K is for ...

K is for… Kingston, Kate, Kylie, Kerry, Kay. 

There is no contest with this letter as to what I will write about…it has to be Kingston.  

My first ancestor on Australian soil was Lieutenant Thomas Rowley in 1792. He was granted a convict housekeeper Elizabeth Selwyn and they had five children, although no records have been found that he married her. 

Thomas acquired quite a few Land Grants over eleven years, the earliest of these he called Kingston Farm in 1793.

There are many references to Kingston in my Family Tree. 

Many generations of my ancestors were either born, lived or died at Kingston. 

Obviously Thomas and his partner Elizabeth and their children resided at Kingston. Thomas’ death record show him at Kingston in 1806. Elizabeth’s death records show her still there in 1843. 

Their fifth child Eliza married Henry Sparrow Briggs in 1826 and records show them living and dying in Kingston. 

One of their sons Frederick Henderson Briggs my Great Grandfather married Fanny Sarah Perigo in 1866 and they lived and died in Kingston. 

One of their sons my Grandfather Samuel Stanley Briggs was born at Kingston. 

I have so much research to do for all these ancestors, it will keep me out of trouble for quite awhile.

Not only did the original Thomas and Elizabeth name their farm Kingston, many ancestors carried the name as well. 

Henry Sparrow Briggs and Eliza named one of their daughters Jessy Kingston Briggs. 

Frederick Henderson Briggs and Fanny named one of their twin daughters Lillie Kingston Briggs. 

Why was Kingston so important and relative? 

I have a theory that Thomas may have come from a place called Kingston in England. There are records on Ancestry listing a Thomas Rowley living at Kingston upon Thames . The publication date is 1792, but he arrived in Australia in 1792. 

So once again it will need a lot of investigative work done before I can accept that this is indeed my Thomas. But it is a possibility.