“Aboriginal Ned” dies

Death of “Aboriginal Ned”. His obituary reads:“We regretfully record the death….of poor old Ned the Aboriginal, the native squatter on the banks of Lake Macquarie…we drew attention to the fact of a hungry free selector having cast [an] eye on deceased’s little holding. Some considerable stir was made about the matter, and the result was the reservation of the site for the occupation of the native holder and his family. Ned, who was one of the few blacks to whom the habits and customs of the whites have ever presented any attraction, leaves a widow, of whom it was impossible to speak too highly, and a boy and girl, both able to read and write, possessing fair average talents and habits of order and industry…many of our people have found a pleasure in assisting them…Mr Peter Fleming…presented Ned with an excellent boat in which the old man was used to cross the lake and go fishing or seeking honey and game, instead of…having to take to the water and swim over a narrow part whenever he wished to come to Newcastle”. (Maitland Mercury, 14 May 1872, compliments of Ian Webb, Maitland Historical Society).