In Australia, many trace their descent from the pioneer families who established local towns. Henry Thomas Pike (1842-1907) is remembered as the founder of Curlewis, a village nearby Gunnedah. His story will no doubt be of interest to his many descendants today.

Henry Thomas Myhill Pike was born in 1842 in Attleborough, Norfolk. He was the fourth son of John Reynolds Pike and Hannah Myhill. His father was a shoemaker at the time of the 1841 census.

Henry Thomas Pike received an education as a child, being an 8 year-old scholar at the time of the 1851 census. At the time, his family was living in a railway cottage at Attleborough, his father working as a railway signalman. John Reynolds Pike was evidently a hardworking and reliable man, eventually becoming railway station master by 1871.

Henry Thomas Pike’s grandparents, William Pike and Sarah Reynolds, were married in 1809 in Hoveton. One of their sons, Peter, later immigrated to Utah, USA, around 1870. His son Edward was mayor of Eureka from 1924 to 1928.

Settling in Australia

At the age of 19, Henry Thomas Pike embarked on a new chapter in his life, arriving in Australia in 1862. He first worked at building bridges in Victoria. He afterwards moved to New South Wales, where he married his wife, Mary Ann Fordham, in 1871 in Murrurundi. At the time, Henry’s occupation was given as engineer.

In Murrurundi, Henry Thomas Pike and Mary Ann Fordham had the following children: Henry John (1872), William Henry (1873), Frances Mary (1875), Emma Elizabeth (1876), Frederick George (1877) and John Robert (1879).

After John Robert was born, the family moved to Curlewis, around 100km (60 miles) north-west of Murrurundi. They probably followed the railway line, which was extended further to Gunnedah in 1879. With the establishment of a railway station at Gunnedah that same year, Henry Pike likely predicted considerable growth for the town. And so it happened. By 1885, Gunnedah’s population had reached approximately 1,000.

While at Curlewis, Henry Thomas Pike opened a sawmilling plant, the first ever in Liverpool Plains. As the business grew, Pike established new branches in Wondobah and Boggabri. A sawmill is a factory in which logs are sawn into needed shapes, such as planks. See two pictures below:

Settling in Gunnedah

Finally, Henry Thomas Pike settled in Gunnedah. The town had a post office, and the first hospital was opened in 1882. In Gunnedah, Henry Thomas Pike established one of the “most complete and up-to-date sawmilling plants in the State.”

While in the Gunnedah district, Henry Thomas Pike and Mary Ann Fordham had ten children: Emily Maud (1881), Ernest Myhill (1883), Charles Gordon (c. 1884), Amy May (1886), Elizabeth Dean (1887), Bessie Florence (1890), Stella Ruby (1890), Minnie Beatrice (1891), Una Clarence (1893) and Arley Reynolds (1894). In total, the family had 16 children!

Henry Thomas Pike took a keen interest in the Gunnedah district. For many years he served as a committeeman of the hospital. In 1898, he was elected an alderman of the Gunnedah municipality for three years.

In 1901, the population of Gunnedah was 1,913 people. Around this time, the townspeople were sourcing water from wells and also from the Namoi River. In 1901, Pike was the primary mover towards establishing a permanent water supply in the town. However, by April 1905 this goal had still not been achieved, due to insufficient funds.

In 1902, Henry Thomas Pike was elected mayor of Gunnedah, and served one term. Also in 1902, he was appointed as a magistrate. During his time in Gunnedah, Pike opened the first flour mill in the town. He apparently also built the first school in Gunnedah, so that his children could be educated.

1903

In June 1903, Henry Thomas Pike was disqualified from serving as an alderman under the Municipalities Act of 1897. This legislation stated several things that would disqualify someone from holding such an office, one of which may have applied to Henry Thomas Pike:

• Being a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a District Court
• Being an officer on full pay or a non-commissioned officer or private in the naval or military service (unless part of the volunteer force)
• Bankruptcy
• Being absent without leave from council meetings for more than three consecutive months without a justifiable reason as specified in the legislation
• Holding an office or place of profit under or given by the council of any municipality
• Being employed or contracted by or on behalf of the council (not to apply to someone simply because of being a proprietor or a shareholder (not a director) of any joint stock company contracting with the council)

In September that same year (1903), Henry Thomas Pike was again elected as an alderman. In April 1905, the municipal council of Gunnedah consisted of nine aldermen, in addition to the council clerk. Pike and his son William Henry were among the nine. Henry Thomas Pike was again elected an alderman in 1906.

One of Pike’s goals was apparently to establish an electrical supply in Gunnedah. However, although equipment arrived from England, Pike died before seeing the project through to completion. So his sons set-up the equipment and brought electricity to the town.

Death in 1907

Henry Thomas Pike died of Bright’s disease in 1907. After his death, the newspaper ‘Gunnedah Advertiser’ published an obituary, which stated, in part: “The deceased, who was a man of splendid physique and remarkable endurance, was 64 years of age at the time of his demise…

“Mr. Pike was a man whose ambition was the welfare and advancement of the town and district in which he had resided for so many years; and he spared neither time nor money in the attainment of that end. He knew the requirements of the town thoroughly, and there is no one whom we are aware of who has done so much for its progress and advancement. He also had unbounded confidence in the resources of the district, and here again his pertinacity and energy made itself felt by all with whom he came in contact…

“The deceased was a man of the strictest integrity his word was his bond; a good friend a generous employer it is no wonder he was universally esteemed and highly respected from one end of the district to the other. He was one who could badly be spared from our community, and his familiar form will long be missed by those who had the privilege of his friendship. A loving husband, a kind father, a true friend what more can be said of him!”

Henry Thomas Pike is remembered as the founder of Curlewis, a village which reached a population of 160 during his lifetime. In his memory, the main street was named “Pike Street.”