SAMUEL KERR
( 1822 – 1903)
Author : Robert H. Dumbrell. 13 November, 2008


Samuel Kerr. 1823 - 1850

Samuel Kerr was born in County Fermanagh, Ulster in 1822 to Samuel & Annie Neeson. His father was a military sergeant. He was baptised in the Catholic Church. His birth place in the County and childhood is unknown at this stage but it is recorded that he enlisted in the British Army, very probably in Northern Ireland on 6 August, 1842 and after basic training was promoted to Private in. the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot. His discharge papers dated 31 December 1849 at Auckland states that Samuel was a shoemaker by trade.

1843 - 1849 The 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot.

In 1843 it was decided that the 58th regiment (The Black Cuffs), who were stationed in Chatham Barracks at Gillingham, Kent, England, should take over garrison duties in New South Wales from the 80th (Stafford Volunteers) which was going to Madras. The 58th provided the guards for 19 convict ships that left London and Ireland for Tasmania or Norfolk Island in 1842-45. (for ships details, see “History of the Regiment” document).

The Regiment progressively arrived in NSW in 1844. Samuel sailed from London as a guard on the convict ship “Maria Somes” on 10 April, 1844 and arrived in Sydney 17 August that same year. As was the custom with the army, soldier’s wife and children accompanied them on their duties. In fact, from the regiment’s records, 140 wives and 175 children accompanied their soldier husbands to NSW in 1844/45. Samuel was assigned to Upper Military Barracks in Parramatta.

The site is now commonly referred to as the Lancer Barracks, and would appear to have been so named for most of the 20th Century. During its first phase of use from 1820, the site was known as the New Military Barracks, to distinguish it from earlier military barracks in Parramatta. In the 1830s it was referred to as the Upper Military Barracks, again to distinguish it from other barracks in particular the former Commissariat Store. From 1862 until 1897 the site was known as the Police Barracks.

In 1845 N.S.W. reluctantly agreed to send the 58th to N.Z. because of the unrest with the Maori in the Bay of Islands The regiment then had an officer compliment of approximately 40 and a total strength of about 1100. There were 932 privates and 18 buglers, pipers and drummers. The C.O.s were Lieutenant-Colonels E. B. and R. H. Wynyard, with Major C. Bridge as assistant.

The Regiment embarked for New Zealand on the barque the “Slain's Castle” on 10 April 1845 with a compliment of greater than 250 rank & file with Captain Cyprian Bridge the OIC. They arrived in Auckland on 22 April 1845, from whence they went straight up to the Bay of Islands to deal with the Maori tribes led by Hone Heke and his principal ally Kawiti who were in rebellion. They took part in the fighting at Okaihau, Ohaeawai, Ruapekapeka, Boulcott's Farm, Horokiri, and St. John's Wood.

Excepting for three companies who remained in the south of the North Island, the main body of the 58th regiment was withdrawn to NSW late in 1847. They sailed from Auckland on 6 December, arriving back in Sydney on 18th, where they again occupied the Upper Military Barracks at Parramatta quit some twenty months previously. As it turned out their sojourn back in NSW was only to last for six months. An escalation of trouble in the south of the North Island in the Wanganui area in May 1847 resulted in their return to New Zealand. They were to remain in New Zealand until 1857.


1850 Discharge from the British Army.

Samuel was discharged “on Payment” as a Private in Auckland on 31 December, 1849. He then spent a while living in New Zealand, possibly in Auckland where he married Jane O’Connor in 1851-52. Jane was 13 years younger than Samuel so that when Samuel was discharged she was nearly 15. Her parents, Patrick and Hester were Scottish out of Glasgow where Jane wa born in 1835.
Although unproven, it is sure that Samuel was employed in his profession of shoe making during his N.Z. civilian stay.

My research clearly indicated that the couple’s first child, Samuel Joseph was born in Sydney so they had only a short stay in NZ. Although I have yet to officially find a birth certificate for Samuel Joseph, his NSW death certificate clearly states that he was born in Sydney NSW and that he died in 1914 in Glebe and he was 62 years old. His father, Samuel Senior’s death certificate states the Samuel Joseph was 49 years when Samuel Senior died in 1903. That same certificate also states that Samuel senior lived 51 years in NSW and 8 years in New Zealand. If we analyses these figures we find that Samuel senior left NZ about 1852 and his son was born around 1854 and definitely in Sydney.

