A visit to Yetman in April 2017 – site of a Barden Family Tragedy

Yetman

Some of my Barden family lived at Bumble Park near Yetman in the 1890’s including my great great grandfather William Charles Barden and his daughter Adelaide Victoria Hartley nee Barden.  The town of Yetman dates from 1863 and was named after the Dight family’s property Yetman Station, a 70,000 acre property that they had held by 1837  – Source “John Dight and His Sons” – Norman Pixley Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 22.9.1977. John Dight and his family had arrived on the “Earl Cornwallis” in 1801 when he had been Ships Surgeon. The Dight family also had connections to colonial explorers Hamilton Hume and William Cox.

Barden Family Tragedy in the Macintyre River – June 26 1893

From mid June 1893 there had been concern at likely flooding of the Macintyre River in the Yetman area (1, 2) . In late June 1893, my great great grandfather William Charles Barden drowned in the Macintyre River at the Bumble Park area near Yetman, where he had been the local Poundkeeper. Note William’s wife Ann Margaret Barden nee Tulloch had already predeceased him in 1887, and all of his five children were well into adulthood, by 1893. According to his death certificate, William Charles Barden was buried on June 29 1893 in the Church of England Cemetery in Yetman, as notified by his daughter Adelaide Victoria Hartley nee Barden. His wife Ann Margaret Barden nee Tulloch had been buried on September 4 1887 at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Singleton.

Drowned in the McIntyre. – The Telegraph Brisbane – July 18 1893

Information was brought into Goondiwindi on June 29 (says the McIntyre Herald) by Mr. Sutton, the Yetman mailman, of the death- by drowning of Mr. William Barden. The deceased was known to have left Yetman on Monday Evening. He had to cross the river near Holdfast. He was riding and leading another horse. The first thing known afterwards was the discovery of the horses on Wednesday in a bend of the river not much frequented. The horses having been tracked to where they had emerged from the river, search was commenced for the body, which was found on Wednesday evening.

We passed through Yetman on April 21 in 2017, on the way from Inverell to Goondiwindi for the scattering of the ashes of Charlie Barden. Charlie was a son of Cyril Bernard Barden, grandson of Charles William Barden and great grandson of William Barden. A selection of our photos from 2017 are shown below, including the 12 metre high Richard Coventry Bridge, a key flood evacuation route for Yetman.

Richard Coventry Bridge, 12 metres high, on the Macintyre River at Yetman April 21 2017 – no sign of flooding today

Although 1893 seems to have been a wet year for NSW, however the 1893 flood at Yetman does not rate a mention in the Inverell Shire Flood Management Plan  information of 2013, though apparently records pre 1950 are problematic. Though it seems that the years of the 1890’s prior to the onset of the Federation Drought period from 1895 were very wet – influenced by La Nina. During 1893 severe floods were experienced from Maitland NSW north into Queensland and especially in Brisbane. The weather systems of 1893 were also influenced by the notorious East Coast Low Pressure systems.

Apparently the crossing at Holdfast Crossing goes under at a height of only 2.5 metres. And  on June 13 1893 the Sydney Evening News reported the rivers were all rising with a flood level of 33 feet, ie just over 10 metres, at Yetman (7, ). By June 24 1893 the flood level at Yetman was reported to be only 5 feet, ie just over 1.5 metres (8, ). Had William Barden misjudged the Macintyre?

Additionally, the Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser reported flooding concerns for Yetman back in 1868. The 1890 flood at Yetman, at 12.8 metres, was the flood of record prior to 2000 (1, 2), with the 1976 being the highest flood of the 20th Century. The 1890 flood is taken to be an approximation of the 1% event (aka 1 in 100 year flood) and there has not been a calculation of the PMF (probably maximum flood) for Yetman. So it would appear that the Richard Coventry Bridge at Yetman was not built to deal with a 1% event ?. However it would certainly have handled the severe flood events of the 20th Century.

Also “Seven or eight floods since 1890 have entered the village and caused real concern, the worst of them (1890 and 1976) covering the whole village to a depth of more than a metre. Only about ten of approximately 60 houses have floor levels which are above the level reached in 1976. In serious floods such as this one the duration of inundation is likely to be for several days.” – Source

Here’s some more 2017 photos of our visit to Yetman:

We noticed a lot of bats in Yetman in 2017 and apparently it was causing a ruckus in July 2017 in the town – however by September 2017 the bat colony had moved on. Northern Daily Leader

Here’s some more 2017 photos of Yetman: