janilye on Family Tree Circles

Some Ups and Downs of an old Richmondite, Mr. Alfred Smith
Chronicled by Robert Farlow.
[For the Gazette.]
Right in the corner of the vacant allotment at the corner of Paget and March streets, there stood a weatherboard house, which had a verandah in front. At the side of the house was a very large cedar tree. When I first remember the place the old man Douglas of all lived there. He would be great-grandfather to the present William Douglas, who we all know today as a good bricklayer in Richmond. In those days we always knew the corner as Douglas' corner, and the big tree at the side of the house as Douglas's cedar tree. I still have a vivid recollection of old Mr. Douglas. He used to wear his hair very long, brush it round behind his ears, and it would hang well on to his shoulders. He had two horses and carts, and hired them out to people who wanted to draw wood. He charged five shillings per day for each horse and cart. He had one very funny saying, which he would use on special occasions. It was this "Bad luck to all informers! You're a liar ! Whether or no too bad. cabbage is no good without pork." He bad two sons, wheelwrights, Joseph and Isaac, and about where Ernest Marlin is living at present there was a skillion, and they had a big workshop there. In this same skillion Ellen Cavanah lived for some time. I think old Saunders, the brickmaker,lived there also. Alderman T. Biddle's father was the agent. Where Mr Sid Paull's residence stands there was a blacksmith's shop kept by Dan Ward. He was a single man and lived with his mother, who we always knew as Granny Ward. I remember three daughters. Sarah married a man named Brett. Jane married a man named Ben Gawthorn, and went to Mudgee to live. I think there are some of the descendants about there now. Phyllis married a chemist named Lester, in Mudgee. Old Granny Ward had a white cockatoo, which could say almost anything, He would call her whenever she was wanted in her little shop. I understood he was 35 years old when Mrs Ward died, and I heard her daughter, Mrs Lester, took him to Mudgee. Outside her family she had a boarder named Robinson, who was a tailor. The old lady was a most industrious woman, and had a big mangle, with which she did a large trade.
Then there was vacant land till we came to where Mr W. Drayton is residing. Here was an old house, used as a school, which was kept by Mr Hogsflesh. Mrs Harrington, a widow, lived there after Mr Charles Hogsflesh kept the school. I think Mr Harrington was killed by the blacks somewhere up Kurrajong. Old Mrs Harrington was a chatty old woman. She often came round to Mr James for advice, as he was a constable. If I were about when she came she would say to me 'Go out !? get out of this!' and away I would have to go. Later she becme Mr. Preystnell, but the union did not turn out a happy one. They did not live long together, and Preystnell told me the reason.
In the course of time the property came into the hands of the Draytons, and is now owned by my old friend Mr W. Drayton. Some years ago he built an up to date cottage on the land, which has improved it so much that only us old hands can have an idea of what it was like in my boyhood days. Next door to this stood the old Horse and Jockey Hotel that was pulled down when the Imperial was built on the corner. The first person I remember living there was Thomas Silk, Harry's father, who kept it as an hotel. His sign was the Lion and the Unicorn. We lads had a song among ourselves which went : ? The Lion and the Unicorn Are fighting for the crown, Tbe Lion beat the Unicorn All around the town.
The first circus I ever saw was in tbe paddock at the back when Tom Silk kept the pub. A man named Croft was the proprietor, and I never forgot Quinn the tight rope walker. We thought it was something wonderful to see a man walking backwards and forwards on a tight rope. Old Mr Joseph Onus lived there for a while. Here he had ' Jerry Sneak,'the racehorse, half brother to the famous 'Jorrocks' The first gold cup run for in the colony was won by ' Jerry Sneak' at Homebusb. When old Mr Crisford and family first came to Richmond it was in this place they commenced housekeeping. Caleb Crisford was only talking to me about it the second last time he was in Richmond. Then a tall man, whose name I don't remember, kept a school there. He had a school also down on the 'Bottoms,' by 'Smashem' Smith's. One night as he was going to Windsor two fellows nearly killed him. The Rev. Father Terry, the Roman Catholic priest, held services upstairs in the big room. Old Mr Brooks also kept a school here, and no doubt some of his pupils are alive to-day in the district. At the time Mr. James Bates took it over to start pub keeping, the building was in a state of great disrepair, and it cost him a large sum of money to put it in thorough order. He was living there at the time of the '67 flood, and I heard it was about half an inch over the counter, but I was up the country at the time and only heard this.
Among others who kept the old place as an hotel will be remembered 'Black' Johnny Gough, ]im Ryan (Toby's son), Tom Hough, George Cobcroft, Tom Young, Campion, Ted Morgan and, after his death, his widow. On the piece of land on which the Imperial Hotel is built was a weatherboard place in which Dan Neil lived. Right on the corner he had a blacksmith's shop. I have been given to understand he was a Government man to old Mr Cox, of Clarendon, and did his blacksmithing. But to his credit, with good conduct and a good record he became a free man, and started black smithing on his own account on this corner.
On this same corner Tom Masters, of Windsor, kept his first little shop. He had been droving, but his health began to give way, and he decided to start in business. On the opposite side of the street where Joseph Ashton keeps his cases there was a little slab place with no verandah. 'Bill' Wilmott a shoemaker, lived in it. While living there he died suddenly. Mrs Morgan, who they called 'Betty,' a very stout woman, was his housekeeper. Next door, only on the same block of land, there stood one room in which lived an old bachelor known as 'Bob the Stockman.' For a long time he made ti-tree brooms, and sold them for sixpence each. He would go out to the Black Swamp and get the good class of ti-tree, cut it, and let it wilt for a certain time before making it into brooms. You would see him coming home with a large bundle of it on each shoulder. Where Mr. S. Orchard's own house stands, and where he kept a store for many years, stood a skillion with no verandah and containing three or four rooms. Here Mrs. Davis, mother of Mrs S. Orchard, lived for some time. Later on Mrs. Davis married Matthew Webb, a carpenter. It was Mr Webb who had the front put on and started storekeeping. Later on he went to St Mary's, and kept a tannery. He died over there. Tom Masters kept a general store there also. Coming down nearer the present day we knew it as a butcher's shop kept by 'Ike' Cornwell. Mr. Orchard conducted a successful business there and a general store for a long time.
What we now call the park, wasn't such a beauty spot when I first knew it, and was called the Market Square. In wet weather water would lie in a few places about the centre. It wasn't quite as level as now. There were a few trees standing, a few logs on the ground, and plenty of stumps. On the 5th of November, Guy Fawkes day, they would build a platform some five or six feet high about where the pavilion now stands, and make a effigy of a man. They had the effigy on show at day time, and large heaps of wood piled up about a a rod away. When night came they set fire to the man and heaps of wood, and great was the rejoicing.
Where the School of Arts and public school stands was the pound paddock. About where Constable Ross has his garden was the pound. The first poundkeeper I remember was old 'Dicky' Lounds.
Returning to the corner where Mr. S. Orchard keeps his present "Railway Stores" I remember there stood a skillion with a small verandah. In this humble, dwelling Charles Chamberlain, the fencer and splitter, lived. On the spot where Mr Orchard's store stands there were several lots of bricks made by 'Tim ' tbe brickmaker. This was the only name I knew him by. Where Mr. F. Gow's places are there stood a weatherboard skillion of four rooms and no verandah, which was occupied by Mr Tafe. He used to grow tobacco, and had two sons, Joe and Dick. After that there stood a brick skillion, where Mr Wade lived. Mr Wade was a gardener to Mr William Bowman. In his spare moments, and with the help of his wife, he used to raise a lot of good vegetables, his wife used to sell them. He also grew tobacco. He had two daughters, Jane, and Harriet. but only one son, I think. He had a tobacco press made out of logs and a long lever to press his tobacco leaf. A man named Province ? 'Ratty,' as he was always called ?lived with him for a long time and helped him with the tobacco.
A brick house stands on the allotment where Mr Guest's saleyards are. It is an old place. I don't remember it getting built, but I don't think it had been up many years when I first knew it. Here old Mr Ducker (Roland's father) kept a shop when they first came to Richmond. Old Mr Ducker was an industrious man and I recollect him driving his team up and down for goods. Mr B. Richards had a butcher's shop in the verandah portion on the end towards Mr F. Gow's property, and sold, mutton only. This was the last place he lived in in Richmond till he built the beautiful mansion 'Kamilaroi.' From here he went to live at the bridge, where he kept public house. Mr Joseph Single lived there also.
I have heard old Mr Martin, who married Miss Henderson (Granny Field) gave it to his granddaughter, who married Charley Price. Charley lived here a good while. Next door, where Miss Fergusson is living, must be a very old place, as it had an old look when I first recollect it. Mr King occupied the whole premises ? late years it has been made into two dwellings. Old Mr King was a nail maker, and consequently was always known as 'King the nailer.' He used to live in one end and have his shop in the other. After Mr King left it, Joe Poole lived there. He ran a one horse coach to Windsor. Nixon, the tailor, lived there also.
Then there was a vacant allotment next in my earliest days. Later on, but standing on this piece of ground is the old two-storey place which has been in the possession of the Price family for many years. The brick work was done by Caleb Crisford and his father. Grand father Price died there, as also did Rebecca, his daughter. It was from this place that Mrs Archie Kennedy buried a son, Donald, and a daughter, Mary, in a very short space of time.
Mrs Parkinson, who afterwards went to England, kept a school there.
Next door we have the old home of the Price family which I don't remember getting built. Old Mr. William Price of all (great grandfather of the two young Prices now living in Richmond), kept the second post office in Richmond in the old place. At the back was the tan-yard. He also carried on undertaking, &c.
Again there was vacant land, but afterwards there was a black-smith's shop erected, and this, combined with monumental work, made it a scene of activity.
I don't remember the house at the corner, owned by William Sly, getting built. The first I recollect living there was 'Joe the wheeler,' a wheelwright by trade. Joe engaged with Mr William Bowman to go to Tunnabutta but he never turned up. He arranged to go by Bell's Line, and some considerable time afterwards the remains of a man were found at the Bald Hill, seven miles the other side of Mount Tomah. As he was never heard of after leaving Richmond it was always thought to be his body.
Dr. Rowan lived there also. Miss Hawsey ? a miss, about 60 years of age ? kept house for him, and did dressmaking besides.
Where Mr Steve Dunston is living plays its part in Richmond's history.The first man I remember living there was James Griffiths. Then old Alexander Gough (father of the 'Johnny' who kept the Royal Hotel) lived there. He was a cooper by trade, and used to make the old fashioned churns, &c, and one of his make I worked many a time when making butter at old Mr James'.
On the same block of ground as John Sly has his house built, only about forty for fifty yards back from March-street, was an old slab place, I think, with a tremendous large vine in front of it. Here lived old Mr and Mrs William Magick. And here it was Mr Magick died at the reputed age of 108 years. I
remember the old man well. He had two bullocks, and with these he ploughed the back paddock of nearly an acre for old Mr George James where he lived. It was through ploughing the paddock I came to know him first. Further down there stood an old weatherboard place. I do not remember its erection. It contained four rooms and had a verandah. Robert Reeves ?'Bob Fatty,' as he was generally called? who owned this block from March-street to Lennox-street, lived in the house and kept a little shop. He sold pipes, tobacco, starch and blue, He died in this place and I saw him when he was dead. Mr. William Sharpe ? young Bill as we knew him then ? married the widow, and I think the old lady died there. At any rate some time after her death, I remember Sharpe marrying old Mrs Onus, mother of the old Joseph Onus, who did a great deal towards the making and advancement of Richmond. The two-storey place next door to where I have been speaking of I remember getting built. Burgess and Shelton kept a store there for a while Burgess married a Miss Dargin, of Windsor, I understood. Thomas Bell, after leaving 'Belmont' came there to live. I sold him many 'possum skins while he lived there. I remember well old Mr Bowen (father of Mr G. B. Bowen, of 'Bowen Mount') living in the two storey house for about two years, It was my work to take them two quarts of milk every morning. They dealt with old Mr George James for butter as well, but he always delivered this himself. Mr G. B. Bowen never forgets it, and always likes to have a chat with me about it. He reckons he was about four years old then. The old house owned by William Sly on the corner will be dealt with when we speak of Bosworth-street, as it faces into that street Where the late Doctor Cameron's grand mansion stands was vacant ground. Next to this vacant block I speak of was a skillion with no verandah, at that time, which belonged to old Mr. Sam Payne, He was grandfather, of the present Mrs. Tomkinson who lives in Windsor street. The first man I remember living there was Thomas Death, a butcher. He was a single man, and was found dead on the floor of his bedroom. They held an inquest, and found the cause to be eating cucumbers. After this 'Long Harry,' the bricklayer, lived there and died there also. I was one who helped to carry him to the cemetery. From there to Bosworth-street was vacant land.
Going down March-street, from the corner of Bosworth-street, toward Mr Charles Guest's there was a skillion standing just past the corner. The front portion has been put on since I first knew it. The first person I have any recollections of living there was John Masters, father of Tom Masters in Windsor. He was a painter and decorator by trade, and a splendid tradesman. He was an artist also, and could paint animals or any other pictures.
Weller, I think, who was a publican of Windsor in the early days, had a sign done by him. It represented a blackfellow and a large lump of gold in his hand.
Sam Nixon, the tailor, lived there also. Nixon's wife was run over by some horsemen while coming home after dark, The accident happened at Seymour's corner (now the 'Black Horse') only in Bosworth-street. In those days they hadn't a Constable Ross to regulate the traffic, and as they were galloping round the corner run over Mrs Nixon.
It was in this house that Bill Johnson was living at the time he got his leg broken in front of my residence, and it was here he had it taken off. Tom Johnson (father of Arthur and Tom) told me that when the doctor was taking off the leg it was like as if they were sawing a baton. He stood the operation without chloroform, and had, I believe, a handkerchief rolled up in his mouth to bite to stand the pain.
[I informed my narrator that my grand father, William Heath, who had been an old soldier, held the leg while the doctor amputated it, and carried it for the doctor who preserved it. Also that Dan Carter saw the handkerchief after, the operation was over, and it was bitten to pieces. ? R.F.]
Where Mr C. S. Guest is living there was a weatherboard house of' about four rooms with a verandah. In it lived a man by the name of Simpson, who was a currier by trade. I went to school with two of his sons Ebenezer and William. Our schoolmaster was good old Mr Charles Hogsflesh.