So, from these two records it clearly shows that Samuel Joseph was born in NSW in 1854. It also shows that Samuel & Jane left Auckland and arrived in Sydney between 1850 & 1854.


Life in Sydney. 1850 – 1859

Sydney was going through a very rapid change when Samuel & Jane arrived. Sydney Cove had been developed with the Circular Quay area finished in the late 1840s with the area around Bridge Street cleaned & reclaimed. The larger ships were now able to berth and discharge their goods directly onto the Quay. The Cove was packed with shipping ranging from the whale & seal hunters to the barques bringing goods & gold-seeking passengers & migrants who were hoping to find their fortunes in this land of opportunity. Samuel & Jane were here to start a new life and they didn’t take long to find their niche in Sydney.

Samuel had his trade and he had to find the right area to start his business.

Why not in the busiest part of Sydney Town.

Let me insert an extract from Geoffrey Scott’s book “ Sydney’s Highways of History”.

“It was a bustling, colourful area, with parrots & cockatoos in cages before the shop doors, the street crowded with sailors jingling Spanish dollars earned from months at sea on whaling & sealing voyages, the myriad creaking inn signs- the Crooked Billet, Rose of Australia, Three Jolly Sailors and World Turn’d Upside Down- and the XXXX on the corner of George & Globe Streets, built in 1840 which is still there today in beautiful condition.

By the 1850s this part of George Street was Chinatown & this contributed to the deafening noise of the bawling, scuffling, knife-branding hubbub in the area.
Jugglers, dancers & peddlers stopped the thoroughfare – all shouting at the top of their voices & trying to carry off strangers by force into their hops and stalls. The smell of cook-shops and joss sticks filled the air, mysterious sun-dried edibles dangled in the windows.”

This was the district with its unique atmosphere that Samuel & Jane decided to start their business and family. It must have to be a dramatic change to their way of live in Auckland. As yet, I have no address for their initial shop & dwelling. But, now it is clear that Samuel Joseph was the first born to the couple and he arrived in 1852 followed by Anne J in 1856. John Samuel Kerr was the next born to Jane and Samuel in Sydney in 1857. He died the same year.
The first official indication that I have found, of where they commenced their business activities, was in the City of Sydney Archives record of 1858 which states that a Samuel Kerr operated a “boot & shoe maker “ shop at 177 George Street between Essex Street & Brown Bear Lane (near present Alfred Street).

They had little time to get their act together when a daughter, Mary, was born in 1859. This is registrated in the NSW BDM Register. She died the same year.

Samuel’s army discharge certificate also states that he was a shoemaker by trade. I don’t know if he learnt this trade in the army or brought it with him when he originally joined in 1842. However, he continued to make and sell shoe and boots for the next thirty-odd years.

So, at the end of the 1850s Samuel & Jane with Anne & Samuel Joseph were living & operating their business flourishing at 177 George.

1860s A decade of moving.

Next data is in the Sands Directory of 1861 where it states that Samuel Kerr operated a bootmaking business at 147 George Street, two shops south of Globe Street and north of Brown Bear Lane, Sydney. It is only a 100 metres from Semi-Circular Quay with unrestricted clear views over the very busy waterfront. He would have lived on the premises.

Research shows that, in the early 60s, this area of George Street was under constant change with both street and building re-construction. The buildings were mainly timber and were being replaced with stone materials. The result was that the Samuel’s business moved a number of times but only within a very short distance.

(A modern tourist shopping complex now stands on this site.)

The next recorded child of the marriage was John Alexander who was born in 1864. Frederick William followed two years later but he died in 1867. The family brought a family plot (no. 20785) in the Old Catholic Section, Mortuary 1, Rookwood Cemetery, where Frederick was interned and other family members where buried later.
Some stability occurred in 1868 when Sophia arrived and the family settled in 147 George. Also Samuel Joseph was reaching an age where he could really assist in the shop and was eligible for apprenticeship.

Looking back at this past 10 years reveals a period of turbulence with constant city upgrading resulting in the family moving to new premises on a number of occasions. They now had 4 living children with 3 dying as well.

1870

The family moved a few doors south to 187 George, near Alfred Street, in 1870 when Essex Street was extended to George Street. Another healthy girl whom they called Esther was born in that year with Robert Edward coming in 1872 and Catherine in 1875.

