Bond of Friendship Elizabeth Brodie - Scotland

Elizabeth Brodie

Date of Trial: 26 April 1817 Where Tried: Glasgow Court of Justiciary Crime: Theft Sentence: 14 years Est YOB: 1795 Stated Age on Arrival: 23 Native Place: Glasgow Occupation: Servant Alias/AKA: Marital Status (UK): Children on Board: Surgeon’s Remarks: Mutinous and a prostitute Assigned NSW or VDL NSW

For anyone interested, the Caledonian Mercury of 12 April 1817 advised the reading public that two women, Elizabeth Brodie and Mary McNair, had been indicted to stand trial at the forthcoming Glasgow Spring Circuit.1 A report of the 26 April trial was provided by The Scots Magazine.2

And yet another news item, of 31 May 1817, notified the removal of a group of Glasgow women from their place of confinement to the Leith dock, the first stage of preparation for a sea voyage across the world.3

Elizabeth was no doubt relieved that she was not to be incarcerated in the Glasgow gaol for much longer, but she had very little time between her conviction and her departure to make any necessary arrangements for the journey, and to farewell friends and family – had she so wished – in anticipation of probably never seeing them again.

According to some sources, Elizabeth was born to James Buchanan and Mary Boog/Boag.4 Records show that a girl named Elisabeth was baptised at Glasgow on 4 July 1795, daughter of James Buchanan, shoe maker, and Mary Boog, the event duly witnessed by William Napier and James Knowles.5

James and Mary had opted for an irregular marriage, preferring to make a public promise of commitment rather than having to go through the process of banns and a marriage ceremony.6

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According to the same sources cited above, the Elizabeth Brodie who was sentenced to be transported was, in fact, a married woman and her husband was one William Warnock. And, assuming we are looking at the same young woman, she had changed her surname from Buchanan to Brodie before she became Mrs. Warnock. It is unfortunate that the marriage record below does not name the parents of the groom and/or bride.7

As we will see, variations of surnames is a feature of the account of this Friendship woman. There is nothing in the convict indent to suggest that Elizabeth Brodie was anything more than a 23 year old servant.8 There is no suggestion that she was a married woman, and even if she was, in considering her future options in the new colony, Elizabeth would have been wise not to draw attention to the fact. As far as Surgeon Superintendent Cosgreave was concerned she was just another mutinous prostitute and no doubt both were glad to see the back of each other when the Friendship arrived at Port Jackson in January 1818. However, within six months of her arrival in the colony she was a married woman. Robert Cartwright, then the minister at Windsor, had sought approval on 4 July 1818 on behalf of James Coddington and Elisabeth Broady [sic] for banns to be published in order that they might be married.9

Approval was granted and the couple, both resident at Wilberforce, were married on 20 July 1818 by the Reverend Cartwright. The event, registered at St. Matthew’s Church, was witnessed by John Rose, Elizabeth Lisson, and Joseph Harper. The only members of the wedding party who could not sign their names were the bride and witness John Rose.10 Although James Coddington was recorded as ‘free’ when the banns’ application was made, that was not his status when he arrived in the colony in December 1810, at the age of about 34. On 3 November 1808 he, together with Thomas Cannon, were listed in the Middlesex Commitments.11

The trial of the two men was held at the Old Bailey on 30 November 1808. It was claimed by the hapless Joseph Butter that in August 1808 he had been a victim of extortion at the hands of Cannon and Coddington, who falsely passed themselves off as employees of the police office at Bow Street, and who threatened to have him locked up and, falsely, charged with having committed an unnatural crime if he did not pay them ‘hush’ money. When - 2 - Bond of Friendship Elizabeth Brodie - Scotland

Butter, even though he suspected that the men were not Bow Street officers, was asked if it was ‘under the terror of that charge, of being taken by force, and charged with that crime, that you parted with that bank note’ replied ‘It was’.12 Both men were found guilty and sentenced to death, as recorded in the Newgate Prison Calendar.

