A History of Four Families In the Bathurst Region of New South Wales CHAMBERS, HUNT, BROOKES and AUSTIN In mid-2007, as the Webmaster of the Cornish Association of New South Wales (CANSW), I was contacted by Mrs Robyn Proft of Tumut (now in Wangaratta VIC). She had found the story of Cornish Settlement (Byng) on the CANSW Internet pages and had noted that details had been communicated by a person about an ancestor who had been buried in the Byng Cemetery. Her 2xGGrandmother, Lucy Elizabeth Brookes, had died on 3 January 1865 at what was then named Cornish Settlement. She had been buried on 4 January 1865, before the existing Byng Cemetery was established. The burial must have taken place in the first Cornish Settlement Cemetery Mr and Mrs Langburne, the parents of Robyn Proft, had visited the site of this Cemetery in 1984 and were sad to see the state of the area, with the broken headstones inside a fenced area as this attached photograph shows, with the background ridge on which stands Bethel Rock where Parson William Tom held his Wesleyan Services for those who lived in Cornish Settlement and beyond. Over the next months, with other matters intervening, Robyn Proft was able to send the details of the death certificate of Lucy Elizabeth Brookes nee Chambers, confirming her death and burial at Cornish Settlement. It gave the name of her deceased husband, John, and the names of the three children (John, Mary and Esther) who had been living with her at Cornish Settlement after their father died in Carcoar. On the certificate was the witness name of one of the long-time founding members of the Cornish Settlement community, Mr Glasson. Mrs Brookes was clearly a well-respected member of their community and, in addition, was noted on the certificate as a Wesleyan Methodist whose burial ceremony was performed by a Minister of that faith. With this information in hand, Mrs Proft and I began to piece together the story of three families who were in Bathurst from very early days and another of the surname Austin also linked with them. Here is what unfolded after two of the men were sent to New South Wales, one transported for life and the other transported for seven years. To lighten this sad event, let me tell you of the days in the 1920s, when I went to Primary School in Kapunda South Australia, walking a mile there with other young boys and girls. One of the boys always carried a stick which he ran along the picket fences on the long walk. When asked why he did it, he would always say, A rabbit might run out in surprise!
My picket fence was labelled www, the Web and the rabbits came out following rattling emails, many of them with interesting rabbit responses! Charles Chambers and his Family Charles Chambers lived in the County of Kent in England and was married to Lucy Ann Hunt in about 1817 at Maidstone, Kent. Until 1828, Charles and Lucy Ann lived there and had three daughters; Mary Ann Chambers was born c1819, a second daughter was born but has not been traced and the third daughter was Lucy Ann Chambers, born c1824. They may well have continued to live in Kent for many more years, except for a misdeed of their father, so judged by a Magistrate. On 7 August 1828, Charles Chambers was tried at the Kent Assizes for sheep stealing, was convicted and sentenced to Transportation for Life. He was taken on board the ship John and sailed from Sheerness in Kent on 27 May 1829, along with 187 other convicts. On arrival in Sydney, Charles Chambers was assigned to Arthur Rankin of Bathurst NSW. In land records, the spelling of the surname is mostly Ranken. During the years that followed, Charles worked hard, kept away from any troubles and finally, on 2 December 1837, was given his Ticket of Leave (ToL) No. 37/1670 which stated that he had been transported at Kent Assizes. The original document in England stated that he had no given native place, trade or calling. The NSW ToL noted that his Trade or Calling was Ploughman, Shepherd and Butcher. Tickets of Leave (ToL) It is interesting to note here what was implied by the issuing of a ToL. After working for a specified number of years in the Colony, a convict was eligible for a Ticket of Leave (ToL). In the early Colony, tickets could be granted at any time. The convict was only required to be sober, honest and industrious and the petition had to be endorsed by the local magistrate. The ToL allowed the convict to work for themselves on condition that they remained in a specified area, reported regularly to local authorities and, if at all possible, attended divine worship every Sunday. The ToL as issued had to be carried at all times. It seems that there must have been communications between Charles and his wife Lucy Ann and