The bloodhound's trail

My current publication project is limited to the five generations from my father's parents to their great grandparents. That means the oldest generation in my book will be my 4th great-grandparents (great-great-great-great-grandparents), where I can get that far back with reliable research. Writing the story of that oldest generation inevitably means going another generation back to locate their parents. In practice, I keep going as far as the evidence allows, which sometimes gives some clues to the family origins.

This week I am writing about one of those detective stories – one that I hope illustrates a technique that I have found useful. The story is from the Parry side of my family and it is one of my favourite discoveries. The technique is to take known facts and try to predict some other things that might help verify them. Then look for evidence of those (predicted) events.

Griffith William Parry and his Irish bride Mary Ann Mustare were the founders of the Parry family of Gosford. Griffith was a convict from London and his family is easy to trace.

My normal research process usually starts with the birth or baptism records of a person, in this case Griffith William Parry. Next I look for other children of the same parents, often baptised in the same Parish. Next, I look for the marriage of the parents - again, often in the same Parish. Then I look for burials of the parents. All this information gives clues to when the parents may have been born and baptised, which leads to the same rigmarole at the next level up the tree.

In this case Henry Richards Parry married Catherine Smith in London in 1795. One of the witnesses was Griffith Richards Parry. Henry and Catherine had seven children:

• Richard (1795–1834),
• Griffith William (1799–1859) - our convict!
• Henry (1801–1805),
• Jane (1803–1871),
• Henry (1805–1866),
• Catherine (1807–1859),
• Morris (1808–1883).

Other family trees on the internet have a range of suggestions as to the parents of Henry Parry, mainly in London, but I found it difficult to find evidence to prove any of them to my normal standard (three supporting pieces of evidence). One tree suggested that Henry was born in Wales. That made sense to me because Parry is a Welsh name!

Assembling the evidence available:

• Henry Parry was shown as '21 and more' when he was married, so he was born before 1774.
• Henry's age was given as 58 when he died in 1824, which would place his birth about 1766.
• The Griffith Parry who was witness to the marriage died in 1830 and his age was given as 60. That would place his birth about 1770. Combine this with the fact that both Griffith and Henry had the middle name 'Richards' makes it very likely they were brothers.
• It was common for the first son to be named after the father's father, so the name of Henry's father could have been 'Richard'.
• The use of 'Richards' as a middle name may have other significance. It seems to have been important to the brothers, because Griffith re-wrote his name on one document to include it.

My normal line of research did not yield any worthwhile results. There were options, but none had supporting clues. So I decided to use the idea of brothers Henry and Richard being born about 1766 and 1770 respectively. I searched all of the UK for Henry Parrys baptised within two years of 1766 (there were 39), and Griffith Parrys baptised two years either side of 1770 (there were only 8). I looked at the two lists for places in common, then had a closer look at matching places for matching parents.

I could only find one pair of brothers that could match the two young men in London! They were both baptised in Llanfrothen, Wales to parents Richard and Jane Parry. Richard Parry and Jane Richards married in Llanfrothen in 1749. 

As is often the case, the fog of research clears and the next generation becomes easier. I was easily able to find that Henry's father was baptised at Llanfrothen in 1731 and his father's name was Morris Parry (the mother's name was not given). This was the clincher for me! The family name connection with an unusual name like Morris was a final link between Henry Parry and his Welsh heritage.

My supporting evidence is:

• Henry Parry's baptism in Llanfrothen is within two years of his predicted birth (based on age at burial).
• Henry's brother Griffith was a witness at Henry's marriage. Griffith's baptism also matches what was predicted by his age at burial.
• Henry followed standard naming convention in naming his first born son after his father.
• Henry and his brother Griffith both used their mother's maiden name as their middle name.
• Henry named his last child after his paternal grandfather, Morris Parry.

From this discovery, we can understand a little more about Henry Parry's life. His father died when he was seven and his mother when he was 13. Henry seems to have been well educated. There was probably some family money that allowed Henry and his brother Griffith to move to London and get into a trade, in Henry's case, candlemaker (tallow chandler). Henry named his second son Griffith after his brother.

All my family history research, to date has been about English, Irish and Scottish families, to this first Welsh connection gave me a small thrill. Maybe I need a holiday in Wales to learn how to pronounce Llanfrothen and Trawsfynydd! 

