The Ubobo Soldier Settlement Series has been created to celebrate the Centenary of Ubobo Soldier Settlement in the Boyne Valley, Qld, Australia; 1920 - 2020. Returned soldiers from World War 1 were granted leasehold farm blocks which they were required to improve into working farms. Generally, they became dairy farmers. Generally, these blocks were too small to be viable and many were abandoned and reallocated to other soldiers. Eventually most of the farms were merged into larger farms which have become beef and hay farms.
Each drawing in this series is pen & watercolour on paper - 42 x 29.5 cm
Each drawing in this series is pen & watercolour on paper - 42 x 29.5 cm
Exploring the Boyne Valley Soldier Settler Blocks
Twenty nineteen Christmas now gone.
The New year’s next event
Twenty twenty Centenary
Of Soldier Settlement.
Kathy had researched the Settlers
And their leased blocks of land.
Neville who was born and bred here
Had much knowledge to hand.
With these Settler blocks calling us
To engage with their past
We earmarked a couple of days
For finding shadows cast.
With Kathy’s maps and Settler names
We set forth to explore
Saturday, December twenty first,
Tuesday thirty first for more.
The summer heat was oppressive
Hats and water a must
And to get through long busy days
We took along our lunch.
We worked our cameras overtime
To capture photographs
That pieced together the stories
From remnants from the past.
Bush lemons, mango trees and palms
Where many homes once stood
Provide us with some starting points
To search what’s underfoot.
Crumpled stove recess on one block
Old stove on another
Bottles telling of times merry
Much stuff to discover.
Sometimes house stumps stood sentinel
To their history past.
There may be an old, rusted tank
And concrete in the grass.
Kangaroos and cattle watched on
As we delved the secrets
Of falling down sheds and houses
Each with their uniqueness.
Vestiges of farm life survived.
Windmills near rusty tanks,
Hand hewn fence posts, grey and leaning,
Old farm gates made of planks.
Big brown rusted rolls of barbed wire,
Old style farm implements
And some old hand tools in dump sites
Left to the elements.
Remnants of dairies abounded.
There were cream sheds, cream cans,
Cattle yards, milking sheds and bails,
All worked with Settler hands.
The old stock route held more stories
Along the Eastern Boyne.
There were many gates to pass on through
With more blocks to enjoy.
That old cart with the tree grown through,
Once a Settler’s transport
Added to our long discussion
Of the life Settlers sought.
On one block there is an old grave
Name and death date from yore.
Solemn moment remembering
The lives that went before.
Walking the footsteps of Settlers
Each new find, small or large
Wrote their stories in our minds
Their stories of the past.
So, twenty twenty came and went
Also, twenty twenty-one
As we endured a pandemic
Covid-19 it’s known.
It is now twenty twenty-two
And Covid still torments
But celebrations go ahead
For Soldier Settlement.
Anne Huth
March 2022
Twenty nineteen Christmas now gone.
The New year’s next event
Twenty twenty Centenary
Of Soldier Settlement.
Kathy had researched the Settlers
And their leased blocks of land.
Neville who was born and bred here
Had much knowledge to hand.
With these Settler blocks calling us
To engage with their past
We earmarked a couple of days
For finding shadows cast.
With Kathy’s maps and Settler names
We set forth to explore
Saturday, December twenty first,
Tuesday thirty first for more.
The summer heat was oppressive
Hats and water a must
And to get through long busy days
We took along our lunch.
We worked our cameras overtime
To capture photographs
That pieced together the stories
From remnants from the past.
Bush lemons, mango trees and palms
Where many homes once stood
Provide us with some starting points
To search what’s underfoot.
Crumpled stove recess on one block
Old stove on another
Bottles telling of times merry
Much stuff to discover.
Sometimes house stumps stood sentinel
To their history past.
There may be an old, rusted tank
And concrete in the grass.
Kangaroos and cattle watched on
As we delved the secrets
Of falling down sheds and houses
Each with their uniqueness.
Vestiges of farm life survived.
Windmills near rusty tanks,
Hand hewn fence posts, grey and leaning,
Old farm gates made of planks.
Big brown rusted rolls of barbed wire,
Old style farm implements
And some old hand tools in dump sites
Left to the elements.
Remnants of dairies abounded.
There were cream sheds, cream cans,
Cattle yards, milking sheds and bails,
All worked with Settler hands.
The old stock route held more stories
Along the Eastern Boyne.
There were many gates to pass on through
With more blocks to enjoy.
That old cart with the tree grown through,
Once a Settler’s transport
Added to our long discussion
Of the life Settlers sought.
On one block there is an old grave
Name and death date from yore.
Solemn moment remembering
The lives that went before.
Walking the footsteps of Settlers
Each new find, small or large
Wrote their stories in our minds
Their stories of the past.
So, twenty twenty came and went
Also, twenty twenty-one
As we endured a pandemic
Covid-19 it’s known.
It is now twenty twenty-two
And Covid still torments
But celebrations go ahead
For Soldier Settlement.
Anne Huth
March 2022
Ubobo Soldier Settlement
Where eucalypts and wattle grew
In Boyne valley spaces
They came to start their life anew
From faraway places.
Their short lives war had torn apart
With horrors far too real.
They were promised a fresh new start
The dust of war to peel.
They arrived any way they could
By buggy, train, or horse
Until with map in hand they stood
For their land to set course.
With wives and children by their side
Camping and clearing land
A farming life they desired
Aiming for futures grand.
The land acreage was too small
Times were extremely rough
Sometimes no good rain fell at all
And living proved too tough.
Some packed their things and moved away
And others came along
Properties amalgamated
To make their holdings strong.
Dairying, cropping, and grazing
They would try their hand
Long hours per day they were working
To cultivate their land.
Ubobo a large lease holding
Turned into many farms
A small township developing
With Soldier Settler arms.
Since that time the valley has changed
The dairies are all gone
Beef cattle, hay, and now grain
Are found along the Boyne.
Family connections current
Hold in memories strong
World War One Soldier Settlement
And Boyne Valley times gone.
Where eucalypts and wattle grew
In Boyne valley spaces
They came to start their life anew
From faraway places.
Their short lives war had torn apart
With horrors far too real.
They were promised a fresh new start
The dust of war to peel.
They arrived any way they could
By buggy, train, or horse
Until with map in hand they stood
For their land to set course.
With wives and children by their side
Camping and clearing land
A farming life they desired
Aiming for futures grand.
The land acreage was too small
Times were extremely rough
Sometimes no good rain fell at all
And living proved too tough.
Some packed their things and moved away
And others came along
Properties amalgamated
To make their holdings strong.
Dairying, cropping, and grazing
They would try their hand
Long hours per day they were working
To cultivate their land.
Ubobo a large lease holding
Turned into many farms
A small township developing
With Soldier Settler arms.
Since that time the valley has changed
The dairies are all gone
Beef cattle, hay, and now grain
Are found along the Boyne.
Family connections current
Hold in memories strong
World War One Soldier Settlement
And Boyne Valley times gone.