Source:
Some Ups and Downs of an old Richmondite,
by Mr. Alfred Smith
Chronicled by Robert Farlow
Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954)
Saturday 12 February 1910
Saturday 19 February 1910
Transcription, janilye, 2012

continued
Windsor in days gone by had its mills, and a busy time it was. Hopkins' steam mill just below the Council Chambers in George-street, I remember getting built. knew old Mr and Mrs Hopkins and their sons Abe (who used to do droving) and William. Then we had Teale's steam mill opposite the park, which was built before my recollection. Teale did a great trade. The last time I saw Joe Teale was when I was coming in with sheep at Wallerawang years ago, but good old Henry I saw in Windsor about six months ago. Then there was Caddell's brewery which stood near the Church of England, as you go down the lane to Cornwallis. This was built before my time. Other boys and myself often walked from Richmond in there for our sixpennoth of yeast. When they left there they built the big brewery near the residence of Miss Dick. Mr Thomas Caddell, who owned the brewery, married Ann, the only daughter of old Mr William Bowman.
The old place just over Windsor bridge on the Wilberforce road I knew as a pub, and being kept by old Mr. Cunninghame. About where James Rowthorn lives close to "Fairfield", I remember there was a two storey brick place kept as a pub by James Cullen. He was a great sporting man, and much interested in horse-racing. He had been butchering before he went into the pub business, but it was while keeping the pub I got to know him. He was a popular man.
The first I remember keeping the pub at Clarendon now owned and kept by Mrs Edwards was Charles Ezzy, who owned it. Others who have presided over it as a pub were Charles Barker. James Norris and James Huxley. In Charley Barker's time they had seen good foot races there. and, of course, the [--- ----] sport of cockfighting was frequent enough ? and I think it no worse than pigeon shooting and other things one might mention. The last time I saw Charley Barker and his wife was in Walgett where they were keeping a
butcher's shop. At one time Charley did droving for Joseph Cope and we often travelled together. The old two-storey place a little further on, William Thomas Bayliss kept as a pub when I first knew it. The house was built before I can remem ber. The property belonged to Bayliss, and he lived there and kept the pub for many years. His sign was "The bird in hand." A widow Smith kept it at another period, and it was while she was there Johnny Higgerson's experience in love matters commenced.
We can now get back to Windsor. I remember the old wooden bridge which did duty where the Fitzroy bridge is. It looked a very old bridge when I first knew it. They didn't build bridges then on the same lines as they do now-a-days. Charley Marsden was a big butcher in Windsor in those days, and had a narrow escape one day. He was driving a lot of fat bullocks out Magrath's Hill way, and was just over when a good slice of the bridge fell in. The first man I remember being super intendent of the Hawkesbury Benevolent Asylum was Timothy Paull. Then I mind the time when James Rowthorn had the position.
An old man who had been living with us for years went into the Asylum and came back to visit us a little while before he died. He told us all about the institution, and spoke very highly of James Rowthorn.
Old Mr Champion was a prominent citizen in Windsor years ago. He was agent for Tooth and Co. He visited the pubs in Richmond and Enfield regularly for orders. After he gave up being agent for Tooth and Co. he used to take photographs. I knew some of his sons, and the last time I saw his son Charley he had a big business in Tamworth as a saddle and harnessmaker.
Ben Barnett I knew from boyhood. He went to Hogflesh's school, next to Mrs Tomkinson's in Windsor street, Richmond, the same time as I did. He had a brother David. I knew their father and mother, the latter was a sister to Dean, the tanner of Richmond.
There was a Mr Edwards who was a chemist and dentist in George-street, Windsor. I remember him very well ? and I have good cause to remember him. I went to him once to get a big double tooth out and he couldn't shift it with two pulls in the chair so he sat me on the floor and got my head between his legs and after some lugging got the tooth. Mr Edwards was uncle to C. S. Guest, of Richmond.
Jimmy Dargin, who died in Macquarie street some time ago, was an old school mate of mine when Hogsflesh kept school where Harry Fong lives in Lennox-street, Richmond. When I first knew "Grand father" Hoskisson he was farming at Cornwallis. And while he was farming there he had "Gravesend" on the Big River, Barraba and Gyrah, three cattle stations. He had a flock of cattle coming in nearly every week while I was at the punt. He was always at the river to see his cattle put over. He had a fine chestnut horse and used to ride in till the water would be up to his knees and with his stockwhip steered the cattle along. He delighted in the work, and no matter how many others were there with cattle he would help them in. He prided himself on being the ' Grandfather ' of them all putting cattle over, and on that account we always knew him as 'Grandfather' Hoskisson. He was an industrious man, made a heap of money, and took care of it. He bought 'Clifton' from Charles Smith.
Mr Montague was the first auctioneer I remember in Windsor. I remember him having a sale of bacon in Richmond. Dick Meagher was another old hand. He kept a pub opposite the military barracks, and his sister kept house for him. Both were from Ireland.
I have mentioned William Durham living at Wombo, but I must speak of him again in Windsor, when be was a single man. In the first election in the colony when Fitzgerald and Bowman were up the seat Mr Durham took a very active interest in it. He was a very staunch Fitzgerald man, and was very busy riding about to get votes for his man, In those days they wore colors, and Mr Durham had a very big green rosette in his jacket. They were worn a great deal in those times. Mr Durham was very disappointed when his man was beaten, While on this election I might mention a few others who fought hard to get Fitzgerald in. Among them I remember Jimmy Cullen, Mr Burgess (a shopkeeper), a man named Sibthorpe, and George Freeman. There was a little song about it, but all I remember of it is "Calico, butcher, and Sibby the swell". Calico was meant for Burgess, butcher was meant for Jimmy Cullen as he was butchering at the time, and 'the swell' was given to Sibthorpe who was a bit of a 'swell'.
Among the Js P. who sat on the Windsor bench when I first remember were William Cox (of Hobartville), James Bligh Johnston (who lived out at Magrath's Hill); Captain Scarvall (from Killarney) ; Stepnen Tuckerman (down the river), George Bowman (Richmond), William Bowman (Richmond), Thomas Bell (Belmont), and James Ascough (Windsor).
Ned Armfield, and a man named Miller were among old timers in Windsor. They were constables, and under some of the chief constables I have already mentioned.
I knew old "Ben the fisherman," very well, and many a time saw him in Richmond with his fish. He had his little slab house on the point, and fished about the river, and it has been known as Ben's Point ever since.
"Fairfield " has seen gayer days than it is seeing now, I remember when old Mr Baines, "Daddie's" father, lived in the lodge at the entrance before Mr Hale bought the property. During Dr. Gamac's time, Alex. Gough lived in the lodge. In Mr.Hale's time Robert Tilling occupied the lodge. Opposite to "Fairfield," on the brow of the hill, John Seath occupied the cottage. Afterwards Thomas Wall and family lived there a lifetime. Again, good old Edward Roberts (Charley's father), John Barker and James Dargin are worthy of a place, as they, too. have played their part in making the district what it is.
While I had the mail to Windsor there was a big flood. After it went down I was the first man along, and when I got over the Ponds bridge, near Fairfield, I saw the body of a man dead. I recog nised it as Bill White. He was engaged burning charcoal out at the Glebe, and was drowned returning home.
Edward Robinson I knew away back in the days when he was poundkeeper at Gulgong, where he made a good bit of money Then we often met on the roads when he was droving. He went in for cattle droving and buying on commission for Thomas Sullivan, while I turned my attention to the sheep.
Charley Smith owned "Clifton," now the property of Mr Samuel Hoskisson. Among his racehorses I remember Crazy Jane, Beeswing (Beeswing broke her loins at the turn on the old racecourse near Charley Roberts' and was being ridden by George Marsden, who got hurt a little) Lady Cordina, Betsy Bedlam. Among his jockeys were George Marsden and Johnny Higgerson. Other jockeys were John McGrath, Micky McGrath, Dunn, Micky O'Brien, Joe Badkin and Johnny Cuts, who rode on the old racehorse.
Jorrocks, died at "Clifton" one cold, wet, winter while I was keeping the pub on the Clarendon road, and they drew the carcase out on the common a little distance from the gate. A servant man of old Mr Hoskisson's came and told me that they had drawn it out to the prickly pears ? they were plentiful about there then ? so I went out in the afternoon to have a look at the old warrior. Jorrocks had a very short mane but I was bent on having some of the hair as a keepsake of the old horse that punters and myself had so often hoorayed for. I pulled a good piece out and have had it ever since. Beside the piece of hair ? which I have had plaited into a long tan plait ? I have two of his long teeth, and would be pleased to show them to any person interested in old Jorrocks. I got the skeleton of his head when it dried and had it hanging on the stable wall for about twelve months, but as my wife was always at me about having such a thing hung up I took it down one day and buried it in the garden at the side of the pub. Some time after I was down in the museum and saw a horse's head there labelled "Jorrocks." Two men were standing by at the time and said they supposed that was the head of the great old racehorse that used to run at the Hawkesbury. I told them the difference, and what I had done with the head, but they didn't seem to believe what I said. Billy Reid took the four hoofs off and sent them to the owner, Mr Archie Thompson spirit merchant, of Sydney. I heard he had them mounted in silver.
To show how sentimental people were about the grand old equine, Mr McAlpin, of Bulga, once told me that he would have given half a sovereign towards digging a grave rather than have the bones bleach on the common. Mr McAlpin had won a lot of money on Jorrocks.
George Cupitt, an old farmer, lived near "Clifton." He was a great breeder of game fowls, and was one of the old time sports. He died there.
The Hawkesbury has had its pugilists, and among them I remember some of the best. George Hough was champion of the colony at one time. He fought Paddy Haddygaddy at Regentville for the championship, and had no trouble in beating Paddy. A lot of the leading sports went over from Richmond, to see the fight George Hough fought Black Perry for the championship some time after, but was knocked out by Perry in five rounds. Then there was the fight with Frank Norris and Dick Hunt, which took place at "Boshey's" at Blacktown. Blacktown at this time was five miles this side of the present Blacktown station. There was a lot of money lost on this fight, Martin Gibbons being a heavy loser. Joe Teale and Jim Johnson fought a great battle at the Chain of Ponds, below the present racecourse. It ended in a win for Teale. Then we had a great battle between Harry Teale and Tom Johnson. Johnson was a very game man, but got such a punishing from Teale that they had to take him away to save him from getting finished altogether. Three fights that day, and the other one was between Isiah Bell and Charles Metcalfe. It was a hard battle, and won by Bell. Each of these three fights was for ?10 aside. I remember the day, though I didn't see this fight, Courderoy and Stringybark Jack fought down about the Ponds. I heard it was a great fight, and Stringybark Jack was killed dead by a chance blow. Then there was another fight down there for ?10 aside between two local chaps who had had a quarrel. The winner is now advanced in years and suffering from paralysis.

Sources:
Ups and Downs of an Old Richmondite
Alfred Smith
Chronicled bt Robert Farlow
Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954)
Saturday 22 October 1910
Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954)
Saturday 29 October 1910
Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954)
Transcription, janilye

Charles EATHER and his twin brother Thomas EATHER were the first of the EATHER family born in the Hawkesbury district.
On 1 October 1800, three years after they had settled on their thirty acre grant of land at Green Hills, Thomas EATHER formerly HEATHER 1764-1827 and his wife Elizabeth, nee LEE 1771-1860 became the proud parents of twin sons, whom they named Charles and Thomas.
The forename Charles had not appeared in the Heather family in the four previous generations, but Thomas EATHER had had a good friend in one Charles MARTIN 1769-1797. They had been fellow inmates of the prison at Maidstone and had come out to the colony together on the "Neptune".
Thomas had attended Charles Martin's wedding at Parramatta on 2 August 1792 to SARAH GITTENS (1772-1845) and had been recorded as a witness to that event.
Sadly, Charles Martin had been murdered on the 25th.October 1797. There was a dispute over money between Charles and John Morris, Morris kicked Charles in the groin and left him to die. MORRIS was later charged and convicted of manslaughter. Perhaps Thomas named the first-born of his twins after his late friend.

Just after Charles EATHER turned five he was baptised on 11 October 1805, along with his twin brother Thomas and their infant brother John, who was eight days old, by the Reverend Samuel MARSDEN, during his visit to the Hawkesbury.
Charles spent his childhood on the EATHER farm. He saw the floods which innundated much of his parents' farm in March 1806, and worse floods in the winter of 1809, when hundreds of pigs, sheep and cattle and countless stacks of hay were washed away . He saw too the gradual development of a small township on Green Hills and was quite a big boy when Governor MACQUARIE visited the district and named it Windsor.

During his teenage years Charles undoubtedly learned many of the skills of farm labour as he assisted his father and brothers in various tasks on the family farm. Nevertheless, Thomas EATHER evidently believed that it was important that his twin sons should learn the skills of a useful trade. As teenagers, both trained to be shoemakers, probably under an apprenticeship to a local artisan. When the General Muster was taken in 1822 both Charles and Thomas were recorded as being shoemakers. It seems unlikely that they practiced their trade for long for being brought up on a farm in what was a rich farming district, they probably felt that agriculture offered a better future than a trade.

On 20 June 1820 their father, Thomas, had sent a petition to the Governor, seeking a second grant of land. About the same time Charles and Thomas also made applications for grants. Ten months later, on Saturday, 28 April 1821, the "Sydney Gazette" carried a long list of names of 'new tiers' who were to receive grants of land, and old settlers, who were to have "additional lands located for them in the year 1821". The list included the names of Charles EATHER , Thomas EATHER and Thomas EATHER Snr. The exact District of Charles EATHER's block of land has not been verified, but it was evidently on the river flats at Cornwallis, quite close to the Hawkesbury River. Records show that Charles farmed at Cornwallis for many years, and that in the next generation his sons had also farmed there.
Although flood-prone, the land at Cornwallis was very fertile and only a short distance from Windsor. The area of his grant was probably 50 acres, that being the area that his father received.
By 1822 Charles was most likely farming his land rather than practicing trade of shoe-making.

The EATHER sons belonged to the increasing proportion of the population which consisted of offspring of the emancipists, soldiers and settlers, born and bred in the colony and recognizing Australia as their native land. By the time they were in their early twenties most of the males naturally casting around for likely spouses, and the EATHER's were no exception in this respect. Males were still far more numerous than females in the colony, but eldest brother Robert EATHER had succeeded in finding a marital partner in young Mary LYNCH , and by 1823 they were the parents of three young children.
By then Thomas EATHER had formed a romantic attachment with Sarah McAlpin, the daughter of blacksmith, Peter McALPIN, and sister to Peter McAlpin, William Glas McAlpin and Catherine McAlpin. Thomas and Sarah married in the following year on the same day that Robert and Mary married.
In 1823 Charles also found a lifelong marital partner in Ann GOUGH, at three years his senior, recently separated from her husband, and at the age of 26 years the mother of 7 children.
What took her to the Hawkesbury district is uncertain, because she had lived at Sydney until she and her husband had parted late in 1822. Charles showed her compassion in her unfortunate situation and provided a home for her and several of her young children.

