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| Nine Magpies Etching by Joseph Austin reproduced by permission of the artist. The Gunning sportsmen put paid to more than nine such birds in 1880 |
In March 1880 the Goulburn Herald and Chronicle's Gunning correspondent reported on a novel sporting event:
"Magpie Shooting - Nearly all the male population of Gunning and a sprinkling of the fair sex, assembled on and about the flat on Monday afternoon to take part in and witness the sweep-shooting. Magpies were used in place of pigeons, both as being cheaper and more easily procurable. Mr W Grovenor procured the birds; in fact that gentleman is to be thanked for his enterprise in getting up the sport.
Everything passed all very pleasantly and satisfactorily, there being an unexpectedly large number of competitors.
Match Report Summary
There were two events, an open competition with a 5 shilling prize and a handicap sweep for 3 shillings - both with 3 birds per competitor. Between them 10 competitors took out seven birds although at least ten more shot magpies were not credited to shooters. The competitors and their scores were:
Open Sweep: Messrs J Bean jnr [0], R Reynolds [2 and also declared the winner], J Newman [0], W Grovenor [0], W P Rowland [0], J Hart [0].
Handicap: Messrs W Grovenor, [0], W P Rowland [0], T Easterby [[0], J Ferguson [2 - the winning tally], J Newman [[0], J Hart [1], T Cox [0], J Bean jnr [0], A H Line [0].
"The scores" the reporter added "look badly; but to show that the shooting was not so bad as it looks I might mention that after the match a dozen or more birds were found dead in the creek a little outside the boundary."
Did this sloppy stewarding and dodgy judging cause any discontent among unsuccessful competitors? Seemingly not, as on the following week the same correspondent reported to the sporting world that "Our late magpie match passed off so well, and sport was entered into so heartily that [Mr Badgery to the contrary notwithstanding] Mr W Grovenor has determined to get up another match of the same kind on a larger scale, and with a better supply of birds."
"Sirs, Stop this Senseless, Savage Slaughter" Did Brave Badgery Cry?
You will see from the second report that a Mr Badgery seems to have been opposed to repeating the first magpie shooting sweepstake. Was he an early wildlife protection advocate? Or a temperance society zealot worried that post competition knees-ups at the nearest hotel often followed shooting matches?
It is more likely that Mr Badgery was a member of the sporting fraternity. There are frequent reports of a ubiquitous Mr Badgery participating in pigeon shooting contests all around Goulburn, Moss Vale and similar areas at the time. Local readers may well have known that the "Mr Badgery notwithstanding" reference was because, although a keen shooter, he may have disagreed with the direction of the club under Mr Grovenor. Perhaps the whole village knew he had recently had a big hissy fit over this issue.
Why was Mass Magpie Shooting Such Ethically Uncomplicated Fun in 1880?
Like us, these people were products of their place and time. Most participants would not have had any sense their sport could be seen as cruel or that large scale shooting of native animals could threaten their survival. Most would have thought of themselves as shooting pests of which there was an inexhaustible supply.
Many were of English background. Since Tudor times magpies in England were one of lots of species seen as "vermin". From 1566 Queen Elizabeth 1 and her successors offered bounties of varying amounts for the destruction of vermin under a pest control regime managed by parishes. Although magpies were one of the target species they were a very low priority and remained little troubled for a long time.
Things went bad for the English magpie from the 1800s when the Victorian and Edwardian landed gentry took on most wildlife management. They wanted their gamekeepers to manage their estates to maintain a plentiful supply of game birds such as partridges, quail and grouse for pleasure shooters. English magpies are very effective nest predators of other birds so they joined crows and foxes as one of the big three enemies of lords and squires. They were hunted to the point of becoming endangered or locally extinct.
The Gunning sportsmen in 1880 would have been readers of English and local field sports journals such as The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes which placed magpies in the worst of three categories of pests. Magpies joined weasels, cats, rats and crows as vermin"that do nothing but harm". They had to be removed for the common good.
Likewise, until late Victorian times rural and agricultural practices were often clearly cruel. Long standing biblical teaching supported the belief that the world was created for the benefit of man and that all life should be subservient to him. Animals were seen as being without souls and incapable of feeling. These times saw things like birds nailed to floor so they would fatten better, kittiwakes taken for the millinery trade thrown alive into the sea with their wings cut off and the like. Practices like these did not begin to be widely questioned until the last half of the 19th century and it was not until after the horrors of World War that our attitude towards animal life changed significantly.
So, to the extent that they thought about it at all, the Gunning sportsmen probably felt their fun benefited the community by removing pests. There was no moral ambiguity in this nor any question about the long term survival of local wildlife. Their sport was certainly not illegal. Although there were bird protection laws in New South Wales they applied only to introduced species.
"It's a Bum Rap" says Australian Magpie. "I Never Done It"
The Australian magpie reminded first fleeters and later new arrivals of the English magpie - hence our local bird's name. But, as you can see from the photos below, they are very different beasts. It seems our magpie became tarnished with the English bird's reputation.
Can you pick the damaging nest predator from the two suspects below?
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| Photo Noodle Snacks and Wikipedia |
The English magpie above is a member of the corvid family. It is undoubtedly a very skilled, determined and persistent predator of the eggs and nestlings of other birds. A professional at this you might say. Our native magpie is more of an amateur or opportunist. A highly intelligent bird, it is certainly not averse to the odd egg or nestling should it come upon them but it is not a huge threat to other species.
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| Photo Bob Spiller |
This may not have occurred to the Gunning sportsmen, influenced as they probably were by over 400 years of English history and beliefs.
Do You Know Any More?
Do you know more about Messrs Grovenor and Badgery and their sporting activities, or about early naturalists and wildlife in the Gunning district. If so, I would love to hear from you. There is a lot more to be learned about natural history and our interaction with the environment in the Gunning district since white settlement began. You are very welcome to leave a comment on this blog or contact me at spillers263@outlook.com.
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