29-716: Download coordinates as: Argyle County was one of the original Nineteen Counties in New South Wales and is now one of the 141 cadastral divisions of New South Wales . It includes the area around Goulburn . It is bounded by Lake George in the south-west, the Shoalhaven River in the east, and the Wollondilly River in the north-east. Argyle County was named by Governor Macquarie after his native county in Scotland. He named it while inspecting
58-455: A leg injury in falling from his horse at the Cape, for which, it is reported, he was treated by noted surgeon James Barry . In 1829 he had returned to England for the last time. He continued in poor health and was too indisposed to accept a position to report on clerical establishments in 1832. He never married and lived a solitary life in retirement until his accidental death on 22 December 1843 at
87-485: A million acres to a consortium of entrepreneurs led by John Macarthur known as the Australian Agricultural Company . As recommended by Bigge, a designated number of convicts were assigned to the colonists in proportion to the size of their land acquisition. These decisions firmly halted the socially progressive policies of Lachlan Macquarie and reaffirmed strong class distinctions within
116-435: A return to the harsh treatment of convicts and the utilisation of them as cheap agricultural labour for wealthy sheep-farming colonists. Bigge's reports also resulted in the resignation of Governor Lachlan Macquarie whose policies promoted the advancement of ex-convicts back into society. Bigge was born at Benton House, Northumberland , England, the son of Thomas Charles Bigge , High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1780. He
145-575: The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies . His brief was to determine how far the expanding colony of New South Wales could be "made adequate to the Objects of its original Institution", which were understood to be purely to be a penal colony. He was to come to Australia to investigate all aspects of the colonial government, then under the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie , including finances,
174-754: The Surveyor General Major Thomas Mitchell in 1834. The scale of the map that Mitchell produced was determined by the amount of ship's copper available in Sydney to engrave the map. Despite the uncertainty of land tenure, squatters ran large numbers of sheep and cattle beyond the boundaries. From 1836 they could legally do so, paying £ 10 per year for the right. From 1847 leases in the unsettled areas were allowed for up to 14 years. The Robertson Land Acts of 1861 allowed unlimited selection and sale of agricultural crown land in designated unsettled areas at £1 per acre, making
203-558: The limits of location of the nineteen counties redundant. The counties continue to be used for cadastral division purposes, and the rest of New South Wales was likewise divided into counties, totaling 141 by the end of the 19th century. In January 1819, John Bigge was appointed a special commissioner to examine the government of the colony of New South Wales. Bigge arrived in Sydney in September 1819 gathering evidence until February 1821 when he returned to England. Bigge's first report
232-549: The Sydney area. A further order of 1829 extended these boundaries of the settlement to an area defined as the Nineteen Counties. From 1831 the granting of free land ceased and the only land that was to be made available for sale was within the Nineteen Counties. The area covered by the limit extended to Taree in the north, Moruya River in the south and Wellington to the West. The Nineteen Counties were mapped by
261-515: The appointment of emancipated convicts to positions of magistrates and jurors. Bigge thought these policies of promoting emancipists by Macquarie to be 'inexpedient and dangerous'. Bigge also used an incident where three trespassers were summarily punished by Macquarie to accuse the governor of a 'sudden imposition of extraordinary power'. Bigge also recommended an entire separation of the judicial administration of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) from that of New South Wales. Bigge's third report concerned
290-567: The area in 1820. In 1829 the Act for Instituting and regulating Courts of General and Quarter Sessions in New South Wales established courts in the county at Cookbundoon, Goulburn Plains and Inverary. James Byrne was Assistant Surveyor for the County in 1832. In 1835 Argyle had a magistrate and police force. In 1852 it had an area of 1,248,600 acres (5,053 km) and population of 5,565. It
319-642: The boundaries within which the survey instructed by Bathurst in 1825 was to be conducted. The boundaries were the Manning River to the north, the Lachlan river to the west and the Moruya river to the south. Settlement beyond these boundaries was not to take place. The survey would allow the allocation of land grants and the boundaries, known as the limits of location , were used for other administrative purposes including police administration. Darling proclaimed
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#1732791057967348-463: The church and the judiciary, and the convict system. Bigge was also appointed in response to complaints to London from leading colonists including John Macarthur about Macquarie's policies of remediating ex-convicts back into society. Together with his secretary Thomas Hobbes Scott , Bigge arrived in Sydney on 26 September 1819, by the ship John Barry . Bigge finished gathering evidence February 1821 and on 10 February, sailed back to England aboard
377-568: The colonial society. The exclusive 'Pure Merino' class of colonists (named after the type of sheep they bred) were able obtain large areas of land and significant political influence. This class of colonist evolved to dominate much of colonial society for many years, becoming known as the squattocracy . From 1823, Bigge was given similar appointments to examine the government of the Cape Colony, Mauritius and Ceylon . The arduousness of travel and climate tolled heavily on Bigge after he suffered
406-422: The colonists they were assigned to. He also wanted a crackdown on the number of pardons and early releases given, and that no land grants be offered to emancipated convicts, who should instead form the basis of a future class of landless labourers. The second report concentrated upon the judicial system of the colony. Much of its content focused upon a defamation action launched by Samuel Marsden to argue against
