Australian Town and Country Journal at KellyGang 22/6/1872 (8)
The question of how the owners of these two hotels even get sufficient custom to make a living, with no visible population, might fairly be asked? For seventeen miles beyond there were few houses to relieve the wearisomeness of the road. Some lagoons, and then the Murrumbidgee was reached at a public-house known us the Gillenbah lnn . The public-house is a large brick-building, and is kept by Mrs Hyland . Continuing the road up the river for eight miles, after the long day's journey, I reached Buckenbong station about an hour after dark.
Buckenbong , the property and residence of Francis Jenkins . Esq., is one of the largest station on Riverina. Its area is 350 square miles: this includes five stations altogether. It has a frontage.of twenty-four miles to the Murrumbidgee, and carries 28,000 sheep and 4000 head of cattle. The residence is a very large brick building, near the river, and is partially surrounded by verandahs. There are also extensive stores and wine cellars of brick. Before the residence is a capital shrubbery, orchard, flower garden, and vineyard. The orchard contains every kind of fruit. The vineyard is about four acres in extent, and has yielded some very fair wine. Some, five yours old, in one of the cellars, was equal to much grown in the Albury district.
The morning after my arrival horses were brought round before sunrise, and Mr Jenkins and myself had a ride over part of the run. About five miles down we came to the Buckenbong woolshed. It is a much more costly structure than most of the others I have seen. It is built of stone with galvanized roof. A screw wool press is used. Yards and pens well arranged rim from the various pens and meet in one point like some puzzle mazes. The stone wool store adjoins, and is a very substantial building. The house for the superintendent is also of stone. Shearers' and "rouse-about" mens huts are also near the woolshed.
Leaving the woolshed and passing some fine dams (each so arranged as to water two or four paddocks by the comers terminating there) we crossed a slight eminence, and came on to the celebrated quarry of the district. It is worked by Mr R M'Dougall . This Buckenbong quarry is remarkable for the beautiful stone obtained from it. It is said to be similar to that obtained in Cornwall and known as "delf stone." it comes off in layers, and is excellent for tablets, monuments, &c. Many of the blocks are used for door and window sills about Wagga Wagga, and some of the thicker layers are now being used in the construction of the Hay Bridge.
The layers vary in thickness from a quarter of au inch to two feet. Some magnificent slabs have been taken out of the quarry. One of the largest was twenty feet long, ten feet wide, two feet in thickness. The colours, too, are very beautiful. Many stones are white, and others have a wavy purple and other tints. The stone showing such a capability of being split into thin layers that it might be advantageously used for roofing purposes. I saw one house covered with these stones; they looked well, and seemed to answer admirably.
A short distance below the quarry we came to one of the out-stations, in a stable of which was the much talked-of bull, Fairy Prince. Fairy Prince is remarkable for his squareness of build and evenness of quarters. He has carried off all the prizes in which he competed at the Murrumbidgee Pastoral Shows. Fairy Prince was bred by Messrs. Sturgeon Bros., the well-known Essex stock owners. He is a pure Shorthorn of dark roan colour, and scarcely five years old. His sire is the Twelfth Duke of Oxford, and his dam is Fairy Princess, by Hayman, a pure Booth bull. His grand sire is the Grand Duke of Wetherby, descended from Mr Bates' celebrated Duchess tribe, from which was bred the seventeen animals sold at Willis's rooms for more than 500 guineas each. M. Jenkins gave 390 guineas for Fairy Prince shortly after the animal's arrival in the colony.
At the same sale Mr Jenkins (showed a laudable desire to improve the stock of the Murrumbidgee by also purchasing the pure Shorthorn cow Countess 6th, a beautiful roan. Her sire is Oxford, dam Countess, the great English prize winners. Her grand sire was sold for 1000 guineas, mid her sister was bought in at 1000 guineas. I was next shewn a splendid little bull, The Count, a spotted roan and white, only thirteen months old, by Fairy Prince, dam Countess. He threatens to be a great prize-taker in a short time. Among other cattle in the paddocks were some fine cows, and a nice bull, whose sire; was Vampire. Vampire has a historical reputation. He will be remembered as having been saved from the wreck of the Catherine Adamson. He was afterwards purchased by Mr Jenkins. When we returned to Buckenbong House our appetites were sharpened for breakfast. We were next shewn another bull, or rather he exhibited himself, for he came up to the door for his usual morning feed. Thus was the Duke, whose ancestors are related to Fairy Prince.
The Duke is a red and white, and only two years old. His sire is Grendon Oxford, and his dam is the Countess. Grendon Oxford, according to the stud book before me, was the largest and best looking animal at South Oakendon Hall. His sire is the 12th Duke, and his dam the Rose of Thorndale; the Duke therefore claims relationship with the Garland, Moss Rose, Matchem Cow, &c. From these, a few of what were there, it will be seen that the stud at Buckenbong can hold its own with any on the Murrumbidgee on this line. Mr Jenkins deserves great credit for his pluck in securing such good blood. In horse stock too he has not been behind. One horse in particular, General, the property of Mr Jenkins, junr, distinguished himself considerably at country race meetings, notably at the last Hay races, where he carried off most of the principal prizes.
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