INTRODUCTION
This database attempts to record all births, baptisms, marriages, de facto
relationships, deaths & burials for the third decade of settlement in the colony
of New South Wales, that is from 1811 until 1820.
Principle Sources of Information
The major sources of information presented in this work were derived from:
1. Anglican Churches - New South Wales - Church Registers
2. Anglican Churches - Van Diemens Land - Church Registers
3. Catholic Churches - Sydney & Hobart - Church Registers
4. Index to Tasmanian Births/Baptisms 1803 to 1840 - Alex Buchanan
5. The Pioneer Register - Dr C J Smee
1. Anglican Churches - New South Wales
The sources of information on these churches included; (i) the online database
called the "New South Wales Pioneers Index: 1788-1888" published by the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology, (ii) the Kerrison James Index - an index
in chronological order of all Anglican church registers from 1788 to 1850,
(iii) the individual Parish Registers with all three categories being held
at the National Library in Canberra.
The Lake Macquarie Family History Group has conveniently published nearly
all the parish registers for St Matthews Windsor making access to their
information readily available to a wide audience.
Yvonne Brownings book "St Peters Richmond: The Early People and Burials
1791-1855" has been most helpful on background information for that
church.
The book published by the Newcastle Family History Society "Christ Church
Newcastle, NSW : 1804-1900" has also been most helpful in checking entries
for this register.
2. Anglican Churches - Van Diemens Land
An online database held in the National Library of Australia in Canberra called
the "Tasmanian Pioneer Index: 1803-1899" published by the Archives Office
of Tasmania was the source of information for the two parishes of St Davids
Hobart and St Johns Launceston.
Even though the settlement at Port Dalrymple in Van Diemens Land was founded
in 1804, no clergyman visited the settlement until the Reverend Knopwood
did so in 1811 and the parish records commence from that year. However in
the case of St Johns, given its particular historical circumstances, the 43
baptisms for 1811, which took place in late February/early March of that year,
are assumed to have occurred in 1810. Indeed in many cases information
from other sources has validated this decision.
Rev Knopwood next visited Port Dalrymple in 1814. Thus the first baptism for
the decade did not occur until 1814. It was not until 1819 that the Reverend
John Youl was appointed as a permanent chaplain to St Johns.
Rev Knopwood performed marriages in his short visits of 1811 & 1814 but no
burials. The first burials are recorded only from 1819.
3. Catholic Churches - Sydney & Hobart - Church Registers
The first Roman Catholic church in the colony was St Marys Sydney. When
the Reverend John Joseph Therry arrived in the colony in 1820 there was
of course no Catholic church building, his "church" was in effect his registers.
Thus as he travelled around the colony performing baptisms, marriages & burials
it is suspected that he only recorded the events in his register later at the
end of his particular travels, leading to occasional errors of person, date
and place.
There are no records of any burials recorded in St Mary's church registers for
the year 1820. Whether the records have been lost or there were indeed no burials
performed in this year remains undetermined at this time.
Not infrequently genealogists are confronted with odd situations in the
pursuit of their passion and the case of the Reverend Conolly and his
registers for St Marys Hobart is one such example.
The Rev. Philip Conolly along with the Rev. John Therry were the first
officially sanctioned Roman Catholic priests to be appointed to the colony
of New South Wales. They sailed together in the 'Janus' reaching Sydney on the
3rd May 1820. Whilst Therry was allocated to New South Wales, Conolly was
destined for Van Diemens Land but Governor Macquarie detained him in the
senior colony for almost a year.
Four weeks after his arrival Conolly performed his first baptism on the 31st
May. He continued to baptize children until Macquarie finally released him to
his duty in Hobart Town. He performed his last baptism in Sydney on the 23rd
March 1821. According to his entry in the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography',
Conolly left for Hobart in April 1821 arriving on the 14th and upon checking
Cumpston's 'Shipping Arrivals & Departures, Sydney, 1788-1825' the only ship
to leave for that southern settlement around this time was the brig 'Prince
Leopold'. He performed his first baptism in Hobart two days later on the
16th April.
So far so good but it would appear that the Rev. Conolly took his register with
him to Hobart Town resulting in the intriguing situation of having several
people born and baptized in New South Wales appearing in records in Van Diemens
Land!
Adding to the genealogical challenge, Rev Conolly recorded his entries in
Latin, transcribing all the Christian names into that ancient language.
