The Gullifers
James and Agnes (nee Meighan) Gullifer were early pioneers of our local area and are buried in the Roman Catholic section of Carlyle Cemetery.
James Gullifer
As one of our earliest pioneers, James Gullifer is what legends were made of. What James achieved in his life was remarkable and a result of sheer grit, life experience and determination to succeed.
James was born in Bristol in 1816 surrounded by deprivation, starvation and disease which was rife in England at that time. As a 16-year-old boy he ensured he gained conviction (twice), in order to facilitate transportation to “The New Land” which was rumoured to have plentiful opportunity. He arrived in 1833 to New South Wales aboard the prison ship Lord Lyndoch. He was 17 years old on his arrival and spent the next couple of years as convict labour and under indenture.
In 1838, at 22 years old James received his ticket of leave and was part of the large Ebden cattle run bringing cattle down from NSW and opening up the various runs such as Tarcutta, Mungabareena (Albury today) and Bonegilla (Wyse’s and then later on Connisbee’s), where he stayed and lived for a year in dangerous and spartan conditions. James was said to have been the first European to have crossed the Murray River near Albury in a small dug-out canoe he fashioned. He went on to work at Peechelba Station and with the Dockers at Bontherambo.
James met Anges Meighan, an 18 year old serving lady, in Beechworth. The couple married in April 1846 at St. Francis Church in Melbourne and they were one of three couples to be married at the recently completed church on Lonsdale Street near what is today, Melbourne Central.
Agnes Gullifer
Agnes Gullifer was equally as remarkable as her husband and among the earliest European women to settle in the area. She was smart, capable, resilient and had a great love for her family.
Agnes was from Campsie, Stirlingshire in Scotland and had been in Australia since at least 1844. Her parents, John Meighan and Rossanah Green Meighan, were early settlers in Wangaratta around the mid 1840’s. James and Agnes had 16 children, three of who died young and were buried at their Lilliput Homestead.
Agnes was a very capable women. When James had to travel by bullock dray to Melbourne in the 1850’s to get supplies, it was a three-month round trip. Agnes would stay at their Lilliput Station, manage the property, cattle, children and kept everyone safe. She was adept at handling a weapon and reportedly utilised this skill to ward off bushrangers, marauders, and any other opportunists when her husband was away.
The Gullifers Lives as Pioneers
Following Albury's establishment, James was able to drive his dray to get supplies locally. in one instance when the river was so flooded that he couldn’t gain access back across for three weeks, Agnes packed up the children and camped at the river so she could communicate with James daily. There, she waited until the water subsided, reunited with James and then escorted him back.
James had a keen sense of community and contributed greatly to the local area as it grew and became Rutherglen. He was a breeder of show quality cattle and horses which won many awards.
James passed away at Rutherglen in 1899 at 83 years, and Agnes passed away at Albury in 1906 at 78 years.