloomfield home, having his meals with his sister Maude and cousin Blanche Haydon, who had their own flat in the building. Frances came once a week to do out his part of the house and she kept an eye on his clothes, sending anything to the cleaners when necessary.
When I returned to Bloomfield in 1970 to look after my father who was then 90 years old, Frances came to give me a hand. She was a tower of strength and a great friend of mine for the next six years. Dad died in 1976 aged 96.
Manny was cowboy at the Humpy, always with a cheery grin. He was very attached to my mother, who was very good to him and often now mentions her to me ~ did I remember the lovely tomato jam she used to make and what she grew in the garden and things like that he has not forgotten. When War broke out, Manny enlisted in the Second A. I. F., obtaining the rank of Sergeant. His Commanding Officer was Kel Crowley from the Bingara area and he never passes through Blandford without calling to see him. After the War, he joined the New South Wales Railway Department as a guard in the ballast train. The blue metal was quarried at Ardglen and taken wherever it was needed in the State, giving Manny a vast knowledge of the State. Mrs Bloomfield died in 1959.
When we went to live in Queensland, my house in Blandford was rented by the Haydon Partnership for Bill Lovett, who came with Hilton Haydon after Monkey Cottage was sold. He and his two daughters lived there for a number of years, until Bill retired and went to live in Aberdeen with one of his daughters who had married Frank Yates of Blandford. When my house became vacant, Manny rang me offering to buy it, as their house by this time had become dilapidated. Finance was from the Aboriginal Protection Board, which took a while to eventuate, as Manny was unmarried and had to wait till his turn came after the married people.
They rented the house from me until finance became available. When Manny retired from the railway, he did odd jobs, lawn cutting and gardening at Harben Vale for Dr Begg and Bloomfield. Manny and Frances live very comfortably and are both great workers for their Church and Red Cross. Frances with her cooking and Manny with loads of wood to raffle and they generally help with functions.
The last time I saw Manny he was M.C. for a function at the Church of England, handling the job very well, still with his cheery grin. The Bloomfields are an example, that aboriginal people can be assimilated into the community: you could take them anywhere.
It has become a very urgent question how best to improve the position of the aboriginal people in society. It can be done, provided they play their part in being decent citizens themselves. The indigenous aboriginals are very honest. Scott McColl, who worked on Brunette Downs in the Northern Territory, told me the lubras did his washing and always returned anything found in his pockets. They are very fond of children and are great mimics. When the Brunette Downs Annual Race Meeting is on, the Station sends a truck around the camps to bring them in to the Station. They all arrive with suitcases with nothing in them. They see everyone arriving with suitcases so think it is the thing to do. These days they go walkabout in the station trucks.