His immigration papers tell us that George was from East Claydon in Buckinghamshire, about 7 kms from Quainton, and that he born in about 1823. English records show that George's parents were William and Hannah. On his immigration certificate, his mother’s name is given as Mary. There are various other George Hardings born throughout England about the same time. Some have parents named William and Mary. However, we know from various sources that George was born in Buckinghamshire, in the Claydon/Quainton area.
In the 1841 census George Harding, aged 15 (ages were rounded down) is living in East Claydon, Bucks, as are a William and Maria (a common variant of Mary), both aged 40. William and Maria are still there in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses.
The 1841 census showed 195 males and 184 females (including children) in East Claydon. All but one or two were listed as agricultural labourers, and families. The name Harding was reasonably common in the area.
East Claydon
Village website for East Claydon and Claydon Botolph
Claydon has been the ancestral home of the Verney family since 1620. Harry Verney was one of the people vouching for George in his immigration certificate. George emigrated in 1844, two years before the repeal of the Corn Laws. Most of the agricultural activity in the area was in cattle, milk and sheep.
Village website for East Claydon and Claydon Botolph
Claydon has been the ancestral home of the Verney family since 1620. Harry Verney was one of the people vouching for George in his immigration certificate. George emigrated in 1844, two years before the repeal of the Corn Laws. Most of the agricultural activity in the area was in cattle, milk and sheep. |
| The village of East Claydon |
"This became the “Verney Style” and has been recognised by the planning authority in later years as a pattern to be reflected in later developments and infill sites."
 |
The present Verney family, who still live in the later red-brick south wing, are the descendants of Sir Harry Calvert, 2nd Baronet who inherited the house in 1827. He was very tenuously related to the Verneys only through marriage. However, he adopted the name Verney on inheriting.
It is probable that George Harding worked for Sir Harry Verney, that being the name of the person vouching for him at emigration.
The house was given to the National Trust in 1956 by Sir Ralph Verney, 5th Baronet. His son, Sir Edmund Verney, 6th Baronet, a former High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, lives in the house today.
George goes to Australia, accompanied by Ann Elizabeth Harding.
George Harding arrived as an assisted (bounty) immigrant on board the St Vincent, on 31 July 1844. He was aged 21, single, and able to both read and write. He was a farm labourer, and the bounty paid was 18 pounds 14 shillings.
We don't know where George went upon arrival, but in January 1849 when he married Elizabeth Strain(s) in January 1949 )one month after her arrival), he was living in Hartley, most likely employed by a farmer. No doubt Elizabeth accompanied him there as a new bride. Their eight children were all born in Hartley between 1850 and 1871.
Arriving on the same ship was a 19 year old woman named Ann Elizabeth Harding, also from Claydon. She was a farm servant. On the voyage she was under the protection of George and Sarah Willett. Her father was named as William, a labourer and widower. (Source: Immigration record).
Ann was probably a sister, although her mother’s name was not given.
What the passenger information reveals is the context in which young women came to the colony in the period, and an insight into the sort of process young women of the time went through:
Dispersal List Sydney 6 August 1844: Elizabeth Harding
UNMARRIED MALE IMMIGRANT
By the ship St Vincent
Name George Harding
Calling - according to own statement - farm labourer
- according to certificate - labourer
- according to engagement - shepherd
Age - 21
Native place and county - East Claydon [Laden sic], Buckinghamshire
Parents names - William and Mary - father alive
State of bodily health, strength & probable usefulness - good
Religion - Episcopalian
Read or Write - Both
Any complaints - none
Relations in the colony - none
SIGNATURES ON CERTIFICATE
Person certifying registry of baptism - Revd W.R. Fremantle, Middle Claydon, Winslow
Physician or surgeon certifying health - ? Rowley (surgeon)
Householders certifying character and calling
- Thomas Cripps - Botolph Claydon. Winslow
- William Touses (?) East Claydon, Winslow
Employer - N(?) Barge
Magistrates and Clergymen corroborating certificate
- Harry Verney - Claydon House, Bucks
- Revd William R Fremantle - Middle Claydon, Winslow
Signature of selecting agent - Carter Bones (?), London.
Elizabeth Strains (Great Great Grandmother)
Elizabeth was the fifth child of Samuel and Mary Strains. Together with her older sister, Louisa, she emigrated to Australia in 1849. The Strains family hailed from what is now East London - around Stratford and West Ham. Stratford was an agrarian district until the arrival of the railway in 1839, at which time it was transformed into an industrial suburb of London.
Her father, Samuel Strains was born in Stratford, Essex in 1792 and married Mary Lee on 25 March 1822 at St Giles, Camberwell, Surrey. Samuel died in 1868 in West Ham, Mary in 1838 in West Ham.
Samuel and Mary’s children
Samuel, born 1822 in Camberwell, Surrey, married Mary, born about 1822, in the last quarter of 1867 in West Ham. Samuel died 4 Jan 1878 in Stratford. Mary died 21 March 1880 at Stratford. No known children;
Mary (??) born about 1822, died 1844;
Louisa, born about 1828 - emigrated to Australia with Elizabeth. One theory is that she died on arrival.
Elizabeth, born about 1829 in Stratford - emigrated to Australia and married George Harding;
Joseph, born about 1833, married Hannah (born Sudbury about 1830) in 1866. Joseph died 31 March 1921. Hannah died in 1914.
Joseph and Hannah were parents to Sarah, born about 1868, and Jessie, born about 1874, who married Walter May. Jessie and Walter May had four children - Walter b about 1896; Edward Samuel b about 1900; Gerald Arthur b about 1902 and Cyril Frederick b about 1905.
The London family
The brothers Samuel and Joseph stayed in England, although there is no record of father or either sons in the 1851 Census.
In the 1861 Census, father Samuel, a labourer aged 67, was living at 7 Langthorne St, West Ham, with his sons Samuel, aged 38 and Joseph, aged 28, a locomotive engineer stoker. Samuel Snr died in West Ham in 1868.
Throughout the 1860s Samuel Jnr was listed in trades directories as a gasfitter (1862), bellhanger and gasfitter (1867), whitesmith (1871), gasfitter (1874). Samuel died on 4 Jan 1878, aged 56, leaving a will which said that his personal estate was under 300 pounds. He was formerly of 1 Martin Street, Stratford, late of Ealing (Elim?) Villa, Deanery Row, Stratford, where he died.
Mary, Samuel Jnr’s wife, died 21 March 1880 at Elim (Ealing?) Villa, Deanery Road, Stratford Green. Her personal estate was under 800 pounds, according to the Probate report.
A Joseph Strains was recorded in the UK Lunacy Patients Admissions Resgister for County Asylums and Hospitals, as being admitted to the Essex Asylum on 31 July 1863, as a pauper, and discharged 11 March 1864. Although there are no biographical details, the name and place make it possible he was Elizabeth’s brother.
Joseph married a woman named Hannah in 1866. She was born in Sudbury in about 1830. In 1881 they were living at 14 Tyneham Rd, Battersea, with two daughters, Sarah aged 13, scholar, who had been born in South Lambeth, and Jessie aged 7, a scholar, born in Battersea.
Joseph and Hannah and daughters Sarah and Jessie are missing in the 1891 census. By 1901, daughter Jessie is living with her husband Walter May, and sons Walter (aged 5) and Edward (aged 2) at 4 The Parade, Church Rd, Willsden, Middlesex. Walter is a master bread baker aged 27, and employer. The children were born in Fulham. Living with them was a journeyman baker (servant) named Sidney D Cousins.
On 23 and 26 Dec 1902, a Joseph Strains, labourer, born 1825, was admitted to the Mile End Workhouse. He was aged 70. It appears to be a temporary stay.
In 1911, The May family, including father Joseph and his wife Hannah Strains, were living at 15 Thrale Road, Streatham. Head of the household was Joseph’s son-in-law, Walter Henry May, aged 37, a confectioner and employer, whose business was at home. His wife, Jessie, also 37, and children Walter, aged 14, Edward Samuel, aged 11, Gerald Arthur aged 9, Cyril Frederick, aged 6, also lived there.
A Sarah Strains, aged 43, single, born in Battersea, is listed as a servant. She is the same age as Jessie’s sister Sarah (born in Battersea) would be, so probably is.
