The Bay Walk

View inside Vault

Today Mary and I did the Bay Walk around Iron Cove.

On passing Rodd Park, we noticed a large sandstone cross. This revealed a most interesting story. It is the site of the Historic Rodd Mausoleum which was the family vault of Brent Clements Rodd, a pioneer of the Five Dock area.

Brent Clements Rodd, who emigrated to Australia in 1822, was admitted to practice law in the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 28 September 1833. In 1838 he bought fifty acres of the Five Dock Estate and in 1845 his home, Barnstaple Manor was completed. He lived there with his wife, Sarah Janet Rodd, and their eight sons and four daughters. Several of the nearby street are named after the family.

The Family Mausoleum (Vault) was carved from a large outcrop of sandstone rock at Rodd Point by convict labour.

Sarah Rodd who died in 1896 and Brent in 1898, were interrred there. In 1903, the remains of ten family members were re-interred to Rookwood Cemetery to allow consevation works to the vault.

The site was thought to be no longer existent but was rediscovered in 1975. The Rotary Club of Fivedock restored it to its original condition, including the return of the stone cross to the to the Family Vault.

A monument on the site was unveiled by the Honourable Paul Landa MLC at a dedication ceremony on 20 March 1977.

History Services NSW has the records of a number of convicts that were assigned to Brent Clements Rodd, including one Thomas Preston, stableman, who arrived at Port Jackson on the convict ship Lloyds on 18 December 1833.

If you would like more information on Thomas Preston or would like to research other NSW convicts ancestors, visit the History Services NSW website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/convicts.htm

Historic Berrima

Mary and I visited Berrima on the weekend to celebrate the 60th Birthday of our good friend Rob. We dined at the Magpie Cafe. The food was great and the atmosphere relaxed, and a good day was had by all.

Took some interesting photos as shown above:

1. Lambie's Well - first water supply for the town situated just below the western wall of the Gaol on the banks of the Wingecarribee River.
2. Bulls Head Fountain on the northern wall of the Gaol. Built to provide water for the horses of those attending the Courthouse opposite.
3. Our group.

Berrima is a great place to visit. Situated in the NSW Southern Highlands, the town is a living example of Australia's rich colonial heritage. Established in 1831, it was planned in the manner of a typical English village. Today many of the grand old sandstone buildings - Berrima Gaol, Courthouse, Berrima House, Surveyor General Inn, Holy Trinity Church and St Francis Xavier Church - are preserved, providing a unique atmosphere to the town.

History Services NSW has extensive historical information in our databases relating to the Berrima district including:

• 643 records of convicts who were at Berrima at some time;

• 180 records of Government contracts awarded for work in and around Berrima- repairs to the Gaol (1860) and additions thereto (1862); repairs to the Telegraph Station (1865); erection of a boundary wall around the Goal (1865); supply of furniture for the Courthouse (1871, 1877); erection of Police Station (1877); erection of Chimney Stack at the Courthouse (1892); installation of electric light at Berrima Gaol (1894);repairs to the Courthouse (1897);

• records of all the licensees of the Surveyor General Inn up to 1900

For more information go to our website at:
http://www.historyservices.com.au/

The Convict Priests

The first Catholic priests to arrive in the colony of New South Wales were convicts. These were James Harold in 1800, quickly followed by James Dixon and Peter O'Neil.

They were Irishman, transported to New South Wales for their complicity in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. As they were not officially appointed clergyman, they were not welcomed by the Colonial Administration as it was thought that they would incite rebellion in the large number of Irish convicts.

The first Catholic Masses in the colony were therfore celebrated in secret, as depicted in the stained glass window in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (first window on the western side of the nave). This is an early the celebration of the Eucharist by Father James Dixon in the kitchen of a cottage in 1803 with a lookout at the door.

Father Dixon celebrated the first official Mass in the colony on 15 May 1803 following a procalmation by Governor Philip Gidley King permitting Catholic worship.

There is an exhibition in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral, with a set of silk vestments known as the "Convict Vestments" probably used by Father Dixon.

While researching the early days of the Catholic Church in Australia, I was particularly interested in the official correspondance between the main players, including the NSW Colonial Administraion, the British Government and the priests themselves. This is found in various despatches of Series One of the Historical Records of Australia [published by the Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament ].

Using these primary sources, I have complied a "History of the Roman Catholic Church in the Colony of New South Wales 1800 -1836".

You can find this on the website of History Services NSW at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/resource_material.htm

The Settlers Arms Inn - Shellharbour

While visiting Shellharbour on the south coast of NSW, I came across an historic plaque in the town centre marking the site of "The Settlers Arms" Inn built in Shellharbour by Robert Martin in 1856.

