Season 1: The Dairy Lane Project
Berry N.S.W Australia is the No. 1 favourite town for tourists. Most don't know the history of the region. It was a vital centre of the dairying industry in Australia throughout the 20th century. Twin brothers Ted & Tom Walsh from Far Meadow (Berry) who moved to Jamberoo and perfected a new dairy breed-'The Australian Illawarra Shorthorn" in the early 20th century. It led in milk production for many years and it's bulls and later AI (Artificial insemination) were in great demand. An AI Centre was established in Berry in the 50s with visitors learning the technology & breeds from all around the world. Farmers travelled to Berry, Jaspers Brush & Meroo Meadow from all over the State and the nation to attend stud sales when rail was introduced. These villages form a 14km strip down the Princes Hwy. The lanes off to the left and right named after the pioneering dairy farmers from the 1850s onwards. Season 1 engages the descendants of those pioneers, Therese visits the farms they are still on, some 5 generations later and records their stories. To honour their contributions to the industry and innovations. Therese Sweeney has been producing digital history since the '90s: with camera's, sound, video & digitising residents private collections to archive and exhibit in our major cultural institutions in NSW. She has applied her formula to this project.This is an engagement with residents, Berry Museum & Shoalhaven Historical Society. 10 episodes in Season 1 explore the dairying history from Berry to Bomaderry, major fresh milk producers for the Sydney market, Berry being the oldest milk Co-operative in the nation. Farmers transporting milk to local factories via rivers, carriers with horse & sulky, then with the introduction of mechanisation; via post war vehicles, steamers at ports, then railway to milk trucks. theresesweeney.com.au sweeney.lib.uts.edu Season 1: Supported by Turf Co Jaspers Brush https://turfco.com.au/
Episodes
Laurel Kellett (Nee:Davis) has dairy farmed for 70 years, born at Meroo Meadow. Today she is 86 years of age.
Samuel Thomas Davis B Portland England in 1835 married Susan Anthony on 17 August 1886. They migrated to Australia on the ship Hindostan leaving from Liverpool and arriving in Sydney on 12 August 1887. Susan was pregnant with their first child.
They were of methodist faith and lived at Milton, on Sth Coast and had 7 children ...
James Wiley b 1840 with his brother Thomas b 1836 migrated from northern Ireland to Port Jackson in 1860. Their father Charles, with wife Jane Maquire and 4 additional children followed shortly after on the ship Hot Spur. It cost Charles 28 pounds to bring out the remaining family members.
James and brother Thomas were men with vision and savvy business acumen under the eye of father Charles. They contributed to the early developmen...
Colin Walsh is a 5th generation dairy farmer in the meadow. His famous twin uncles Tom & Ted were instrumental in developing the Illawarra Shorthorn breed. His families paternal side is Irish Catholic convicts deported to work for Alexander Berry in 1824 & Scottish immigrants on his maternal side arriving in 1852. His aunty was Vonnie Muller (nee: Walsh) who recently passed away. Colin is 1st cousin to Patrick Muller.
Colin ...
Hans Jorgenson jumped ship in England arriving in Sydney in 1879. He was a sailor from Norway. He settled in Robertson and married Harriett Mansfield in 1883, they had 7 children, 2 boys & 5 girls. His son Bert went to school with William Miller. Perhaps that is why Bert came to Berry.
Bert established a bullock team and picked up and delivered cedar logs to saw mills. He was a character and played both Rugby Union and Rugby lea...
Pearl Biggs (Nee: Pheeney) was born in 1944 to parents Rita & Eric Pheeney. The Pheeney's are related to the Devitts by marriage and the Vaughan's. Pearl's mother was a Rutledge. William Vaughan travelled up from Bega to secure land for sale from the Berry Estate. William farmed at Bolong til death in 1932 and was Pearls Great Grandfather. on her maternal side. Her grandparents Evelyn Vaughan and Fredrick Pheeney came up from B...
The Devitt family date back to 1857 when the patriach John Devitt migrated from Donegral Ireland to Woodhill Mountain indentured to Adam & Mary Boyd.
His grandson Albert Devitt moved to Sunnyside, Devitts Lane when marrying Grace Shepherd whose father William originally owned the property in 1911. Their daughter Valerie married Reg Radford andassisted running the farm from 1950. They dairy farmed on the 140 acres. Their son Arth...
Patrick Muller born 1954 is one of 7 children to parents Albert & Vonnie Muller. His mother Vonnie has recently passed to eternal light this April '25 at the age of 100 years. She was a powerhouse in the community, God bless her.
Patrick’s Great Great Grandfather Jacob & wife Annie with 3 young children migrated to Australia on Dec. 1854 from Hamburg Germany. Germans were assisted to emigrate if British could not supply the ...
Richard Boxsell is a 5th generation Boxsell residing in Meroo Meadow on part of his families dairy farm. The Boxsell Bros ran a prominent dairy stud, breeding Illawarra Shorthorns from 1893 at Myrtlebank Meroo. They took out many ribbons at local shows along the east coast including Kiama, Berry & Nowra. Richard Boxsell represented in this photograph with wife Minnie Anna was an integral part to creating the family legacy. Boxs...
Johannes Morschel migrated from Germany to Australia in 1855 with wife Marie Karoline and 2 sons, Henry & baby Jocob. An agreement was signed in Germany prior to migrating to work on the Terrara Estate owned by De Mestre, a horse stud and farm. Marie worked as a milk maid. Johannes as a farm hand/gardener. A son John was born in 1856 at David Berry Hospital when they were living & working on the Terrara Estate.
After 1869 Jo...
Introduces the listener to Therese Sweeney, Historian and her interest & experience producing dairying histories by immersing herself for years in communities. This new project aims to capture and publish the 20th century dairying history of Berry & surrounds through the voices of the descendants; their life stories, memories and anecdotes of ancestors and their hardships and victories as farmers and early settlers. Toward ...
Popular Podcasts
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.