'Marengo Estate'

Looking towrads Richmond from 'Glen Ayr' with 'Marengo Estate' in the middle distance

The Returned Soldiers’ Settlement Act, 1916 In 1916 the Tasmanian Government established ‘The Soldier Land Settlement Scheme’ in an effort to settle returned soldiers on the land as producers and farmers during and after the First World War. Similar schemes were established in other Australian states. 

Properties were purchased in all parts of Tasmania and by September 1919, 576 men had taken up land, however it wasn’t long before the scheme began to fail. Simple economics made it impractical for soldiers to become farmers. The burden of making repayments or paying rent was arduous and the difficult period of the 1920s leading up to the Great Depression made their situation worse. 

In 1926 a Royal Commission found fault with major elements of the scheme, concluding that it was doomed by too lenient qualification rules, unworkable financial obligations and undue political influence. Little was done after 1926 apart from shoring up the remaining settlers, but failures continued. In 1929, a survey of soldier land settlement found that Tasmania retained only 777 out of 1976 settlers – a failure rate of 61 percent, the worst in Australia. Financial losses were extremely heavy, and Depression compounded the problems. 

‘Marengo Estate’ was one of those parcels of land taken up for the scheme. 

The Mercury Thursday 14 August 1919 SOLDIER SETTLEMENT. ESTATE NEAR RICHMOND PURCHASED. The Minister of Lands (Hon. Alec Hean) has, upon the recommendation of the Closer Settlements Board, acquired the property known as Marengo, situate in the Richmond district, from its owner, Mr. Henry Dickson, who will retain the homestead and 150 acres of land. The property comprises approximately 650 acres under cultivation, 400 acres improved, and 300 acres slightly improved grazing land - total area, 1,350 acres. This is a good agricultural estate, the soil is a heavy, dark loam, freely mixed with clay on the flats, and somewhat heavy to work, on account of its strong character, especially on the side boundary by the Tea Tree-road. The soil on the rising ground is lighter in character, but dark in colour, and is more easily worked. All the land to be cultivated can, if well worked, be depended upon to produce excellent wheat or other cereal crops, with good yields. In addition to the growth of wheat or hay crops, portions are well adapted for dairying. It is situated about, four miles from the Tea Tree railway siding, and three miles distant from Richmond. The Minister added that this land could be subdivided into blocks to provide a fair living for returned soldiers. It had cost £5.10s. an acre, and posses-sion would be available on April 1 1920. 

Five lots were taken up as follows: 

Lot 1, W. T. Scotney; 
Lot 2, A. F. Jeanneret; 
Lot 3, M. G. E. Knight; 
Lot 4, C. A. Newnham; 
Lot 5, D. S. Luck. 

Alan Francis Jeanneret On 1 May 1920, at the age of twenty one, my grandfather Alan Francis Jeanneret took possession of Lot 2, a parcel of 254 acres on the Marengo Estate, Grasstree Hill Road, Richmond. 

Alan was no stranger to farming, in 1913 at the age of fourteen he had been sent to Tasmania, more specifically to Hayes, near New Norfolk, to learn about fruit growing from “Long John” Terry of ‘Slateford’. By December 1917 Alan was old enough to enlist for World War One so he made his way back to Sydney and joined the Australia Imperial Force and completed six months Home Service before leaving for the Middle East for six months Active Service. The Armistice was declared before he could arrive at his destination in the Middle East. The troop ship he was aboard was turned around and returned to Australia where they were quarantined due to the Spanish Flu epidemic. 

Having made an application for a grant of land under the ‘The Soldier Land Settlement Scheme’ on 2 August 1919, he was provided with house plans by the Department of Public Works in December 1919 and advised he had been successful with his application in May 1920. He was living at ‘Glen Ayr’ at the time. 

It is complicated to unravel the threads that make up the tapestry of my family without giving some context. This may also explain the pre-emptive nature of the house plans. 

Alan already had connections in Tasmania, his great grandfather, Dr Henry Jeanneret, had arrived in Van Diemen’s Land nearly a hundred years earlier in 1828. That is another story. 