Immediately following the preamble the list of those ‘severally ordered and adjudged to be hanged by the Neck until they be dead’ included James Coddington and his co-extortionist.13 By His Majesty’s command, Lord Liverpool presented a warrant dated 26 April 1809 ‘To our Trusty & Well-beloved Our Justices of Gaol Delivery for our City of London & County of Middlesex the Sheriffs of the said City & County & All others whom it may concern’ advising that James Coddington was one of the capitally condemned men for whom, ‘in consideration of some favourable circumstances humbly represented’ had been reprieved subject to his being transported to New South Wales or one or other of the adjacent islands for the term of his natural life.14 At least one newspaper of the day picked up and reported on the Privy Council proceedings.15 James Coddington had spent five months in gaol pondering his death sentence; he was to spend almost a year more on board the Woolwich hulks contemplating a future as a virtual exile.16 It was on 22 June 1810 that he was transferred to the transport ship Indian which, built at Whitby in 1809, was a ‘modern’ copper-sheathed ship. With about 200 convicts on board the Indian sailed from London and, after a voyage of 151 days, arrived at Port Jackson on 16 December.17 I have not found a confirming birth/baptism record, but it is mooted that James was born in Manchester on 10 October 1776 to James Coddington, gentleman, and Ellen Cooper.18 He had served with the 100th Regiment of Foot, but his army career was cut short in 1808 when he was invalided out. He referred to this during his trial – ‘I have been seven years in His Majesty’s service; I was disabled in the service of Major Abercrombie’. On arrival James was assigned to William Singleton, a landholder at Wilberforce. On 5 June 1815 he gained a conditional pardon, the record for which describes him as being 5’ 7” tall, with a pale-fair complexion, black hair and hazel eyes.19 He remained in the Wilberforce area where he leased some land and was able, by 1816, to afford to be one of the Wilberforce men who contributed to Waterloo Subscription for the ‘RELIEF of the noble SUFFERERS under the gallant DUKE OF WELLINGTON, on 18th June last’. For the record, James and his ex- boss William Singleton both contributed £1 0 0. Another Wilberforce contributor was Thomas Rose, to whom Elizabeth Brodie had been assigned, and which afforded her the opportunity to become acquainted with her future husband.20 The various musters, settlers lists, and population books for the period 1817 to 1822 record James Coddington as an emancipated labourer, although ‘farmer’ would have been a more appropriate label, and Elizabeth as servant to her husband.21 Judging by the 1822 Population, Land and Stock returns for Windsor, the Coddingtons must have been reasonably pleased with the progress they had made on their holding. They had 13 acres under wheat; 5½ acres under maize; 3 acres under barley and ½ an acre planted with peas and beans. They had a ¼ and a ½ acre respectively put to potatoes and garden/orchard. In all they had cleared 24 of the 37 acres that made up their lease-holding. Their livestock included 40 hogs; and they had in store 50 bushels of maize.22 In 1824 James, now referred to as James - 3 - Bond of Friendship Elizabeth Brodie - Scotland

Cottington, was one of those Windsor farmers whose tender for the supply of wheat for the Commissariat had been accepted – he undertook to provide 80 bushels at 7s 0d per bushel.23 The 1825 General Muster records that by this time James and Elizabeth had moved to Campbelltown, and for which James was described as a landholder.24 In fact he was then working for his cousin, Daniel Cooper, who was to prove a very ‘useful’ relative for the aspirational James Coddington. Daniel Cooper had been baptised at Bolton-le-Moors, St Peter, Lancashire, on 5 February 1786, son of Thomas Cooper and his first wife Hannah (née Holt) who had chosen the same church for their marriage on 28 March 1785.25 In March 1815 Daniel Cooper, a 28 year old dealer in cotton goods from Bolton, in cahoots with Henry Smith, a drover, and his wife Charlotte Smith, and Sarah Kirkman, a weaver, was charged at the Chester Lent Assizes with having stolen a pocket-book and thirteen pounds in notes from Lucy Hankinson, a widow of Heaton Norris, then a ‘standalone’ township and now part of Stockport. Henry Smith and Sarah Kirkman were acquitted; Mrs Charlotte Smith was imprisoned for two years; and Daniel Cooper was transported for life.26 He was received on the hulk Retribution on 1 July 1815, then embarked on the convict transport Fanny, and arrived at Port Jackson in January 1816. He received a conditional pardon in 1818 and an absolute pardon in 1821. In 1819 Daniel married Hannah Dodd (alias Hannah Forster) some years his senior, who had arrived in February 1817 per Lord Melville, having in 1816 been tried and sentenced to 14 years transportation, also at Chester, so they may have been previously acquainted. They described themselves as widower and widow.27 While Daniel is referred to as James Coddington’s cousin. Quite how they were related has not been established but it may have been through James’ mother Ellen Cooper. An ambitious and astute man, emancipist Daniel Cooper fashioned a meteoric rise within the social and commercial spheres of early Sydney. Within a short time of his arrival in Sydney Cooper developed a variety of business interests. He ran a general store in George Street, and between 1818 and 1822 he was the licensee of an adjoining public house; he made a small investment in shipping; and in 1824 he established the Australian Brewery. In 1821 he became a partner in the firm of Hutchinson, Terry & Co. (also known as the Waterloo Co.). From its original concern with flour- milling, the company had extended its activities into genera merchandising, and in 1822 entered the field of banking with the issue of its own notes. In 1825 Cooper and Solomon Levey became the sole owners of the Waterloo Co., which in the following years was generally known as Cooper and Levey. Much of the profit … [from varied ventures] …was invested in real estate. Perhaps the most notable of the firm’s successes was the acquisition of the estate of Captain John Piper … [and ]… Many other valuable areas were acquired in Sydney, in the Monaro and elsewhere in New South Wales, and in Tasmania. In 1826 Solomon Levey left Sydney for England … [when] …The active direction of the firm thus largely fell on Daniel Cooper.28

In August 1823 the following notice was published in The Sydney Gazette.29 The imposing Georgian style Cleveland House at Surry Hills was ready for occupation in February 1825 when Daniel and Hannah Cooper moved from George Street to take up residence.30

The relevance to the Coddingtons of the brief account of Daniel Cooper is that, as noted above, by the mid-1820s James Coddington was working as overseer for a farm owned by his cousin Daniel Cooper in the Campbelltown district and by 1826 James and Elizabeth were dividing their time between Campbelltown and Cleveland House. It was at the Coopers’ Cleveland House that the three Coddington children were born but their births/baptisms were registered under the surname Cottington.31 John Torkington Coddington was born on 1 December 1827 and baptised at St. Peters, Campbelltown on 20 January 1828. Twin daughters, Hannah and Elizabeth Cottington

