INTRODUCTION
This database attempts to record all births, baptisms, marriages, de facto
relationships, deaths & burials for the forth decade of settlement in the colony
of New South Wales, that is from 1821 until 1830.
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. Catholic Churches - New South Wales - Church Registers 3. Presbyterian Churches - New South Wales - Church Registers 4. The Pioneer Register - Dr C J Smee1. 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.
This decade saw the establishment of no less than ten new Anglican parishes;
St Peters Campbelltown (1821), St James Sydney (1824), St Thomas Port Macquarie
(1824), St James Pitt Town (1824), St Thomas Sackville Reach (1826) and St
Johns Wilberforce (1826), St Annes Kissing Point (1826), Holy Trinity Kelso
(1826), St Pauls Cobbitty (1827), All Saints Sutton Forest (1828) and St Peters East Maitland (1829).
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 work.
At the start of the microfilm of Kerrison-James' Index appears a forlorn and
tragic note to the effect that the records of baptism, burial and marriage
for St Johns Parramatta are missing from the 26th May 1823 until the 2nd January
1826. Unhappily these records are lost, most likely forever, and this in one
of the most significant parishes in the early colony.
2. Catholic Churches - New South Wales
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.
Not infrequently genealogists are confronted with odd situations in the
pursuit of their passion and the case of the Reverend Philip Conolly and his
registers for St Marys Hobart is one such example.The Rev. Conolly along with the Rev. 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.
There do not appear to be any surviving records for marriages nor burials in
Rev. Conolly's register for the year 1821.
3. Presbyterian Churches - New South Wales
The Reverend John Dunmore Lang arrived in the colony in May 1823 on board 'Brixton' as the second Presbyterian chaplain appointed to the colony (the Rev Archibald Macarthur having arrived in Van Diemens Land in December 1822). In June 1830 a third Presbyterian minister, Rev John McGarvie, commenced service
at Scots Kirk, who took over the running of the parish whilst Lang made one of his many return trips to Scotland. Unfortunately his earliest records appear to have been lost since his first entries in the parish registers do not commence until March 1826.
Ebenezer Kirk Portland Head was founded in 1826 becoming the second
Presbyterian Church parish established in the colony.
Unfortunately there is no microfilm of the church register held in the National
Library Canberra and has not been consulted. However the "New South Wales
Pioneer Index : 1788-1888" database contains several baptisms, marriages &
burials identified as Presbyterian at Portland Head.
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 project was commenced
in the early 1970's and to date four thousand families have been published
in over 58 separate books. 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.
Whilst the Register ends for arrivals after 1820, the families obviously still
continued having children well beyond that date. In any case an off-shoot
of the Register, called "Convict Families That Made Australia" has collected
similar information for arrivals from 1821 to 1830.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.Also around one hundred and fifty deaths were identified by the Pioneer Register
project and even ten marriages, which admittedly may be of doubtful veracity.
Miscellaneous Sources of Information
Further information on the entries presented in this work were derived from
three other sources:
5. The Convict Shipping Indents 6. Various Musters & The 1828 Census 7. Other Churches - Baptismal Registers5. The Convict Shipping Indents
These indents were invaluable in determining the "ship of arrival" and
"civil status" data for so many of the entries in this series, which is
considered to be a major component of the value added to the information
contained in the various parish registers. They also served to correct some
erroneous information recorded in some registers, particularly the burial
registers, where the information was of necessity not supplied by the
deceased but by relatives and friends who may well have not been entirely sure of the facts.
6. Various Musters & The 1828 Census
The colonial Musters of 1822 and 1825 were searched for all colonial born
children and childhood arrivals for the decade as was the 1828 Census. The
1825 Muster and the 1828 Census also provided many deaths that were not
otherwise recorded. These sources were also most helpful in identifying
marriage partners.
7. Other Churches - Baptismal Registers
As many as 694 of the forth decade children were not baptized until they
were somewhat older, 165 of whom in churches or denominations not established
until after 1830.
As the colony grew and expanded numerous churches and other denominations
were founded 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. Unfortunately, like the 1828 Census,it ends
in 1828 leaving the years 1829 and 1830 uncovered.
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 8,502 births recorded and 7,235 baptisms. The identities of 86% 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 3,130 marriages recorded.
The identities of 91% of the grooms were found and 91% of the brides.
Since many 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 692 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 5,325 deaths recorded
and 4,947 burials. The identities of 83% of the deceased were found.Local Historical Developments
Colonel Lachlan Macquaire was replaced as Governor by Lieutenant General Sir
Thomas Brisbane in 1821 who in turn was replaced by Lieutenant General Ralph Darling in 1826.
