English-born Hunter Valley settler
Captain John Pike first arrived in Sydney as
a Lieutenant with the 73rd Regiment of Foot,
which detachment accompanied Governor Lachlan
Macquarie to New South Wales in December
1809.
English-born Hunter
Valley settler Captain John Pike first
arrived in Sydney as a Lieutenant with the
73rd Regiment of Foot, which detachment
accompanied Governor Lachlan Macquarie to New
South Wales in December 1809. The Regiment’s
primary task was to support their former
commanding officer in ending the insurrection
of rebel officers who had deposed Governor
Bligh (the so-called Rum Rebellion). This
task was accomplished without real opposition
or bloodshed.
In 1814, the Regiment was re-deployed to
Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Following his term of
service, the by now Captain Pike returned to
England in 1821. Having decided to retire and
sell his commission in April 1824, John Pike
then sailed to NSW as a free settler on the
Phoenix in 1825. He was accompanied
by his wife and daughter, (plus 10 Saxon
ewes, 4 rams and 10 Merino ewes). After first
selecting a land grant of 2,000 acres in the
Hunter River district that he named
Pickering, Captain Pike, his wife
and daughter, travelled from Sydney to their
new home-site, on the last part of the
journey by horse and cart.
As well as farming sheep in the colony,
Captain Pike also bred stockhorses and was
listed in the Maitland Mercury as a
leading exporter of “Walers” to the British
Army in India. Under the provisions of the
Squatters’ Act of 1846-47, John Pike received
land in the Clarence River Pastoral District,
Red Bank 14,000 acres,
Glenugie 25,000 acres and with a Mr
Besnard, Woodenbong 25,000 acres.
John Pike also acquired Tabulam West of
32,000 acres from William Tucker Evans in
April 1848 and in the Darling Downs Pastoral
District, the Pikedale property of
100,000 acres under the Squatter’s Act.
Parliamentarian Thomas Bawden in his
remarkable Bawden Lectures wrote that while
residing at Pickering in the Hunter
district, “Captain Pike usually visited
his properties once a year, accompanied by a
groom. The captain always rode a splendid
hack, the groom leading an equally good one.
The captain rode them half-a-day about, while
following him were two pack mules conveying
tents, rations, and camp utensils. These
mules were about the best I ever
saw.”
At the end of 1854, West Tabulam was
sold to former India-based Army officer,
Captain Charles George Temple Chauvel
(grandfather of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry
Chauvel C.B, K.C.M.G of British Desert
Mounted Corps, World War 1, fame) In 1859,
before embarking on a tour to Europe Captain
Pike sold the by now 8,000 acre property
Pickering to Archibald Bell jnr.
After the death of Captain Pike at Tours
(France) in 1863, Glenugie was sold
to James Devlin who later sold it to Samuel
Cohen. No doubt the other properties were
also sold around that time. In his will,
Captain John Pike bequeathed large sums to
various charities in Queensland.
Author: As a result of having published“Horsemen of the First Frontier
(1788-1900) & The Serpents
Legacy”, I regularly correspond
with readers seeking additional information
on their pioneer ancestors. This research
study on Capt. John Pike is a recent
example.