Before the Forest Commission
Before the Forest Commission
Prior to 1907, when a separate Forests Department was established by the Victorian Government, forests were managed by other government departments. One was the Lands Department. The Lands Act 1862, amongst other things, “allowed land to be set aside for the preservation and growth of timber.” State Forests could be set aside, with forest products only able to be removed under licence.
The other major impact that this and subsequent Land Acts had on the Waranga area was that they opened up land for selection. When selectors procured a block of land, their first act was often to ringbark most of the trees. Many used the proceeds of later timber sales to reinvest into development of their properties.
First Forestry Official in Rushworth
The first official Conservator of Forests for Victoria was not appointed until around 1890. Mentioned in earlier stories, his impact was limited by fierce opposition to his ideas about conservation. Vested interests such as the timber and agriculture industries and the Victorian Railways Commissioners had significant political influence at the time.
In the wake of that appointment, men were appointed to supervise the Rushworth forest operations. First of these Forest Officers was William McNamara, father of Frank, who later won the Victoria Cross in the First World War. Frank is commemorated at the Rushworth war memorial with a bust and information plaque. He was the eldest of eleven children of William and Rosanna (nee O’Meara). Most of the children were born in Rushworth.
William Mcnamara (1863-1918)
Son of an Irish Catholic immigrant from County Clare, William’s first official position listed in the Government Gazette was as a Crown Lands Bailiff in 1893.1 This was when the forests of Victoria were under the control of the Lands Department. In 1898, he was also appointed as a “Collector of Imposts” at which time he was identified as William F McNamara, Forester, Rushworth. 2 Amongst many other duties, he would have been collecting royalties, fees and charges (aka “imposts”) from people who were working in the Rushworth forest.
In 1900, William made a submission to a government inquiry into aspects of the timber industry. At the time, he estimated that for the previous five years, an average of 50,000 railways sleepers per annum had come out of the Rushworth forest. The same year, William showed his patriotism by establishing a Bushmen’s Corps Fund to raise funds to support the soldiers who were in South Africa fighting in the Anglo-Boer War. In 1902, William and Rosanna tragically lost their four-year-old son, also William, who is buried in the Rushworth Cemetery.
Industry Promotion
Part of William’s role was to promote forest industries. To this end, he oversaw an exhibition at the Tatura show in 1901. “The Forests branch of the Lands Department had a special exhibit of woods, shown for the first time in the colony. Mr McNamara, of the Lands Department, was in charge of the exhibit, which contained 100 varieties of colonial woods, 40 varieties of Canadian woods, with the seeds of each and the foliage of many, some being in the natural condition and others highly polished. Samples of the mountain ash, seasoned by the Rieser process, were attractive, and carving on this wood, done by Mr Howitt, had only to be seen, to be admired. The exhibit was well worthy of the public attention devoted to it.”3
During the first ten years of the 20th century, William consistently listed his occupation as “Crown Lands Bailiff” when he was providing information for censuses and electoral rolls.
From 1910, when the family left Rushworth, they moved around the state. In 1913, the family were in Shepparton, with William’s occupation still listed as that of “Forester”. Sadly, William died when he was only 54, in February 1918. At the time he was still in the government’s employ, based in Castlemaine. Frank McNamara was back in Australia before his father died, but sadly Frank’s brother Leo, who served in the artillery in the war, did not get to see William again after he left for the war. Frank and Leo are both listed on the Rushworth war memorial, although both had left the town before the war.
William McNamara was succeeded in his position by Michael Hennessy and F White before the establishment of the Forests Commission of Victoria. 4
References: 1 Shepparton Advertiser 9.8.1893; 2 Government Gazette 30.9.1898; 3 Tatura Guardian 18.10.1901; 4 Forster, Harley, Waranga 1865-1965 – A Shire History p 86; Other – NAA, Ancestry, Victorian BDM websites