Ann's maiden name was CAIN. She had been born in Ireland about 1797 to Mary CAIN and husband whose forename has not emerged from records researched. When she was sixteen Ann CAIN came to Australia as a free woman on the ship "Earl Spencer", which sailed from England on 2 June 1813 under the command of Captain MITCHELL. On board were 200 male convicts (of whom 4 died during the voyage),free passengers, and a detachment of the 73rd. Regiment, together with their wives and children. During the long voyage, the vessel called at only one port, Madeira, where it stayed for ten days and took on supplies. After a voyage of over four months, the ship dropped anchor in Sydney Harbour on 9 October 1813.
Ann's name was not listed amongst the passengers on board the ship "Earl Spencer". There was one passenger, Mr D MALER , who had four servants accompanying him. Their names were not listed and Ann might have been one of them, or she might have been the daughter of one of the Soldiers. One of the convicts on board was Patrick KANE, age 40 years, a native of county Derry in Ireland. There is no reason other than the similarity of surnames to suggest that he was Ann's father. Amongst the passengers on the ship "Earl Spencer" was one who later won himself a place in the pages of history as an explorer. He was William HOVELL, who was accompanied on the voyage by his wife and children. In 1824 he accompanied Hamilton HUME on the historic first journey of exploration from the settled areas near Goulburn south to Port Phillip. On 25 November 1813, only six weeks after her arrival in the colony, Ann CAIN (spinster married to George TRAITS (bachelor), a seaman, at St Phillip's Church, Sydney.
She was age sixteen years. Her signature on the Church record of the marriage was not in running script, so she might have been able to write her name without being literate. Subsequently her name appeared in records with a number of variations such as Trails, Traitis, Fraites and even Streets. No further mention of George TRAITS has been located in any records after the wedding, so what became of him remains a mystery.
In March 1814, five months after her marriage, Ann TRAITS was charged and found guilty of theft. She received a short sentence and, when the Muster was taken later that year , she listed as a convict and was on Government Stores at the hospital at Parramatta. By 1815 Ann TRAITS had gone to the Hawkesbury district and was residing at Windsor with a convict, James GOUGH, when she gave birth to a son who was named James after his father. On 11 February 1817, at the age of 20 years, Ann was married to 26 year-old James GOUGH at St John's Church of England at Parramatta. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Samuel MARSDEN. Both the bride and groom were listed as being of that parish, which at that time took in the Hawkesbury district as well as the Parramatta district. Permission for the marriage had been granted on 8 January 1817. It showed James as a prisoner and Ann as free. She had evidently completed the sentence imposed upon her in 1814. Both were recorded as having come to the colony on the ship "Earl Spencer".

James GOUGH had been born in London in 1790, and at the age of 22 years was living with his wife in a room over a stable when he was arrested and accused of breaking into a house on 24 April 1812 and stealing. Tried at the Old Bailey on 13 May 1812, he was found guilty and sentenced to death . This had been commuted to transportation for life and he had been one of the 200 male prisoners who made the voyage to New South Wales on the ship "Earl Spencer" in 1813. He was described in convict records as age 23 years, 5'10" tall, with brown hair and eyes and a fair to ruddy complexion. He was a joiner by trade. At the time of the 1814 Muster he was in gaol at Sydney. In April 1815 he was listed in the "Sydney Gazette" as having absconded. However, there is no record of his apprehension or punishment. After their marriage in 1817, he and Ann were residing at Windsor again when their second child, Mary, was born. James had been appointed overseer of Government carpenters and was involved in the construction of St.Matthew's Church at Windsor as superintendent of brickwork. About 1819 James GOUGH was overseer of the lumber yard at Parramatta, and it was there that their second son, Alexander, was born. About 1820 a second daughter, Louisa, was born and she was followed by another daughter, Ann, about 1821 . On 26 January 1821 James was granted a conditional pardon and was described as a carpenter, 5'11" tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and fair complexion. At the time of the Muster in September 1822, James GOFF (sic) and wife Ann were residing in Sydney and had with them their children , James 7, Mary 6, Alexander 4, and Louisa 3. Their infant daughter, Ann, had died in June that year at Sydney. Towards the end of 1822 marital disharmony erupted in the GOUGH household and Ann and James parted.
The "Sydney Gazette" of 22 November 1822 carried the following announcement: NOTICE: I,the undersigned, do hereby give this public Notice (Deeds of Settlement and Separation having been made and executed between myself and my Wife, Ann GOUGH, whereby we have mutually agreed to live separate and apart from each other), that I shall not hold myself responsible for any Debt or Debts that my said Wife may contract, ample provision being made in the said Deeds, by me, for her future support and maintenance. James GOUGH."
It seems that in the break-up of the family, James kept the eldest three children, James, Mary and Alexander, and Ann took little Louisa. To add to her problems caused by the domestic upheaval, Ann was pregnant again at the time of their parting, and during the early months of 1823 she became the mother of twins, Stephen and Phoebe. It was some time during that year or in 1824 that Charles EATHER offered her a home and she had become his wife. What had caused her to return to the Windsor district after her separation from James GOUGH is unknown. Perhaps She returned to friends of the days when she had lived there a few years before .

Charles and Ann lived together for the next 48 years, but they never married because Ann was not legally free to do so as long as her husband James GOUGH was alive, and he outlived her. With Ann's three infants Charles began married life with a ready-made family. It increased about 1825 when his first son, Charles, was born. At the time of the 1825 Muster Ann's daughter Phoebe was listed as a child age 2 years. Three years later, when the 1828 census was taken, Ann, age 31 years, was listed as the housekeeper to Charles ETHER (sic) of Cornwallis, farmer. had with her Louisa (age 8 years ) and Stephen (age 5 years). For some reason daughter Phoebe was not listed anywhere in the census records. She had not died, so it can only be presumed that she also with her mother and had somehow missed being recorded. All three were recorded as being Roman Catholics. Charles and Charles Jnr (age 3 years), were listed as Protestants.
In 1824 James GOUGH acquired an inn about ten miles from Parramatta on the Windsor Road and he remained there it 1828, but when the census was taken he was a builder living in Cambridge Street, Sydney. With him were James (age 13 years), Mary (age 11 years), and Alexander (age 9 years), and also John (age 5 years) and Thomas (age 1 year). The last two were the children of James and Mary ALLEN (nee SHERWIN). All were listed as Protestants. Another son, Thomas, was born to Charles and Ann soon after the census was taken. They continued to farm at Cornwallis and more children were added to their family. William, born 1831, was followed by Charles ' first daughter, Frances, about 1833. Another son, George , born about 1834, and finally another daughter, Rosina, was born on 13 December 1836. Ann was almost 40 and Rosina was her thirteenth and last child. The break-up of her marriage to James GOUGH and the division of their children did not result in Ann's losing contact with her three eldest children. During the years that James had been inn-keeping on the Windsor-Parramatta Road, she had undoubtedly seen them from time to time. Then as they grew up they tended to return to the Hawkesbury district .
By 1836 James GOUGH was living at Berrima and had a carrying business between Liverpool and Goulburn, but the three children had been with him from the days of his marriage to Ann, were probably all in the Hawkesbury district by then.

The EATHER farm at Cornwallis probably saw frequent coming and going of Ann's older children as they called from time to time. Charles' six children would have come to know all their halfbrothers and half-sisters well as the years passed. Ann was a grandmother by the time Rosina was born. Her eldest daughter, Mary, had married Edward Roberts in St Matthew's Church at Windsor on 28 March 1835. It was a ceremony that Ann and Charles would have attended. Mary's first child, William, was born at Windsor on 29 January 1836.
Thereafter, there were frequent additions to Ann's growing number of grandchildren. On 8 January 1838 at Pitt Town Ann' s eldest son James, age 22 years, married Amelia BRINCHLEY WARD, daughter of Michael and Sophia Jane Elizabeth Ann WARD. Amelia's young brother was Frederick Wordsworth WARD 1835-1870 CAPTAIN THUNDERBOLT the bushranger and horse thief.
Amelia and James lived at Windsor, where James worked as a carpenter, and the first of their eleven children was born in December that year. Three months after James married, his brother, Alexander, was married in St Matthew's Church at Windsor on 5 April 1838 at the age of 19. His bride was 17 year old Jane ROBINSON, daughter of Richard and Mary ROBINSON. Alexander took his bride to live at Clarendon near Windsor, and he earned his living as a cooper. Their first child was born early in 1839.
On 25 February Ann's second daughter Louisa, age 18, was married at Portland Head to George FORRESTER, a son of Henry FORRESTER and Lucy UPTON. George's grandfather, Robert FORRESTER, had arrived in the colony on the ship "Scarborough" with the First Fleet. After their marriage Louisa and George lived at Grose Vale near North Richmond. Their first child was born on Christmas Day 1839.
In 1826 Charles's brothers-in-law, Joseph ONUS and Robert WILLIAMS, had been amongst the first wave of pastoralists who had taken stock onto the Liverpool Plains and had "squatted" on runs in the region outside the defined limits of settlement. During the next few years many other pastoralists followed their example, and amongst these were Charles and his brothers, Robert and Thomas. In partnership they established a run called "Benial" on the Namoi River and grazed cattle there. The role that Charles played in this partnership is unknown. He undoubtedly contributed some of the cattle and some of the men whom the partnership employed. He probably visited the station on occasions. In July 1836 the Legislative Council passed the first Act to legalise an d control the practice of squatting, and the very first application for a licence to depasture stock 'beyond the limits of District' was made by the three EATHER brothers.

The joint memorial of Thomas EATHER, Robert EATHER and Charles EATHER, brothers of Richmond, to the Governor, Sir Richard Bourke, read as follows:- "That your Memorialists are Natives of the Colony and Landholders residing at Richmond. That your Memorialists are possessed of a Considerable Numb er of Horned Cattle as their joint stock which for some tim e past and now are depasturing at a Place called 'Benial' on the Banks the Namoi River. That your Memorialists acting in conformity with the meaning of the Act of the Legislative it recently passed for the prevention of encroachment on the Waste Lands in the Colony will be permitted to Graze their Cattle on the Waste Lands unless your Memorialists shall obtain a licence from the Government permitting them so to do. That your Memorialists therefore most respectfully solicit that Your Excellency will be pleased to Grant them a licence to Depasture their Cattle at 'genial' on the Namoi River and that Memorialists as in duty bound will ever pray etc ." The licence was duly granted and renewed in the years that followed. Charles did not capitalise on this early interest in the pastoral industry. The partnership was soon dissolved. Thomas retained the station on the Namoi River and passed it down to his sons. Robert went on extend his pastoral interests away out on Narran Creek, and involved some of his sons in the venture. Charles did not further his early interest and is not recorded as holding any other station in the north or north-west. He seems to have been content to limit his farming and grazing the Hawkesbury district.

In 1822 Robert, Charles and Thomas had each been allocated an allotment of land in Cox's Lane in Windsor at a time when the settlers were being encouraged to build themselves homes out of the flood-prone areas. None of them had made use of their allocation in the years that followed.

Then, on the same day, 22 November 1841, all three wrote separate memorials to the Colonial Secretary seeking deeds of grant for their respective allotments. The requests were refused on the grounds that little or no attempt had been made to use or improve the ground in the intervening years. Having failed in this attempt to obtain an allotment in Windsor. Charles looked to other means of satisfying his requirement, and on 4 July 1842 he purchased an allotment in George Street from his brother Robert. It was the south-western third of an allotment which Robert had purchased about twenty yeas previously. Charles paid 50 for it, as it was an allotment without any house upon it.
On 1 June 1842, another of Ann's children married. Phoebe GOUGH and Dio BALDWIN exchanged vows in the Presbyterian Church at Windsor. Dio was the youngest of the twelve children of Henry Baldwin and Elizabeth RAYNER. The young couple resided at Wilberforce for the first few years of their marriage and their first two children were born there. During the 1840's Ann's grandchildren increased in number at a rapid rate, and by 1850 numbered 22 living out of 25 born. All of her five married children were living in the Hakesbury district, within ten miles of the EATHER farm, so she saw them frequently and watched the infants grow to children and the children to teenagers. On 3 December 1849 there was another wedding in the family when Charles, the first child of Charles and Ann, was married in the Wesleyan Chapel at Windsor to Frances Emma WATT, a young migrant girl who had been born in London, England and had come to the colony as a child with her parents, John and Maria WATT.
Five months later, Thomas, the second son of Charles and Ann, married Emma Mary STAPLES on 2 April 1850.

In 1853 Charles EATHER gave up farming when he was granted a publican's licence for the "Woolpack Inn" at North Richmond. His sureties were his nephews, William Onus and Joseph ONUS, sons of his sister Ann. He spent several years in business there as an inn-keeper. On 2 October 1855 William , his third son, was married to Catherine MCMAHON, a daughter of John and Mary MCMAHON of Kurrajong. Catherine had been born in Ireland and had came to Australia with her parents and brothers and sisters on the ship "Charles Kerr" in 1839 when she was still a small girl.
Four months later there was another family wedding, when Rosina, the youngest of the family, was married on 19 February 1856 to Alfred DALTON in St Matthew's, Church of England, Windsor.
More family weddings followed during the next few years. In 1857 there were two marriages with which Charles and Ann were connected. Jane, the wife of Alexander GOUGH, had died in 1853, and on 2 May 1857 he remarried in St Matthew's Church. His second wife was Elizabeth WALKER, she was over twenty years his junior. Just prior to Christmas, on 19 December 1857, Rosina's elder sister, Frances 1833-1869, married John BATEMAN.
The last of Charles and Ann's children to marry youngest son, George. He was 24 when he married Dorothy KINSELA, daughter of Martin KINSELA 1793-1860 and Ellen Henlen/HENDLING/HANLON 1794-1862, in St Matthew's, Roman Catholic Church at Windsor on 17 April 1860. None the four sons of Charles EATHER and Ann GOUGH had had any formal schooling and therefore grew illiterate. At their respective weddings each signed the marriage register with a cross.