Joseph, aged 81, a retired railway labourer, and Hannah, aged 84 complete the household.
Joseph died on 31 March 1921, aged 90, and left his effects to his daughter Jessie. They came to 110 pounds, 12 s 6d. Hannah died in 1914, registered in Wandsworth.
Elizabeth and her sister Louisa go to Australia - 1849
Elizabeth and Louisa arrived at Botany Bay on 17 January 1849 on the ship Thomas Arbuthnot.
There is no way of knowing the specific circumstances under which Elizabeth and her sister Louisa emigrated, other than it was the height of the call for young women of marriageable age to emigrate.
A general picture of Europe shows societies in some turmoil. 1848 saw revolutions in Europe, the Young Irelanders Rebellion and the continuation of the potato famine in Ireland, and in London, a large Chartists’ rally of about 150,000 people around the Chartist petition for woking men’s suffrage.
A 2006 exhibition at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney provides insight. Link
In the 1840s transportation of convicts to NSW effectively ended and it was promoted as a desirable destination. This appealed to countless farm labourers and workers in cities for whom hardship was common. The gender imbalance was seen as contributing to 'moral depravity' in the colony. Young working class women of 'good character' were encouraged to make the journey, to be domestic servants for the middle class and ultimately ‘restore the equilibrium of the sexes’ and provide wives and mothers ‘for the labouring classes’; to become what Anne Summers called “God’s police”.
Women had to be single, aged between 18 and 35 (though sometimes as young as 15), of “good character” and in good health.
Below: The Female Emigrants' Home, at Hatton Garden, the Chief Room, artist unknown, Illustrated London News, 13 March 1853 (reproduction) - National Library of Australia
Conditions on the voyage
Extract from Charter Party of Thomas Arbuthnot 18 August 1848:
“The last male convicts lodged at Hyde Park Barracks were moved to Cockatoo Island in January 1848. The convicts’ hammocks were replaced with iron beds and the barracks was converted to become the Female Immigration Depot. Its first occupants arrived aboard the Earl Grey in October 1848. They were victims of the Great Irish Famine of 1845 to 1849 – Irish orphan girls from Irish workhouses, the majority aged between 16 and 18.
The ship was one of the largest of the immigrant ships regularly arriving at Australian ports during the 1840s and 50s. It was noted for transporting many orphans during the potato famine. The following sailing, which arrived in 1850 was a ‘potato famine orphan’ sailing.
It is very probable that it was seen that the young women’s prospects were seen as being better in Australia. Such was the imbalance between women and men that young unmarried women were brought over in order to be brides. Their brothers Samuel and Joseph remained in England.
From 1848 to 1886 the Female Immigration Depot was housed at Hyde Park Barracks. It was the main reception and hiring depot in Sydney for 'unprotected' females. The depot received thousands of working-class Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh female immigrants during its 38 years of operation.
The Colonial Secretary’s Office report on the arrival of the Thomas Arbuthnot
[The callings of the females, and the number of each calling, followed.
Unmarried 24 - house servants, sempstresses, dairy maids, cooks, housemaids, governesses, embroideresses, dressmakers, straw bonnet makers.]
By His Excellences Command,
E. DEAS THOMSON.
Sydney Printed by W. W. Davies, at the Government
Printing Office, Bent-street, 17th January, 1849.
Right: Hiring Immigrants at The Depot.
Australian Town and Country Journal 19 July 1879, p 120. State Library of NSW Collection
Louisa’s fate
An obituary for Elizabeth published in the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative on Thursday 16 August, 1917 says:
There is a marriage recorded in 1849 between a Louisa Strain and William Wootton of Tamworth. [Reg 683/1849]. Some family historians claim this is Elizabeth’s sister. There are other reasons they may have become separated, and perhaps Elizabeth conflated the stories. Perhaps the sisters went their separate ways and weren’t interested in seeing each other? Perhaps Louisa skipped off and abandoned her younger sister? Only a DNA test would provide some evidence!
On the other hand, I can find no trace of William and Louisa after the marriage - no children born to parents of these names, no death for a Louisa Wotton. There is a marriage between a William Wotton and Julia Gibson in1859 in Mudgee, which produced several children. There are other marriages of other William Wottons. One of these marriages may have been a re-marriage if Louisa had disappeared or died but it is impossible to tell.
Elizabeth and George
Marriage
They were married on 20 February 1849 at Presbyterian Scots Church, Pitt St, Sydney, just one month after Elizabeth’s arrival (17 Jan 1849). The church was located between Market and Park Streets.
How Elizabeth and George met is not known. They married a mere month after Elizabeth’s arrival, as did Louisa, if the Louisa Strain who married William Wotton is her. As the young women were attracted to Australia to be servants and/or wives, it is possible that they were matched through an agency.
George and Elizabeth were married by Reverend James Fullerton, who was accused of running a “marriage factory”, and running an introduction agency.
The entry on Fullerton in the Australian Dictionary of Biography says:
Despite not being "legally" married, it was a ceremony, it was registered, so for all intents and purposes it was a proper wedding in society's eyes!
It does shed light on how it happened so quickly - there was supposedly an introduction agency operating out of his premises as well…..a young man looking for wife, young woman looking for security…
[The report of the trial of Fullerton is reproduced below…it makes interesting reading].
Location after marriage. Was George a squatter?
In Over Cherry Tree Hill (1989), local historian Margaret Piddington says:
George was granted land in the Megalong Valley in 1877: "“County of Cook; near Megalong, Cox's River, 30 acres, und 31 acres 0 rood 32 perches, granted to George Harding 15 September 1877."
He had been living there in 1869, possibly squatting.
George sold some of his land, kto Isaac Sidney and his wife Eliza in 1893.
Megalong Farm, a commercial property offering camping holidays says on their website:
Squatters (from Wikipedia)
all registered in Hartley, born in Kanimbla Valley:
George died on 8 August 1888 at Tabrabucca. The cause of death was cancer of the pylorus, which he had for about 3 years. He was buried at Cudgegong cemetery 9 August 1888. On George's death, Tabrabucca passed to Jesse Harding and his wife Ruth. Jesse and Ruth had seven sons, and the property was divided between them at various times. (Source: Cudgegong Under Windamere by Sue Harding, 1984)
Elizabeth died 17 July 1917 at Ilford, of old age, Instral regurgitation (suffered for 5 years). She was buried at Cudgeong Cemetery 20 July 1917. Her name was listed in error as Strange.
An obituary for Elizabeth was published in the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 16 August 1917, page 8
The next generations
Jesse and Ruth Harding, who married in 1897, had seven sons:
From Over Cherry Tree Hill:
Appendix: Report of the trial in 1851 of Reverend James Fullerton…for conducting an underage marriage.
The Rev Fullerton married George Harding and Elizabeth Strains at the same church. Elizabeth was underage.
Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Thursday 10 July 1851, page 2
CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
(Before His Honor Mr. Justice Dickinson.)
ILLEGAL MARRIAGE.
The Rev. James Fullerton, L.D.D., minister of the Scots Church, Pitt Street South, was indicted for having, on the Ï3th of May last, knowingly and wilfully, and without the father's consent, who is still living, solemnised matrimony between Emeline Emma Blake and one Patrick Meehan, the former being under twenty-one years of age.
The Attorney-General and Mr. Holroyd conducted the prosecution; and MrV Foster and Mr. Darvall tho defence.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in opening the case, said that he had never a more painful duty to perform than the one which, in the exercise of his function as Attorney-General, he was now called upon to discharge. The rev. prisoner was a minister of religion whom he' had' always been accustomed to look up to with respect, and who had hitherto occupied a very respectable position in the community. Still, however unpleasant the duty might be to him personally, and however much he regretted the unfortunate circumstances which led to the present trial, he would endeavour to divest himself of all private feeling in the matter, and pursue that course which he felt both the justice of the case, and the interest of society at large, rendered it necessary for him to adopt.
