On planning our roving around England, Uley in Gloucestershire was a 'must see'. Anyone who has read my One Tree Hill Sketchbook will know why. The rural district in South Australia that I lived in for 15 years was pioneered by a Uley man who perhaps hoped to recreate the finer aspects of his rural Gloucestershire home in the new but harsh land of South Australia. When he left Uley it would have been a town transformed from rural splendour to industrial revolution draconianism. Cloth mills had replaced farming and they were scattered all through and around the town, where streams were available for their processing needs. Life for Uley's inhabitants was far from idyllic at this stage in it's long history. Our district's founder, Moses Bendle Garlic, was a soldier, fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He was described as having been a weaver of "fine West of England Broadcloth" which was certainly the predominant persuit of his town at that time. One would imagine that on his return from the war he would have been faced with similar prospects as at his departure, and having had great (and perhaps terrible) adventures overseas he may have gained a taste for risk taking and been filled with a passion to live life to it's fullest and carve out a name and a fortune for himself. The late 1830's in Uley saw the collapse of the Woollen industry. This was the time that Moses made his move to the colonies so no doubt tough economic circumstances at home was the deciding factor. A tithe map of Uley, Gloucestershire was drawn up in 1836, showing all existing houses and public buildings in the area. 100 years later, the same buildings remained with very few new ones, indicating that growth had stagnated. There were certainly buckets of zeal when Moses began building a new Uley in the Antipodes. He accomplished much in his time but without his continued leadership, his town was gradually lost to become just more grazing and cropping country with other areas drawing it's people away. This fascinating man deserves more to be written about him as his period of time on earth was a turbulent and rich and exciting one. Any writings that may still exist on him would seem like real treasures to me but I suspect that very little survives. A dedicated search may well though, turn up snippets of information to help build a clearer picture of this remarkable man and his two Uley's.
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