My grandmother Rose used to entertain her children with stories about the pioneering life that her father and his O'Doherty siblings and children went though at Ringarooma to carve farms out of virgin bush. Look at these obituaries from Lilydale district.
- Death of pioneer Scot, William Wilson 6 March 1908
- Lilydale - the pioneer Robert Arnold and others 1 Feb 1909
- Nicol Turner obituary - grand old pioneer passes 9 July 1924
- A PIONEER MOTHER Courage and Sacrifice Mrs. Bridget Collins, fire and flood, five children buried, 1931
- Old pioneers pass (Tom Pitchford) 6 July 1939
- Pioneer Walked Into Lilydale (Staubi) 1958 (not on Trove, will post or link later.)
Why do people (including me) look back on it perhaps with romantic nostalgia? Because of their relentless hard work, the achievement, persistence and faith. Because of the model of self reliance, community and frugality. Because, despite the lack of education, culture, old architecture, all those wonders of European civilisation, so many immigrant pioneers thought life, opportunities, even the weather in primitive Tasmania incomparably better than poverty among the "lower orders" in the Old Country. That tells you something.
Ringbarked tree falls on Downie property; young Poxon snakebitten 2 Dec 1876
UPPER PIPER'S RIVER
(From a Correspondent.)
In our quiet neighborhood things have been going on much about the same since you last heard from me. The weather all through the winter has been remarkably fine, the finest
known for a number of years. Since the spring set in, however, we have had some very rough weather; more rain has fallen these two or three months than all the rest of the winter. It seems to have been favorable to the crops as they look more forward than they did this time last year.
Speaking of the rough weather reminds me of what might have been a very serious accident, which occurred lately. A large tree near the residence of Mr Douglas Downie about eleven o'clock in the forenoon was heard to crack through, not a breath of wind was stirring, and presently down it came within a yard or two of Mrs Downie, who happened to be in the yard at the time. It completely crushed the fowl-house about 30 feet from the main residence, and which contained several dozens of eggs and some five or six fowls, one of which escaped, not by the skin of its teeth, but by the feathers of its tail. This shows how careful people should be
to cut down all trees likely to fall near the house, especially where the trees have been rung some ten or twelve years.
Snakes seem to be on the alert and several large ones have been killed. On Saturday last a son of Mr Poxon's, a resident here, was putting his hand among some loose moss when he
felt something prick his hand like a pin; he went home and he soon felt the pain up his arm and down his side to the leg, accompanied by a sort of drowsiness. A small puncture being visible, his sister had the presence of mind to tie a string tightly round his finger and to suck it ; they then sent to a neighbor who fortunately had some of Underwood's antidote (which every house in the bush ought to have),
and it was applied. I am happy to be able to say he is progressing favorably.
November 24. (1876)
UPPER PIPER’S RIVER (1876, December 2). Weekly Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1872 - 1878), p. 11.
Retrieved February 18, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233673368
P. S. NEVER suck on snake bites! Bandage the bitten area firmly. Restrain (the victim) from all movement if possible. Get to medical assistance. The type of snake doesn't matter now. They have universal antivenins.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/snake-bites