The learned gentleman here explained, at considerable length, tho provisions of tho Acts (3 and 4 Wm.- IV., and 2nd Vic. No. 13), under which the proceeding had had been initiated. It was thus enacted, that any one who shall solemnize a marriage between two parties, one of whom is a minor, without the consent of the parents or guardians, shall be adjudged guilty of a felony, and punishable with transportation. There were only two ways in which the security of a guardian could be obtained. The one was by means of a certificate from a magistrate duly empowered to grant certificates, and the other was the consent of a person regularly appointed by the Supreme Court to act as guardian. This law was framed for the special purpose of protecting young women emigrating to those colonies unaccompanied by parents or guardians ; and however stringent it might appear, it required but little argument to show it a necessity. Whether its provisions had been complied with in the case before the court was a question, which the Jury would be called upon to decide, and he trusted that in doing so they would dismiss from their minds all considerations which did not directly arise out of the evidence submitted to them. The Attorney-General then glanced briefly at the particulars of' the case as already disclosed in the depositions taken at the Police Office. The prosecutor with his family resided on the South Hoad Road in tolerably affluent circumstances. He had frequently intimated, not only to his family, but to, persons living in tho neighbourhood, that it was his intention to bequeath £3,000 to his daughter when she attained her majority.
Mr. FOSTER objected to the allusion to Mr. Blake's circumstances, on the ground that unless it could be shown that Dr. Fullerton had previous knowledge of them, such allusion was irrelevant.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL replied, that his object was not to show Dr. Fullerton's knowledge of these circumstances, but whether he had not ample opportunity for acquiring that knowledge.
His HONOR ruled against the objection.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proceeded : From the facts he had stated, it might be reasonably presumed that both the family and their circumstances were generally well known in thc neighbourhood. If so, it would become a question for the Jury to determine how far the reverend prisoner, who resides in nearly the same locality, was culpable for his ignorance.
[As the most of the evidence in this case has been already twice reported, we have deemed it prudent to omit everything except those facts which were either new or absolutely necessary to make the case understood.]
Thomas Blake, being sworn, was examined by Mr. Holroyd : I am a publican, residing on the South Head Road ; have two children a boy and a girl ; tho latter is named Emeline Emma Blake, and is 14 years of age ; never gave my consent to have her married to Patrick Meehan ; she left home about 12 o'olock on Friday, the 13th of June, a single woman ; on that day she got married without my consent or knowledge to the said Patrick Meehan, and returned about two o'clock in the afternoon ; on the Friday following Dr. Fullerton called upon me, at my house,- and said, "I am the parson who married your daughter to Patrick Meehan.” I asked him if he had asked her any questions ? He replied that he did not consider it a part of his duty, and that by asking questions on one occasion the parties went away and he lost his fees : he also stated that he had been deceived by the representations of Mary Byan and Patrick Meehan.
Cross-examined by Mr. Darvall : Have seen Patrick Meehan frequently at the bar of my house as a customer, but never as a visitor ; have seen him sometimes coming through the back door ; my daughter was in the habit occasionally of serving in the bar, but I was not aware of there being any intimacy between them ; Mr. M'Lerie was tho first to give me information of the marriage I am not aware that Dr. Fullerton was the first to give him information ; on the contrary I heard that another person had informed Mr. M’Lerie.
Mr. DARVALL was about to ask who this person was, when the ATTORNEY-GENERAL objected, and His Honor supported the objection.
Cross-examination continued: Was present when the case was examined at the Police Office ; believe that the deposition of the rev. prisoner in the case of Patrick Meehan and others was read against himself ; never chastised my daughter on account of any intimacy she had with Patrick Meehan, nor did my wife ; cannot swear that Dr. Fullerton made this statement to me, viz., " that Mrs. Ryan had informed him that the father of the girl was absent at California for two years, during which time he had never been heard of;" cannot remember anything having been said about "two years;" he called upon me voluntarily, and answered all my questions ; am sure he did not make use of the words " I have declined to-marry couples before, and other churches got the fees.”
Mrs Emma Blake was then called, and examined by the Attorney-General: I am the wife of last witness; I have two children, a boy and a girl the latter in 14 years of age ; remember the girl leaving my house on tho 13th of June, and also her coming back about two o'clock, in the afternoon ; remember on the Friday week after (the 20th) Dr. Fullerton calling on me ; he told me he was the parson that married my daughter. I said how could he be so wicked He told me that a Mary Ryan had informed him that the father was absent at California,: and had not been heard of for two years, and.that the mother was dead, and that she was the guardian of my daughter; never knew of my daughter being in company with Patrick Meehan except on one occasion, when a servant girl of mine got married which was about a week prior to the marriage in question.
By Mr.Darvall: On the occasion referred to, my daughter accompanied Patrick Meehan in a cab to Botany ; am not aware of her being in his company at any other time, either before , or after, except on the day when she was married.
Mr. Warburton, deposition clerk was then examined relative to Dr Fullerton signing his deposition.
Emeline Emma Blake stated : I am the daughter of Thomas Blake; remember on the 13th of June last getting into a cab near Terry Hughes’s buildings, in company with Mary Ryan, Mary Oakes, James Mather, and Patrick Meehan ; when I got into the cab I partially changed my dress ; wc then proceeded to Dr. Fullerton's house; on entering, Dr. Fullerton said, which is the girl ; Mary Ryan pointed me out to him ; he remarked that I looked very young ; Mary Ryan said that I was older than 1 looked ; this was all that Dr. Fullerton said ; he then went up stairs and put his gown on ; when he came down he performed the ceremony, that is he read the marriage prayers ; he did not ask me any questions.
Cross-examined by His Honor : I think he put these questions to me. - "Do you, Patrick Meehan, take Emeline Emma Blake to be your wife ? and do you, Emeline Emma Blake, take Patrick Median to be your husband ?" Both myself and Patrick Median replied in the affirmative ; I am certain Dr. Fullerton asked me no questions previous to the marriage ; did not see any fees paid.
Cross-examined by Mr. Darvall : Know Mary Oakes and Mary Ryan for two or three months previous; had seen Meehan very often in the bar; had received many letters from Meehan ; although I have never seen him write, I know his writing; the letter produced is in my handwriting, as also the others produced ; it was through the persuasion of Mrs. Oates that I wrote these letters ; never danced with Meehan ; remember writing a letter reproving Meehan for giving sweetmeats to another girl ; my mother never scolded me, nor threatened to cut my hair off, if 1 spoke to him; don't remember seeing any of the parties sign any document at the time of the marriage.
This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. FOSTER on being called upon to address the Court for tho defence, observed that he was prevented by the nature of the indictment from making such a defence as the law prescribed. His client was charged with solemnising matrimony between two parties', one of whom was under age without the consent of the father, who was absent and still living, but entirely overlooked tho possibility of consent being obtained from a guardian appointed by the Supreme Court. Dr. Fullerton was therefore charged with what was in reality no offence ; for the consent of a guardian duly appointed by law rendered unnecessary the consent of the parent. Unless there was an allegation to the effect that Dr. Fullerton had not complied with the law in this respect, it could not be shown that the marriage was illegal, and consequently it would bo impossible for his client to get up a defence according to law, unless indeed he admitted that he believed the father to have been dead, which he could not conscientiously do.
The learned counsel then glanced briefly at the facts in relation to this point, and concluded by stating that, as it was necessary in answer to the indictment to prove the father's consent, whilst his client had already admitted that he obtained nil authority from a person whom he believed to have been the duly-appointed guardian, he would decline to set up any defence.
His Honor at once directed the jury to find a verdict for the prosecution, remarking that according to the indictment, as shown by Mr. Foster, the charge against the prisoner was simply that he had celebrated the marriage of a female under, twenty-one years of ago without the consent of the parent, knowing him to be living ; and as Rev Fullerton did not deny it, there was of course no alternative but to find him guilty. The question, therefore, for the jury to decide was whether Rev Fullerton know that Thomas' Blake was alive when he solemnised the marriage. If they be-lieved this, their verdict would be against him.
The jury, after retiring for a few minutes, returned with a verdict of guilty.
The case was then adjourned until Friday next, at ten o'clock, when the learned counsel for the defence will move the Court in arrest of judgment.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60036246?#
George goes to Australia, accompanied by Ann Elizabeth Harding.
George Harding arrived as an assisted (bounty) immigrant on board the St Vincent, on 31 July 1844. He was aged 21, single, and able to both read and write. He was a farm labourer, and the bounty paid was 18 pounds 14 shillings.
We don't know where George went upon arrival, but in January 1849 when he married Elizabeth Strain(s) in January 1949 )one month after her arrival), he was living in Hartley, most likely employed by a farmer. No doubt Elizabeth accompanied him there as a new bride. Their eight children were all born in Hartley between 1850 and 1871.