other members of the extended Chambers/Hunt families in England because, as allowed under the NSW Convict Rules of the time, Charles applied to be re-united, at the expense of the Government, with his wife and two daughters (the middle daughter having died in the intervening years). The application was granted and his family arrived in the Colony and joined him in Bathurst, possibly about March 1839, though the actual ship has not been found so far. Where they lived during the period of his ToL is not known but they could have been on the properties of Arthur Ranken for some time. The Ranken Families From the small amount of evidence available, it seems likely that Charles Chambers may have continued to work with the Ranken families. Two brothers, Arthur and George Ranken, had established themselves on properties in the Bathurst area very early after Governor Macquarie approved the expansion of the Colony west of the Blue Mountains. At the Macquarie River, the Governor, in a personal appearance, had proclaimed a Settlement
named Bathurst on the side of the River farthest from Sydney. Free settlers and emancipists were restrained by the Governor's orders to be on the Sydney side of the River. The Ranken brothers appear to have had large properties on the Sydney side of the Macquarie River very soon after expansion of the Colony was permitted. We explain this situation further below. Arthur Ranken, to whom Charles Chambers was assigned, was granted land immediately after approval for expansion of the Colony west of the Blue Mountains. The land grant of 2360 acres he received in 1827 was the first in the area between Bathurst and what is now Cowra to the south west near the River Lachlan. It is believed to have been at what has been variously recorded as Woodstock or Woods Flat. He named his property Glen Logan after his home in Ayrshire, Scotland. After a series of disastrous years between 1837 and 1849 when droughts, fires and floods affected many of the land holders, Arthur Ranken was forced to sell most of his holdings in the Lachlan regions, and eventually settled in the Goulburn District (Ref.1). George Ranken took up property which he named Kellosheil after his home place in Scotland. It is likely that Arthur Ranken also held property in the same Sheil region (Saltram possibly) though it only gets a mention in information we have gleaned. George Ranken was the key figure in all the activities around Kellosheil, especially in coping with flood and drought which hit the region. As people began moving into nearby properties, a village was established, bearing the name Kelso as it does today. This village will be mentioned again later in the Chambers story. Arthur Ranken would have needed to procure good assistance in setting up the properties which he acquired. With the Bathurst Settlement taking responsibility under civilian and military orders for convicts and Ticket of Leave men, landholders in the Kellosheil's region over the other side of the Macquarie River must surely have welcomed the support of convicts with a background of attending to matters on the land. In this regard, Charles Chambers as a ploughman, shepherd and butcher must have been most welcome to the Ranken family. He was a man who was trying his best to overcome the judged errors of his ways back in Kent. On the general evidence, it seems probable that the Chambers family of four would have been living somewhere in the Kelso area. It is now that we find some interesting threads woven into this story. Chambers Family Marriages Charles Chambers received his Conditional Pardon No. 452 on 13 August 1845. Under a Conditional Pardon, the convict was free as long as he remained in the Colony. The vast majority of convicts granted pardons by the Governor were granted a Conditional Pardon though some received an Absolute Pardon (AP) by which the convict's sentence was entirely remitted. Under an AP, they were free to move both within and outside the Colony and could even return to Britain, as will become another thread in the story. By 1839, Charles and Lucy Ann Chambers had two daughters living with them in the growing district around Kelso, Mary Ann would have been about 20 years old and Lucy Elizabeth about 15 years. The family circumstances were about to change. The elder daughter, Mary Ann Chambers, had met and married Edward Austin in Kelso on 19 November 1839. Edward Austin was then about 35 years old. As he had become associated with the Chambers family,
