LIST 24 - 1822 MUSTER - NEW SOUTH WALES
The final muster presented for New South Wales is the 1822 Muster, which
took place in September of that year. There are 505 members of the First
Generation identified from this muster; 445 colonial born and 60 childhood
arrivals, 245 males and 260 females.
The information presented for each entry includes:
family name
Christian name
year of birth
parents' names
parents' civil status at the time of the child's birth
parents' marital status at the time of the child's birth
colonial born or childhood arrival
age
occupation/remarks
place of residence
surname as it appears in the original muster
reference number linking the entry back to the original source document.
The list is ordered; firstly alphabetically on the father's name then
chronologically on the child's date of birth.
The 1822 Muster itself is in alphabetical order - sort of - with children listed
under a parent in birth order - sort of. The children of one family are bracketed
together but their parent is not necessarily the entry directly above their
grouping which can make identifying their true parents difficult at times.
The women have been separated from the men in order to make sense of the
surnames under which their entries are found in the Muster because most of
them were already in relationships with men and following the English custom,
women took their husband's surname upon marriage.
The year of birth and parental details are additional information researched
for this work and not found in the original muster.
Some 18 names appear twice, leaving 487 separate individuals. Nearly 25%
of the First Generation are represented. This list has the highest proportion,
at 48.2%, of males to females compared to any other muster in this work.
Whether married women in the muster are listed under their maiden name or
married name has proved something of a mystery. The decision would appear
to be random and bears no relation to the status of the woman; convict, free
or colonial born.
Often the children of the marriage are listed under the name of the mother
(and her maiden name) rather than their father's surname. But this is only
a general state of affairs and does not always apply. It all makes for an
interesting researchers life !
Because the First Generation are listed under the father's surname in
this list some entries appear under surnames which were never used in the
individual's lifetime. Examples would be William Christie who never used his
biological father's name of Summers or Francis Spencer who never used Squires
or Joseph Baylis whose natural father is unknown but always went by his
stepfather's name or John Walker son of Owen Farrell or Edward Watson whose
father's surname was Powell.
Edward Robinson was mistakenly placed under the name of his employer -
Dunn !
The married colonial girls, like their convict mothers, seemed to show no fixed
pattern in whether they used their maiden or married names in the muster,
with at least a dozen married women still using their maiden names.
The 1822 Muster has a couple of idiosyncrasies in the spelling of Christian names;
Catherine habitually has the "e" dropped to give Cathrine and Margaret has the
"a" dropped to give Margret. On the other hand Louisa gains an "e" as in Louiesa.
Once again with the assistance of the information contained in the Pioneer
Register project, the year of birth and the names of the parents of each person
are listed along with their marital and civil status at the time of the child's
birth.
There are six men and twelve women in the muster whose parents have not been
determined at this time:
Alexander Books [A02199]
William McDonald [A13562]
Thomas Martin [A14340]
Roger Shea [A18946]
George Taylor [A20633]
Thomas Wright [A23386]
Esther Campton [A20634]
Mary Dowling [A12232]
Elizabeth Ellard [A11298]
Martha Farrell [A15406]
Sarah Hall [A08184]
Frances Martin [A00096]
Sarah Plimblet [A09470]
Mary Ann Roberts [A12878]
Eleanor Scott [A19846]
Mary Smith [A07470]
Elizabeth Williams [A10187]
Sarah Williams [A22801]
The fathers of three men and three women in the muster are unknown;
Joseph Baylis [A01042]
William Bruce [A02489]
John Walker [A21678]
Elizabeth Dailey [A11491]
Jane Jones [A18280]
Catherine Riley [A17862]
The mother is also unknown of;
Elizabeth Aicken [A23229]
Two women are listed under their married names in the muster but their maiden
names remain undiscovered:
Lucy Bryant [A02535]
Mary Martin [A14389]
Mary Perceval is listed as a widow but it is not known if 'Perceval'
is her married or maiden name.
The entry on Charlotte Mann proved something of a challenge. In the Muster
'she' is listed as Christopher Graham - the wife of W Graham. For a start a
Christopher would not have a 'wife' and the only colonial born woman married
to a Graham was Charlotte married to a John Graham. Added to which Charlotte
appears in both the 1825 Muster and 1828 Census but not otherwise in the
1822 Muster, so on the evidence this would appear to be a reasonable
assumption.
In some cases, a minority of cases regrettably, both the name and the age of
the child is recorded. In other cases the name is recorded but not the age.
In rather too many other cases, the age of the child is recorded but not the
name, then again other family groups record no names and only the age of the
oldest and youngest child. Depressingly for the historian, in still other
cases neither the name nor the age is recorded. Occasionally the remarks column
will specify 'son of' or 'daughter of', but mostly it is the unhelpful 'child
of'.
