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- Ararat and Mount Pleasant Creek Advertiser and Chronicle for the District of the Wimmera
Friday 13 May 1864, page 2
ARARAT GENERAL SESSIONS. Tuesday, 10th May, 1864. SHEEP STEALING.
Charles White and Thomas Hayes, charged with stealing one sheep, the property of John Holt, Esq., of Glenorchy was placed at the bar to answer the charge. Mr. Nolan having opened the case; George Dumellis was sworn and said—I am shepherd ranger, in the employment of Mr. Holt, of Ledcourt Station…
I first saw the prisoner Hayes on the 3rd of March, about six or seven o'clock in the evening; Hayes came up to the hut alone; he asked for salt, and I told him not to take some bad water which was near; my wife asked him to have some tea, but he declined …
Friday 27 May 1864, page 2. Local and General News.
We understand it is the intention of several squatters, about Horsham and Glenorchy, to give Mr. George Dow Mellies a substantial present, in order to show their appreciation of vigilance shown to his employer—as shepherd to Mr. Holt of Ledcourt—in the case of Hayes and White, who were recently convicted of sheep stealing. It is difficult to bring home this well known prevalent crime, which has been carried on in this and surrounding districts for some time past.
Tuesday 14 June 1864, page 2. STAWELL POLICE COURT Monday, 13th June, 1864.
Thomas Ogden, charged with feloniously receiving forty-seven trees, from the garden of George De Mellies, pleaded not guilty. George De Mellies deposed,—I reside at Ledcourt Station, and am a shepherd, I formerly resided at Mount Dryden ; the hut I occupied stands there still ; it is fenced in, my garden is also temporarily fenced in ; one fenced is Mr Holt's boundary fence, the other three sides are fenced with brush; I had 153 fruit trees, I saw them last, on the 9th May, 'in that garden; I never authorised any person to remove them from the garden; I saw upwards of forty of the trees I lost in the possession of the prisoner yesterday ; I value them at one shilling each; they were planted in prisoner's garden in Commercial street ; prisoner said he took away the trees from an old hut on Ledcourt Station: he also said I could have the trees back again ; I have no doubt about the identity of the trees; the trees produced are my trees ; the tops have been eaten off by cattle ; they have been twelve months under cultivation by me, and I know them by my pruning.
Friday 7 July 1865, page 3. SHEEP-WASHING MACHINE.
SIR,—For many years in this colony, I have annually witnessed the most cruel treatment, that morose and brutal minds could devise, perpetrated upon sheep in the process of washing, dipping, shearing, and in fact every work amongst sheep that necessitated the united employment of four, five, or more men. Shearers often vie with each other in the peculiarity and intensity of their cruelty, and some brutes are so expert in exercising their propensity, that a sheep on which they have practised will not live twenty-four hours after leaving the shed. etc. etc.
Yours obediently, G. D. M. Shepherd Ranger. Ledcourt Station, Stawell, 5th July, 1865.
Ararat and Mount Pleasant Creek Advertiser, Friday 28 June 1867, page 3 Ad for sale of a horse. Apply Geo. Dow Mellies, Shepherd Ranger, Ledcourt.
Argus, Monday 28 February 1870, page 4
A correspondent, signing himself G. Dow Mellies, grazier, of Glendhu, on the Wimmera River, writes us a long letter in complaint of the conduct of the Hon. W. H. Pettett, M.L.C., towards the free selectors of that district, Mr. Dow Mellies's letter is written in a very heated strain, and is, moreover, far too lengthy to print in extenso in our columns; but as he seems to make his case out pretty clearly, we give the substance of his complaint. He states that Mr. Pettett, M.L.C., having taken up land in the proclaimed areas of Ledcourt and Warra Warra, and overstocked it with sheep, succeeded in getting the Lands Office to proclaim, in September, 1867, a common on the Ledcourt station, which common he occupied exclusively as pasture land for his sheep. That this common, having a large river frontage, was protested against by the owner of Ledcourt station, and partially withdrawn in November, 1868, another portion of the run being granted instead. That Mr. Pettett divided this common by a fence, depastured his own sheep upon it, to the injury of neighbouring free selectors and made every attempt to got him self appointed manager. etc etc.
Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday 26 October 1870, page 4
The Pleasant Creek News must take the responsibility of the following .-—Editors some times get strange samples of animal and vegetable life forwarded to them for comment. But by far the most uncomfortable that has yet reached this office, was a box nailed down and labelled 'acclimatised snakes, all alive.' After taking due precautions the box was opened, and found to contain eight young wild rabbits, together with the following note : — ' The Editor of the News — Sir, some evil disposed person or persons endeavouring to accomplish my ruin, have with malicious intent let loose rabbits on or near my farm, which now threaten to eat up every blade of crop and grass, and become a ruinous scourge on the Winmera. I nave succeeded in destroying twenty-one in three days, and send yon herewith a specimen of the vermin. Can you inform me who were the parties who introduced these ruinous pests into this district? I should like to know you know.— Yours respectfully, Geo. Dow Mellies, Glendhu, 18th October, 1870.
Argus, Thursday 8 December 1870, page 7
PETTETT V. MELLIES. Appeal from petty sessions, Stawell. Dr. Mackay for appellant. No appearance for respondent. Mellies was summoned for illegally impounding 1,415 sheep, the property of Wm. Henry Pettett. Tho sheep were impounded by the defendant on 4th October, and the following notice was given at the time of impounding :-" Impounded by the managers of the Ledcourt and Warra Warra Farmers' Common, on 4th October, 1870, 1,415 sheep, mixed sexes, branded on different parts of the body, some with square, in red paint, others with L.C. on side, most of them belonging to Mr. Pettett. Trespass damages on the lot. George Dow Mellies, Manager." It was submitted that the notice of impounding was bad, in not stating the place where the sheep were trespassing and the damages claimed. The justices dismissed the case, and the complainant appealed. Appeal dismissed, without costs.
Argus, Thursday 26 January 1871, page 4.
Amongst the items of election news floating about the country, we observe that ….
Mr. Dow Mellies, late shepherd ranger on Ledcourt Station, seeks the suffrages of the electors of Crowlands.
Herald, 30 January 1871, page 2
Mr. Dow Mellies has thought better, seemingly, of standing for Crowlands, and has notified that he will not speak at the meetings convened by him, as he "advertised his intentions prematurely."
Burrangong Argus, Saturday 16 February 1884, page 2
YOUNG PROGRESS ASSOCIATION. THE Young District Progress Association held its regular fortnightly meeting at the Mechanics' Institute on Thursday evening. The secretary read the following letter from Mr. George D. Mellies, enclosing petition to the Postmaster General, praying for extension of bi-weekly mail from Wollongough to Cudgellico on the Lachlan River.
" I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your Obedient Servant, GEORGE DOW MELLIES."
Gorman's Hill, Wollongough, 6th February1884.
Burrangong Argus, Wednesday 5 March 1884, page 3
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. To the Editor of the Burrangong Argus.
Sir,—I have been favoured by some person in sending me a copy of a paper styled the Burrangong Chronicle, of the 16th February, which I presume is the first copy that ever reached this part of the country. At all events it is the first copy I have seen, although a resident in this district for the past eight years which the books of your office will testify, as a subscriber to the Burrangong Argus. I am rather amused at the peculiar manner this Chronicle seems to be conducted, if the copy I have been favoured with is any criterion to its general production. Being a great reader I often speculate upon the sanity and design of individuals from their literary productions, and in this instance I fear the editor of the Chronicle needs more pity than censure, only for his endeavour to gull the readers of the Chronicle by such tergiversation as that incorporated into its report of the transactions of the Young Progress Association in the copy now before me. I am not a stranger to the proper duties of a newspaper reporter, and it is the first time I have ever seen sycophantic toadyism surreptitiously introduced into a report [the letter goes on and on] …..