Another move occurred in 1875 when a bootmaking shop was opened in 728 George Street in the Haymarket area near Hay Street. Perhaps they found the Rocks ‘too much’ for the young children and found that Haymarket was better for business. Catherine died and was buried in the family plot at Rookwood in 1875, the year she was born.
The eldest son, Samuel Joseph was married in 1878 to Anne Agnes McCarthy in Sydney.
The next year saw the arrival of the first of their two children. Catherine Esther, probably named after two of Samuel Joseph’s sisters were remembered.
It seems that the main branch of the family were keen to return to the Rocks. In 1883, Samuel branched out to a new enterprise of furniture making at 187 Cumberland Street. The premises were listed as a furniture warehouse in 1885 to 1888.
His bootmaking store at 187 George Street was still operating in 1889.


The Paddington connection.

It is unknown where the family lived since their arrival in Sydney. I assume that when they started their boot shop in George Street in 1856 they lived on the premises for many years. But the scene shifted to Paddington when Sands Directory recorded John as living in Underwood Street Paddington in 1885. All the siblings, apart from Samuel Joseph, were single and I imagine that they all lived together with their parents and the house was recorded in John’s name, John being 21 years.

By this time, Samuel was in his 60s. He had a very successful business going and three sons, Samuel Joseph, John Alexander and Robert Edward to help out. But he continued working at his shop in the city at 189 Cumberland Street – until 1889 when he retired and remained in Paddington.
I also believe that Robert Edward, being the youngest son and not the heir to the business looked elsewhere about this time. Gold had been found in Hall’s Creek, Western Australia in 1885 and in Coolgardie in 1891. Robert, unmarried and in his 20 years, took off to find his own fortune. He sailed to the west with a gold sovereign that his mother had sewn in his coat. It came in handy during his hard times on the gold-fields around Kalgoorlie. He return to Paddington unsuccessful where he met Anna Elizabeth Robson, the eldest daughter of the local police constable who lived around the corner in 53 Elizabeth Street, Paddington..Her mother, Margaret McAdam, came from Derrycorr, Tartaraghan Parish, County Amargh in Northern Ireland and is not far from Robert’s father’s home county of Fermanagh. (Derrycorr is a small village about 10miles north-west of Portadown). (The premises at 53 Elizabeth Street is still standing in Paddington and in very good condition).

Unfortunately, Mother Jane died in Paddington in October, 1896 and she was buried with her two children, John Samuel and Catherine, at Rookwood cemetery. She was 61 years of age.
There was still Samuel Senior, John Alexander, Robert, Sophia and Esther living in the Underwood house. That was until 1899 when Robert married his Anna Elizabeth on the 22 September in Paddington but I am unsure if it was the Catholic or Church of England church. (Samuel was a Catholic and John Robson a Church of England). But I’m betting it was the Catholic Church when you realise that all their future girls were baptised in the Catholic religion..
John Alexander wed Anne Carlton in Sydney and to me that does not mean Paddington. So Anne may not have been a local girl. They lived in Broughton Street, Glebe during their early married years.
Glebe whilst Robert and Anna moved to Newtown where they further cut their shoe business ties by opening a draper shop in 196 Enmore Road, Newtown.
Children soon followed with Robert & Anna opening the account with the first of their seven daughters, Florenda Doris on 13 March 1900. Florenda was probably named after one of Anna sisters who had died as a baby in 1874.

John and Anne followed suite in 1901 by producing a son that they called Carl Vincent
Florenda and Carl were to remain firm friends throughout their lives.

Finally, daughters were born to the two family in 1903;
 Mamie to Robert and Anna
 Annie to John and Anne

The end of the era is apparent with the death of Samuel in Paddington on 6 July, 1903 at his home in 83 Paddington Street, Paddington.. He joined his wife and two children in the family grave in the Old Catholic Mortuary Cemetery, Rookwood on the 6 September. His life of 81 years had seen many changes covering the hardships in Northern Ireland as a Catholic, the perils of the Maori Wars and the build-up of the successful business during those changing years in mid century Sydney.


He left Samuel Joseph, 49, Annie, 47, John Alexander, 38, Sophia, 32, Robert Edward, 29, with grandchildren. He has spent 8 years in NZ and 51 years in NSW.


STATEMENT WRT SAMUEL’S DEATH CERTIFICATE.

Date of Death 6 July, 1903

Age at death 79

Time in Colony 51 years NSW, 8 years NZ.

Children of Marriage Living

Samuel Joseph 49,
Ann J 47
John Alexander 38
Sophia 34
Esther 32
Robert Edward 29

2 Males, 3 Females deceased.