Garrett Cotter (1802–1886) was an Australian
convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...
. The
Cotter River
The Cotter River, a perennial river of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The Cotter River, together with the Queanbeyan River, is one of two rivers that p ...
,
Cotter Dam
The Cotter Dam is a concrete gravity and rockfill embankment dam across the Cotter River, located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Both the dam and river are named after early settler in the area Garrett Cotter. The impounded Cot ...
and Cotter Road in the
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...
are named after him.
From circa 1827, Garret Cotter inhabited the Cotter Valley. Cotter was born in 1802 in
County Cork
County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
. He had been a ploughman and was transported in 1822 on the ''Mangles''. He received his
ticket of leave
A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in United Kingdom, Britain and later adapted by the United States, Canada, and Ireland.
...
in 1843
and was working at
Currawang
Currawang is a rural locality, located to the north of Lake George. in New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the intersection between three councils, with the majority straddling the boundary between the Queanbeyan–Palerang Regional Council ...
on
Lake George but became involved in a dispute between his employer and his employer's neighbour and was banished to live beyond
the limits of location; in this case west of the
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...
. In 1841 he married Anne Russell. After five years of living in the Cotter Valley, he was conditionally pardoned in 1847
and moved to
Michelago
Michelago is a village in the Monaro region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council local government area, south of Canberra on the Monaro Highway. It was founded in the 1820s, on the main route from ...
.
He was listed as a squatter of Michelago in 1872. He and Anne had nine children. Garrett died in 1886 and Anne in 1897. Both are buried at Michelago.
[''Exploring the ACT and Southeast New South Wales'', J. Kay McDonald, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1985, p49 ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotter, Garret
Colony of New South Wales people
1802 births
1886 deaths