Robert Francis Geary Henderson's trust

The Brisbane Water properties included in
Robert's trust.

This is the story of the property trust established by Robert Henderson, for his grandson, Robert Francis Geary Henderson. See my earlier post for the background to this trust.

Robert Francis Geary Henderson was born in 1856, the third child of Robert Geary Henderson and Hannah Wallbridge. He was about 18 months old when his father deserted the family and ran away to Woy Woy with another woman. His half-brother, named Robert Frederick Henderson, was born at Brisbane Water in 1860. (In this post, a reference to just 'Robert' is to Robert Francis Geary Henderson).

After her husband left, Hannah Henderson took over the running of the Clarence Hotel, but the family probably continued to live with Robert's grandparents, Robert and Catherine Henderson, at the Dove Inn. Robert's older sister, Catherine, died of tuberculosis in 1866, followed in 1868 by his mother Hannah. By this time his grandparents had retired to live at Brisbane Water, and they were both unwell, so Robert and his sister Madeline were sent to boarding schools. 

Meanwhile, Robert's father had four children in his second family. Shortly after Hannah died, Robert Geary Henderson married his defacto, Elizabeth Delaney.

Robert was 14 when his grandfather died and created the property trust. It is likely that Robert Henderson Sr. was not confident that his son (Robert Geary Henderson) would properly care for the children of his first marriage, and so created trusts that he hoped would see them properly educated and given a good start in life.

Robert's trust contained seven parcels of land:

• Lot 3 of Phoenix Wharf, including the Clarence Hotel. This was on the corner of Erskine Street and Shelley Street and the property ran all the way from Shelly Street to the high water mark of Darling Harbour. (see the map in my earlier post for the location).
• 80 acres of land at Pittwater, known as Bryant's grant. This was portion 30, Parish of Narrabeen.
• 100 acres of land at Cockle Creek. This was Portion 29, Parish of Kincumber.
• 300 acres of land at Brisbane Water known as Culcorin. This was Portion 285, Parish of Kincumber.
• Three adjoining lots of land in Holden Street Gosford, each ½ acre.

Robert Henderson Sr's Pittwater land holdings.
Only Bryant's Grant remained when the
trust was create

Under the terms of the Will, income from the properties was to be used for Robert's care, education and furtherance of his life, until he was 21, when he would be able to use the income as he wished. But is was not entitled to sell the properties.

The trustees leased the Clarence Hotel several times before Robert turned 21. 

It seems that Robert may not have understood the terms of the trust, or decided to ignore them, because in 1881 he entered into a contract to sell the Pittwater property. The trustees had to step in six weeks later and legalise the sale by transferring the property to the purchaser.

Then in 1888, at Robert's request, the trustees signed over the absolute title of the remaining properties to Robert. They overcame the legalities with a token payment of 10 shillings from Robert to the trustees. Under the terms of the trust, an attempt to sell the properties possibly ended the trust. Regardless, this was effectively the end of Robert's trust and he was free to sell the properties as he wished. He immediately mortgaged all of the properties, possibly to fund other land transactions in Chippendale.

Robert eventually sold all the properties:

• Portion 29 at Kincumber was sold to Austral Verge in 1890 for £700. Verge was probably acting as an agent, because he on-sold the property for the same price in 1892 to the trustees of the Sisters of St Joseph (including Mary McKillop) for the development of their Kincumber boys home.
• The Clarence Hotel and Lot 3 Phoenix Wharf were resumed by the government in 1890 (ten yeas before the Dove Inn). Robert received £9,489 in compensation.
• Portion 285 at Kincumber (Culcorin) was sold for £700 in 1893.
• Robert converted the three lots in Holden Street Gosford to a single Torrens Title in 1896. He finally sold the property in 1912.

The trust established by his grandfather gave Robert a good start in life and he was able to live as a relatively wealthy man.  He does not come across as a happy man, but that can probably be explained to some extent by his difficult childhood. He spent many of his formative years in a boarding school, and he never had the benefit of a guiding fatherly hand. He died in a traffic accident in 1930. 

I am not sure how the original Robert Henderson would have viewed his grandson's treatment of the trust, and he may have been disappointed that the properties did not remain in the family. But he might also have been quite happy to see his grandson assert himself and would have been satisfied that his fortune was not entirely wasted.