Jeremiah H. ROLFE ¹

  General Notes:

RGI deaths 80/000276

Excerpt from the book "SWAN HILL" by Arthur Feldtman:

"The Lower Murray Inn (at the corner of what are now Campbell and McCallum Streets) was the first accommodation for visitors to Swan Hill. John McCrae and Gideon Rutherford raised the sunken punt and used the timber to construct the Inn in 1848, building the nucleus of the town. A modest enough nucleus it was--a wood and log building of four rooms with a shingle roof and a front verandah. A liquor licence was necessary before the hotel was bult--even at this early date in our history.

In a room at the rear of the Inn, mail was simply emptied out of the mail bag on to the general store counter, and the residents came in and sorted out their rare and precious letters for themselves. As this combined hotel and general store was owned and operated at the time by John McCrae, it was appropriate that on 1 January 1849 he was appointed the first official Postmaster at Swan Hill. The appointment was made by the infant colony's postal administration, and it is commemorated by a bronze plaque placed on the facade of the modern Swan Hill Post Office in 1964.

After four years, McCrae was succeeded in the position by his brother-in-law, Gideon Rutherford, and, when the two men left Swan Hill in 1854 JEREMIAH ROLFE, who took over the licence of the Inn, also took over the postmaster's job. In 1857 there must have been a short drought for thirsty citizens, because on 3 July of that year Rolfe's licence was cancelled for a breach of the liquor laws, and the town was without a hotel. Rolfe's misdemeanour could not have been serious, because it was reported in the Bendigo Advertiser that on 31 August the licence had been restored. The next proprietor was Thomas Dick who had a hand in many business enterprises in the area. He ran the punt, had a butcher's shop, baker's shop, was a builder of some standing, and was involved in several other activities. Perhaps too many activities, as they led to his insolvency in 1860. The next owner was James, Gray, another punt operator, and it is appropriate that Gray promptly renamed the hostelry The Punt Hotel.

Rolfe was followed by a succession of postmasters, two of whom were George B. Perkins and T.H. Sparkes.

  Events

• On 29 Mar 1838 he emigrated to Australia on the Amelia Thompson. ⁵

• On 28 Nov 1854 he placed an advertisement in the Melbourne Argus offering for sale the Lower Murray Inn, Swan Hill. ⁹

• In Jan 1855 he acquired the lease of Maidens Punt for the year 1855 at a cost of £200.00 and immediately started renovations at a further cost of £120.00. He also acquired the lease or the Junction Inn at Maiden's Punt, Moama, New South Wales, Australia. ¹⁰

• On 12 Jan 1855 he placed an advertisement in the Melbourne Argus stating that he had acquired the lease of the punt and had purchased the Junction Inn at Maiden's Punt, Moama. ¹¹

• On 17 Apr 1855 he applied for the renewal for his liquor licence, but the application was postponed by the Deniliquin Licencing Bench at Deniliquin. ^{12 13}

• On 19 Apr 1855 he placed an advertisement in the Melbourne Argus stating that the gangways had now been repaired at Maiden's Punt, Moama. ¹⁴

• On 24 Apr 1855 he was granted a liquor licence at the Deniliquin Petty Sessions at Deniliquin. ¹⁵

• On 6 Aug 1855 he purchased a suburban allotment of 2A 7R for £7/10/0 at Maiden's Punt, Moama. ¹⁶

• On 19 Sep 1855 he was named as defendant in an action to recover monies owed to James Maiden by the Supreme Court of the Colony of Victoria at Melbourne. ¹⁷

• In Jan 1856 he ceased operating the Junction Inn and transferred ownership back to James Maiden at Maiden's Punt, Moama, New South Wales, Australia. ¹⁸

• On 15 May 1856 he announced the start of construction of the punt at Maiden's Punt, Moama, New South Wales, Australia. ¹⁹

• On 14 Apr 1857 he dissolved his partnership with his sons William, James and Joseph. ²⁰

• In 1860 he arrived in the Clermont area and settled at Mistake Creek. ⁸

• In Jul 1866 he and his sons William, James and Joseph, were granted a lease on 56 sq miles of land known as "Recruit" for pastoral purposes. ²¹

• On 11 Jun 1872 he his lease on crown land at Redcourt Valley had been forfeited and was sold at auction. ²²

• On 22 Apr 1873 he his lease on crown land at Recruit had been forfeited and was sold at auction. ²³

Jeremiah married Sarah KEMP, daughter of William KEMP and Elizabeth, on 21 Sep 1829 in Writtle, Essex, England.^{1 2 3 4} (Sarah KEMP was born in 1803 in Australia ⁶ and died on 6 Apr 1855 in Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia ^{5 6 24}.)

• Their witnesses were W. & E. Rolfe. ⁴

  Marriage Notes:

Witnesses: W.&E.Rolfe

Jeremiah next married Julia MILLS, daughter of John MILLS and Ann O'CONNOR, on 25 Sep 1855 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.^{5 6 7} (Julia MILLS was born in 1817 in Dublin, Dublin, Leinster, Ireland,⁶ died on 4 Feb 1862 in Blue Mountain Peak Station, Belyando River, Queensland, Australia ^{6 25} and was buried in Mistake Creek, Clermont, Queensland, Australia ⁶.) The cause of her death was Liver Complaint.