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Bandusia Country Retreat

The Forgotten Valley & St Albans

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The village of St. Albans is situated on the banks of the Macdonald river branching off the much larger Hawkesbury river about 100 kilometres north west of Sydney, the largest City in Australia, and considering the areas historical links with the early Colony of New South Wales and the close proximity to Sydney the village of St. Albans is relatively unknown.
In fact the valley has been for many years been referred to by the locals as the "Forgotten Valley" as it has been by-passed over time by all the major road and rail routes leading north from Sydney.

The Macdonald River was discovered in June 1789 by Governor Arthur Phillip on his third exploratory voyage to Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury, he named it "The First Branch" presumably because that is what it was. He spent two days investigating the lower regions and was excited at the prospect of good farming areas promising the colony a reliable source of farm produce.

Settlers, mostly escapees, emancipated convicts or their freeborn sons, began arriving "unofficially" soon after. The first "official" Grants along the Hawkesbury River were not allocated until 1794 to James Ruse and Charles Williams who simply added their number to "the list of those already established". By 1796, in an official survey, had 400 "white" people along the banks of the Hawkesbury. It is well documented that there were many people living up the narrow valleys who were not counted and many indeed "up the Branch". By the time the river flats were surveyed in 1833 the "First Branch" had been renamed the Macdonald after John Macdonald of Pitt Town, an early bushman, explorer and settler of some repute.

It has been understood, and written in many publications, that the name St. Albans was given in memory of the English birthplace of one William Bayley [now Bailey due to miss spelling, a common occurrence due to wide spread illiteracy in the colony]. This has been proven to be untrue as William Bayley has been identified in the English records as born in Staffordshire in 1756 and was sentenced in Staffordshire [30th. July 1788] to seven years deportation arriving aboard the "Matilda" in August 1791 aged 35 years. St. Albans is in the English county of Hertfordshire some considerable distance away.

He married his first wife Ann Archer [also a convict] in Australia in 1797. In later years William and his Wife moved to live with his oldest freeborn son John. John was granted the first land near the village in 1820 and named it "First Farm". Young John was a prolific breeder….. He married twice and fathered some 18 children; many direct descendents still live in the valley to this day. He was known locally as "Squire" Bailey.

In July 1842 the first land sales were held in St. Albans and John Sullivan of Wollombi purchased seven allotments on which he constructed the Settlers Arms Inn, still trading as a purveyor of conversation, beer, and accommodation to this day. There has been some confusion as to the construction date of the Settlers Arms as 1836 however this would appear to be the time that the license was issued, number. 36/10, but the next record is 37/251 to John on 5th. July 1837. Record taking at that time was erratic at best. However a report by the Hawkesbury correspondent in the Sydney Morning Herald of 1st. March 1848 probably finalizes the date later. It reads. "The township which a few years ago was marked out upon this river, has been built on by only one individual, Mr. Sullivan. He has erected a very reasonable stone house two stories high, which we understand he intends to open as an Inn." [Implying that it was not open then.] Remembering that the first land sales were held in July 1842. 

The Settlers Arms Inn now occupies a delightful position facing the river and is in an excellent state of preservation. There were a number of Inns in the valley and they still stand after restoration as private residences. The oldest licensed Inn in the valley was The Industrious Settler, built by Aaron Waters in 1833 located a few kilometres north of St. Albans, and another early Inn was The Victoria Inn, erected by David Cross in 1842, about five kilometres from the Hawkesbury river junction.

By the mid 1840’s the population had reached its peak of more than 1000 people on about 100 small properties. As a community they were industrious and religious, the valley once supporting seven small churches and four denominational schools. There are many old ruins throughout the area as testimony to this. The St. Albans Anglican Church, near the top of Wharf Road is the only church still in use. This is the second church at this site the first being a timber chapel opened in 1843. This was in use for thirty years until it was replaced by the current stone building. Another interesting stone church remaining in the village is the old Wesleyan Methodist church in Espie Street. This was built in 1902 and is now used as a Methodist educational retreat, a reminder of almost 150 years of Wesleyan influence in the Macdonald valley.

Throughout the valley are the remains of a number of small cemeteries. Some of the earlier settlers, especially in the upper valley, buried their dead on their properties. The funerals of those closer to town, in many cases, progressed by boat to the old St. Albans Burial Ground, a few kilometres south of the village beside the river, founded in 1826. This site had in the past suffered much by neglect, floods and vandalism but now is thankfully in a suspended state of preservation. Therein lie the remains of some of the earliest pioneering families of the area. Namely; Bailey, Sternbeck, Fernance, Jurd, Morris and Walker.
To this day the local valley people still bury their own dead; affording the deceased the ongoing respect from the living as is the want of this close-knit valley community.
The current cemetery is in a lovely nook, on a hillside, just a short walk north of the Village and contains a continuum of remains of those families descended from the first settlers and those who have arrived over the course of time to make this valley their own.

Since 1824 an area north of St. Albans of approximately 1040 hectares along Mogo creek has been in use as common land. This has its roots in the traditional "Common" of England and is designed to compensate "villagers" for the small size of their allotments.  Perpetual succession to the St. Albans Common was granted on the 4th. of March 1853 to five trustees, who were to act on behalf of the "Settlers, Cultivators and other Inhabitants of the District". The land is private property, reserved for the use of the "Commoners" and is still run by the Commoners themselves through the Trustees. As well as being host to stock the Common has an extensive lagoon which provides a refuge to many water birds and wildlife. The whole area is now listed as a conservation area ensuring its preservation for future generations of St. Albans Commoners.

By 1940 the valley numbers had reached a low point of about 200 persons, with most of the small farms amalgamated into larger holdings, but the valley has fought back from near extinction and its population is increasing with a new influx of 20th. Century "settlers" keen to make the valley prosperous and maintain the heritage that attracted all of us to this "Forgotten Valley". Old Donald Sternbeck, [Deceased] a descendent of one of the earliest valley families always maintained that the land is still capable of yielding riches in response to hard work and hoped the new settlers would understand this. Old William Price Morris [grandson of Price Morris died in St Albans in 1957 age 83] was quoted as praising  "the wonderful pioneering spirit of the early settlers, as well as their honesty to one another and their ready willingness to help their fellows in time of trouble as they toiled up and away from the conditions that beset them".

Thus we have the uniqueness of the Australian way of life, encapsulated in our small corner of the world and forever in the hearts of townsfolk of St. Albans and the Macdonald valley.