The following excerpt is from an article about a new Australian local history book, “The Tenant Farmers of Monkittee 1859-1930” by Roslyn Maddrell.
The Bedervale lands originally taken up by John Coghill were at his death in 1853 passed onto his daughter Elizabeth who was already married to Robert Maddrell. In 1859 a scheme was introduced to break some of the inherited land into small allotments and rent them to farming tenants allowing them to forge out a living to support their families.
This book is researched in depth using records held in the National and State Libraries as well as a large Bibliography and Newspaper credits, along with private and oral history records. The many photos, maps and financial ledger records add to the content of the book as well as the family backgrounds on the original tenants.
Read the full article in the June 16, 2009 edition of Braidwood Times.