During the many years that Charles EATHER had farmed at Cornwallis the Hawkesbury River not been flooded to the extent that it had in 1809, when he had been a boy. Then in 1864 there was a major flood, and land along its banks that had not been inundated for over fifty years covered by flood waters and much damage done to crops, fences and buildings, while numerous head of stock were drowned. In June 1867 heavy rain fell over the catchment area of the Hawkesbury and its chief tributaries, the Nepean and the Grose Rivers. The river rose and by Thursday 2Oth the farmers knew that another major flood was upon them. At that time three of the sons of Charles and Ann: Thomas, William and George, together with their respective wives and children, were living on adjoining farms at Cornwallis.

The rising water flowed across the flats, creating an island of some land near the river where their farms were situated. On the Thursday afternoon a boat under the direction of one George CUPITT was taking some men away from the area in a boat, when one of the men said to Mrs George EATHER (Dora), "You had better go up in the boat to your sisters and take the four children with you." At first she refused, saying that she would have to bake some bread and get everything into the loft before the next morning, but the men succeeded in persuading her to go. Just as they were getting into the boat, George's brothers, Tom and Bill, arrived from their farms with their wives and children, planning to take refuge in George's house, which was fairly new, and which they believed would be sturdier than their own houses. Mrs Bill EATHER ( Catherine, nee McMahon) remarked to the men, " You won't forget us if the waters come over the ridge". She was asked to get in the boat too, but refused. The boat departed.
That night the flood waters rose fast and the two families climbed onto the roof of George EATHERs house and stayed there for the remainder of the night. On the Friday morning, Mrs George EATHER another lady and Mrs Smith, went into Richmond from Clarendon and spent all day trying to get a boat sent over to rescue the two families stranded at the farm. Men were out in boats in various parts of the district, rescuing people who were stranded by the floods, and the ladies had no success in persuading anyone to go out to the Cornwallis farms.
At nightfall, they gave up trying to arrange a rescue and went back to Clarendon. About 1 am they saw a signal light away over the water in the direction of the house. Believing that it was from the families still at the farm, they returned the signal by tying papers and rags to the end of a fishing rod and lighting them. Then they rushed down to a man with a boat and told him. A dozen men were standing around, but none offered to go.
It was dark and raining. Mr DIGHT's' coachman, a man named RILEY, came along and upon being told of the trouble, passed the information on to Mr DIGHT's, who sent him galloping away to try to secure the public boat when it reached the shore, and to offer the crew 50 to go at once and rescue the EATHER's. He succeeded in getting the message to the crew and three men volunteered to go out. The signal had been a last desperate effort by the EATHER brothers to get help. The waters had risen so high that on the Thursday night they had been forced onto the roof of George EATHER's house. There the sixteen souls waited all day on Friday,expecting a boat which didn't arrive, and there they stayed into a second night.
The waters continued to rise and, reaching a record height, were over all the roof except the last three rows of shingles when the signal light was lit.
In the cold and the rain the families waited until, after twenty hours on the roof, it collapsed and all were swept away amid screams and cries. Thomas, William and George EATHER and Thomas's eldest child, sixteen year-old Charles Frederick, managed to reach a tree to which they fastened themselves. About half an hour later the boat arrived and rescued them. Tom's wife Frances and their other five children, and Bill's wife Catherine and their five children, were all drowned. The news of the tragedy spread through the district the next day and hearts went out to the survivors and their relatives. It has gone down in history as the worst single disaster of all Hawkesbury floods of all time.
The 1867 flood still remains a record for the river. Charles and Ann shared the grief of their sons. They had lost two daughters-in-law and ten of their grandchildren in one single disaster.

Over the years Charles had retained ownership of the large allotment in George Street, Windsor that he had bought from his brother Robert in 1842. When he had moved to the "Woolpack" Inn, he had rented the allotment to tenants.
On 1 July 1868 he gave it to his son George out of "natural love and affection" for the use of the said George his heirs and assigns forever". William BEDWELL was appointed trustee.
Two years later Charles and Ann suffered another bereavement when on 22 September 1869 their daughter Frances died, age of 36 leaving two small sons and a husband to grieve their loss.

Ann suffered a great deal of ill-health during the early months of 1871, and in the winter of that year became seriously ill. She was attended by local doctor, Dr. DAY but despite his efforts she died at Windsor on 18 July from natural causes. Dr Day had last visited her on the previous day. On 20 July she was buried at Windsor with the Reverend Charles F GARNSEY of the Church of England officiating at the graveside, and Thomas Primrose and Son performing the duty of undertakers. Her death was registered by her daughter, Louisa FORRESTER of Richmond Road. Ann's age was recorded as 74 at the time of her death. She had been born in Ireland and had spent 58 years in New South Wales. It was recorded also that she had been married in Sydney at the age of 16 to James GOUGH. Her father's name was not known and her mother's was stated as having been Mary CAIN . Ann's children were recorded as six males and four females living. Their names were not recorded on the death certificate, but the sons were James and Alexander GOUGH and Charles, Thomas, William and George EATHER; and the girls were Mary ROBERTS, Louisa FORRESTER, Phoebe BALDWIN and Rosina DALTON.

Ann spent almost 58 years spent in the colony and lived her last 48 years with Charles EATHER.
Her first husband, James GOUGH, was still alive and was residing in the Gundagai district.

At the time of Ann's death, 80 grandchildren had been born and eventually the number reached the enormous total of 113.

Charles continued to live in the Richmond district. Further sadness came his way when his daughter Rosina, died at Windsor on 20 January 1875 from a liver complaint. He was 75 then, but he lived for another fifteen years.

Little is known of how he spent his declining years. In his old age he resided with his youngest son George and family in March Street, Richmond. It was there that he died on 30 May 1891 at the age of 90. According to family oral history he dropped dead at the table while dining with the family. He was the only child of Thomas and Elizabeth EATHER to reach the age of 90, and his youngest brother James was the only one of their children to survive him. He had outlived his twin brother Thomas by over 4 years. He was survived by his four sons and over 30 grandchildren, as well as several great-grandchildren.
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, Saturday 6 June 1891
A very old resident of the district Mr. C. Eather, died on Sunday at the ripe old age of
91. Mr. Eather was born in Windsor at the residence now occupied by Mr. Wall. He resided
there for a great many years,and then removed to Richmond where he resided up to the
time of his death.
NOTE: Mr. Wall is James B. Wall who lived in the house in George Street up till his death on Monday 29 July 1895.

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The children Of Charles EATHER and Ann GOUGH nee CAIN:-

1.Charles EATHER b: May 1825 Richmond, NSW. d: 7 September 1899 at Blackall, Queensland. m. Frances Emma WATT 1829-1866. In the early 1890's he moved to Queensland to live and his many decendants have since made the name familiar in that state. Although by trade a cabinetmaker, he spent much of his life in Farming.

Charles age 74 died at the Blackall Hospital from the effects of arsenic poisoning. He was camped at Ravensbourne Station at Blackall and it was supposed that arsenic was accidently mixed with the flour supplied by the station. Several others in the same camp were taken ill after eating damper made with the flour.

His children of the marriage between he and Emma WATT were:-

Edward Charles EATHER 1850 1937 never married
John James EATHER 18521920 m. 1. Victoria TAYLOR 2. Emma YATES
Frances Emma Eather 18541946 m. Henry Alban GRAY
Albert E EATHER 1857 1857
Maria W EATHER 18581939 m. Charles Frederick ROSE
Louisa EATHER 1860 1860
Charles Olenzo EATHER 18641949 m. Emma ORBORNE

Next Charles 1825 had a relationship with Maria NORRIS, the children of this relationship were:-

Annie EATHER 1867 1867
Emily EATHER 1867
Lavinia Eliza EATHER 18681955 m. Hugh MCINTOSH
Frederick Charles EATHER 1872 m. Ellen RICE
Eva Louise EATHER 1881
Ada Florence EATHER 1883 1958

Frances Emma 1854-1936, had married Captain Henry Alban Gray, a ship's pilot in Sydney, and they seem to have led the migration to Queensland for they were living at Bundaburg in 1889. In that year, Mrs. Gray's sister, Lavinia Eather, visited them and met another shipping man, Capt. Hugh McIntosh from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, whom she married at Bundaberg on 26 December 1889

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2.Thomas EATHER b: 1828 Hawkesbury, died 14 November 1916 at Windsor, NSW. m.(1).Emma Mary STAPLES 1828-1867 Emma and all but Charles died in the 1867 Flood of the Hawkesbury
The children of this marriage were:-

Charles Frederick EATHER 18511885 m. Mary Ann MCKELLAR 1857-1925 his stepmother's youngest sister.
Ann Emma EATHER 1853 1867
Elizabeth Frances EATHER 1856 1867
James Rowley EATHER 1856 1867
Angelina EATHER 1862 1867
Emma Maud Mary EATHER 1865 1867

(2) Thomas next married Caroline Margaret MCKELLAR 1847-1915 the children of this marriage were:-

Thomas EATHER 18701944 m. Lillian Elizabeth BRADLEY
Arthur E EATHER 1872 1916
George William EATHER 18751961 m. Maria HOLLAND 1864-1931
Henrietta EATHER 1877 1878
William Henry EATHER 18791968 m. Hilda M MAHONEY 1892-1926
Harry EATHER 1881 1945
Leslie James EATHER 18831940 m. Charlotte Matilda HANN 1890-1967
Alice Maud EATHER 18851965 m. Francis Joseph PYE 1883-1974
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3.Frances EATHER 1833 1869 m. John BATEMAN the children of this marriage were:-
John H Bateman 18591926 m Josephine M F DOWNES 1870-1942
George Bateman 1862 1945
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4.William EATHER 1833 Richmond, NSW d: 8 September 1899 Rockdale, Sydney. married;
(1) Catherine MCMAHON 1831-1867 Catherine and All their children their children apart from John died in the Hawkesbury flood of 1867.
The children from this marriage were:-
Mary Ann Eather 1856 1867
Catherine Eather 1858 1867
Charles Eather 1860 1867
John Eather 1862 1866
Clara Teresa Eather 1864 1867
William Vincent Eather 1866 1867

(2) On the 2 September 1869,William next married Emma DODD 1830-1911. The daughter of Johh DODD and Isabella BEVITT. Emma was the widow of Joseph JASPER 1807-1862 who had been killed when a heavily laden dray he was driving ran over him at Green Swamp near Mudgee leaving Emma with 9 children.
William EATHER and Emma had only the one child:-
Sarah Eather 1871 1872

A further act of tragedy played out for William, for he met a violent death, when he was run down and killed by a locomotive at Rockdale railway station.
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5.George EATHER b:1834 Richmond, NSW died 17 May 1912 Richmond m. Dorothy 'Dora' Kinsela 1839-1915 the youngest child of Martin KINSELA 1793-1860 and Ellen HENDLING 1794-1862. George and Dora were married at St.Matthews Catholic Church Windsor on the 17 April 1860.
The children from this marriage were:-

Louisa Eather 18611950 m. Arthur Frederick CARR 1872-1936
Arthur G Eather 18621901 m. Florence HUNT
Helen Eather 1864 ?
Walter Leslie Eather 1865 1940
James William Eather 18671949 m. Sarah H WRIGHT 1874-1952
Ambrose M Eather 1869 1941
Emma M Eather 18721961 m. Allan MCNIVEN 1872-1949
Florence Ann Eather 1873 1901
George Raphael Eather 1875 1877
Henry V Eather 1877 1878
Dorothy May Eather 1879 1924 m. Richard Thomas FAHY 1886-1969
Charles George Eather 1881 1881
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6.Rosina EATHER 13 December 1836 (birth reg. Rosina GOUGH) 1875 Rosina died of liver disease after a long illness on the 20 January 1875 at Windsor. m. Alfred DALTON 1830-XXXX
The children from this marriage were:-
Lavinia Ann Dalton 1857
William Henry Dalton 1862 1919
Linda Rosina Dalton 1862
Sloper Edwin Dalton 1865
Alfred Ernest Dalton 1868
____________________________

The children of Ann GOUGH, nee CAIN and James GOUGH 1791-1876:-

1.James Alexander Gough 1815 1898 m. Amelia Brinchley WARD 1820-1872 the daughter of Michael Hanley Thompson WARD 1788-1859 and Sophia Jane CROLSTON 1788-1874. James and Amelia married in the Presbyterian church at Pitt Town on the 8 January 1838.

The children from this marriage were:-

Sophia J Gough 1838
James Alexander Gough 1841 1923
Harriett Gough 1846
John T Gough 1850
Charles Edward Gough 1852 1921
Amelia A Gough 1854
William G Gough 1857 1857
Emily J Gough 1858 1872
Victoria L Gough 1862 1863
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2.Mary Gough 1817 1890 m. Edward ROBERTS 1813-1890 The children from this marriage were:-

William Roberts 1836
Ann Roberts 1837 1914
Kezia Roberts 1838 1920
Maria Roberts 1840 1913
Robert Roberts 1843 1909
John Roberts 1845 1913
George Edward Roberts 1849 1930
Edward Richard Roberts 1851 1899
Henry Roberts 1852 1935
Mary Jane Roberts 1856 1887
Charles James Roberts 1859 1942
Laura Luoisa Roberts 1861 1945

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3.Alexander Gough 1819 1885 m. (1)Jane ROBINSON 1820-1853 The children from this marriage were:-

Emily Gough 1839
Jane Gough 1840 1841
John Gough 1842 1912
Alexander R. Gough 1845
Ann Gough 1848
James Gough 1851 1910
(2) Alexander next married Elizabeth WALKER 1840-1899 The children from this marriage were:-
Louise Gough 1860 1943
Jane Gough 1862
Letetia Gough 1865 1927
William Gough 1867 1945
Gough 1869
Charles A Gough 1871 1943
Sarah Gough 1873
Emily Matilda Gough 1876 1943
Edith Ellen Gough 1878 1937
George Samuel Gough 1881 1940
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4.Louisa Gough 1820 1897 m. George FORRESTER 1821-1878 on the 25 Feb. 1839 at Portland Head, NSW. The children of this marriage were:-

Henry F Forrester 1839 1853
William James Forrester 1841 1913
Robert H Forrester 1850 1915
Fanny Forrester 1853 1854
George Henry Albert Forrester 1857 1861
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5.Ann Gough 1821 1822

6.Elizabeth Gough b:1 December 1822 Sydney. d:1865 Mittagong m. Richard SOUTH 1814-1851 on the 10 December 1841 at St.Andrews Scots Church, Sydney

7.Phoebe Gough TWIN 1823 1905 m. Dio BALDWIN 1818-1878 The children from this marriage were:-

Elizabeth Baldwin 1843
Mary Ann Baldwin 1845 1884
Louisa Baldwin 1846 1851
Emily Baldwin 1848 1892
Henry Baldwin 1850 1920
Edwin Baldwin 1852 1852
Phoebe Baldwin 1854 1938
Wellow Baldwin 1858 1930
William Wynn Baldwin 1860 1944
Georgina Baldwin 1862
Victoria A Baldwin 1866 1947
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8.Stephen Gough TWIN 1823 1863 died in Hobart ?
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Notes:

Ann Cain Married in the name Ann Fraites to James Goff
Reg no. v18172006 3A/1817 by Reverend Samuel Marsden at St John's C of E Parramatta.

