Walkinshaw Cowan (25 December 180822 January 1888) was private secretary to Western Australian Governors John Hutt, Andrew Clarke and Frederick Irwin, then in 1848 he became Guardian of Aboriginals and a justice of the peace, and then resident magistrate at York from 1863 to 1887.
Early years Walkinshaw Cowan was born on 25 December 1808 in Borrowstounness in Scotland. His father, Thomas Cowan, wanted him to become a merchant. He was indentured to Adam White & Co of Leith, served out four years and established his own business, possibly as a corn merchant, but this failed.
Arrival in Western Australia Following an offer to Cowan by John Hutt, who had been appointed Western Australian Governor, to become his private secretary, Cowan emigrated to the Swan River Colony on the same ship as Hutt, Brothers, arriving on 1 January 1839, the trip costing him £320.Rica Erickson: Dictionary of Western Australians Two days later, he and two fellow passengers borrowed some horses in Fremantle and rode to Perth. He saw "a sort of herbage which reminded me strongly of the mountain scenery of Scotland".
Appointments As private secretary to Hutt, Cowan had been told by Hutt that he could live at Government House. In April 1836, he was also appointed clerk of the councils, that is, the Legislative Council and the Executive Council, but Hutt asked him to find his own residence. The relationship between Cowan and Governor Hutt was not cordial, with Hutt being aloof and Cowan finding it difficult to be subservient.
From 1846 to 1848, he would also serve as private secretary to Governors Andrew Clarke and Frederick Irwin.
Marriage During this period, he lived with and then married Elizabeth Dyer (on 14 June 1842) with whom he would eventually have 11 children. He purchased land at the foot of Mount Eliza and borrowed £300 to build a house. The property was well stocked with vines, bananas and other fruit trees.Inquirer, 11 December 1844, p.1. He contracted the painful eye disease ophthalmia and was concerned that he would become blind. Consequently he took leave of absence from October 1842 until December 1844.
Steam milling adventure In 1843, he was the main promoter of the Guildford Steam Saw and Flour Mills, a business which intended to run a steam-driven sawmill and flour mill at Guildford.Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 4 November 1843, p.2.Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 4 May 1844, p.2. In this venture, he was given technical sawmilling assistance from engineer John Henry Monger Snr, who was also one of the partners in the venture. However the venture failed, Walkinshaw blaming (in his diary) "the misconduct and ignorance of an Engineer". By late 1844 Cowan owed his bankers (George Leake and W B Andrews) a total of £1,238 and he assigned all his property to them,Inquirer, 18 June 1845, p.3. his house and land were sold, and Cowan returned to his duties as clerk of the CouncilPerth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 14 December 1844, p.4. and private secretary to the Governor.Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, 20 February 1847, p.2. A writ of fi fa was issued against him in June 1845. A meeting of creditors was called on 11 August 1849, and then a later meeting for a deed of composition.Inquirer, 22 August 1849, p.1.; 12 September 1849.p.1.
Appointment to York In July 1847, Cowan was appointed as Resident for King George Sound,Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 3 July 1847, p.2. however Cowan declined to accept the office because of "smallness of salary".Inquirer, 7 July 1847, p.2. Then after Charles Fitzgerald became governor, on 6 February 1848, he appointed Rivett Henry Bland, who had been Resident Magistrate in York and Beverley, as personal secretary and Clerk of the Council, and on 4 September 1848,WA Government Gazette 149, 5 September 1848. Cowan was appointed Guardian of Aborigines for York. He was also appointed as a Justice of the Peace,Inquirer, 6 September 1848, p.2. in addition to also being in charge of the police.
Cowan saw this appointment as a demotion. He was at one time disputing a directive from Government House and reminded the person with whom he was corresponding that he had "served immediately under the Governor of this Colony in a higher station than that of Guardian of Aborigines". Cowan set off for York in a cart drawn by a team of bullocks. He was cautious of Aboriginals on his trip to York:
Cowan’s later recollection of York at that time was as follows:
Guardian of Aborigines As Guardian of Aborigines, Cowan’s area of responsibility was large, stretching from Gingin in the north to Williams in the south. He had to make a trip on horseback in remote parts of the territory to discharge his duties. The position of Guardian of Aborigines consumed most of his energies. Cowan recollected about this work:
It was dangerous work and several of the Aboriginals working with Cowan were murdered.Inquirer, 10 April 1850, p.3 and p.4; Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, 12 April 1850, p.2.
Almost immediately, Cowan had a quarrel with John Drummond, who was in charge of native Police in the Avon District. In 1849, Cowan accused Drummond of leaving his district while on duty. He publicly accused him of "disreputable, deceitful and disobedient conduct." In April 1850, a court of inquiry was held at York to enquire into five specific charges by Cowan against Drummond. The first of these was that Drummond went drinking at the Kings Head Hotel with native police assistant Cowits and Tommy the native mail carrier, and did not report or charge anyone. The court found all the charges "not proved being frivoulous and vexatious", though Drummond was suspended from duties for a month.
