Cudgegong Valley History Project

SALE OF HORSES. Mr. William Pitt, of Umbiella station, in the Capertee Valley, is a great believer in good horses. He goes in largely for breeding. Recently he had a sale of some of his horse stock, light horses reaching as high us £19 per head (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 6 December 1900, page 7).

RYLSTONE NEWS. (From our Special Correspondent.) Mr. Pitt, of Glen Alice, notwithstanding the drought, is prepared to purchase bullocks (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 19 June 1902, page 18).

A Double Loss. Recently we mentioned that Mr. Wm. Pitt, of Umbiella, Glen Alice, had sustained a heavy loss through the death of a valuable horse. He has met with a further misfortune, a thoroughbred that he had leased to Mr. Lawson running away with the boy who had charge of it and breaking its back. Mr. Pitt estimates his loss, by the death of the two horses, at fully £400.—"Mercury." (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 6 October 1904, page 13).

Races at Glen Alice. A day's racing is to be held in Mr. Pitt's paddock, at Glen Alice, on Friday, 10th March. The meeting is an unregistered one, and the programme includes races for 3 furlongs. The full programme is advertised in the Rylstone ' Express.' and horse owners must therefore be exceedingly careful what they are doing. A horse which runs at the meeting, will be disqualified under A.J.C. Rules, and if protested against at any subsequent registered meeting would be thrown out. The situation is an unfortunate one, and the best way to get over it, would be to register the meeting and run according to A.J.C. Rules, or alter the date. Attention is called to this matter solely in the interests of sport, for it would be hard luck for a man to get his horse disqualified through ignorance (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Monday 27 February 1905, page 2).

UMBIELLA. Mr. Pitt, of Umbiella, who had a most trying time during the dry spell, must find a good deal of consolation in the great growth that has covered his paddocks since the rain. His lucerne paddocks have a wonderful growth in them, and the squire of Umbiella should soon have a mob of fats to send away (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 11 March 1909, page 10).