- 4 - Bond of Friendship Elizabeth Brodie - Scotland were born on 28 February 1829, but Elizabeth died before her first birthday.32 There is a noticeable time lapse between the 1818 marriage of James and Elizabeth and the births of these three children. No record has been found for any other children who might have been born to this couple. It is from this time that the ‘Coddington’ surname seems to have been dropped and replaced by ‘Cottington. ’Son John (and possibly daughters Hannah and Elizabeth) was given the middle name ‘Torkington’.33 What connection he had with James and/or Elizabeth is not known, but a man by the name of Thomas Torkington does crop up again later as one of the executors of James Cottington’s estate. Thomas Torkington arrived in the colony as a free immigrant in 1825 on board the Mountaineer, variously listed in the published passenger lists as Torkington, Forkington and Joskington.34 He built up quite an impressive portfolio of real estate, and for one successful claim he was described as Mr. Thomas Torkington of the Waterloo Warehouse, and for another was referred to as a clerk.35 It is likely that he was known at least to Daniel Cooper prior to his arrival in the colony. And, coincidentally, another person connected with the Waterloo Warehouse - James Holt - another cousin of Daniel Cooper, had also arrived on the same ship.36 In 1828 Daniel Cooper and his wife separated and they moved out of Cleveland House. For the next year or so James and Elizabeth were installed as caretakers. In August Daniel Cooper advertised Cleveland House for let, together with his George Street premises.37 In 1831 Daniel Cooper returned to England for good from where he carried on the business of Cooper and Levey.38 In December of that year, on the instructions of the owner, auctioneer Samuel Lyons advertised the forthcoming sale at the Point Piper property of all the ‘Valuable Silver Plate, Collection of Books, Household Furniture, Pictures, Glass, China-ware, etc’ belonging to Daniel Cooper.39 The New South Wales Government Gazette of 8 October 1834 carried a notice advising the winding up of the firm Cooper and Levey.40

The working relationship between the cousins Daniel and James must have been mutually satisfactory, and particularly so for James, with a wife and family to support. In 1830 just prior to Daniel Cooper returning to England, James Cottington moved his family to Lake Bathurst where he was appointed overseer at “Waterloo Plains” station, another of Daniel Cooper’s properties.41 1832 was a special year for Elizabeth because on 30 March, having completed her full 14 year sentence, she received her certificate of freedom. From the description we see that she was a short woman, standing at only 5’ 0½, had a dark complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes. She had a slight scar on her right cheek, and had probably lost the tip of her right hand forefinger. She was a native of Glasgow and her year of birth is here stated to be 1798. Give or take a year, she would have been in her mid-30s, and by this time perhaps there would have been a tinge of grey in her hair?

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James worked for Daniel Cooper (and James Holt – perhaps as an employee of the entity Cooper & Hunt) for ten years before he gave public notice of his resignation.42

One day before he penned the notice, James had also completed the 1841 census returns. His entry for the Index to Abstracts, Berrima – Sydney reads as follows.43

Having tidied up the books for the Cooper and Holt sheep stations, James was now ready to work full-time on his own account. Over the period 1839 to 1842 he acquired the following depasturing licences.44

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In early 1841 the attention of the Lake Bathurst district was drawn to a disturbing account of a shooting – although, being a relatively small and tight knit community, the report was probably not news to them.

