Neil’s sister Janis has been researching the Alexander family tree and discovered a bit of history about our grandmother’s great grandfather, Robert Adams (our great great great grandfather). He built a pub just north of Mount Gambier in 1865; which was demolished in 1901 but there is a memorial cairn acknowledging it on the Riddoch Highway (maplink).
Our task was to locate the memorial cairn, which we did!
Six Mile Inn Historic Marker
Here is a bit of history about it all…
My great/great/great grandfather Robert Adams was a convict sent to Van Dieman’s land. Robert was from Cheshire in England and was sentenced to 7 years for stealing 60lbs worth of iron worth 2/6d (25c), arriving in Tassie in January 1830.
Robert served five different masters and was not known as a model prisoner. He earned his ticket of leave and was freed into servitude to John Pascoe Fawkner in April 1836 and came back to Melbourne with him. When he had served his time with Fawkner, he went to work for the Learmonth brothers on a Sheep station at Buninyong, near Ballarat in Victoria.
Robert then worked with Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney and took the first herd of cattle to Adelaide, arriving in April 1838.
Robert settled in South Australia and settled into farming in the Robe area, Robert bought land at Peweena and built the Six Mile Inn in 1865. It was 6 miles from the centre of Mt Gambier. As well as running the pub he acted as the postmaster for Peweena and the mail coach stopped to pick up the mail bags. His son-in-law Yaxley Height was the last publican before the pub was demolished in 1901. Robert died in 1884.