PART TWO

The community of Wollongong and surrounds thought that Ben Rixon deserved a reward.

Mr Jenkins of Berkeley declined to chair a meeting and presentation at the Brighton Hotel although C. T. Smith was willing to accept the position.

At the public meeting on August 31, 1857, Benjamin Rixon was rewarded by the community with a large silver salver inscribed with a long message from the grateful inhabitants of Wollongong, along with a purse containing 100 sovereigns.

It was known, that whenever he was required, especially for tracking a man or beast lost in the bush with the endurance, courage and the skill displayed by him in the search for Quin was beyond praise. The gratitude by Charles Quin was shown when he paid £10 towards the presentation.

The men who accompanied Mr Rixon were also rewarded.

John Brasher and Constable Thomas Sanderson each received £10 and James Rixon, John Swepson and Thomas Barrett £5 each.

The NSW Legislative Assembly voted in August 1858 that £400 be set aside for the construction of the road from Figtree Bridge to Cordeaux River.

Besides Benjamin Rixon as the builder, others appointed for the works were superintendents Henry Gordon, William Stafford and John Garrett - all landholders in the area. In February 1861, William Stafford issued to Central Illawarra Municipal Council a certificate notifying of the completion of the road by Mr Rixon. At that meeting the aldermen approved the final payment of £16 to him.

As the years passed, Mr Rixon became too old to track up and down hill. It seems his heroism soon died. Reports after his passing gave some insight into the "forgotten hero".

Mr Rixon disposed of his property near Mount Kembla, which was acquired about 1871 by Deighton Taylor and wife Rachel Henning, who named it Springfield. By the 1880s, Mr Cole was customs officer for the port of Wollongong.

Occasionally he had taken Mr Rixon to live with him during his later years. When his health began to fail he went to live with his son James in Bulli. Benjamin Rixon died on July 20, 1886, aged 80.

It is truly a shame that he has become a forgotten hero, as in 19th century Australian folklore he had been praised as one of the greatest humans that ever lived.

In his lifetime (1860) a reporter wrote "there is much to admire in the character of a man who has devoted his energies and tasked his strength of constitution and power of endurance in the good and praiseworthy cause of assisting those in distress".

During WWI, 38 men, all descendants of Benjamin and Margaret Rixon, served in the armed forces; of those, eight made the ultimate sacrifice.

In April 1918, Mrs Salisbury of Woonona had completed an honour roll including images of the men. At the bottom, the wording "Descendants of the late Benjamin Rixon of Illawarra" includes the names of the men.

Information courtesy of Carol Herben OAM.  Call 0409 832 854 or email sycado6@bigpond.net.au