In January 1850, Cowan produced his report as Guardian of Aborigines for 1849 and noted the "friendly feeling" that prevailed between the settlers and the Aboriginals. He expressed concern with the increasing number of native dogs and commented in his conclusions: "I have still to regret that no means have been employed to teach or convert the natives in the District from their debasing superstitions."CSR 2199/12, Cowan to Colonial Secretary; Annual Report 9 January 1850. Cowan was not slow to severely discipline Aboriginals. To the concern of the Governor, he sentenced a 15-year-old Aboriginal boy to two dozen lashes "for repeated neglect of duty and for taking on Tuesday last, his master [Mr Hoops]'s horse, to Northam remaining away two days instead of going to look for cattle in the bush as ordered and for abusing the said horse, which sentence I accordingly saw inflicted."CSR 199/237, Cowan to Colonial Secretary, 28 October 1850.
In his report as Guardian of Aborigines for 1851, Cowan expressed the view that “the humane and kind treatment of the aborigines by the settlers of this colony has been the subject of congratulation in all the reports of the Protectors”. There was an absence of aggression and security for settlers on isolated properties.
Cowan took an interest in the Gerald Mission, a mission and school being established by the Wesleyan Church for Aboriginal children in York by John Smithies. The mission failed and Cowan blamed the loss of students from the mission school to "yearning" or "strong particularity" to their own districts, but also due to high death rates from influenza at the institution.CSR 230, Cowan to Colonial Secretary 3 March 1852.
In his 1852 report, he refers to the Native police in York and Beverley as “efficient” and goes on to say:
In this report, Cowan also expressed concern for the effect of drunkenness and vice, and new diseases.Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, 13 February 1852, p.2.
One of the difficult duties Cowan had was to destroy native dogs.McLaren and William Coooper, Beverley, our Journey through time, Shire of Beverley, 2002, p.26.
Historian John Deacon said of Cowan's time in office:
Cowan’s respect for Cowits, native policeman When Cowan was first appointed as Protector of Natives in York, John Drummond conveyed a message to Cowan via Cowits. Cowits was about 16 at the time.Inquirer and Commercial News, 2 September 1863, p.2; K. Epton: CC Hunt's 1864 Koolyanobbing Expedition, Hesperian Press, p.viii Cowan thought Cowits was very efficient and recommended that he be appointed as the first native assistant in York.Diary of Walkinshaw Cowan, quoted in Pamela Statham Drew and AM (Tony) Clack: York, Western Australia: A Documentary History, p.110 Cowan recorded in his diary and also wrote in 1868 about this:
On 26 August 1850, Cowan wrote to the Governor on behalf of Cowits:CSO 1850 V199 202.
Cowan did not receive a reply to his letter on behalf of Cowits and wrote again on 28 October 1851:
Governor Fitzgerald responded:
When Cowits died, Cowan said of him:
Convict march on race day Cowan’s duties as Justice of the Peace increased after the arrival of convicts in the York District in 1850. On a hot day in January 1851, about 20 convicts were working at the Cut Hill depot at the top of the hill on the Perth road, and these convicts knew that there was a race on in York. So 20 “probationary” convicts armed themselves with stakes and clubs (so no-one would stop them) and headed down the hill to the town to go to the races, preceded by one of their party blowing a horn. Walkinshaw Cowan, who was in charge of the police, only had two sergeants and three constables on duty. With the presumed assistance of the native police, he gathered 60 Noongar to guard the residents of the town. Cowan rode to the Stewards at the racetrack who suspended the races and joined Cowan to confront the convicts.
When the convicts arrived at the town and asked the way to the race course, they were told by Cowan and the stewards that the race meeting had been postponed. Cowan advised them to return to their camp immediately and he would recommend that the incident be overlooked. The convicts decided not to confront Cowan and breach their probation and (except for two who were subsequently arrested) marched back up to Cut Hill.
The local Noongar had also armed themselves with good sticks “in expectation of a good row” and were disappointed that this did not eventuate. The settlers raised 30 shillings for the Aboriginals and Cowan also rewarded them with a bag of flour.
The Governor later heard of the story and awarded three more sacks of flour for the Aboriginals.Inquirer 14 January 1852, p.3; 21 January 1852, p.3; Diary of Walkinshaw Cowan, quoted in Pamela Statham Drew and AM (Tony) Clack: York, Western Australia: A Documentary History, p.110.
Residing at Grass Dale In November 1851, Cowan took a lease of the "house, vineyard, paddock etc" at Grass Dale from Thomas Brown, the farm itself already being let.letter from Eliza Brown, at Grass Dale, to her father in law, WIlliam Bussey 26 November 1851.
Fall from horse In September 1852, Cowan "met with a serious accident while kangaroo hunting.... His horse ran him against a blackboy and injured him so severely that he was conveyed to his residence in a senseless state".Inquirer, 29 September 1852, p.2. This occurred about from York. He received several severe contusions about the shoulder and ribs. The "native who accompanied him" helped him reach a house from where he was taken to York.Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, 1 October 1854, p.2.
Farming at Mile Pool Cowan tried farming at Mile Pool, close to York.