Fortunately most can be easily retranslated into English although the correct
transcription of "Lamentis" remains a mystery.
By a similar set of circumstances, two marriages by Rev Conolly performed in
1820 in Sydney, appear in the Hobart church registers.
There do not appear to be any surviving records for burials in Rev. Conolly's
register for the year 1820.
4. Index to Tasmanian Births/Baptisms 1803 to 1840 - A M Buchanan
Mr Buchanan in his book indexes all known births for Van Diemens Land for the
years 1803 to 1840. Being an 'index' it simply points to the original source
document and thus unfortunately only lists the year of birth and gives no
further details such as parents or place of birth. Happily the vast majority
were baptized at either St Davids Hobart or St Johns Launceston and as a
consequence are not repeated in the list of births.
The problem though is that it is not certain if the children were actually born
in Van Diemens Land. They may have come from England with their parents
or be from the mainland.
5. The Pioneer Register - Dr C J Smee
The Pioneer Register project is a collection of family trees for persons
arriving in the colony between in years 1788 and 1820. The project was commenced
in the early 1970's and to date four thousand families have been published
in over 58 separate books. The books are published in two editions, the first
being a soft covered production containing 100 families. When five first
edition volumes have been produced ie 500 families, plus their accompanying
spouse supplement, they are amalgamated into a second edition which is a
more handsome hard covered production. Four special series volumes have also
been published as spin offs of the main body of the Register; "First, Second,
Third and Fourth Fleet Families of Australia" their titles being self
explanatory.
The Register aims to collect 33 separate pieces of information on each pioneer:-
1. Christian Name(s)
2. Surname
3. Exact Date of Birth
4. Place of Birth
5. Christian Name(s) of Father
6. Christian Name(s) of Mother
7. Maiden Name of Mother
8. Exact Date of Arrival
9. Ship of Arrival
10. Status upon Arrival
11. Exact Date of Death
12. Place of Death
13. Church/Place of Burial
14. Exact Date of Marriage
15. Church/Place of Marriage
16. Christian Name(s) of Spouse
17. Surname of Spouse
18. Status of Spouse
19. Total Number of Children
20. Christian Name(s) of Each Child
21. Exact Date of Birth of Each Child
22. Place of Birth of Each Child
23. Exact Date of Death of Each Child
24. Place of Death of Each Child
25. Exact Date of Marriage of Each Child
26. Church/Place of Marriage of Each Child
27. Christian Name(s) of Spouse of Each Child
28. Surname of Spouse of Each Child
29. Status of Spouse of Each Child
30. Total Number of Children of Each Child
31. Christian Name(s) of Each Grandchild
32. Exact Date of Birth of Each Grandchild
33. Place of Birth of Each Grandchild
The family trees only extend as far as the grandchildren of the Pioneer and
this was decided upon for three reasons. Firstly, it allowed for a
straightforward layout of the family tree, on one page in most cases, which
is, both simple and clear. Secondly, in many ways the two generations represent
a 'functional' family unit. No doubt many of the Pioneers would have heard
the wish expressed at their nuptial service that they should live to see their
children's children. Even today the vast majority of families consist of
grandparents, parents and children so what is presented in most cases,
represents the family that the original Pioneer actually knew. That is not
to say however that in some families further generations are not shown, as
when a Pioneer married the daughter of an earlier Pioneer, for example
the grandchildren of Thomas Carpenter are the great-grandchildren of William
Shaw, and in the case of James Boyce who married Margaret Shortland, his
grandchildren are the great-great-grandchildren of John Shortland. Thirdly,
two generations will see most family trees, if not all, past 1856 when
compulsory registration of births, deaths, and marriages began in New South
Wales. After 1856 genealogical research is comparatively easy using the
facilities of the Registrar General's Department, whereas pre 1856 details
need access to sources such as those held by the Mitchell Library, the State
Archives and the Society of Australian Genealogists, which are not readily
accessible to people outside the metropolitan area and require some degree
of skill in handling. It is hoped that the Register acts as a genealogical
service to such people.
The third edition volumes are divided into four sections; the main body of
the work containing the family trees, the spouse supplement, the son &
daughter-in-law index and the chronology.