Arriving on the same ship was a 19 year old woman named Ann Elizabeth Harding, also from Claydon. She was a farm servant. On the voyage she was under the protection of George and Sarah Willett. Her father was named as William, a labourer and widower. (Source: Immigration record).
Ann was probably a sister, although her mother’s name was not given.
What the passenger information reveals is the context in which young women came to the colony in the period, and an insight into the sort of process young women of the time went through:
Dispersal List Sydney 6 August 1844: Elizabeth Harding
"Memorandum of Agreement made this day between Chas St Julien of Castle Rae St 201 South of the one part, and Elizabeth Harding, a free Immigrant per ship Saint Vincent of the other part. The conditions are that the said Elizabeth Harding engages to serve the said Mr St Julien as House Servant and otherwise make herself generally useful, for the term of three calendar months; and also to obey all his or his ‘overseers’ or authorised agents’ lawful and reasonable commands during that period; in consideration of which services the said Mr St Julien doth hereby agree to pay the said E Harding wages, at the rate of 10 pounds per annum, and to provide her with Board and Lodgings.George's immigration documentation
By the ship St Vincent
Name George Harding
Calling - according to own statement - farm labourer
- according to certificate - labourer
- according to engagement - shepherd
Age - 21
Native place and county - East Claydon [Laden sic], Buckinghamshire
Parents names - William and Mary - father alive
State of bodily health, strength & probable usefulness - good
Religion - Episcopalian
Read or Write - Both
Any complaints - none
Relations in the colony - none
Person certifying registry of baptism - Revd W.R. Fremantle, Middle Claydon, Winslow
Physician or surgeon certifying health - ? Rowley (surgeon)
Householders certifying character and calling
- Thomas Cripps - Botolph Claydon. Winslow
- William Touses (?) East Claydon, Winslow
Employer - N(?) Barge
Magistrates and Clergymen corroborating certificate
- Harry Verney - Claydon House, Bucks
- Revd William R Fremantle - Middle Claydon, Winslow
Signature of selecting agent - Carter Bones (?), London.
Elizabeth Strains (Great Great Grandmother)
Elizabeth was the fifth child of Samuel and Mary Strains. Together with her older sister, Louisa, she emigrated to Australia in 1849. The Strains family hailed from what is now East London - around Stratford and West Ham. Stratford was an agrarian district until the arrival of the railway in 1839, at which time it was transformed into an industrial suburb of London.
Her father, Samuel Strains was born in Stratford, Essex in 1792 and married Mary Lee on 25 March 1822 at St Giles, Camberwell, Surrey. Samuel died in 1868 in West Ham, Mary in 1838 in West Ham.
Samuel and Mary’s children
Samuel, born 1822 in Camberwell, Surrey, married Mary, born about 1822, in the last quarter of 1867 in West Ham. Samuel died 4 Jan 1878 in Stratford. Mary died 21 March 1880 at Stratford. No known children;
Mary (??) born about 1822, died 1844;
Louisa, born about 1828 - emigrated to Australia with Elizabeth. One theory is that she died on arrival.
Elizabeth, born about 1829 in Stratford - emigrated to Australia and married George Harding;
Joseph, born about 1833, married Hannah (born Sudbury about 1830) in 1866. Joseph died 31 March 1921. Hannah died in 1914.
Joseph and Hannah were parents to Sarah, born about 1868, and Jessie, born about 1874, who married Walter May. Jessie and Walter May had four children - Walter b about 1896; Edward Samuel b about 1900; Gerald Arthur b about 1902 and Cyril Frederick b about 1905.
The London family
The brothers Samuel and Joseph stayed in England, although there is no record of father or either sons in the 1851 Census.
In the 1861 Census, father Samuel, a labourer aged 67, was living at 7 Langthorne St, West Ham, with his sons Samuel, aged 38 and Joseph, aged 28, a locomotive engineer stoker. Samuel Snr died in West Ham in 1868.
Throughout the 1860s Samuel Jnr was listed in trades directories as a gasfitter (1862), bellhanger and gasfitter (1867), whitesmith (1871), gasfitter (1874). Samuel died on 4 Jan 1878, aged 56, leaving a will which said that his personal estate was under 300 pounds. He was formerly of 1 Martin Street, Stratford, late of Ealing (Elim?) Villa, Deanery Row, Stratford, where he died.
Mary, Samuel Jnr’s wife, died 21 March 1880 at Elim (Ealing?) Villa, Deanery Road, Stratford Green. Her personal estate was under 800 pounds, according to the Probate report.
A Joseph Strains was recorded in the UK Lunacy Patients Admissions Resgister for County Asylums and Hospitals, as being admitted to the Essex Asylum on 31 July 1863, as a pauper, and discharged 11 March 1864. Although there are no biographical details, the name and place make it possible he was Elizabeth’s brother.
Joseph married a woman named Hannah in 1866. She was born in Sudbury in about 1830. In 1881 they were living at 14 Tyneham Rd, Battersea, with two daughters, Sarah aged 13, scholar, who had been born in South Lambeth, and Jessie aged 7, a scholar, born in Battersea.
Joseph and Hannah and daughters Sarah and Jessie are missing in the 1891 census. By 1901, daughter Jessie is living with her husband Walter May, and sons Walter (aged 5) and Edward (aged 2) at 4 The Parade, Church Rd, Willsden, Middlesex. Walter is a master bread baker aged 27, and employer. The children were born in Fulham. Living with them was a journeyman baker (servant) named Sidney D Cousins.
On 23 and 26 Dec 1902, a Joseph Strains, labourer, born 1825, was admitted to the Mile End Workhouse. He was aged 70. It appears to be a temporary stay.
In 1911, The May family, including father Joseph and his wife Hannah Strains, were living at 15 Thrale Road, Streatham. Head of the household was Joseph’s son-in-law, Walter Henry May, aged 37, a confectioner and employer, whose business was at home. His wife, Jessie, also 37, and children Walter, aged 14, Edward Samuel, aged 11, Gerald Arthur aged 9, Cyril Frederick, aged 6, also lived there.
A Sarah Strains, aged 43, single, born in Battersea, is listed as a servant. She is the same age as Jessie’s sister Sarah (born in Battersea) would be, so probably is.
Joseph, aged 81, a retired railway labourer, and Hannah, aged 84 complete the household.
Joseph died on 31 March 1921, aged 90, and left his effects to his daughter Jessie. They came to 110 pounds, 12 s 6d. Hannah died in 1914, registered in Wandsworth.
Elizabeth and her sister Louisa go to Australia - 1849
Elizabeth and Louisa arrived at Botany Bay on 17 January 1849 on the ship Thomas Arbuthnot.
There is no way of knowing the specific circumstances under which Elizabeth and her sister Louisa emigrated, other than it was the height of the call for young women of marriageable age to emigrate.
A general picture of Europe shows societies in some turmoil. 1848 saw revolutions in Europe, the Young Irelanders Rebellion and the continuation of the potato famine in Ireland, and in London, a large Chartists’ rally of about 150,000 people around the Chartist petition for woking men’s suffrage.
A 2006 exhibition at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney provides insight. Link
In the 1840s transportation of convicts to NSW effectively ended and it was promoted as a desirable destination. This appealed to countless farm labourers and workers in cities for whom hardship was common. The gender imbalance was seen as contributing to 'moral depravity' in the colony. Young working class women of 'good character' were encouraged to make the journey, to be domestic servants for the middle class and ultimately ‘restore the equilibrium of the sexes’ and provide wives and mothers ‘for the labouring classes’; to become what Anne Summers called “God’s police”.Women had to be single, aged between 18 and 35 (though sometimes as young as 15), of “good character” and in good health.
Below: The Female Emigrants' Home, at Hatton Garden, the Chief Room, artist unknown, Illustrated London News, 13 March 1853 (reproduction) - National Library of Australia
Conditions on the voyage
Extract from Charter Party of Thomas Arbuthnot 18 August 1848:
“The voyage was arduous and took around three months. Although some voyages were reported as pleasant, more often than not immigrants endured meagre rations, damp living conditions, extreme heat and cold, seasickness and infectious diseases like whooping cough, smallpox, typhoid fever, gastroenteritis and measles. Lice infestations were also rife. Deaths were not uncommon. Bathing and the washing of clothes were infrequent.