As has so often been the case in this work, the Pioneer Register project has
provided many of the missing names where they are not specified in the Muster.
These entries are identified by an asterix (*) and there are 16 of them
on the list. The reader should be aware that in some cases a couple had
more children eligible for inclusion in the muster than spaces listed, in these
cases generally the youngest children were selected.
The 'status' of the entries are either BC - colonial born or CF - came free.
445 were colonial born, 59 came free and William Bean had nothing recorded but
he did in fact come free. In passing it might be noted that the original muster
lists the name of the ship of arrival for the 'came free' but not the year,
which can lead to problems with ships which called at the colony more than
once.
Sarah Moore(Cooper) was recorded as CF when in fact she was BC. Thomas Hassall,
Sarah Howe, Elizabeth Hoare(Love), Thomas Pearson & Henrietta
Fletcher(Shewring) were all recorded as BC when in fact they all arrived as
very young children.
Jane Longhurst[A10906], the wife of William Hutchinson was incorrectly
recorded as colonial born when if fact she was a convict, as were
Christopher Ash[A00439] and Sarah Barsden[A00927].
The two Hassall brothers, Jonathan and Samuel, originally arrived as very young
children with their parents in 1798 but both recorded their later arrivals
in this muster. Similarly later arrivals were used by William Ikin, Thomas
Laycock, Isaac Moss and Elizabeth Bean.
Charlotte Britten(Sutton) is incorrectly recorded as arriving on the 'Active'
rather than 'HMS Porpoise'.
Only 140 (28%) entries have their age recorded in the Muster. With regard
to the age recorded in the 'age column' it will be noticed in some cases
it does not correspond to the year of birth. In these cases this may be an
error in recording on the part of the muster clerks or their parents may
not have been numerate or it may be that the wrong child has been selected
from the Pioneer Register records. Examples would be Ann Badgery who is recorded
as 13 but really 23, Mary Freebody as 17 when 22 and Thomas Rose as 13 when
23.
The possibilities for 'places of residence' would appear to be much restricted
when compared to for example the 1828 Census, only 13 place names have been
used.
Table 24.1. - Place of Residence
Place No.
-----------------------
Appin 5
Argyle 4
Bathurst 7
Castle Hill 1
Concord 1
Liverpool 54
Newcastle 6
Parramatta 82
Port Macquarie 3
Prospect 1
Rooty Hill 1
Sydney 128
Windsor 209
Windsor, Sydney, Parramatta & Liverpool account for over 93%. These
descriptions should perhaps be taken as regions rather than referring to a
specific town.
Five people; Sarah Howe, Andrew Loder, Joseph Love, Mary Ann Piper(Shiers)
and Roger Shea did not record their place of residence, although Andrew
Loder is recorded as owning land in Windsor and Sarah Howe in her second
entry is recorded in Parramatta at the Female Factory. Catherine
Lindsay(Turner) was very precise in recording her address as Goulburn Street
Sydney.
In 1822 there existed in the settlement two further places of secondary penal
punishment for offences committed in the colony; Newcastle and Port Macquarie.
Sadly five individuals were at the former and two at the latter
establishments with colonial sentences; Joseph Risby, Joseph Trimby, the
brother and sister combination of John and Charlotte Tucker, and Elizabeth
Flannagan with her husband Edward Priest were all at Newcastle whilst David Geary
and Lawrence May (both with Life sentences !) were at Port Macquarie. Sarah
Williams was also at Port Macquarie but she fortunately was there as the
wife of her superintendent husband Stephen Partridge.
In terms of new information about the First Generation, the
'occupation/remarks' column is the most interesting, especially since by 1822
the youngest of them would have been 22 years old, giving one a glimpse into
the nature of their adult lives.
Most of the men in the list have their occupation recorded but in 63 cases no
occupation is recorded. The range of occupations were as follows:
Table 24.2. - Occupations
Occupation No.
--------------------------
baker 1
blacksmith 2
blind musician 1
brewer 1
brickmaker 1
carpenter 2
clergyman 2
clerk 2
constable 5
coxswain 1
farmer 3
government printer 1
inn keeper 1
labourer 12
landholder 108
licensed victualler 3
mariner 2
miller 1
overseer 1
parish clerk 1
sawyer 1
servant 4
settler 2
ships master 1
shipwright 4
shoemaker 6
shopkeeper 1
superintendent 1
tailor 1
victualler 1
wheelwright 4
It will be noted that almost half the First Generation were in rural pursuits;
landholders, farmers, settlers. No doubt many of those who did not record
their occupations would have been similarly engaged, the two Macarthur
brothers James & William being obvious examples. The high proportion of land
ownership amongst the First Generation, which shall be discussed more fully
below, should be noted.
