Historic Escape   

In 1825, English emigrant and politician, Thomas Porter Macqueen (1981-1854) was granted 20,000 acres in the Upper Hunter Valley. He named the area Segenhoe after his families’ estate in Bedfordshire. The area was rich in pastoral and agricultural land offering suitable crossings of the Hunter River at Pages and Aberdeen. That year, Macqueen employed Peter MacIntyre to move from Scotland to settle his NSW land grant and to manage his estates.

Early Settlers in the District

As the valley was discovered, plots of land were given by the Crown, free of charge to settlers. The plan was that 1,400 convicts would be employed by Macqueen’s company, thus reducing the cost to the government by £30,000 annually. In 1831 Hamilton Collins Sempill received his 2,500 acre Belltrees grant as well as 900 acres from Peter MacIntyre. Other Belltrees settlers were Hector Mclvor and William Charles Wentworth. William Stephens and John Miller settled Barry in 1859 on land they bought from Mclvor.

In 1843, Alexander Campbell, Sr. settled land further up the valley on the Barnard River. After being in his name for a number of years, a company was formed known as Campbell, Simpson and Co. and changed the name of the station to Glenrock. About 1860, 1,000 head of cattle were overlanded from Glenrock to Port Phillip, Victoria. Most of the selectors around Glenrock eventually sold their properties to the station. Other large stations developed. Ellerston Station (today owned by the Packers) was owned by H. and V. White of Belltrees. Huntersville Station was the home of John Corbett. Tomulla Station was owned by Mr Gill.

Originally, the Moonan area was first used as a stock run by Sempill, who owned most of the flat at Moonan. In 1832 he utilised Ellerston as a stock station. His brother-in-law, John Dow had received a 960 acre grant and started Arden Hall. Semphill’s grant was made official on 11 August 1841. Wool, wheat, corn, vegetables, fruit, tobacco, sheep and cattle of good quality were bred here - with wool from the district bringing high prices at sales.

During 1848-1849, convicts and free settlers began to move into the area. In late 1848, John Dow subdivided and sold his grant four ways. Half was bought by Colin MacCallum for £100, a quarter by Samuel Cook (who had worked for Dow as a convict) for £50, the other quarter by Stewart Morehead. In 1861 the Crown Lands Alienation Act decreed that any person could select 40 to 320 acres at £1 per acre. This opened up the area to squatters and settlers and became a thriving district, especially with the discovery of gold at nearby Moonan Brook.

Samuel Cook arrived in the area in 1843. He established the Willow Tree Inn on his section and farmed the land. He named his residence Moonan. Cook embarked on a mission to bring his relatives out from Ireland. He convinced his nephews John Miller and Samuel Mitchell that NSW would provide them with freedom and opportunities he would never have had in Ireland which was suffering from the Potato Famine of 1844 -1849. In 1858, they arrived in Australia on a sailing vessel named Peter Maxwell to help Samuel Cook work his place. Samuel Cook's contribution to the pioneer development of the Upper Hunter with the help of the family members that he brought from Ireland remains today. Cook's Gap is named after Samuel Cook. Many streets in the village are named after early settlers.

A man named Bell attempted to explore the course of a fast flowing creek stream that branched off a flat of the Hunter River about 50kms east of Scone. However, he found the aborigines to be very hostile and troublesome, so he gave up. Still, he named the part he had explored - Bell's Brook (now known as Moonan Brook). On the west side of the convergence of the brook and river, a township began to develop. It was known as Macqueen, so called after Potter Macqueen. In 1870, the town was originally to be called Parkstone but the name was changed to Macqueen after Thomas Potter Macqueen. Eventually it all became known as Moonan Flat and the school and post office were on the east side of the river. The area was proclaimed a Town in 1885 but was not officially named Moonan Flat until 1916.

Some well known aborigines became trusted servants in the district and good stockmen - Jimmy, Jimmy Crimp, Boodle, Teddy Adams, Don Clark and Walter Clark.