RECOVERING POSSESSION. JAMIESON v. PITT. At the Rylstone Police Court on Friday morning Margaret Effie Jamieson, of Warrangee Station, proceeded against William Pitt, of Umbiella, to recover possession of a certain piece of land known as 'Church paddock,' Warrangee, in the district of Rylstone, which the defendant had been in possession of by virtue of a tenancy, and of which, it was alleged, he had neglected to deliver up possession. Mr thompson, of Bathurst, appeared for the defendant, and Mr. D C. McL. Jamieson, son of the complainant, who was present in the court, conducted the case for his mother. The defendant pleaded ‘not possessed’. An attempt was made by the parties to settle the case between themselves at the suggestion of the Police Magistrate, but failed, and the evidence was proceeded with as follows: D. McL. Jamieson said he was the son of the complainant and manager of Warrangee station. He produced an agreement between the complainant and defendant, as well as letters. The church paddock was owned by his mother. He went on the land when the time expired as a matter of form to claim possession on behalf of his mother. There was no one there. On the following day he saw some stock there, and also later on. The stock were in the paddock and belonged to Mr. Pitt. When he went home he wrote the letter produced to the defendant and received another letter produced from him. To Mr. Thompson: The road on the western side of the paddock was fenced, but it was not fenced on the eastern side. He was not aware there was a watering place at the southern end made by Mr. Pitt. Water could be obtained by sinking. He could not say there were two gates there through which the defendant, let his stock into water. He knew he let them through the gates into his yards. There was nothing to stop them from trespassing on the church paddock if the gate was left open. His mother applied to purchase the road. There were 12 head of cattle in the paddock on the Monday when he went to take possession belonging to the defendant. He did not see two men when he was passing through the paddock. He subsequently saw two men on a poison cart. He had seen the defendant or his servants exercising dominion over the paddock since the 13th June. They were moving stock. He could not say whether it was the defendant or his servants. If Mr. Pitt let his stock into water they must trespass. To the P.M.: The area of the church was 30 acres, and the defendant used it for grazing purposes The defendant used to have about 200 cattle in the paddock. The P.M. : But that number could not stay there very long you know. Witness: But they used to go in to the lucerne paddock. The P.M.: Why didn't you go and see Mr. Pitt and fix up about this tenancy with him? Were ?? neighbors? Witness: Yes, but we were not on very friendly terms. To Mr. Thompson : Witness had never tried to exercise any dominion over the place since the lease only to try to get the stock removed later. William Pitt, grazier, residing at Umbiella, said on Saturday, June 12 none of his stock were running in the paddock. There was nothing in the paddock on the Sunday. His house was only 300 yards across from the paddock. It was utterly false that there was stock of his in the paddock on the Monday as Mr. Jamieson stated. His stock had to go to water, but he had exercised no act of dominion over the place since the expiration of the lease. For all he knew there may have been times when his stock had trespassed when going to water. To Mr. Jamieson : He could see the paddock all day on the Monday. He and his men were out suckering some time during the afternoon of the 13th, about a mile and a half from the paddock in question, but they were only there about two hours. The gate at the north one was open, and his horses watered through that way now. He did not know that there were a number of his stock there on the 23rd. June, the day he wrote to him about it He believed the gate was open on that date. His men were not sent to remove the stock between the 14th and 30th. He could not say how many head of stock he had in the adjoining paddock, but he had a considerable number. The gate on the south bank was shut on the night of the 23rd June, and was not open on the following morning. To the P.M. : He took his stock out nearly a week before the time expired. The P.M. : Do you claim to be in possession? Defendant: No. I do not. Tho P.M.: Do you claim to be in possession on 12th June? Defendant: No, certainly not; I do not. Mr. Thompson : Complainant alleges that we were in possession on the 13th. That's her information. The P.M:: The letter written by defendant to complainant disputes possession. Defendant: I didn't know complainant had possession of the paddock when I gave it up. I don't know who had possession. Robert Hobby, boundary rider at Umhiella, said he knew the church paddock. About a week before the 12th June he cleared the paddock out .The paddock was a clear paddock and in view of the homestead. There was no stock in it on the 14th and 15th. He had seen stock there since, but he could not say they were Mr. Pitt's. Mr. Pitt and Nicholson helper to remove the stock. To Mr. Jamieson : He was not at Umbiella all day on the 14th. He was at Glen Alice. He might have been wandering in the other paddock about two or three miles from the Church paddock. He saw the paddock again that evening. The gate at the south end was not open to his knowledge on that day. He had not remove any stock between the 14th and 30th June. He had not seen stock there between those dates or the gate open on the Glen Alice creek during that time. The P.M.: He was still in Mr. Pitt's employ. Allan Nicholson, laborer, residing at GIen Alice, said he assisted to remove the stock from the church paddock a week before the 13th June for Mr. Pitt. He also cleared the dead timber off on the 11th June. To Mr. Jamieson : He was at Umbiella till after 10 o'clock on the I4th. He saw no stock in the paddock on the 14th. He could not swear, however, that there were none there after 1 o'clock. He had seen no stock in there between the 14th and 30th June. Stock have been running there from the 1st July to the present date. He did not remove them and had not seen any one else remove them. The horses went down to water on their own. They were not driven, and there was nothing to prevent them travelling all over the property whenever they went down. This completed the evidence. Mr. Thompson contended that as a matter of law the defendant was entitled to a dismissal, as there was no evidence to show he was in possession on the 12th June, the date of the information. There was further no evidence to show that the defendant had neglected to quit possession Mr. Edwards said it was a great pity the parties could not have arranged this matter between themselves. Mr. Pitt had written a letter. tantamount to disputing possession. The information must be dismissed on the point raised by Mr. Thompson, but no costs could be allowed (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Monday 26 July 1909, page 3).

