Mary Wade Descendants through her daughter, Elizabeth

Mary Wade Descendants through her daughter, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Brooker

The story of the descendants of Mary Wade through her daughter Elizabeth Brooker.

The Mary Wade History Association (Editorial Committee)

Mary Wade to us : a family history, 1778-1986. Mary Wade History Association, Cromer, N.S.W, 1986.

1986

Norma Campbell; Brian Griffin; Patricia Trevor

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Elizabeth Brooker, Mary Wade’s sixth child and second daughter, was born in the Hawkesbury district on 7th December, 1810. At a young age Elizabeth accompanied her family’s move to Airds where she was christened on 19th April, 1819. The attending minister was Reverend Youl who duly recorded the christening at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Liverpool.

A month before she turned sixteen, Elizabeth married Daniel Lowe, an assignee convict to Nathaniel Boon, who later married Elizabeth’s elder sister, Sarah. Daniel’s conviction in England had been for highway robbery: an assault of William Izod and the theft from him of a watch valued at forty shillings. For this he was sentenced to hang but when the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life he joined those transported to New South Wales on the Grenada, arriving at Sydney on 16th September, 1821. The ship’s indent described him as follows:

“Native place, London Wall, Warehouseman, age 17, height 5’ 5 1/4 inches; fair blond complexion, fair hair, hazel eyes.”

Elizabeth and Daniel’s marriage was conducted on 27th November, 1826 by Reverend Thomas Reddall at St. Peter’s Church, Campbelltown. Banns were read and the Governor’s consent obtained. Daniel signed his own name on the marriage certificate whereas Elizabeth used an ‘X’, as did the witnesses Evan and Sarah Evans. The Evans’ worked for Dr Redfern at Airds, the husband as a fencer and his wife as housekeeper for Mrs. Redfern.

Elizabeth and Daniel may have had a son, Daniel, but we have no definite record of this. Their daughter, Sophia, born 14th April, 1828, was baptised at St. James’ Church, Sydney on 22nd July 1832. The baptismal certificate states that Daniel was a sawyer at Wollongong in that year. Beyond this date information about Elizabeth and Daniel is sketchy. It is likely, however, that they followed some of Elizabeth’s relatives to the Murrumbidgee and possibly Henry Angel on his large station, ‘Yangunjular’. It was here that Sophia met and married Daniel Griffin (born 1814), a native of Cork, Ireland. The Mutch Index records:

Sophia Lowe of Yangungalee was married to Daniel Griffin of Police Point, Murumbidgee, by the Rev. Charles Lovat, a Roman Catholic Priest, then officiating in the district of Yass, on 1st December, 1845.

Both Sophia and Daniel were recorded on the marriage certificate as Roman Catholics, even though Sophia was baptised Church of England. Daniel marked his signature X. The witnesses were Thomas Walsh of Yass and. Mary Angel of ‘Yangungalee’.

At some time after Sophia’s marriage, her parents Elizabeth and Daniel probably moved to Melbourne. A Will prepared by Daniel on 27th April, 1865 indicated that he was then residing in Melbourne. He had apparently prospered, since his will made ample provision for Sophia and benefitted her children when they reached, twenty-one years.

Sophia and Daniel Griffin had thirteen children. The first child, Emily, may have been born on the Murrumbidgee property, before Daniel moved his family in about 1848 to Charcoal Creek, Wollongong, where he became, a butcher and had considerable land dealings. It appears that he retained cattle on land by the Murrumbidgee, perhaps at Henry Angel’s station, while he worked as a butcher at Wollongong. The other twelve children were born at Wollongong. Her large family kept Sophia very busy; all the more so when Emily was widowed and rejoined the household with her own five children. A vivid insight into how this household functioned has been provided for us by Sophia’s greatgrandchild, Patricia Trevor. She recalls that her grandmother, Sophia’s daughter Clara, spoke of the women family as being good housekeepers and cooks - the latter being substantiated by the quality of recipes in a cook book handed down through the family. Clara related that her mother had the family organized so that ‘two of the girls were cooks for the day, and as the fuel stove stoked it was a busy day for the ones whose turn it was!’ Clara also recalled that she and her sisters used to get quite hysterical lifting the clothes basket containing so many towels - sixty or more and sheets and tea towels a mammoth task. They were put through a large mangle which was over 6’ in length - not ironed. Fireplaces, steps were whitened every day and as stainless steel knives very well known those had to be polished too. All dresses for the family were bought at Farmers Dept. Store, white for best… it took an hour to iron a sleeve.

‘Sophia had wonderful pot plants on the verandah. She had a green thumb with the garden. This gift was passed on to the next generations for my granny (Clara) made a lovely garden and my mother (Olive Dence) enjoyed it and her sister too and I do. The daughter that brought her family back to Sophia taught music, the piano, to help things along, I think there were a couple of pianos, and after dinner a rush to play and also to obtain the settees so that one could really be comfortable and have a doze. One of the greatest thrills and enjoyment was to picnic at Mt. Keira with hampers of marvellous food sucking pig and other specialties. The mountain was beautiful bird’s nest ferns and lush greenery. When bathing on the beach, males and females were separated. Sophia was artistic and made most beautiful things from shells, houses and villages, but noone knows what happened to them.’

Sophia’s husband, Daniel, had a very warm nature. He had cattle but not anywhere near home. He was a Catholic and they both went their own way until something happened and right near his death he was offended and changed. Some of the family were christened in the Catholic Church and a few of them followed this faith. When Sophia died, her will was a most complicated one and couldn’t be wound up until the last child died. Over the years, sums of money used to arrive out of the blue to the following generations.

