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Pioneers of PutneyPrint Page 
The plaque marks the site of first settlement in the locality in 1792, and commemorates the pioneers of Putney.
In the first 40 years of European settlement, much of Putney was owned by the Squire family who made their living producing and selling beer.
On Friday Alderman Levy, author of a just-published History of Ryde, unveiled a tablet set in the rock on the exact site of Ryde's first settlement — between Ryde Bridge and Halvorsen's boatshed— made in 1792. The inscription reads: THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES OUR PIONEERS - "DECENT, SOBER, INDUSTRIOUS MEN WHO , LIKE OUR ABORIGINAL WALLUMEDEGAL, WERE "A MOST BIGOTED RACE OF PEOPLE TO THE GROUND" ON WHICH THEY DWELT.
Alderman Levy explains: Wallumedegal was the aboriginal tribe which inhabited what is now Ryde. The Rev Samuel Marsden, in an official report described them as "decent, sober and industrious." The second quotation, with its curious use of the word "bigoted," comes from a letter written by Rev W Walker, a Wesleyan missionary. It refers to the Wallumedegals' strong tie to their land, to which they always returned before they died. The word should be spelled "bigotted." Mr Levy says.
Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 27 June 1948.
Location
| Address: | Waterview Street, Settlers Park, Putney, 2112 |
|---|---|
| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.824053 Long: 151.099144 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Landscape |
| Sub-Theme: | Settlement |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 10-January-1792 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Friday 25th June, 1948 |
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This is the site of the first settlement on 10th January 1792 by William Careless and James Weavers in the locality set up by Governor Phillip as farms of the eastern boundary (later called Kissing Point) where rose our first church and school in 1800.
Slightly eastward were Squires famous brewery, wharf and hop gardens and Bennelong's grave. Westwards were Squires' Inn and old Ryde Wharf as well as the Shepherds 'Thorn Farm' and 'Hellene' with noted orangery and vineyard.
This tablet commemorates our pioneers, "Decent, Sober, Industrious" men who like our Aboriginal Wallumedegal, were a most bigoted race of people to the ground on which they dwelt. Can we be otherwise?
E.L.S Hall Mayor
Ryde Municipal Council 1948