OFFENCES – Mr. Coddington, of Lake Bathurst, has been committed to take his trial for shooting a man (who now lied in Goulburn hospital, and whose recovery is doubtful) in his dwelling. Mr. C. has been admitted to bail.45 The circumstances of the case were examined when the case was heard before Mr. Justice Stephen at the Berrima Assizes on Thursday 15th April. The next case was one which had occasioned considerable interest in the district of Berrima, on account of the age and respectability of the party accused. It came on soon after one o’clock, and did not close till between five and six. The Court was very much crowded during the whole time. The prisoner, Mr. James Cottington, of Lake Bathurst stood charged first, with shooting at, and with the intention of murdering and, in the second count, with an attempt to do some grievous bodily harm, to Thomas Doyle. Cottington had been out on bail, and, on his being called, appeared at the bottom of the table, on the floor of the Court; His Honor, observing this, inquired of the Solicitor-General how was it that the prisoner was not placed in the dock? He never would allow any distinction to be made between the poor man and the rich man, in any cases of felony which came before him, however respectable, as in this case, the party might be. Mr. Cottington, of course, took his stand immediately, in a kind of semi-gallery-platform, which had been built up and elevated to a most ridiculous and inconvenient height in the body of the Court. The Solicitor-General conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Foster the defence. The first witness called was Thomas Doyle, who, on being sworn, said he was a ticket-of-leave man, and was in the service of Mr. Cottington on the 13th January last; remembers the day remarkably well. He, with Connolly, Oakes, and Dicks, had been shearing; they returned just before sun-down, and understanding that their master (the prisoner,) had given a glass of grog to the other men, came up to the house to ask for one too. Mr. Cottington was sitting under the verandah, smoking his pipe. They asked him, and he told his overseer to give them a class each; but he was drunk, and went away without giving them any. Witness and his companions again spoke to their master, and he replied, that when his son John came home, he should give them some. With this assurance they went to the back of the house. When John came home, they all four went round to the front door; one of them knocked several times, but no person answered; seeing it was of no use, they turned to walk away, but while in the act of doing so, Smith, a servant in the house, came out and called out, that the old man was coming with fire-arms. They all set off to run, but in a moment he (witness) felt himself wounded, and heard the report of a gun. He looked round, and seeing his master standing at the corner of the house, with the piece in his hand, felt afraid, as he was not very sober, that he would shoot him again. Witness fell into Oakes’s arms, who told Cottingham [sic] he had wounded one man, and that he had better leave off. The distance he was from the prisoner when the gun went off, was seven or eight yards. Dr. Mould visited him, and examined his wounds. Cross-examined by Mr Foster – It was a quarter of an hour before sundown when they first spoke to their master under the verandah, and a quarter of an hour after sundown when he received his wounds. At the time his master shot, he had on only his drawers, no coat or waistcoat. Thinks the distance was seven or eight yards. Had worked for the prisoner three years and a half ago; but at the period to which this evidence has reference, he might have been in his employ eight weeks; always found him a good master, and never had a quarrel or misunderstanding with him. Witness admitted, with considerable reluctance, that he might have said, the after being wounded he ran into the kitchen and hid himself under the table. After being wounded was immediately put to bed, and a surgeon attended him; does not know if the prisoner paid the surgeon’s bill; has not himself worked for him since, but his partner has. Examinant was not on horseback within a week from the time of being wounded, for he could not sit up. William Oakes, a ticket-of-leave man, the next witness, corroborated the evidence given by the prosecutor; but

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in his cross-examination he said that the master went into the kitchen and ordered them all off, as they had no business there; and that he might not be able to distinguish who they were. Had always found him kind and liberal. Thomas Connolly, on being sworn, gave similar testimony to the two previous witnesses. In his cross- examination he said he had lived, on and off, with the prisoner twelve years, and had always met with kind treatment when he deserved it. William Smith, sworn: Is a shoemaker and a ticket-of-leave holder; remembers the 13th of January; heard Mr. Cottington say, “Give me my piece, I’ll start those fellows from the door; they have no business there.” It was neither light nor dark. Soon afterwards witness heard the report of a gun, and Doyle was wounded. Cross examined: Won’t swear whether master said he would start or startle those fellows. Jackey Jackey (Westwood) was out, and several ticket-of-leave holders had been pressed to go with the constables in search of him. George Young Mould: Is a physician, and resides at Goulburn; was called in on the night of the 13th January last to examine Doyle, at the house of Mr. Cottington. Found three flesh wounds in the loins and the lower parts of the back; one was very slight another was about one inch and a half in depth, and in the third the shot had travelled for two inches and a half. Doyle complained of being in great pain, and was evidently very weak from loss of blood. At first examinant thought the case a serious one; but in a day or two the serious symptoms passed away; attended him fourteen or fifteen days. The shots were merely slugs. This closed the case for the prosecution. Mr. Foster followed in defence for the prisoner. The learned gentleman dwelt with great earnestness upon the facts of the case, and repudiated the notion which had been thrown out by his learned friend, that he intended to rest his client’s case upon the supposition that the parties who had knocked at his door were bushrangers, and that therefore he shot at them. He did not attempt a defence of the second count, viz., that of shooting with the intention of doing some bodily harm, but he went at once to the charge of shooting with the intention of committing murder. The motive, or intention, was dwelt upon with great ingenuity and the impossibility of the jury coming to a positive decision as to the intention of the prisoner, but by the facts, the circumstances, of the case. None but his Maker could tell his intensions; but the jury were sworn to deliver a verdict according to the evidence, and by that evidence he should prove that the prisoner had no intention of committing murder. If he had had the intention or desire in his heart of doing so, he would have been equally guilty as though the crime had been committed. But as there was no evidence of murder having been committed, so there was no evidence of intention. There was no malice towards Doyle, or any of the others; they testified that he always treated them kindly. In reference to a charge of drunkenness, which several of the witnesses had made against the prisoner, Mr. Foster said that a drunken man was as responsible for his actions as a sober man, but no more; he, however, did not believe he was drunk. The loading of the gun was another strong proof that there was no intention; it was loaded with slugs, receiving, probably, thirty to each charge; was it likely if Cottington had desired to commit murder he would have simply put these into the barrel. He contended that the word used by the prisoner, when he hold Smith to reach his gun, was startle and not start. These and other parts of the evidence were dwelt upon by the learned counsel with great minuteness; and, after a speech which occupied nearly an hour in delivery and was listened to with the deepest interest by a thronged court, the following witnesses were called, as to character, for Mr. Cottington. John Morpeth, Esq., a magistrate of the territory, had known the prisoner for the last five or six years; he believed him to be a quiet, peaceable, and respectable man. Thomas Macquoid, Esq., the sheriff of New South Wales knew the deceased [? sic]; he had property on the road to Goulburn, and had, on several occasions, stayed at his house, and always found him very civil, kind and obliging. Henry Budgerly [Badgery?], Esq., had known him for the last sixteen or seventeen years intimately, as a friend, and testified to his kind and charitable character. Mr. Foster said there were several other highly respectable individuals whom he could call, but thought the Jury would think the testimony of these gentlemen quite sufficient. The Judge then summed up with great care and exactness, and at considerable length. The Jury retired for