The number of families published in the Register thus far is 4,000. When
one adds the spouses to these 4,000 Pioneers, plus their 14,000 children and
over 47,000 grandchildren, plus 5,000 sons & daughters-in-law, one arrives
at a total of over 73,000 names, making the Pioneer Register project one
of the largest genealogical works ever published in this country.
The research on The Pioneer Register project has resulted in numerous
individuals being identified whose births did not appear in any of the other
sources. By approaching the problem from the other end as it were, descendants
have been able to trace themselves back to individuals who obviously must
have existed but were not otherwise identified anywhere else.
Over one hundred deaths were also identified by the Pioneer Register project
and even twelve marriages, which admittedly may be of doubtful veracity.
Miscellaneous Sources of Information
A minority of entries presented in this work were derived from three minor
sources of information on birth details:
1. Various Early Churches - Burial Registers
2. Various Musters & The 1828 Census
3. Other Churches - Baptismal Registers
1. Various Early Churches - Burial Registers
There were 171 burials of children taken from various early colonial churches,
but principally St Phillips Sydney and St Johns Parramatta burial registers,
for whom no parents could be identified. Unlike in the previous two volumes
only eight were merely designated as "infants" in the register, (all from
St Johns) and as no corresponding baptism entry has been found, the not
unreasonable assumption has been made that they died before they could be
baptized and the year of birth has been recorded as the same as the year of death.
2. Various Musters & The 1828 Census
The colonial musters were searched for all colonial born children and childhood
arrivals: New South Wales for the years; 1822, 1825 & 1828 and Van Diemens Land
for the years; 1818, 1819 & 1822. Of those individuals found, most were
identified as belonging to a known family but some 305 children were not
and it is these mystery individuals who have been collected under this heading.
3. Other Churches - Baptismal Registers
As many of the third decade children were not baptized until they were somewhat
older, several churches which were not founded until after 1820 contain
baptisms relating to children born in the relevant period. The most prominent
of which include; St Peters Campbelltown (1821), St James Sydney (1824),
St Thomas Port Macquarie (1824), St Thomas Sackville Reach (1826) and St
Johns Wilberforce (1827). As well as the first Presbyterian church register
at Scots Kirk Sydney (1826).
Apart from these churches there were numerous churches from other denominations
which were founded as the colony grew and expanded and some of them may well
have had entries for children baptized later in life but whose birth in
the colony has not been confirmed at the time of writing.
The Paracencus of New South Wales - James Donohoe
This discussion on the sources of information could not be concluded without
mentioning Mr Donohoe's major opus, documenting births, deaths & marriages in
the colony from 1788 to 1828, which has been of immense assistance in solving
many of those tantalizing mysteries which one constantly encounters in early
colonial genealogical research.
With regard to the Births the aim was to identify the parents of each child
by researching when they arrived in the colony and in what capacity. There
were 6,081 births recorded and 4,067 baptisms. The identities of 73% of
the fathers were found and 71% of the mothers.
With regard to the Marriages the aim was to identify each bride and groom
by researching when they arrived in the colony and in what capacity as well
as determining their age at marriage. There were 1,920 marriages recorded.
The identities of 91% of the grooms were found and 91% of the brides.
Since around a third of the births were illegitimate, it seemed important to
include the De Facto Relationships as well. Obviously only those
relationships which produced children are included. There were 601
relationships recorded. The identities of 75% of the 'grooms' were found and
73% of the 'brides'.
With regard to the Deaths the aim was to identify each of the deceased by
researching when they arrived in the colony and in what capacity as well as
determining their age at death. In the case of the colonial born the aim was
to identify the names of their parents. There were 2,830 deaths recorded
and 2,711 burials. The identities of 86% of the deceased were found.
A particular type of death, namely Judicial Execution, was thought to
be of particular interest to the modern reader and all 24 known hangings have
been collected in the Appendices along with their crimes if known.
For completeness Childhood Arrivals have been included for the 711 children
who were not born in the colony but arrived as young children. After all, those
who arrived very young would have an early life experience not very dissimilar
from the actual colonial born and were often their siblings. For no specific
reason the age of ten has been selected as the cut off point for inclusion in
this category.
Local Historical Developments
Colonel Lachlan Macquaire continued as governor for the second decade of the
nineteenth century, although the arrival of Special Commissioner J T Bigge in
1819 would cast a shadow over the last years of his administration and no doubt
created great interest in the colony.
After the death of Colonel David Collins RM in 1810 there was an interregnum
in the Lieutenant Governorship of Van Diemens Land with Lt. Edward Lord, Capt.
