"Nellievale" Homestead
Mr Herbert M. Beuzeville finally became the first contractor on the Forbes to Dandaloo Mail Run and commenced the run on February 1, 1877. At that time the contract stated that the mail should be carried from:
"Forbes to Dandaloo via Blowclear, Gunningbland, The Troughs, Gobondery, Burra Burra, Mumble Plains, Block H. Woodlands, and Albert Water Holes; once weekly; by horseback; for 320 pounds($640.00) per annum."
Later (1888) the contract called for the postal line to pass through:
"Forbes, Bogan Gate, Trundle Lagoon and Dandaloo via West's, Todd's, Hertzog's, Christie's, Saw Mill, Blowclear, Gunningbland, Troffs Homestead, Gobondery, Burra Burra, Mumble Plains, Block H, Woodlands Homestead and Albert Waterholes."
This constituted a journey of 140 miles (224 km) a week which, until 1885, was performed entirely on horseback. In 1885 the contractor was required to use a vehicle at such times as it was deemed necessary and in 1888 the regular use of a wagonette and two horses was instigated.
The initial difficulty incurred in finding a contractor is reflected in the high price paid for Mr Beuzeville's services. When the term of his contract had expired (31 March 1878) the contract was given to one Michael Guinen of Forbes and the salary decreased by almost half to 175 pounds p.a. ($350.00). The mail run continued until 1892, the full list of the contractors being as follows:
Herbert M. Beuzeville of Forbes, 1 Feb1877-31 Mar 1878-$640 p.a.
Michael Guinen of Forbes? to 31 Dec 1878 - $350 p.a.
James O'Neill of Cargo, 1879 - 1881 $348 p.a.
Henry Clancy of Forbes? - 31 Jun 1882 - $330 p.a.
James Bardsley of Forbes 1 Jul1882 to 9 Feb 1883 - $330 p.a.
John Gilchrist of Forbes 10 Feb1883 - 1 Apr 1884 - $330 p.a.
James Strickland of Forbes 1 Apr 1884 - $330 p.a.
Edward Hogan of Cargo 1885 - 1887 - $340 p.a.
John Christie of Trundle 1888 to 1 Jul 1889 - $250 p.a.
James Gilchrist of Trundle 1 Jul 1889 - 31 Dec 1890 - $250 p.a.
John Gilchrist of Trundle 1 Jan 1891- 9 May 1891 - $194 p.a.
Alex Gilchrist of Forbes 9 May 1891 - 31 Dec 1892 - $246 p.a.
Throughout these years the mailman was a welcome visitor at every homestead along the route of the mail run. The journey by horseback would have been a strenuous one for both man and beast and a timetable was set and expected to be adhered to and ran as follows:
Leave Forbes Sunday 4a.m.
Arrive Bogan Gate Sunday 10a.m.
Arrive Trundle Lagoon Sunday 1 p.m.
Arrive Dandaloo Monday 10p.m.
Leave Dandaloo Wednesday 8 a.m.
Arrive Trundle Lagoon Thursday 9a.m.
Arrive Bogan Gate Friday 12 noon.
Arrive Forbes Friday 6p.m
HERBERT M. BEUZEVILLE: The first contractor for the Forbes to Dandaloo Mail Run in 1877, Herbert M. Beuzeville, continued to live and work around the Trundle District after completing his term on the mail run and became one of the noted pioneers of the district.
From a well-educated background, Herbert was the son of James Beuzeville, a silk merchant and sericulturalist of French descent, who immigrated to Australia from England in 1848 with high hopes of establishing a silk industry in the colony. His experiments, however, were doomed to failure and James took work as an art master at The Kings School, Parramatta, and later joined with Rev. Charles Cutcliffe in opening an Academy in Bathurst. This venture also being short lived; James joined the Public Service and became the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths for the Bathurst District from 1856 to 1883. He and his wife Jane (nee Myles) had fifteen children of whom Herbert Marshall Beuzeville was the thirteenth.
Born in 1850, Herbert Beuzeville moved into the Forbes District when the Forbes Gold Rush began and worked as a despatch rider between the goldfield and Bathurst, which was then the nearest official town. Early in the 1870's he worked as an overseer on Burrawang Station. During this time he superintended the erection of the old stockyard at Trundle which was used for rounding up wild horses or 'brumbies' as they were generally called. In 1877 he carried the mail from Forbes to Dandaloo, the district's first mailman.