his background could well be of interest in the family history story which was unfolding. Let us follow this new thread in the story fabric. Edward Austin and Mary Ann Chambers The name Edward Austin kept appearing in various books and articles that I had been reading over the years in investigating families who came to the Cornish Settlement. That name appeared in pages about the Cornish Settlement, about the gold rush days which followed and in papers quite further afield. After a numbers of emails between us and a visit by Robyn Proft to the Bathurst district, a surprising story emerged. A young man named Elias Arenster Arnstein was born on 17 July 1804 in Sulzbach, Bavaria Germany, to Loew and Caroline Arnstein. Elias completed his apprenticeship in dressmaking and tailoring in Sulzbach, working in Munich and Switzerland for some time. He travelled to England in about 1831, having changed his name to Edward Austin. Within days of his arrival in the London area, he was arrested and charged with stealing two brooches and a ring valued at 3 pounds ten shillings. At his trial in December 1831, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years transportation. He arrived in Sydney in 1832 in the convict ship Hercules 2 and was sent immediately to Bathurst as a Government servant. He was assigned to work for Major General William Stewart in 1837. He obtained his ToL and his CP in April 1839. On the 19 November 1839, Edward Austin married Mary Ann Chambers at the Holy Trinity Church at Kelso. It was only eight months after Mary Ann had arrived in Australia with her mother and sister. With his CP granted, Edward set himself up as a Merchant and Storekeeper in Bathurst and, by 1841, had purchased his first home and store in a building on the corner of Durham and William Streets in Bathurst. By 1846, Edward Austin had acquired twenty one more properties in the Bathurst city area around his first home and store. A testimonial was attested by ten signatories, some of the most influential men in the district, and submitted by the Governor, Sir George Gipps, to Lord Stanley in London. Edward Austin was given an Absolute Pardon (AP) by Queen Victoria as a consequence. He went to England for a visit in that same year and visited the Hunt families with whom he now was connected by marriage. He was by then a rich and compassionate man. More of the largesse that he gave will emerge later. He returned to Australia in the ship St George, arriving on 17 December 1846. When gold was discovered and the Gold Rush began in the Sofala/Turon/Hill End/Ophir areas in 1851, Edward advertised that he was prepared to purchase gold in any quantity from 1/- to 1,000 pounds. At one point, he held between two and three hundred pounds worth of gold in his stores. Some time later, he established the first Bullion Office in Bathurst where he continued his purchases of gold, silver and precious or curious stones. Edward and Mary Ann had a family which continued to grow in Bathurst. Their first daughter was Esther Elizabeth (b.1840), followed by Mary Ann (b.1842), William (b.1842), Edward William (b.1843), Caroline Eve (b.1845), Charles German (b.1847), Benjamin Albert (b.1852) and one unnamed in 1856.
Edward Austin's extensive commercial career over so many years was terminated by a fatal sickness of a few hours on 30 March 1856. His wife Mary Ann was expecting another child when she suddenly became a widow. The obituaries in Bathurst expressed the view that few gentlemen in the district had ever taken so prominent a part in local improvements or interested themselves so warmly in public affairs generally. Ever ready to co-operate both by his exertions and his purse in the furtherance of any undertakings connected with the welfare of the town, his loss would be felt for many years. It goes on to add another aspect to these statements. Mr Austin had other claims upon the respect of his fellow townsmen; his private charities were numerous and unostentatiously dispersed, and there was no reason to believe that the poor ever left his door hungry. Of this, we will remark more later. He was buried at the Kelso Cemetery, after a huge funeral procession from Bathurst to Kelso. Robyn Proft has given me two extraordinary photos of presents given by Edward to Mary Ann, possibly after his visit to England. The brooch shown below was made of gold, showing miners using a winch to raise a bucket from a mine shaft, hopefully with much gold within it. The gold brooch is held at the Mint Museum in Sydney. The two figurines are a delightful pair though their maker is not yet known. It could be that Edward had them made when he was in England. The photo shows Mary Ann Austin holding a gold nugget for her small daughter Esther Elizabeth to look at, while she nurses her doll. The two figurines are held by an Austin descendant living near Sydney. More about Charles Chambers We need to return to the period when Charles Chambers received his Conditional Pardon on 13 August 1845. At this time, his son-in-law Edward Austin had become prosperous and acquired quite a number of properties in Bathurst. He and wife Mary Ann seem to have quietly been able to assist members of the immediate family. Robyn Proft was given much advice