In Van Diemens Land, Colonel William Sorell was replaced by Colonel George
Arthur in 1824 as Lieutenant Governor. When Van Diemens Land was separated
from New South Wales in 1825 to become a independent colony in its own right
he was promoted to the rank of full Governor.
The major histo-geographical developments during this decade were the establishment in 1821 of Port Macquarie, as a place of secondary exile
for prisoners committing further crimes in the colony, by Captain Francis
Allman of the 48th Regiment, replacing Newcastle in that function. To be followed by the establishment in 1824 of Moreton Bay by Lieutenant Henry Miller
of the 17th Regiment, for similar purposes. As well Norfolk Island, which had
been abandoned in 1814 was re-established in 1825 by Captain Richard Turton
of the 40th Regiment for the 'worst description of criminals'.
Then in 1828, the Swan River settlement in Western Australia was established by Captain James Stirling. Thus the inevitable march of settlement by the British government of the entire Australian continent continued apace.International Historical Developments
King George IV was crowned in 1821 following the death of his father King
George III, who in turn was followed by his brother King William IV in 1830. Robert Jenkinson, the Earl of Liverpool, continued as British Prime Minister
leading a Tory government for most of the decade until replaced by the Grand
Old Duke of Wellington in 1828.
The ex Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte died on the isle of St Helena in 1821. In
France, King Charles X succeeded Louis XVIII in 1824 only to be ousted in
France's second revolution of 1830, the "Three Glorious Days", which brought
King Louis Phillip to the throne, who would be the last of a long line of French
kings. As an aside, this was the revolution which inspired the famous
painting of 'Liberty Leading the People' by Eugene Delacroix (which many
people, incorrectly, ascribe to France's first revolution of 1789).
In Russia, they also experienced revolution, with the Decembrist Revolt of
1825 against Nicholas I, although with markedly different result from the
French!
On the cultural front, Beethoven composed his 9th symphony in 1824, how
many of the colonist would ever have heard it? and in 1826 Frenchman Nicephore Niepce took the first known photograph, when was the first photograph taken in Australia?
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 SJB = St Johns Brisbane - Moreton Bay
GS = government servant (convict) SJL = St Johns Launceston VDL
FS = free by servitude (emancipist) SJP = St Johns Parramatta
AP = free by absolute pardon SJPT = St James Pitt Town
CP = free by conditional pardon SJS = St James Sydney
EX = exile SJW = St Johns Wilberforce
NC = native of colony (aboriginal) SLL = St Lukes Liverpool
NE = never emigrated SLR = St Lukes Richmond VDL
-- = unknown SMH = St Marys Hobart VDL
SMK = St Michaels Kelso - Catholic
Eng = England SMNN = St Matthews New Norfolk VDL
Gib = Gibralta SMS = St Marys Sydney
Ire = Ireland SMW = St Matthews Windsor
Mal = Malta SMWR = St Matthews Windsor - Catholic
Sct = Scotland SPC = St Peters Campbelltown
Wal = Wales SPCO = St Pauls Cobbitty
SPR = St Peters Richmond
Cam = Cambridgeshire SPS = St Phillips Sydney
Crn = Cornwall STPM = St Thomas Port Macquarie
Dub = Dublin STSR = St Thomas Sackville Reach
Dvn = Devonshire
Esx = Essex NI = Norfolk Island
Ham = Hampshire VDL = Van Diemens Land
Knt = Kent
Ldn = London Bapt = Baptist VDL
Mdx = Middlesex Cla = Clarence VDL - Anglican
Sfk = Suffolk GP = Green Ponds VDL - Anglican
Sry = Surrey I-RC = Illawarra - Catholic
Ssx = Sussex M-RC = Maitland - Catholic
Stf = Staffordshire Pet = Cooks River, Petersham - Anglican
Wwk = Warwickshire SKB = Scots Kirk Bathurst
SKPH = Scots Kirk Portland Head
CCC = Christ Church Castlereagh SKS = Scots Kirk Sydney
CCN = Christ Church Newcastle WMH = Wesleyan Methodist - Hobart
HTK = Holy Trinity Kelso WML = Wesleyan Methodist - Launceston
SAKP = St Annes Kissing Point WMS = Wesleyan Methodist - Sydney
SAS = St Andrews Sydney WMW = Wesleyan Methodist - Windsor
* = duplicate entry
** = triplicate entry
# = pre 1821 birth
% = born at sea or overseas
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