Ranclaud applied to have the grant surveyed and during 1830 James Ralfe, a Government Surveyor, completed this task.5 On 9th February, 1830, Ranclaud selected a further grant of 914 acres which adjoined, in part, his original large grant. This estate was given the following description in the Lands Department Register of Grants6:- 'Commencing at the Eastern extreme of the south boundary line of James St. John Ranclaud's 2560 acres grant and bounded on the North by 58 chains of that boundary line bearing West; on the West by a South line of 118 chains to a small creek; on the South by that creek downwards to the waters of Lake Macquarie; and on the East by the waters of Lake Macquarie northerly to the eastern extreme of the South boundary line of Ranclaud's grant aforesaid.' This portion of 914 acres had been ordered in 1829 for Madam Rens of Sydney, in compensation for a certain portion of land in George Street, Sydney, which she had surrendered for Government purposes. Madam Rens disposed of her right of selection however, and on 1st February, 1830, Ranclaud selected the grant. He was authorised to possess it on 17th May of the same year. This meant that Ranclaud held a total of 3474 acres in the Teralba district. The earliest record of any name being used to describe the locality of Ranclaud's grants is contained in a letter written by Surveyor Felton Matthew on 19th November, 1831.7 Here Matthew made reference to a trigonometrical survey point known as 'Tirelbah' at the northern extremity of Lake Macquarie. Two years later, the New South Wales Calendar and Directory identified Mr. Ranclaud's farm with 'Teralba' -the earliest recorded use of the name as it is spelled to-day. It appears that 'Teralba' is derived from an aboriginal word whose meaning is, unfortunately, lost to us today. Ranclaud cleared part of his land, and built a homestead at some distance from the lakeshore, in the vicinity of present-day Barnsley township, but on the southern side of Sandy or Burke's Creek, which marked the northern boundary of the estate. The homestead was named Trialba', which may or may not have been derived from 'Teralba.' According to a living descendent of Captain Ranclaud, the name 'Trialba' signified, by its Latin derivation, 'three white things.' It is said that the pinnacles of three nearby mountains presented to the early settler the appearance of 'three white things.'8 When the Ranclauds built their homestead out in the bushland, the nearest settlement of any description was a township at Wallsend, and it is most likely that the family travelled to and from their estate through that town. By the beginning of 1831 a dray track linked Ranclaud's farm with Newcastle in the north-east and Simpson's farm at 'Kourumbung' to the south-west. This track is mentioned in comments made by Surveyor Felton Matthew, who travelled through the area during January, 1831:-9 MargaretB Lake Macquarie NSW Australia

Captain Ranclaud's second grant of 914 acres, extending along the lakeshore northwards from Marmong Creek to the Five Islands and inland for some distance, also passed out of the family's possession. This grant came before the Crown Lands Commissioners in February of 1842, 15 and as a result the land was transferred to James Mitchell of Sydney who received the title deeds on 12th March, 1842. Mitchell already possessed other estates in the Newcastle district and on 6th June, 1836, he had purchased 560 acres which extended southwards from Marmong Creek almost to Bolton Point. 16 Dr. James Mitchell died on 1st February, 1869, leaving three children. His son, David Scott Mitchell, developed an outstanding collection of books and manuscripts relating to Australia and this collection later became the nucleus of the Mitchell Library of Sydney. Of the two daughters, Augusta Maria had married E.C. Merewether of Newcastle in 1860, and Margaret Scott Mitchell married William Bell Quigley on 8th May, 1870, a little more than a year after her father's death. A year later again, the widow of Dr. Mitchell died, and steps were then taken to execute the will. 17 As has been previously mentioned, Dr. Mitchell had acquired two adjoining estates in the Teralba district, of 914 acres and 500 acres respectively. In the execution of the will, both of these estates passed to Margaret Scott Quigley. On the 8th June, 1878, the following item appeared in the 'Newcastle Morning Herald' :- 'Those who, when taking a trip to the Lake, confine themselves to that portion about Williamson's, have no idea of the beautiful scenery that is to be seen in Awaba Bay, the western extremity of the Lake. This part is, without doubt, the finest - numerous creeks, some of large size flow into it. Cockle Creek is one of these, and for its beauty cannot be surpassed ... On this Bay, at its southern side, is situated Awaba Park Estate, containing about 1750 acres of the best land in the vicinity, and having a water frontage of 10 miles. Numbers of bays indent this water frontage, giving it a most charming appearance. The owner of this large and valuable estate is William Bell Quigley, Esq., son-in-law to the late Hon. James Mitchell. There is, under the superintendence of Mr. Charles Robinson, now in course of construction a fine house, being built expressly for the residence of Mr. Quigley, and in about a month's time he intends settling down there ... The timber alone is worth about £7,000. Mr. Quigley has at the present time a contract to supply 100,000 spokes to a New Zealand firm, and he also supplies to a great extent the timber cut at the sawmills of Brown and Goodsirs', situated about 6 miles distant.' The news item added that a valuable seam of coal occurred on Quigley's estate. The seam was mentioned as being located only a mile from the lakeshore, and it was stated that Quigley intended to work this seam in the near future. Quigley was not the discoverer of this seam, however. Many years before, during the Government's Coal Enquiry of 1847, the Reverend L.E. Threlkeld stated that Dr. Mitchell's property at Lake Macquarie contained a seam of beautiful coal eight or ten feet thick. 