Macdonald River (St Albans)

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Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Macdonald River is a river in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales. The river rises in Putty in Yengo National Park, flows southeast and empties in Wisemans Ferry, the Hawkesbury River.

The overflow passes through a lonely valley in Yengo National Park. Also on the lower reaches of the valley is narrow, but has small, fertile fields. This area was during the colonial settlement agriculturally very important because it could be reached from Sydney by water. The historic town of St Albans is situated in the lower part of the Macdonald Valley.

Settler

The largest part of the river is very rough and outside the narrow flood plain of the ground is very barren and sandy. All arable land was already taken in the early 19th century. 30 km north of St. Albans, the valley is so narrow that there is no room for more cultivable land, and since the families were large, the farmers had no choice but, as the flood plains to the shore and even down the steep valley slopes up edit it. The first reliable records of the settlers in the Macdonald Valley come from a land survey, which was conducted from 1833-1834 Felton Matthew. His map showed from 86 landowners, some with several properties. The survey was carried out of the mouth of the Macdonald River to the Boree Swamp up and is now part of the St Albans Common. The mid- 1840s the population reached a peak of more than 1,000 people in about 100 small households.

Aboriginal

The traditional owners of the area were Aboriginal people of the tribe of the Darug and Barkinung.

Settlements in the Macdonald Valley

Early maps show original farms in the settlements Benton, Macdonald and Howick. The village Macdonald ( now St. Albans ) was built on the site of a stockmen ( Cowboy ) camp called Bullock Warf. From there cattle in the colony ( Sydney ) were shipped. The Macdonald River was navigable at that time. Was half way to the mouth of the Hawkesbury River in the Town of Benton ( " Bent Town" ) and north of the Village of Macdonald the Town of Howick. Benton and Howick were the old names from 1823, as they were mentioned in the ancient Land Registry records of this period. From Benton later became the present-day town of Central McDonald.

Inns

The Settlers Inn in St. Albans is also still in operation today. A number of other restaurants in the valley have been converted into private homes. The oldest inn in the valley was The Industrious settler, built a few miles north of St. Albans by Arron Waters 1833. Another inn, The Victoria Inn, was built in 1842 by David Cross ca, 5 km above the mouth of the Macdonald River in the Hawkesbury River.

Churches and cemeteries

In the valley there were once seven small churches and four affiliated schools, many of which only ruins remain today. In the valley there are the remains of some small cemeteries. Some of the first settlers - particularly in the upper reaches of the river - buried their dead on their own land.

St. Albans Common

Since 1824 approximately 10.4 km ² large area north of St. Albans at Mogo Creek along is used as a common ground. This approach has its roots in traditional communal lands of England, that the " villagers " should compensate for the small size of their plots. The continued use of the St. Albans Common was awarded on March 4, 1853 five trustees who should act for the good of " settlers, farmers and other residents of the district ." The land is privately owned, which is reserved for use by the Commoners and is still managed by the commoners on their trustee. In addition to the common grazing land has an extensive lagoon that offers many birds and wildlife habitat. The entire area is now designated as a protected area to ensure that it is preserved for future generations of Commoners of St. Albans.