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Thomas Turvey
THOMAS TURVEY By Sherry Morris
Thomas Turvey was a legendary figure in Wagga in the 1880s. He was a huge man, solemn and silent and often seen mounted on a chestnut roan horse, a splendid type of Irish hunter with a tail which trailed to the ground. He was usually followed by a pack of dogs and two or three of his pet sheep with their long tails.
Born in Essex, England, he had come to New South Wales about 1840 and married Eliza Rodman in Bathurst. Before coming to Wagga he had owned the Ironbong run of 26,880 acres. He purchased the Hope Hotel (later the Bridge Hotel) in Fitzmaurice Street, Wagga in the late 1850s. He was the licensee 1865-66, 1870-71 and 1875. He lived in a brick cottage near the Hotel and owned a great deal of the surrounding lands which were at the edge of the Chinese quarter at the lower end of Fitzmaurice Street.
The Camp comprised homes for over 200 Chinese, several stores, gambling rooms and a Joss House. Turvey himself owned the opium store on the allotment adjacent to his own residence. The store was run by Ah Looke and then Jemmy Ghee in the 1870s and by Ah Mie from 1880. The whole area was shunned by most of the white community, repelled by the smell of opium, the crowded gambling houses, the crude huts and the narrow insanitary streets.
The rowdyism of local youths was sometimes a problem for Turvey. In December 1868 he prosecuted Samuel Gorman and Luke Hyland for malicious damage after they broke one window sash and two panes of glass. Hyland pleaded not guilty but Gorman evidently decided to be the scapegoat for all the delinquents involved and was ordered to pay ten shillings as compensation plus court costs and professional costs. During the serious flooding of 1870, Turvey’s Fitzmaurice Street properties were inundated to a depth of about a metre and his fencing was washed away. On May 13 he summoned James Robbins for unlawfully detaining one post, two rails and about nineteen palings valued at about ten shillings. Turvey testified that the flood had taken away his fencing and that he had seen it on Harris’s ground in Trail Street but could not remove it because of the water. He later saw Robbins in the water taking his rails and posts and told him they belonged to him and he was leaving them till the water subsided. Robbins, he alleged, said, “You see, I took them before the water went down” and when again told they belonged to Turvey added, “You’ll not get them; I think you done pretty well yesterday”. The Police Magistrate ordered Robbins to return the property “on demand”.
Thomas Turvey also owned other properties in the town in Murray, Johnson and Trail Streets, some with dwellings as well as a ninety-six acre farm (Portions 93 and 94), later part of the suburb of Turvey Park which was named after him. Early each morning Thomas Turvey left his Fitzmaurice Street residence and rode out to his farm which was just outside the southern municipal boundary; and before sunset each evening he returned home.
Vault The Turvey farm was an intriguing area. Rumours abounded about there being a large fortune buried there and a lot of inquisitive people wanted to try and find it. The old Turvey vault on the farm was particularly impressive. The entrance was covered by four large slate slabs and a flight of concrete steps led to the vault which was almost seven metres wide and about ten metres from the entrance to the rear wall. It was constructed of concrete and brickwork with a dome shaped roof over four metres high and surmounted with a two metre carved marble headstone set on a large marble base. The vault was surrounded with an iron fence a metre high and at a radius of six metres a circle of fine Kurrajong and pepper trees. Mounted on his chestnut with his stockwhip on his knee, Thomas Turvey patrolled along the boundary of the farm and guarded the vault from intruders.
He was an imposing figure. Although he was a quiet man his voice would be raised in anger when inquisitive people intruded on the privacy of his farm. He would flourish his long stockwhip and even the most daring would beat a hasty retreat whilst the younger fraternity would flee in terror. It was rumoured that Turvey had been greatly distressed over the death of his much loved daughter and had become mentally unbalanced and this caused him to spend many years of his life in a daily vigil of the burial place of his daughter.
In November 1885 his wife who had been crippled for some time had been severely injured after her dress caught fire while she was seated by the fire. The injuries were so severe and the shock to her system so great that despite the attentions of Drs Wren and Warren she had died later that afternoon. Her headstone at the Turvey vault read: “Sacred to the memory of Eliza Turvey who departed this life 11th November 1885 aged 63 years. May her soul rest in peace. Amen.” Turvey himself was buried there in 1889.
On January 14 that year, he was returning to his home in Fitzmaurice Street from his farm on a cart loaded with hay when he collided with an obstacle near what is known as Cottee's paddock. Both he and his nephew were thrown out. When Turvey was picked up he was insensible and was conveyed to his home. He died three hours later at 9 p.m. He was eighty-nine years of age. An inquest was held by the District Coroner, L.A. Fosbery at the Bridge Hotel. Dr Long, George Turvey (nephew of the deceased) and Barbara Castle were examined and the jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased had died from a nervous shock to his system caused by a accidental fall from a cart. As he had no issue at the time of his death, Thomas Turvey left most of his lands, his hotel, his farm, his residence, his shares in the Wagga Building Society, his furniture and his stock to his nephew George.
Reinterment The Turvey farm later became part of a new suburb of Turvey Park. The first auction sale was held on June 7, 1913 mostly in Heath Street and Fernleigh Road but it was not included in the municipality until 1939. In 1941 the remains of the Old Turvey Vault which was situated in what is now Mitchelmore Street was removed by the Wagga City Council to the Anglican Portion of Wagga Cemetery to facilitate the construction of the intersection of Mitchelmore Street and Hodson Avenue. The exhumation showed evidence that the coffins had been interfered with probably by people who felt a fortune may be hidden there. The vault, however, though discoloured was in a wonderful state of preservation. A plaque was attached to a large rock at the intersection of Mitchelmore Street and Hodson Avenue in 1982 to record that the land in the vicinity was at one time owned by Thomas Turvey.
Thomas Turvey was a legendary figure in Wagga in the 1880s. He was a huge man, solemn and silent and often seen mounted on a chestnut roan horse, a splendid type of Irish hunter with a tail which trailed to the ground. He was usually followed by a pack of dogs and two or three of his pet sheep with their long tails.
Born in Essex, England, he had come to New South Wales about 1840 and married Eliza Rodman in Bathurst. Before coming to Wagga he had owned the Ironbong run of 26,880 acres. He purchased the Hope Hotel (later the Bridge Hotel) in Fitzmaurice Street, Wagga in the late 1850s. He was the licensee 1865-66, 1870-71 and 1875. He lived in a brick cottage near the Hotel and owned a great deal of the surrounding lands which were at the edge of the Chinese quarter at the lower end of Fitzmaurice Street.
The Camp comprised homes for over 200 Chinese, several stores, gambling rooms and a Joss House. Turvey himself owned the opium store on the allotment adjacent to his own residence. The store was run by Ah Looke and then Jemmy Ghee in the 1870s and by Ah Mie from 1880. The whole area was shunned by most of the white community, repelled by the smell of opium, the crowded gambling houses, the crude huts and the narrow insanitary streets.
The rowdyism of local youths was sometimes a problem for Turvey. In December 1868 he prosecuted Samuel Gorman and Luke Hyland for malicious damage after they broke one window sash and two panes of glass. Hyland pleaded not guilty but Gorman evidently decided to be the scapegoat for all the delinquents involved and was ordered to pay ten shillings as compensation plus court costs and professional costs. During the serious flooding of 1870, Turvey’s Fitzmaurice Street properties were inundated to a depth of about a metre and his fencing was washed away. On May 13 he summoned James Robbins for unlawfully detaining one post, two rails and about nineteen palings valued at about ten shillings. Turvey testified that the flood had taken away his fencing and that he had seen it on Harris’s ground in Trail Street but could not remove it because of the water. He later saw Robbins in the water taking his rails and posts and told him they belonged to him and he was leaving them till the water subsided. Robbins, he alleged, said, “You see, I took them before the water went down” and when again told they belonged to Turvey added, “You’ll not get them; I think you done pretty well yesterday”. The Police Magistrate ordered Robbins to return the property “on demand”.
Thomas Turvey also owned other properties in the town in Murray, Johnson and Trail Streets, some with dwellings as well as a ninety-six acre farm (Portions 93 and 94), later part of the suburb of Turvey Park which was named after him. Early each morning Thomas Turvey left his Fitzmaurice Street residence and rode out to his farm which was just outside the southern municipal boundary; and before sunset each evening he returned home.
Vault The Turvey farm was an intriguing area. Rumours abounded about there being a large fortune buried there and a lot of inquisitive people wanted to try and find it. The old Turvey vault on the farm was particularly impressive. The entrance was covered by four large slate slabs and a flight of concrete steps led to the vault which was almost seven metres wide and about ten metres from the entrance to the rear wall. It was constructed of concrete and brickwork with a dome shaped roof over four metres high and surmounted with a two metre carved marble headstone set on a large marble base. The vault was surrounded with an iron fence a metre high and at a radius of six metres a circle of fine Kurrajong and pepper trees. Mounted on his chestnut with his stockwhip on his knee, Thomas Turvey patrolled along the boundary of the farm and guarded the vault from intruders.
He was an imposing figure. Although he was a quiet man his voice would be raised in anger when inquisitive people intruded on the privacy of his farm. He would flourish his long stockwhip and even the most daring would beat a hasty retreat whilst the younger fraternity would flee in terror. It was rumoured that Turvey had been greatly distressed over the death of his much loved daughter and had become mentally unbalanced and this caused him to spend many years of his life in a daily vigil of the burial place of his daughter.
In November 1885 his wife who had been crippled for some time had been severely injured after her dress caught fire while she was seated by the fire. The injuries were so severe and the shock to her system so great that despite the attentions of Drs Wren and Warren she had died later that afternoon. Her headstone at the Turvey vault read: “Sacred to the memory of Eliza Turvey who departed this life 11th November 1885 aged 63 years. May her soul rest in peace. Amen.” Turvey himself was buried there in 1889.
On January 14 that year, he was returning to his home in Fitzmaurice Street from his farm on a cart loaded with hay when he collided with an obstacle near what is known as Cottee's paddock. Both he and his nephew were thrown out. When Turvey was picked up he was insensible and was conveyed to his home. He died three hours later at 9 p.m. He was eighty-nine years of age. An inquest was held by the District Coroner, L.A. Fosbery at the Bridge Hotel. Dr Long, George Turvey (nephew of the deceased) and Barbara Castle were examined and the jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased had died from a nervous shock to his system caused by a accidental fall from a cart. As he had no issue at the time of his death, Thomas Turvey left most of his lands, his hotel, his farm, his residence, his shares in the Wagga Building Society, his furniture and his stock to his nephew George.
Reinterment The Turvey farm later became part of a new suburb of Turvey Park. The first auction sale was held on June 7, 1913 mostly in Heath Street and Fernleigh Road but it was not included in the municipality until 1939. In 1941 the remains of the Old Turvey Vault which was situated in what is now Mitchelmore Street was removed by the Wagga City Council to the Anglican Portion of Wagga Cemetery to facilitate the construction of the intersection of Mitchelmore Street and Hodson Avenue. The exhumation showed evidence that the coffins had been interfered with probably by people who felt a fortune may be hidden there. The vault, however, though discoloured was in a wonderful state of preservation. A plaque was attached to a large rock at the intersection of Mitchelmore Street and Hodson Avenue in 1982 to record that the land in the vicinity was at one time owned by Thomas Turvey.
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