Robert Henderson the farmer

Robert Henderson was born in Parramatta in 1796. He is numbered among the first 1000 British children to be born in the Colony of New South Wales.

Robert learnt farming from his very early days. His father, Thomas Henderson (often called Anderson) gained his freedom from his convict sentence in 1798 and was soon renting land near Paramatta where he grew wheat, barley maize, fruit and vegetables. He also kept pigs.

Things fell apart in 1812 when Thomas and several other men were charged with a string of thefts. Thomas was sentenced to 5 years at the penal settlement at Newcastle. 16-year-old Robert was also included in the charges, but was acquitted.

Reading between the lines, I think it is possible that Robert carried on the farming operations while his father was serving his sentence. If so, he was probably aided by Thomas' common-law wife, Margaret Broughton, who still seems to be with Thomas after he returns from Newcastle.

Robert married Catherine Geary in Parramatta in 1817. Catherine was the daughter of a soldier in the NSW Corps and was born on Norfolk Island in 1800. The following year, Robert was granted 60 acres of land at Pittwater. The farm is shown on the Parish Map below, in the top right - numbered 38. It is now part of Newport.

Robert and Catherine moved to the farm and established their home there. In 1922 Robert purchased Jeremiah Bryant's Grant of 80 acres. This farm can be seen in the bottom left of the map (No 30). Robert also had grazing rights in land adjoining his original grant. I have not found this in the original records yet and it is variously given as 100 or 1000 acres (probably 100 I think).

The Pittwater farm was not to be Robert and Catherine's forever home. In 1825 Robert took on the position of District Constable at Brisbane Water and the couple moved to a farm at current-day Saratoga. This farm had been a grant to Catherine's father, Patrick Geary and would become the family base for many years. More about that in future blog posts.

Robert's investment in Pittwater was not finished with his move to Brisbane Water. In 1831 he purchased Richard Porter's grant  of 50 acres, next to his original farm. This gave him frontage on Pittwater at Crystal Bay.

Robert sold his original 60 acres and the neighbouring 50 acres, but he held on to Bryant's grant until he died in 1869. He left the property to his grandson, Robert Francis Geary Henderson, who sold it in 1881. (I have used the grandson's full name because there was another grandson named Robert Frederick Henderson and they are easily confused.)

The original Pittwater property was Robert Henderson's first land holding in his own right, but it was not his last. At various times he controlled thousands of acres of farming and forest land and also invested heavily in property in Sydney. In the coming weeks I intend to look in more detail at his properties at Budgewoi, Brisbane Water and Sydney. It is a complex picture!