and assistance in her visit to the Family History Group of Bathurst (FHGB) in November 2009 where she was shown a large book by Jim Buchan (Ref.2). On page 76, Buchan notes that:- Gowan is situated at the junction of the Freemantle and the road to Lewis Ponds and Orange. The present Gowan homestead is reputed to have been a hotel moved from Chambers Creek. The area selected was part of a 640 acre purchase lease held by John Brooks of Bathurst in 1848. Edward Nichols squatted on it and built the original Gowan homestead. Gowan was advertised in the Bathurst Free Press for sale by private contract on 9 March 1850 and Buchan records what was printed about the Sheep and Station at Gowan, including the statement that the Station is well grassed and watered, and will carry at least 5,000 sheep in the driest season. Edward Nicholls applied to purchase by land grant auction Portion 18, 50 acres, Parish Lennox, County of Bathurst, near Little Forest on 12 April 1852, the Gowan homestead block. Contrary to normal practice, it was purchased by Edward Austin, Hotelkeeper of Bathurst. Normally the occupier who applied for and had the land surveyed had first option to buy so it is probable that Edward Nicholls could not raise money to purchase the portion. From later documents relating to Charles Chambers, he had been operating as a Farmer and Grazier in just this Gowan area. It is probable that the purchase of Portion 18 by Edward Austin may well have been carried out in favour of Charles Chambers, his wife Lucy Ann and their daughter Lucy Elizabeth. The Austin name is also shown on a Lennox Parish map of those times near the north easterly top of that Parish near Chambers Creek, next to much larger properties owned by the Bank of Australasia. It is still not clear to us exactly where the Chambers were living but they were certainly in the Gowan area. From the little information gleaned, it seems likely that Lucy Elizabeth Chambers would have been staying with her sister Mary Ann in Bathurst, possibly from age about 16 years to when she was 20 or so years old. We do not know how she met John Brookes though he may also have been residing in Bathurst for some period after his arrival in Australia. He certainly had become a storekeeper in Sofala some time thereafter. John Brookes and Lucy Elizabeth Chambers This young man, John Brookes aged 23 years, arrived in the Colony as a Bounty Immigrant in the ship Formosa on 13 July 1840. The NSW Bounty Immigrants List indicates that he was a shoemaker, that his father was also John Brookes, Quartermaster Sergeant, 75 th Regiment of the British Army but his mother, Bethean nee McNabb, was dead. Much to our surprise, John Jnr had been born in Corfu in the Ionian Islands, about 1817. Consulting my 1960 Encyclopaedia Britannica, I found some support for my surprise: On the dismemberment of the Venetian Republic, under the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797), Corfu was assigned to France; but the French garrison was expelled by a Russo-Turkish armament in 1799. Then for a short time, Corfu was the capital of the ephemeral Septinsular republic. Incorporated into the French Republic under the Treaty of Tilsit (1807), it was attacked by the British fleet in 1809. When the Ionian Islands were placed under a British Protectorate by the treaty of November 5, 1815, Corfu became the seat of the British High Commissioner. In 1864, Corfu was ceded with the other Ionian Islands to the Kingdom of Greece in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants.
John Brookes appears to have decided to see what he could find in the new gold mining areas in the Bathurst/Orange district. He became a storekeeper in Sofala but did not have a good flair for business. It is quite likely that the miners in that area did not require new shoes nor even have boots repaired! Nevertheless, he met the younger daughter, Lucy Elizabeth Chambers, somewhere in this region and they were married at the Wesleyan Church, Bathurst/Hill End on 15 August 1843, so registered. Charles, her father, was a witness to the marriage. Lucy Elizabeth's marriage produced some puzzling problems of a family history nature. Charles Chambers had managed to work as a farmer and grazier on some land in the Lennox Parish around the Gowan area with mention being made of Paling Yard, Gowan and Daddy's Hole Creek. On investigation, this Paling Yard could not have been the Paling Yards area shown on