A descendent of our early settlers and pioneers

Ken Bergin has a lifetime association with Bensville and Empire Bay. “It was an interesting way of life in the early days of the area,” recalls Ken.

Ken’s ancestors are from three of the early settler families including the Beattie’s, the Davis’s and the Settree’s. He is a descendent of Ben Davis (Bensville named after) and still lives on the ‘Alawa’ property near Palmers Lane which has been in the family for over a 120 years.

“My mother, Beryl Beattie, grew up on Alawa and attended Empire Bay Public School. She then moved to Sydney for work, where I was born”. He continued to maintain a strong link to his family in Bensville and Empire Bay while growing up. “Spending all of my school holidays here helping my grandfather, Jack Beattie with the dairy and poultry farm on the Alawa property,” Ken passionately reminiscence.

“From the age of five, my mother would put me on the train at Central. In those days it was safe, but she would always ask “the other passengers to make sure I disembarked at Woy Woy” Ken states with a smile. From Woy Woy, Ken would catch the ferry operating along the many wharfs from Woy Woy to Kincumber South, Bensville, Palmers Lane and Empire Bay. “When I retired,  I  moved to the Alawa property permanently.” Ken and has been a resident for the past 20 years.

From the 1930s, the Beattie dairy was supplying fresh milk to the Bensville, Empire Bay and Daley’s Point settlers. “Life of the dairy farmer was not easy as the cows had to be milked twice a day (3am and 1pm), every day by hand and by the light of a kerosene lamp”. He continues, “the milk was hand poured into a large vat on the back of a horse drawn sulky”.

During the early 1950s school holidays, Ken would come up from Sydney and help his grandfather, Jack Beattie, deliver the milk to the local residences. Each homeowner would leave a jug on the back step which would be filled by a stainless-steel measure from the vat. “I would then collect the coins left on the step”. A lace cover was placed over the jug to keep out the flies and insects. The dairy closed down in the 1950s when milk had to be pasteurised at the bottling plant at Wyoming. This was too far for the fresh milk to be transported so grandfather Jack delivered the bottled milk to the locals, including the Empire Bay School. Along Empire Bay Drive they had a cool room in which they stored the bottled milk. On Friday nights, as the Sydney holiday makers arrived, they helped themselves to the bottles and left the money in the “honesty box” nearby.

When the dairy closed, Ken’s family changed to cattle (veal) and poultry farming. Ken recalls the Christmas holidays were especially busy, “when the dressed poultry was popular for the Christmas dinner table.”

Looking back, Ken recalls “life was tough in the remote bush area of Bensville and Empire Bay where you had to support your family from the land and the waters around you.” His ancestors have stamped their mark here, from boat building, early farming and building strong roots in the area. He finishes our interview “I am proud of what my family and the early settlers achieved”.

We hope Ken’s story will help you understand the life of the early pioneers who, like all of us, were simply trying to support their family’s needs and dreams.

Robert Thompson interviewed Ken Bergin January 2021

Ken Bergin, a descendant of the early pioneers of Bensville and Empire Bay, has had a lifelong association with the local community.