Major William Sandys Elrington was an influential landholder in the Braidwood district 1827 to 1845. Majors Creek, Elrington Street and Mt Elrington are reminders of his presence, but should he be remembered as a great pioneer or a cruel master of convicts?
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In 1828 Major Elrington became the first magistrate in the district, presiding over a large area stretching from the upper Shoalhaven to the Molonglo Plains. His grant, Mt Elrington, was located about 20 kilometres to the south-west of present day Braidwood, on the banks of the Shoalhaven, near the southern boundary of the Limits of Settlement.
Prior to 1840, before the town of Braidwood came into existence, the district consisted of scattered feudal-like large estates where retired sea captains, ship’s surgeons and retired army officers became landed gentry, rewarded with large land grants for services to the Crown. They were further provided with free labour in the form of assigned convict servants to run their large estates.
With so many convicts in the district, many of the wealthy large landowners felt isolated and insecure. At meal times, Major Elrington sat at the head of his long table in his huge dining room while his eldest son sat at the foot of the table, and at the right hand of each lay a loaded pistol, while no convict servant was permitted, in serving a meal, to pass directly behind either.
The Major’s insecurity could have been a result of the harsh punishments he served out. On one occasion he was about to witness one of his convicts, John Hare, receive 100 lashes for absconding. Hare picked up a stone and hurled it at the Major, knocking him to the ground. Then repeated the action with another stone causing a deep wound to the head. No doubt this was unnerving for the Major but worse for Hare, who was subsequently hanged.
Later the same year, the Major was severely criticised by the Sydney Monitor newspaper for sentencing Martha Cadman, a girl of 15 or 16 to three months in Sydney Gaol for abandoning her employment, under the Masters and Servants Act. She was not a convict. She had to walk to Sydney escorted by a series of convict constables, one of whom raped her.
Further, in 1839 the Major was rebuked by the Governor for refusing to grant an application for a Ticket of Leave for one of his long serving convicts, Patrick Neill. The inference being that Elrington refused him in his own interests because he did not want to lose one of his better workers.
There are many such examples about early Braidwood and the treatment of convicts contained in the Braidwood Bench Books (1838-1859) held in NSW State Records Office in Kingswood. Recently, BDHS Treasurer, Julie Coleman, obtained a digital copy for Braidwood Museum.
Braidwood Museum is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 2pm.