His grandfather, Charles Edward Jeanneret, spent time at the goldfields in Victoria between leaving Tasmania in 1850 and settling in Sydney where he took up land at Hunters Hill where he became a Magistrate, Lord Mayor of Hunters Hill, Alderman of Sydney, Member of NSW Parliament, a signatory to the Federation of Australia and close friend of Henry Parkes. 

Charles started the first tramway in Australia and owned a fleet of twenty-five ferries. He had a large family and built nineteen houses at Hunters Hill which had become a prestigious address and was known locally as the ‘French Village’. His home, ‘Wybalena’ in Jeanneret Avenue was recently purchased by former politician and Ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey. 

The connections with Tasmania were still strong and Alan’s father and his uncles had all been sent to Tasmania to attend the Hutchins School. 

Alan’s father, Francis Edward Jeanneret, married a Tasmanian lass, Augusta Bassett Hull, in 1888 at Hunters Hill, Sydney. Augusta was the daughter of Hugh Munro Hull, Clerk of the House in the Tasmanian Parliament and author of numerous manuscripts about Tasmania. Her grandfather, George Hull, had arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1819 to take up the position of Assistant Deputy Commissariat. He had previously seen service as Assistant Commissary General under the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. In 1824 he was granted 2,560 acres in recognition of his military service at O’Brien’s Bridge. His house was named ‘Tolosa’ and that area is now known as Glenorchy. 

At some point between 1920-1922 Alan returned to Sydney and obtained a Diploma in Wool Classing from the Sydney Technical College. The next few years were spent at large wool sheds across New South Wales. 

In  true Tasmanian style, the connections continue… 

Alan returned to Tasmania and married the girl next door, Sophia Mary Dickson, in 1926. Sophia was the only daughter of Bassett Richard Dickson (IV).  

The Dickson Family 
‘Marengo Estate’ was previously part of the ‘Glen Ayr’ property owned by Bassett Dickson (III) and comprised 8,000 acres. Presumably, after the death of Bassett (III) the property was split between two of his sons, Bassett Richard and Henry Dickson. The ‘Bassett Dicksons' can be confusing because it is a name that has been passed from father to son for many generations, which at the latest count numbered Bassett Dickson the 8th. 

The first Bassett Dickson in Tasmania (known as Bassett Dickson II) was a cotton mill proprietor who emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land on the ‘Medway’, a fully rigged ship of 435 tons, sailing from Cork 25th July 1829. He and his wife, Elizabeth Porter, and 5 children arrived in Hobart Town after 131 days of travelling from Cork to Sydney. They spent 6 weeks in Sydney before sailing for Hobart on the 2nd February 1830, arriving 16th February 1830. On arrival Bassett Dickson (II) deposited his capital of some £1,200 in gold with the Bank of Van Diemen’s Land. In addition he brought with him £200 pounds worth of furniture. He paid a courtesy call on Lieutenant Governor Colonel George Arthur and applied for a grant of land which was approved one week later - 2,000 acres in the Ross district. On the 17th March 1830 they travelled north by bullock wagon and chose a site for their home where they built a ‘sod’ hut and  lived there for 7 years while building a substantial stone homestead. The property was named ‘Plassy’. 

In 1847 Bassett (II) and his wife Elizabeth gave the property 'Plassy' to their daughter Eliza and her husband William Moore Ferrar as a wedding gift. Shortly after, in 1849 their eldest son, Bassett Dickson (III) purchased Glen Ayr for £3,000 and took up residence there. 

Over the next twenty years, Bassett (III) made considerable acquisitions of property ranging from Bruny Island to Campania to Brighton, New Norfolk, Back River, Eastern Marshes, Meadowbank, Lake Echo, Lake Sorell, Ben Lomond and other parcels in between. 

Aged 53 years, in 1869, Bassett shot himself in the head and died. Two of his brothers-in-law, Nicholas Brown MHA and Henry Fraser had been with him moments before and had thought he was in good spirits. At the time he was residing at his property ‘Scottsdale’, opposite Boyer on the Derwent River, and was finalising the purchase of Campania Estate. His wife Mary succeeded him by thirty years and continued to manage the properties from her office in Hobart. 

Back to the Marengo story…