it is not known for sure who the first european explorers were in this area. hamilton hume and his neighbour, william broughton, had explored the yass area in 1821. they may have gone farther towards the lachlan. broughton had one of the first farms on the boorowa river in 1828. by 1849, he had of land in the area. other early settlers were james hassall in 1827. his family already had large farms at cowra by 1823. his brother tom hassal, a clergyman and his wife ann marsden (daughter of reverend samuel marsden) and other family members were given land in 1831. there was a law at the time which gave free land to the children of clergy.