The Inn was a meeting place for many local events most notably being the signing of the petition to form the Municipality of Shellharbour dated 14 January 1859.

The Local Government Petitioners Database of History Services NSW has records of over 47,000 persons who signed one of the 315 petitions or counter petitions during the period 1858 to 1883 relating to the formation of local government municipalities in New South Wales.

For the Municipality of Shellharbour, we have the names of 210 persons who signed the petition.

For further information, on local government petitioners go to:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/local_govt.htm

The Settlers Arms was destroyed by fire on 8 April 1872. The "New Royal Hotel" was built on the site in 1891.

In the Hotel and Liquor Licensees Database, History Services NSW has a complete index of over 52,000 persons who were licensed in the New South Wales liquor industry from 1856 to 1900.

For the Shellharbour area, we have 25 entries.

For further information, on Hotel and Liquor Licensees go to:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/hotels.htm

Shellharbour Weekend

I enjoyed a great weekend at Shellharbour recently with the gang from Sydney and Canberra, mixing pleasure with a smidgin of history.

Shellharbour, originally known as Peterborough was named because of the shell-like natural features of the local landscape. It was one of the earliest land grants made to D'Arcy Wentworth. After his death in 1827, the estate was divided between five of his children - Robert, Martha
(Reddall), Sophia (Towns), Mary Ann (Addison) and Catherine(Darley). The streets of Shellharbour were named after these families.

Caroline Chisolm, the Emigrants' Friend settled some families in the district in 1843.

Some of the group walked out to Bass Point to view the memorial to the sinking of the US tanker, Cities Services Boston. The ship ran aground off this point in the early hours of 16 May 1943 during the Second World War after it was caught in a violent 70 knot gale.

Thirty soldiers from the 6 Machine Gun Battalion AIF, together with members of the local Volunteer Defence Corp, the Police and local fishermen undertook a daring rescue to save the 62 American crewman.

However four AIF soldiers died during the rescue. Two memorials to them have been unveiled, one at Bass Point by Captain S D Matchett (R.A.I.) on 8 September 1968. The other by the Mayor of Shellharbour, Alderman R J Harrison on 5 May 1983, located in Caroline Chisolm Park.

Denistone House - History where you find it!

While visitng a family member in Ryde Hospital, I took time out to explore Denistone House and its history. Denistone House is now an administration block in the grounds of Ryde Hospital in Sydney, New South South Wales.

Denistone House was rebuilt in as an imposing stone residence in 1872 by Richard Rouse Terry, grandson of the wealthy convict Samuel Terry, and brother of Edward Terry the first mayor of Ryde.

The original "Dennistone House", was the property of Dr Thomas Forster and named in memory of his English birthplace. [Thomas Forster was the husband of Gregory Blaxland's daughter, Elizabeth. In 1829, Blaxland transferred Brush Farm Estate to Elizabeth and Dr Forster. In 1830 they expanded the estate by purchasing the Porteous Mount grants of 120 acres on the Denistone ridge].

The house was destroyed by a bushfire in 1855.

In 1872, the land was acquired by Richard Rouse Terry who built the current house.

A plaque funded by the NSW Bicentennial Council reads:

This "Handsome Mansion" was bult in 1872

by Richard Rouse Terry. A "picture of

elegance and comfort of the most unostentatious

kind" it was an integral part of the social life of

early Ryde."

Denistone House was purchased by the New South Wales Government in 1913 for use as a convalescent home for men. It later became the maternity wing of the Ryde District Soldiers' Memorial Hospital which opened in May 1934.

A Government Contract!

Today I travelled on the first train out of Epping on the new railway line to Chatswood.

Despite the political arguments that the line is coming into operation some three years late, it appears that the original idea for a junction line from Epping connecting the northern railway line with the North Shore line goes back some 80 years to John Bradfield of Harbour Bridge fame.

According to an article in the Northern District Times, 18 February 2009, Pastor Larry Galbraith of the Epping Church of Christ holds archival documents that point to a plan for a Epping-Chatswood railway . According to a commerative booklet dated Easter Saturday 1928, to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Epping Church of Christ in Bridge Street, the "value of siting a new church at Epping, given the electrification of the Northern Line and the authorisation of the junction line connecting the northern suburbs at Epping with the North Shore line" was duly noted.

The $2.29 billion railway line is the biggest infrastructure project in NSW. As an engineering feat it is a testament to all those who worked on it.

Do you have an ancestor who worked on building the foundation of New South Wales?

History Services NSW has a database of Government Contracts and Contractors covering some 49,164 entries on successful applicants for contracts awarded by the New South Wales Government over the period from 1832 to 1900.

For more information go to:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/govt_contracts.htm