{"id":6600,"date":"2026-11-15T12:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T01:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/?p=6600"},"modified":"2026-11-15T12:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T01:44:11","slug":"__trashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/15\/__trashed\/","title":{"rendered":"James Grant turns tail, or Woolnorth tigers run rampant in the mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">From 1852 to 1871 pioneering wool-grower the Van Diemen\u2019s Land Company (VDL Co) was an absentee landlord in Van Diemen\u2019s Land\/Tasmania. During this time, as a rental property, its flagship Woolnorth estate at Cape Grim in the far north-west developed a reputation for being overrun by thylacines and wild dogs, in that order of influence. The standard bearer for this reputation was Dr James Grant (1813\u201365), a Scottish-born Launceston surgeon, naturalist and sheep breeder. Having helped his friend Ronald Campbell Gunn ship the first two living thylacines to the London Zoo in 1850, and offered a reward for living specimens of the animal, Grant changed his tune when he became a wool-grower.<a href=\"#_ftn1\" id=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> As the Woolnorth tenant 1852\u201365, he appears to have inaugurated the role of the Mount Cameron West hunter-stockman who was paid a bonus for destroying thylacines, with Lawrence \u2018Larry\u2019 Quinn (c1824\u201379) receiving \u00a33 per kill.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" id=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> This was in response to Grant\u2019s belief that he was losing \u2018thousands\u2019 of his half-breed Cheviot sheep to thylacines.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" id=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/IMG_9478-Woolnorth-from-Burnie-REgional-Museum-straightened-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"753\" src=\"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/IMG_9478-Woolnorth-from-Burnie-REgional-Museum-straightened-1024x753.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/IMG_9478-Woolnorth-from-Burnie-REgional-Museum-straightened-980x720.jpg 980w, https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/IMG_9478-Woolnorth-from-Burnie-REgional-Museum-straightened-480x353.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The settlement at Woolnorth in the 1830s and later occupied by Grant. Sketch by Dr John Hutchinson courtesy of the Burnie Regional Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Grant seems to have entertained the idea of establishing a town of tenant farmers at Woolnorth, but his hopes for the property were soon dashed.<a href=\"#_ftn4\" id=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> He replaced the VDL Co\u2019s Woolnorth staff with Bothwell-born overseer Douglas McDowall, two shepherds known to McDowall and three probation pass holders.<a href=\"#_ftn5\" id=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> Grant was involved in the St Andrews\u2019 Immigration Society, a scheme to bring Scottish farm labourers to Tasmania, and at least two Scottish immigrants, the brothers Charles and Thomas Lillico, are known to have worked at Woolnorth.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" id=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> The only old Woolnorth servant re-employed was William Procter, who was eventually driven off the property under threat of prosecution.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" id=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> The loss of corporate knowledge, Woolnorth\u2019s remoteness and exposure to hunters\u2019 dogs may explain how a property with a few previous predation problems ended up with an alarming reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">When he arrived in 1852, McDowall was rightly concerned about the unchecked hunting that was going on in the region, exposing his flocks to kangaroo dogs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:400\">I am afraid I shall have some trouble with kangaroo hunters. I am told there are 15 persons and 20 dogs hunting between the Montagu and the Welcome. I scarcely know what plan to adopt to get rid of them.<a href=\"#_ftn8\" id=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Woolnorth-2-map.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"523\" height=\"571\" src=\"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Woolnorth-2-map.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6623\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Woolnorth-2-map.jpg 523w, https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Woolnorth-2-map-480x524.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 523px, 100vw\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Major features and stock runs at Woolnorth, <br>showing the original estate boundary. Topographic basemap from TheLIST copyright State of Tasmania.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Ironically, while the VDL Co\u2019s fortunes began to improve, with a 10-shilling dividend being declared in 1854, Grant\u2019s took a downturn.<a href=\"#_ftn9\" id=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a> By January 1858 he regretted taking the lease. \u2018We have had a good lambing,\u2019 Grant wrote then,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:400\">and if we could only keep down those destructive animals the Thylacines we might do well with Woolnorth in spite of all the losses. I have sold very few sheep\u2014not so many as I have sent down\u2014and yet I have not increased my flock since the day you made delivery six years ago. What a different result there would have been in Victoria or even in New Zealand.