Elizabeth, >Some general questions for the local historians > Was the move from the Illawarra to New England common,? Nowhere near as common as the move to the Richmond River, which started about 1880 and reached its peak c1900. The "Kiama Independent" c1900 carried probably one article per month reporting a farewell function for another family off to the "Big Scrub". > Were the prospects for dairying in New England discussed in the local >press of the time? Not that I recall seeing in the papers I have read. > What was the average price per acre for good dairying land with easy >access to a butter factory in the Illawarra in the 1890? The Gerringong Co-Op was formed on February 24th, 1888 and is still running, so farming land around there would be a good guide. All of the land south of the town was owned by the Berry Estate until the first sale on March 29th, 1892 when 4 farms were sold. One of these (21 1/2 acres) sold for 41 pounds per acre (to William COOKE), while the other three all sold to William WEIR - a total of 152 3/4 acres at an average price of 24 pounds 7s 6d. These farms were all about 3/4 mile from the Co-Op, over level tracks, so that would constitute "easy access" for the time. I think William WEIR got the better deal as far as farming land went, but as part of COOKEs land is now residential, I guess his descendants are laughing loudest. As a comparison with present-day prices, 50 acres of WEIRs land was sold earlier this year for $912,000. >I would welcome any discussion about dairying practices in the Illawarra. >It is not an area I know, but I have been told cream was sometimes carried >by pack horse, and it did not matter in butter making if it had gone sour. There are two books which cover the subject. One is Frank McCaffery's "History of Illawarra", published in 1922 and probably available at the SL or ML. The Sydney City Library had a copy 15 years ago, when they were in Pitt St - don't know where they are now. The other is William Bayley's "Blue Haven", published 1960, reprinted 1976, and still available (new) from various tourist places around Kiama, or second-hand from various booksellers at www.bibliofind.com. Certainly before the railway (extended south from Bombo in 1893), produce for the Sydney market had to be taken to the harbours at Kiama or Gerringong for shipment to Sydney. However, farmers generally made their own butter and shipped that, rather than the cream. Butter was sealed in wooden kegs and, without refrigeration (at least on the wharves), often ended up as a barrel of oil by the time it reached Sydney. John John Graham johngrah@ozemail.com.au GENEALOGY FROM GERRINGONG http://www.ozemail.com.au/~johngrah/