Early European Settler Joseph Pike
Joseph Pike (1808-1886) was a European settler who helped create the township of Kiama.
Joseph Pike started his journey by being sentenced to death in England for housebreaking offences in 1829, which was later changed to 14 years’ transportation. Joseph arrived in the colony of NSW in December 1829, and served his sentence assigned to John Wyllie, first on a farm in western NSW and then in Dapto. Due to his good behaviour, Pike only served seven of his 14 years before receiving his Certificate of Freedom in 1837.
Joseph married ex-convict Mary Talbot in 1838 and purchased land in Kiama and moved here in 1846, shortly after Kiama was proclaimed a township in 1839. The first settlers who purchased land in 1840 found it difficult to find their blocks due to the amount of jungle growth. Surveyor Burnett designed the street plan and had to mark out the street corners with 12-foot posts so they could be seen above the scrub.
Joseph became a shrewd businessman and played a pivotal role in the commercial development of the town. He opened the first general store in Kiama on 1 January 1847 on his land, which was later to become Pike's Hill. Joseph was a successful farmer, and he owned and built many properties around the Kiama Area, including a hotel called the Gold Diggers Arms Hotel on Pike's Hill in 1853. He was a director and shareholder of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company, a director of the Pioneer Dairy (Butter) Factory, and a founding member of the Kiama Municipal Council in 1859, serving as Mayor six times.
In 1857 Joseph Pike employed a young 22-year-old immigrant to do some work on his Foxground property. In clearing rocks for Pike, Thomas Newing then used these rocks to build his first stone wall and realised that he could make a living out of this trade.
Terralong Street, Kiama, looking west towards Pike's Hill (before the cutting), c.1860.
Pike's Cutting (at the top of Terralong Street near the current Ambulance Station), Kiama, c.1880., looking west.
Pike's Cutting, Kiama, looking east, c.1950s.
