20/01/2026
Imagine swimming horses across the Hunter River from Newcastle to Stockton. That's exactly what happened 200 years ago this month. It's a part of an extraordinary journey to establish a settlement at Port Stephens.
This marked the beginning of Australia’s first major wave of private agricultural investment and the foundations of the nation’s first planned company town.
That company was the Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co.) which was established by British Parliament. It started with a massive land grant of a million-acres around Port Stephens, established for fine wool & crops, then expanded into Newcastle coal mining.
⛵𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟔
Under considerable pressure to select and establish a suitable site in New South Wales, Chief Agent Robert Dawson sailed from Sydney in January 1826 to inspect Port Stephens, the traditional home of the Worimi people.
‘𝙒𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧’
Dawson and his group crossed from Newcastle to Stockton swimming their horses across the Hunter River before walking some 30km along Stockton Bight to reach Soldiers Point. (Later in his journey Dawson describes how difficult it was to swim the horses assisted by a boat.) 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳…𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩.’
📍𝐓𝐚𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐞 & 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬.
Dawson chose land on the northern shores of Port Stephens, first known by its Indigenous name, Carrabean/Caribean, and later renamed Carrington. With land for growing corn, grazing hills for sheep, fresh water, and lime for building, it sat on a natural harbour suitable for shipping access.
By 1827 Tahlee House was built as the Company’s headquarters, residence for commissioners, along with stores, stockyards, and wool sheds. Rebuilt after a fire in 1860 the State Heritage Registered house still stands today.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟔?
Letters from Henry Thomas Ebsworth (AA Co. Assistant Manager) provide observations and interactions with the Worimi people whom he held in high regard. They are a fascinating read. You can find them here: https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2015/06/15/port-stephens-in-1826/
Although some of these early interactions between Dawson and Worimi peoples were peaceful it is also a small part of a larger history that saw the dispossession of Worimi people. We respectfully honour First Nations people as we look back and write about this piece of history that occurred 200 years ago this month.
📸 Images:
Watercolor: Port Stephens, looking East, Tahlee in foreground, 1826 by AUGUSTUS EARLE, from the State Library NSW.
Map: H. T. EBSWORTH, Hand coloured map. State Library NSW.
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