present day maps in the St David's Parish next to and east of the Lennox Parish. The Yards appendage may have been given in the local name to indicate places where animals could be kept, as the same appendage can be found in many places around Bathurst, for example Hobby's Yards. From little bits of evidence, the Paling part of the name came from fencing surrounding animal yards, produced by using thin sheets (palings) of gumtree logs that were long and with straight grain. The eucalypt trees in the region were very tall and straight with very few large branches except near the top. This possible place of residence for Charles and Lucy Ann came from details in a probate document after Charles' death, found by Robyn Proft during her family history investigations. No death registration for Charles has been found to this time. If Charles died suddenly in a warm November for whatever cause and without a Will, he may have been buried nearby his residence as it was a long way to travel if he had to be taken to a cemetery in Bathurst or other small village in the area. The Probate document helped to resolve some of the difficulties. Records found indicate that Charles Chambers died intestate on 3 November, 1851 at Paling Yard in the Parish of Lennox in the District of Bathurst. Lucy Ann Chambers clearly must have taken some legal advice about what she should do in the difficult period after his death. There is no doubt that she was given family and financial support by her daughter Mary Ann and her son-in-law Edward Austin. Application to the Supreme Court of New South Wales was made for Probate on Charles' estate, goods and chattels on 21 January 1852 and one of the supporting bondsmen was Edward Austin to the extent of up to 1000 pounds if called on. After many documents ranged back and forth between Bathurst and Sydney, Probate was granted and finalised on 19 March 1852, reading as follows: The Charles Chambers Probate Document In the Supreme Court of New South Wales Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction In the Estate of Charles Chambers Late of Paling Yard in the Parish of Lennox in the District of Bathurst in the Colony of New South Wales Farmer and Grazier deceased
INVENTORY s d 2700 sheep of mixed sexes and ages running at 405. 00. 00 Paling Yard, Gowan and Daddy s Holes. Household furniture and 15. 00. 00 implements of husbandry 8 horses, five of which 22. 10. 00 are unbroken Total: 442. 10. 00 =========== Dated this 19 th March 1852 Witnessed... As a farmer and grazier, Charles Chambers had been doing well with farming and with his sheep and horses. Apart from the entry in the book by Jim Buchan, it remains difficult for us to find where he and his wife were living after their move from the Ranken properties and Kelso. We have the strong feeling that behind the support being given was Edward Austin, quietly continuing to provide assistance to his wife's family. Lucy Ann Chambers at this time in 1852 may have been living with her daughter Mary Ann Austin in Bathurst. Documents have been found showing that Lucy Ann purchased 2 x ½ acre blocks in Durham Street in Bathurst, close to where Edward Austin's home and store were located. Difficulties continued to beset the associated families. John Brookes was declared insolvent in October 1854. His properties and belongings were sold, after his shop in Sofala failed. It is likely that Lucy Ann Chambers promptly took in Lucy Elizabeth and John Brookes and their children John, Mary and Esther in her new home in Durham Street, Bathurst. Hunt Brothers arrive in Australia One bright glimmer of happiness for Lucy Ann Chambers came when her two brothers, Humphrey Amhurst (56y) and George Lockyer Hunt (47y), arrived at Sydney in 1853 on the ship Athenian, together with their families, the fares for their passage paid by Edward Austin. When they reached Bathurst, there must have been great celebrations between brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and many cousins. Humphrey Hunt had travelled with his wife Rebecca (48y) and their four children Charles H. 26 years. George A. 17 years, Mary Ann 15 years and Edward A. 7 years (born in Kent in 1846 around the time of the visit of Edward Austin to England). His second given name was Austin after his Uncle Edward who had provided so much financial assistance. George Lockyer Hunt and his wife Mary seem to have been childless. How they all settled into the Bathurst district is another story which will have to be told by others though they did provide support for some of the Brookes cousins in later times of Brookes family distress. Death of Lucy Ann Chambers Lucy Ann Chambers died at her residence in Durham Street, Bathurst on 8th April, 1857.
