Alexander Sim the Younger Settler Grantee of Section 6 Parish of Holden Near Sunbury Vic Aust

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA.
(Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.)
In the Will of Alexander Sim, formerly of Edinburgh, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain called Scotland, but late of the City of Melbourne, in the District of Port Phillip and New South Wales, now called as and being the Colony of Victoria, Builder, deceased.

NOTICE is hereby given, that upon the expiration of fourteen days from the date of publication hereof, application will be made to the said Supreme Court in Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, that Probate of the Will of the said
Alexander Sim may be granted to Alexander Sim the younger, of the City of Melbourne aforesaid, Settler, Son of the said Testator, being the only one of the Executors nominated and appointed in and by the Will of the said
Testator now resident in the said Colony of Victoria.
Dated this 29th day of July, A.D, 1852. JAS. H. ROSS, Proctor for the said Executor.
(P.3, Argus, 30-7-1852.)

It certainly took a while before probate was applied for. This may have been because Alexander Sim the younger was not the oldest son and had a brother named Frank who was going to do this but died in 1852. Unfortunately there is little detail in Frank's death record to confirm this.

EventDeath Event registration number1913 Registration year1844
Personal information
Family nameSIM Given namesAlexander SexMale Father's name Mother's name Place of birth Place of deathMelbourne Age65

EventDeath Event registration number3302 Registration year1852
Personal information
Family nameSIM Given namesFrank SexMale Father's name Mother's name Place of birth Place of deathColl Age Spouse's family name Spouse's given names

The first instance in this province of a
funeral conducted with masonic honours occurred
yesterday, when the remains of Brother Alexander
Sim, late W. S. Warden of the Australasian Kil-
winning Lodge, were followed to the grave by the
R. W. M., Officers, and Brethren of that Lodge,
and a large number of the brethren of the sister
lodge. The ceremony attracted a large concourse
of spectators. (P.3, The Melbourne Weekly Courier, 20-9-1844.)

The surname was often written as Sims, as illustrated in "VICTORIA BEFORE 1848". (http://www.oocities.org/vic1847/s/s13.html?201714)
Mr Sim, in Oct 1839 employed James Lawrie aged 38, Bricklayer, who came on the David Clarke
Mr Sim, in Oct 1839 employed Archibald Mcmillan aged 46 and Mrs Mcmillan aged 42, who came on the David Clarke
Alexander Sim, Port Phillip Herald 13 Dec 1842 Page 2 standing for office of Town Surveyor
Alexander Sim, List No 7, 31 July 1844 letter at the Melbourne Post Office. Source - Port Phillip Herald 6 Aug 1844
Alexander Sim, letter at Geelong Post Office. Source - Geelong Advertiser 29 Aug 1844
Alexander Sim, Western Port District depasturing license for 1-30 Sept 1844. Source - Port Phillip Herald 15 Nov 1844
Alexander Sim, had a bag of sugar stolen by James Blake found Guilty by second jury for Supreme Court Mon 18 Nov 1844. Source - Melbourne Weekly Courier 23 Nov 1844
Alexander Sim, builder purchased from Thomas Jennings, Archibald McLachlan as Trustee has the Title Deeds for collection. Source - Melbourne Courier 25 July 1845
Alexander Sim, No 7, letters at Melbourne Post Office. Source - Melbourne Courier 5 Aug 1845
Alexander Sim Correspondence sold Western Port Restdown Plains to Rowe, John P**
Ann Sim, female wed Ebenezer Brown 1842 #4597 Church Of England St James, Melbourne
Charles Simms aged 18 came May 1847 with 338 on the Sir Thomas Arbuthnot
Daniel Simms departed 23 Feb 1841 from Melbourne for Hobart town arrived 5 March on the Flying Squirrel
Daniel Simms at Melbourne departed 23 Feb 1841 for Hobart town and arrived 5 March on the Flying Squirrel
Mr Simms arrived 1 June 1841 at Hobart from Port Phillip on 28 May, on the Flying Squirrel
Margaret Sim* 18 (single woman 33) House servant Prot both Edinburgh arrived 22 Oct 1841 on the Grindlay
Margaret Simms* arrived 1 Nov 1841 at Launceston from Port Phillip on the Corsair - source Launceston Courier 8 Nov 1841
Messrs Sim Letter at Post-office unclaimed 7 April 1847
William Simes Directory 1847 plasterer Richmond

