Aboriginal labour in fledgling wine industry

Aboriginal labour in fledgling wine industry. Aboriginal people are working as “pullers of maize” for winegrower, George Wyndham at Dalwood in the Hunter Valley. At this early stage, there are only 10 settlers on the Hunter River growing vines. George Wyndham was one of the first. James King of Irrawang on the Williams River was another. It is highly probable that once convict transportation ceased and cheap labour was less accessible, Aboriginal people would have worked more widely in the fledgling wine industry: clearing, hoeing, ploughing, staking and pruning the vines. As Irrawang was also involved in pottery manufacture from 1832, Aboriginal people quite possibly worked to produce glazed earthenware.