Well one of my relatives and another were involved in property dealings in Bigga. Salem Vale later was renamed Markdale by my Third Great Grandfather William Marks. Samuel Blackman is an uncle on my grandmothers side and John Hearne an in-law. Samuel Blackman was a land speculator and when he died many of the properties had to be sold to pay his debts. The Rev Thomas Hassall as a COE priest and William Marks was a convict assigned to work for Hassall. One of Hassall’s great grandchildren married into my family via the Cramps.
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803-1842)
Tuesday 10 May 1836
Page 4of 419 Georgiana, 640 acres, parished unnamed, at Sletes’ Gully, Mangourie, at the head, of Mangour-rie Creek, about six or seven miles north-east of Hassall’s Horse Station, to include John Hearnes‘ station at Sletes’ Gully. Applied by Samuel Blackman.