(*It is possibly that Margaret Sim/ Simms was related. Although Margaret is not an uncommon Scottish given name, a native born Margaret Sim, whose mother was a McLeod, was discovered in my Victorian BDM search for SIM. The McLeods were early pioneers in the parish of Holden. The birth would have been REGISTERED at Sunbury.
EventDeath Event registration number2939 Registration year1863
Personal information
Family nameSIM Given namesMargaret SexUnknown Father's nameDavid Mother's nameJanet (Mcleod) Place of birthSUNB Place of death Age8)

**POSTSCRIPT. The location of Restdown Plains is given later. There is much detail about John Pearson Rowe on a family history page. Paste http://www.rosfamilyhistory.esco.net.au/Rowe.htm into your search bar. He moved from Devil's River to Restdown Plains in 1853 and extended the homestead in which Alexander Sims would have dwelt.There are photos of the resultant building in early days and 2010. The fact that the name of Rochester is derived from his surname is fascinating."Restdown was on one of the busiest routes in the colony and to meet the travellers' demand for accommodation, Rowe built a hotel nearby. A store and blacksmith also opened, and the small community became known as Rowechester (latin for Rowe's settlement), later modified to Rochester. There is a plaque about John Pearson Rowe in the main street."
I wonder if this is mentioned in the Rochester Wikipedia page. IT IS!
"Rochester (via Rowechester) was named after Dr John Pearson Rowe, who had a hotel here before the township was gazetted in 1855.[2] " Reference 2 is: Campaspe Shire, Placenames, retrieved 2009-05-01
I presume that via Rowechester is meant to imply that Rochester is a corruption of the original name.

Family researchers who possess the family tree will be able to determine which of these are related. There is no mention of Frank Sim. Alexander the Younger's run was near the Campaspe River (as will be shown re his purchase of section 6 Holden and a description of runs), and nowhere near Westernport. The Westernport District extended north at least as far as William Barker's run near Castlemaine which is included as well as the Cape Schanck and Boniyong runs leased by his brothers, which actually were near Westernport.

Alexander the younger had probably transferred his run before he became the pound keeper at Braybrook (although this could have been HIS son, Alexander Sim 3.)

VICTORIAN DEATH RECORDS.
The builder.
EventDeath Event registration number1913 Registration year1844
Personal information
Family nameSIM Given namesAlexander SexMale Father's name Mother's name Place of birth Place of deathMelbourne Age65

This is the only record with Alexander as the given name of the deceased or his father. The death of Alexander Sim the younger was also not discovered in a search of SIMS deaths before 1900. This lack of results could be due to Victorian BDM typos. For instance the given name of Alexander Sim, who died in 1876, (and in 1874 had been living on a hill near Marong for so long that he was invited to supply a name for a town that had developed in that location), is given as Alceander in his death record. This Alexander Sim was born in Argyll circa 1822.
An Alexander Sim was involVed in the formation of the football club at Hotham (North Melbourne) but I have found no evidence that he or Alexander who died at Marong were the settler, Alexander Sim, the Younger.

As my quest to find Alexander's descendants has struck a brick wall, I will leave this task to the person who has been tagging articles on trove as "Alexander Sim, builder."

The Kilwinning Lodge was a bit tardy celebrating its jubilee unless its acceptance of approval from the Grand Lodge of Scotland was deemed to be its beginning.
FREEMASONRY. JUBILEE OF THE AUSTRALASIAN KILWINNING LODGE N0. 2.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Thursday 16 February 1893 p 3 Article

It was formed at the suggestion of Brother Purves, who was probably James Purves, in 1841.
See MASONIC, about two thirds of the way into http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/226509835

I'd formed the impression that Alexander Sim the builder was a stone mason and that the early church described as a barn* was St James Old Cathedral which was later relocated near the Flagstaff Gardens.
EXTRACT FROM:OLD TIME MEMORIES. ST. JAMES'S OLD CATHEDRAL.
The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) Saturday 27 September 1924 p 68 Article Illustrated
The contractor for the stone work of St.James's was Mr. Alexander Sim, and the contractor for the woodwork Mr. George Beaver.
(*http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225006771)

ALEXANDER SIM'S RUN.
It is yet to be proven that this Alexander Sim (an early overlander) was, or was related to, Alexander Sim the builder or his son, the settler.
EXTRACT FROM: PASTORAL PIONEERS THE IMLAYS (No. 96)
The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) Saturday 19 October 1935 p 4 Article