18 Due to the monopoly of the coal trade at that time by the Australian Agricultural Company, Dr. Mitchell was not permitted to mine the coal on his estate. Quigley's house was built on a site adjacent to the existing Booragul High School. Unfortunately, William Quigley enjoyed the comforts of the new home for only a few months, for he died as a result of an accident on 13th March, 1879. His widow, Margaret, was left to care for three children - James Mitchell Aspinall, born in 1871; Augusta Sophia, born in 1874; and William Frederick Bannister, born in 1875.19 The family continued to live in the house at the lake. A new era opened for Teralba and district in 1881 when the New South Wales Parliament decided to construct a railway line from Homebush to Waratah, passing through Brisbane Water and keeping to the western side of Lake Macquarie. At this time the site of the modern town of Teralba was, as far as we know, unoccupied, being covered with forest and scrub. Only two houses existed in the vicinity - the Black family's homestead along Cockle Creek and the Quigley's house near Marmong Point. MargaretB Lake Macquarie NSW Australia

But new developments were in store, for the new railway line was designed to pass close to the lakeshore near the head of Awaba Bay, and it was inevitable that sooner or later a settlement would form in that area. In fact, a settlement appeared at Teralba very early in the history of the railway construction. On 17th August, 1883, the tender for the construction of the northern railway between Gosford and Waratah was given to Messrs. Amos and Company, the firm that was already engaged on harbour improvement works at Swansea channel. 20 The contractors wasted no time in commencing their project, and one of the company's first moves was to open a large gravel quarry in the Big Hill immediately to the south of present day Teralba township. The railway was surveyed to pass over this hill on a fairly direct line between Fennell's Bay and the head of Awaba Bay. It was convenient, therefore, to open a stone quarry adjacent to the projected line of railway. The opening of the quarry in 1884 demanded a fairly large work force, and so a considerable population of workers and their families settled on the hillsides close to the quarry. A small stream winding through the gully provided a source of water supply for the settlers, and inevitably became known as Fresh Water Creek. It emptied into the Lake a few hundred yards farther to the north-east. The primitive construction settlement lacked an official name, but it was generally known as Fresh Water Creek, and sometimes, merely, The Gravel Pits. On 1st February, 1886, the Department of Public Instruction opened a school under the name of Gravel Pits and with an enrolment of 27 pupils. 21 The building for the school came from Hillsborough, and it was erected on what is now known as Billy Goat Hill. This site was close to the quarry settlement. A man named Henry Wilkinson was appointed to the Gravel Pits School, and he remained in charge until 1912. 1886 was an important year of development for the community at Fresh Water Creek. In that year the Great Northern Coal Company commenced mining operations on lakeside land a few hundred yards below the settlement. The Company was financed entirely by the employees, the shares amounting to £22 each. According to the Annual Report of the Mines Department for 1886 the Pacific Steam Colliery, as it came to be known, was employing ten men. Many times this number were employed as the mine was opened out. Nearly two miles north of the Pacific enterprise a second coal mine was commenced in 1886 by the Teralba Co-Operative Coal Company. Known in those days as the Teralba Colliery, the mine has since been acquired by the Broken Hill Propriety Company and is known today as the Stockton Borehole Colliery. In the early days of shaft-sinking, problems of water seepage were encountered, causing long delays. The Borehole Seam was not reached until 1901. 22 A third colliery opened near Teralba about 1890. This was the Northern Extended Colliery, sometimes known as Gartlee. Its founder was Andrew Sneddon and its first manager, David Miller. 23 These mining developments saved the Gravel Pits settlement from fading into oblivion after the completion of the railway works. It made the development of a permanent township possible. By the beginning of 1887 the railway construction was nearing completion, and with the development of coal mining a fairly large population began to settle permanently near Fresh Water Creek. At this time the majority of the settlers lived on or about 'Billy Goat Hill,' where also were the school and police station. The latter was opened in 1886 under the official name of 'Ballast Pit,' and the first police officer was Samuel Danks. 24 As the settlement began to take on a more permanent character, the question of land titles arose. Practically all of the land occupied by the settlers belonged to the Quigley family, being part of the 914 acres inherited by William B. Quigley. It was soon revealed that allotments would be made available on the leasehold system, and leases being chiefly of fifty years' duration. Sites could not be purchased, and this restriction held up progress of the town to some extent. It was not until 1911 that the first freehold land in First Street, Booragul, was put up for auction. 25 MargaretB Lake Macquarie NSW Australia