Some of those with more noteworthy occupations are as follows; Alexander Books
was the master of the colonial vessel "Elizabeth", Daniel Cubitt was
the coxswain of the row guard boat, of which his father Daniel snr was the
master, Samuel & Thomas Hassall were clergymen, Robert Howe had taken over
the job of government printer from his father, Joseph Love was a blind musician,
Thomas Taber was the parish clerk in Sydney, William Tuckwell was a
superintendent at the Female Factory in Parramatta.
The miserable reprobates who had colonial sentences have already been noted
above. To which can be added Henry Davis who was in goal awaiting trial.
In this time and era, virtually the only occupation available for a woman was
that of wife and mother, and indeed 237 of the women on the list were married
and another three widowed - Elizabeth Pitt(Laycock), Charlotte
Stuart(Meredith) & Mary Perceval. The two Bradley girls, Lucy & Sarah, for
some reason used their maiden names even though married. Of the 15 unmarried
women in the Muster, ten would eventually marry, leavaing only five who are
known never to have married; Julia Johnston, Louisa Kennedy, Elizabeth
Macarthur, Elizabeth Shepherd & Elizabeth Smallwood.
Sarah Taber is incorrectly recorded as married to Harrison instead of
Harrex. Jane Riley is recorded as the wife of a J Hober when she was in fact
the wife of John Lee.
Of those few women who did record an occupation; Sarah Byrnes & Catherine
Turner were householders, Ruth Yardley was a housekeeper for Mr Meehan.
Mary Allen(Wright) and Mary James(Hopkins) were landholders, Sarah Williams
was deaf and dumb.
Some other points of interest recorded in the Muster include; Samuel Arndell
appears to have an extra wife, William Guise would also appear to have two wives,
Mary Kearns likewise would appear to have two husbands.
In a time and era when such things mattered four of the First Generation
women were given an honorific; Sarah Arndell as 'Miss' althouugh mistranscribed
as 'Moss', Sarah Broughton as 'Miss', Mary Seymour(Higgins) as 'Mrs',
Henrietta Fletcher(Shewring) as 'Mrs'.
The 1822 Muster has a second part called the "Land and Stock Muster of
New South Wales 1822". As the name suggests, it is a record of all the
landholders in the colony, listing the total number of acres each person
holds, how the land was obtained (grant or purchase), the number of acres
under cultivation and what type of crops are grown (wheat, maze, barley, pease,
beans, potatoes, fruit) as well as the number of stock held and their types
(horses, cattle, sheep, hogs).
These have a reference number starting with "B" which has been added to their
"remarks column" details. Only the total number of acres held is recorded in
this list but the reader is directed to the origian entry for more complete
information about the agricultural activities of their person of interest.
Names in the first section of the muster who are listed as "landholders"
are generally to be found in the second section, a total of 109 are listed
as such but of these Thomas Bradley, John Lucas and George & William Everingham
have not been located in the second section. Thomas Dargin & William Summers,
whilst listed in the second section, have livestock but no land recorded against
their names.
James Blackburn who describes himself as a farmer and John Fraser, a settler,
are also to be found in the second section and twenty others with various
occupations are also recorded as owning land. At least eight others, who
have no occupational description, are also to be found as landholders,
including; David & Robert Johnston, William Lee, Andrew McDougall, James &
William Macarthur, Isaac Moss and John Thorn. Finally there are nine First
Generation men who do not appear in section one, but who are listed as
landholders in section two; Samuel Arndel, John Hume, John Jamieson, William
John, Alexander McDougal, John Peacock, Edward & John Powell and William
Wentworth, there may well be others.
Even though Lawrence May was in Port Macquarie serving a life sentence he
is still recorded as holding 42 acres in Windsor.
Just two women are listed as landholders; Mary Allen(Wright) and Mary
James(Hopkins).
The ten largest landholders were as listed in the following table:
Table 24.3. - Largest Landholders
Name Acres
-----------------------------
Henry Cox 3060
William Wentworth 2750
George Cox 2100
Thomas Arndell 1500
James Macarthur 1500
William Macarthur 1500
Thomas Rowely 1300
John Jamieson 1200
Thomas Laycock 1200
Thomas Hassall 1000
Thus in total some 140 First Generation were landowners, (56% of the males)
and as shall be seen when the 1828 Census is discussed, a further 20
at least would go onto acquire land. On this measure at least the First
Generation, of all parental backgrounds, were attaining a reasonable level
of wealth and statys in the colony.
Only 107 of the 159 males and 142 of the 257 females from the 1814 Muster
appear in this muster.
Return to Children Born in the Colony Home Page or Original FFF Website Home Page or New FFF Website Home Page
This work is copyright. Apart from any fair
dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process
without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.