Across Bass Strait: Inter- colonial trade in meat and livestock by Jane L. Lennon

I came to Jane Lennon’s book – Across Bass Strait, with the certainty I would learn something new about the early history of Gippsland. I was not disappointed. My SLV reading list has been extended thanks to the extensive notes Lennon provided. The picture of exporting cattle painted by Patrick Coady Buckley in his journal, was only a part of a larger story. Driving their beasts to the Port’s stockyard, loading them onto a boat, then seeing them gone, told just part of the story. The planning and organisation required to get the cattle to a market was far more complex than I had imagined. Lennon’s book makes this very clear. Getting boats to Port Albert regularly was a challenge, communications were difficult. Some of the squatters took to purchasing boats to ensure their business would continue. Lennon’s work got me thinking of the significance of two events in the early days of Gipps’ Land. One: the establishing by Angus McMillan of a viable track to the sea, and, Two: the Clonmel running aground. The squatters now had a path to get their cattle to a boat and a market. The community that evolved as a result of the Clonmel incident provided the foundation for the infrastructure to manage the export part of the trade, essential for the growth of Gipps’ Land and its squatter population. My time spent reading Across Bass Strait was time well spent. Thank you Jane Lennon.