Nestled in the shadow of the Watagan Mountains is the 1280-acre estate 'Mulbring'.
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It is situated in Mount Vincent and straddles Wallis Creek, just downstream from where it rises under Mount Myall.
'Mulbring' was granted to Otto Baldwin by Governor Sir Ralph Darling in 1829 in lieu of his elder brother Edwin.
In 1852 Baldwin sold the property to William and Samuel Short for £400.
Samuel Short was my great-great-grandfather and William his brother - but who exactly was Otto Baldwin?
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Otto was a currency lad, born at Wilberforce on the Hawkesbury to Henry and Elizabeth (Carpenter).
Henry had been transported in 1791 from the Warwick Assizes although Elizabeth came free.
Otto was born in 1809, the 5th of 13 children and became an important character in the exploration and development of the Hunter Valley and north-western New South Wales.
Like his contemporary, George Yeomans, Otto became part of a group of entrepreneurs and pioneer explorers who with little other than their guile and wits took a chance and succeeded.
George Yeomans and his father-in-law Benjamin Singleton became occasional business partners of Baldwin. They and others formed an important tier in colonial society - never accepted by the 'Bunyip' aristocracy despite their success but ever so important to the development of the colony.
Otto's character was however not without blemish, evidenced by a litany of court appearances as both plaintiff and accused.
Charges varied: In 1852 he was charged with a breach of the Masters & Servants Act; in 1856 he was fined 40/- for an assault on a railway guard at Newtown.
In 1863 he was acquitted of a charge of public nuisance thanks to the discharge of effluent to the river and the odour from his boiling down works on Oakhampton road.
In 1867 he was fined 5/- for drunkenness.
He wasn't always the defendant. In 1852 he had William Tierney charged with 'unlawfully killing a bullock' and Samuel Fitzpatrick charged with 'abusive and insulting language' outside Baldwin's butcher's shop. One suspects Fitzpatrick's outburst related directly to the charge against Tierney although this was not the only occasion Baldwin and Fitzpatrick clashed.
Despite his brushes with the law, he was philanthropic, supporting various testimonials and community causes. He became a steward at the Tamworth races and was a part sponsor of an early cricket match in Maitland in 1845. This story is amusing: Baldwin's team was dismissed in five balls without scoring a run. One wonders how many were on each team.
In 1849 he added his name to a petition to re-introduce transportation; in 1852 he joined a cartel to form a steamship company.
In 1835 Otto married Mary Ann Maskey, the union producing two sons and a daughter but sadly no grandchildren. It may not have been a happy marriage as Baldwin lived in a defacto relationship with George Yeomans' widow Elizabeth after George's 1853 death. Despite this schism, both couples were interred in Campbells Hill cemetery alongside their respective spouses.
In 1826, Baldwin, in company with George Yeomans, Benjamin Singleton and others, were the first to drive cattle onto the Liverpool Plains, crossing the range via Dangars Pass. They established a large run which they called 'Yarramanbah'. They were dispossessed of this run when the AA Company traded their Port Stephens estate for what became Warrah and Goonoo Goonoo stations.
Undeterred, Baldwin re-established at Boggabilla Station on the McIntyre River in partnership with Yeomans. He also had interests in the Namoi, Patrick Plains and Black Creek districts.
He was prepared to take a chance. The Mercury reported in 1863 that Baldwin and others had planted experimental cotton crops - the yield exhibited in London.
Otto Baldwin died in 1874. He contributed much to the development of the Hunter and the colony.
Maitland and District Historical Society