Vital service: Uriah ‘Cocky' Robinson with his Furphy water cart.
Water the Vital Element was the name of the local history book produced by the Shepparton History Centre and authored by Martin Cummins in 2010.
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This title would have been chosen due to the essential nature of water for the growth of Shepparton as an early settlement and to progress to a successful city which is one of the largest centres of irrigation in Australia.
“Water has always determined where and how people lived in the Shepparton district, from the time of the earliest Bangerang tribes-folk living off the land across the vast Goulburn watershed, to the modern-day town residents in the heart of the regional city. Water is, was, and always will be pivotal to the fortunes of Shepparton; it has been its foundation.” (Water the Vital Element)
By 1873, only 13 families inhabited Shepparton with most of them in and around what was known as McGuire’s Punt, between the Goulburn River and Welsford St.
Accessing and transporting water from the river, with its steep banks, was very difficult and labour intensive.
Also in 1873, the inventive blacksmith John Furphy, who was living in Kyneton at the time, could see great opportunities opening up in the Goulburn Valley and decided to shift camp to Shepparton and set up a factory in Wyndham St (the first business to do so).
He made the journey on horseback with his first employee, Uriah (Cocky) Robinson.
‘‘The Furphy Foundry was busy servicing the needs of the small agricultural community and during the significant drought between 1895 and 1902 the water cart quickly established itself as a vital piece of equipment.’’ (The Furphy Story website)
From 1877, while still working at the Furphy Foundry, U.W.B. Robinson, as he was formally known, made a name for himself as a water and wood carter (see advert and photo).
In the early 1900s he was also carting sanitary pans and rubbish.
In 1916 he was given the prestigious title as being the first “inspector” of waste water and in the Shepparton Advertiser, he reported thus: “… very sorry to say that there were many offenders to report for letting the hose run all night etc. It was sheer neglect on their part, and there was a great waste of water going on.”
U.W.B Robinson advert from the Shepparton News in 1880.
The Shepparton Park Village Settlement was his home from 1893-c1910 which was located on the Goulburn River where the cemetery and the golf club are now located.
His land allotment of 5.86 hectares (12 acres) was divided into seven paddocks with a homestead and he maintained fruit trees, grape vines and vegetable gardens.
There were also crops of lucerne, barley and kapok etc as well as a few cattle, pigs and horses.
In 1896, the Shepparton Park State School was opened on the settlement and many of Cocky’s 14 children (from two marriages) would have been educated there.
After this time he shifted to Nixon St and his older children were educated at the Shepparton Agricultural High School in Fryers St, where GOTAFE is today.
Cocky was also a member of the Shepparton Salvation Army Band with a number of his family members and they were also very committed to the church.
A friend of mine who lives in Melbourne is related to Cocky and she sent me this early history:
“Uriah William Brader Robinson was born in Lincolnshire, England and at the age of 14 he ran away from home to be on the ships. Little is known of this time in his life except to say that he signed his name on leaving the ships on the 12/2/1868 in Victoria. After this he was known to be the undertaker at Kyneton between 1868 and 1872. After this time he shifted to Shepparton until he returned to Kyneton in 1920 and he passed away in 1922.”
