Francis Rawdon Chesney Hopkins (c. 1849 – 20 July 1916) was an Australian pastoralist and playwright, born in India. [1] [2]
Hopkins was born on Colaba, Bombay, B9mbay Presidency, British India to Francis William Hopkins, RN, and Margaret Hopkins, née McNeil, and was educated in England. [3] He was a cousin of General Sir George Chesney and Colonel Charles Chesney (authors of Battle of Dorking and Lee's Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland respectively), and nephew of Francis Rawdon Chesney. [4]
Hopkins left England for Australia around 1865, and worked for his uncle John Wilson, brother of Sir Samuel Wilson, at "Woodlands" near Crowlands, Victoria in the Wimmera district of Victoria, 1866–1871. He managed Toorangabby station near Echuca 1871–1875 and others of Sir Samuel Wilson's properties. In 1877 he was managing nearby Pericoota station, with its magnificent two-storey homestead, [5] for Robertson and Wagner. [6] In 1885, in partnership with Alexander Wilson (another brother of Sir Samuel) he purchased Errowanbang station near Carcoar, New South Wales, where he bred hybrid sheep from Havilah Merino ewes and Romney Marsh rams. It is reckoned his run could have reached something like 40,000 sheep. [7]
In 1889 Hopkins, with Wilson and Charles Hebden (1851–1915), purchased Coubil and Welbondongah stations in the Gwydir Shire in New South Wales, [3] but did not leave Errowanbang.
Hopkins found time to exercise his talent for writing, creating a number of works that critics found stimulating, including two collections of short stories, Birds of Passage and The Opium Runner. The second volume got its title from his story of a smuggler who built a submarine vessel to carry his contraband cargo. [8] He wrote the plays All for Gold or Fifty Millions of Money, based on Eugène Sue's, Wandering Jew , [9] and staged by Alfred Dampier, Phil K. Walsh and others, Reaping the Whirlwind: an Australian patriotic drama for Australian people [10] and All for Love. He also wrote The Confessions of a Cynic, "the outcome of many years' observation of bush social life". [6]
For many years he was reviewer and theatre critic for The Pastoral Review . [7]
Hopkins took no part in party politics, but
On the morning of 20 July 1916 Hopkins set out on horseback to inspect his flock, and when he failed to return by lunchtime an employee set out and found the horse hitched to a tree and Hopkins dead nearby, drowned in a disused mine shaft. His coat and hat were nearby. It was assumed he was investigating ways to prevent his sheep entering the shaft, when he lost his footing and accidentally fell in and either lost consciousness or could not escape. [7]
Hopkins, long regarded as a confirmed bachelor, [6] on 8 January 1884 married Sarah Jane Kennedy [3] (c. 1858 – 13 April 1943). [11] He was survived by his wife and a son, Rawdon Chesney Hopkins, who continued management of Errowanbang station.
John Joseph Cahill, also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and Labor Party Premier of New South Wales from 1952 to his death in 1959. Born the son of Irish migrants in Redfern, New South Wales, Cahill worked for the New South Wales Government Railways from the age of 16 before joining the Australian Labor Party. Being a prominent unionist organiser, including being dismissed for his role in the 1917 general strike, Cahill was eventually elected to the Parliament of New South Wales for St George in 1925.
The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932.
Carcoar is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Blayney Shire. In 2016, the town had a population of 200 people. It is situated just off the Mid-Western Highway 258 km west of Sydney and 52 km south-west of Bathurst and is 720 m above sea level. It is located in a small green valley, with the township and buildings on both banks of the Belubula River. It is the third oldest settlement west of the Blue Mountains. Carcoar is a Gundungurra word meaning either 'frog' or 'kookaburra'. Nearby towns are Blayney, Millthorpe, Mandurama, Neville, Lyndhurst and Barry
William Forster was a pastoral squatter, colonial British politician, Premier of New South Wales from 27 October 1859 to 9 March 1860, and poet.
Bathurst (County) was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, named after Bathurst County and including the rural part of the county. The electorate did not include the town of Bathurst which was included in Western Boroughs, until Bathurst was created in 1859. Bathurst (County) was replaced by Carcoar, East Macquarie and West Macquarie in 1859.
William Bede Dalley was an Australian politician and barrister and the first Australian appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was a leading lay representative and champion of the Catholic community and was known for his parliamentary and legal eloquence.
William Henry Traill was an Australian journalist and politician, commonly referred to as W. H. Traill. He was an early editor and for a period the principal proprietor of The Bulletin in Sydney.
Sir Samuel McCaughey was an Irish-born pastoralist, politician and philanthropist in Australia.
William Wilson Killen was an Australian politician.
Robert Campbell (1769–1846) was a merchant and politician in Sydney. He was a member of the first New South Wales Legislative Council. Campbell, a suburb of Canberra was named in his honour.
Charles Edward Pilcher was an Australian barrister and member of the Parliament of New South Wales.
Thomas Icely was an early colonial New South Wales landholder and stockbreeder. As a nominee Legislative Councillor from 1843, to 1853, and from 1855, until the establishment of responsible government in 1856, he was a consistent supporter of the Governor. He served a second term as a life appointee to the Legislative Council from 1864.
Sir Hugh Robert Denison KBE, originally Hugh Robert Dixson was a businessman, parliamentarian and philanthropist in South Australia and later New South Wales. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1901 to 1905, representing North Adelaide (1901-1902) and Adelaide (1902-1905). Outside of politics, he was involved in his family's tobacco business, a forerunner of the British-Australasian Tobacco Company, was involved with a number of newspapers, and founded the Macquarie Broadcasting Services Pty Ltd radio network. He changed his surname by deed poll in 1907 to avoid confusion with his uncle Sir Hugh Dixson.
Ezekiel Alexander Baker was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.
George Allen Mansfield was a prominent Australian architect of the nineteenth century who designed many iconic buildings in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
John Crozier was a pastoralist of New South Wales and Victoria and a South Australian politician.
Edward Quin was a noted pastoralist in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia, who represented Wentworth in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Old Errowanbang Woolshed is a heritage-listed shearing shed at Errowan Park, Old Errowanbang Lane, Errowanbang, Blayney Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Watt and built in 1886. It is also known as Errowanbang Woolshed. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 23 June 2006.
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Carcoar on 14 June 1876 because of the resignation of Solomon Meyer. His company TF Meyer and Co had become insolvent.
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Carcoar on 21 November 1884 because of the death of Andrew Lynch.