I think it is unlikely now that I will discover the Cornish connection needed to complete the compete British set, although the Wallbridge family in Dorset may well have spoken Cornish in the 1200s.

Shipping a risky business

I am convinced in my own mind that ships and shipping were the primary source of Robert Henderson's wealth. The income from shipping probably gave him the capital to invest in property and other ventures. We will never know to what extent the illicit (smuggling) side of the shipping business played, but it may have been significant.

Maybe the smuggling made up for the losses that Robert suffered when his vessels were wrecked. I have identified three vessels that were wrecked while in Robert's ownership and there were likely more. This represents almost a third of the vessels that we know he owned or co-owned over his 35-year involvement in shipping. 

• Ranger was a vessel built by Robert at Brisbane Water. She sank off Sydney in 1831 with the loss of three lives. She was less than a year old. Robert himself had captained this vessel on its previous voyage.
• Maid of Australia vanished on her maiden voyage in 1834 and was presumed lost with all hands. Robert had supervised her construction and invested £1,500 in the project. This was the largest loss as far as I know.
• Catherine was another vessel built by Robert (or at least in his shipyard). I can find no trace of her after 1842, so I have presumed she may have been lost.
• The fate of the Betsey is unknown, but there were reports that she was often overloaded and unsafe, so it is a fair assumption that she went down on one of her trips to Sydney. The last mention that I have seen of her was in about 1836.
• The Fly was wrecked on the bar at Taree in 1845. Robert was the owner.
• Currency Boy was a 50-ton schooner, launched by Robert's wife Catherine in 1848. She was wrecked at Norah head in 1856 with the loss of two lives. (Robert advertised this vessel for auction in 1853 so she may not have been in his ownership when she was wrecked.)

My hypothesis is that shipping must have been a very profitable business for Robert to continue despite these losses. He may have carried insurance for the vessels, but the loss of life alone would deter most men. I have not discovered the number of crew aboard the Maid of Australia but as a 70-ton brig would possibly have had a crew of 10 or more, so the complete toll from all these wrecks would be 15 or more men. 

Robert and Catherine Henderson as parents

Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 1846

Robert and Catherine Henderson were not prolific in the parenting department. They were married for 15 years before their first child was born. Of course it is likely that they had problems conceiving or there were unsuccessful pregnancies, but those are not the sort of details that are available from records, so we will never know. 

In the absence of children of their own, Robert and Catherine took in an orphaned child named Sarah Murray. Sarah's father had been a harbour pilot in Sydney and died in a boating accident leaving his wife pregnant with Sarah. Sarah's mother died when the child was only four. We don't know when Sarah went to live with the Hendersons, but it was possibly when the child was orphaned in 1824 This corresponded with the family moving to live at Veteran Hall. Sarah is listed in the 1828 Census as living with Robert Henderson at Brisbane Water.

Reading between the lines, Sarah was also with the Hendersons when they moved to Sydney in 1840 because three years later she married a shoemaker who had a shop at the same site as the Dove Inn. Robert was a witness at the marriage, but Sarah was shown as Sarah Murray, not Sarah Henderson (so she was fostered,  not adopted). Sarah continued a close association with the Hendersons for another decade, living in their houses in Sussex Street.

Robert and Catherine must have been overjoyed when their own son was born in 1832. He was named Robert Geary Henderson. It may have been a sign of the parent's enthusiasm that Robert Jnr was baptised twice, once at Brisbane Water and once in Sydney.

A second son appears in 1838. No record of Thomas' birth or baptism has been found to my knowledge. It might also be significant that when Catherine died in 1868, her death certificate says she has 'one son living'. This has led some people to theorise that Thomas may have been adopted as a companion for Robert Jnr. I assume that the adoption laws in those days were minimal.

Robert Jnr and Thomas both attended school in Sydney and there are some notices in the newspapers when they achieved academic prizes at school. When they left school, it seems that they worked in the family hotel business.

Unfortunately for Robert and Catherine, both boys proved to be of poor moral character. The first sign is in 1851 when Robert Jnr is accused in court of not looking after a child that he had fathered. His parents probably hoped he had settled down when he married Hannah Wallbridge two years later, and they were probably delighted when his young wife produced three children in quick succession. But shortly after his third child was born, Robert Jnr deserted his family and set up house with another woman at Brisbane Water.

