HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT IND 178 MARCH 2025 | Page 10

HAWKESBURY HISTORY

with Michelle Nichols & Jonathan Auld

Portland Head Steam Mill

Like many early settlers in the Hawkesbury district , Denis Benjamin Kirwan held a number of occupations throughout his life . He was a soldier , convict , farmer and a flour miller , living over a quarter of a century in the Portland Head area , now known as Ebenezer .

Of Irish descent , he was born in County Carlow in the early 1790s and enlisted with the East India Company ’ s Bengal Army as a young man . While serving in India , Kirwan faced several disciplinary charges as a result of “ threatening to shoot a sentry and wounding a sergeant by stabbing ”.

He was tried at Fort William in Calcutta , also known as Kolkata , in 1814 and sentenced to death . Fortunately for Kirwan , the sentence was commuted to Life and he arrived in NSW in 1816 on board the Hayeston . The convict indents describe him as 175cms tall , fair complexion , light brown hair with hazel eyes and his occupation as carpenter . Shortly after his arrival , Denis petitioned Governor Macquarie for a Ticket of Leave .

In 1818 he married Jessica , the Englishborn daughter of the successful Portland Head pioneers , John and Ann Turnbull . The Turnbull ’ s were one of the families involved with the establishment of the Ebenezer Church in 1809 . Jessica was only a baby when the family migrated to Australia on the Coromandel in 1802 .

Macquarie promised Kirwan a grant of forty acres . The land was adjacent to Elizabeth Everingham ’ s grant at Sackville Reach and he was to pay one shilling as yearly rent from 1827 . Although not officially deeded until 1835 , Kirwan set about establishing himself in Portland Head , naming his property Kirwan ’ s Retreat .

By the mid-1820s , Kirwan , with his Ticket of Leave , and a young family to support , was growing maize and fruit . In 1829 , and holding a Conditional Pardon ,

Millstone on display at Tizzana Winery . Photo : J . Auld , 2025

Kirwan was appointed to the position of District Constable at Portland Head . He held this position until 1831 when he became a Constable as well as taking on the additional role of pound keeper .

In 1834 , his father-in-law John Turnbull , who had been granted a 200-acre property adjoining Kirwan ’ s , known as Waterloo , passed ownership to Denis , for the sum of thirty head of cattle . The following year the deeds finally came through , bringing his land holdings to 240 acres . By this time Kirwan had invested in a portable flour mill , operated by two horses and complete with French Burr stones , in order to process his own as well as his neighbours ’ crops into flour . French burr stones were imported into Australia and were made from quartz , a hard stone effective for grinding grain .

Grain formed a staple part of the population ’ s diet in NSW with most families dependent on wheat and maize . The grinding of these products was tantamount to producing staples such as bread . Some families had small hand mills or querns , but it was a very timeconsuming task .

His enterprise was such a resounding success that by late 1839 Kirwan had commissioned a steam engine to be constructed for a new flour mill to be built on his property at Portland Head , at the confluence of the creek , now known as Jubilee Vineyard Creek and the Hawkesbury River . By 1840 the mill was in full operation . It is believed that Mr Bourne , was the engineer who completed the steam engine . The application of the steam engine to the milling industry was significant .

The following year , Kirwan advertised the portable mill which included the French burr mill stones plus two horses for £ 150 . The advertisement states that , the mill was portable , and could “ be taken down and put up again in a few hours , it might be taken to any part of the Colony in a two-horse cart .”

A list of mills operating in the Hawkesbury district was compiled by

Samuel North , Windsor ’ s Police Superintendent between 1830 to 1841 . By 1830 there were seven mills established but this had almost doubled within the decade . It is believed the first steam operated flour mill was conducted by Henry Buttsworth at Wilberforce in 1835 . Denis was recorded at Portland Head with a horse mill between 1835 and 1841 with a steam mill recorded from 1840 and 1841 .

Jessica and Denis had thirteen children born between the years 1819 and 1844 . For

Plan showing the location of the steam mill . Courtesy Land Titles Office ( NSWLRS ).

the next few years , the flour mill continued its success , and in 1845 , Kirwan was advertising for assistance . He was looking for labourers to “ cut and split firewood for a Steam Engine , and work occasionally about the Mill ” with remuneration of a weekly wage and rations . The mill was known as the Portland Head Steam Mill but also known as Victoria Steam Mill .

In 1849 Kirwan advertised that the Portland Head Steam Mill , in good working order , was to be sold or leased . He was selling the steam mill with plenty of firewood and fresh water , and one and a half acres of land attached to it with rent set at £ 52 per annum or £ 350 for the lot . It stated that the proprietor was “ leaving the colony .”

Denis Benjamin Kirwan passed away in 1851 aged 57 years leaving his property , flour mill and engine to his wife and

son Colclough . Colclough moved away from the Hawkesbury and eventually settled in the rugged country of Central Queensland . He died unmarried at his property , Herbert Downs station on the Diamantina River .

Denis is buried at the Sackville Reach Cemetery , along with his wife Jessica , who survived him by 31 years . Following Jessica ’ s death in 1882 , the property was sold to Dr Thomas Fiaschi , who established Tizzana Vineyards .

Kirwan was one

Kirwan headstone at Sackville Reach . Photo : J . Auld , 2025 of many industrious early settlers of the Hawkesbury who , being given a second chance , improved his and his family ’ s circumstances . A small burr stone artefact was uncovered during roadwidening of Tizzana Road , in the 1980s and is on display at Tizzana Winery .

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10 ISSUE 178 // MARCH 2025 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT