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Report on the Examination of Crown Lands etc. in the County of Wellington
Appendix I. Exploration, County of Wellington - From Roger River to Marrawah Plain
Appendix II. Exploration 5700 acres State Forest Reserve - Parish of Lerunna
Appendix III. Parish of Warra
Appendix IV. Parish of Marrawah
Appendix V. Parish of Lerunna
Appendix VI. Parish of Riengeena
Appendix VII. V.D.L. Co's Woolnorth Block
Appendix VIII. Parish of Williams
Appendix IX. Parish of Togari
Appendix X. Parishes of Malompto and Terragomna
Appendix XI. Parish of Mowbray
Appendix XII. Parish of Ford
Appendix XIII. Parish of Poilinna
Appendix XIV. Parish of Gibson
Appendix XV. Parishes of Trowutta and Meryanna
Appendix XVI. Hunters Islands

Well. 2a.

APPENDIX XII.
Parish of Ford

      The parish of Ford bounded by the Duck River on the west,
Bass Strait on the north, includes all the oldest portions of the
Municipality, the V.D.L. Co.'s Circular Head block and the town
of Stanley, and extends ten miles east and west along the coast.
With the exception of about 1,000 acres of poor land, no Crown
Lands remain in Ford. The 20,000 acres in the Circular Head Block
was alienated over a century ago, and all the more accessible high
country within the parish, chiefly of basaltic origin, is highly
improved, and until the last 10 or 15 years, nearly the whole
agricultural production of Circular Head was from this parish, the
home of the once famous Circular Head potato. There is little
doubt the development of most of the Crown Land in this parish was
delayed unduly by the Circular Head Block, which held all the
approaches to the town of Stanley within it, for a settler had to
travel out 8 miles by land to the nearest available land. There
is now about 15,000 acres of good first and second class land
selected in Ford, as well as about 12,000 of that quality in the
old V.D.L. lot, most of which has been sold to small holders, and
the general quality of this large area will compare favourably
with most of the good districts of the State. The parish includes
the town of Stanley, with an excellent port, protected by break-
water, and is the third most important port on the North West
Coast, with a rapidly expanding trade. It also includes the
Forest and portions of Mengha, Irishtown, and Smithton districts,
and as only a few thousand acres of first class land has been
selected in the parish during the past 25 years. The active
and successful development of the unimproved lands elsewhere in
the district should absorb much of the surplus population, if a
rural life offered the same pay and opportunity, for similar hours
as to those engaged in less important but more powerful occupations
in the better treated secondary industries. This parish has over
15 miles of standard railway constructed through it, including
portions of the Myalla extension, Trowutta and Smithton lines
which bring in the products of the timberland to the ports. The

Back to Harrisson 1928 introduction

Well. 2a.

APPENDIX XII.
Parish of Ford (2)

parish on the whole is well served by excellent main roads, and
the usual network of by-roads which are usually flat, or have easy
grades. The port at Stanley is a regular port of call for produce
boats trading between the North West Coast, and the market at Sydney
and all timber shipped in large steamers has to pass through this
port. There is no possibility of any shipping being done elsewhere
than from Stanley and Smithton, a fact that must be kept in mind
when considering the future development of the whole Circular Head district.
Stanley is the producers port and will remain so for many years.
The Irishtown Swamp contains about 500 acres of excellent flats, a
few miles from Smithton, and should equal the Mowbray swamp in
quality and productivity when properly developed.

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