<a href=\"#_ftn10\" id=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Things had not improved by September of that year when Grant made his claim that he had<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:400\">lost thousands of sheep killed by the Thylacines or Native Wolves which are so [unceasing?] that I have been compelled to abandon my best ewes in consequence of the nightly destruction.<a href=\"#_ftn11\" id=\"_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Larry Quinn, son of the George Town gaoler, seems to have fared better than the Cheviots.<a href=\"#_ftn12\" id=\"_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a> In 1864 the former gold prospector was reported to have recently dispatched 10 tiger skins worth a reward of \u00a33 each to Launceston. <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em> proprietor Sophia Goodwin echoed Grant when she commented that<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:400\">Tiger hunting in Tasmania appears to be a profitable, as well as a healthful and sporting occupation \u2026 The Tiger is a most destructive foe to sheep. Its appearance disperses a flock in various directions. Though not very swift, it is untiring in its pursuit, and invariably follows its victim until it secures it. The Tiger is such an epicure that it \u2018turns up its nose\u2019 at \u2018cold mutton\u2019, and declines to dine more than once off a sheep, as long as he can secure another from the flock. The extent of havoc that ten of these bloodthirsty animals would consequently make in the Woolnorth flocks in a year, would be a serious item to deduct from the profits of the station.<a href=\"#_ftn13\" id=\"_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Quinn probably scored again in the following year when a bundle of Woolnorth \u2018hyena\u2019 skins were shipped to the VDL Co\u2019s Board of Directors in London.<a href=\"#_ftn14\" id=\"_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a> He even managed to hang onto his job for almost two years after Grant\u2019s death in 1865.<a href=\"#_ftn15\" id=\"_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a> It is unknown how many tigers\u2014or dogs\u2014Quinn killed at Woolnorth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A swashbuckler named Charles Winter glorified Quinn\u2019s job in a manner which probably would have suited Grant. Winter claimed to have spent two years at Woolnorth with Quinn, \u2018hunting the native tigers with bloodhounds\u2019.<a href=\"#_ftn16\" id=\"_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a> He recalled a tiger springing at one of the dogs, invoking a \u2018life-and-death struggle\u2019 between the animals. \u2018It was some time\u2019 he claimed, \u2018before the writer could get a chance to shoot the tiger without the risk of injuring the dog, but he finally dropped him with a charge of buckshot\u2019.<a href=\"#_ftn17\" id=\"_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a> Winter would have known his way around when in 1867 he reached Woolnorth after surviving the wreck of the pining schooner Rose Ann about 70 km away at the Pieman River.<a href=\"#_ftn18\" id=\"_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a> He retained the strength to pot more tigers during his northward trek.<a href=\"#_ftn19\" id=\"_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" id=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> EOG Scott, \u2018Tasmanian tigers for London Zoo: gift of ninety years ago\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Examiner<\/em>, 30 March 1940, p.12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" id=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Sophia Goodwin, editorial, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 10 September 1864, p.5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" id=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 10 September 1858, VDL25\/1\/1 (Tasmanian Archives, hereafter TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" id=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> See VDL25\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" id=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 17 February 1852, VDL22\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" id=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> \u2018Personal\u2019, <em>North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times<\/em>, 17 August 1908, p.2; \u2018Don\u2019, <em>North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times<\/em>, 22 April 1910, p.4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" id=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> \u2018One hundred pounds reward\u2019, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 19 September 1855, p.8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" id=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Douglas McDowall to James Gibson, 26 February 1852, VDL22\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" id=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> \u2018Van Diemen\u2019s Land Company\u2019, <em>Courier,<\/em> 26 June 1854, p.3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" id=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 28 January 1858, VDL22\/1\/2 (TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" id=\"_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 10 September 1858, VDL34\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" id=\"_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> Quinn was the son of probable ex-convict George Town gaoler Thomas Quinn (1827 census, CSO1\/1\/918, p.66, TA), <a href=\"https:\/\/librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=lawrence&amp;qu=quinn\">https:\/\/librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=lawrence&amp;qu=quinn<\/a>, accessed 2 August 2020. Larry Quinn was a George Town gold prospector as early as 1857 (\u2018Gold at George