Surname: GRIEVE
Given Name(s): Walter

Occupation(s): Sheep Overseer

Birth Details
Birth Town: Broadlee
Birth County, Region, Province: Selkirkshire
Birth Country: Scotland, UK
Birth Date: 1813

Death Details
Death Town: Esk
Death State/Territory: Queensland
Death Country: Australia
Death Date: 1896

Immigration Details
Air/Port Landed: Botany Bay
Ship/Plane: Abberton
Year Arrived: 1839

Surname: GORDON
Given Name(s): Ann

Birth Details
Birth Town: Towie
Birth County, Region, Province: Aberdeen
Birth Country: Scotland, UK
Birth Date: 1824

Death Details
Death Town: Esk
Death State/Territory: Queensland
Death Country: Australia
Death Date: 1908

Immigration Details
Ship/Plane: Emma Euginea
Year Arrived: 1849

Family Stories

Life in Australia:

Walter emigrated with John, Robert and Charles Balfour. After leaving Sydney they journeyed on horseback to the Peel River, in the New England District of New South Wales. Here they formed a sheep station for a short time. Finding this unsatisfactory they moved on to the Darling Downs. The grass was so long that they found it difficult to look after the sheep and thinking the ground would be flooded in normal times they decided to move on to Moreton Bay. After crossing the Great Dividing Ranges they eventually made camp on the Brisbane River, a few miles north of Cressbrook. They arrived there about May 1841. Not long after that one of the shepherds was murdered by the aborigines which Walter Grieve was to describe in later years: "On 6th Oct 1841 less than 5 months after forming Colinton, John Balfour wrote to Lt Gorman informing him he had temporarily abandoned his run because of the problems caused by the aborigines. Lt Gorman reported the matter to Governor Gipps who expressed his regret and instructed Lt Gorman to explain to Balfour that people had been cautioned about going into the Northern Districts of the Colony and if they went beyond the boundaries within which the government could protect them the consequences would rest with them". Walter worked as an overseer on Colinton. During the 1830's a shepherd's wages were £15 to £25 per annum plus keep. An overseer was paid approximately double this amount. By 1870 wages were around £40 per annum plus keep. In the early days of settlement, many of the people on Colinton were Scottish, so were pleased when the travelling missionary visited them on 23rd August 1843 - Rev John Gregor had travelled on horseback from Brisbane, to visit the various stations on the way. He had come from Mr D McConnell's place with Francis Bigge to Balfours. He stated that "John Balfour gave him a real Scotch welcome of gentlemanly kindness". The next day, accompanied by Scott the overseer he visited two of the outstations to preach to the men. In the course of the ride they had to pass the spot where the man had been murdered by the aborigines. At the time of the incident, the overseer had been a shepherd and had shared the hut with the murdered man. Next day the third outstation was visited. He noted the inhabitants were all Scottish and received him well. Also he met a woman and her remaining three children, two sons and a daughter. She had lost five children in Scotland and since arriving here had lost her husband and another son. On 25th August he prepared to return with Mr Francis Bigge to Messrs McConnell's station commenting once more on the kindness of Mr Balfour and noting that in four years the sheep had increased from 1800 to 9000 over and excluding the loss of 2000 from repeated attacks by the aborigines. Walter remained on Colinton for several years. Later he went to work for Messrs Francis and Frederick Bigge at "Mt Brisbane". He married Ann in 1851 at "Rosewood Station", Moreton Bay, which was owned by her uncle, Donald Coutts. Walter and Ann had 10 children - five boys and four girls survived their eldest child, a boy who died on Christmas Day 1852, aged 8 months. In the late 1850's Walter left Bigge's and moved to Ipswich so his young family could receive an education. He established a butcher shop in Brisbane St and another at Mortimer Street, North Ipswich. At the same time he continued with pastoral pursuits sharing a property called "Lakeland" with his brother-in-law, James Gordon. Family stories say he also had a staging house for coaches between Ipswich and Toowoomba but it folded when the railway opened in 1865. Religion was very important to him and he was one of the trustees of the Established Church of Scotland when the N.S.W. government granted the first grand of land in 1858 for a church to be erected, then further grants of land were made in 1859 on which a school and a dwelling house were to be erected. St Stephens was named in 1862 after Walter Grieve and two other trustees applied to the government for letters of patent for incorporation under the name "The Trustee of St Stephen's Presbyterian Church". Walter remained in Ipswich until 1868 when he and his family moved to "Bellevue Estates" where he was employed by Major North and his son as an overseer on both "Bellevue" and "Wivenhoe". His eldest sons worked with him as shepherds. The early 1870's saw the family on the move again, taking their belongings with them on sledges. This time they moved to "Kurrowah Station" near Cecil Plains which was owned by the Brodribbs. He remained there for a few years. His son, Robert remained permanently on "Kurrowah" but the other sons were involved in all sorts of bush work and droving. In the late 1870's Walter moved to "Bearrada" which was owned by T.C. Robinson. He remained there on the Darling Downs but at the same time began to select the land that was being thrown open for closer settlement in the Brisbane Valley, namely portions of Colinton Run and Mt Esk. He experienced many hardships trying to meet the conditions of fulfilment at Mt Esk. In 1877 he had only a slab humpy with a bark roof and the land wasn't occupied when the bailiff inspected the block. The slab hut was made from a tree sawn into slabs approx 8' x 1' x 2" and laid horizontally or vertically with crevices filled with mud. Strips of bark formed the roof with large logs laid on top to hold the bark down. He had become a cripple and was living with his son John at "Glenhowden", but with the help of his sons, conditions (including erecting fences) were met. Walter died in 1896, aged 82. By strange coincidence, one of his grand children died on the same day and its mortal remains were afterwards buried with Walter at the Esk cemetery. The baby, Helena Isabella Grieve, was laid on his grandfather's chest, cradled in his arms. Walter is mentioned in "A History of Queensland: It's People & Industries" and there is a Grieve Road leading in to "Glenhowden". Described as a dairymaid from Kildrummie County, Aberdeen, Ann Gordon emigrated with her sister, Elizabeth, brother, Donald and uncles, John and Thomas Coutts. Her parents and other siblings emigrated separately and selected land which they named "Glen Gordon", later to become the site of Mt Morgan goldmine. Her obituary states: "Mrs Ann Grieve, a very old and respected resident of the Upper Brisbane River district, wife of the late Walter Grieve of Glenhowden, Emu Creek, died at the residence of her son, at Glenhowden on Saturday, the 16th instant, at the ripe age of 85 years. Mrs Grieve, about 18 months ago, had a slight paralytic stroke and another about nine weeks ago, which paralysed the lower portion of her body and limbs, since which time she has been confined to her bed. She was conscious up to her death which occurred about 20 minutes to 7 o'clock in the evening. Mrs Grieve came to Queensland with her uncles Messrs John and Thomas Coutts, who settled at Rosewood, 1848, and who were afterwards owners of large station properties on the downs. She married her late husband in 1851. ... Mrs Grieve was a niece of Rev James Coutts, who founded the Sailor's Home in Sydney. She leaves a family of eight - five sons and three daughters, viz: Mr John Grieve of Glenhowden; Mr Robert Grieve of Kurrowah; Mr James Grieve of Moore; Mr Thomas Grieve of Roseneath; Mr A.R. Grieve of Ellendale; Mrs J Gordon of Samsonvale; Mrs J Robinson of Tarralin and Mrs D McIntosh, Rockhampton. A fourth daughter died between 3 and 4 years ago. The body was brought to Esk and on Monday afternoon was interred in the cemetery alongside the remains of the deceased lady's late husband..."Ann was said to have been a delightful person and was much loved by her family. Like many pioneering women she faced the hardships of her life with courage and with her daughters, Ellen, Ann, Jane and Isabella, worked beside her husband and sons until the girls married and with their husbands went to live in other parts of Queensland.