“Organised into ‘mess’ groups of 8 or 10, assisted migrants travelled as steerage or third-class passengers, tightly packed together below cabin (first-class) and intermediate (second-class) passengers, reflecting the familiar class system at home. The young women slept two to a 6 x 3 foot berth (180 x 90cm) in bunk-style dormitories. Government appointed matrons chaperoned them, supervising their daily routine and training them for domestic service.Extract from Earl Grey's famine Orphans website:
“Sir,
We hereby tender to Her majesty’s Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners the above Ship, rated A1 at Lloyds, for the conveyance of Passengers to Port Adelaide, Port Phillip or Sydney at the rate of £13-15- Pt Phillip, £13-17-6 Pt Adelaide, £13-7-6 Sydney for each Adult passenger, subject to the stipulations contained in the Charter Party hereto annexed…
4. That the said Ship shall at all times during the continuance of this contract be fitted in the between decks with proper bed places for the accommodation of the passengers, and with a separate Hospital for males and females, fitted up with bed places and two swing cots; and that the said Ship shall also be fitted and furnished with with sufficient water closets, a head pump, a good accommodation ladder for the use of passengers in embarking and disembarking; and, also for the exclusive use of passengers, with such cooking apparatus as may be approved by the said Commissioners…of good coals, wood, and coke; of scrapers, brooms, swabs, sand, and stones for dry rubbing, four to be mounted; together with whatever else the said Commissioners or their Agents, be thought necessary for the cleanliness of the Ship, and the comfort and safety of the passengers in addition to the following mess utensils viz.–For each Mess of six persons.
One mess kit, with handle,
One tin oval dish–About 14 inches long and 4 inches deep,
One mess bread basket–About 14 inches long, 6 1/2 inches deep and 10 wide with handles,
Two three-pint tin pots, with covers and bar hooks, for boiling water,
Two water-breakers of two gallons each, properly slung for use,
One potatoe bag,
One pudding bag,
with an addition of one-fifth to provide against loss or breakage…
19. And it is hereby mutually agreed that the Commissioners have the right to appoint a Surgeon, who shall be entitled to a cabin, to be approved by their Agent, with an allowance of forty cubical feet of space in the hold for luggage, and shall be dieted at the Captain’s table, on condition of his taking the medical charge of of the Officers and Crew of the Ship.
20. That the Master is strictly to forbid and prevent on the part of the Crew or Officers any intercourse whatever with the Female Passengers on board, and also the sale of spirituous or fermented liquors to the Passengers.”Arrival - the Female Immigration Depot at Hyde Park Barracks
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| Hyde Park Barracks in the 1840s (State Library of NSW) |
“In any one week there could be up to 100 women, some with children and babies, staying at the depot. At other times there were as few as half a dozen. The barracks and its high surrounding walls isolated the women from the outside world, and the colonial government controlled their lives until their passage into socially acceptable channels such as domestic service or family reunion was achieved. In the meantime they spent their time writing letters, reading, sewing and receiving religious instruction.
“While many women were reunited with family after only one night, others stayed longer waiting for family or employers to travel from ‘the bush’ to collect them. Some just stayed until the next hiring day. Advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald, hiring days were held a few days after immigrant ships arrived. Labour shortages in the colony were a perennial problem and competition for domestic servants was fierce. Most immigrants were Irish but there was much anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment among middle-class colonists. They argued that Irish women were rough and unable to learn, were unskilled and unsuited to domestic service in middle-class Sydney homes.
“While most women were hired as general domestic servants, some were cooks, nurses, laundresses, needlewomen, housemaids and farm servant
“The Female Immigration Depot closed in 1886 to make way for government and legal offices.” (Source: Female Immigration Depot, Hyde park Barracks)Elizabeth, and her sister Louisa, both servants, arrived in Sydney on the Thomas Arbuthnot on 17 January 1849, aged 18 and 20 respectively. On the passenger list, their birthplace was given as Stratford, their religion “Independent”.
The ship was one of the largest of the immigrant ships regularly arriving at Australian ports during the 1840s and 50s. It was noted for transporting many orphans during the potato famine. The following sailing, which arrived in 1850 was a ‘potato famine orphan’ sailing.
It is very probable that it was seen that the young women’s prospects were seen as being better in Australia. Such was the imbalance between women and men that young unmarried women were brought over in order to be brides. Their brothers Samuel and Joseph remained in England.
From 1848 to 1886 the Female Immigration Depot was housed at Hyde Park Barracks. It was the main reception and hiring depot in Sydney for 'unprotected' females. The depot received thousands of working-class Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh female immigrants during its 38 years of operation.
The Colonial Secretary’s Office report on the arrival of the Thomas Arbuthnot
Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Sydney, 17th January, 1849.
IMMIGRANTS PER « THOMAS ARBUTHNOT."
HIS Excellency the Governor has directed it to be notified, for general information, that the Ship "Thomas Arbuthnot," -with 260 Immigrants, arrived this day in Port Jackson."
[Callings and numbers of the male immigrants, married and unmarried followed. 28 married; 29 unmarried. Callings were agricultural labourers, shepherds, carpenters, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, gardeners, miners, masons, bricklayers, braziers, watchmakers, grooms, tinsmiths, engineers, coopers, house servants, shoemakers]
"On Friday, the Nineteenth instant, and following days, between the hours of 10 a.m., and 4 p.m., the hiring of the Male Immigrants will be proceeded with.
"Before 10 o'clock on the morning of Friday, the Nineteenth instant, or at any other times than those fixed, as above stated, for the hiring of the Immigrants, no stranger or person in quest of servants will be admitted, or allowed to remain on board. Strict orders have been given to the Policeman on duty in the Ship to enforce the observance of this rule.
"All applications for servants must be made to the Surgeon Superintendent on board, and the Immigrants will be cautioned against hiring themselves to any person without his sanction, and "without a formal agreement, to be signed by the two contracting parties* and witnessed by an Officer of the Immigration Department, who will attend on board of the ship for the purpose.
"Before sanctioning any engagement, the Surgeon Superintendent will be required to satisfy himself of the respectability of the hiring party, either by reference to the Officer of the Immigration Department who will be in attendance, or by such other means of enquiry as may be available.
"No stranger will be allowed to visit the 'tween decks of the vessel unless accompanied by the Surgeon Superintendent. Any person infringing this rule will be ordered to quit the ship forthwith.
"The ship will be anchored at the entrance of Sydney Cove, and will be provided with an external accommodation ladder.
"The unmarried females will be landed from the vessel, and lodged in the Depot at Hyde Park Barracks, where they can be hired between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m., on Saturday, the Twentieth instant, by employers whose respectability is known at the Immigration Office, or who bring introductory letters from persons of known respectability, provided that such employers do not keep inns or other houses of public entertainment.
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| Reconstruction of accommodation Source |
Unmarried 24 - house servants, sempstresses, dairy maids, cooks, housemaids, governesses, embroideresses, dressmakers, straw bonnet makers.]
By His Excellences Command,E. DEAS THOMSON.
Sydney Printed by W. W. Davies, at the Government
Printing Office, Bent-street, 17th January, 1849.
Right: Hiring Immigrants at The Depot.
Australian Town and Country Journal 19 July 1879, p 120. State Library of NSW Collection
Louisa’s fate
An obituary for Elizabeth published in the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative on Thursday 16 August, 1917 says:
“They [Elizabeth and Louisa] arrived safely in port in Sydney, but while about to disembark her sister [Louisa] met with a terrible death. She unaccountably became entangled in the revolving paddle wheels of the steamer, and was mutilated. Her body was never recovered…”This story is also recounted, in somewhat less graphic terms in the 1980s memoir of Elizabeth’s grandaughter, Ivy Farrar:
“When the boat with the migrants on board arrived in Sydney Elizabeth lost Louisa. She was never to see her again and she always thought that she was evidently pushed into the sea when the new settlers surged ashore an was drowned. Rather a sad beginning to Elizabeth’s new life in Australia.”leads There is one piece of evidence which leads to some doubt about this story:
There is a marriage recorded in 1849 between a Louisa Strain and William Wootton of Tamworth. [Reg 683/1849]. Some family historians claim this is Elizabeth’s sister. There are other reasons they may have become separated, and perhaps Elizabeth conflated the stories. Perhaps the sisters went their separate ways and weren’t interested in seeing each other? Perhaps Louisa skipped off and abandoned her younger sister? Only a DNA test would provide some evidence!
