ELIAS BISHOP - ALEXAMDER

and CATHERINE SMITH - LADY PENRHYN

- this story is under review by Membership Team

Elias Bishop was born around 1765 and arrived in the Colony as a marine private in 17 Company on Alexander. At Sydney Cove he served in the company of Captain Lt Watkin Tench.  On 4 March 1790, he was sent to Norfolk Island on Sirius. There he was one of the leaders of a protest by marines regarding short allowances of provisions on 9 April 1791. Ralph Clark, marine, wrote in his diary of Elias and six other marines “I wish that I was only despotic for three hours I would hang the above Seven and then make the Rest draw lots for every fifth man and I would hang them also weather they had any hand with the other or not but because they keep Such bad Company.” The other six were Thomas Tynan, Andrew Fishburn, Francis Mee, John Hailey, John Roberts and William Sims.

By the 25 January 1792, Elias was settled with 60 acres of land at Morgan’s Run, Queensborough, Norfolk Island. By the end of that year he had sold grain to the store, signing with his mark. In October 1793, he had only 40 acres of land, of which only 39 were ploughable, consisting of 36 level acres and four hilly acres, and six were cultivated. In May 1793 he hired Samuel Benear to work for him, and by mid-June he had married Catherine Smith.  
Catherine had been born around 1752, in London, and managed to get herself convicted at Old Bailey on 10 January 1787, for secreting a watch belonging to a roundhouse keeper, and was sentenced to seven years transportation. She arrived on Lady Penrhyn.

Elias and Catherine left Norfolk Island on Supply on 6 November 1795. He had sold his land on the island to Henry Hatheway for 22 pounds. 

By 1802 he had 30 acres of land in the Hawkesbury area, of which 25 were cleared and were cultivated. He had one sheep, 29 goats, two hogs and the records show that three of the farm residents were off stores. On l6 August 1803, he was granted 100 acres, again in the Hawkesbury area. Six months later their house was struck by lightning and set on fire, and they lost all their personal belongings and Catherine was in a state of shock and paralysed.  
She obviously recovered, and by 1806, apparently after much hard work, Elias had added by purchase a further 30 acres, of which 22 were sown with grain, one with barley and half an acre with potatoes, and 106 acres were pasture and an orchard and garden.  

By 1828, when 61 years of age, he held only 30 acres at Richmond, of which 26 acres were cultivated, and he owned four horses. He obviously had sold off his other land by this time.  
He had working for him at Richmond, in 1828, as a labourer, Thomas Bradcock, who had been born in the Colony 17 years earlier, and as an assigned servant he had John Branham per Atlas 1815. 
 
Catherine died on their farm on 27 August 1835 and was buried the next day at St Peter’s Church of England, Richmond, NSW. Elias did not outlive her by much, dying on the farm on 10 November 1835, and was buried beside her the next day.