Early Jottings of the Upper Page and Isis River Districts
While staying at Timor recently Reg White told me he wanted to write a story of the district and of the arrival of the Whites on the Isis River at Timor.
They came up the Isis River from Scone, whereas others travelled up the Page River.
As I have been involved for over 10 years in work at Bloomfield sorting and arranging our own family collection of historical material, I offered to write the part about the Page River knowing Reg would have to research what I had already done.
Basically this book covers the area between the Page and Isis Rivers and their subsidiary creeks.
My source material comes from diaries, letters, manuscripts and memos, these memos written by Caroline Haydon are written on any old scrap of paper, newspaper wrappers and the like. They contain a wealth of information about the district and its people. Caroline had a very alert mind.
Mr McLellan has been an avid researcher, some years ago he published an article in Descent about Peter Haydon the first one to come to Australia. A few years ago he published a booklet about Thomas Haydon, this was not for sale which I felt was a pity, as there was a lot about the early days and the people of those days, as well as about Thomas himself in the booklet.
The Haydon family have their own archives room at Bloomfield, after my father F. B. Haydon died in 1976, and my brother Jim became the owner of the old Bloomfield home, he decided to make a room available for our historical material, you can imagine the amount of work involved as the family had lived there continuously. Nothing had ever been thrown out. Jim put a lot of time and effort getting organised and it was a tremendous interest to him after he turned over the running of the property to his sons Peter and Jim.
It was a great sadness to us all when brother Jim died so suddenly in 1986. To his widow Ethel the family owe a lot. She was so supportive of Jim in his efforts, ever ready to type, and listen, she must have often been sick of the word archive.
Armidale University, The Mitchell Library and Newcastle University all wanted our material but we decided we wanted it to remain where it originated. Newcastle University are presently making arrangements to microfilm material they want. We are told we have the best private collection in NS.W for as well as written material there are hundreds of photographs.
Mick Greer is writing about the early days on Warlands Creek. I am very grateful to him as he has a lot more knowledge of that area than I do, the Greer family being very early settlers there.
I hope you will enjoy this book.
J. E. (Betty) Haydon
Dubbo 1987.