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!