Thomas followed in his brother's footsteps. In 1858 he fathered a child with Hanna's younger sister, Eliza Wallbridge, then refused to take any responsibility for the mother or child. The whole saga was played out in the Sydney papers. 

Robert and Catherine did their best, supporting Robert Jnr's deserted wife. They would have faced great embarrassment from their son's behaviour, both in Sydney and in Brisbane Water. This was probably evident in Robert Snr's Will which made direct provision for Hannah's two surviving children (Madeline Geary Henderson and Robert Francis Geary Henderson). While both of the son's also received property in the Will, it was to be held in Trust for their lifetime. This meant that they were well provided for, but could not squander their inheritance.

Robert and Catherine may also have fostered other children. Robert was named as a trustee on several estates and in the Mossman family in particular, managed a Trust for the benefit of the children. John Mossman was the Master of one of Robert's vessels and died in 1832. His wife died less than two years later, leaving 6 children, including a girl named Ann, aged five. The clipping above appeared in the Sydney newspapers in April 1846, when Ann was 16. It suggests that Robert was her legal guardian and that she may have been living with his family. However, Robert was too late to make any difference. Ann married  Mark Hinks on the very day that the advertisement was published. If an Ancestry tree that I found can be believed, Ann and Mark had 16 children, 10 surviving to adulthood!

  

Early Pubs of the Central Coast

From Kincumber Parish Map - click to enlarge.

It seems that the first Public Houses in the Brisbane Water District were granted licenses about 1839 and 1840.

The first was possibly the Crooked Billet established by William Spears in 1839. When the license for the inn was first granted, William Spears and two sureties had to declare that if the inn failed to meet up to the conditions of the license, they would each pay the Crown £50. For the first license, the sureties were William Spears himself, his brother George and his good friend Robert Henderson (many years later, William Spears would be named Robert Henderon's executor and Robert's will refers to him as 'my good friend William Spears'). The following year, the third surety was changed to William Ward. This may have been because Robert had moved to live in Sydney.

William Spears was licensed 'to keep a common ale house, and to sell fermented and distilled liquors, in the house whither he now dwells being the sign of ‘Crooked Billet' situated at Brisbane Water ...'. This was the same house where three years earlier, Catherine Mitchell had arrived as an assigned convict, before marrying William Ward in 1837. William Spears' grant was at current-day Pretty Beach. On the Parish map above it is shown as portions 32 and 33 in the bottom left. William Ward's grant is portion 119 in the top right.

The conditions applying to the inn included:

• to not allow any person to become drunk;
• not to supply liquor to any person in a state of intoxication;
• not to permit an intoxicated person to remain in the house or premises or to commit any disorder therein;
• not to refuse to admit a Magistrate or Constable into any part of the house at any hour;
• not to admit any Convict or serve any liquor to a Convict;
• to maintain good order in the house;
• to provide food and accommodation for travellers and guests and their servants.

A second Public house was licensed to Peter Fagan in 1840 and was under the sign of the Red Cow. The sureties for this Inn were Peter Fagan, James Malone and William Ward. I understand that this Inn was in the building that today serves as Kendall Cottage and museum.

The documents that tell us so much about these two public houses are contained in a letter book for the Brisbane Water Police District. They have led many researchers to conclude that Robert Henderson and William Ward had a financial interest in these hotels, but reading the documents carefully, they would only have had to pay money if the licence conditions were not met. While the documents do not rule out a financial interest, I don't think Robert and William would actually have had to pay any money, and could well have trusted William Spears enough to do this out of community spirit.

This is as close as I have come to connecting William Ward and Robert Henderson. They both arrived in Brisbane Water within a year or two and their homes were only 5km apart as the crow flies. They were both involved in the coastal shipping trade and these documents prove that they had friends in common. They were of a similar age, with William being the younger by three or four years. I have no doubts that the two men knew each other well, but whether they were friends, we will probably never know!

Robert died in 1869 and Willian in 1876. I suspect neither one had a suspicion that their families would join. It was less than 18 months after William Ward died that his son Manasseh married Robert Henderson's granddaughter, Madeline Keele nee Henderson. They would go on to found a very large family and many of their descendants continue to live on the Central Coast to this day.