Town\u2019, <em>Tasmanian Daily News<\/em>, 21 July 1857, p.2). After his time at Woolnorth, he was a farmer, hunter and gold prospector in what became the Lefroy district. In 1869 he found gold while working with Samuel Richards, the man later recognised as the discoverer of payable gold at Nine Mile Springs (Lefroy) (\u2018Gold Rewards Commission\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner<\/em>, 1 October 1881, p.3). A 40-year-old miner named Lawrence Quinn married 44-year-old Julia Clarke at George Town in 1870 (no.103\/1870, RGD37\/1\/29, TA, <a href=\"https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn\">https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn#<\/a>, accessed 27 December 2017). Quinn offered his Enfield Farm for lease in 1873 (\u2018To let or sell\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner<\/em>, 15 November 1873, p.1). He died on 20 February 1879 of enteritis and exhaustion, the death being registered at George Town (no.192\/1879, RGD35\/1\/48, TA, <a href=\"https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn\">https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn<\/a>, accessed 27 December 2017). His age was give as 67 years, which conflicts with the age given on the 1827 census and his marriage certificate. Julia Quinn appeared on her late husband\u2019s behalf at an 1881 hearing in a vain effort to obtain some financial benefit from the first discovery of payable gold at Lefroy (\u2018Goldfield Reward Commission\u2019, <em>Mercury<\/em>, 24 September 1881, p.3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" id=\"_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> Sophia Goodwin, editorial, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 10 September 1864, p.5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" id=\"_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> Charles Nichols, Outward Despatch no.70, 26 August 1865, VDL1\/6 (TA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" id=\"_ftn15\">[15]<\/a> \u2018Death of Dr Grant\u2019, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 28 October 1865, p.4; \u2018Wreck of the Moyne\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner,<\/em> 29 June 1867, p.3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref16\" id=\"_ftn16\">[16]<\/a> Charles Winter, \u2018Do snakes swallow their young?\u2019, <em>Argus<\/em>, 9 January 1904, p.18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref17\" id=\"_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> \u2018Nature notes and queries\u2019, <em>Argus<\/em>, 22 April 1910, p.5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref18\" id=\"_ftn18\">[18]<\/a> \u2018An old salt\u2019s memories: tales of Bass Strait pirates\u2019, <em>Age,<\/em> 2 February 1921, p.17; \u2018Wrecks at Pieman\u2019s River\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner<\/em>, 18 April 1867, p.2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref19\" id=\"_ftn19\">[19]<\/a> \u2018An old salt\u2019s memories: tales of Bass Strait pirates\u2019, <em>Age,<\/em> 2 February 1921, p.17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From 1852 to 1871 pioneering wool-grower the Van Diemen\u2019s Land Company (VDL Co) was an absentee landlord in Van Diemen\u2019s Land\/Tasmania. During this time, as a rental property, its flagship Woolnorth estate at Cape Grim in the far north-west developed a reputation for being overrun by thylacines and wild dogs, in that order of influence. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>From 1852 to 1871 pioneering wool-grower the Van Diemen\u2019s Land Company (VDL Co) was an absentee landlord in Van Diemen\u2019s Land\/Tasmania. During this time, as a rental property, its flagship Woolnorth estate at Cape Grim in the far north-west developed a reputation for being overrun by thylacines and wild dogs, in that order of influence. The standard bearer for this reputation was Dr James Grant (1813\u201365), a Scottish-born Launceston surgeon, naturalist and sheep breeder. Having helped his friend Ronald Campbell Gunn ship the first two living thylacines to the London Zoo in 1850, and offered a reward for living specimens of the animal, Grant changed his tune when he became a wool-grower.<a href=\"#_ftn1\" id=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> As the Woolnorth tenant 1852\u201365, he appears to have inaugurated the role of the Mount Cameron West hunter-stockman who was paid a bonus for destroying thylacines, with Lawrence \u2018Larry\u2019 Quinn (c1824\u201379) receiving \u00a33 per kill.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" id=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> This was in response to Grant\u2019s belief that he was losing \u2018thousands\u2019 of his half-breed Cheviot sheep to thylacines.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" id=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Grant seems to have entertained the idea of establishing a town of tenant farmers at Woolnorth, but his hopes for the property were soon dashed.<a href=\"#_ftn4\" id=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> He replaced the VDL Co\u2019s Woolnorth staff with Bothwell-born overseer Douglas McDowall, two shepherds known to McDowall and three probation pass holders.<a href=\"#_ftn5\" id=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> Grant was involved in the St Andrews\u2019 Immigration Society, a scheme to bring Scottish farm labourers to Tasmania, and at least two Scottish immigrants, the brothers Charles and Thomas Lillico, are known to have worked at Woolnorth.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" id=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> The only old Woolnorth servant re-employed was William Procter, who was eventually driven off the property under threat of prosecution.