There were three Imlay brothers,
George, Alexander, and Peter. George and
Alexander were medical men. George was
found dead in the bush on Boxing Day,
1846. He had been out shooting near the
homestead, and, it was thought, shot him
self by accident. Alexander died in Syd-
ney three months later. In the early
'forties the Imlays were interested in Port
Phillip runs. They sent their superin-
tendent, Alexander Sim, across the border
on the tracks of McMillan and Macallister,
and he took up Fulham, a squatting area
of 16,000 acres on the Thomson, north
west of Sale, although the name Fulham
was given to the property by a later oc-
cupant, Francis Desailly.

http://www.victorianplaces.com.au/ballendella
Ballendella is a rural locality in the Rochester Irrigation District, 7 km north of Rochester and 20 km south of Echuca. It is situated on the Northern Highway, a few kilometres west of the Campaspe River.

Ballendella is situated on part of the former Restdown Plains pastoral run (1840). It is thought that the name was that of an Aboriginal whose father acted as a guide for the New South Wales Surveyor General, Major Thomas Mitchell, on his expedition to western Victoria in 1836. (Another authority suggests the name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning resting place).

BALLENDELLA is 24.7 km south south west of Echuca via Northern Hwy/B75. Alexander Sim's Restdown Plains would probably have adjoined the western boundary of John O'Dea's run.The Campaspe River adjoins the Murray River near Echuca not far west of the junction of the Murray and Golburn. This Alexander Sim was almost certainly the grantee of section 6 Holden whose address was given as Campaspie (sic)in 1850.

The name of Alexander's run would be an apt description that an overlander would use after the huge ordeal of getting a huge flock across the Murray. Perhaps Alexander the younger was the overseer mentioned above re the IMLAYS.

CROWN LANDS BEYOND THE SETTLED DISTRICT. P.1, ARGUS, 3-4-1849.
I stated earlier that the Westernport District extended as far north as Castlemaine, but it is now clear that this confusingly-named district went right to the Murray River.

The headings for the columns were:
number of claim as gazetted; name of applicant; name of run applied for to lease; party lodging caveat against issue of such lease.
WESTERNPORT DISTRICT.
96... W.M.HUNTER... KINGOWAR... PATTERSON AND SIM (also John Catto of 65, Catto's run.)
144 PATRICK O'DEA JUNCTION OF GOLBURN AND MURRAY ALEXANDER SIM (also John Bett who was not applying for a lease.)
156... ALEXANDER SIM... RESTDOWN PLAINS... PATRICK O'DEA

Caveats often involved disputes about the vague run boundaries. This run description shows the proximity of the runs of Alexander Sim, John Bett and Patrick O'Dea.

No. 13.
John Bett
Name of run"”Wharparella
Estimated area"”76,000 acres
Estimated grazing capabilities"”12,000
sheep
Commencing at a point of the Murray
river bounding with Messrs Collyer,
bearing southerly along a belt of timber
for 5 ½ miles, and bounded by Messrs
Collyer ; thence S W about 8 miles,
bounded by Messrs Collyer ; thence S 4
miles bounded by person unknown, thence
NE 8 miles, bounded by Messrs J Aitken
and A Sim ; thence north easterly by belt
of timber 7 miles, and bounded by Mr
Sim to the Campaspie river ; thence by
the Campaspie river southerly to the
boundary with Mr Sim on the east side
2 miles ; thence easterly for 5 miles, and
bounded by Mr Sim and Mr O'Dea;
thence northerly to the junction of the
Murray and Goulburn 7 ½ miles, bounded
by Mr O'Dea, and on the north by the
Murray river to the commencing point
12 miles.(P.1, Argus, 26-9-1848.)

EXTRACT FROM: https://mplayne.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/the-squatters-on-pastoral-runs-on-the-campaspe-river-victoria-1837-1854/
Cooper, William, overseer "“ "˜Restdown Plains' for Alexander Sim, 1847

EXTRACT FROM: https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/provenance-journal/provenance-2008/landscapes-abundance-and-scarcity-northern
The changing landscape of pastoralism can be traced through the documentary record held for Restdown Plains station taken up on the Campaspe River in 1841 by John Hays for Captain George Benson.10 In looking for land for a run, David Munro came across Restdown Plains in the drought year of 1842, the same year the station was sold to David Kelsh.

Affected by the financial crisis of 1842, Kelsh sold the station and his 3500 sheep to Alexander Sim in November 1843.12 In March 1848, Sim stocked 500 cattle and 12,000 sheep on a run of 106,922 acres that incorporated a head station and nine outstation huts, six of which were located on the Campaspe River.

