After a short period running a mill at what became Lake Monger, he established a hotel and store in York and went on to become one of the richest men in the colony.
[3][4] He was an assisted immigrant, indentured to Colonel Peter Latour, who planned an ambitious emigration scheme on 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of land in the Leschenault area near Bunbury.
[8] A Mr Halliday "met his death by violence" near the Lake and Monger and at first "natives" and then a sawyer called John Ellis (a "timid man") were suspected of the shooting.
[9] Monger (who was accustomed to conversing with the natives – "he understood a few of their words, and the rest were made intelligible to him by signs") gave evidence.
[9] "The Natives have become so troublesome to Mr Monger, his wife and young children that he has this morning applied for a sufficient military force to repel them.
Their numbers in the neighbourhood of the Lake have greatly increased, by accession from other vicious tribes, all larger and more powerful men than those we have been accustomed to see.
[15] On 21 May 1836, Monger's banker, William Lamb,[16] put up for auction his house at Mt Eliza plus "200 acres of land situated on one of the Lakes at the back of Perth".
While everyone else was wanting a grant of farmland for sheep grazing, Monger saw an opportunity to open a hotel and store.
[25] He was described as being "a publican, of York" on 5 February 1837, when he had to personally eject a troublesome private in the 21st Regiment named John Curran, who was later charged with assault for hitting Monger with a bludgeon.
[29] On 20 May 1839, the wife of Elijah Cook was murdered by Aboriginal people not far to the south of York, which caused shock waves throughout the Colony.
[30] In December 1838, Monger ("innkeeper of York") was charged with assaulting James Manson in the street in Perth, but the case was "compromised by paying the constable’s expenses equally".
He asked for the additional fee to be suspended, complaining that in a distant place like York, the remuneration from accommodation is limited and precarious, and that his crops had failed and he had lost some good friends to his business.
[35] Monger became unpopular because in October 1840, he declined to provide a dinner "according to promise" for the first Fair of the York Agricultural Society.
[36] Settler Dr Samuel Viveash commented in his diary entry of 22 December 1840: "Called on Monger, he was not inclined to settle my bill, indeed tried to snatch it out of my hand.
"[c] Monger's "store" was on the opposite side of Avon Terrace, and was a "long, low building", and "every three months his wagons would journey to Guildford or Perth for supplies".
[41] He also applied for permission to occupy an island to the north of the ford as a summer hotel but the Governor refused this request.
[42] In November 1842, he advertised for "a steady, industrious man to take charge of and drive a team of bullocks, and otherwise make himself generally useful".
[46] In May 1844, Monger gave technical assistance to Walkinshaw Cowan in his steam mill venture in Guildford, and was also an investor.
In addition to dealing in sandalwood, Monger was heavily involved in buying, selling, storing and carting wool.
A year later, Monger claimed that Bennett had stolen the two bullock's horns, and a number of other objects including three boards, screws and nails, a button, a pick and some tobacco.
Bennett successfully defended these charges and then sued Monger for £2,000 damages for malicious and vexatious prosecution for felony.
[66] The following year, Monger attempted to subdivide and put up for sale 16 half acre allotments, 9 on the river front and another 7 on the other side running towards Faversham, presumably not including his store.
[70] On 10 October 1856, Monger advertised that he was going to England on a temporary visit and all parties who owed him money should pay their bills or the matter would be put in the hands of his solicitors.
[71] In April 1857, Monger "enlivened the dullness of York by erecting a bell at his house, upon which is struck with considerable regularity, the hours, day and night".
[81] Janet Millett, who lived in York in the 1860s, commented at p 393 of An Australian Parsonage: Most of the successful storekeepers have been men who were brought up in the colony, and who know the position and prospects of almost everyone in it.
All this takes time and observation to learn, and renders it requisite for a new-comer to be cautious and distrustful of his own judgement at first starting.
Then, again, many of the settlers have so long been accustomed to look upon some one or other of the store-keepers as their factor and banker combined, sending him all their wool and produce of every description and drawing money from him when they require any advances, that they are completely in his power, and dare not go to any newly-established store for fear of his anger; thus much of the trade would be out of the new-comer's reach, however low might be his prices for stores supplied, however high the offers he might make for the purchase of colonial produce.
John Henry Monger Sr applied to purchase a block for him in Northam so he could set himself up with a store and hotel.