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about twenty minutes, and on their return into Court delivered a verdict of not guilty.46 In January of the following year James Cottington was once again in the Berrima court, this time as the prosecutor, against one William Coleman, ‘charged with stealing one cow, the property of James Cottington at Queanbeyan’. James stated that the Coleman was his stockman, and had been sent off with a number of fat cattle from his station, one of which he sold, but did not account for the money. Coleman countered by stating that, as he had told Mr. Cottington at the time, he sold the cow because it was lame, and which was corroborated by the buyer. James Cottington then stated that Coleman was a notorious cattle stealer, but had to admit under cross examination that he had, in fact, employed Coleman for a number of years, during which Coleman had made purchases and sales for him, without any suggestion of dishonesty. On the other hand, Coleman was able to produce a written instruction received from Cottington telling him to brand all and any cattle he came across aged between 12 and 24 months old – tantamount to cattle rustling. Cottingham at first denied issuing any such order, but subsequently changed his story – he claimed that the ‘by his sanction’ the instruction had been written by his thirteen year old son [in fact, son John would have been about fifteen at the time]. Furthermore, it was shown that a considerable sum of wages was due to Coleman. The Jury, without bothering to retire, acquitted the prisoner.47 I have not located any record to confirm that, as suggested, James Coddington/Cottington died in the Lake Bathurst district on 8 December 1842.48 Two months later the following notice was published, warning against any dealings in the estate of the late James Cottington, by order of his executors, Thomas Torkington and Henry Hall.49 It was not until June that one of the Executors, Henry Hall of Charnwood, Queanbeyan, notified the public that anyone having claims on the deceased estate were to submit them to him. Instructions had also been given to Mr. Joseph Bull, auctioneer, for the sale of the estate assets.50 As a postscript, and indicating that the farm at Tarago was not sold at this time, is another notice, dated 16 January 1858, advising of a Peremptory Sale to be held on 8 February, pursuant to a decree of the Supreme Court of New South Wales made in the case of Torkington against Hall. The subject of the sale was ‘one hundred acres of Land, more or less, situate in the county of Argyle, as Mulwarree Ponds, near Lake Bathurst, late the property of James Cottington, deceased.51 Elizabeth Cottington was in her mid-40s when she was widowed. On 6 January 1842 permission to marry was refused for William Drover, aged 42, who had arrived in the colony in 1831 on the Camden, and 49 year old Mary Clanchy, who had been transported on the Andromeda, arriving in 1834.52 William made a second attempt in 1844, and this time he was successful, permission being granted on 19 April. The prospective bride was Elizabeth Brodie.53

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William Drover had been brought before the Glasgow Circuit Court in January 1831, charged with murdering his wife. He pleaded not guilty, claiming that his late wife’s fatal injuries were caused by her alcoholism. In the end the jury found him guilty of culpable homicide and he was sentenced to be transported for life.54

William was granted a ticket of leave in 1839, his status when he and Elizabeth married at St. Saviour’s Church, Goulburn, on 8 April 1844.55 On 31 July 1847 he obtained a conditional pardon.56

At the age of 64, and less than two years after having received his pardon, William Drover died in 1849 at Lake Bathurst. 57 His latter years would have been cheered by the arrival, sometime between 1834 and 1839, of his eldest son John who, with his wife Janet and their two eldest Scottish born children, had emigrated and settled in the Goulburn region.58 After William’s death his John and family moved to the Wangaratta district of Victoria; his widow Elizabeth remarried again – the marriage on 5 August 1850 between Samuel Taylor and Elizabeth Drover

- 10 - Bond of Friendship Elizabeth Brodie - Scotland being registered at Bungonia, Goulburn.59 It is believed that Elizabeth suffered a severe stroke in 1854 and was moved to Sydney where she died at the Benevolent Hospital on 18 March 1856.60 I have not found a death registration for Elizabeth Taylor for that date. However a search resulted in the following three registrations which have not yet been checked. What happened to Samuel Taylor is yet to be established.

As noted previously, three children are known to have been born to Elizabeth and James Coddington/Cottington, of whom one, twin Elizabeth, died as a baby. Nothing further has been found for the other twin daughter Hannah, although it is suggested that she died in Sydney in June 1835.61 However, son John Torkington Cottington married twice, had two children to each of his wives, and died at Charters Towers in 1910 at the age of 83. The New South Wales Government Gazette of 11 April 1838 lists those persons who had purchased town allotments in Goulburn as advertised earlier in the year.62 Four half-acre lots, valued at £2 per acre, were purchased in the name of John Torkington Cottington of Lake Bathurst, who, as a condition of the deal, was to ‘cause to be erected, a permanent Dwelling House, Store, or other suitable Building, upon the said Land, of the full Value of Twenty Pounds or upwards.63 At the time young John would have been about ten years old, so the properties were no doubt actually purchased on his behalf. He was about 22 when he married 16 year old Eliza Burton, daughter of William Burton and Letitia [aka Lucretia] Cobb, in 1849 at Goulburn.64

