In February 1813 Rowland applied for the position of Superintendent of Government Stock, seemingly a most unlikely occupation for a man with his background, a fact which he appeared to acknowledge as he said: “I flatter myself I should -find no difficulty in paying due attention to … [the position] by having an active person under my direction, which we can easily find”. It was not until March 1814 that Macquarie appointed him to the post at a salary of £100 per year, and there he remained until 1819, assisted by his son, Samuel.
This position put Rowland in control of the Cowpastures, the most extensive run in the colony. Some years earlier a small herd of cattle sent out by the King had broken through some fences and wandered off in search of better pastures. A large reward was offered for anyone who found them, but it was some years later that an eccentric poet wandered off into the bush and stumbled over them. They had multiplied considerably. The area in which they were found became known as The Cowpastures and includes the areas now known as Camden and Cobbitty.
With his new position, Rowland was responsible for the distribution of cattle and for the maintenance of the herds. He accepted cattle in payment for debts owed to the government. He decided which cattle were to be slaughtered and, after the establishment of the herds on the Bathurst plains, arranged those cattle to be brought back over the Blue Mountains. He built stockyards, a mill and a residence for the Principal Overseer at the Cowpastures. He valued the stockyards built at Bathurst by William Cox which the government wished to buy. He fenced areas for the keeping of cattle at Rooty Hill and there he built a house and offices for the accommodation of the Principal Overseer of Government stock.
In April 1815 Governor Macquarie and his wife took their carriage on a journey on Cox’s new road over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst. From Parramatta to the first depot after the Nepean River, Rowland Hassall accompanied the Governor. At Emu Plains, Macquarie inspected the government herd of young heifers that were gathered specially in the government stockyards by Rowland.
On the way back, Macquarie stopped overnight at Mrs King’s farm on the Nepean River, which was still being managed by Rowland, who provided Macquarie and his party with a “most excellent dinner”.
Six months later, Macquarie toured the Cowpastures district with eight others, including Rowland, his friend William Cox, Surveyor General John Oxley and Major Antill. The Oxley and Antill families would later become related through marriage.
During the journey, Macquarie visited Rowland’s farm on the Nepean, which he described as “very finely situated and beautiful” and was delighted that Rowland had called the farm Macquarie Grove. The party stayed there overnight, having spent eight hours on horseback covering 30 miles, then had dinner in the farmhouse (now known as Hassall Cottage).
The following morning being Sunday, Divine Service was performed on the verandah of the house and it was attended by the whole party and the Hassall family. That same morning, as Macquarie recorded in his journal, his favourite greyhound, Oscar, died there “in great agony” and the Governor “ordered him to be buried in a part of the farm of Macquarie Grove”.
The party continued its tour that day and returned to Macquarie Grove for the night before heading out to the Cook and Bringelly districts.
That same year Rowland went to Bathurst to inspect the government herds there. The weather was very cold, with strong winds and sleet. While they were sleeping at the Jamieson Valley, the party had a fright when William Lawson woke them at 2am to seek refuge:
“When Mr Lawson entered the Store room where we slept we were nearly all affrighted at his appearance what with his meagre face, being wet, cold, & starved with a blanket over his shoulders, in the dead time of night & in such a solitary place you cannot imagine what thoughts occupied our minds but the most dismal of all was the dreadful account he gave of the Season and country we had to go thro’ he pointed out that the snow a few miles ahead was 2 Inches deep, that the road to Bathurst was so boggy that no one could pass, that it had rained every day & that never in all his life had he gone thro’ such labour hardship and fatigue. That the frost & cold was so intense, that it was unbearable, that thro’ the Dreadful frost & intense cold a great number of Government Cows & Calves had died, & further that it would be impossible to keep Cattle over the mountains unless they were supported through the winter by artificial food. From these and similar observations, Your Excellency will perceive that we must be much discouraged in our future journey.”
Rowland found that Lawson’s report was indeed too true for there were many losses of cattle. He therefore shifted the remainder of the herd to a warmer site at Glenroy near Mount York. He continued his journey to Bathurst and then set out to examine the Fish River and Campbells River areas for suitable grazing lands. Generally he was pleased with what he saw and was very impressed with William Cox’s sheep in the vicinity.
Rowland found Bathurst was covered in a blanket of snow and was delighted by the sight, as he wrote:
“It was like a winter’s day in the month of January in England.”
Even during such a journey, Rowland felt it necessary to stop on Sunday morning at Bathurst and to gather all together in the Soldiers Hut for divine service: “Our congregation was small but I thought the Lords day should not be forgotten altogether…”
At times the work of Superintendent of Government Stock was fraught with danger and Rowland wrote to Governor Macquarie giving a graphic account of terror during the floods on the Nepean River in March 1819. On a day when the flood waters were raging and high, distress guns were heard, so Samuel Otoo Hassall, three workmen and a constable took the government boat down the river towards Macarthur’s wharf. There on the flats they saw two men stranded near their stacks of wheat and up to their armpits in water. The boat was manoeuvred near them and the men taken on board. As they tried to row to high ground one of the oars fouled and the boat was rushed by the raging torrent into a tree, throwing all the occupants into the river. Two who could not swim struggled to trees and climbed into them and there they remained until rescued much later. The others struggled out of their clothes and
“…swam to the high lands, being just saved in their bare skins, and some of them much bruised and hurt, and so weak that they were not able to stand: being thus situated I was thankful that so many lives were spared, and my dear son’s in the number…”
Constable Salter did not survive.
In June 1819 Rowland made his last inspection of the Bathurst area as Superintendent of Government Stock. Once again there were heavy rains and the rivers were all running high. Here he completed a muster of the stock – 4 bulls, 7 working oxen, 209 feeding bullocks, 30 steers, 116 male calves, 286 cows, 60 heifers, 112 female calves, a total of 822 head of horned cattle, 5 horses and 5 wether sheep. He was very satisfied with their condition.
He recommended to Macquarie the building of a new station along the Campbell River and suggested that the herd should be enhanced with more cattle from Emu Plains. He commented on destruction to foliage by caterpillars at the foot of Mount York, the same kind of destruction as he had observed at Emu Plains. He also ordered the removal of privately owned herds on land set aside for government stock.
There was a nasty accident when some of his party attempted to swim horses across the Fish River to retrieve a plough iron from the other side and one of the horses was swept away. The horse was not recovered but the man was rescued with great difficulty.
On 17 July 1819, George Johnston (Junior) was appointed to succeed Rowland as Superintendent of Government Stock.