DAMAGE BY RAIN. The recent rain was not without its ill effects, Capertee residents suffering severely. Mr. G. Writer had two miles of fencing swept away, Mr. McAndrew had three bullocks, a horse and 60 sheep killed, and Mr. Pitt, of Umbiella, had a considerable amount of wire-netting fence destroyed. His lucerne paddocks also suffered serious damage (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 30 December 1909, page 15).

NEW HORSEFLESH FOR MUDGEE. At the recent Sydney sales Mr. W, Pitt, of Umbiella, purchased four broodmares. District breeders are evidently recognising that there is money in horse-breeding, and as the district is already noted for its success in the industry, the. future looks bright for all concerned (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 7 April 1910, page 17).

MR. PITT. The Squire of Umbiella, always a white man, is likely to leave us. Nothing-definite, but it is most probable that Mr. Pitt will shortly go in for thoroughbred horse breeding. He has always been a horse fancier, and has at Umbiella some very high bred and shapely bloods (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 12 May 1910, page 22).

A Rylstone Lease. And a Recent Cour' Case. (To the Editor). Sir, - In the Rylstone news in the Mudgee 'Guardian' of February 18, you say there was quite a contest between the Shire Council and myself, and that I lost the case. I shall be glad if you will grant me space to give particulars of this case. For three years I have been rated for 240 acres more than I owned. In 1912 and 1913 I was rated for a 240 acre block about seven miles distant, and owned by Mrs. Lark. I was again rated on portions. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 20 for 4711 acres, or 240 acres more than they contain. In January I received from the Shire Clerk an attempted correction, taking 2s 6d off lease of 240 acres abandoned. As I never abandoned a 240-acres lease, I wrote for further particulars, and got a summons, which I defended. The Shire Clerk deliberately swore that the 240 acres overrated for was annual lease 02/10 of 240 acres, abandoned. Now, the facts of this lease are these: - About ten years ago Mr.' T. Wilkins. then of Glen Alice, transferred this lease of 240 acres to me; . About six or seven years ago Mr. Arthur Dowling selected a part of this lease. The Lands Department then reduced this lease by the amount Dowling selected. I paid the Lands Department and rates to the Shire Council of Rylstone on 144 acres to December 31, 1913, when I forfeited it. I produced the Council's receipts at the Court for payment for 144 acres in 1912 and 1913. But, as the Shire Clerk swore the reduction was on annual lease 02/10 of 240 acres, abandoned, I lost the case. Thanking you in anticipation, I am, etc., WILliAM PITT, 'Umbiella,' Glen Alice (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 25 February 1915, page 28).

A HANDSOME DONATION. Mr. Pitt, of Umbiella station, has donated two thoroughbred horses to the Glen Alice Belgian Fund. The gift speaks for itself, and is an example to other landowners in the district. Mi. George Brown, of '' Glen Alice, is working enthusiastically in the cause, and hopes that the Glen Alice effort will be a record. We hope so (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 1 April 1915, page 16).

Glen Alice. A Painful Accident - Mr. Pitt, of Umbiella, whilst engaged in sinking a well, had the misfortune to drive a pick through his instep, which necessitated his laying up for nearly a week. We are pleased to state that he has sufficiently recovered to be able to carry out his work (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 1 February 1917, page 24).

Glen Alice I understand that Umbiella Estate will very shortly change hands, as the intended buyer is to inspect the property next week, with a view of purchasing same. Should the sale be accomplished the residents will be very sorry to lose Mr. Pitt as he is highly respected for his generosity and good feeling towards the benefit of the locality (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 22 March 1917, page 11).

In Pleasant Retirement. Mr. W. Pitt, late of Umbiella, Glen Alice, has gone into retirement in a pretty home, which he purchased, near to Sydney (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 30 August 1917, page 15).

DEATHS PITT.-December 23, 1926, at his residence, Kookaburra, Albert-street, Hornsby, William Pitt, late of Capertee, aged 78 years. (Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 25 December 1926, page 8).