Two children were born to John and Eliza – a daughter Hannah Torkington on 25 October 1850 at Lake Bathurst, for whom no birth/baptism record has been located, and in August 1852, a son, also named John.65 Hopefully their grandmother Elizabeth was able to spend some time with these children before she became so very ill. Evidently the marriage between John and Eliza did not work out and in 1860 Eliza was threatening action against her now absent husband.66

What action, if any, Eliza had in mind is not known, but what is certain is that John Cottington did not return home. In 1868 Eliza Cottington remarried, her second husband being Nehemiah Mallows, both bride and groom residents of Goulburn. Her daughter Hannah had married in the previous year to another Goulburn man, George Phelps. 67 Relations between mother Eliza and son John struck some unexplained problem in 1872, causing Eliza to place the following notice in the local newspaper. John would have been about twenty at the time.68

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Eleven years later, John Cottington then employed at Gillespie’s tannery, and a married man with three children, was again in the news – under very distressing circumstances – as reported in the local press.69

An account of his mother’s death, ten years later, was also regarded as newsworthy.70

And, for the record, Mrs. H.T. Phelps, a resident of the Kyogle district for 39 years and widow of Mr. G. Phelps, died I her sleep aged 94. She had been in ill-health for several weeks. Death occurred at the home of her son, Mr. F. Phelps, Eden Creek. Surviving sons and daughters are Messrs Edward and Charles (Eden Creek), Ernest (Woolners Arm), William (Goulburn), Mrs Goode (Sydney) and Miss Alice Phelps (Lismore).71 Now back to John Torkington Cottington - or rather, as from at least 1858 he had dropped the surname Coddington/Cottington - John Torkington. And it was under that name that in 1858 the marriage between John Torkington and Mary Jane Ferguson was registered at Ulladulla – some two years before his first wife’s threat to instigate proceedings against him.72

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The following year, as one of the electors of the district of Shoalhaven. John Torkington put his name to a petition urging one James Warden to nominate for the forthcoming general election.73 Through his marriage to Mary Jane John acquired a second set of children. The births of twin sons, Arthur James and Horace Austin, were registered at Ulladulla in 1860, followed by another son, Adam, registered also at Ulladulla in 1862.74 Sometime between 1862 and 1864 the family relocated to Queensland, where nine more children were born, John Waverley (1864), Ada Christina (1866), Mary Jane (1867), Herbert (1869), Zorilda (1871), Henrietta (1873), Lizette (1875), Ernest Richard (1879), and Daisy Maud Gertrude (1883), all apart from Adam surviving to adulthood.75

John spent the rest of his life in Queensland and his activities there are summarised in the following obituary.76

He died on 31 August from asthma and bronchitis. He was buried at the Charters Towers Monumental & Lawn Cemetery – Section 17, Plot 483.77 Mary Jane Torkington (née Ferguson) had been born in 1838 to John Ferguson and Mary Bain (later Adcroft) in Sydney in 1838.78 She died at Charters Towers on 20 August 1912 and was buried in the same plot as her husband.79

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(Photographs by Mike Fretwell, August 2019) I wonder if John Torkington Coddington/Cottington ever spoke to his family about their forebear, and his mother, Scottish convict Elizabeth Brodie. She, of course, would have had no idea that she would represent the first colonial generation of such a large family of descendants.

NOTES 1 Caledonian Mercury, 12 Apr 1817, p.3. 2 The Scots Magazine, 1 May 1817, p.75. 3 Caledonian Mercury, 31 May 1817, p.3. 4 For example, Biographical Database of Australia (BDA), Y.J. Browning, Expanded Biographic Item of James Coddington; Ancestry, Ryan Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/629853/person/-885346526/facts. 5 ScotlandsPeople, 04/07/1795 BUCHANAN, ELISABETH (Old Parish Registers Births 644/1 190 233 Glasgow) Page 233 of 460. 6 ScotlandsPeople, 20/05/1792 BUCHANAN, JAMES (Old Parish Registers Marriages 644/1 270 120 Glasgow) Page 120 of 376. 7 Scotlands People, 11/05/1810 WARNOCK, WILLIAM (Old Parish Registers Marriages 644/1 280 123 Glasgow) Page 123 of 375. 8 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1856, Bound Indentures, 1814-1818. 9 Ancestry, New South Wales, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 937; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reels 6004-6016, p.297. 10 BDA, Biographical report for Elizabeth Brodie. 11 Findmypast, England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Newgate Prison Calendar, HO77/16. 12 Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 30 June 2019), November 1808, trial of THOMAS CANNON JAMES CODDINGTON (t18081130-36). Morning Chronicle, 3 Dec 1808, p.3. 13 Findmypast, England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Newgate Prison Calendar, HO77/61/251. 14 Findmypast, England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Correspondence and Warrants, HO13/20/19-20. 15 Cheltenham Chronicle, 4 May 1809, p.4. 16 Ancestry, UK Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849, Retribution, Register, 1802-1834. 17 Free Settler or Felon? Convict Ship Indian 1810, https://jenwilletts.com/convict_ship_indian_1810.htm. Note: Thomas Cannon was also on board the Indian but his colonial life was cut very short – he died in 1811 aged 44, his death registered at St. Philip’s Church on 7 February – BDA, Biographical report for Thomas Cannon. 18 Ancestry, Ryan Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/629853/person/-885348017/facts; Ancestry, Bates- Winchester Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/34578402/person/380011669788/facts. Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 30 June 2019), November 1808, trial of THOMAS CANNON JAMES CODDINGTON (t18081130-36). See also BDA, Expanded Biographic Item of James Coddington.