On the other hand, I can find no trace of William and Louisa after the marriage - no children born to parents of these names, no death for a Louisa Wotton. There is a marriage between a William Wotton and Julia Gibson in1859 in Mudgee, which produced several children. There are other marriages of other William Wottons. One of these marriages may have been a re-marriage if Louisa had disappeared or died but it is impossible to tell.
Elizabeth and George
Marriage
How Elizabeth and George met is not known. They married a mere month after Elizabeth’s arrival, as did Louisa, if the Louisa Strain who married William Wotton is her. As the young women were attracted to Australia to be servants and/or wives, it is possible that they were matched through an agency.
George and Elizabeth were married by Reverend James Fullerton, who was accused of running a “marriage factory”, and running an introduction agency.
The entry on Fullerton in the Australian Dictionary of Biography says:
“In July 1851 he was tried in the Supreme Court for 'illegal solemnization of marriage' and discharged on a technicality; later the registrar-general claimed that Fullerton had run a ' ‘marriage shop', conducting over four hundred marriages a year.”Fullerton didn't enquire too closely into the age of the brides or grooms, which is probably why Elizabeth and George were married by him (she was 19, and would normally have needed consent).
Despite not being "legally" married, it was a ceremony, it was registered, so for all intents and purposes it was a proper wedding in society's eyes!
It does shed light on how it happened so quickly - there was supposedly an introduction agency operating out of his premises as well…..a young man looking for wife, young woman looking for security…
[The report of the trial of Fullerton is reproduced below…it makes interesting reading].
Location after marriage. Was George a squatter?
In Over Cherry Tree Hill (1989), local historian Margaret Piddington says:
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| Bulllock dray. Source |
“After their marriage George and Elizabeth travelled by bullock dray to take up land in the Kanimbla Valley near Hartley. Their presence is still recorded in the naming of ‘Harding’s paddock’ in the valley. They ran 200 head of cattle on their farm and George carried on business as a bullock driver, transporting goods either to Sydney over the often treacherous mountain crossings, or inland to the settlements of Mudgee, Gulgong and Dunedoo.” (Over Cherry Tree Hill, Margaret Piddington (ed) 1989)According to their marriage certificate, George was already resident in Hartley, so he may have already been occupying land there.
George was granted land in the Megalong Valley in 1877: "“County of Cook; near Megalong, Cox's River, 30 acres, und 31 acres 0 rood 32 perches, granted to George Harding 15 September 1877."
He had been living there in 1869, possibly squatting.
George sold some of his land, kto Isaac Sidney and his wife Eliza in 1893.
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| Land owned by George Harding and Isaac Sidney. Source |
“George Harding was shown as living here in 1869 so he must have been squatting." SourceWe know that he had been living in the area earlier than 1869.
Squatters (from Wikipedia)
“Squatters occupied large tracts of Crown land in order to graze livestock. Initially often having no legal rights to the land, they gained its usage by being the first (and often the only) Europeans in the area.
‘Squatting’ had become so widespread by the mid-1830s that Government policy in New South Wales towards the practice shifted from opposition to regulation and control. By that stage the term ‘squatter’ was applied to those who occupied Crown land under a lease or license, without the negative connotation of earlier times.
The term soon developed a class association, suggesting an elevated socio-economic status and entrepreneurial attitude. By 1840 squatters were recognized as being amongst the wealthiest men in the colony of New South Wales, many of them from upper and middle-class English and Scottish families. As unoccupied land with frontage to permanent water became more scarce, the acquisition of runs increasingly required larger capital outlays.
Eventually the term ‘squatter’ came to refer to a person of high social prestige who grazes livestock on a large scale (whether the station was held by leasehold or freehold title)."George and Elizabeth move to Tabrabucca (Ilford) from Kanimbla
“Mr W.W. Armstrong in his memoirs, says that when he arrived at Rylstone in 1849, William Henry Suttor held the properties Warraguna and Tabrabucca.” (Source Rylstone District Historical Society)From Piddington (1989) Over Cherry Tree Hill:
“Harry Ambrose persuaded George Harding to move his family to the Cudgegong area where he could expand his farming interests and retire from the hard rigours of the ‘bullocky’ trade.” (p 154)
“On 14 August 1875, George purchased the first portion of ‘Tabrabucca’, a small block of flat, rather swampy land, and erected a modest homestead of split hardwood slabs on a rise above the farm where the sheep yards are now situated. Grandson of George and Elizabeth. Hector Harding, remembers that the building was always dark as it had narrow windows off both the front and back verandahs as a defence against bushrangers.
“A memorable event in the move to ‘Tabrabucca’ was the big cattle muster. Jesse and Louisa, aged only twelve and seventeen respectively, drove the family’s entire herd of 200 cattle from Hartley to ‘Tabrabucca’ and managed the task without a hitch until the return journey when they lost their way….As it was dark they simply let the horses have their heads and were carried safely home.” (p 154)Louisa’s grand-daughter, Ivy Farrar, wrote about that event in her 1980s memoir:
“When Gran Briggs was only sixteen years old, she and her brother Jesse aged thirteen drove cattle from their property at Kanimbla Valley to “Tabrabucca” at Ilford. Getting the cattle through the rugged Jenolan Caves area must have been quite a major task for the two youthful drovers.”Ivy wrote more about her grandmother Louisa:
“ Gran Briggs loved cows and when they settled at Hillgrove near Ilford she always had some good milkers. She separated the milk and churned the rich cream into butter. Each Friday afternoon she harnessed her horse to the sulky and set off to Ilford to sell her butter and eggs. Some of her butter and eggs were sold to the shop and she also had some private customers who lived in the little village. With the proceeds of the sales she bought groceries.
Louisa "Gran" Briggs 1920
“Long after Gran’s death an old docket was found showing that she had received 4 pence a pound for her butter. She kept lots of fowls and turkeys, also Indian Runner ducks. The latter were often a source of worry to her if they didn’t return home to their “duck house” at night especially after she was somewhat crippled with arthritis. She was afraid a fox would kill them. Sometimes one would come home lame and Gran would say that a water rat had bitten its leg. Of course from when I could remember she received more than 4d a pound for her butter. The ducks and turkeys were fattened and sold at Christmas. She was a very generous old lady and at Easter and Christmas she loved to give a present to her friends at Ilford. Mostly it would be a cup and saucer or some piece of crockery. Gran loved nice china and the sitting room at Hillgrove was a real treasure trove of pieces. There could scarcely have been room to for another piece in anywhere.”George and Elizabeth's children
all registered in Hartley, born in Kanimbla Valley:
- Elizabeth A born 1850 (Reg No: 29/1850)
- Charlotte born 26 Sep 1853 m Harry Ambrose and lived near Cudgegong.
- Mary Jane born 9 Sep 1855
- Louisa (great grandmother) born 1 Sep 1857 (7123/1857) m Edward Briggs. Lived first at Tabrabucca, and then Hillgrove, Ilford (see Briggs chapter)
- male born 1860
- George born 11 July 1861 (7994/1861) died 1884, age 23.
- Jesse born 11 Aug 1863 (8368/1863) m Ruth Sharp 21 June 1897. Had 7 sons, who helped build Tabrabucca into a significant holding.
- James John born 14 Jan 1866 (9246/1866), did not marry and worked with Jesse on Tabrabucca. Died 1908 aged 42.
- male born 1866
- Joseph Samuel born 1871 (111951/1871) became a school teacher. Retired in Forbes. m Ann Robinson from Mudgee, and had 3 children.
Elizabeth died 17 July 1917 at Ilford, of old age, Instral regurgitation (suffered for 5 years). She was buried at Cudgeong Cemetery 20 July 1917. Her name was listed in error as Strange.
An obituary for Elizabeth was published in the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 16 August 1917, page 8
Death of a Pioneer.
MRS. HARDING.
"The following are further particulars (supplied by a correspondent) of the death of Mrs. Harding, reported at the time of its occurrence in the "Guardian" : —
"An octogenarian in the person of Mrs. Harding passed quietly away at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Edward Briggs, on Tuesday, July 17. The old lady had been living with her children for many years, she having been widowed in 1888, but the major part had been spent with the above-named daughter, who resides near Ilford.
