#12 ANCESTORS IN 12 MONTHS - 2022 - FEBRUARY - LANDED

LANDED - FEBRUARY

 

My ancestor Thomas Rowley after arriving in Port Jackson in February 1792 went on to become in my opinion one of the “Landed Gentry”. 

When Thomas arrived in the colony as a Lieutenant he obviously had plans of bettering himself. He was soon appointed to the role of Captain in June 1796.^⁠1 

From early on after arriving in the colony Thomas initially applied for a lease of 2 acres in May 1793. His thirst for acquiring land didn’t stop there.  

Over the next 11 years Thomas accumulated over 3000 acres of land through grants. Governors Grose, Hunter and King were instrumental in these grants^⁠2:

• 1793 - May 2 acres lease - between the Brickfields and corner of Church Street.
• 1793 - May 100 acres grant - Petersham Hill (Kingston Farm)
• 1794 - October 70 acres grant - Petersham Hill
• 1798 - August 85 acres grant - Banks Town
• 1799 - August 260 acres grant -Liberty Plains
• 1799 - October 150 acres grant - York Plains
• 1802 - March 190 acres grant - Liberty Plains
• 1803 - August 240 acres grant - Petersham
• 1803 - August 750 acres grant - Liberty Plains/Concord
• 1804 - July 700 acres grant - Banks Town

Thomas established his home on his initial couple of grants, which he named Kingston Farm, probably after his birthplace in Surrey, England.  It would have been here at Kingston Farm that his partner Elizabeth Selwyn raised their five children.  

Kingston Farm grew in size to over 700 acres with consecutive grants.  Much of the time Elizabeth would have been alone raising their children in a remote area in isolated bushland while Thomas attended to his Military duties.  Even with servants and convict labour to work the farm it would have been difficult without family support.

It is reported that soldiers were granted twenty-five acre lots and this indicates to me that Thomas Rowley’s standing in the Colony was of importance with the size of his landholdings over a relative short time.

I wonder how much he would have been capable of achieving had he lived longer.

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¹ B. H. Fletcher, 'Rowley, Thomas (1747–1806)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rowley-thomas-2614/text3605, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 12 February 2022.

² Ancestry.com. New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Land Grants and Leases, 1792-1867 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.,

2010.

#12 ANCESTORS IN 12 MONTHS -2022 - JANUARY - CURIOUS

CURIOUS - JANUARY

There are many of my Ancestors or incidents involving my Ancestors that I have found curious.  So the challenge for me is to choose just one!

As I am going to visit Norfolk Island in April for a week’s holiday, I am going to choose my first Ancestor on Australian soil, Thomas Rowley.   I have mentioned Thomas Rowley elsewhere on this blog in Uni Assignments and Creative Non-fiction stories about Elizabeth Selwyn, his partner. I will not rehash all the information that I have found on Thomas but keep my ramblings to just the “Curiouser” of them!  In the coming few months I will continue with other prompts that may lend themselves to more ramblings on Thomas Rowley.

Lieutenant Thomas Rowley arrived in Port Jackson on the 14 February 1792 after an arduous seven month voyage, on The Pitt.   Historian C.J.Smee lists ten soldier’s wives sailing on the Pitt, one of which is listed as Mrs Elizabeth Rowley.^⁠1  But there is no record of a Mrs Rowley disembarking.

First Curious Fact……..What happened to Mrs Elizabeth Rowley?

On arrival in the Colony, Lieutenant Rowley was assigned a convict Elizabeth Selwyn as his housekeeper.^⁠2   Elizabeth had been sentenced for transportation for seven years and she had also had arrived on the Pitt.^⁠3  In November of that same year Elizabeth Selwyn gave birth to her and Thomas’ first child.^⁠4

Second Curious Fact……. Elizabeth Selwyn gave birth to Isabella Rowley on 19 November 1792.  Was she pregnant when she arrived in the colony with Thomas’ child?

Elizabeth and Thomas went on to have a further four children, Thomas Rowley (1794), John Rowley (1797), Mary Rowley (1800 )and Eliza Rowley (1803) before Thomas died in 1806.  These five children were all named and provided for in Thomas’s WILL.^⁠5 It is reported by other researchers that another child was born after Thomas died when Elizabeth was six months pregnant. I have yet to substantiate this fact.

Third Curious Fact….. Why didn’t Thomas marry Elizabeth?

There are other curiosities with this Ancestor, but I may touch on more as the year unfolds, as I have said some of them lend themselves to other prompts.

As most Family Historians will attest to, there are many curious finds while researching, that will have researchers rolling their eyes and pulling their hair out. 

I look forward to reading other’s  #52 Ancestors and #12 Ancestors stories, as the year unfolds.

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¹ Smee, C. J.  1992,  Fourth fleet families of Australia containing genealogical details of two hundred & five fourth fleeters, their children & grandchildren / compiled & edited by C.J. Smee  Fourth Fleet Families of Australia Artarmon, NSW

² Ancestry.com. New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806- 1849 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication HO10, Pieces 5, 19-20, 32-51); The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Retrieved May 20 2016

³ STARR, MARION, Unhappy Exiles Convicts of the Pitt and Kitty 1792, Australia 1016, p141.

⁴ Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Compiled from publicly available sources. Retrieved April 15 2015.

⁵ Ancestry.com. London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data: London, England, Wills and Probate. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives. Retrieved June 10 2016.