Charles had the nickname 'Holy GO'

Charles was my third great grand uncle.




written by Janilye using research notes from newspapers, Hawkesbury Family records, my own family records and several sources within the Eather family and the Society of Genealogists Australia
Alt Ancestral Ref#: 1SGN-D8L S.O.G aust.

Charles EATHER, My second great grandfather was the third child and second son of Thomas EATHER 1800-1885 and Sarah nee McALPIN, was born at Bulga 24 October 1827. In 1884 his parents moved back to Richmond, and it is there he grew up. He may have attended the little school in Francis Street, and used to help out on his father's farm near Richmond.
In 1840 he was an apprentice and apparently he absented himself from work on some occasions.
On 17 October 1840 he was charged in the court at Windsor with "having absconded himself". The case was settled. The trade in which he was apprenticed is not known and it is very doubtful that he completed it. His interests seem to have been associated with the land, and in his later teens he undoubtedly would have visited the family property "Henriendi", his father's station on the Namoi River, and there gained further valuable skills in grazing cattle and sheep and some knowledge of station management.
On 30 August 1848, shortly before he turned twenty-one, Charles married Eliza HOUGH, age twenty-two, the daughter of the late Peter HOUGH 1776-1833 and his wife Mary (nee WOOD) of Richmond. Eliza was the seventh of the nine children of Peter and Mary and had been born at Richmond. She and Charles had known each other since childhood. Her father had been born at Paris in France in 1776, but at the age of 19 years had been charged with stealing money and silverware from St Paul's Coffee Shop in London, where he had been employed. He was acquitted of this charge, but in 1797 he had been sentenced to transportation after a second offence, and arrived at Sydney on the ship "Hillsborough" in July 1799. He had married Mary WOOD, daughter of John WOOD 1768-1845 and Ann MATTHEWS, and all except the last of their children had been born at Richmond. Peter HOUGH had died in March 1833 when Eliza was seven. Her sister Ann was married to Charles's cousin, William ONUS. For about twelve years after-their marriage Charles and Eliza seem to have resided on the Hawkesbury, and then they went to live at "Henriendi" on the Liverpool Plains. Their first eight children were born in the Hawkesbury district, mostly at Richmond. The first to have been born on the Liverpool Plains was their ninth child, born in 1863.
Altogether during the first seventeen years of their marriage, ten children were born to them and all except one son survived infancy and lived to marry and have children in the next generation of EATHERS.
During the 1850's Charles probably assisted his father in his farming pursuits at Richmond and undoubtedly journeyed from time to time to "Henriendi". The size of that station increased over the years. In 1849 it was 15 square miles, but by 1853 it had been extended to an area of 25 square miles. In 1854 it was grazing 1,000 cattle. The annual rental at that time was ?15/0/0.
In the late 1850's Charles's brother William Eather 1832-1915 and his wife Ann took up residence there.
On the 14 September at Richmond, another son and eighth child, Joseph Hiorns Rutter Eather was born, named after his uncle Joseph Hiorns RUTTER the son of Dr. Robert Champley RUTTER of Parramatta. 1861 Charles was given the station by his father.
It was just after the birth of Joseph that Charles moved his household to the Liverpool Plains.
On the 30 June 1863 Eliza gave birth to Alfred McAlpin at 'Henriendi'.
In 1865 at 'Henriendi' the tenth and last child of Charles and Eliza, Minnie was born, she was only five years old when her mother died. At age thirty she married Methodist minister Walter J WALKER 1868-1936 at Richmond in 1895 they moved to Bourke where their first child Gladys was born and then to Cowra where their second daughter Jessie was born. In 1908 Walter J WALKER was transferred to South Australia. Minni Hilton WALKER, nee EATHER died on the 3 May 1955 in South Australia.
The births of the last two children were registered at Tamworth, which was probably at that time the nearest centre on the Liverpool Plains where births, deaths and marriages could be registered. The births took place at "Henriendi".
The 1860's were important years for Charles, when he expanded his grazing interests. Settlement extended out beyond Bourke on the Darling River and runs were being taken up on the Warrego, Paroo and Bulloo Rivers in the south-west of the new colony of Queensland.
In 1864 the township of Cunnamulla. sprang into being on the Warrego River. By 1866 Charles EATHER had several runs on the Warrego. They included "Gumanally," "Back Bullinbillian" and "Back Moongonoo." In addition he held the lease of "Pinegolba," a run next door to "Henriendi" on Cox's Creek. Charles was well-known on the Liverpool Plains and had the nickname of "King of the Namoi".
In 1867, James EATHER, uncle of Charles and youngest brother of his father, then in his mid-fifties, left the Hawkesbury district and moved with his wife and some members of his family to the Liverpool Plains and obtained a part-interest in "Henriendi". About the same time, another of Charles's brothers, John Roland, who was age 24 years and still single, joined them on the station. Also living on the run or near by was yet another brother, Peter. With him were his wife and children. In 1868 there were no fewer than eight other men employed on the station. By then times were becoming hard for the graziers. Charles was grazing a large flock of sheep on "Henriendi" in addition to his large herd of cattle. Severe droughts persisted and pastoralists were faced with mounting problems, especially when the prices of wool and sheep slumped sharply. James EATHER's connection with "Henriendi" was short-lived.
By 1870 he had moved to land that he had purchased at Maine's Creek, a tributary of the Namoi River a few miles away to the north.

In the midst of these financial problems, tragedy struck Charles. He had taken Eliza down to Richmond for a holiday over the Christmas period and they were staying with Charles's parents at the "Union Inn". According to oral family history, on New Years Eve 1870, Eliza was reading a telegram when she died suddenly. She was only 45 years of age. Charles was left with nine children ranging in ages from twenty-one to five. He was faced with the unpleasant task of notifying Eliza's 77 year-old mother that her daughter had passed away. His affairs were about to crash and William Thomas Price, the undertaker who provided her with an expensive funeral, was one of the disappointed creditors still awaiting payment of their accounts months later.

Back at "Henriendi" in 1871, Charles was joined there by yet another relative. He was Samuel EATHER Junior, a second cousin of Charles and his brothers. Then in his mid-thirties, Samuel had grown up in the Hunter Valley near Warkworth. In that year 1871 Charles was pasturing 6,000 sheep, 500 head of cattle and 150 horses on the run, which was then a station of 32,000 acres (12,800 hectares), but before the year was out financial problems caught up with him and he became bankrupt. His eldest son, Henry Charles, was placed in charge of "Henriendi", "Pinegolba" and "Gumanally." There is a family legend that Charles's eldest brother Thomas, whose home was at Bulga, soon took over the responsibility of "Henriendi". If this was so, it was a situation which lasted only a few years, as by 1876 "Henriendi" was in the hands of one John Kerr CLARK, who was also the leaseholder of another run, "Gullenddaddy" (or "Ghoolindaadi") which adjoined the southern boundary of "Henriendi". By then "Henriendi" had been reduced in area to 11,920 acres (4,768 hectares) and was grazing 2,000 sheep.
The EATHER family had lost the historic station some forty-odd years after Thomas EATHER had established it in 1832. After 1870/71 the name of Charles EATHER no longer appeared amongst the "Henriendi" names on the Electoral Roll. His sons Henry Charles and Edwin had, by 1876, taken out the lease of another Liverpool Plains run "Norfolk", which had an area of 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) and established themselves there. At some stage prior to 1882 the Liverpool Plains was divided into parishes and "Henriendi" became part of the Parish of Baan Baa. Parish maps record the names of the original purchasers of freehold portions in the respective parishes. That of the Parish of Baan Baa reveals that at some time in the 1860's Charles EATHER had bought a block of 135 acres (54 hectares) upon which the "Henriendi" homestead stood. He had also purchased an adjoining block of 137 acres 2 roods (55 hectares). Both blocks had frontage to the Namoi River. This had been a very wise move on Charles EATHER's part. Holding "Henriendi" as a Crown Land Pastoral Lease, he faced the ongoing fear that he might lose part of the run to "free selectors". By purchasing the blocks as freehold land he had been protecting himself from losing valuable river frontage. When the Parish of Baan Baa was surveyed into portions, the two blocks which Charles had bought became Portions 1 and 2 in the parish. Most of the remainder of "Henriendi" was surveyed into 24 rectangular portions of varying areas, and allocated the numbers 20 to 43 inclusive. John Kerr CLARK had purchased much of the station during the period that he had held the lease from 1876. The parish map records his name on no fewer than 17 of the other 24 portions that had been the "Henriendi" run. He had also purchased two other portions further north in the Pariah. Charles EATHER would have had his two freehold blocks taken away from him by the bankruptcy administrators in 1871, and it is likely that John Ken CLARK purchased them too.
In the years following the loss of his station in 1871, Charles EATHER had a number of occupations and probably spent more time in the Richmond district.
On 4 January 1876, at the age of 48, he remarried. His bride on this occasion was Martha Mary RIDGE 1843-1920, age 32 years, the daughter of John RIDGE 1815-1867 and his wife Charlotte Margaret, nee COBCROFT 1820-1906. Martha had been born in Wilberforce and had lived in the Hawkesbury district for many years The wedding was held at Windeyer.
Charles entered into a new occupation in 1878 when his younger sister Sarah 1834-1926 who married William EATON 1828-1906, decided to relinquish the licence of "Eaton's Hotel" at Muswellbrook. Charles took out a publican's licence and became the new licensee of the hotel, which had been owned by Thomas COOK since 1872. Hard times seem to have continued for Charles during the period that he was the proprietor of "Eaton's Hotel", and he sometimes found it difficult to pay his bills on time. 1n 1879 he made out a promissory note in favour of one D EVANS for the sum of £80/16/- ($161.60), but the Commercial Bank at Muswellbrook, where he had an account, dishonoured it because of lack of funds in his account. Over two years later the sum of approximately ?22 ($44) of the amount was still outstanding and Sarah EATON received a letter dated 15 February 1882 from a Muswellbrook solicitor, notifying her that, if the sum was not paid within seven days, proceedings would be taken against her. Apparently she settled the debt on behalf of her brother.

While Charles and Martha were running the hotel at Muswellbrook, a son was born to them in 1880. He was named Donald. At the end of that year Charles relinquished his publican's licence and evidently he took Martha and their baby son to the Narrabri district. There in 1883 a daughter, Emily Matilda, was born. They were still residing in the same district when their infant daughter died in 1885.
In his later years Charles lived with Martha and their children in the Narrabri district. Charles was a very popular figure in the developing town, where he was a supporter of local activities, especially those related to the Namoi Jockey Club. By then he was referred to as "old Charley EATHER", the name a household word. A sportsman of the old school, At one time he was an untiring habitue of racecourses, but advancing years made his expeditions somewhat circumscribed, and he was contented with doing a little handicapping and the mild excitement to be derived on country convincing grounds. The old man had the reputation of being one of the best starters in Australia.
Following his death on 2 November 1891 at the age of 65 years, Charles was buried in the Narrabri Cemetery where his friends erected an imposing monument on his grave in Narrabri Cemetery, adding to the usual details the sanguine remark;

"Praises on tombstones are idly spent, His good name is a monument"

Death of Mr. Charles Eather.
Obituary fron the Narrabri Herald, 4 November 1891

On Monday evening last, about 6 p.m., after a long and painful illness, there passed over to the great majority one of the pioneers of the Namoi, a man who for upwards of forty years had made the north-west his home, and seen many changes and vicissitudes.
One who at one time was owner of vast tracts of country with every promise of an old age passed in ease and affluence, and one who had endeared himself to all who had the privilege of his acquaintance-better still, of his friendship. Such an one was Charles Eather, who passed quietly away at the age of 64 years, on Monday evening. Tended to the last by loving and kind friends, his slightest wish was anticipated; and surrounded by his relatives and a host of friends, he "passed to the bourne whence there is no returning." Many a good and earnest man may yet make a name for himself on the Namoi, but out of the limits of the present generation the memory of the true sterling friend who has just left us will never depart.
The funeral, which left the deceased's late residence at 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, was the most largely attended yet seen in Narrabri, the cortege measurirg fully a third of a mile in length, and was composed of all the principal people of the town and district. The pall-bearers, all old and tried friends of the deceased, were Messrs. J. Moseley, J. M McDonald, W. H. Gordon, James Ward, sen., R. Spencer, and E. Poole. The coffin, which was of beautifully polished cedar, was almost covered with flowers.
The whole of the business places in town were closed during the progress of the procession through the streets, and at the grave the burial service was very impressively read by the Rev. W. J. Walker.

His widow Martha survived him by many years In 1898 she took in Colin Charles Eather the 4 year old son of her stepson Alfred McAlpin EATHER and Theresa nee LOVELEE and raised him as her own after Theresa died and Alfred left the district. Martha known as May died at Boggabri in 1920.

