Joseph Fleming (politician)

Joseph Fleming (6 January 1811 – 23 September 1891) was an Australian born pastoralist and politician who was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He was an important pioneering figure in the British pastoral colonisation of the Gwydir River, Balonne River and Warrego River regions.

Joseph Fleming JP
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for West Moreton
In office 9 July 1860 – 3 November 1862 Serving with Alfred Broughton, Henry Challinor, George Thorn (senior), Benjamin Cribb
Preceded by	William Nelson
Succeeded by	Joshua Peter Bell
In office 11 September 1866 – 2 July 1867 Serving with Benjamin Cribb, Joshua Peter Bell
Preceded by	Robert Herbert
Succeeded by	George Thorn Jr.
Personal details
Born	Joseph Fleming (1811-01-06)6 January 1811 Windsor, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia
Died	23 September 1891(1891-09-23) (aged 80) Ipswich, Queensland, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	British Empire
Spouse(s)	Phoebe McGinnis, (m.1831), Mary Harriet Everitt (m.1858)
Occupation	Grazier

Early life

Fleming was born in 1811 to parents Henry Fleming and Elizabeth Hall. The Halls and the Flemings were some of the first British families to take up land in the Hawkesbury River region of the British colony of New South Wales. Although Fleming's father was a significant landowner along the Hawkesbury, he also had many convictions for assault and liquor offences. Fleming's uncle was Thomas Simpson Hall, who was a notable squatter pastoralist in the northern regions of the colony.^[1]

Like his father, Fleming became a farmer and an innkeeper, and in 1830 he received a grant of land along the Macdonald River to the north of the Hawkesbury. In 1831, he married Phoebe McGinnis.^[2] In 1836, he joined the police force as a constable at Windsor, New South Wales, but was dismissed within a year.^[3][4]

Squatter, grazier and chief constable

Fleming was very close to his uncle, Thomas Simpson Hall, they being of similar age and having married sisters of the same McGinnis family. Hall had been instrumental in establishing the Hall family's Dartbrook and Gundebri properties in the Upper Hunter River region.^[5] In the mid-1830s, Hall with the help of Fleming, expanded his family's pastoral assets by appropriating large segments of land along the upper Namoi River at Cuerindi and Mundowey, near the modern day town of Manilla.^[6][7]

In 1837, Fleming with his brother John Henry Fleming, took up land on the Mehi River naming their run 'Mungie Bundie'. Hall, continuing his close association with Fleming, took up a neighbouring run which he called 'Weebollabolla'. These holdings were located only a few miles from what is now the modern day town of Moree.^[7] Brutal frontier conflict with the local Gamilaraay people around 'Mungie Bundie' followed their arrival. Fleming left his brother John in charge of the run, who became well known for conducting armed raids against "the blacks", and was the leader of the gang that, in 1838, perpetrated the Myall Creek massacre. John was able to avoid arrest by fleeing the region but one of Fleming's 'Mungie Bundie' stockmen who participated in the massacre, Edward Foley, was later hanged for his involvement in the crime.^[1][7]

Despite the massacre, Joseph Fleming was able to maintain his pastoral interests in the area. In 1839, he led a group in the capture of bushranger "Gentleman Dick" and his gang, who had attempted to shoot Fleming and rob his 'Mungie Bundie' station.^[8] He soon after returned to the Hawkesbury region where he was appointed to the role of district chief constable of the police force even though his brother was still a high-profile wanted felon. He remained with the police until 1848, being the chief constable at Wollombi and then Molong.^[6][9]

In 1848, Fleming again linked up with his uncle Thomas Simpson Hall to establish new pastoral interests on the frontiers of the colony. This time they drove thousands of head of cattle to the upper Balonne River where Fleming formed the Talavera run, with Hall establishing the neighbouring runs of Surat, Colgoon, Yamboucal and Weribone.^[10]

At Talavera, Aboriginal resistance was fierce and while establishing the run, Fleming and his men had a large battle with the local Mandandanji people killing around fifty of them. This battle led to the name Talavera being chosen for his property, after the famous Battle of Talavera fought during the Peninsular War.^[11] Fleming and Hall had to maintain a private force of 12 men to fight "against native blacks".^[12] In the early 1850s, their managers on these properties, James Norman, Dick Walker and D.W. Duncomb, participated in further killings of Aboriginal people including large massacres at Yamboucal and Donga Creek where troopers of the Native Police were utilised.^[10][13] By 1851, Fleming and Hall had taken possession of hundreds of thousands of acres of land along the Balonne River, from Donga Creek through to Yuleba and Bungil Creeks.^[14]

Steam mill at Ipswich

In 1850, Fleming expanded his business interests to include the establishment of a steam mill on the Bremer River at Ipswich. He utilised this steam mill as a sawmill, a boiling down works and a flour mill. He also became a partner in the steamship Bremer which traded between Ipswich and Brisbane.^[6]

During this time, his first wife died in childbirth in 1853 and he married his second wife, Mary Everitt, in 1858. He abandoned Everitt in 1862 and she was forced into poverty, having to live in a tent.^[15][16]

Politics, court cases and insolvency

On 22 June 1860, William Nelson, one of the three members for West Moreton, was unseated by petition. Joseph Fleming was elected to the first Queensland Legislative Assembly in the resulting by-election on 9 July 1860. Fleming held the seat until he resigned on 3 November 1862 when he became bankrupt. Joshua Peter Bell won the resulting by-election on 15 December 1862.^[17][18][19]

Fleming's financial difficulties were largely a result of a protracted court case with William Tooth over the sale of the Talavera property which eventually saw Tooth taking ownership of most of Fleming's land acquisitions by 1861. Fleming's situation was further complicated with another legal case over properties that he allegedly owned on the Warrego River.^[6][20]