MY THEORY IS THAT ALEXANDER SIM THE YOUNGER BECAME A POUNDKEEPER AT BULLOCK CREEK (WHEREVER THAT WAS) WHEN HE SOLD THE LEASE OF HIS RESTDOWN PLAINS RUN AS MENTIONED BEFORE AND THAT AFTER HE'D SOLD PORTION 6, HOLDEN TO JOHN DICKINS IN 1852, HE BECAME THE POUNDKEEPER AT BRAYBOOK. AFTER RESIGNING THERE IN 1853, HE MAY HAVE MOVED BY 1854 TO MCCALLUM'S CREEK*, WHICH MIGHT HAVE BEEN NEAR BENDIGO, POSSIBLY MAKING THE ALEXANDER SIM WHO DIED AT MARONG IN 1876 ALEXANDER SIM THE YOUNGER.
(*Alexander of McCallum's Creek wrote his notice with a poundkeeper's touch! Not surprising because he'd been a poundkeeper at Bullock Creek and then Braybrook!
TAKEN from M'Callum's Creek, on the 4th
November, a Black Mare, small whlte speck
on forehead, llttle white on both hind feet,
branded S within C, over D, on near shoulder,
and sold at M'Pherson's Auction Mart, Bendigo,
on the 8th Instant. Any person detaining the said
mare after this notlce will bc prosecuted accord-
ing to law. Apply to ALEXANDER SIM, M'Cal
lum's Creek, or to DONALD M'INTYRE. 102
Bourkestreet east, Melbourne.(P.8, Argus, 22-12-1854.)

NOTICE.
THE bay filly with large star and white snip on the nose and no visible brand,(th?)ought to be like SH on off shoulder, and the mare, aged and saddle marked, Jy on near neck, has also like B or R on near shoulder,
To be sold on 23rd August if not claimed.
ALEXANDER SIM,Poundkeeper. Bullock Creek Pound. (P.4, Argus, 8-8-1851.)

POUNDKEEPERS.- The following appointments were announced in yesterday's Gazette ;-Braybrook Pound-
Mr. George Scarborough, in room of Mr. Alexander Sim.(P.5, Argus, 25-8-1853.)

WHERE WAS THE BRAYBROOK POUND?
PUBLIC POUND.
NOTICE is hereby given that, the
Public Pound at Footscray, in the
County of Bourke, will be removed from
its present site to Braybrook, near Solo-
mon's Ford in the said County, and that
the same shall be henceforth called the
Braybrook Pound.
By order of the
Bench of Magistrates,
ROBERT CADDEN,
Clerk Petty Sessions,
County Bourke.
Police Office,
Melbourne,
March 27th, 1849.

The heritage consultants who insist that Clancy's ford at Melway 27 B8 was Solomon's Ford wouldn't have a clue.
See: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230658744/view

The pound yards shown on the map would be at the middle of 27 D9 and the ford was south of Rhonda St as indicated by the track made by such as George Russell on the Cut Cut Paw (south) side of the river.

FIND LOCATIONS OF BULLOCK CREEK AND MCCALLUM'S CREEK.
BULLDOG CREEK.
I thought this would be an impossible task (like Red Hill or Deep Creek) but just before the first mention of Alexander Sim at the Bullock Creek Pound, there were only 13 results for "Bullock Creek"in 1850.
The Mount Alexander (Castlemaine) correspondent to the Argus mentioned that a pound and police station were to be established at this place.(P.2, Argus, 26-10-1850.)
An old gardener at an inn on the Loddon road was cruelly kicked in the behind by his boss and crawled to the Carlesrue Inn where he was given medical attention but he was still in a bad way. (P.2, Argus, 8-11-1850.)
Carlesrue is at a bend in the old Calder Highway not too far south of Kyneton. There may* have been a Carlesrue Inn farther north near Mount Byng, the name Thomas Mitchell had given to Mount Alexander. This peak was to be one of the sites of the bonfires to celebrate the proclamation of Victoria as a colony.Those organising the beacon included H.N.Simpson, the man who paid for the old gardener's medical attention.(P.4, Port Phillip Gazette and Settlers' Journal, 1-10-1850.)
(*This is unlikely however because those in charge of the beacon on Mount Byng included the Myers brothers. One of these brothers was the ancestor of the man who subdivided the Journeaux grant (south of Myers Rd at Melway 161 J 7-9 east to Tubbarubba Rd) circa 1900. They had a run at Myer's Flat near Bendigo so it looks as if settlers from near the Carlesrue Inn and Bullock Creek would have been represented too.)
McCALLUMS CREEK.
There may be more than one creek with this name but I believe that in 1854 Alexander Sim was near Maryborough. The first mention of McCallums Creek in Victoria on trove was in 1855, with only four results, one of which involved two Maryborough auctioneers and a Sandhurst man charged with the theft of McIntyre's horse. Alexander may have been managing a run for McIntyre.

