Note that the photo in this article is of David Madill, Matthew's son even though it states Matthew Madill.

Letters open up whole new world A letter from Matthew Madill to his orphan niece Margret Tailor in Drumsoad, Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland, April 16, 1874. Your aunt and cousins had a letter wrote about six months ago. I would not let them seal it because they were encouraging you to come out and that was what I did not like because I had not a way that time to keep you from the strangers, but thanks be to God, it is not so now for I have selected 160 acres of land. I have one year’s rent paid on it and has got my licence. I am not labouring it nor won’t til November. The rent is only 2shillings an acre and in 10 years I have it free, so thanks be to God it won’t be so bad with you as it is at present if the Lords spares me, for dear Margaret, I am going to send you £2 now and Ann Jane’s husband, Mr John Sherry, is going to send you £1. If you be a wise good girl and stop single. The ‘assistant emigration” is stopped for a time; we expect it will commence again. Make up your mind and send me word if you will come out to this country and I will pay your passage.

His daughter Mary Ellen Madill also wrote to her cousin Margaret on January 21, 1875. Dear cousin Margaret, I think long to see you out here till you and I take a horse each and a kangaroo’s dog and then go a hunt after the kangaroos and emus. The girls here does no outside work. It is all housework. If you were in this country you would never see porridge anymore. In this country you would have to learn to ride for you cannot go to your next neighbour without riding, it is so far. When I go out I always ride on horseback. If you were here you could not sleep in the morning for laughing jackasses and cockatoos and parrots and curlews and native companions and a lot of other birds. Father shot some emus and it took three men to lift it into the cart. The old man kangaroo is much about the same weight ... I wish you were out here cousin Margaret. We would have such fun. We have our house build in about 10 acres of pine trees. They are about eight foot high. We have about 100 large trees father is going to cut down and get sawed for building purposes.