Astoria Park Resumes

Henry suggested that William stay the night with him for he had much more to discuss with him on the morrow. William could not hide his delight at this suggestion.

There was no pretence, Juliana was waiting in William's room. "Shall I help Sir to disrobe? There be warm water in the washbowl, I will assist Sir with his washing, if Sir so desires."

"You must call me William, and you are?"

"I be Juliana Sir, William."

"And how old are you my dear?"

"I shall not tell ye, a girl must have some secrets."

She was giving William a sponge bath, washing his face and chest before her hand drifted down to loosen his trousers and britches. "Sir is most generous of build." She said as she washed his now fully erect penis.

"I have been told that on a number of occasions."

"By your wife?"

"No, she is one woman who does not remark on such things."

"So you are married then?"

"At the moment, yes."

to Astoria Park prospered under the management of firstly, Priscilla and Ben Robinson. Yes, they wed as soon as the news reached them from England that Sir William had been hanged for the murder of Juliana Langtry. She was now no longer Lady Priscilla Astor, she was happily settled as Mrs Priscilla Robinson.

Isobel and James had wed as planned and were well on the way to becoming a large family. The burden of raising their children was shared between them both and a Nanny. Isobel was gradually taking over the administration of the property, having proven her capabilities under the watchful eyes of Ben and Priscilla. James was, under Ben's watchful eyes, assuming more control of the actual running of the property.

-o-0-o-

Young William Astor, he no longer was called 'Wills', had settled into a larger house to accommodate his growing family. William was advancing in his employment at Thompson's. This had caused some friction that threatened to destroy his friendship with 'Thommo' when he was promoted over the owner's own son. It took the intervention of the senior Thompson to satisfactorily resolve the issue.

-o-0-o-

Laurence Fielding had accepted the position of Parish Priest at Cootamundra, and he and Elizabeth were making new friends among the parishioners of that town. As it was only a short journey by buggy to Astoria Park, they visited often. There was talk that once the village of Astoria was established they could apply to set up a church there, but that was still some time in the future.

-o-0-o-

The railway was under construction and a siding would be ready for use for the next grain harvest. The farmers of the district had embraced the concept of transporting their harvest and clip by the railway to Sydney rather than it having to travel the considerable distance to the Murray River and then by barge downriver to Goolwa. The other alternative was the sometimes hazardous journey by bullock team. This was slow as the crop or fleece could not be easily carried with the teams available.

-o-0-o-

For over a hundred and fifty years the fortunes of Astoria Park prospered. It had become a large Pastoral Company. While still under the control of the Astor family it had prospered, but then there were several years of drought that forced the Astoria Park Pastoral Company to borrow money from the banks to allow them to continue. Then a change had set in. Interest rates had risen to the point where it became increasingly difficult to service the loans so freely given by the bank. The bank foreclosed. Traditional markets for their product were no longer available to them. With the advent of the European Economic Community and its preference for local produce, Australia had to find new markets. This was not helped by the US making incursions into prospective markets with its 'dumping' of heavily subsidised excess production onto those markets. Several Money Market crashes have resulted in shrinking economies world-wide. Astoria Park died. The life of the farmer in Australia had become so difficult, that the children of farming families have been forced off the land to seek employment in the cities.

What was once man's triumph over the harsh land, had become a millstone around the necks of the descendants of those pioneering families. A once proud tradition, combined with changing circumstances, had failed to survive these changes.