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19 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870, Absolute, 1815. According to the BDA Expanded Biographic Item, this indulgence was connected with James having been in the party that accompanied Governor Macquarie on his April-May 1815 visit to Bathurst. 20 The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16 Mar 1816, p.2. 21 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists 1787-1834, Male 1817, 1818; Male A-K 1820, Male A-J 1821; Female 1820 and 1821; Ancestry, New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825, Windsor Population Book, 1820. 22 Ancestry, New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825, Sydney Population, Land and Stock 1822. 23 The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 23 Dec 1824, p.1. 24 Ancestry, New South Wales and Tasmania, Australian Convict Musters, 1806-1849, New South Wales, General Muster A-L, 1825. 25 Ancestry, Manchester, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1541-1812; Ancestry, Manchester, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930. 26 Chester Courant, 28 Mar 1815, p.2. Manchester Mercury, 11 Apr 1815, p.2. 27 Ancestry, UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849, Retribution, Register, 1802-1834. BDA, Biographical reports for Daniel Cooper and Hannah Dodd. Chester Chronicle, 12 Apr 1816, p.3. Hannah Forster had probably been baptised on 22 February 1775 at Embleton, Northumberland and married John Dodd on 26 August 1792, also at Northumberland – Ancestry, England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; Ancestry, England Select Marriages, 1538-1973. 28 J. W. Davidson, 'Cooper, Daniel (1785–1853)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cooper-daniel-1919/text2281, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 4 July 2019. 29 The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 14 Aug 1823, p.4. 30 John Walter Ross, The History of Cleveland House, Surry Hills, https://www.princesgardens.com.au/s/Cleveland_House_History.pdf. 31 BDA, Expanded Biographic Item of James Coddington. 32 New South Wales Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (NSW BDM), Birth/Baptism registrations 8384/1827 V18278384 1C; 9351/1829 V18299351 1C; 9352/1829 V18299352 1C. Death/Burial registration 8682/1829 V18298682 2C. 33 Ancestry, Bates-Winchester Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/34578402/person/380011669788/facts. 34 For example, The Australian, 1 Dec 1825, p.3. 35 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Land Grants, 1788-1963. The Sydney Herald, 1 Dec 1834, p.3. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 10 Mar 1838, p.4. 36 BDA, Biographical reports for Thomas Torkington and James Holt. Sir Daniel Cooper, Woollahra Municipal Council, https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/woollahra_plaque_scheme/plaques/sir_daniel_cooper. 37 The Sydney Monitor, 1 Aug 1829, p.1. 38 Daniel Cooper’s wife remained in Sydney, living at another Cooper property, the Manchester Arms. She died ‘at an advanced age’ on 7 June 1836 – The Sydney Monitor, 18 Jun 1836, p.3. 39 The Sydney Herald, 26 Dec 1831, p.1. 40 New South Wales Government Gazette, 8 Oct 1834 [Issue No.136], p.701. Another partnership, between Daniel Cooper, James Holt and Richard Robert, carried on in both Sydney and London, was dissolved with respect to Roberts, and was to continue in the name Cooper and Holt - New South Wales Government Gazette, 1 Mar 1837 [Issue No.265], p.216. James Holt fell a victim of the depression of the 1840s and left the colony in 1845 – possibly on board the General Hewitt which left Sydney on 26 April for London – The Shipping Gazette and Sydney General Trade List, 26 Apr 1845, p.102. 41 Lake Bathurst has been described as a tiny village between Goulburn and Queanbeyan, first settled from around 1826, and initially known as Tarago – Goulburn, Towns & Villages, https://www.goulburnaustralia.com.au/Towns-and-Villages-in-Goulburn-region- Australia/LakeBathurst.aspx. 42 The Australasian Chronicle, 18 Mar 1841, p.3. 43 Ancestry, 1841 New South Wales, Australia, Census for James Cottington, Index to Abstracts: Berrima-Sydney, Aaron-Futton. Each householder, employer of servants, and proprietor or occupier of land was required to complete the census on 2 March 1841. 44 NSW State Archives & Records, Depasturing Licences. 45 Free Press and Commercial Journal, 27 Jan 1841, p.2. 46 The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April 1841, p.2. 47 The Sydney Herald, 2 Feb 1842, p.3. 48 Ancestry, Bates-Winchester Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/34578402/person/380011669788/facts. 49 The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 Feb 1843, p.3. 50 The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 Jun 1843, p.1. Australasian Chronicle, 6 Jun 1843, p.4. Henry Hall, surgeon, came free to the colony in 1823 per Francis. He was initially an overseer for his cousin’s Lake Bathurst district property ‘St Heliers’, and subsequently established his own property, ‘Charnwood’, in the Parish of Ginninderra – BDA Biographical report for Henry Hall. 51 Empire, 3 Feb 1858, p.8. The protracted Torkington v Hall case was a suit for foreclosure, in which a decree for sale, under certain conditions, was taken by consent – The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 Oct 1856, p.2. 52 BDA, Biographical reports for William Drover and Mary Clanchy. 53 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts Applications to Marry, 1826-1851, Granted, 1844. 54 Caledonian Mercury, 17 Jan 1831, p.4.