After that time he worked around the district as a contractor performing many of the various tasks necessary for the development of properties. In 1894 he worked as a contractor on 'Woodview' cutting scrub for four pence ha'penny (4.5 cents) an acre. In 1902 he worked at digging rabbit pits (an attempt at eradication of this menace) for ten shillings per pit ($1.00). In 1905 and 1906 he worked as a contractor on Plevna Station. Tasks carried out included 'suckering' ($3.00 per acre), bag sewing (70cents per hundred), fencing (including clearing 94 chains for $30.00, boring post holes at 70 cents per hundred, wiring at $3.00 per mile, erection at $2.00 per hundred posts, splitting 1,000 posts at $1.20 per hundred, and strainers at 10 cents each.) He also erected a shed and stock yard at a cost of $23.00.
For a time in the late 1880's he lived on a portion of The Troffs Station and worked there (a Kurrajong tree planted by his wife in 1887 soon after the birth of their son Norman still stands today marking the site of their modest home" on 'Norong'). Soon after this he selected property on a portion of Burrawang Station which he named “Alma” and which he farmed until c.1909 when he moved into Trundle Township and built a new home, "Fairview" Mentone Street.
A well-educated and cultured man, Herbert also wrote articles for the Royal Historical Society, The Bathurst Times and the Trundle Times under the pen name of 'Bilbie'. At the time of his death the manuscript of an historical book he had written was in the hands of publishers but unfortunately publication was never completed.
He and his wife Sophia Scott (born 25 May 1853 at Hartley), daughter of John Scott who came to the Forbes district during the gold rushes and then took up Carrawobbity Station. The Scott’s were also related to the Fields and Collitts, pioneers of the Forbes district. Herbert and Sophia had twelve children, most of who also settled in the Trundle District. .Herbert died on 20th July, 1921 aged 71 from pneumonia which he contracted when engaged in collecting census papers and is buried with his wife Sophia (who died on 19 September1929 at Trundle aged 76 years) in the Trundle Cemetery. They were married on 24 December 1873 at Broad Creek. Their children were:
The Beuzeville Family in 1897: Elvira, Fred, Edward, Minnie, Sophia, Elvie, Herbert, Maude, Arthur, Scott, Fred, Herbert Wifred, James Joseph.
Herbert Wilfred Beuzeville: Born on 5 October1894 at Oakes Camp near Forbes and passed away on 5 September 1907
James Joseph Beuzeville: Born 5 March 1876 at Broad Creek near Forbes, Died 8 August 1902 at Forbes.
Elvina Sophia Rose Beuzeville: Born 18 Jan 1878 at Wombat St. Forbes, Died 5 August1934 (56 years) at Trundle.
Fred Parrossine Beuzeville: Born 12 October 1879 at Flagstone Ck. near Parkes, Died 24 December 1945. A builder and contractor who moved from Trundle to Orange in 1937. Married Frances May Beasley in 1903. Children: Blanche, James, Lindsay, Thomas, Ruth (Mrs Buckley), Dudley, Marjorie (Mrs Baker), Gladys (Mrs Lapham), Bonnie (Mrs Ford), Grace (Mrs Allen), Hazel (Mrs Jones) and Cecil (Mick).
Ernest Charles Beuzeville: Born 25 June 1881 at Carranobbity, Lachlan River, Died 30 December 1964 at Trundle. Purchased 'Allandale', Yarrabundie 1916, 'Nellievale' and Avondale' 1920, married Emily Elizabeth Troth (whose parents had come from Grenfell to Trundle in 1898, selecting 'Caleula') in 13 Jan 1903. A life member of the Trundle and Fifield Jockey Clubs and a Patron of the Trundle Tennis Club. Children: Ernest James Victor, Arthur Wilfred, Stanfield Wellesley, Edward Gordon, Leslie Marshall, Alma Edna (Mrs John Leslie Critchley), Maud Adelaide Frances and Nellie Jean
Eva Ellen Maude Beuzeville: Born 3 Feb 1883 at Condobolin, Died 31 Jan 1885 at Forbes aged 23 months.
