Martha, Elizabeth and Joseph Heneker at school at Mosquito Plains

Posted at 9:14 pm by heneker52, on March 9, 2016

MOSQUITO PLAINS

According to “Bailliere’s The South Australian Gazetteer”and Road Guide 1866, Mosquito Plains “is a tract of flat swampy pastoral country lying to the West of Narracoorte [sic], and extending North and South about 60 miles, and East and West from 8 to 13 miles. These plains are bounded on the East and West by sandy ranges, and are watered by the Mosquito creek. Limestone abounds upon them, and much of the soil is suitable for agricultural purposes. The resident magistrates are H. Seymour, A.T. Gunning, and W. Wallace Esqs.” Mosquito Creek itself is described in the same book as “a drainage creek, flowing 10 miles north of Narracoorte [sic], in a west direction, into Geary’s swamp”.

(Page 150 of Bailliere’s South Australian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1866)

Mosquito Plains was 16 km from Naracoorte/Struan I believe actually encompassed Mosquito Plains eventually. The area became a popular stopover for miners going to and from the Goldfield in Victoria in about the 1850s.

The description of the place, and the name itself conjures up a swampy area, hence I should think the name of Mosquito Creek. Not a place I personally would find enjoyable to live in, as Mosquito’s and I do not co-exist together, and if there is one in the house it finds me.

I am unsure what James Heneker and his family were doing living in this area, although from records of some births of children to the family, they were definitely living in the South East of South Australia at this time. Whether James was farming, working as an agricultural labourer, or even going further and trying his luck at mining, which is something he did regularly in South Australia, I have been unable to find out at present.

The area around Naracoorte is not unpleasant, and definitely slightly cooler and greener than the far north of South Australia where the family eventually emigrated. Before living in this area of Naracoorte, it appears they were living at Scott’s Creek and the Nairne Area of the Adelaide Hills, which is a very green usually lush area, also a known mining area.

The information provided below from the Mount Gambier Border Watch newspaper gives school results of three of the Heneker children at the time. Elizabeth, Martha, and my great grandfather Joseph Heneker. What I find of interest is the results were published on December 30th. In Australia (at least in modern times) school term for summer finishes about the 16th December or there about, and doesn’t return until usually the very beginning of February the following year. The fact that school results were published when schools would usually be on their long holiday break, makes me wonder if school terms differed somewhat to modern times?

Article from the Border Watch Newspaper

(from our own correspondent.) ,

December 27th 1865

The examination of the scholars under the management of Mr A. Watson took place during the week. The examiners were Dr. Gunning, Mr Adam Smith, and Mr Langden. They expressed themselves as being highly pleased with the progress the children were making.Prizes were afterwards distributed to the most deserving, as follows ;-~

First class.-1. Dugald Maclauhlan; 2.

Sophia Campbell.

Second Class -1, Margaret Macintosh 2, Eliza Jane Agar; 3 George Hutcheons

4, Mary Ann McKinnon.

Third Class.- 1, Harriet Elsden; 2 Elizabeth Woods ; 3, Thomas Agar ; 4 George Matthews.

Fourth Class – I, Frances Morris; 2 Sarah Macinnes 3 Anne Sharpley ; 4 Hannah Smith

Second Division.-1, Emily Babbington ; 2, Robert Thomas; 3, Robert Marshall

4, Alex Calder.

Fifth Class,-1, Alexander McCalman; 2 Martha Henniker; 3, Elizabeth Henniker,

Sixth Class.-1, Mary Campbell 2; Catherine McCalman; 3, Joseph Henniker;

4. Catherine Melboune. ‘

Diligence. – Margaret Campbell ; Jane Macintosh.

Monitorial.-D. McLauchlan Sophia Camp bell. EIiza Jane Agar, Margt. Macintosh.

Writing.-D, McLauchlan, Sophia Camp bell, E. J. Agar, Mary Ann McKinnon.

The weather during the week has been very hot. Wednesday Was particularly so;

The excessive heat did not, however, interfere with the Highland games, which came off that day, The competitors for the various sports were numerous, and the affair may be said to have passed off with great eclat, There was a large concourse of spectators. A report will no doubt reach you next week.

[Border Watch (Mount Gambier SA : 1861 – 1954) Saturday 30th December 1865, Page 2 MOSQUITO PLAINS]

Author: heneker52

I previously worked as a Library Technician at the State Library of South Australia and then Noarlunga Library Services. I was lucky enough to work at the State Library in the Archives department, which is now a separate entity and housed at a suburban site. I've always loved English and Australian history, and began my Heneker family history in about 1980, before the advent of the internet, and now o with so many digitised records online there is a treasure chest of information out there, and it just keeps growing. One of the most wonderful treasures we have here in Australia is the Trove website, the free digitised newspapers of nearly every place in Australia, provided for free by the National Library of Australia. This has opened up so much day to day information for people searching for further information about their ancestors. I chose to write a blog as a way for me to put down a lot of information I had that wasn't necessarily easy to slot into a "family tree" as such. And I wanted to record some of the stories of the Heneker clan, and especially James Heneker (1826-1917) who arrived in South Australia as a 12 year old boy with his family. Like most of us in the genealogy community I have become obsessed and this is a never ending story. The community of bloggers, and also Facebook specialist pages has allowed me and many of us to learn from each other, and to use some of the many amazing tools that are out there now for us to use and enhance our research. My one wish?? dad Neville Laurence Heneker 1929 - 1987, this is for you, for all the things you told me, and the stories you related, often when we were up north in the Flinders Ranges, at Beltana, Hawker, Blinman and many other amazing places. I wish you were here, so I could share all this new information that has come to light. And of course for you Pa (Laurence Douglas Heneker), your stories were incredible and watching you sleep out under the stars at Arkaroola with a rock for your pillow is an image I will never forget. Oh if only we had digital cameras back then...I think of you both every time I write my words and read my books. I love you both.

Heneker – a Pioneering family from Kent to South Australia