He writes:

“Louttit is the lessee of the quarry, which is on twenty-five acres of land. 

“The approach is about 300 yards from the water’s edge and has evidently been formed at great expense, to enable the tramway to run smoothly. The quarry is well worth a visit, consisting, as it does, of a solid mass of the most durable and unrivalled stone in the country, a material believed by geologists and architects to be capable of lasting for thousands of years.

The side of the hill towards the approach is cut away, and three other sides are almost perpendicular walls of granite. Lying before us is a grand block recently taken out. From memory the dimensions of the huge block were about 14 by 12 by 10 feet. I am informed that the weight of the block of the Captain Cook statue was 28 tons, and each of the pillars in the Post Office about 18 tons.

The block at present on the ground, is off course many times larger than any of these. The colour of the beautiful stone is relieved by a few stripes of veins of quartz which have a very pretty effect.”

It’s obvious the block of granite seen by the journalist would have to be split into different sizes for transportation by sailing ship to Sydney.

GPO billets – 10-12 tons (eight tons finished off lathe) and the main base rock for Captain Cook’s statue, 15-18 tons.

However, the story has given a more accurate time of the accident that involved John Louttit. A search of Sydney-based websites give assurance that the base and pedestal were completed by the end of 1869 and quarrying of the monument’s components was done in 1868.  

A story written by Mrs Shirley Jurmann describes the scene.

“The rock, weighing up to 18 tons, was too heavy for the tramway carriage and had to be rolled end over end to the waiting ship, taking about six days. A support pole on the shear leg gave way during the loadign operation, and the rock fell and crushed John. A doctor was called, but he was of the opinion that John could not possibly survive and it would be cruel to even attempt to set his many broken bones.

“Joseph’s wife Margaret refused to give up and put him to bed and applied hot poultices.

“When the doctor returned three days later, he was amazed to find John still alive and later pull himself around.

“He was however beset with rheumatism and Joseph would catch a shark, place it on corrugated iron in the hot sun until it rotted and its oil drained out. John smeared himself with the oil, choosing the the relief from pain despite the stench of the oil and his shunning by friends. John Flett Louttit never married and died on September 14, 1901. He is buried in the Presbyterian section of Moruya cemetery.”

The following, from Phillip Geeves’ book Sydney, tells of further problems with the rock:

“The stone was too big to fit into the hold of the 80 tonne schooner Settler’s Friend and so had to be positioned with about three-quarters of it above deck level. This made the ship very top heavy. One the second night out of Moruya the Settler’s Friend collided with a barque travelling in the same direction and the two ships became locked together. It seemed that both might sink. After much trouble the ships were finally separated with the help of axes. Three days later the Settler’s Friend limped into Port Jackson. The statue was unveiled 25.3.1879.”

All eleven children of Joseph and Margaret were born at the quarry, one dying from croup aged six years and eight months.

The eye problems troubling Joseph in the goldfields worsened and he was almost blind in later years.

The younger children were still at school and those working supported parents, brothers and sisters.

Joseph died from pneumonia in 1895 and is buried at Toragy Point, Moruya South Head. 

Joseph’s wife Margaret lived on at the quarry and later moved into her home on the corner of Hawdon and Luck Streets in Moruya, naming it Etherden after her maiden name and using the steering wheel of Joseph’s yawl as a front gate.

Magaret Louttit nee Etherden has a story in her own right.

From Shirley Jurmann: “Margaret was the fourth child of Benjamin Etherden and Sarah nee Hearne.

“She was born 21.7.1843 and Lower Portland Head, NSW. Benjamin Etherden was a convict transported for life for burlary in 1823. Sarah Hearne was the daughter of two convicts, Mary Flanagan and John Hearne. Mary, transported for seven years for stealing apparel and John, seven years for stealing a pig.

“Margaret’s father died when she was two years old. Her mother remarried when she was four years old and known as Margaret Page. 

“Shortly before her 20^th birthday, Margaret married Joseph Louttit on 14.7.1883 at Windsor, NSW.

“Joseph and Margaret lived all their married life in their home Mynora at the quarry, where they had 11 children. After living in town, she moved to be with her daughter Esther Hancock at Campbelltown, where she died from a cerebral haemorrhage on 19.12.1926.”