John Murray and Lt.Col. Andrew Geiles filling the role until Colonel Thomas Davey
RM arrived in 1813 to be followed by Colonel William Sorell in 1817.
The colonist were no doubt pleased to have proper legal services when the the
Supreme Court of New South Wales was established in 1814 with Jeffery Hart
Bent as the first judge but less pleased when he refused to open the court.
It would not operate until Baron Field replaced Bent in 1817.
The major histo-geographical development during this decade was the crossing
of the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth in 1813, the
construction of the road over the mountains by Lieutenant Cox in 1815 and
the establishment of the first inland settlement at Bathurst by Captain Lawson
in 1817 with the consequent opening of the vast western plains to settlement.
This ended the confinement of the infant colony to the Cumberland plain and
brought to an end first phase of settlement as it were.
Sadly the settlement at Norfolk Island which was so important in the early days
of the colony and touched the lives of so many of the First Generation was finally
abandoned in 1814.
International Historical Developments
King George III continued upon the throne of England, albeit in an occasional
state of porphyria induced lunacy. The British prime ministership passed
from Spencer Percival in 1812 to Earl Liverpool. With the promotion of
Liverpool, the office of Colonial Secretary, so vital to the young colony,
passed to Earl Bathurst whose name would soon be liberally sprinkled around
its shores.
The loyal subjects in the colony would no doubt have reflected in the glory
of the Duke of Wellington with his monumental victory over the Emperor Napoleon
at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Britain was now supreme on land as well
as at sea. The more educated of the colonists would no doubt have taken
great interest in the Congress of Vienna which would define the borders of the
nation states of Europe for the next one hundred years and the restoration of
the monarchy in France in 1815 under King Louis XVIII.
Perhaps the less loyal subjects may have heeded the warning of not messing
with the British Empire by the destruction by fire of Washington in the United
States by the British Army in 1814.
The abbreviations used in this book are explained below:
d = de facto SDH = St Davids Hobart VDL
m = married SDPA = St Davids Port Arthur VDL
SGS = St Georges Sorell VDL
CF = came free SJL = St Johns Launceston VDL
GS = government servant (convict) SJP = St Johns Parramatta
FS = free by servitude (emancipist) SJPT = St James Pitt Town
AP = free by absolute pardon SJS = St James Sydney
CP = free by conditional pardon SJW = St Johns Wilberforce
EX = exile SLL = St Lukes Liverpool
NC = native of colony (aboriginal) SLR = St Lukes Richmond VDL
NE = never emigrated SMH = St Marys Hobart VDL
-- = unknown SMK = St Michaels Kelso - Catholic
SMNN = St Matthews New Norfolk VDL
Eng = England SMS = St Marys Sydney
Gib = Gibralta SMW = St Matthews Windsor
Ire = Ireland SMWR = St Matthews Windsor - Catholic
Mal = Malta SPC = St Peters Campbelltown
Sct = Scotland SPCO = St Pauls Cobbitty
Wal = Wales SPR = St Peters Richmond
SPS = St Phillips Sydney
Cam = Cambridgeshire STPM = St Thomas Port Macquarie
Crn = Cornwall STSR = St Thomas Sackville Reach
Dub = Dublin
Dvn = Devonshire NI = Norfolk Island
Esx = Essex VDL = Van Diemens Land
Ham = Hampshire
Knt = Kent Bapt = Baptist VDL
Ldn = London Cla = Clarence VDL - Anglican
Mdx = Middlesex GP = Green Ponds VDL - Anglican
Sfk = Suffolk I-RC = Illawarra - Catholic
Sry = Surrey M-RC = Maitland - Catholic
Ssx = Sussex Pet = Cooks River, Petersham - Anglican
Stf = Staffordshire SKB = Scots Kirk Bathurst
Wwk = Warwickshire SKPH = Scots Kirk Portland Head
SKS = Scots Kirk Sydney
CCC = Christ Church Castlereagh WMH = Wesleyan Methodist - Hobart
CCN = Christ Church Newcastle WML = Wesleyan Methodist - Launceston
HTK = Holy Trinity Kelso WMS = Wesleyan Methodist - Sydney
SAKP = St Annes Kissing Point WMW = Wesleyan Methodist - Windsor
SAS = St Andrews Sydney
* = duplicate entry
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