| Pittwater,
as one of waterways leading off the Hawkesbury River at Broken
Bay, was formed as a drowned river valley after sea levels
rose as a result of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago.
Although the Pittwater
area was discovered by Europeans in 1788, it had been inhabited
for thousands of years by Aboriginal tribes.
By 1788, there were more
than 1500 aboriginal people, living in the area from Botany
Bay to Broken Bay and west to Parramatta.
"Pittwater and the
Northern Beaches area was the land of the Garigal and Cannalgal
people, part of the Guringai language group. These people
lived in family groups and moved around the area.¹.
The Bay's
natural resources provided food, water and shelter with a
plentiful supply of fish and shellfish which they supplemented
with kangaroos, wallabies, possums, reptiles, birds and plant
foods. A shell midden still exists at Dark Gully although
others in the area have been destroyed by development.
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The arrival
of the Europeans rapidly brought an end to the centuries-old
way of life of the local Aborigines.
On 3 March
1788, Phillip, Governor of the fledgling British Colony, discovered
and named Pittwater which he described as "the finest piece
of water I ever saw".
Over the
next two years, interaction with the Europeans meant disaster
for the initially hospitable Guringai. Many died from diseases
such as small pox and measles and those who survived retreated
from the coast as the Europeans took over their territory.
The earliest recorded European
settlement at Careel Bay occurred in 1818 with the area developing
as farm land. Europeans came to the area not just to farm
but as fishermen, vegetable gardeners, shell diggers, small
boat builders and coastal traders. It has been suggested that
the name Careel could have been a corruption of the word "careen".
In 1832 in the NSW Calendar,
Careel Bay is described as an area with two small farms and
cottages.
One of those
cottages could well have been occupied by Henry Gaskin who
received a 50 acre grant in 1820. He had nine acres of wheat
under cultivation with corn to follow in the Therry and Joseph
Streets area. He sold his 50 grant in 1834 for five shillings.
In 1833, records show a
Thomas Warner received fifty acres on 6 July 1833 on the peninsula
dividing Pittwater from Careel Bay including Stripe or Stokes
Point.
It is known that John Stokes
had been a ladies' shoemaker in London where he was convicted
of stealing a ladies' handkerchief. Stokes always stated that
a pickpocket had, without his knowledge, slipped it into his
possession. Despite his protestations of innocence, Stokes
was transported to Botany Bay. Mention is made of him residing
in the Careel Bay area in 1833 and 1841 where he is believed
to have build some small boats.
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By the mid 1800s, there were
two small shipyards operating in Pittwater. One was south
of Careel Bay near Stokes Point and the other was at Clareville.
In Captain
F.W. Sidney's Survey of Broken Bay, published at
the Admiralty in London on 10 August 1869, reference is made
to a wharf located in Careel Bay in 1868.
Father
Therry had occupied land at Careel Bay from about 1825 but
the total area of grants formally received from Governor Bourke
had reached 1480 acres by 1837. Therry had many acres cleared
and cultivated which provided jobs for convicts and ex-convicts.
Although
he had some grand plans for the area he was very much in demand
around the country, including Tasmania, as a popular chaplain
and his great energy was being spread.
A subdivision
plan covering a large portion of his grants appeared only
seven years after his death in 1864. The intended “Marine
Village of Brighton” in the diocese of Josephton was actually
Careel Bay.
The wharf
mentioned previously is shown and labelled the Steamers
Wharf. After much overtopping of the wharf in subsequent
years, it stands today as the public wharf. The same plan
shows a small building within an awkward shape on the corner
of Therry and Patrick Streets. Originally it was thought to
be the site of the little weatherboard St Joseph’s Church.
It is almost certainly the remains of Henry Gaskin’s cottage
and grant. St Joseph’s Church appears to have been constructed
on the corner of Joseph and George Streets in the early 1870s
and consecrated by Archbishop Vaughan in 1875. The church
was relocated to the Narrabeen parish in 1917.
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Jeremiah
Collins, his wife and their nine children arrived in Australia
from County Cork, Ireland in 1839 ‘through the favour of Father
Therry’. They wasted no time in establishing a large dairy
farm in the vicinity of Catalina Crescent. The 1871 subdivision
plan mentioned above shows the approximate extent of the farm
and after Jeremiah’s death in 1852 it was run by Jeremiah’s
eldest son John and his wife Honorah.
Grain,
butter and large quantities of onions were sent from the farm
to the Sydney markets. A large dam around 30 metres long was
made across Careel Creek which collected fresh water for the
farm and provided access across the creek for those wishing
to travel further north on foot or horseback. The Collins
family left the farm in 1880 and moved to Bayview.
About the same time, Pittwater
was becoming popular as a recreation destination for the wealthy,
initially by boat and then later by car and omnibus.
The waterway became a popular
area for yachts and in 1945, Fred Scharer established Fred's
Boatshed on the site now occupied by the Careel Bay Boatshed.
Fred hired out old inboard clinker-built boats to locals and
tourists wishing to catch some fish for dinner.
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The Palm
Beach Sailing Club reformed in 1959 and sailed from the beach
to the west of the Careel Bay public wharf. Home-made sailing
dinghies and old Vee-jays were used by the families and some
keen parents built some Manly Juniors at Evening College classes
at Avalon Public School. A large marquee tent was erected
each Sunday on a cooperative Careel Bay resident’s piece of
land from which the day’s racing was organised and cups of
tea served.
The Club
moved to Sand Point in 1962 where there was
greater space to rig the boats as the numbers grew.
The existing
slipway and jetty was built in 1963 and occupied by the Royal
Sydney Yacht Squadron as Careel Bay Boat Services until September
2003 when the current lessee Austral Monsoon Industries took
over occupation and management of the site.
People
started to build weekenders and holiday homes. Up until the
1970s, the area was a mix of mainly weekender cottages and
holiday homes with a minority of permanent residents among
the extensive bushland.
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In the
early 1960s a tip was established on the eastern side of Careel
Creek bounded by Etival Street, Hitchcock Park and Barrenjoey
Road. Rubbish management involved pushing the waste into the
wetlands and mangroves.
Fortunately
in the more enlightened times of the 1970s, the tip was closed
as people better understood the important role of mangroves
in preserving the healthy coastal estuarine environment.
In 1970
a Development Application to establish a marina in Careel
Bay was vigorously opposed and defeated.
Since
those days there has been extensive rehabilitation and regeneration
of the mangroves and wetlands in Careel Bay. Pittwater Council
has also been active in enlisting the support of scientists
in identifying appropriate management of this extremely sensitive
area.
In the
21st century, the natural environment of Pittwater and the
Careel Bay area is under significant pressure with the dramatic
increase in the numbers of people wishing to live in the area.
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| Careel
Bay in the 1960s |
Careel
Bay in 2007 |
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