The plan to establish an amalgamated wilderness reserve of 60,000 acres to stretch from Fitzroy Falls to the Shoalhaven River was carried unanimously at a public meeting in Moss Vale in December 1937.

Mark Morton MLA, the State member for Wollondilly who initiated the proposal, energetically pursued its progress through the NSW legislature. Within 12 months a reduced area was gazetted as a Primitive Reserve on September 13, 1938.

'Moollattoo Primitive Park: 45,000 Acres Reserved' was the headline of an article in the Southern Mail newspaper on that day.

It reported that "an area of about 45,000 acres has been reserved to constitute the Moollattoo National Park, for which our State member (Mr M F Morton) has been working assiduously for some time past. Trustees will be appointed at an early date. We congratulate Mr Morton upon his success in securing for the people of Australia an area for the preservation of natural animals, plants and flowers for all time".

A detailed description of the reserve's boundaries as set out in the Gazette were given and extended to several columns. In essence, the reserve encompassed the Fitzroy Falls Trust, the trustees having resigned in order to facilitate the dedication of the extended reserve, and the Parishes of Burrawang, Yarrunga, Caoura, Meryla, Moollattoo, Talwal and Yallowal, within the Counties of Camden and St Vincent, totalling about 45,000 acres.

Two weeks later, at the age of 74 years and on his birthday, Mark Morton passed away in his sleep at his home in Nowra.

Although appointment of the Trustees had not been finalised at the time of Morton's death, he had recommended to the Minister of Lands the names of suitable trustees, persons he had chosen with much time and thought, no doubt in appreciation of the difficulty of the tasks ahead of them.

THOSE whom he had recommended and who were appointed on September 30, 1938 to the Trust were:

Lady Charlotte Isabel Horden (wife of Sir Samuel Horden and daughter of a NSW premier); Colonel Harold Johnson (Secretary of the NRMA); George Allman (Under-Secretary, Dept of Lands); Hector Lamond (proprietor of the Southern Mail); Haille Paine (Moss Vale solicitor); and John Starkey (erstwhile secretary of the Fitzroy Falls Trust). Henry Bate who succeeded Morton as the Member for Wollondilly was also subsequently appointed.

The first meeting of the Trust was held on March 17, 1939 with Starkey as Chairman and Lamond as Secretary. Discussion took place as to a suitable name for the Reserve. The name "Morton Primitive Reserve" was adopted unanimously, 'in honour of the late Mark Morton and in recognition of his untiring efforts to establish it'.

The Aboriginal word 'Moollattoo' that had been used as the Primitive Reserve's original name was quickly forgotten.

No sooner had the Reserve been established than the Second World War commenced. Funds for the Reserve's care and control were not forthcoming. Rather than press the issue, the Trustees, in response to the national emergency, decided to adopt a holding brief until the end of hostilities.

These original Trustees, all dedicated conservationists, are remembered for the forthright manner in which they defended the Reserve against the strong representations of timber interests seeking to exploit the timber therein.

Almost immediately from the time of its inception, timber interests began agitating for licences to remove the timber, although no objections had been raised at the time of the public meeting nor at the time of its gazettal. Notwithstanding constant pressure during the war years, the Trustees were steadfast in their determination to protect the Reserve and faithful to the Trust imposed upon them.

The commercial value of the timber and its variety may be appreciated through the tenacity of the timber industry in its efforts to exploit the timber resources - another serious attempt was made in 1944, and again in 1947, to open the area to logging.

Active support was given to the Trustees by the Forestry Advisory Council of NSW along with the Sydney Bush Walkers Club, the Wild Life Preservation Society of Aust and the Caloola Club.

Eventually in 1954 the Forestry Committee indicated that it did not desire to proceed with action to revoke any part of the Reserve and this ended the agitation for timber extraction.

The Reserve became Morton National Park in 1961 and, after control passed to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967, it expanded southward to become the fifth largest National Park in the State.

This wilderness area preserves a diverse habitat and a rugged, scenically magnificent landscape.

This article compiled by PHILIP MORTON is sourced from the archives of Berrima District Historical & Family History Society, Bowral Rd, Mittagong. Contribution of information and old photographs welcome. Phone 4872 2169.

Email bdhsarchives@gmail.com.

Web: berrimadistricthistoricalsociety.org.au