Gunning & District Historical Society

  Benjamin Pollard  –  Father of 26 By M.D. Friend Catherine Creek - Jerrawa  When Benjamin Pollard died in 1915 at ‘Sunrise View’ near Dalton, New South Wales, he had recorded a remarkable statistic; fathering 26 children. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact only one of the 26 children died in infancy; even with a serious diphtheria outbreak in the area which claimed many young victims in the early 1860’s. Pollard bounty immigrant shipping slip The family first settled at ‘The Oakes’ near Camden before relocating to Jerrawa by bullock waggon in the search for land of their own. Father William and son Benjamin had both purchased land at Jerrawa by 1856. While living here it is alleged (in the obituary of Williams daughter Ellen Pollard nee Ginn) that father William was held up by bushrangers when traveling to Yass to pay for his Jerrawa land purchase. The story goes that the bushrangers “demanded money, only to receive a ‘not negot...

Alexander John Alchin: Hard Labourer by Garry Norman Smith “Mug Shots” of Alexander John Alchin, 21 August 1900, Goulburn Gaol Alexander John Alchin was born at Dalton on 12 July 1878, the son of John Alchin (Junior (1853-1916) and Sarah Ann Atkins (1855-1883) and grandson of John Alchin (1821-1901) and Martha Matilda Johnson (1837-1922). Nothing is known of Alexander John’s formative years. As a child he was living in the area around Jerrawa and Dalton. His mother died at Dalton in 1883 when he was only five years old. His father remarried in 1888 to Mary Collins; this marriage took place in the Cootamundra district. On 1 October 1906 at the age of twenty-eight years Alexander John Alchin married sixteen-year-old Annie Low Ross (1890-1942) at Cootamundra. Annie was born in Narranderra. Prior to this time Alexander John had already been in trouble with the law. As a labourer, he struggled to find work and to make ends meet. In contrast to his later con...