This wonderful painting by Eugene von Guérard of McGuire’s Punt on the Goulburn is the only image we have that depicts what it looked like back in 1865. Further references are made in various newspapers, and thanks to a former Tallygaroopna resident, Morris Bowey, we will soon have a book that explains in great detail the early history of Shepparton and corrects many inconsistencies in both fact and the timeline. Morris has been working on the project for more than 10 years, and here is a snippet of his draft about the Punt.
“The earliest reference reported in the various books on Shepparton of the name ‘McGuire’s Punt’ (as Maguire’s) is from an advertisement in The Argus on February 16, 1853, advertising the best route from the Ovens to Bendigo. This advertisement continued to be placed in The Argus for over a year.
If McGuire had ceased operating the Punt by August 1853, when did he start operating the Punt? If the main source of business for the Punt, as has been suggested, were gold diggers travelling between the central goldfields and the new Ovens goldfields, then this traffic would only have commenced with the finding of gold in the Ovens district in early 1852. If this was the case, then the longest that McGuire could have operated his Punt was for about 18 months, from early 1852 to August 1853. For his tenure to have been longer than 18 months, the Punt must have been operational prior to the discovery of gold at the Ovens, and the demand for crossings must have still been sufficient for McGuire to make a living running the Punt.
Prior to the goldfields traffic, most crossings would likely have been for the moving of people, stock, supplies and equipment between the various pastoral stations on either side of the river. The quest then was for evidence from Mr McGuire about the junctions of the Goulburn and Broken Rivers prior to 1852, either as a punt operator or otherwise.
Such evidence first emerged in court hearings relating to the ‘Siege of Tallygaroopna’, which took place in January 1851. It was reported in The Argus on April 7, 1852, in the case of Khull vs Sheppard, that Mr McGuire was a co-defendant with Sheppard for trespass, but as there was no evidence submitted against him, he was acquitted. In keeping with the typical mystique of this man, none of the other reports of this trial mention the name McGuire and his first name or initials are not mentioned. It does, however, seem likely that this would be the same McGuire, and he was likely at the Siege of Tallygaroopna in January 1851 in support of Sherbourne Sheppard and perhaps worked for Sheppard or one of the other squatters before setting up the Punt.
The big breakthrough, however, came with the discovery of a small six-line comment in The Argus on August 29, 1850, from a correspondent from the town of Seymour, which said:
“A Mr McGuire is erecting a new house of entertainment between Messrs. Clayton [Clifton - the holder of the Arcadia station] and Khull’s Station, about 40 miles down the river. A small punt capable of carrying over the river a loaded dray and two bullocks already works there, and a larger one is in the course of erection.” [The Argus, August 29, 1850]
“This is positive proof that McGuire was operating the Punt across the Goulburn River, at the future site of Shepparton, by August 1850. As it suggests he was in the process of making a new larger punt, it seems likely that the present one had been in operation for a considerable period already and likely back to the late 1840s.”
– Playing For Sheep Stations by Morris Bowey
Geoff Allemand is an amateur photographer and Lost Shepparton Facebook page admin. Please share your pics of the past at pastpics@mmg.com.au
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