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by William Edward Parry (Author)
The Australian Agricultural Company was formed in London in April 1824 to raise fine woolled sheep on a Crown Grant in the Colony of New South Wales. The labour-force was to consist mainly of assigned convicts, but the Company was to send out overseers, shepherds, mechanics and other servants, together with a supply of pure-bred Merino sheep, cattle and horses. The first Company 'Establishment' sailed from England in June 1825 on the York and the Brothers - under the direction of the Company's Agent, Robert Dawson. Dawson was to be supported in his endeavours by a Colonial Committee of Management composed of local shareholders. In the event, the members of the Committee were James Macarthur, Dr James Bowman and Hannibal Hawkins McArthur. Soon after his arrival, in early 1826, Dawson made the decision to take up the whole of the Company's one million acre grant between Port Stephens and the Manning River. The next two years were occupied with exploration and the establishment of the Company Settlement at Carrabean (later Carrington) on the northern shore of Port Stephens, No 1 Farm (near Carrington), No 2 Farm (Stroud), and a chain of sheep stations north towards the out station at Gloucester.
