Stewart Ryrie, Junior (1812—1882) was a Scottish-born Australian pastoralist, surveyor and settler colonist of the Monaro district of New South Wales, Australia. He is associated with early colonial settlement of the Cooma and Jindabyne areas, and the exploration and survey of the Snowy Mountains.
Early life and family background
Stewart Ryrie, Junior was the fifth child of Stewart Ryrie (1778—1852) and his first wife Anne, née Stewart. He was born in 1812, at Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. He came to Australia in 1825, as a free settler, with his father, the new Deputy Commissary General, and the rest of his immediate family. His eldest brother was William Ryrie (1805-1856). Alexander Ryrie (1827–1909), David Ryrie (1829–1893), and John Ryrie (1826—1900) were his Australian-born half-siblings.
In 1830, his father moved to reside on his eldest son William's land grant, 'Arnprior', at Larbert. Ryrie was also living on that family landholding, near Braidwood, from around the same time. His brother James had a land grant nearby, at Durran Durra.
Exploration
Ryrie was one of the first settlers to explore and survey what is now known as the Snowy Mountains and the adjoining area that is now part of East Gippsland in Victoria. In December 1839, Deputy Surveyor-General, Samuel Augustus Perry, asked Ryrie to make a 'comprehensive examination of country which has not yet come under regular survey’. Ryrie made four journeys, during which he drew topographical views of the mountain ranges, some in ink but most in pencil. Ryrie was remunerated for this work, but apparently was not employed on the staff of the Surveyor-General's Department.
On 15 February 1840, his party crossed the Crackenback River and climbed the Ramshead Range, to where Kosciuszko Chalet stands today, at Charlottes Pass. He recorded in his diary that, 'on gaining the summit saw one of the highest points covered with snow to be distant to North West about three or four miles, but finding it too late to reach that point, turned S.W.’. Ryrie was one of the first settlers to sight Mount Kosciuszko—the highest point in mainland Australia—from so near, but missed the opportunity to reach its summit, some weeks before Count Strzelecki ascended and named the mountain, on 5 March 1840.
In April 1840, Ryrie, accompanied by an Aboriginal guide and three soldiers, came across Buchan Caves, in the course of a survey of the area. He entered one of the caves, on 7 April 1840—possibly the one now known as 'the Garage'—and was the first settler to see and describe the caves.
Landholder
His father, Stewart Ryrie, was insolvent in March 1844, with a deficiency of £7,861 10s. 5d., a large amount at that time. His father's squatting run in the Monaro, 'Coolringdon', officially changed ownership around this time. In 1845, Stewart Ryrie, Junior was managing 'Coolringdon' on behalf of a new owner, Dr Francis Lascelles Wallace, who was Stewart Ryrie's son-in-law. So, it seems that irrespective of the nominal ownership of 'Coolrington', it remained within the Ryrie family.
By 1848, Ryrie had two large sheep runs of his own, 'Cootalandra' 7,600 acres, and 'Jindabine East', 13,000 acres, both taken from Ngarigo people, the traditional owners, and held by payment of a licence fee to the colonial government. 'Jindabine East' lay on the left (eastern) bank of the Snowy River, east of the original site of the village of Jindabyne.
In 1851, Ryrie bought another run in the Monaro identified as 'Bullumbulling', probably 'Bullembalong'. By the late 1850s, his brother, Donald Ryrie (1810—1888), also seems to have been residing in the Jindabyne area, remaining there until his death. Ryrie sold most of his land at Jindabyne, in 1865, to a Mr Throsby, and he sold 'Bullembalong' to William Jardine, who soon afterwards sold it to Ryrie's brother, Donald. Ryrie retained 187 acres on the river bank, and he continued to reside in the Monaro region until 1873.