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" id=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> The loss of corporate knowledge, Woolnorth\u2019s remoteness and exposure to hunters\u2019 dogs may explain how a property with a few previous predation problems ended up with an alarming reputation.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When he arrived in 1852, McDowall was rightly concerned about the unchecked hunting that was going on in the region, exposing his flocks to kangaroo dogs:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I am afraid I shall have some trouble with kangaroo hunters. I am told there are 15 persons and 20 dogs hunting between the Montagu and the Welcome. I scarcely know what plan to adopt to get rid of them.<a href=\"#_ftn8\" id=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Ironically, while the VDL Co\u2019s fortunes began to improve, with a 10-shilling dividend being declared in 1854, Grant\u2019s took a downturn.<a href=\"#_ftn9\" id=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a> By January 1858 he regretted taking the lease. \u2018We have had a good lambing,\u2019 Grant wrote then,<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>and if we could only keep down those destructive animals the Thylacines we might do well with Woolnorth in spite of all the losses. I have sold very few sheep\u2014not so many as I have sent down\u2014and yet I have not increased my flock since the day you made delivery six years ago. What a different result there would have been in Victoria or even in New Zealand.<a href=\"#_ftn10\" id=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Things had not improved by September of that year when Grant made his claim that he had<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>lost thousands of sheep killed by the Thylacines or Native Wolves which are so [unceasing?] that I have been compelled to abandon my best ewes in consequence of the nightly destruction.<a href=\"#_ftn11\" id=\"_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Larry Quinn, son of the George Town gaoler, seems to have fared better than the Cheviots.<a href=\"#_ftn12\" id=\"_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a> In 1864 the former gold prospector was reported to have recently dispatched 10 tiger skins worth a reward of \u00a33 each to Launceston. <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em> proprietor Sophia Goodwin echoed Grant when she commented that<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Tiger hunting in Tasmania appears to be a profitable, as well as a healthful and sporting occupation \u2026 The Tiger is a most destructive foe to sheep. Its appearance disperses a flock in various directions. Though not very swift, it is untiring in its pursuit, and invariably follows its victim until it secures it. The Tiger is such an epicure that it \u2018turns up its nose\u2019 at \u2018cold mutton\u2019, and declines to dine more than once off a sheep, as long as he can secure another from the flock. The extent of havoc that ten of these bloodthirsty animals would consequently make in the Woolnorth flocks in a year, would be a serious item to deduct from the profits of the station.<a href=\"#_ftn13\" id=\"_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Quinn probably scored again in the following year when a bundle of Woolnorth \u2018hyena\u2019 skins were shipped to the VDL Co\u2019s Board of Directors in London.<a href=\"#_ftn14\" id=\"_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a> He even managed to hang onto his job for almost two years after Grant\u2019s death in 1865.<a href=\"#_ftn15\" id=\"_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a> It is unknown how many tigers\u2014or dogs\u2014Quinn killed at Woolnorth.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>A swashbuckler named Charles Winter glorified Quinn\u2019s job in a manner which probably would have suited Grant. Winter claimed to have spent two years at Woolnorth with Quinn, \u2018hunting the native tigers with bloodhounds\u2019.<a href=\"#_ftn16\" id=\"_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a> He recalled a tiger springing at one of the dogs, invoking a \u2018life-and-death struggle\u2019 between the animals. \u2018It was some time\u2019 he claimed, \u2018before the writer could get a chance to shoot the tiger without the risk of injuring the dog, but he finally dropped him with a charge of buckshot\u2019.<a href=\"#_ftn17\" id=\"_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a> Winter would have known his way around when in 1867 he reached Woolnorth after surviving the wreck of the pining schooner Rose Ann about 70 km away at the Pieman River.<a href=\"#_ftn18\" id=\"_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a> He retained the strength to pot more tigers during his northward trek.<a href=\"#_ftn19\" id=\"_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:separator -->\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<!-- \/wp:separator -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" id=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> EOG Scott, \u2018Tasmanian tigers for London Zoo: gift of ninety years ago\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Examiner<\/em>, 30 March 1940, p.12.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" id=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Sophia Goodwin, editorial, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 10 September 1864, p.5.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" id=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 10 September 1858, VDL25\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" id=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> See VDL25\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" id=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 17 February 1852, VDL22\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" id=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> \u2018Personal\u2019, <em>North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times<\/em>, 17 August 1908, p.2; \u2018Don\u2019, <em>North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times<\/em>, 22 April 1910, p.4.