Minnie Blanche Beuzeville: Born: 10 March 1886 at North Hill, Forbes, Died 9 August 1965 at Newcastle aged 79 years. Married Thomas George Paul at Wingham in 1909, who had come to Trundle in 1907 to survey for the railway line. Children: George Henry, William John, Roy James, Vera M, Elvie M, Raymond, Norman Hood, Ruth Beuzeville (Mrs Neville Henry Edward Fahey).
Norman Scott Beuzeville: Born 8 October 1887 at Cardungle, Troffs Station, and Died 21 May 1978 (90 years). Married Mary Kathleen Jordan on 21/5/1925 at Orange. Children: Doris Mary (Mrs Leonard Gerald Jefferis), Elizabeth Maude (Mrs Bruce William Guymer).
Served with the 6th Australian Light Horse Regiment at Gallipoli and in the Middle East 1914-1919
Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 13 April 1921
LAND BALLOT AT WARREN - 490 APPLICANTS FOR TWO BLOCKS.
WARREN.-Tho local land board conducted a ballot for two homestead farm areas, known as the Gillendoon blocks, comprising 1808 and 188G acres, respectively. The total number of applicants was 490, although the land was made available for all comers; the Returned Soldiers' League protested that the areas were originally intended by Mr Ashford (when Minister for Lands) for returned soldiers. The land board took the representations of the Returned Soldiers' League into consideration, and excluded all applicants except returned soldiers and married men, with the result that 300 applicants were cut out; 100 went to ballot, and 20 marbles were drawn, the two successful applicants being Norman S. Beuzeville, of Trundle, a returned soldier, and Thoa R. N. Boss, of Balladoran.
Norman Scott Beuzeville: No. 779 was the son of Herbert Marshall Beuzeville and Sophia Beuzeville applied for and gained admission to the 6th Light Horse when he enlisted on November 17, 1914 at the age of twenty seven. The Light Horse was the elite of the Australian troops, superior horsemanship being the criterion for selection. There horses, however, had to be left behind in Egypt during the assault on Gallipoli. On Gallipoli Scot! Beuzeville was given a job us a sniper because of his skills with a rifle and was selected as a member of the Bodyguard for Sir Ian Hamilton when he visited Gallipoli.
After Gallipoli he served in other Middle East Stations including Alexandria, Cairo, Moascar and Port Said and took part in the cavalry charge at Beersheba. He served for more than four years, being finally discharged on June 2, 1919. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the ANZAC Commemorative Medal in recognition of his services.
After the War he returned to Trundle and then took up the property he named "Normandoon" at Warren in 1922. He retired to Trundle in 1962 and lived there until his death in 1978, aged ninety one.
Arthur George Beuzeville: Born 21 December 1888 at Bullock Creek or Buchanan Lagoon, near Forbes – 7 November 1922 at Trundle aged 33)
Edward John Leslie Beuzeville: Born: 14 March 1890 at Dubbo, Died 29 June 1960 at Trundle aged 60 years. Married May Atkinson on 23/4/1919 at Trundle. Children: Leo Marshall, Joseph Edward, Lachlan Arthur, Noel John and Trevor Wilfred. A carpenter, helped to clear the land for the Trundle to Tullamore Railway Line in partnership with his brothers Arthur and Norman Beuzeville.
Maude Victoria Beuzeville: Born: 28 March 1892 at Wanaaring, Paroo River, Died: 14 September 1920 at Trundle aged 28 years.
Elvie Gertrude Beuzeville: Born: 12 March.1896 at Trundle Hotel, D. 3rd February 1976 aged 79 years at Trundle.
A cousin of the Beuzeville family also lived in Trundle for some time. He was Wilfred Alexander Watt de Beuzeville who built Guy's house in West Street Trundle. He left Trundle in 1912 to become the forest guide at Warialda with the State Forestry Dept., becoming a Senior Forester in 1925. In 1928 he was appointed to head office in Sydney where he worked until his retirement in 1948. During this time he became the state's first ecologist. He wrote "Australian Trees for Australian Planting" in 1947.
Trundle Public School in approximately 1936