The children of Charles EATHER and Eliza, nee HOUGH were:_

1.Henry Charles EATHER 1849 - 1942
married Lucina Sarah J RIDGE 1857-1936 at Gunnedah on the 23 May 1877
The children of this matrriage were:-
Frederick Charles Eather 1878 - 1917 m. Nellie PONT 1880-1953
Bertram Henry Thomas Eather 1881 - 1965 m. Sarah May Damaris FRATER 1887-1979
Leslie Gordon Eather 1884 - 1969 m. Ivy Josephine KELLY 1889-1971
Royston Clark Eather 1888 - 1891
Olive Eather 1890 - 1978 m. Victor S HUGO
Elsie May Eather 1899 - 1964 m Wilfred Rupert TAYLOR
Eric Vaughan Eather 1901 - 1930 m. Amy Edwards

2.Peter Thomas EATHER 1850 - 1851

3.Edwin EATHER 1852 ? 1890
married Catherine Agnes TURNER 1855-1933 at Gunnedah on the 14 April 1877.
The children of this marriage were:-
William Charles EATHER 1878 - 1878
Vera Eliza EATHER 1879 - 1940 married Thomas BURT 1875-1950
Alexander Munro EATHER 1880 - 1965 m. Ethel May MILLS 1890-1953
Blanche Marion EATHER 1883 - 1940 m. Albert Edward HEAGNEY 1881-1912
Emily Gertrude EATHER 1885 - 1967 m. Francis John THUELL 1893-1077
Joseph Mark Eather 1887 - 1971 m. Dorothy Maude HOLBOROW 1897-1944
Edwin Royce EATHER 1889 - 1945 m. Mabel Isabel JONES 1901-1971


4.Mary Ann EATHER 1854 - 1943
married James Thomas BRACKENREG 1852-1922 at Muswellbrook on the 29 April 1879.
The children of this marriage were:-
James Carrington Brackenreg 1880 - 1957 m. Helen Jane PERFREMENT 1883-1964
Linda Pearle Brackenreg 1881 - 1965 m. Alexander EATHER 1878-1942

5.Susannah Elizabeth EATHER 1856 - 1937
married Percy Charles CORNWELL 1853-1909 at Richmond on the 15 December 1875.
The children of this marriage were:-
Ila Eliza Cornwell 1876 -
Frederick Charles Cornwell 1878 - 1878
Alfred Abraham Cornwell 1879 - 1953 Blanche Stella CORNWELL 1881-1968
Frank Eather Cornwell 1881 - 1884
Theo Ernest Cornwell 1883 - 1947 m. Mabel Georgina ROONEY 1885-1961
Joseph Athol Cornwell 1886 - 1966 m. Ruby Ethel HUDSON 1892-1978

6.Matilda Sarah EATHER 1858 - 1941
married Alexander Munro COUSINS 1854-1923 at Muswellbrook on the 23 November 1888.
The children of this marriage were:-
Glencairn Munro Cousins 1883 - 1941 m. Ruby Ada Beryl DUNSTAN
Royston C Cousins 1885 - 1885
Alexander Munro Cousins 1887 - 1946 m. Marjorie Agnes R TOWNSEND
Ardersier M Cousins 1889 - 1963 m. Gladys Elvina DENNE 1892-1961

7.Eliza EATHER 1860 - 1944
married Lieut.Col. Walter BAXTER 1862-1928 at Patricks Plain on the 15 July 1886.
The children of this marriaGE were:-
Minna Baxter 1887 - 1928 m. Arnold Chambers McKIBBIN 1885-1951
Beatrice Eliza Baxter 1889 - 1974 m. Harold John MOORE
Victoria Baxter 1891 -
Thelma Merle Baxter 1904 - 1954 m. Alfred Ernest Herbert LANE

8.Joseph Hiorns Rutter EATHER 1861 ? 1884
married Clara RIDGE 1860-1941 at Richmond on the 6 October 1861.
The children of this marriage were:-
Frank Hilton Eather 1883 - 1917 r. Blanche M MORTIMER 1878-1913
Martha Ridge Eather 1885 - 1970

9.Alfred McAlpin EATHER 1863 - 1915
married Theresa LOVELEE 1865-1898 at Narrabri on the 25 December 1891.
The children of this marriage were:-
Alfred Charles EATHER 1892 - 1892
*Colin Charles EATHER 1894 - 1966 m. Sarah Josephine McKEE 1894-1937
Kenneth Thomas McAlpin EATHER 1896 - 1898
Ernest Herbert Edward EATHER 1898 - 1898
Infant twin Stillborn EATHER 1898 - 1898

10.Minnie Hilton EATHER 1865 - 1955
married Rev. Walter John WALKER 1868-1936 at Richmond in 1895.
The children of this marriage were:-
Gladys Eileen Walker 1896 - 1934 in Adelaide the result of a car accident
Jessie Winifred Walker 1898 - 1988 m. Hurtle Peter ROWE 1897-1983 at Ashfield, nsw in 1923.


The children of Charles EATHER and Martha Mary, nee Ridge were:-

1.Donald EATHER 1880 - 1954
married Gertrude Mary Eliza McGRATH 1886-1953 at Boggabri on the 23 February 1910.
The children of this marriage were:-
John Ridge Eather 1910 - 1976 m. Marjorie Lydia Bateman FORRESTER 1913-1982
Percival Thomas Eather 1915 - 1975 m. Marjorie Ethel BRETT

2.Emily Matilda EATHER 1883 - 1885
Photograph below. Charles Eather, 1827-1891
my 2nd. Greatgrandfather

The Voyage
When the first HEATHER's had settled at Chislehurst, the civil war had been raging in England, with Charles I and the Royalists battling against Cromwell and the Roundheads. By the time the fourth Robert Heather died in 1780, a hundred and forty years had passed. The Commonwealth had come and gone. The restoration which followed had seen the return of the Stuarts who in turn gave way to the House of Hanover. Wars had been fought in Europe and America and the American war of independence was currently in progress. Times had changed and people tended to travel more.

Thomas HEATHER reached adulthood and found employment as a labourer at Chilsehurst, the birthplace of three of his forefathers.

We do not know when or where Robert & Thomas's mother Elizabeth died, but if she was alive in 1787 she must have been appalled by the events which overtook the family. Younger son Thomas, then twenty three years of age and working at Chislehurst, was arrested in October 1787 & held in goal to answer a charge of having robbed a man of money and possessions. Five months later, on 17 March 1788, when the home circuit held it's next sitting at Maidstone, Thomas HEATHER appeared before the judge & jury. He defended himself as well as he was able without the assistance of any legal adviser, but was found guilty of the charges of having robbed one George COTTON of a silver watch and fifty shillings in a field near the Kings highway. He was sentenced to be hanged. On 18 April 1788 the Justices of the Assizes at Whitehall in London reviewed the sentences of the Home Circuit, and Thomas HEATHER was one of those who had their death sentences commuted to fourteen years transportation to a penal settlement beyond the seas.

Thomas spent the first two years of his sentence in goals in England. The first 14 months were probably spent in goal at Maidstone, where most Kent convicts were confined.

In May 1789, Thomas was moved from Maidstone goal to one of the hulks on the Thames river near Gravesend. These hulks were derelict ships tied up in the river to house prisoners who toiled in the nearby dockyards. About mid November, he was transferred to the ship NEPTUNE , the transport ship aboard which he was to make the voyage to New South Wales.

The ship "Neptune" was a vessel of 792 tons which had been built on the Thames in 1779. It was a three-masted, square rigged wooden ship, and was twice as large as any previous convict transport. On 14 November 1789, it left it's anchorage at Longreach and moved down the Thames to Gravesend. Three days later, with it's consignment of convicts on board it sailed for The Downs, the roadstead about five miles North-East of Dover. The part of the ship set up as the Convict's prison was the Orlop deck, the lowest on the vessel, well below waterline, so they had no portholes, no view of the outside world, and very poor ventilation.

There were four rows of one-storey high cabins, each about four feet square, two rows being on each side of the ship from the mainmast forwards, and two shorter rows amidships. Into these cabins no fewer than 424 male and 78 female convicts were crowded.

The appalling conditions under which these convicts were forced to live can be better appreciated when it is remembered that, immediately they had come on board, all convicts had been placed in leg-irons and these were not removed throughout the entire voyage. Into each of these tiny cabins were crowded four to six persons, chained in pairs.

Chained below, Thomas HEATHER would not have been able to take in the scenery as the ship "Neptune" had moved out of the Thames and come to anchor at The Downs, there to spend four days while stores and equipment were taken of board. Then anchors were weighed and the vessel left for Plymouth, a slow voyage which took six days after the ship overshot that port and the error wasn't detected until she was off The Lizard, from where a retreat was made back up The Channel. At Plymouth a series of disputes arose, involving the military, the contractors and the captain of the ship "Neptune". Amongst the military was Captain John MACARTHUR who was on his way out to the Colony for duty there. Accompanying him was his wife, Elizabeth, who kept a diary of events during the voyage. A feature of the dispute was a formal duel between MACARTHUR and Captain GILBERT of the ship "Neptune". As a result of the duel Captain GILBERT was replaced by Captain TRAILL, of whom Mrs MACARTHUR wrote prophetically that "His character was of a much blacker dye than was even in Mr GILBERT's nature to exhibit".

The ship "Neptune" stayed at Plymouth until 10 December and then sailed back along the coast to Portsmouth where it anchored in Stoke's Bay on the 13th. There she met up with two other vessels of the Second Fleet, the "Surprize" and the "Scarborough". The convicts endured the cold weather for twenty-four days before the West winds abated and allowed her to sail on 5 January 1790. She anchored at Spithead until the 8th, but then the winds proved "Faithless" and the vessel arrived back at Mother Bank on the 15th.

At last, on Sunday 17 January 1790, more than two months after leaving The Thames, the ship "Neptune" left Portsmouth and moved down the English Channel. In chains below, Thomas HEATHER would not have had the opportunity to gaze for one last time upon the land of his birth. The voyage was really under way and the convicts became well aware of this fact two days later when they crossed the Bay of Biscay. The sea was so rough that Mrs MACARTHUR recorded in her diary, "It could not be persuaded that the ship could possibly long resist the violence of the sea which was mountain high".

After a month or so the MACARTHUR's succeeded in being transferred to the ship "Scarborough" after they had had a series of disputes withe John's superior, Captain NEPEAN. Captain TRAILL might have been relieved to see them go. The voyage was nothing new to Donald TRAILL. He had been First Mate on the ship "Lady Penrhyn", one of the transports of the First Fleet. Apparently he had learned a few tricks from his earlier experiences.

Historical records indicate clearly that he deliberately starved the convicts on the ship "Neptune" so that he could draw extra rations for himself, and in addition, enrich himself by disposing of surplus rations on the foreign market at ports of call. One convict wrote later to his parents, "we were chained two and two together and confined in the hold during the whole course of our long voyage, without as much as one refreshing breeze to fan our langous cheeks. In this melancholy situation we were scarcely allowed a sufficient quantity of victuals to keep us alive, and scarcely any water".

Sickness was prevalent right from the beginning of the voyage. Heavily ironed and without adequate access to fresh air and sunlight; inadequately fed and without sufficient bedding for warmth at night, the convicts soon began to succumb to the ordeal of their conditions. By the time the ordeal of the cold weather was over they found that they were faced with another which was just as trying - the heat and humidity of the tropics as the ship "Neptune" crossed the Equator and continued south down the coast of Africa. By the time The Cape of Good Hope was reached after 87 days, no fewer than 46 of the convicts had died. Anchoring in False Bay at Capetown on 14 April, the ship "Neptune" stayed for fifteen days, taking on board food, water, a large number of cattle, sheep and pigs, and also twelve convicts from the ill-fated ship "Guardian".

The HMS "Guardian" had been dispatched with supplies for the infant colony of New South Wales in response to an urgent plea sent home by Governor PHILIP with the last returning vessel of the First Fleet. Unfortunately, after the ship "Guardian" had left Capetown on its voyage eastwards, the skipper, Lieutenant RIOU, had taken it too far to the south in his quest for the Roaring Forties, and the ship had run into an iceberg. Two months later RIOU had brought his crippled vessel back into the port at Capetown. The mishap had played a large part in the food shortages which Sydney Town suffered in 1790.

After its stay at Capetown, the ship "Neptune" departed on 29 April to commence its run across to Van Diemen's Land. The existence of the strait we now know as Bass Strait was unknown at that time, so all vessels heading out to Sydney Town via Cape of Good Hope sailed around the south of Van Diemen's Land. More deaths occurred amongst the convicts on board during this leg of the voyage, and while the ship "Neptune" beat its way up the east coast of New South Wales. By the time the ship made its way up Sydney Harbour and dropped anchor in Sydney Cove on 28 June 1790, it had built up the worst record of all convict ships of all time. In all it had lost 147 male and 11 female convicts, and upon its arrival landed 269 others who were sick.

Into Sydney Cove on the same day as the ship "Neptune" arrived, came also the ship "Scarborough". The ship "Surprize" had arrived two days previously. Fortunately the convicts on those ships had fared much better than had the unfortunate souls on the ship "Neptune". The arrival of the Second Fleet was a source of interest for those already in the colony, and many were attracted to the shore to take in the scene. What they observed as the prisoners disembarked was a shocking spectacle. Great numbers of those who came off the ship "Neptune" were not able to walk, or even move a hand of foot. These were slung over the ship's side in the same manner as a box would be slung over. Some fainted as soon as they came out into the open air. Some dropped dead on the deck, while others died in the boat before they reached the shore. Once on the shore some could not stand or walk, or even stir themselves. Some were lead by others and some crept upon hands and knees. All were shockingly filthy, with their heads, bodies, clothes and blankets full of filth and lice.

Somewhere amongst those who came ashore was Thomas HEATHER. It was a scene which he undoubtedly remembered for the remainder of his life. Whether he was one of the sick we do not know, but if he was he soon recovered. He had arrived in a settlement which was so short of food that the hours of public work had recently been shortened, and even the soldiers had pleaded loss of strength. Amongst those who witnessed the shocking spectacle down at the shore that day was Governor PHILIP himself. Not surprisingly, he ordered that an inquiry be held into the conditions on the ship "Neptune".

Thomas HEATHER arrived in the colony when the settlement at Sydney was 2 years old. A second settlement was also being developed on a tract of land at the head of the harbour, and ground prepared for sowing corn. The farm so established became known as Rose Hill. By June 1790 Rose Hill had a population of 200, and in the following month a town was laid out there under the Governors instructions. During that first year that Thomas spent in the colony, many convicts were transferred from Sydney to Rose Hill. It is most likely that Thomas was one of those at the new town before 1790 was out.

The following, is a letter published in the London Morning Chronicle on the 4 August 1791 from a female convict at Sydney Cove, dated 24 July 1790.

"Oh! If you had but seen the shocking sight of the poor creatures that came out in the three ships it would make your heart bleed.
They were almost dead, very few could stand, and they were obliged to fling them as you would goods, and hoist them out of the ships, they were so feeble; and they died ten or twelve a day when they first landed.
The Governor was very angry, and scolded the captains a great deal, and, I heard, intended to write to London about it, for I heard him say it was murdering them. It, to be sure, was a melancholy sight.."