See these google results.: http://www.whereis.com/vic/dunach-3371/mccallums-creek-rd

www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/a-diverse-state/goldfields-stories-a-station-with-a-town-attached/railway-accident-mccallums-creek/railway-accident-mccallums-creek-3/

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS/2003-02/1045901669

the holden map and details of purchasers link
GOVERNMENT LAND SALE
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 7 September 1850 p 2
PARISH OF HOLDEN.
210 541a, portion 6, Alexander Sim, Campaspe(his address) £1 14 s(per acre, the upset price probably being a pound.) These details are the same as on the list accompanying the following map of the parish of Holden. The description of the boundaries, the date of his sale of the property to John Dickins who called it Coldhigham etc. follow the link to the map (which you'll have to copy into your search bar.)

THE MAP (Map 1) AND LIST OF PURCHASERS (Map 2).
http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/nmets.do

JOHN DICKINS PURCHASED SECTION 6, PARISH OF HOLDEN FROM ALEXANDER SIM THE YOUNGER ON 19-6-1852 FOR 3000 POUNDS.
Having paid one pound 14 shillings per acre for the supposedly 541 acres (1.7 pounds x 541 acres= L919 14s) in 1850, Alexander sold it for more than three times as much less than two years later.

Extract from my dictionary history of Bulla journal.
COLDHIGHAM LODGE/COLDINGHAM LODGE. See DICKINS/DICKENS. (The former is the correct spelling of the surname and the farm name.)
Melway 176 E9 (central point); north west corner near 195 Bulla-Diggers Rest Rd.
Section 6,parish of Holden, consisting of 541 acres granted to A.Simms. It was bounded on the north by an eastern continuation of the line of the road from the Diggers Rest hotel to Dickins Corner (Melway 176 D7.) This boundary continued east to Jacksons Creek, the eastern and northern boundary, and the western boundary was a creek flowing south-south-east into Jacksons Creek at 176 C10.

A google search for Coldhigham Lodge produced the following.
JOHN DICKINS first slaughterman in Port Phillip Colony
DICKINS John 1812-1899.
John Dickins born on 27 May 1812 at Rothersthorpe England, and died on 30 October 1899, at Bulla Victoria. Australia. John, with his parents and brother Stephen moved to COLD HIGHAM LODGE, Pattishall via Towcester, (photo below right) Northamptonshire England, from Rothersthorpe on approximately 18 March 1814.

John and Margaret (Rice) Dickins (John's parents) farmed on their property at Pattishall during their lifetime, until approximately 1854. On 18 October 1828, John Dickins (the son) became an apprentice to James Phipps, Butcher, of Northamptonshire, for the period of 8 years. John's father had to pay James Phipps the sum of thirty five pounds for his apprenticeship.
At the end of the year 1839, John decided to migrate to Australia. He came on the sailing vessel 'China' and arrived in Melbourne Australia on 1 May 1840. The voyage taking approximately six months.

On the journey John acted as the ship's butcher. After arriving in Melbourne he took a position as a slaughterman at the abattoir (then on the Yarra River, where the Gas Works were later built). John was the first master slaughterman in Melbourne having slaughtered the first cattle at Fisherman's Bend. After 12 months at this occupation he opened his own slaughter house, on the salt water river. Cattle were herded by drovers down from northern New South Wales and Queensland, to his slaughter house. On the 24 April 1842 he married a widow, Catherine Maloney (previous married name O'Brien). Catherine had come out to Australia on the same vessel as John. After their marriage they lived firstly on the salt water river, near their slaughter house, and then later, John bought 2 acres of land and they built a 2 storey home on this land, at Phillipstown (now Union Street Brunswick). They lived there for some years before selling it to a market gardener. On 19 June 1852* John purchased 541 acres (more or less) which, when surveyed on 22 April 1895 was found to be 646 acres, 1 rod (sic, rood), 7 perches. in the Parish of Holden for the sum of 3000 pounds from Alexander Sim. The Agents for Mr. Sim were Messrs. Mickle and Bakewell.

(*This obviously came from a title document so 1851 and 1854 are both wrong.)