I am, Sir, Most Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant, GEOEGE DOW MELLIES.
Gorman's Hill, Wollongough, 27th February, 1884.
Burrangong Argus, Wednesday 26 March 1884, page 2
To the Editor of the Burrangong Argus.
SIR,—Will you be kind enough to permit me space in the columns of your paper, to reply to some gratuitous sarcasm which your contemporary has published against me in the Chronicle of 8th inst., as I have no other telling means of vindicating myself from this peculiar Editor's frolicsome aspersions, I am, Sir, most respectfully, GEO. DOW MELLIES.
Gorman's Hill, Wollongough, 19th March, 1884.
[This was followed by another long letter where he made many Latin quotes. Burrangong Shire is in New South Wales, and the main city is Young]
Burrangong Argus (NSW : 1865 - 1913), Saturday 10 March 1888, page 2
DEATH. MELLIES.—On the 24th February, at Balranald, after 30 months' illness, borne with Christian fortitude, Isabella, the always kind and faithful wife of G. D. Mellies, who resided for many years on the station of D. S. McLeod, Esq., Bygaloree.
Riverina Recorder, Wednesday 14 November 1888, page 2
Magisterial Enquiry.
A magisterial enquiry, touching the death of George Dow Mellies, who was found drowned in the river on Saturday last, was held at the hospital on Saturday afternoon, before E. L. Rowling, Esq., District Coroner. Sergeant Dowling deposed: This morning, about 10 o'clock, received in formation from a man named William Taylor that he had observed the naked body of a man on a snag in the river about 400 yards below the bridge. Proceeded to the river and there found the body of the deceased, as before described. Obtained a boat, lifted the body out of the water, and had it conveyed to the morgue at the hospital. On tho north bank about 20 yards from the body of the deceased, found the clothing. A black serge coat was hanging on a tree with a white towel, and the remainder of the clothing with a Scotch cap was lying on the bank. No marks of violence were upon the body, and there was no sign of a scuffle on the bank. Deceased, two or three days previously, had asked him where the best place for swimming was, and he directed him to the spot where the body was found. William Taylor corroborated the evidence of the previous witness, and deposed to having noticed the body in the water at about 9 o'clock on Saturday morning, when he went immediately and communicated the matter to the police. Knud Knudsen, groom at the Royal Hotel (where the deceased had been residing), deposed that, at between 5 and 6 o'clock on Saturday morning, the deceased passed his (witness's) bedroom window, dressed as described in the previous evidence. William MacKenzie deposed that he had known the deceased for the past four years. The deceased had been lodging at his (witness's) hotel for the last week, and, during that time, had been drinking, but not to excess. Witness was not aware that deceased had any property, and he last saw him alive about nine o'clock on Friday evening. G. L. L .Lawson deposed that he had had viewed the body of the deceased, who appeared to be a man of between 60 and 70 years of age, and about 5ft 10in in height. The deceased was stout made, and his body was well nourished. The left arm had been amputated at the humerus. There were no external marks of violence on the deceased, and, from his own experience and the evidence of the previous witnesses, he was of opinion that the deceased came to his death from asphyxia caused by drowning. The verdict of the Coroner was "That, upon the morning of the 10th inst., in the waters of the Murrumbidgee river, the deceased George Dow Mellies met his death by drowning, and that such drowning was the result of accident whilst bathing on the same day. The funeral of the deceased took place on Sunday afternoon, a number of Sotchmen following the procession to the cemetery. It was an object of remark that the funeral given the deceased was that of a pauper, although it is well-known he is possessed of a 640-acre selection on Paika [Lake]. Surely the Curator of Intestate Estates, through his local agent, could have arranged this matter satisfactorily, and thus prevented the name of the de ceased from being disgraced with a "pauper's funeral.” Australian Town and Country Journal, Saturday 7 February 1885, page 5. Ad for sale of Bygaloree Station.
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AIGS/FHC Member's - Family Trees
- 1888