NameSawtell, Alfred EdmundOccupationFarmerPlace of ResidenceRiversford, TullimbarBiographyAlfred Edmund Sawtell was born in 1861 to Edmund and Ruth Sawtell (nee Denniss).
Alfred's father Edmund had arrived in Australia in 1855 aged about 20, with his mother Ann, who was listed as a widow. Edmund's father (also named Edmund) had died in Somerset in 1847.
Ruth Dennis was born in 1837 to Richard and Sarah (nee Gillett), and had arrived with her parents and siblings as a child aboard the 'Westminster' in 1838. The Denniss' settled in the Marshall Mount area.
Alfred Sawtell farmed at 'Lake View', the former Fraser family farm which sat high on a ridge at Tongarra.
In 1887, Alfred married Margaret Falloon, daughter of Samuel and Annie Falloon, who lived on a neighbouring farm at Tongarra.
The couple had three children;
Leslie b.1888 (married Eva Jane Queenie McIntosh)
Bessie b.1891 (married Janes Liddell Aitken, died 1960, Kiama)
Jane b.1895 (died 1967, Kiama)
The Sawtell's later farmed 'Riversford', Tullimbar, the site of the Christmas tree farm today.
Bessie married James Aitken and the couple lived at what is today the Tullimbah Inn.
The Sawtell’s (pronounced Sottell’s according to Albion Park locals) have lived in the area for generations and their descendants are many in number.
Another family branch lived and farmed at Macquarie Pass. Bill and Doreen Sawtell farmed Clover Hill and ran a dairy. Milk had to be taken by horse and cart from the farm to the Macquarie Pass Road, 3 kilometres away, where it was picked up by Fred Graham and delivered to the Illawarra Cooperative Central Dairy Factory at Albion Park Rail. With no electricity or refrigeration, milk was kept cold until the next pick-up by placing it in a spring or creek near the dairy.