An Interest Group of the Genealogical Society of Queensland Inc The Chronicle Commemorative Medallion 1888 February 2018 Please address all correspondence to: Convict Connections c/- Genealogical Society of Queensland Inc. PO Box 1471 CARINDALE QLD 4152 Website: www.convictconnections.org.au Email: [email protected] Our Chronicle is published in February, June and October Subscribers need not be members of GSQ. Annual subscription is $15 (includes postage). Subscribe and enter your convicts on our website. The Genealogical Society of Queensland Inc. does not hold itself responsible for any statements made, or opinions expressed by authors of articles in this newsletter. V. Blomer (Editor) 2 Contents Front Cover 4 Convict Connections News 5 Book Reviews 8 The Historic Dairy Cottage at Parramatta 14 St Benedict’s Catholic Church, Broadway 16 The Governors of NSW 22 St Matthew’s Church Windsor – 200 years 23 William Lawson 24 Field of Mars 26 Brush Farm House 29 Convict Philip Gale 30 Thomas Shirley, another absconder 36 Charles Dickens – The House of Fallen Women 39 The Legend of Fisher’s Ghost 42 3 front cover The front covers of our previous Chronicles have depicted the six scenes of the sailing and of the landing of the First Fleet. So what to use next? While writing an article on early banks last year, I thought it may be interesting to take a closer look at some of Australia’s historic coins, notes and medallions. So we begin our 2018 front cover with a strange medallion dated 1888. What I find unusual about this is the fact that it is Captain Cook and not Governor Phillip who takes pride of place! The image has been taken from a Victorian auction site, Downies, where the medallion was valued at $350. The National Museum of Australia offers a clear description saying that the obverse side depicts the profile of Captain James Cook between two flags. On the left is the Union Jack and on the right is the cross of St George within a border containing stars. A rope on each side of the flags encases the lettering “Centenary 1888”, and loops up to form a ring enabling the medallion to be worn as a pendant. On the reverse side is a map of Australia showing the states. The entire map is surrounded by topographical marine contours. While the shape of the medallion is somewhat irregular, the dimensions are – Width 36mm Height 40mm Depth 2mm Weight 15.48g It is cast in bronze but the place of minting is unknown. Of course, this is by no means the only one of these 1888 cast medallions which has survived. Other examples can be found on sales sites and in catalogues. Not all are in excellent condition. Newspaper accounts reveal that by 1888 the population had reached three and a half million. Emphasis was on the growing wealth of the country – in natural resources, agriculture – and the freedom of the people. In Sydney, Henry Parkes led the orations for the centenary celebration. He offered a toast to “Australasia – her trials and triumphs in the past, her union and progress in the future”. There was no denying the convict past, but sentiments had changed and there was a growing sense of patriotism, despite the pulling away of the states from the mother colony of New South Wales. None of the major reports mentioned Captain Cook in reference to the celebration of the first 100 years – except one of Sydney’s triumphal arches which had a strange motto - “Alexander conquered nations. Cook founded an empire.” Were these the sentiments echoed in the creation of the medallion? 4 Convict Connections News From the Convenor, Sue Burgess. We held our AGM this month and we welcome Lynne Thompson as our new treasurer. In welcoming Lynne to the position, I would like to sincerely thank Carlene for the years she dedicated to the overseeing of our finances. Carol and I will continue as Secretary and Convenor. I hope we are all ready to immerse ourselves in another year of interesting and rewarding research. I would like to thank those who were on the committee last year and those who supported us by attending our meetings and subscribing to our Chronicle. Thank you to Steve who managed to get our web-site up and running. Hopefully we will soon have it up-dated with new articles. Robyn has organised the many books we have on loan, but it is a shame to see them under-utilised. We have decided on a trial this year to see if there is any interest in having books posted to you. Once again, Val, Lyn and Carlene have volunteered to attend family history fairs this year at Glen Innes, Botany Bay and Bateman’s Bay. Thank you ladies! We are hoping to have more talks during the year. Many thanks to Marilyn England for her interesting and informative talk on Moreton Bay convicts. I am off to England in April for the very first time. I am hoping to find out more about my convict, Mary Kelly, and also Joseph Carman who was sent to the hulk Euryalus when he was twelve years old. Happy New Year greetings from far away… So where did Lyn and Val meet up early in 2018?? In Harbin, China!!! It was certainly a change from roaming around New South Wales - but minus 28 degrees was a little extreme temperature-wise! While Val went from the cold of Harbin to a much milder Guangzhou, Lyn took further cold weather punishment and went to Lapland! If nothing else, we are an adventurous duo! It was also one birthday celebration I will never forget – a meal in an igloo with a temperature set at a warm minus 5 degrees, a rainbow birthday cake which caught fire, being regaled with a Chinese version of Happy Birthday, and toasted with nips of vodka! Why China? For Lyn, it was to see Shanghai, the ice sculptures and tigers of Harbin, and the sights of Beijing. For me it was to see why 10 million people would live in Harbin, view the famed ice sculptures, and the chance to combine it with a trip to Canton to see where my ancestor had been living when he set sail for New South Wales 200 years ago, arriving in Sydney in 1818. With the results of a recent DNA test, I am now of the belief that my Chinese ancestry originated in the north-east of China and Siberia, rather than around Canton. So, Harbin was a fitting place to visit after all! 5 LENDING LIBRARy TRIAL for 2018 BOOKS POSTED TO YOU !!! Robyn has placed a list of our books available for loan on the web-site. www.convictconnections.org.au We realise many cannot attend GSQ or our meetings, but may like to make use of the lending library. If you would like to borrow one (or two) of our books for up to 2 months and have it (them) posted to you – 1. Choose a book from the web-site 2. Email [email protected] and enter the subject matter of your email Lending Library and nominate the book/s required 3. We will reply regarding availability and get your postal details 4. For the trial period we will post free of charge, but you must pay return postage. The majority of our books are privately owned by our members, so, despite users being descendants of convicts, we trust you will not abuse our generous offer!!! DO YOU HAVE A MORETON BAY CONVICT? Our member, Marilyn England, is constantly working on her database of information about convicts who spent time at Moreton Bay. Please contact Marilyn at [email protected] if you can offer any information. 6 Meetings for 2018 Our convenor, Sue, has listed the following topics for the year. For the June meeting, it will be beneficial to bring along a lap-top if you have one. Follow-ups on each of the discussions will be reported in the Chronicle. Those who are unable to attend but would like to have input are welcome to send any relevant questions on the following topics to our email address. APRIL – Q&A session - discuss your research, what GSQ resources have you not yet checked for information, etc JUNE – Things you can do with PDF documents and documenting and saving Trove items AUGUST – the 1828 Census in more detail OCTOBER – The Biographical Database DECEMBER – theme for our Christmas gathering to be decided DID YOU KNOW? The ship Bussorah Merchant arrived in Sydney on 11th August 1833, and on board were some 200 single, free immigrant women, mostly from England. Although this ship had previously brought convicts to the colony, this time it was selected by the London Emigration Committee to be the first ship to bring an entire cargo of such women to the colony. The government scheme to entice suitable women to find better opportunities in New South Wales would be successful and other boats would follow. A wide cross-section of women were accepted. Some were educated, some were poor, some had financial security, some were even returning to Sydney, and some already had family in the colony. The excellent book, The Merchant’s Women by Elizabeth Rushen and Perry McIntyre, has been purchased for GSQ, but is available for our members to peruse before being placed on the shelf at GSQ. The reference to ‘Merchant’ in the title is of course referring to the name of the ship. The authors have researched the women, and three-quarters of them have been identified.