You and Your Family:

At the time of writing (1999), Keith is operating a business, Dodd & Young Human Resource Consultants. He is keenly interested in military history, and together with our son, Kane, trekked the Kokoda trail, Papua New Guinea, last August. Hayley and Kane are studying at university and I am working part-time as a school secretary and devoting most of my spare time to family history research.

Life Before Australia:

The earliest records we have found on a Grieve lineage commence with Robert Grieve of Deanburnhaugh, Roberton, Selkirkshire, born about 1690. The Grieves were noted as sheepbreeders and famed for the quality of their flocks, developed over generations. Many Grieve members emigrated to Canada, some to the USA and some to Australia. Others remained in the locality. Walter was a tenant farmer of "Craiglands", near Moffat, Dumfries-shire. He was back in Roxburgh when he was chosen by Balfours of Colinton near Edinburgh, to bring sheep from the Scottish moors to help them establish a sheep station in Australia.

Descendants

Children
GRIEVE, Walter Victor 1 GRIEVE, Alexander Ross 10 GRIEVE, John 2
GRIEVE, Robert 3 GRIEVE, James Gordon 4 GRIEVE, Ellen Janet Veitch 5
GRIEVE, Ann Margaret 6 GRIEVE, Jane Elizabeth 7 GRIEVE, Thomas 8
GRIEVE, Isabella Catherine 9

Grandchildren
GRIEVE, Cecily Edna 8 GRIEVE, Evelyn Joyce 8 GRIEVE, Gordon Thomas 8
GRIEVE, Margaret Betty 8 GRIEVE, Marie (Enid) 8

Great Grandchildren
DODD, David Gilmore 8 DODD, Diane Elizabeth 8 DODD, Keith Hugh 8

Great Great Grandchildren
DODD, Hayley Sharon 8 DODD, Kane Michael 8

NB: Superscript behind each descendant name represents the lineage number of that descendant.
This family information was last updated by GAIL DODD on the 24 January, 1999.