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acre blocks through a kind of hire-purchase agreement. No deposit was required, but payments
of 2 shillings an acre were required per annum until the full price of £1 an acre had been paid.
The blocks were held on a three-year licence, during which they had to be fenced and 10 per
cent of the land cultivated. Each settler also had to prove he had lived on his land for at least 2%
years. If these conditions were complied with, the settler (also called a selector) could then
apply for a seven-year lease, at the same rental as the licence - 2 shillings per acre per year. (At
the end of this period, if all the payments had been made, the settler could apply for a Crown
Grant. Such were the conditions under which William obtained his land.
A little book commemorating the centenary of the Wharparilla West Primary School (in 1975)
contains an account of one of these settlers, John Hattwell, who came to the area a few years
before William. It was written as a class project about 1902.
'In the year 1871 my Uncle John came to the Terricks [hills west of Torrumbarry] and on 16
October 1872, he selected land on the boundary of
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Wharparilla and he says at that time there were a few selectors along the Murray, but the
country was all open, there being only one fence, the boundary between Wharparilla and
Torrumbarry, and the first crop he saw was grown by Mr Braund in 1872. And at that time
there was only two bark Shanties along the Swan Hill Road, between Echuca and the Terricks,
one was kept by Mr Peppemell which was just opposite where the Wharparilla North State
School now stands, and the other was kept by Mr Aspinall which is now the property of Mr F
Mullet And the most to be seen in those days were mobs of Kangaroos and Emus, which were
very plentiful, and he says he remembers four Hotels in Echuca, and he stayed at the Echuca
Hotel which was built mostly of rough split timber, and the Shamrock Hotel was built of the
same kind of timber. In 1870 was one of the biggest floods in the Murray ever known.'
Animal and bird life abounded in the district: porcupines, native cats, and snakes; ducks and
cockatoos, ibis, herons, and pink galahs. Some, like the kangaroos and cockatoos, feasted on
unguarded crops, destroying what the settlers sowed in the shallow soil.
The school's centenary booklet contains some other pieces of information that add colour to the
few years that William Honeycombe lived there.
'Crops of ambercane and saccaline were grown near the present junction of the Wharparilla and
Serpentine roads. These crops sheltered foxes, which were hunted by local farmers and their
dogs... As early as 1871 hare hunts were organised to help raise money for the districts schools
and local charities... Dances were popular meeting-places, with dances often organised when
the moon was high, as travelling with horses, or by foot, was easier... Mr F Kirchhofer came
from Switzerland, bought his land, and had 3/6 left in his pocket... 1875 was a "good year." A
school was established in the district and crops were good - 20 bushels of wheat were taken off
at Braunds.'
And in Echuca a six-berth brothel in the backyard of the Murray Hotel opened its doors that
year.
According to the booklet, many of the settlers of the 60's and 70's came from the fertile area
around Geelong, and were consequently disappointed by the poor results of farming on the
Murray River's banks. Their high hopes were a mirage, such as they would see in summer
shimmering on the plains.
Another booklet, Pioneers of the Echuca and Moama Districts, lists 43 local families, six of
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