Benjamin Boyd and Boydtown, Eden area, New South Wales

 

The town of Boydtown was established by Benjamin Boyd in the 1840's. Boyd was born in London in 1801 but lived most of his early life near Newton Stewart in Scotland. In 1825 Boyd became a member of the London Stock Exchange where he worked in shipping and commercial exchanges. In 1840, after sending ships to Australia to trade, Boyd became interested in purchasing land in Australia and setting up his own enterprises. Financed by the 'Royal Bank of Australia, Boyd and his brother James, set sail for Sydney in 1841, arriving on July 18 1842. Boyd straight away launched a number of different enterprises using his own money and the banks money. Hw set up a steamer operation between Sydney and the south coast. This encouraged both settlers and goods to relocate to the south coast, Melbourne and beyond.

It was on one of these voyages in 1842, that Boyd remained in Twofold Bay and set up a whaling camp. The first whaling settlement in the area was at Snug Cove, Eden, in 1828. Boyd named the town after himself, and attempted to make Boydtown the centre of his whaling and shipping businesses. He built cottages for his many workers,  Using Boydtown as his base for his many expanding enterprises, he built a 300 foot long jetty, Seahorse Inn, lighthouse tower, a church, stores and many workers cottages. Situated on Nullica Bay, today the Seahorse Inn remains, although not in the same form that Boyd has wanted. There is a long sandy beach and beautiful green lawns - great for picnics.

By 1844, Benjamin Boyd became the largest landowners in the colony. However, even though he used lowly paid indigenous and islander workers, his holdings were affected by drought and the 1840's depression, he over extended himself and found himself in financial difficulties. In 1847 Boyd lost control of his enterprises and by 1849 the Boydtown operations were closed. At this time, Boydtown had a population of 400 and Eden only 49. Most of the buildings Boyd had started were left incomplete, and he was in financial ruin. He left Australia in October 1849 and headed to the Californian goldfields. He failed at that and was last seen October 1851 on San Cristobel Island in the Soloman's, going game shooting.

The Seahorse Inn as it stands today, is a luxurious boutique hotel, with a Brasserie, saloon bar, cocktail bar, and function centre.

Boydtown is also a stop on the Killer Whale Trail, and tells the story of the original whalers, the first people, The Katungal group, who lived on this land and had a special understanding of the whales.

Boyd's Tower is located on the headland to the south of Boydtown. The road into the tower was closed due to bush-fire damage, and the more recent flooding damage, so we couldn't visit the tower. Located in Ben Boyd National Park, the tower was built between 1846 and 1848 as a lighthouse and whale watching tower, but like most of Boyd's constructions, was never completed. Boyd wanted the lighthouse to only be used for his own ships, so permission was never granted. It did make a good whale watching tower. A much smaller replica stands out the front of the Seahorse Inn.

The remains of Boyd's church is located to the right of the front of the Seahorse Inn, and was never consecrated or used. 

Today the area consists of the Seahorse Inn, a caravan park, and a new residential area. Discussions are ongoing about a name change due to the acknowledgement of Boyd being responsible for taking advantage of the local indigenous population in the construction of the town, and Boyd's relocating of islanders to work on his land.