"The 88th anniversary of her birthday occurred the day previous to her demise. The weather at that time was exceptionally boisterous, with cold wind and driving showers, but, nevertheless, the funeral was well attended. She was interred in the Church of England portion of the Cudgegong Cemetery, the Rev. Mr. Penty, Rylstone, officiating at the grave.
"The old lady had retained her faculties in a remarkable degree till the past three years when her sight failed, and she was debarred her erstwhile principal pastime of reading, and her memory for recent events became deficient. She suffered no regular illness, but became weak, and on the day of her death she undressed and retired to bed. A few minutes before 6 a.m. she called out, and on her daughter proceeding to her room she announced herself as dying, and expired immediately. She is buried alongside her husband and her deceased sons, James and George Harding. She leaves a numerous family of descendants to mourn their loss.
"Mrs. Harding comes of a good old English stock. She emigrated to Australia with a sister, Louisa Strains, which latter was her maiden name. They arrived safely in port in Sydney, but while about to disembark her sister met with a terrible death. She unaccountably became entangled in the revolving paddle wheels of the steamer, and was mutilated. Her body was never recovered, Mrs. Harding, or, as she was then, Miss Strains, was but 20 then. She lived first at Hartley, where she married. She left Hartley in 1875 for Tabrabucca, after 26 years' residence, having arrived in the colony in 1849.
"Her husband died here in 1888, and the balance of her life, except for visits to relatives, was spent in this vicinity. The marriage had issue four sons, George (deceased), James (deceased), Jesse (Tabrabucca), and Joseph (a lately retired teacher, now residing at Rylstone), four daughters, Elizabeth Cummins, Charlotte Ambrose, Mary Pike (Sydney) and Louisa Briggs (Ilford), the two former being long dead.
"There are 31 grandchildren — Cummins 8, Ambrose 7, Jesse Harding 7, while the families of Mrs. Briggs, Mrs. Pike and Joseph Harding consist of 3 each.
"There are also 39 great-grandchildren — 25 through the Cummin's branch, 11 from the Ambrose's family, 1 from Pike's and 2 from the Brigg's family.
"The 3 great-great-grandchildren descend through the Cummin's branch. The following grandsons are at the war :— Victor and Bert Harding, sons of Mr. Joseph Harding, Riverstone; Allan and Chris Cummins and Alfred Ambrose, and likewise one great-grandson, in the person of Norman Jacobs, son of Mr. Jacob Jacobs."
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| Cudgegong Cemetery vicinity |
Jesse and Ruth Harding, who married in 1897, had seven sons:
- George Benjamin born 2 Aug 1898 (25248/1898)
- Frederick Joseph born 5 Dec 1900 (no record)
- Hector James born 1 Nov 1903 (32205/1903)
- Reginald Jesse born 4 Feb 1906 (4707/1906)
- Allan Franklin born 7 Sep 1907 (28865/1907)
- Walter Sharp born 1910 (19625/1910)
- Noel McElnee born 1911 (45279/1911)
From Over Cherry Tree Hill:
“Under Jesse’s management, ‘Tabrabucca’ developed into an important and multi-faceted enterprise. A large family of sons made it possible to carry on labour-intensive forms of farming. A large dairy herd was established, and seventy cows were milked by Jesse’s sons before and after school.
“As the property expanded, timber had to be cleared from the new country, and a sawmill was established to provide a use for the felled. Good building timber was cut on the property and sold to neighbouring settlers. Ruth harding’s brother, Frank Sharp, worked a horse team to haul the logs on jinkers to the mill. He was noted for controlling his team by voice alone.
“In the 1920s aother labour-intensive activity was developed on ‘Tabrabucca’ with the planting of a large apple orchard.
“Jesse’s wife Ruth was kept constantly busy cooking for her large family and any employees working on the property. Her daughter-in-law remembers desserts made each day in large baking dishes, several sponge cakes (more on cricket or tennis days) baked each day and huge roasts served with mountains of vegetables. Manpower was the order of the day, and the boys built a yoke and carried vegetable peelings to the pigs nearly a mile away!
“In 1932 the present ‘Tabrabucca’ homestead was built, and Jesse and Ruth moved out of the split slab and weatherboard home where they had lived for thirty-five years.
“Jesse Harding died on 9 April 1945, and like his parents was buried in the Cudgegong cemetery. Ruth died on 31 Dec 1950, and was also buried in the Cudgegong cemetery.
“All the sons of Jesse and Ruth attended Warrangunyah school. They worshipped at the Anglican Church of St James the Less at Cudgegong. Their youth was a time of hard work to make ends meet. Even so, Hector remembers swimming in the waterholes of the creek near the school at lunchtime, and then rushing home for a quick game of tennis before milking time.
“The boys were all keen sportsmen, travelling by sulky to represent the local cricket team….Perhaps they were trying to emulate their uncle Jim Harding whom once rode a horse to Hill End for a one-day match and returned that evening after batting right through the innings. They had a half-length concrete pitch aid at the side of the tennis court for practice.
“Tennis was another favourite pastime, and social matches were held each weekend. When there were no organised sports, the brothers ‘kept their hands in’ with boxing tournaments.
“George Benjamin married Lucy Brady from Sydney, and moved first to Condobolin and later to Sydney. They had three sons and one daughter.
“ Frederick Joseph married Alice Baxter from Condobolon and lived all his married life in Condobolin. They had one son and six daughters.
“ Hector James married Mabel Mills from Mudgee and remained on ‘Tabrabucca’ until he purchased the adjoining ‘Coonara’ property, where he and his family remained until it was resumed for Windamere Dam. They had one son and two daughters.
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| Lake Windamere |
“ Reginald Jesse married Dulcie Metcalf from Pyramul and worked on ‘Tabrabucca’ all his life. They had three sons and three daughters.
“Allan Franklin married Edna Fulton from Clandulla and worked for several years on ‘Tabrabucca’ before moving to his own property near Hargraves and later retiring to Canberra. They had three sons and two daughters.
“Walter Sharp lived on Tabrabucca until his death in 1983. He married Marjorie Orwin. They had no children.
“Noel McElnee married Clarice Perram and managed a property beyond Mudgee. He later moved to St Mary’s. They had two sons and one daughter. “Later Hardings - 1970s
“Following Walter Harding’s death in 1983 the property was divided into four portions and sold. Two of these portions were bought by the surviving sons of Reg Harding, Ross and Trevor. Trevor purchased the homestead block and had converted the house to the venue for ‘Tabrabucca Farm Holidays.’
"Hector’s son, Phillip and his wife Sue (nee Hamlton of Rylstone) and their three sons live at ‘Red Springs’ and Reg’s son Ross with his wife June at ‘Hillview’. Sue Harding has written two books: Cudgegong under Windemere and Survivors In Time.Tabrabucca was most recently sold in 2014.
Appendix: Report of the trial in 1851 of Reverend James Fullerton…for conducting an underage marriage.
The Rev Fullerton married George Harding and Elizabeth Strains at the same church. Elizabeth was underage.
Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Thursday 10 July 1851, page 2
CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
(Before His Honor Mr. Justice Dickinson.)
ILLEGAL MARRIAGE.
The Rev. James Fullerton, L.D.D., minister of the Scots Church, Pitt Street South, was indicted for having, on the Ï3th of May last, knowingly and wilfully, and without the father's consent, who is still living, solemnised matrimony between Emeline Emma Blake and one Patrick Meehan, the former being under twenty-one years of age.
The Attorney-General and Mr. Holroyd conducted the prosecution; and MrV Foster and Mr. Darvall tho defence.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in opening the case, said that he had never a more painful duty to perform than the one which, in the exercise of his function as Attorney-General, he was now called upon to discharge. The rev. prisoner was a minister of religion whom he' had' always been accustomed to look up to with respect, and who had hitherto occupied a very respectable position in the community. Still, however unpleasant the duty might be to him personally, and however much he regretted the unfortunate circumstances which led to the present trial, he would endeavour to divest himself of all private feeling in the matter, and pursue that course which he felt both the justice of the case, and the interest of society at large, rendered it necessary for him to adopt.