Convict Women on the Neptune
Ships of the Second Fleet

Souces;
A History of THE EATHER FAMILY:
Thomas EATHER and Elizabeth LEE
by John St PIERRE
for the EATHER Family history committee.
The Women of Botany Bay, by Portia Robinson
Australia's Second Fleet - 1790 by Jenny French
janilye
The children of Thomas and Elizabeth LEE :-

1. Ann EATHER 1793 - 1865
2. Robert EATHER 1795 - 1881
3. Charlotte EATHER 1797 - 1862
4. Charles EATHER 1800 - 1891
5' Thomas EATHER 1800 - 1886
6. John EATHER 1804 - 1888
7. Rachel EATHER 1807 - 1875
8. James EATHER 1811 - 1899
for some of my family tree images

Jane Charlotte, the second child to survive infancy in the family of Thomas EATHER 1824-1909
and Eliza, nee CROWLEY 1822-1897, was born at Bulga on Wollombi Brook on 14 January 1851 and grew up there on her parents' farm. As a child she attended school in the local St Mark's Church, which was used as a school house on week days. At the age of 24 Jane was married on 8 October 1875 to Samuel PARTRIDGE, the 3rd. son of nine children to William PARTRIDGE 1818-1906 and Elizabeth nee RUSSELL 1822-1899 both from Kent, England, who were farming in the Bulga district. Samuel PARTRIDGE was known as Sam. He was very short in stature, being scarcely five feet (152 cm) in height. As a fourteen year-old boy he had been present during the hold-up on Warland?s Range, when Peter CLARK 1837-1863 had been killed. It was Sam who had ridden off to Murrurundi to alert the police.
The young couple settled on a farm in the Bulga district and over the years had a family of four sons and one daughter.

1.Edgar Clarihew PARTRIDGE 1875-1960, their eldest son, married Susan Jane METTAM on 2 October 1905. The daughter of James METTAM 1838-1930 and Elizabeth, nee MERCER 1842-1880. They had two sons and five daughters. Both the sons died in childhood. All the five daughters married and four had issue numbering fifteen altogether.
Edgar and Susan both enjoyed long lives. They had been married for 55 years when Edgar died at the age of 85 on 28 November 1960. Susan survived him by over eight years and was 92 when she passed away on 6 July 1969.

2.Vera Caroline PARTRIDGE 1879-1941, the eldest daughter of Jane and Samuel, married Alfred CLARK 1864-1951 on 19 April 1911 when she was 32. He was generally known as Andrew and was about fifteen years older than her. They had two sons and a daughter.

3.Guy Russell PARTRIDGE 1881-1954, the second son and third child of Jane and Samuel, married Elizabeth Hazel SQUIRE on 2 November 1940 at Singleton. She was the daughter of Victor William SQUIRE 1878-1930 and Annie Felicia, nee CLARK 1891-1970. Annie was a daughter of Jane's sister Sarah Eather 1861-1923 who had married Ashton CLARK. Therefore Guy and Elizabeth were first cousins once removed. He turned 60 in the month that he married. His bride had been born at Quirindi on 29 March 1918 and was 22. They had three sons all born at Singleton.

4.The fourth child of Jane and Samuel Partridge, Oscar EATHER PARTRIDGE 1884-1963, he married Ethel Florence Isolda May MORGAN 1885-1962 in 1911 at Armidale, NSW. She had been born at Armidale 17 September 1885, the daughter of Hananiah MORGAN 1846-1904 and his wife, Jemima Agnes, nee McMICHAEL 1852-1928. They had four sons. Oscar died at Traralgin in Victoria in 1963 at the age of 88.

5.The fourth son and fifth child Darrell PARTRIDGE 1891-1953 married Ada Teresa CALLAGHAN 1893-1979 the daughter of Patrick and Margaret CALLAGHAN from Dungog, New South Wales.

Jane PARTRIDGE who suffered from heart disease, died suddenly whilst doing her housework on 3 June 1897 at the early age of 46, so she did not live to see any of her children married or any of her grandchildren. Samuel survived her by 31 years. Beulah SQUIRE, a sister of Guy PARTRIDGE's wife, lived at her parents' home "Gerale" at Bulga when she was young. In later years she remembered Samuel PARTRIDGE - 'Uncle Sam'. He used to go to "Gerale" every Saturday. He rode a pretty cream horse and tied it up behind the cow bails. When the school van was running, Beulah and her siblings caught it at Bill COOKE's gate. Uncle Sam used to time his arrival from town to be at the gate so that the young ones could open it for him. He then used to give them a lift down to his gate, thereby saving himself from having to open and close three gates. Sam was a small man, as were his two brothers. Sam's brother Peter PARTRIDGE 1859-1918 married Amy Hilton CLARK daughter of Macdonald CLARK 1836-1918 and Susannah, nee MCALPIN 1842-1882 at Patrick's Plain in 1887. Sam was age 72 years when he died on 11 June 1928 - his death was registered at Singleton, New South Wales
Sam and Jane are buried together at St.Mark's Church of England Cemetery, Bulga, New South Wales.

The photo below was taken in 1896, at the side of Thomas EATHER's house 'Meerea' at Bulga, NSW
Standing from left Peter McAlpin, William Glas McAlpin, William Partridge 1817-1906
Sitting Thomas Eather, Eliza Eather, nee Crowley, Elizabeth Partridge, nee Russell 1822-1899 and James Coe 1828-1910
Sitting in front is Elizabeth McDonald relict of James Swales Clark.
There are altogether 12 people in this photograph unfortunately not all are shown here, Mrs Sarah Coe, nee Howard 1828 - 1908 is seated beside her husband; whilst on the left-hand side were Thomas Hayes 1824 - 1914 with his wife Mary Ann , nee Broughton 1826 - 1904 and standing behind them is Mrs. Susannah Holmes, nee Taylor. All are related by marriage except for Mrs. Holmes.

Surveyor General's Office, Sydney, 25th August, 1820
Notice is hereby given, that Grants and Leases to the undermentioned persons, will
be ready for delivery at this office, on Monday, September 4; and persons who do not
apply for their grants within one month from that date, will be considered as having
relinquished all claim to the land measured to them; the grants will consequently be
cancelled and allotted to such persons having orders for land, as may make
applications for the same.
GRANTS
John Anderson, Thomas Acres, Thomas Adams,
William Aspinall, Richard Alcorn, John Austen,
H. C. Antill, and Thomas Moore, Esquires, Robert Bostock,
Thomas Brown, William Bateman, William Blackman, William Bowman, sen.
William Bowman, jun. George Bowman, John Brabyn, Esq. William Burgin,
George Barnett, Samuel Blackman, Robert Bolton, Thomas Blackett,
William Barnett, James Byrne, John Butcher, John Coleman, Andrew Coss,
George Carr, William Craft, William Coomb, William Clark, William Carter,
George Cribb, Thomas Cosgrove, Michael Conroy,
** Colebee, (Black Native),
[known as Coley's grant at Black Town ( Blacktown) Given to sister, Maria LOCK 1805-1878
whose marriage in 1824 with Robert LOCK was the first officially sanctioned union between
a convict and an Aboriginal woman .]
Daniel Clarke, John Cupitt, William Cupitt, William Cossar, Mr. Robert Campbell,
George Core, John Coogan, William Cosgrove, George Collesse, Henry Davis,
John Donnelly, William Davis, William Dean, Frederick Dixon, Samuel Dent,
Thomas Douglas. Lachlan Doyle. James Darbyshire, Roger Doyle, Philip Devine,
William Dean, William Dean, William Duckett, James Duff, William Dye,
James Everett, Rowland Edwards, Samuel Fair, Peter Finnamore, John Fenton,
Richard Farrington, William Fairburn, Edward Field, jun. Richard Freeman,
Samuel Freeman, William Farrell, John Freeman, Mr. Richard Fitzgerald,
Daniel Geary, Thomas Gorman, Frederick Garling, Esq. Edward Gould, John Grover,
Thomas Green, John Goldsmith, George Guest, William Hill, Samuel Haynes,
Richard Hicks, James Hayes, James Horse, Mr. R. Howe, Mrs. Sarah Howe, James Hart,
John Harris, Esq., John Harris, Esq., John Harris Esq., Patrick Hoy,
Mr. William Hutchinson, John Harris Hamilton Hume, Samuel Haslam, Edmund Hobson,
Sir John Jamieson, Knt. Benjamin Jamison, Mr. John Jaques, Mr William Johnston,
Francis Kenney, Mr. Henry Kitchen, Joseph Kearnes John Kennedy.
James Leek, William Lawson, Esq. Paul Loutherborough, John Leadbetter, jun.,
John Liquorish, Andrew Loder, Robert Lowe, Esq., Francis Lloyd, John Lamb,
William Lane, Mr. Daniel Dering, Mathew, Wiliam Marson, William Mahoney,
Sarah Middleton, Daniel Millar, Edward McGee, John Murphy, Michael May,
Bernard Moran. Mr. Joshua John Moore, Mary Marshall, Julia McNally,
James Morris, Denis Molloy, Joseph McLaughlin, Peter McAlpin, Giles William Moore,
Thomas McGuire, James McGrath, Thomas McDougal, John Norman, James O'Neal,
Matthew Pearce, George Percival, Richard Partridge, jun., George Panton Esq,
William Pawson, George Pashley, jun., John Palfrey, Thomas Quinn. Henry Rolfe,
Stephen Richardson, John Randall, Jacob Russel, Jacob Russel, jun. James Ridley,
James Richard, William Ragan, John Riley, Richard Rouse, Richard Rouse, Richard Rouse,
John Roper, William Sykes, George Simpson, Alfred Sims, John Smith. Thomas Styles,
Henry Stockfish. George Smith, Timothy Sheady, Robert Sherringham John Stephenson,
James Smith, James Smith, William Shedworth, George Stanbury, James Stuart,
James Sherrard, Thomas Slaven, Charles Stuart, John Small, James Smith, John Smith,
William Shelly, Walter Thompson, Edward Tutty, Daniel Tindall, jun., Andrew Thompson,
Mr. Samuel Terry. Doctor Townson, John Tonks Thomas Upton, Antonio Vitrio,
James Watson, Major West. John Williams, James Wilshire, John White, John Wood,
Sylvanus Williams, William West, George Wilson, George Williams, James Wilbow, jun.
James Wright, Henry York. Charles York.
LEASES
Thomas Abbott, John Blakefield, Serjeant Jonas Bradley, James Bull, William Biggs,
Thomas Beams, Owen Connor, Farrel Cuffe, Patrick Cullen, John Davis, John Graham.
John Harris, William Hibberd, John Jeffreys, Catherine Johnston, John Dawrie,
Serjeant George Lodar, James Lane, Hugh McAvoy, John Manning, James Morris, Mary Moore,
Thomas Massey, Richard Palmer, James Phelan, Mary Skinner, J. H. Stroud, Mary Stafford,
William Thomas, William Trigg, George Woodhead, John Wood, John Jones.
By Command of His Excellency
The Governor.
JOHN OXLEY, Surveyor General

SURVEYOR GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Sydney, 18th September 1820.
By Command of His Excellency the Governor,
JOHN OXLEY, Surveyor General.
NOTICE is hereby given, that GRANTS to the undermentioned Persons are ready for Delivery
at this Office ; and Persons who do not apply for their Grants within one Month from this Date,
will be considered as having relinquished all Claim to the Lands measured to them
the Grants will consequently be cancelled and allotted to such Persons (having Orders for Land)
as may make Application for the same.

Thomas Acres, Thomas Adams, William Aspinall,
Robert Bostock, William Bateman, William Blackman,
Wiliam Burgen, Thomas Blackett, William Barnett,
James Byrne, George Carr, William Clark, William
Carter, George Cribb, Thomas Cosgrove, Colebee (Black Native),
George Core, John Coogan, George Collisse, John Donnelly,
Roger Doyle, Philip Devine, William Deane, James Duff, William Dye,
Rowland Edwards, William Fairburn, Richard Freeman, Sam. Freeman,
John Freeman, Thomas Gorman, Frederick Garling, Esq. Edward Gould,
John Grover, Thomas Green, John Goldsmith, Richard Hicks, John Harris,
Esq. John Harris, Esq. John Harris, Esq. John Harris, Hamilton Hume,
Edmund Hobson, Mr. William Johnston, John Kennedy, William Lawson, Esq.
Paul Loutherborough, Robert Lowe, Esq. Francis Lloyd,
John Lame, William Lane, Sarah Middleton, Edward M'Gee, Bernard Moran,
Dennis Molloy, Joseph McLaughlin Peter McAlpin , Giles William Moore,
Thomas M'Guire,Thomas M'Dongal, Matthew Pearce, George Percival,
Richard Partridge, jun. George Panton, Esq. William Pawson,
George Pashley, jun. John Palfrey, Stephen Richardson, Jacob Russell,
Richard Rouse, Richard Rouse, Richard Rouse, William Sykes,
John Smith, George Smith, Timothy Sheady, Robert Sherringam,
John Stephenson, James Smith, James Smith, George Stanbury,
James Sherrard, John Small, James Smith, John Smith, William Shelly,
Edward Tutty, Daniel Tindall, jun. Andrew Thompson, Doctor Townson,
John Tonks, Antonio Vitrio, James Wilshire, John White; William West,
George Wilson, Henry York, Charles York.

Source:
The Sydney Gazette
Saturday 7 October 1820
Transcription, janilye 2014
Land Grants for 1821

My McAlpin Ancestors.

Some History: In earlier times of Scottish history the King of Dalriada was King Alpin. His son Kenneth became the first King of the Picts and Scots and in this sense could be considered the first King of Scotland. To say he was a successful man would be an understatement.

The Romans considered the Picts so fierce that they chose to build a wall to protect themselves rather than further their Empire's advance over Britain into Pictland. Yet in 843 Kenneth MACALPIN became ruler of the Picts, even conquering their language so that within twenty years Gaelic had replaced the Pictish tongue. He achieved the same miracles over the Welsh-speaking, long-established Kingdoms of Strathclyde, Gododdin and Rheged in Southern Scotland.

It is unlikely Kenneth and the Scots could have achieved so much purely by their own swords. His control of the Picts may have been aided by the ancient law of matrilinier succession through which he had reason to challenge for the Pictish Crown on his female ancestry.
Also, the Norsemen continually attacking the Scots from the West forced them eastwards. By then the Picts in the East may have been unable to resist this as they had been greatly weakened by the Vikings landing on their own shores.