Sophia died at the age of sixty five on 29th March, 1893 at Wollongong. The cause of death was heart disease. She was buried at the Church of England Cemetery, Wollongong. Her husband, Daniel, and eleven children survived her two female children having died at an early age. In accordance with her will, dated 6th May, 1886, Daniel was provided with an income for life. Her three sons, Daniel, Frederick and George each received £1,000 and the residue was divided among all her children in equal shares, with further provision for her grandchildren. There was also a parcel of land called ‘Corrimal’ given to her daughter, Selina, if she remained unmarried for life. Another block of land, left to Sophia by Thomas Lewis, was held in trust for her daughter, Ada Sophia, for life if she had no issue. When probate was granted in 1893 the sworn value of the estate was less than £5,000. The Will proved awkward for its executors, Frederick Lowe Griffin and George Herbert Griffin, to administer and was finally wound up in 1955 following the appointment of a Public Trustee. Sophia’s husband, Daniel, died of senile decay on 2nd January, 1904, aged ninety years. He was survived by his eleven children.

Available information about Sophia and Daniel’s family is limited. As indicated above, their first child, Emily, was probably born at ‘Yangunjular’ by the Murrumbidgee. Born 17th August, 1846, she was baptised on the 24th January, 1849 by Reverend Peter Young, Parish of Wollongong, who recorded her father, Daniel, as being a settler residing by the Murrumbidgee. We next hear of Emily when she marries Charles Morris at Wollongong on 15th November, 1865. The couple raised at least five children after their firstborn, a son named Charles, died in infancy in 1867. The other known children are George Herbert (born 1868), Emily Lowe (born 1870), Lila Shepherdess (born 1874), Mildred Sophia (born 1876) and a son, R.E. Morris (birth date unknown). The father, Charles, died a few years before his wife Emily died on 25th January, 1908. She was killed in a railway accident at Stanwell Park, the only fatality of several people who were injured. A report in the Illawarra Mercury (28th January, 1908) noted that Emily was ‘of a gentle retiring disposition, and also very much beloved by all who knew her’.

Sophia’s next child, Daniel Edmund (or Amos) was born at Fairy Meadow, Wollongong, on 17th September, 1848. He was baptised on 24th January, 1849 by Reverend Young, Parish of Wollongong. The infant’s sponsors were Patrick and Catherine Daly. Daniel became a butcher with his father at Wollongong. At twenty-two years he married Joan Jackson, at St. Phillip’s Church of England, Church Hill, Sydney, on 28th July, 1870. Joan was London born, the daughter of Robert Jackson, a farmer, and Frances Ann Wood. The couple’s first child, Frank Carlton Griffin was born at Crown Street, Wollongong on 26th July, 1871, Dr Lyons and Mrs. Weller assisting at the birth. Frank became a railway employee at Wollongong, married Florence Ann Penney on 22nd April, 1897 and raised two sons, Victor Carlton (born 1898) and Elton Reginald (born 1906). Victor served with the A.I.F. at Gallipoli, Egypt, France and Flanders, and had a distinguished career in the British Indian Army. He was a Captain of the Mahratta Light Infantry, serving in Sind Province, India, in 1925 when he met and married Myra Julie Rieu, only daughter of Sir Louis Rieu, Commissioner of Sind. Victor saw further action during World War 11 and rose to be Brigadier General. He died at Sydney in 1973, survived by his wife, Myra, three children, Denis, Brian and June, and eight grandchildren. Victor’s younger brother, Elton, had an equally distinguished career in business, being the founding manager of Boral Oil.

Sophia’s third child, Adeline Jane, was born in September 1850, at Charcoal Creek, Wollongong. She was baptised on 24th November, 1852 by Father T. Murray. Adeline married Charles Septimus Guest, a saddler in the Richmond District, on 24th February, 1876, and had two children. The first born, Frank, married Dora Walker, apparently without issue. At the age of thirty seven, Frank was run down and killed by a tram whilst attempting to cross Pitt Street in Sydney. The second born was a daughter, Elfie, who married Norman Cox of the pioneering Cox family, on 20th June, 1875. It is interesting to note that all five of Elfie and Norman’s children were given the middle name Richmond, apparently after the district in which they were raised.

Sophia’s fourth child, Matilda (born 1853), married Harry Richardson on 14th September. 1871. The couple raised two daughters, Ethel May and Maud, neither of whom married. Harry rose to be a Commissioner of Railways. The fifth child, Anglina May (born 1855) married Fred Richardson, who also worked with the Railways. This couple’s third child, Russel Burton Richardson (born 1890), became a well known Stock and Station agent in Dubbo. Russel enlisted during World War 1, was badly wounded in Europe and became a P.O.W. in Germany. The Dubbo Liberal reported that Russel was one of the town’s best respected citizens when he died there in 1960. Sophia’s ninth child, Alice Amelia (born 1863) married William Archibald Mc Donald on 12th August, 1885. William was one of the earliest estate agents in the Neutral Bay area, where he remained in business for many years though he lived at Waverton. The couple raised three children, Roy Grantley (born 1886), Dora (born 1889) and Raymond (born 1890).

With these few profiles of some direct descendants of the convict lass, Mary Wade, our family history comes to an end. It has, of course, been quite beyond our resources, and indeed our intention, to tell the stories of each one of Mary’s descendants. With the limited time and space available to us, we have tried to record mainly that part of Mary’s story most in danger of becoming obscure, if not lost to memory. In this chapter, therefore, as in the others, we have tried as accurately as our means permit to give the reader a general flavour of Mary’s family history. In doing so, many omissions of people and events inevitably occur. We nevertheless hope that in telling what we have of Mary’s history, a very human and very Australian story has been depicted.

Mary Wade to us : a family history, 1778-1986. Mary Wade History Association, Cromer, N.S.W, 1986.