435-594: The colony more as emigration than as a punishment. Bigge recommended that the convicts have their usual seven year sentences increased and be mostly assigned as cheap labour to wealthy land-holders in more regional areas. He wrote that convicts in the employ of the government was unnecessary and too costly, while assigning them to poor settlers was 'very pernicious'. Bigge also strongly reproached Macquarie for his appointment of ex-convicts (known as emancipists) to official posts such as magistrates, solicitors and assistant surgeons. Bigge argued that these appointments diminished
464-496: The colony. He advocated to the British government the policy of Macarthur to provide large grants or sales of land to rich colonists and make available to these settlers three convicts per 200 acres. Although Macquarie attempted to answer the criticisms in a letter to the secretary of state, Lord Bathurst in 1822, he had already felt obliged to resign from the position of Governor of New South Wales two years beforehand. Macquarie
493-482: The division of the settlement into nineteen counties in the Sydney Gazette of 17 October 1829. In some places there were already squatters beyond these boundaries. John Bigge John Thomas Bigge (8 March 1780 – 22 December 1843) was an English judge and royal commissioner. He is mostly known for his inquiry into the British colony of New South Wales published in the early 1820s. His reports favoured
522-614: The limits of location in the colony of New South Wales , Australia. Settlers were permitted to take up land only within the counties due to the dangers in the wilderness. They were defined by the Governor of New South Wales Ralph Darling in 1826 in accordance with a government order from Lord Bathurst , the Secretary of State. Counties had been used since the first year of settlement, with Cumberland County being proclaimed on 6 June 1788. Several others were later proclaimed around
551-457: The most skilled convicts be assigned to the large sheep farming estates of not less than 50 acres belonging to the wealthy away from the towns. This policy would decrease the burden of the estimated £50,000 per annum cost of the convicts to the government and increase the production of British wool. Bigge wanted the convicts to have no set payment for their labour on the large estates and advised they only be adequately clothed, sheltered and fed by
580-476: The respect for these roles and that the emancipists had a 'low moral character' and did not have the necessary skills and 'pretensions' for the positions. Bigge argued that the appointments were in fact an 'act of violence' to colonial society. Bigge consulted almost exclusively with the colonial 'men of capital' as to what should be done with the convicts in New South Wales. He praised the 'perseverance and intelligence' of John Macarthur and promoted his view that
609-511: The ship Dromedary . While Bigge was in Australia, there was apparent friction between himself and Governor Macquarie and he openly conducted most of his investigations in consultation with the 'exclusive' colonists such as John Macarthur. Bigge extensively praised Macarthur and advocated for his policies of providing large assignments of convicts to 'men of real capital' in order to labour upon their sheep stations . Bigge's first report
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#1732791057967638-555: The state of trade and agriculture in the colony. It analysed the farming and grazing systems in the Sydney district, the newly colonised area west of the Blue Mountains and in Van Diemen's Land. Bigge had particular praise for the sheep farming methods of John Macarthur and recommended the occupation of extensive tracts of land for sheep grazing. Bigge thought wool growing to be the only clear source of profitable industry for
667-624: The survey one seventh of the land in each county was to be set a side for the Church of England and an educational system under the control of the church. Income from this land was to be managed under the Church and Schools Corporation. When Governor Darling was commissioned in July 1825, his commission extended the New South Wales boundary six degrees to the west compared with the commissions issued to previous governors. In September 1826, Darling announced
696-415: Was also described as having productive land and inexhaustible water. In 1857, Charles Cowper was a major landowner in the area, and held 19,720 acres (79.8 km) in the county. The Electoral district of Argyle was the former state electoral district for the area between 1856 and 1904. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition mentions Goulburn as being in the county. The Greater Argyle Council
725-515: Was educated at Newcastle Grammar School and Westminster School (1795), and in 1797 entered Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1801; M.A., 1804). Bigge was called to the Bar in 1806 and was appointed Chief Judge of Trinidad in 1814, a post he held for the next four years. In 1819, Bigge was appointed a special commissioner to examine the government of the Colony of New South Wales by Lord Bathurst ,
754-603: Was formed in 2004 after a proposal to make a new local government area to focus on the County of Argyle, formed from an amalgamation of the former City of Goulburn and parts of Mulwaree Shire. It was renamed the Goulburn Mulwaree Council in October 2004. A full list of parishes found within this county; their current LGA and mapping coordinates to the approximate centre of each location is as follows: Nineteen Counties The Nineteen Counties were
783-502: Was published in June 1822 and his second and third reports in 1823. His third report dealt with agriculture and trade. In 1824, Governor Brisbane approved the sale of crown land in accordance with one of Bigge's recommendations. Previously only a nominal quit rent was required for grants by the crown. In 1825, Secretary of State Lord Bathurst instructed Governor Brisbane to survey the territory to allow for more planned settlement. During
812-485: Was published in June 1822 and his second and third reports in 1823. Much of the first report was dedicated to criticism of Governor Macquarie's administration, especially his emancipist policy, expenditure on public works and management of convicts . Bigge outlined that the concentration of convicts in the employ of the government in Sydney was indulgent, expensive and enabled convicts to readily access alcohol and entertainment. He noted that convicts viewed transportation to
841-400: Was replaced in 1821 by Governor Brisbane who instituted many of the recommendations outlined by Bigge. Brisbane re-established Norfolk Island and oversaw the formation of new penal colonies at Port Macquarie and Moreton Bay to serve as dreaded places of isolation and punishment for the convicts. He approved large land grants to rich and well-connected colonists, including a contract of
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