INTRODUCTION

 
 
This database attempts to record all births, baptisms, marriages, defacto relationships, 
deaths & burials for the first twelve years of settlement in the colony of New South 
Wales, that is from 1788 to 1800 under the two headings of List Header & List Details.
 
 
Principle Sources of Information
 
The four major sources of information on the genealogical details presented in this work 
were derived from:
 
 1. St Phillips Sydney Registers
 2. St Johns Parramatta Registers
 3. Norfolk Island and its First Settlement - Reginald Wright
 4. The Pioneer Register - Dr C J Smee
 
 
1. St Phillips Sydney Registers
 
In collecting early parish records, it was fortunate to have access to the hand written 
transcription of the Parish Registers of St Phillips, undertaken by the late Joan Provis. 
It is understood that she may have had access to the actual register in the late 1960's 
before it was microfilmed and withdrawn from public access. In any case her records 
were then compared and cross referenced with the microfilm held by the National Library 
in Canberra.
 
The Reverend Richard Johnson was the colony's first chaplain arriving with the First 
Fleet and it was he who commenced the registers. 
 
The Reverend Richard Johnson commenced recording entries in what would become St Phillip's 
church baptismal register even before the First Fleet left England. On the 20th April 1797 
he baptized two infants, William Tilley and Edward Devan on board the 'Lady Penrhyn' whilst 
the ship still lay at harbour in Portsmouth. He performed twelve other baptisms on the 
voyage out, two in June when the fleet reached Tenereife, five in August at Rio de 
Janeiro and another five in October at the Cape of Good Hope. Then on the 21st January 
1788 he performed the first baptism in Australian waters whilst the fleet lay in Botany 
Bay upon Joshua Bentley. The first three baptisms on actual Australian soil took place 
on the 3rd February 1788 when he baptized James Thomas, John Arscott and Joseph Downey. 
Elizabeth Bacon is actually the sixteenth entry in the register after Joshua Bentley but 
her date of baptism is the 10th February - a date after the next three entries - if 
the date is incorrect she may have been the first child baptized in the colony, although 
the entry does state that the baptism took place on board 'HMS Sirius'.
 
Similarly the Rev Johnson commenced his burial  register before the fleet left England 
and continued to record burials during the voyage to Australia. He recorded 33 burials on 
board 'Alexander', 6 aboard 'Charlotte' and 6 aboard 'Lady Penrhyn'. 
 
The Rev Johnson and his family returned to England  aboard 'HMS Buffalo' in October 1800, 
his last burial being performed on 2nd October on convict infant Joseph Stubbs, thereafter 
Rev Marsden took over his duties.
 
 
2. St Johns Parramatta Registers
 
As was the case with St Phillips, access was had to the late Joan Provis's hand written 
transcription of St Johns parish registers and again a comparison was made with the microfilm 
held by the National Library in Canberra.
 
The Reverend Johnson commenced the colony's second parish at Parramatta in 1789 along 
with its accompanying birth, burial and marriage registers. Upon the arrival of the 
Reverend Samuel Marsden in the colony in 1794, St John's would appear to have been handed 
to his responsibility leaving the Reverend Johnson to handle St Phillips.
 
The Reverend Johnson obviously on occasions wrote up his entries some time after the actual 
baptism ceremony. This has lead to a couple of 'errors'; Elizabeth Bruce and John Colethread 
were both entered in both the St Phillips and St Johns registers; John Hodges, George 
Turner and John Kelly were entered out of chronological order. 
 
 
3. Norfolk Island and its First Settlement - Reginald Wright 
 
For his book Mr Wright has searched the victualling lists from the commissariat records 
of Norfolk Island from 1788 until 1814 to produce his list of inhabitans of the island.
 
The completeness of these Norfolk Island records, and the list in this book, is dependent 
of course on the thoroughness of the research of Mr Wright. The victualling records 
have not been independently verified.
 
 
4. 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 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 second 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.
 
The Paracencus of New South Wales - James Donohoe
 
This section 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  1,800 births recorded 
and 1,038 baptisms. The identities of 86% of the parents were found.
 