The learned gentleman here explained, at considerable length, tho provisions of tho Acts (3 and 4 Wm.- IV., and 2nd Vic. No. 13), under which the proceeding had had been initiated. It was thus enacted, that any one who shall solemnize a marriage between two parties, one of whom is a minor, without the consent of the parents or guardians, shall be adjudged guilty of a felony, and punishable with transportation. There were only two ways in which the security of a guardian could be obtained. The one was by means of a certificate from a magistrate duly empowered to grant certificates, and the other was the consent of a person regularly appointed by the Supreme Court to act as guardian. This law was framed for the special purpose of protecting young women emigrating to those colonies unaccompanied by parents or guardians ; and however stringent it might appear, it required but little argument to show it a necessity. Whether its provisions had been complied with in the case before the court was a question, which the Jury would be called upon to decide, and he trusted that in doing so they would dismiss from their minds all considerations which did not directly arise out of the evidence submitted to them. The Attorney-General then glanced briefly at the particulars of' the case as already disclosed in the depositions taken at the Police Office. The prosecutor with his family resided on the South Hoad Road in tolerably affluent circumstances. He had frequently intimated, not only to his family, but to, persons living in tho neighbourhood, that it was his intention to bequeath £3,000 to his daughter when she attained her majority.
Mr. FOSTER objected to the allusion to Mr. Blake's circumstances, on the ground that unless it could be shown that Dr. Fullerton had previous knowledge of them, such allusion was irrelevant.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL replied, that his object was not to show Dr. Fullerton's knowledge of these circumstances, but whether he had not ample opportunity for acquiring that knowledge.
His HONOR ruled against the objection.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proceeded : From the facts he had stated, it might be reasonably presumed that both the family and their circumstances were generally well known in thc neighbourhood. If so, it would become a question for the Jury to determine how far the reverend prisoner, who resides in nearly the same locality, was culpable for his ignorance.
[As the most of the evidence in this case has been already twice reported, we have deemed it prudent to omit everything except those facts which were either new or absolutely necessary to make the case understood.]
Thomas Blake, being sworn, was examined by Mr. Holroyd : I am a publican, residing on the South Head Road ; have two children a boy and a girl ; tho latter is named Emeline Emma Blake, and is 14 years of age ; never gave my consent to have her married to Patrick Meehan ; she left home about 12 o'olock on Friday, the 13th of June, a single woman ; on that day she got married without my consent or knowledge to the said Patrick Meehan, and returned about two o'clock in the afternoon ; on the Friday following Dr. Fullerton called upon me, at my house,- and said, "I am the parson who married your daughter to Patrick Meehan.” I asked him if he had asked her any questions ? He replied that he did not consider it a part of his duty, and that by asking questions on one occasion the parties went away and he lost his fees : he also stated that he had been deceived by the representations of Mary Byan and Patrick Meehan.
Cross-examined by Mr. Darvall : Have seen Patrick Meehan frequently at the bar of my house as a customer, but never as a visitor ; have seen him sometimes coming through the back door ; my daughter was in the habit occasionally of serving in the bar, but I was not aware of there being any intimacy between them ; Mr. M'Lerie was tho first to give me information of the marriage I am not aware that Dr. Fullerton was the first to give him information ; on the contrary I heard that another person had informed Mr. M’Lerie.
Mr. DARVALL was about to ask who this person was, when the ATTORNEY-GENERAL objected, and His Honor supported the objection.
Cross-examination continued: Was present when the case was examined at the Police Office ; believe that the deposition of the rev. prisoner in the case of Patrick Meehan and others was read against himself ; never chastised my daughter on account of any intimacy she had with Patrick Meehan, nor did my wife ; cannot swear that Dr. Fullerton made this statement to me, viz., " that Mrs. Ryan had informed him that the father of the girl was absent at California for two years, during which time he had never been heard of;" cannot remember anything having been said about "two years;" he called upon me voluntarily, and answered all my questions ; am sure he did not make use of the words " I have declined to-marry couples before, and other churches got the fees.”
Mrs Emma Blake was then called, and examined by the Attorney-General: I am the wife of last witness; I have two children, a boy and a girl the latter in 14 years of age ; remember the girl leaving my house on tho 13th of June, and also her coming back about two o'clock, in the afternoon ; remember on the Friday week after (the 20th) Dr. Fullerton calling on me ; he told me he was the parson that married my daughter. I said how could he be so wicked He told me that a Mary Ryan had informed him that the father was absent at California,: and had not been heard of for two years, and.that the mother was dead, and that she was the guardian of my daughter; never knew of my daughter being in company with Patrick Meehan except on one occasion, when a servant girl of mine got married which was about a week prior to the marriage in question.
By Mr.Darvall: On the occasion referred to, my daughter accompanied Patrick Meehan in a cab to Botany ; am not aware of her being in his company at any other time, either before , or after, except on the day when she was married.
Mr. Warburton, deposition clerk was then examined relative to Dr Fullerton signing his deposition.
Emeline Emma Blake stated : I am the daughter of Thomas Blake; remember on the 13th of June last getting into a cab near Terry Hughes’s buildings, in company with Mary Ryan, Mary Oakes, James Mather, and Patrick Meehan ; when I got into the cab I partially changed my dress ; wc then proceeded to Dr. Fullerton's house; on entering, Dr. Fullerton said, which is the girl ; Mary Ryan pointed me out to him ; he remarked that I looked very young ; Mary Ryan said that I was older than 1 looked ; this was all that Dr. Fullerton said ; he then went up stairs and put his gown on ; when he came down he performed the ceremony, that is he read the marriage prayers ; he did not ask me any questions.
Cross-examined by His Honor : I think he put these questions to me. - "Do you, Patrick Meehan, take Emeline Emma Blake to be your wife ? and do you, Emeline Emma Blake, take Patrick Median to be your husband ?" Both myself and Patrick Median replied in the affirmative ; I am certain Dr. Fullerton asked me no questions previous to the marriage ; did not see any fees paid.
Cross-examined by Mr. Darvall : Know Mary Oakes and Mary Ryan for two or three months previous; had seen Meehan very often in the bar; had received many letters from Meehan ; although I have never seen him write, I know his writing; the letter produced is in my handwriting, as also the others produced ; it was through the persuasion of Mrs. Oates that I wrote these letters ; never danced with Meehan ; remember writing a letter reproving Meehan for giving sweetmeats to another girl ; my mother never scolded me, nor threatened to cut my hair off, if 1 spoke to him; don't remember seeing any of the parties sign any document at the time of the marriage.
This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. FOSTER on being called upon to address the Court for tho defence, observed that he was prevented by the nature of the indictment from making such a defence as the law prescribed. His client was charged with solemnising matrimony between two parties', one of whom was under age without the consent of the father, who was absent and still living, but entirely overlooked tho possibility of consent being obtained from a guardian appointed by the Supreme Court. Dr. Fullerton was therefore charged with what was in reality no offence ; for the consent of a guardian duly appointed by law rendered unnecessary the consent of the parent. Unless there was an allegation to the effect that Dr. Fullerton had not complied with the law in this respect, it could not be shown that the marriage was illegal, and consequently it would bo impossible for his client to get up a defence according to law, unless indeed he admitted that he believed the father to have been dead, which he could not conscientiously do.
The learned counsel then glanced briefly at the facts in relation to this point, and concluded by stating that, as it was necessary in answer to the indictment to prove the father's consent, whilst his client had already admitted that he obtained nil authority from a person whom he believed to have been the duly-appointed guardian, he would decline to set up any defence.
His Honor at once directed the jury to find a verdict for the prosecution, remarking that according to the indictment, as shown by Mr. Foster, the charge against the prisoner was simply that he had celebrated the marriage of a female under, twenty-one years of ago without the consent of the parent, knowing him to be living ; and as Rev Fullerton did not deny it, there was of course no alternative but to find him guilty. The question, therefore, for the jury to decide was whether Rev Fullerton know that Thomas' Blake was alive when he solemnised the marriage. If they be-lieved this, their verdict would be against him.
The jury, after retiring for a few minutes, returned with a verdict of guilty.
The case was then adjourned until Friday next, at ten o'clock, when the learned counsel for the defence will move the Court in arrest of judgment.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60036246?#
I was hoping to find more information about a person mentioned in this blog. I wonder if you'll be able to help? It was about the name Marjorie Orwin. Thank you!
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