|
It can be seen from the social and sporting life led by the next generation
of settler's sons and daughters that a new was being born. The land although not
farmed in a very intense way, had been fenced and most of it cleared and
cultivated therefore it began to take on a look of permanency.
Prices of wheat, wool and stock were sufficient for the
established settlers to, not only survive, but to keep on improving their farms
and increasing their size for their sons to take over one day. This was an
opportunity that they never would have had under the tenant farming system in
Ireland. This opportunity for them must have been the most important source of
personal satisfaction Robert and Catherine could have. As the years went on and
they handed the running of the farm over to their sons, Robert and George, they
must have looked on with satisfaction at their sheep breeding efforts and
continuing purchases of land. They must also have been pleased to see their
daughters married to settler's sons like their own, all with land of their own
and raising families brought up in the secure atmosphere of a new but settled
and prosperous country. Perhaps the death of Margaret, their eldest child was
the saddest thing to have happened to them since arriving in Australia.
It is this opportunity in life Robert Starritt and his wife
Catherine gave to their children and thence right down to their great, great
grand-children of today, that must be admired and respected by all of us who are
descendants.
|
