In exploring the history of the land and house which Elizabeth and I purchased in Dungog a few years ago, I have already noted the early landholders for this property, and investigated the life of Daniel and Sarah Bruyn and their family after Daniel purchased the land in 1858. When Daniel died intestate in 1882, all of his property was made over to his son, Daniel Justin Bryan, whose life we now consider.
Daniel Justin Bruyn was born in France. His parents, Joseph and Sarah, had married in 1837 in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, where four children were born in the years 1837 to 1842. The family travelled to France, perhaps seeking to use there the skills that Daniel Snr had as a Blacksmith. Two children were born there; Mary died within a year, Daniel Jnr was born on 26 May 1847, at Graville, Le Havre, Seine.
After four years the family returned to England because of the unrest relating to industrialisation. Another daughter was born; the family then migrated to the Colony of New South Wales in 1856 and settled in Dungog, where Daniel purchased land and established his Blacksmith business.
Daniel Justin Bruyn was eleven years of age when his father purchased the land in Brown St; presumably he lived with the family there for some time after they moved into the building that was erected there, at some stage between 1858 and 1866, as noted previously.
Grevilles 1872 Post Office Directory lists both Daniel Bryun, Blacksmith, of Brown St, Dungog, and Joseph Bruyn, farmer, “near Dungog”. Joseph was the firstborn son of Daniel. At some point after this, Daniel Justin Bruyn began to purchase land holdings to the north of Dungog.
On 11 Sept 1879, Daniel Justin Bruyn is listed as selecting 234 acres in Dungog, Al. No. 76-37754, C.P. No. 73–9338. On 19 April 1883 Daniel Justin Bruyn made application to be registered as “Proprietor by Transmission” of land in Dungog, as the Administrator of the intestate estate of Daniel Bruyn, deceased. The land was 3 acres, Lots 1, 2, and 3, of Section 32, Town of Dungog; this was on the northern side of Hooke St, between Abelard and Eloisa Streets. (There are residential building on these lots today.)
On 1 September 1892 Daniel Justin Bruyn made application for 79 1/2 acres at Tillegra; on 1 February 1893, 78 3/4 acres was granted to him. On 20 October 1892 he made application for 77 acres at Dungog; on 1 February 1893, 65 1/4 acres was granted to him. It is also reasonable to assume, from a piece of evidence noted below, that Daniel had a room in the house at Brown Street where his sister lived. That was his base when he was in town, it would seem.
In a series of Electoral Rolls (1895, 1900, 1904) Daniel Justin Bryun, Grazier, is listed as living at Sugarloaf. In 1905, he is listed as having 15 horses and 190 cattle (and no sheep) on his property at Sugarloaf Creek.
A survey map of the area, dated 9 January 1894, designates seven properties in his name running along the northern boundary of the Parish of Dungog, adjacent to the Parish of Tillegra, to the south of the current Sugarloaf Road, and west of the Longbrush Gully. Another survey map for the Parish of Tillegra places him as owner of a further fourteen Lots running in parallel to his Dungog Parish holdings.
In the Parish of Dungog, running east to west, Bruyn owned Lots 128 (50 acres) and 134 (73 acres), adjacent to each other; then stretching west from them, Lots 52 (234 acres), 50 (40 acres), 136 (40 acres), 53 (120 acres), and 151 (65 acres). This final Lot was the penultimate Lot before the boundary with the Parish of Lewinsbrook, covering the area between Dungog and Gresford. The total acreage of these seven Lots is 622 acres.
of the Parish of Dungog
In addition, on the other side of the Parish boundary, in the Parish of Tillegra, there is another, more extensive, collection of Lots in the name of Daniel Justin Bruyn. Running east to west, he owned Lots 48 (40 acres), 129 (49 acres), 37 (40 acres), 38 (40 acres), 49 (80 acres), 106 (114 acres), 4 (99 acres), 149 (40 acres), 119 (40 acres), 137 (40 acres), 138 (40 acres), 55 (78 acres), 145 (40 acres), and 55 (78 acres)! The total acreage of these Lots is 818 acres.
on the southern border of the Parish of Tillegra,
adjacent to his holdings in the Parish of Dungog
The Sugarloaf Creek meanders its way through the easternmost half of the Lots in the Parish of Tillegra. A survey map declares that all of these Lots were part of a larger area, Gloucester Coldfield, that was proclaimed on 3rd June 1879. Together, the 1,440 acres of these Lots form a very significant landholding. To the east of Daniel’s landholdings, another series of Lots totalling 249 acres bear the name of his sister, Ellen Bruyn.