The MacALPIN name is so ancient and spread in times when the clan system was still evolving there is little evidence of any one, direct family line back to Kenneth MacALPIN and his father King ALPIN. Many other clans claim to be descended from the accomplished MacALPINES, such as the MacGREGORS, GRANTS, MacNABS, MacAULEYS, MacKINNONS and the MacQUARRIES.

My 7th Great Grandfather-

Donald MCALPIN b: 1670 in Killin, Perthshire married Catherine McCONDIE on 7 Jul 1690 in the Parish Kirk at Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland.

Killin is the largest and oldest of the many settlements in Breadalbane - 'Braghaid Albainn' - the High Country of Scotland. The name of the village comes from its association with the legendary Celtic Hero Fingal who, it is thought was buried here - 'Cill Fhinn' meaning the burial place of Fingal.


The child from this marriage:-
Donald McALPIN was born in 1691 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland.
Donald married Margaret McKENZIE in 1714 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland.

Note: This was the generation that witnessed the concerted destruction of the Gaelic culture after the Union of the Two Kingdoms 1707, and subsequent "raisings" of 1715 and 1745 in favour of the historic Stuart monarchy against Parliamentary authority. Their loyalty was romantic, feeling, and well rooted in history and blod relationships but it failed, and from this time on (for well over a century and a half) Gaelic was rejected in favour of a policy of assimilation.

Donald married Margaret McKENZIE in 1714 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland.

Children from this marriage were:-

1. Donald McALPIN b: 5 March 1715 in KIllin, Perthshire.

2. Peter McALPIN was born about 1722 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland and died about 1777 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland about age 57.
note; Peter's name is listed on the International Genealogical Index (Batch C113612, Killin) as Peter but more often as Patrick, but the mother's name is always Katherine McLean, which suggests the father's name is being variously translated from the Gaelic 'Padraig' each time

Peter married Katherine McLEAN, daughter of John McLEAN and Margaret ROBERTSON, about 1748 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland. Katherine was born in 1727 in Aucharn, Killin, Perthshire, Scotland and died in 1774 in Grey Street, Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland at age 47.

Children from this marriage were: CHRISTENING DATES.

1. Donald McAlpin c: 9 December 1749 d:1753

2. Margaret McAlpin C: 9 December 1749 Killin, Perthshire

3. John McAlpin c:28 April 1752 d:1755

4. Donald McAlpin C: 12 January 1754

5. John McAlpin c: 14 January 1756

6. Alpin McAlpin c: 8 December 1758 Killin d:1840 Alpin married Jean CAMPBELL 1765-1806 on 13 February 1783 in Killin, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Stirling, Scotland. Jean was born in Midlothian, Scotland. Alpin MCALPIN was known as 'The Boatman of Tay' a famous singer and musician. I have decendants of this family if anyone is interested. janilye

7. Katharine McAlpin C: 14 April 1762 d: 1763 Killin, Perthshire

8. Duncan McAlpin C: 20 June 1763 Killin, Perthshire

9. Katharine McAlpin C: 20 June 1763 Killin, Perthshire

10. Elizabeth McAlpin C: 22 December 1763

11. Peter MCALPIN C: 14 March 1768 Killin, Perthshire

12. Christian McAlpin c: 31 May 1772 Killin, Perthshire

*Peter McALPIN was born in 1768 in Killin-Bridge, End Of Dochart, Perthshire, Scotland, died on 23 Feb 1850 in Richmond, NSW, Australia at age 82, and was buried on 25 Feb 1850 in St Matthew's, Church of England cemetery, Windsor, NSW, Australia.

He joined the Scottish Army and by the age of 26 had attained the rank of sergeant. On 21 April 1794 he transferred to the Princess Louise Argyllshire Highlanders at Stirling Castle. He marched with his Regiment in June 1794 to Leith and there embarked for Netley Common near Southampton. There the Regiment joined the 98th Regiment of Foot, and on 5 May 1795 embarked at Spit head as part of a joint expedition to South Africa against the Dutch. It landed at Simon's Town on 9 September 1795 and camped at Muysenberg. After a battle with the Dutch at Wynberg, the Regiment entered Cape Town Castle on 16 September and the Dutch garrison surrendered. The 98th stayed in South Africa until 1803

Peter married Elisabeth ELTON b:1778 in London, d: 15 Nov 1817, Windsor, NSW. on 16 Dec 1798 in Garrison Church, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town, South Africa.

Source, for the above:
Peter Moore direct decendant


NOTE: There has been some question as to whether Elizabeth Elton was actually Elizabeth HILTON because HILTON as a forename and second forename is prevalent throughout the family. Perhaps the family believed it was. I have William Glas McALPIN's birth certificate which clearly states her surname as ELTON. janilye

Elisabeth ELTON - age about 20 years, sailed from Deptford, England with her mother Sarah ELTON (nee not known) and step-father Francis WHEELER on the storeship HMS "Buffalo" - the ship arrived in Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday 13 October 1798 to leave stores and pick up cattle for Sydney Cove.

The ship "Buffalo" stayed moored in Table Bay until it sailed on Tuesday 5 February 1799 for Sydney Cove, where it arrived on Friday 3 May 1799.

Elisabeth did not accompany her mother and step-father on the continuation of the journey to New South Wales as she had met Peter McALPIN whilst the ship was moored in Cape Town - Peter & Elisabeth were married in Cape Town before Francis & Sarah sailed

Peter McALPIN & Elisabeth ELTON lived in Cape Town until Peter returned to the army barracks on 25 March 1801, Peter & Elizabeth remained at the barracks until 24 April 1802 when he was discharged - they remained in Cape Town until 9 December 1802 when they sailed back to Portsmouth and returned to Killin, Scotland - they settled in Stirling where 3 children were born.

The family moved to London November 1810 immediately after their third child William Glas McALPIN was christened - whilst in London the family were strongly encouraged by letters from Elisabeth's mother to join her in the NSW colony as Francis WHEELER had died - they eventually gained a free passage to the colony after letters to the Governor of NSW.


The ship "General Graham" sailed from England via Rio de Janeiro to Sydney Town - The family arrived from London as free settlers on the ship "General Graham" 29 January 1812 with 3 of their children.

The children of this marriage were:-

1. Sarah MCALPIN b: 15 September 1805 Stirling, Scotland died on the 1 March 1884 Richmond, NSW. m. Thomas EATHER 1800-1886 on the 24 August 1824 at St.Matthews Church of England, Windsor, NSW.

2. Peter McAlpin b: 4 April 1809 Stirling, Scotland and died 23 September 1898 m.Elizabeth HARRISON real name Phoebe Coles nee STIRRUP 1807-1885 at Christ Church of England, Maitland, NSW. Peter's death certificate states her name as Elizabeth COLES and he was married for 25 years. He spent 51 years in NSW and 35 years in Victoria. He was without issue.

3. William Glas McAlpin b:6 October,1810 Stirling, Scotland died 2 February 1902 at Bulga, NSW. m. Susannah ONUS 1815-1882 the daughter of Joseph ONUS 1782-1835 and Ann EATHER 1793-1865 on the 1 February 1833 at Christ Church, Castlereagh, NSW.

4. Catherine 'Kite' MCALPIN born in the colony, 9 May 1814 Richmond and died 28 July 1893 Cullen Bullen, NSW. m. William CLARK 1812-1879 on the 16 January 1832 at St.Peter's Church, Richmond. Catherine McALPIN was the first of the McALPIN family born in Australia.
Not long after they were married, William received the licence to the "Woolpack Inn" in Maitland, NSW on 5 July 1833, which he held for the next two years. The family settled in Bulga and lived at "Kegney's Hill" in Bulga in 1846. They left the district in the late 1860's and settled on a property in Ben Bullen on the road between Lithgow and Mudgee - Catherine, did not remarry and remained there after the death of William in 1879.

Peter MCALPIN 1768-1850 next married Eleanor BLAKE b:1788 London, d: July 1850 in Richmond, NSW. on 7 March 1820 in St Peter's, Church of England, Richmond, NSW, Australia. Eleanor BLAKE was assigned from the female factory compound at Parramatta to Peter McALPIN to help out in his home and care for his 4 young children following the premature death of his wife Elisabeth ELTON.

After they married, Eleanor was granted her freedom, it was a disaster, because as soon as she was free, she absconded in 1821 - returned - and left again in 1823. She returned again at some time as she was living in one of the MCALPIN houses when she died.

'Cuimhnich Bas Ailpein'
janilye

For more history and information have a look see at The Clan
this story I contributed to their newsletter.

One other thing I wanted to mention re the name, MacAlpine, McAlpine and McAlpin.
In newspaper articles the name is printed as M'Alpin. On Peter McAlpin's land grant in 1820 the name is printed as Peter M'Alpin. On the New South Wales 1841 census it appears as McAlpine in the electoral roll of 1844 it's McAlpin, which is probably about when it became common use within the family.
On William Glas McAlpin baptisimal record in Stirlingshire it's McAlpine on the Death cert. 1902 McAlpin.
On the death certificate of Peter McAlpin 1768-1850 McAlpine
On all other certificates registered in NSW it appears as McAlpin.
My great grandfather was registered as Alfred McAlpin Eather; However, the MacAlpine, McAlpine's who settled in Victoria retained the 'E' on the tail. Ever since I can remember If it was McAlpin it was nsw and ours, and if you were McAlpine you were Victorian, with the statement "they are not related to us!" Whether it was because of the 'E' or the fact that they were in Victoria, I don't know.
A lot of it was of course due to illiteracy or the uniquely Australian penchant for shortening just about every word in the english language.

It is said, The Singleton Argus, on 25th September 1835, when writing about Peter McAlpin 1809-1898, described him as a man with "a roaming disposition, a giant and in every sense of the term, physically and morally with high principles, lofty ideals". I have been unable to find this article. Never-the-less, he was, all of that.

Peter McALPIN Senior 1758-1850 had taken his family out to the Hawkesbury district and set himself up as a blacksmith at Windsor after arriving with the family as free settlers on the 'General Graham' on the 29 January 1812.

Here the family lived until the end of 1815, when Peter Snr. sold his shop and two houses by auction, the family moved to Richmond early in 1816, again setting up a blacksmith shop, when young Peter was only 7.

In 1822 Peter together with his brother William Glas and Catherine (nicknamed, Kite) attended the school in Richmond for only about a year, just long enough to learn to read and write and do their sums.

In the 1825 census Peter was recorded as living at Richmond, however it was not long after the census that Peter showed his wanderlust by making a trek up north to Muswellbrook, or perhaps he was a little bit envious of his brother's wanderings.

Two years earlier in 1823, Peter's brother William known as Billy Mack at thirteen, had been one of Archibald Bell's party who, with the help of aboriginal guides marked the Bells Line of Road which was an alternative route to Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworths road across the Blue Mountains.

In the 1828 census Peter was living in Bathurst and working as a labourer for John Neville 1780-1854 and his wife Elizabeth nee Vincent, whom Peter had met in Richmond, when they were living there. They had offered him work and Peter was keen to take it.

I'm not sure how long Peter remained with John Neville and his family but John Neville moved from Bathurst to Rylstone in 1830 and Peter didn't like to stay in one place for long.

In 1831 Peter set himself up as the Blacksmith in Patrick's Plains. It's thought that Peter visited Richmond around Christmas 1831 when his little sister Catherine 'Kite' announced she was going to marry William Clark on the 16 January 1832. Of all the family Peter was closest to Kite and I don't see him missing her wedding day.

Another big wedding took place on the 1 February 1833 when brother Billy Mack married Susannah Onus 1815-1882 at Christ Church in Castlereagh. William built a brick home in 1834 in the main street of Richmond, NSW with financial help from Joseph ONUS (the father of his wife, Susannah) and set up a blacksmiths shop at the rear.

On the 9 January 1935 at a chapel in Maitland where his sister and her husband William Clark were now living Peter married Elizabeth Cole alias Harrison, a convict woman whose real name was Phebe Cole, nee Stirrup
1807-1885. Phoebe was a widow with two children.

This marriage was seen as a convenience for both parties and did not last very long. It seems Peter sold the shop bought Phoebe a house, gave her some money and then took off for Victoria. Neither one looking back or having any regrets.

It was on the 30 August 1835 that the first settlers arrived in Melbourne and commenced building along the Yarra River. This pioneering group led by Captain John Lacey with his builder from Launceston George Evans, his servant Evan Evans, carpenters William Jackson and Robert Hay Marr, the Blacksmith James Gilbert and his wife and a ploughman called Charlie Wise. In 1840 Peter McAlpin made his way there not to seek his fortune ( he could have made that in New South Wales), but for the adventure of it all.

From this point on it's not easy to track Peter. He did have a blacksmith shop in Little Bourke Street Melbourne, in 1847. In March 1851 he was shot in his left arm in the city of Melbourne at 1am by George May Smith after Peter called he and his companions some names. George May Smith was charged with assault and fined twenty shillings. Another shot in the arm in 1851 was because Peter was out of the state of nsw for so many years phoebe, had him declared dead. She married Frederick WINGRAVE 1797-1876, at Windeyer on the 31 March 1852.
Then in 1853 we see Peter at the McIvor diggings. I doubt he was digging more likely running the blacksmiths shop.

All told Peter spent thirty five years in Victoria not returning to New South Wales until 1875.

Peter died on the 23 September 1898 in Singleton, New South Wales.
His death certificate states he died without issue

His grave is at the Glenridding Uniting Church Cemetery, formerly known as
the Glenridding Presbyterian Cemetery, on the Putty Road, Singleton, NSW.
The headstone reads-
PETER MCALPINE
23 Sep 1898
Age: 89y

Obituary
Singleton Argus (NSW : 1880 - 1954), Saturday 24 September 1898

Death of an Old Colonist.
"In his 90th year, Mr Peter M'Alpin, of Bulga, died in the local Hospital yesterday,
after a short illness, his death being due to senile decay.
The deceased was a native of Sterling, Scotland, but was only three years of age
when he arrived with his parents in Victoria he lived there for 35 years, when he removed
to N. S. Wales, and has since lived in this part of the colonya term of 51 years.
Mr M'Alpin was married in Maitland, but there was no issue to the union.
The old gentleman was well respected, and those who knew him intimately
in his earlier days retain many pleasant memories of the acquaintanceship "

Note: He arrived with parents in NSW on 29 Jan 1812.
He Lived in Victoria for 35 Years and
in NSW for a total of 51 years.


written by janilye, 2004.
Thank you to Rob Fountain for information re- Phoebe Stirrup