William Charles Rayner
THE
SAWMILLING
RAYNERS
William Charles Rayner and family migrated
to Australia on the “Northbrook” which took 6 months to arrive in
1878 as free settlers. The tickets cost five pounds. As he was a fitter
and turner he moved to Kempsey where he worked at a sawmill for four
years, from there he moved to Goulburn and then on to Cooma.
While
in Cooma he installed the first steam boilers in the Cooma Hospital and
the Cooma Jail. In 1884 the family moved to Jindabyne and built a
flourmill, where Mr Rayner installed all the boilers and machinery.
The
next move was to Montgomery Park, south of Nimmitabel where he built a
sawmill for Mr Montgomery which was worked by about 20 Chinese people,
later William Charles bought this mill and moved it bit by bit to
Devil’s Hole, north west of Wyndham. During this time he started a
machine shop in Cathcart, here he imported English sewing machines and
built push bikes for Malvern Star.
In 1886 they moved to Boroma, now
known as Kameruka, these moves were all done by horse teams. His last
move was to “Myrtle Creek” halfway between Candelo and Wyndham where
he built another sawmill. Grandfather George could remember arriving
there riding behind his father on horse back on his 5th
birthday. This mill was worked for ten years, and then when timber
became scarce, he erected a new mill at Mutaganah Creek. With his sons
all working the mill and William Charles driving the engine, the boiler
exploded and he was killed instantly, his son George was badly injured.
William
Charles was a very careful man, and the cause can only be guessed, but
no blame was attached to anyone and he is buried in the Wyndham
cemetery. George his son recovered and formed the original Rayner Bros
Partnership and carried on the saw milling industry. George married
Ethel Robinson of Wyndham in 1903, they had eleven children, Lorna
Turner, Eunice Silk, Elizabeth Cootes,
Bert, Keith, Rupert, Murial Toms, Nola Gailey, George, June
Kearnes, and Rodney.
In
1904 they went to New Zealand where he stayed for 2 and ½ years, he
then returned to Wyndham and started a mill, later he went on to build
mills at Bateman’s Bay and Moruya and managed mills for A & E
Ellis at Berry, Lake Conjola and Red Head.
In
1921 George went to Brown Mountain but the mill was destroyed by fire,
he bought Burke’s mill at Mt Darragh, and in 1931 moved to Bombala,
this was the end of the horse teams. With the machine age arriving he
purchased 2 crawler tractors and 2 Fargo trucks for log haulage.
War broke out in
1939, and son Bert was left to run the Bombala mill while Keith, Rube
and George served with the AIF (Australian Infantry Force). He then
moved to Granville and built another mill, he purchased an orchard at
Kurrajong and built another mill there. He was 62 years old when he sold
his holding at Kurrajong, and purchased a farm at Wilberforce on the
Hawkesbury River. He sold his sawmills to his sons, and in 1959 retired
to Merimbula, George died there in 1968, his wife Ethel died in 1976.
After the war the
boys got together and formed Rayner Bros. They decided to build a mill
in Nimmitabel to utilise the timber they knew was in the Brown Mountain,
and to cut timber for the SMA and Canberra markets. Keith, George and
Rod ran this mill; they were later to buy a mill at Adaminaby, which
George managed. They had a timber yard in Cooma, which Rube looked
after. These mills were run for many years and were good employment for
many families, and good for the district in many other ways.
Rayner Bros were
foremost in many local projects, such as the Bowling Club, and were very
supportive raising funds when the Hall was renovated.
In the early 70’s
they decided to sell their mills and go their own ways. Keith, Bert and
George have since died, Rube lives in Ulladulla and Rod lives in Tathra.
THUS ENDED 100
YEARS OF SAWMILLING ON MONARO AND SOUTH COAST AREAS BY FOUR GENERATIONS
OF RAYNERS.