However, in about 1887 the Trustees of the Quigley Estate arranged for the survey of streets and town allotments in what is now the town of Teralba. A good deal of excavation work was carried out, and much of the swampy land along the foreshores of the lake was reclaimed. In this way, provision was made for the development of a town, which officially adopted the name of Teralba. It was during 1886 that the Quigley home near Marmong Point was burned down. While endeavouring to rescue some valuables from the blaze, Mrs. Quigley received severe bums, from the effects of which she died on 4th November, 1886. 26 A new house was erected on the site of the old one, and was named 'Awaba House.' It was occupied by Mr. T.A. Braye for some years prior to 1927, when the building was dismantled and another house erected on the site. The third house is still existent and is owned by the State Government. (2007 Lake Macquarie City Council) Mrs. Margaret Quigley was buried only a short distance from the site of the old home, on a hillside, which was at that time a burial place for the Teralba township. Unfortunately most of the graves were not marked with headstones, and today no trace of them remains. This could easily have happened to the grave of Mrs. Quigley; however, some years after her death, Mr. J.P. Cowdery became manager of the Quigley Estate, and he determined to find the remains of William Bell Quigley and inter them with his wife, so that a suitable monument might be installed. No one then living could remember where Mr. Quigley had been buried and many sites were investigated before a slight depression was noticed alongside one of the paths leading to the original homestead. Excavations here uncovered the coffin, and the remains of Quigley were taken and re-buried alongside the grave of his wife. 27 An elaborate monument was erected over the graves, and it may be inspected today at Primrose Street, Booragul. It may be added that the burial grounds here were used only in the very early days of Teralba and after about 1890 a cemetery was formed on top of the hill near Booragul Railway Station. Dozens of graves were made there over a long period of years, but the site has since been abandoned. On 15th August, 1887, the railway line was opened between Newcastle and Gosford. A station had been built at Teralba, and though it was originally intended to be named 'Five Islands,' it was opened as 'Teralba' in 1887. The first Station Master was H.F. Nesbitt, on a salary of £150 per year. He was assisted by A.G. Sheddon and Michael Meehan, the latter being the porter. 28 On the day that the railway was opened, three special trains were run from Newcastle to Gosford. Aboard the first of these was a 'Newcastle Morning Herald' reporter whose narrative of the trip formed the basis for this brief account of early Teralba :- 29 'At Teralba, where construction of the station buildings had begun, were the first signs of a similar civilization since leaving the 'city suburbs' with their bustle and activity. The Great Northern Coal Company had recently struck another splendid seam, and a township had been surveyed, but there was 'no time for rhapsody' and the train moved on, over Freshwater Creek, past the old gravel pits from which the contractors, Amos Brothers, had taken the metal for the line.' With the opening of the railway station, the township began to develop at its present location, though it was a long time before the police station, public school and other facilities were moved from the original settlement on Billy Goat Hill. However, by about 1890 a small commercial centre had arisen between Lake Crescent and the railway station. The first hotel to be established at Teralba was the Lake Macquarie Hotel, a two-storied building on the waterfront opposite the long jetty. The proprietor, an ex-miner named Thomas Williams, opened the hotel in 1888, and though it changed hands many times, it continued to operate until 1955, when the licence was transferred to the Wangi Hotel. However, the old building still stands, it having been converted into residential flats. Originally a galvanised iron community hall stood at the southern side of the Lake Macquarie Hotel, and here all dances, balls and bazaars were held in the early years of the town. It was in this same Hall that the first silent movie films were screened in Teralba in 1901. The Great Northern Hotel near the railway station was opened about 1890. The original weatherboard building was of two storeys and occupied the same site as the present brick structure, which was erected when the old hotel was dismantled in 1923. The first proprietor was John Hodges, who kept the business until about 1914. MargaretB Lake Macquarie NSW Australia