John Brookes was the informant who was noted also as residing in Durham Street at that time. Lucy Ann did leave a Will which specified her daughter, Mary Ann Austin, as sole executrix. Clearly Lucy Ann Chambers was well aware that Mary Ann Austin was a capable and well-supported person and made sure that her other daughter Lucy Elizabeth Brookes would be adequately provided for. It seems that a sum of 300 pounds was provided to the Brookes some short time later, possibly after the two Chambers properties in Durham Street had been sold. The Brookes Family Moves to Carcoar Just when the move to Carcoar took place is not clear though certainly after late 1857. John Brookes had become the Poundkeeper at Carcoar and remained there until his death on 29 October 1860. This information was confirmed by Robyn Proft on her visit to that town in 2009. John was buried in the Carcoar Church of England cemetery on 30 October 1860. On the death certificate of John Brookes, it is stated that there were three children of the marriage living (John 16y, Mary Ann 12y and Esther 9y) and one boy and one girl were dead. At this point, the children of John and Lucy Elizabeth Brookes should be given a place in this story, with their given names and data telling their own family tales: 1. John Charles Brookes, born 1 Jun 1844 died 30 Mar 1911, Wanganui NZ. 2. Elizabeth Chambers Brookes, born 18 Feb 1846 died 4 May 1847, Bathurst NSW 3. Mary Ann Brookes, born 1848 died 29 Sep 1912, Bathurst NSW. 4. Esther Caroline Brookes, born 21 Feb 1851 died 4 Jul 1921, Sydney NSW. 5. Edward Austin Turon Brookes, born 22 Jun 1853 died before his father's death. With her mother and father now dead, Lucy Elizabeth Brookes would have had to make a decision on what she should do for herself and her children. There were family relatives of Austin and Hunt family names around Bathurst though it seems that Lucy Elizabeth was an independent and capable women. As we noted at the start of this story, she did move to the Cornish Settlement where she had people she knew from earlier days. The folk in that village were well known for their helping hands approach as can be seen in other stories on our Cornish Association of NSW Web pages. Many of them were Wesleyan Methodists (ministered to by Parson William Tom). as she had been when growing up with her parents in Kent. We do not know when she moved to the Cornish Settlement nor what she would have been doing there for up to five years after John Brookes' death. The fact that Mr Glasson was one of the witnesses at her burial in the first Cornish Settlement cemetery gives us the impression that she was very much part of that community by 1865. The informant at her death registration was her son John by that time 20 years old. Her three children John, Mary Ann and Esther would almost certainly have been taken into the family circle of Humphrey and George Hunt. They lived quite long lives in Bathurst, Sydney and even New Zealand but here we must close this complex story and leave it to the descendants of the four families (Chambers, Hunt, Brookes and Austin) to piece together the extension of this story after 1865. Mrs Proft and I have benefited greatly from all the material which became available from the Archives of NSW, many pages providing essential clues to the background of the story.
A Surprise Addendum 25 April 2010 In January 2010, I received a query from Mrs Jenny Heggart of Millthorpe to ask when the link to the story of Lucy Elizabeth Brookes might appear. Her interest arises from her connection on one of the branches of the Four Families Trees. I informed her in late April 2010 that the Four Families Story would be put up on our Website within days. Her reply was a real surprise because it contained the clue for which Mrs Proft and I had been searching for many months. In 1864, William Geake Lane, a son of the Lane family in Cornish Settlement (Byng), married Caroline Eve Austin whose name appears above as one of the children of Edward Austin and Mary Ann nee Chambers. Their first child, Florence E. Lane was born in 1865, registered in Orange but no doubt baptised at the first Wesleyan Chapel in the Cornish Settlement. Lucy Elizabeth Brookes about whom this story began had lost her husband John in October 1860 and would have been a frequent visitor to Mary Ann Austin, her sister, in Bathurst thereafter. Her children would have been with their Austin cousins often too. Sometime in this period after 1860, Caroline Eve Austin, in her late teens, met William G. Lane and the Lane family must surely have met Lucy Elizabeth Brookes and her family of three. During the courting and marriage of Caroline Eve Austin by William Lane, this tightly knit Wesleyan community in the Bathurst area would have seen fit to have Lucy Elizabeth Brookes live in the Cornish Settlement for the birth of Florence E. Lane. Lucy Elizabeth Brookes died January 1865 and this final addendum to the story does give a good perception of the period from October 1860 to January 1865. References 1. Cook K. and Garvey D.: The Glint of Gold A History and Tourist Guide of the Gold Fields of the Central West of New South Wales, p.106 Genlin Investments, published 1999. 2. Buchan, Jim: Freemantle via Bathurst _ A History of the Freemantle district and of the pioneering families and their properties from the 1820's to the 1960's, p.76 184 pp, published Bathurst NSW, 2001.