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 539 marriages recorded. The identities of 93% of the grooms were found 
and 91% of the brides.
 
Since around half 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 511 relationships recorded. The identities of 89% of 
the 'grooms' were found and 87% 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 1,820 deaths recorded and 1,501 burials. The identities of 84% 
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 49 known hangings have been collected in the Appendices 
along with their crimes if known.
 
For completeness Childhood Arrivals have been included for the 260 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
 
The last decade of the eighteenth century saw the first faltering steps towards 
the establishment of what would become a veritable jewel in the crown of the British Empire, 
the colony of New South Wales.
 
This 'decade' corresponds with the governorships of Captain Arthur Phillip RN and 
Captain John Hunter RN. A Londoner, Capt. Phillip was aged 50 years old when he sailed into 
Botany Bay and then Sydney Cove aboard 'HMS Sirius' in January 1788 to establish the new 
British penal colony of New South Wales and to become it's first governor. Phillip arrived 
unaccompanied by his wife Margaret as they had been separated for many years. He requested 
leave on the grounds of ill heath and departed the colony almost five years later on the 
11th December 1792 aboard 'Atlantic' a sick man although he lived another twelve years 
before dying in 1814 an Admiral. Scotsman Capt. Hunter was aged 57 years old and a batchelor 
when he arrived aboard 'HMS Reliance' on the 7th September 1794 to become the colony's 
second governor. He was recalled by the Colonial Office and departed the colony over six 
years later on the 21st October 1800 aboard 'HMS Buffalo' and died in 1821 an Admiral.
 
The First Fleet Marines were replaced by the specifically raised New South Wales Corps 
as the guardians of the defence and security of the young colony.
 
Most importantly from a genealogical point of view, the Reverend Richard Johnson was joined 
in 1794 by the Reverend Samuel Marsden to assist with the spiritual guidance of the colony 
and the recording of births, deaths and marriages at the colony's second parish.
 
 
International Historical Developments
 
King George III continued upon the throne of England, albeit in an occasional state of 
porphyria induced lunacy. William Pitt the Younger continued in the British prime 
ministership. The office of Secretary of State for Home Affairs, responsible for managing 
the colony, changed from Lord Sydney to Lord Grenville to Henry Dundas to the Duke of 
Portland, names which would be liberally sprinkled around its shores.
 
On the wider international scene, the major event was undoubtedly the French Revolution 
of 1789 and the publication of "Les doits de l'homme et du citoyen", followed by the Terror 
of 1792 to 1794 and the rise to power of Napoleon in 1799 with the creation of the first 
French Empire. Thus the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars commenced which were to engulf 
Europe for the next two decades. The Royal Navy continued to distinguish itself with many 
glorious victories such as The Glorious First of June 1794 when Admiral Lord Howe defeated 
a French Fleet and in February 1797 Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated a Spanish Fleet off 
St Vincent. No doubt many in the colony basked in these latest British glories.
 
The abbreviations used in this database are explained below:
 
 d = defacto
  m = married
 
 CF = came free
 GS = government servant (convict)
 FS = free by servitude (emancipist)
 AP = free by absolute pardon
 CP = free by conditional pardon
 EX = exile
 NE = never emigrated
 -- = unknown
 
 Eng = England
 Ire = Ireland
 Sct = Scotland
  Wal = Wales
 
 Can = Canterbury
 Dst = Dorsetshire
 Dvn = Devonshire
 Hmp = Hampshire
 Hrd = Herefordshire
 Knt = Kent
  Ldn = London 
 Mdx = Middlesex
 Som = Somerset
 War = Warwickshire 
 Yrk = Yorkshire
 
 NI = Norfolk Island
 SDH = St Davids Hobart
 SJL = St Johns Launceston
 SJP = St Johns Parramatta
 SMS = St Marys Sydney
 SMW = St Matthews Windsor
 SPR = St Peters Richmond 
  SPS = St Phillips Sydney
 
 C28 = 1828 Census
 M02 = 1802 Muster
 M-C = Musters & Census
 PR = Pioneer Register
 
 * = duplicate entry

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