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" id=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> \u2018One hundred pounds reward\u2019, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 19 September 1855, p.8.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" id=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Douglas McDowall to James Gibson, 26 February 1852, VDL22\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" id=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> \u2018Van Diemen\u2019s Land Company\u2019, <em>Courier,<\/em> 26 June 1854, p.3<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" id=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 28 January 1858, VDL22\/1\/2 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" id=\"_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> James Grant to James Gibson, 10 September 1858, VDL34\/1\/1 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" id=\"_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> Quinn was the son of probable ex-convict George Town gaoler Thomas Quinn (1827 census, CSO1\/1\/918, p.66, TA), <a href=\"https:\/\/librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=lawrence&amp;qu=quinn\">https:\/\/librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=lawrence&amp;qu=quinn<\/a>, accessed 2 August 2020. Larry Quinn was a George Town gold prospector as early as 1857 (\u2018Gold at George Town\u2019, <em>Tasmanian Daily News<\/em>, 21 July 1857, p.2). After his time at Woolnorth, he was a farmer, hunter and gold prospector in what became the Lefroy district. In 1869 he found gold while working with Samuel Richards, the man later recognised as the discoverer of payable gold at Nine Mile Springs (Lefroy) (\u2018Gold Rewards Commission\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner<\/em>, 1 October 1881, p.3). A 40-year-old miner named Lawrence Quinn married 44-year-old Julia Clarke at George Town in 1870 (no.103\/1870, RGD37\/1\/29, TA, <a href=\"https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn\">https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn#<\/a>, accessed 27 December 2017). Quinn offered his Enfield Farm for lease in 1873 (\u2018To let or sell\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner<\/em>, 15 November 1873, p.1). He died on 20 February 1879 of enteritis and exhaustion, the death being registered at George Town (no.192\/1879, RGD35\/1\/48, TA, <a href=\"https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn\">https:\/\/linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au\/client\/en_AU\/names\/search\/results?qu=laurence&amp;qu=quinn<\/a>, accessed 27 December 2017). His age was give as 67 years, which conflicts with the age given on the 1827 census and his marriage certificate. Julia Quinn appeared on her late husband\u2019s behalf at an 1881 hearing in a vain effort to obtain some financial benefit from the first discovery of payable gold at Lefroy (\u2018Goldfield Reward Commission\u2019, <em>Mercury<\/em>, 24 September 1881, p.3).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" id=\"_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> Sophia Goodwin, editorial, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 10 September 1864, p.5.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" id=\"_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> Charles Nichols, Outward Despatch no.70, 26 August 1865, VDL1\/6 (TA).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" id=\"_ftn15\">[15]<\/a> \u2018Death of Dr Grant\u2019, <em>Cornwall Chronicle<\/em>, 28 October 1865, p.4; \u2018Wreck of the Moyne\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner,<\/em> 29 June 1867, p.3.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref16\" id=\"_ftn16\">[16]<\/a> Charles Winter, \u2018Do snakes swallow their young?\u2019, <em>Argus<\/em>, 9 January 1904, p.18.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref17\" id=\"_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> \u2018Nature notes and queries\u2019, <em>Argus<\/em>, 22 April 1910, p.5.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref18\" id=\"_ftn18\">[18]<\/a> \u2018An old salt\u2019s memories: tales of Bass Strait pirates\u2019, <em>Age,<\/em> 2 February 1921, p.17; \u2018Wrecks at Pieman\u2019s River\u2019, <em>Launceston Examiner<\/em>, 18 April 1867, p.2.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref19\" id=\"_ftn19\">[19]<\/a> \u2018An old salt\u2019s memories: tales of Bass Strait pirates\u2019, <em>Age,<\/em> 2 February 1921, p.17.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"While Woolnorth was a rental property 1852-71 it developed a reputation as a killing field for sheep.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"James Grant turns tail, or Woolnorth tigers run rampant in the mind","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"article","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[232,313],"tags":[843,844,619,159,163],"class_list":["post-6600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-circular-head-history","category-story-of-the-thylacine","tag-james-grant","tag-larry-quinn","tag-thylacine-tasmanian-tiger","tag-van-diemens-land-company","tag-woolnorth","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6600"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6626,"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6600\/revisions\/6626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichaygarth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}