Richard CraigPrint Page

The granite plaque on the direction finder commemorates the life and work of Richard Craig (1812-1855) in the Clarence Valley.

Richard Craig was a free settler in the Australian colony of New South Wales, a convicted criminal, an escaped convict, and a pardoned convict who worked as a stockman and drover.

Richard and his father were carrying on the trade of butchers in Sydney on 2 July 1828 when both were charged with stealing five head of cattle from a herd at Richmond. On 15 September 1828, his father William was sentenced to 14 years on Norfolk Island and Richard, at the age of 16, was sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to seven years hard labour in chains at Moreton Bay under Captain Patrick Logan, where he arrived on 24 January 1829, one of 137 felons aboard the Edinburgh.

He escaped and was recaptured twice in 1829, being absent for 12 days in March and again from 20 September to 10 November. He again escaped on 17 December 1830, and made an astonishing journey south through the bush to what is now the Queensland–New South Wales border, and then through the New England area towards Port Macquarie. He spent almost 12 months living with Aborigines around the Clarence River where he became familiar with the country and rivers. Gradually he moved south and arrived at Port Macquarie in late November 1831.

During his 12-month journey from Moreton Bay to Port Macquarie in 1831 Craig had explored the upper reaches of the Clarence River, including the western section of what was then known as Guy Fawkes Plateau (now Dorrigo Plateau). After he was pardoned he returned and used his unique knowledge of the area to blaze a trail from Guy Fawkes (Ebor) to The Settlement (South Grafton). This track was known as Craig's Line and pioneered the traffic link between Grafton and Armidale allowing the movement of large parties of new settlers from the New England Tableland into the Clarence Valley.

After he was pardoned in 1836, he travelled to Maclean (on the Clarence River) to cut cedar and for many years made a good living as a guide in the Clarence River area, travelling and blazing trails through previously inaccessible country. He died on 14 July 1855 in Grafton from complications arising from a fall from a horse.

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