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55 NSW BDM, Marriage registration, 425/1844 V1844425 29 – Drover, William and Cottington, Elizabeth. Ancestry, Bates-Winchester Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/34578402/person/380024645727/facts. 56 The Australian, 19 Oct 1847, p.4. 57 BDA, Biographical report for William Drover. 58 Ancestry, Doig Online family tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/75031465/person/40457926270/facts. John Drover died, by suicide, in Melbourne in 1875 – The Age, 11 Nov 1875, p.2. 59 NSW BDM, Marriage registration, 200/1850 V1850200 79. Ancestry, Bates-Winchester Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family- tree/person/tree/34578402/person/380024645727/facts. 60 Ancestry, Bates-Winchester Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/34578402/person/380024645727/facts. 61 Ancestry, Ryan Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/629853/person/1430856075/facts. 62 New South Wales Government Gazette, 11 Apr 1838 [Issue No.328] p.285. 63 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Land Grants, 1788-1963, Colonial Secretary, Land and Town Purchases and Grants, 1838-39. 64 NSW BDM, Marriage registration 247/1849 V1849247 34C. 65 NSW BDM, Birth registration 1910/1852 V18521910 38A. Ancestry, Ryan Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family- tree/person/tree/629853/person/-1270901683/facts. 66 Goulburn Herald, 8 Aug 1860, p.3. 67 NSW BDM, Marriage registrations 2220/1868 and 2050/1867. 68 The Goulburn Herald and Chronicle, 15 Jun 1872, p.5. 69 Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 6 Feb 1883, p.2. 70 Goulburn Herald, 7 Aug 1893, p.3. 71 Northern Star, 20 Jun 1945, p.5. 72 NSW BDM, Marriage registration 2750/1858. 73 Illawarra Mercury, 16 Jun 1859, p.3. 74 NSW BDM, Birth registrations 12907/1860; 12908/1860; 14167/1862. 75 Ancestry, Ryan Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/629853/person/-1270901683/facts. Queensland historical records, https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/family-history-research. 76 Darling Downs Gazette, 8 Sep 1910, p.5. 77 Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 July 2019), memorial page for John Torkington (1 Jan 1833–31 Aug 1910), Find A Grave Memorial no. 184557872, citing Charters Towers Monumental & Lawn Cemetery, Charters Towers, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia ; Maintained by Richie Wright (contributor 48346415). 78 Ancestry, Douch-Roberts Extended Family Tree, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/6594085/person/- 1264454354/facts. An alternative birth date of 1844 is unlikely, given that she was married in 1858. 79 Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 July 2019), memorial page for Mary Jane Ferguson Torkington (1844–20 Aug 1912), Find A Grave Memorial no. 184557871, citing Charters Towers Monumental & Lawn Cemetery, Charters Towers, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia ; Maintained by Richie Wright (contributor 48346415).

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SELECTED SOURCES Genealogy Websites Ancestry 1841 New South Wales, Australia Census England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1875 England, Select Marriages, 1538-1873 Manchester, England, Church of England Baptisms Marriages and Burials 1541-1812 Manchester, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 New South Wales and Tasmania, Australian Convict Musters, 1806-1849 New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856 New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842 New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870 New South Wales, Australia, Land Grants, 1788-1863 New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts’ Applications to Marry, 1826-1851 New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834 New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825 Online Family Trees UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849 Findmypast England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment Scotlands People Old Parish Registers, Births Old Parish Registers, Marriages Other Websites Australian Dictionary of Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ Biographical Database of Australia (BDA), http://www.bda-online.org.au/ Convict Records, https://convictrecords.com.au/ Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/ Free Settler or Felon? https://www.jenwilletts.com/ Goulburn, Towns & Villages, https://www.goulburnaustralia.com.au/ J. W. Ross, The History of Cleveland House, https://www.princesgardens.com.au/s/Cleveland_House_History.pdf. New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths, Marriages, https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ NSW State Archives & Records, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/ Old Bailey Proceedings Online, http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ Queensland Historical Records, https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/family-history-research Woollahra Municipal Council, Local History, https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/ Online Newspapers British Newspapers (Findmypast) Caledonian Mercury Cheltenham Chronicle Chester Courant Manchester Mercury Morning Chronicle The Scots Magazine TROVE Darling Downs Gazette Empire Free Press and Commercial Journal Goulburn Evening Penny Post Goulburn Herald Goulburn Herald and Chronicle Illawarra Mercury New South Wales Government Gazette Northern Star The Australasian Chronicle The Australian

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The Shipping Gazette and Sydney Trade List The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser The Sydney Herald The Sydney Monitor The Sydney Morning Herald

© Leonie Fretwell, 2019

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