Brush Farm House

On Sunday 14 June 2009, Mary and I visited Brush Farm House at Eastwood, NSW. Ryde Council was holding one of its Open Days there to show off the restoration of the heritage property which was completed in 2007.

Brush Farm House and estate is very much part of of the natural and cultural heritage of NSW. It is one of Australia's oldest remaining houses, being built in 1819-20 by the explorer Gregory Blaxland. It was a two story brick building on sandstone foundations in the Colonial Georgian style.

Ryde Council purchased the property from the NSW State Government in 1990 and set in place a conservation project that has not only restored the building as a legacy of our early heritage but has opened it up for public use.

The Blaxlands were among the first 'settlers of responsibility and Capital' to come to the young colony of New South Wales. The early Administraion encouraged such settlers promising them land, convict servants and free passages. Gregory Blaxland and his brother John were friends of Sir Joseph Banks, and it appears that it was he who strongly enocuraged them to emigrate.

History Services NSW has numerous records of convicts assigned to Brush Farm and Gregory Blaxland. For example:

Edward GING who arrived in Port Jackson on 27 July 1817 from County Cork on the convict ship, Chapman. It is recorded that he served Gregory Blaxland of the Brush Farm for four and a half years until 16 November 1822. He was granted his Certificate of Freedom in 1823 and was granted land at Campbelltown in 1825.

If you are researching a convict ancestor who was assigned to Brush Farm, you should go to our website at:
http://www.historyservices.com.au/convicts.htm

Three Bees

A convict ship alight in Sydney Harbour in 2009!

On this coming weekend on Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights, the Fire Water spectacular, which is part of the Vivid Sydney program will re-enact such an event from Sydney's colonial past.

Directed by Michael Cohen, Fire Water centres on the story of the convict ship the Three Bees.

The Three Bees arrived in Sydney Cove on 6 May 1814 with a cargo of 210 male convicts. Two weeks later on Friday 20 May, a fire broke out and quickly engulfed the ship. It was cut lose from its moorings and drifted into the Harbour. When flames reached the cannons, cannonballs shot from the ship with one reaching the office of Captain John Piper at the Naval Office in George Street and destroying his writing desk. When the ship's gunpowder stores exploded, the Three Bees sank off Bennelong Point.

Governor Macquarie's report of the incident can be found in the following despatch to Earl Bathurst , dated 24 May 1814 [ Historical Records of Australia , Volume 8]

"The transport ship, Three Bees, commanded by Captain John Wallis, arrived on 6/5/1814, with 210 male convicts; out of the 219 originally embarked, the other 9 having died on the passage; and out of those landed, it has been necessary to send 55 to the Hospital, many of them being much affected with scurvy and others labouring under various complaints.

On enquiring into the cause of this mortality and sickness, it appeared that many of them had been embarked in a bad state of health, and not a few infirm from lameness and old age. I am happy in being enabled to state that the convicts arrived by the Three Bees have, without a single exception, borne grateful testimony to their having been treated with the most unremitting care, attention and kindness, by the Master and Surgeon of the vessel, from the day of their embarkation until they were finally landed here.

A Detachment of four Subaltern Officers and 38 Soldiers of the 46th Regiment arrived by the Three Bees, having acted as a guard over the male convicts on board, and by this vessel, John Palmer, Esq., arrived with the appointment of Assistant Commissary General.

A most unfortunate accident took place in Sydney Cove immediately in front of, and at a very short distance from Government house on Friday evening last. At about 5 o’clock in the evening the fine new ship Three Bees was discovered to be on fire, and so rapid and violent was the burst of flames when the hatches were accidently raised, that all effort at extinguishing them was rendered totally useless, and must have been attended with the utmost risk to those who should have attempted it.

The danger arising from the ordinary effect of fire being increased beyond all calculation by the consideration that a very large quantity of gunpowder was deposited immediately adjoining the place from whence the flames first proceeded. No alternative was left to the Ship’s Company but to immediately abandonment, which fortunately took place without any accident whatever. At this crisis, little short of the total destruction of the Town of Sydney was expected every moment to take place by the explosion of the Magazine.

The alarm was so great that numbers of the inhabitants deserted their houses, and fled into the Country to avoid being buried in ruins, Fourteen guns, some loaded with Ball and some with Grape Shot, exploded, sending their contents in various directions, as the ship drifted through the Town, fortunately, however, without doing any damage further than the breaking a window in the Naval Officer’s House and shattering a writing desk that lay within it. At this time a light breeze blowing off the shore, and the cable being cut, the vessel drifted to the extremity of the Cove where she struck on some projecting rocks called Bennelong’s Point, and here the expected explosion took place.

Owing to some circumstance, which cannot be otherwise accounted for than by supposing that the ship had previously taken in water, and wetted the powder, the explosion did not occur till nearly two hours after it was expected, and was not by any means so tremendous as there was reason to suppose it would have been.

The alarm for the town and the shipping in the Cove was now at an end, but the fire did not cease its ravages until the fine ship was burnt down to the water’s edge, which took place in about six hours from the first discovery.

This unfortunate accident is attributed to some carelessness on the part of a Tailor, who had charge of a lighted candle in the morning in that part of the Hold whence the flames proceeded, and who is supposed to have put it out in a careless manner, dropping some of the snuff of it in an unextinguished state at his feet".

Do you have a convict ancestor who came to Sydney Cove on the Three Bees? Would you like further information?

History Services NSW has records on the entire 210 convicts who were landed ashore. Go to the website at:
http://www.historyservices.com.au/convicts.htm

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.