In early 1862, Fleming's station manager James Norman appropriated new land on the Warrego, which he called the Yo Yo and Burenda properties around the modern day town of Augathella. When Fleming became insolvent a few months later, bank officials attempted to repossess these properties, however Fleming's business manager and probable mistress, Adeline Dollman, resisted this action, calling in the local Native Police to arrest the bank's representative for trespass. Dollman appears to have had a close relationship with the local Native Police detachment, who although initially were defeated in battles with the local Aboriginal people, were later able to punish them after a barracks was established at Yo Yo.^[21][22][23]

A lengthy court battle ensued in which it was found that Dollman was the legal owner of Yo Yo and Burenda, not Fleming, and the repossession was therefore unlawful. Although this case was a victory for Fleming, it did not improve his financial situation and he remained a undischarged bankrupt for the amount of £29,132. The banks eventually did repossess Yo Yo and Burenda in 1868 when Dollman died.^[24][6][25]

Fleming returned to politics on 7 August 1866, when the Premier of Queensland and member for West Moreton, Robert Herbert, resigned. Joseph Fleming won the resulting by-election on 11 September 1866. He held the seat until 2 July 1867 (the 1867 election) when he was defeated by Joshua Peter Bell (sitting member), Patrick O'Sullivan and George Thorn.^[17][18][19]

Later life

After his second political defeat in 1867, Fleming retired from public life and became a storekeeper and railway employee in Ipswich and Roma.^[6]

Death

Fleming died at Ipswich in 1891. In 2017 a crypt in an unmarked section of Ipswich General Cemetery was found to contain the remains of Fleming and his wife Phoebe. The crypt was located in the 1990s and sealed over at the time to prevent vandalism.^[26] In October 2018 the crypt was excavated by archaeologists and students from the University of Southern Queensland. The remains of Fleming, and his wife and daughter, were ceremoniously re-interred in the presence of his descendants in 2019.^[27]

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1860–1863; 1863-1867

References

1. Lydon, Jane; Ryan, Lyndall; Withycombe, Patsy (2018). Remembering the Myall Creek massacre. Sydney: NewSouth. ISBN 9781742235752.
2. "Family Notices". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXIX, no. 1966. New South Wales, Australia. 3 May 1831. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 223. New South Wales, Australia. 25 May 1836. p. 415. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Advertising". The Sydney Monitor. Vol. IX, no. 953. New South Wales, Australia. 4 November 1836. p. 2 (Evening). Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Ebenezer Pioneers". Windsor and Richmond Gazette. Vol. 37, no. 1958. New South Wales, Australia. 1 May 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
6. Gibbney, H.J. (1972). Joseph Fleming. Canberra: Australian Dictionary of Biography.
7. Milliss, Roger (1992). Waterloo Creek. Melbourne: McPhee Gribble. ISBN 0869141562.
8. "News of the Day". The Sydney Monitor And Commercial Advertiser. Vol. XIV, no. 1363. New South Wales, Australia. 24 June 1839. p. 2 (Morning). Retrieved 17 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "Police beyond the boundaries". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 8. New South Wales, Australia. 26 January 1847. p. 109. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
10. Collins, Patrick (2002). Goodbye Bussamarai, The Mandandanji Land War, Southern Queensland 1842-1852. St Lucia: UQP. ISBN 0702232939.
11. Telfer, William; Milliss, Roger (1980). The Wallabadah Manuscript. UNSW Press. ISBN 0868401684.
12. Fleming, Joseph; Hall, Thomas Simpson. "Letters to the Colonial Secretary" (PDF). Colonial Secretary's letters received relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland 1822-1860. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
13. Thomas, Davis. "Recollections of Thomas Davis". University of Queensland. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
14. "Crown Lands Beyond the Settled Districts". The Moreton Bay Courier. Vol. VI, no. 270. Queensland, Australia. 16 August 1851. p. 4. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "Family Notices". The Moreton Bay Courier. Vol. VII, no. 356. Queensland, Australia. 9 April 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 25 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "Police-Court, Ipswich". Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald And General Advertiser. Vol. II, no. 170. Queensland, Australia. 15 May 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 25 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
17. (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2015–2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
18. (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012-2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
19. "Fleming, Joseph". Re-Member Database. Queensland Parliament. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
20. "Transfer of Runs". The Courier (Brisbane). Vol. XVI, no. 1072. Queensland, Australia. 15 July 1861. p. 2. Retrieved 8 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
21. "Weekly Epitome". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XX, no. 2, 382. Queensland, Australia. 16 September 1865. p. 6. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
22. "Upper Warrego". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XIX, no. 2000. Queensland, Australia. 25 June 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
23. "Burenda Station, Warrego". The Darling Downs Gazette And General Advertiser. Vol. XVII, no. 2313. Queensland, Australia. 9 October 1875. p. 2 (Supplement to the Darling Downs Gazette.). Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
24. "Supreme Court, Ipswich". Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald And General Advertiser. Vol. IV, no. 400. Queensland, Australia. 17 December 1864. p. 6. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
25. "Reminiscences". Western Star And Roma Advertiser. No. 2161. Queensland, Australia. 10 January 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
26. Moore, Tony (7 December 2017). "Silent MP's crypt unearthed in Ipswich cemetery". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
27. Giles, Darrell (16 July 2019). "Fleming family moved by emotional reinterment ceremony and Ipswich crypt restoration". Ipswich First. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by William Nelson	Member for West Moreton 1860–1862 Served alongside: Alfred Broughton, Henry Challinor, George Thorn (senior), Benjamin Cribb	Succeeded by Joshua Peter Bell
Preceded by Robert Herbert	Member for West Moreton 1866–1867 Served alongside: Benjamin Cribb, Joshua Peter Bell	Succeeded by George Thorn Jr.