A night that changed all

Stringy Bark Forest, Bishopsbourne

When I first visited the land where Ephraim had lived at Stringy Bark Forest, it was all bush with a creek running through. The newspaper had given a thorough description of where the body of John Harris had been found near the saw pits but without knowing where the various huts had been, it was difficult to determine an exact layout. I looked everywhere for signs of sawpits and was told by a man on a neighbouring property that he had seen the remains of some on his property but that was the wrong direction.

Two men, Harris and Dawes, had lain in wait for Ephraim to catch him sheepstealing. They were determined to catch him – no one else. After a struggle with Ephraim, one of the men, Dawes went back to get the owner of the land, James Green. Harris had knocked Ephraim down and had him under his control. Green arrived at the spot at 9 o’clock at night and was still searching 6 hours later, even though, as far as he knew, Harris was in control of the situation. He said it was a clear night and sound was travelling great distances. His calls were not answered yet he kept searching. Surely, he was suspicious that something out of the ordinary had occurred. It took Green 6 hours to decide to go and ask the only man (Dawes) who knew where the altercation had taken place, where to find the spot where it had happened. That is a lot of patience on an August night. Dawes had not wanted to be seen in the matter and had gone home.

There was speculation that Bridget had been out stealing sheep with her husband. When the body of Harris was found, there were three deep wounds to the head and several knife cuts across the back of the hand. Ephraim had sustained a broken arm yet on his own, it was considered that he had caused all these wounds.

Stringy Bark Forest Bishopsbourne

In reading the newspaper articles on this crime, it is apparent that there were quite a few people living in huts in the bush in the forest and that the growth was quite thick. There was distrust between many of them and obviously stealing was common. Bridget used the word “shook” to describe this (The shepherd’s hut was shook). All the witnesses were out to discredit each other and it is quite difficult to discern the truth in any story. Interestingly, Jane Dawes, wife of Thomas Dawes maintained that she was married to her husband. A search of records indicates that she was not, but she married him a couple of weeks later. Morals suddenly became important.

Most of all, the newspapers give in insight into life on the land and the characters who lived there.