In the Dungog Chronicle of 30 August 1898, p.3, a notice appeared relating to a proposed “public meeting for the purpose of petitioning the Minister for Works, through the Member for Durham, to construct a road between Gresford and Dungog”. There are 14 signatories to this notice, including that of Daniel J. Bruyn, indicating that “a public meeting [is] to be held at the Council Chambers on THURSDAY NEXT, at 8 p.m.”
As one owning property in the Sugarloaf Creek area, Daniel Bruyn obviously had a vested interest. It is clear that the petition for the construction of this road was successful, as a road today does wind its way through the beautiful hills in the area between Gresford and Dungog, and through some of the land once owned by Daniel Justin Bruyn.
Not only did Daniel Justin Bruyn die a wealthy man, however; he died also a highly-regarded and well-respected member of the Dungog community. His obituary (see below) indicated that he was a Trustee of the Dungog Hospital, a Municipal Alderman, a Justice of the Peace, a longterm committee member of the A. and H. Association, and one of the founders of the Dungog School of Arts. He followed the local cricket team with enthusiasm, and owned a number of horses that he raced in the local area.
On 17 November 1891, the Government Gazette (p.9023) contained a notice from the Department of Lands of the appointment of Joseph Abbott, George Alexander McKay, Vincent Carlton, John Robson, and Daniel Justin Bruyn, as “Trustees of the land at Dungog, viz. portion 135, parish of Dungog, county of Dungog, dedicated 15th September 1891, for hospital site”.
The Dungog Cottage Hospital was opened on Hospital Hill in 1892 and the site, now much expanded, has provided local hospital and medical services since that time.
On 21 July 1893, the Government Gazette (p.5663) contained a notice of the election of Frederick Agustus Hooke, Dingadee, Dungog; Daniel Justian [sic.] Bruyn, Brown-street, Dungog; Henry Charles Dark, Dowling-street, Dungog; Joseph Abbott, Dowling-street, Dungog; John Robson, Dowling-street, Dungog; and John A. Jones, Dowling-street, Dungog, as Aldermen of the Municipal District of Dungog.
Then, on 8 February 1896, the Government Gazette (p.1022) contained a notice of the election of Frederick Augustus Hooke and Daniel Justin Bruyn, as Aldermen of the Municipal District of Dungog. Three years later, on 13 February 1899, the Government Gazette (p.1415) contained a notice of the election of Frederick Augustus Hooke, Daniel Justin Bruyn, and John McLauchlin, as Aldermen of the Municipal District of Dungog.
On 4 May 1901, the Maitland Mercury (p.3) reported that Daniel Justin Bruyn was amongst a list of “gentlemen appointed to them commission of the Peace” (that is, as a Magistrate, or a Justice of the Peace).
On 22 September 1886, Daniel Justin Bruyn had made his last Will and Testament “whereby he gave devised and bequeathed all his property of whatsoever nature and wheresoever situate to his sister Ellen Bruyn absolutely and appointed the said Ellen Bruyn the sole Executrix thereof”. On 1 November 1912 Daniel Justin Bruyn died, and that will came into effect. So Ellen received a significant amount of property, as we have seen.
The Register of Coroner’s Inquests for 2 November 1912 lists an inquest for Daniel Justyn Bruyn of Dungog, held by Walterus Le Brun Brown, J.P., which notes that “cash or property possessed by deceased” was “probably over £10,000”. That equates to around $1.45 million in 2023.
… to be continued … … …
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See earlier posts at
and subsequent posts at
An Informed Faith 