Bennett wrote many articles which were published over the years in newspapers. He was the eldest of seven children of Richard Bennett and Ann Isabella (Kirk),of England.The family travelled from London to Sydney in 1833 but returned to England in 1837. Richard jnr arrived back in Sydney in 1843. (his parents also later returned in the 1870's.) Bennett's mother was from a large family and Bennett's Kirk relatives settled throughout the colonies of Australia, (especially through the Rutledge/Kirk/Knight relations at Port Fairy.)
Bennett had a varied career,upon his arrival he undertook a training course in sheep which led to a long career on pastoral stations in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.He eventually returned to the Port Fairy-Warrnambool region and began his hobby of writing articles of historical interest after Richard Osborne released his highly praised "History of Warrnambool". Osborne's history was about the settlement of Warrnambool, whereas Bennnett's articles are usually about his involvement in incidents, or are account of early settlement in which he invariably includes himself. His published articles included:

   'Early Days on the Victorian Goldfields 1 - 4'
   'Old Bendigo'
   'Early Days of Port Phillip 1 - 2'
   'Early Station Settlement in Central Australia' No 1 (below)  & no 2
   'Old Time Sketches'
   'Bush Life Forty Years Ago 1 - 5'
   'The Aborigines of Australia, their Habits & Customs'
   'Pioneer Victorian Colonists-Recollections of My early Life 1 - 2'
   'The Earlist Days of Melbourne 1 - 3'
   'Our Coastal Wrecks'
   'Our Coal Prospects''
   'Our Horses Hoofs'
   'Recollections of Some of the Early Bushrangers'
   'Lost in the Bush'
   'Artisian Wells'
   'Entomological Studies - The Mason Fly'
	

Early Station Settlement in Central Australia 
(no 1)by Richard Bennett

It is now 24 yeras since I engaged with Messrs Robertson,Wagner and
Co. (Cobb and CO.) to manage their sheep on their Yanda station on
the Darling, 25 miles below Bourke. At this station one of the firm,
Mr Bradley, was living.I proceeded there from the Duck Creek, near
Canonbar (where I had been managing a sheep station) with my family
in a waggonette to take charge, but on my arrival Mr Bradley informed
me that the firm had, in the meantime, decided upon converting the
west side of an extensive cattle station they had recently purchased
on the lower Macquarie river, into a sheep station. This run was
called Willie-Warren-Ah the blacks' name for 'Opposum sitting
up."  

This station contained about 450,000 acres, and upon it was a herd of
some 4000 head of cattle, since well known in New South Wales as the
COP herd.So having made all my arrangements, I started with 10,000
sheep for the Macquarie river, 140 miles from Bourke, and in about 
three weeks time, after a not altogether unpleasant trip, arrived on
the station, where I was met by Mr W.G.Whitney, another member of
the firm, who managed the cattle.  Our first business was to select
a site for the future head station, for the only building upon
the whole of this extensive property was a rough stockman's slab
hut and cattle yars, on the Macquarrie.  Mr Whitney was married,but
his family lived then at Wellington, higher up the river.  We decided
to establish the Mara creek, which intersected the run in two equal
part, its whole length north and south, as a boundary between the
sheep and cattle, the cattle taking the frontage to the Macquarie
river,upon which was situated the Mole, or Macquarie marshes,of 
Oxley, the explorer.
So we settled upon a large waterhole in the Mara Creek, called by the
blacks "Buckiinguy' and after this we named the station.  Our party
consisted of my own family, and about a dozen men, shephers,etc,and
our sole habitation consisted of my covered-in wagonnette and two
calico tents 12ft x 10ft., which I had for our family.  The men lay
out under the canopy of heaven, not a bad covering for you can't
kick it off.  Well, with Mr Whitney's kind assistance we settled our
camp,pitched our tents and built a bough shelter, under which to have 
our meals. 
This was the commencement of a very prolonged and serious drought.
April 1865. We counted off the sheep into flocks, and under the
guidance of the blacks, formed temporary sheep stations, on which
we located them, the blacks building bough gunyas or huts for the
shepherds,and bough yards for the sheep, on sites where there was
the best water.  In order to economise,and for mutual protection,
we placed two flocks at each station until such time as I could
make permanent ones.  The drought continuing, and water becoming
scarcer, it was decided to start 6,000 sheep travelling up towards
Bathurst until rain came.  This was done, and being relived of
them it left me more time to lay out and develop this large extent
of pasture, for it consisted entirely of saltbush, cotton  bush,
and myall plains, intersected by pine ridges and belts of scrub.

The first great thing was to provide for a permanent water supply
for the development of which this grand country was eminently
adapted.  We had the Mara creek as frontage, and a large creek
intersected the centre of the run north and south, the back of
the run going towards the Bogan river.  There were two dwelling
houses to be built at Buckunguy, one for Mr Whitney, and the
other for myself, a station store, men's huts, woolshed,sheep
drafting yards, and the usual requirements of a large head station.
Men were scarce and high wages had to be paid.  However, by 
degrees as it became known up the river that we were forming
a new station, men began to travel, and we soon had sawyers,
bush carpenters, and handy men to answer our present requirements.
Bark would not strip in the gum swamps owing to the extreme dryness
of the season, so we had to get a supply of tents sent down from
Bathurst for the men.  After living with my family in our tents
for some months, our house was completed and roofed with shingles,
and into it we moved, for the weather had been extremely frosty
and cold, so much so that in the morning we had to break the ice 
on the water hole in the creek to fill our kettles.  These things,
according to the blacks, denoted a very severe drought.
One blessing was that we had neither flies nor mosquitoes to 
trouble us, but as if to compensate for their abscence, we were
troubled with immense number of large brown hawks, not the 
eaglehawk, but alarge description of kite. These were so bold
and familiar as domestic fowls, and a great deal more troublesome.
So bold where they as to be positively dangerous, for if one
of our children went outside with a piece of bread in its hand
a hawk would swoop down and snatch it away, frequently scratching
the child's hand with its talons, and one actually flew away
with a white hood of one of my daughter's heads. However, I
frightened them. I had some strychnine for poisoning native
dogs, and I poisoned pieces of meat and threw them into the
air. They were caught up before they could reach the ground,
and scores of hawks were poisoned. The rest took the hint
and cleared. Why did I not shoot them ? the reader will ask.
Because I had no ammunition to spare.

continued No 2..click here..,


note from J.Fawcett: These are newspaper articles,and should only 
be used as a general reference. Original sources should always
be accessed for family history purposes and information authenticated.
copyright,2001 J.Fawcett-Genseek 
WS.25061888