Always worth a second look

I was checking my references for Robert Henderson in the last few weeks and made the final breakthrough in sorting out his Sydney land dealings. I had been working from hand-written land transfer documents that were mainly sourced from family tree websites. But with a fresh look and a clear mind, I managed to track down and make sense of the Land Titles Office records. Now I can see why I was confused!

The area of Robert Henderson's Sydney properties
as it was in 1833 (click to enlarge).

The image to the right is a detailed street plan of Sydney as it was in 1833. I have put this image together from four separate plans which is why it has writing at odd angles. You can see the original plans at the Historical Atlas of Sydney and this is worth a look if you are interested in such things. You can compare the 1833 map with the 1880 plans (Dove's Plans). The 1833 plans show the  boundaries and  ownership/occupation of the properties as they were in 1833, with a lot of lines and notes in red that are about later developments. I have marked seven properties on my version here. Robert's properties are numbered 1 to 6 which is the order in which he acquired them. The property marked in blue is an interesting diversion that I will cover at the end.

1. Robert's first property was in Kent Street. In May 1830, the owner took out a mortgage with Robert, and the following year, ownership was transferred to Robert. I think this property cost Robert £300. I suspect that this property became Robert's first base in Sydney as he testified in a court case that he lodged in Kent Street when he was in Sydney. Robert sold this property in October 1835 for £400, no doubt to fund the next purchase. On the plan, the owner is shown as Robert Anderson, which was a common mistake at that time, but the Land Titles transfers are clearly in the name of Robert Henderson.
2. In December 1835 Robert purchased the property on the north western corner of Erskine and Sussex Streets. The vendor was John Forster Church and his name is shown on the block on the plan. Robert paid £650. In January 1836 Robert was given permission to build a wharf into Darling Harbour from the rear of the property. The wharf was not to extend 'beyond the true line of Sussex Street', which makes sense when you know that Sussex Street ended at the waterline, just past Robert's rear boundary and the Governemt had plans to fill in the inlet and extend Sussex Street, which they later did.
   It is not clear if there was an Inn on the site before Robert bought it, but Church was a wine merchant, so it quite possibly did have one. There certainly was an Inn named the Captain Piper there in 1837, licensed to John Anderson. He had leased the property from Robert in 1836.  William Bergan took over the lease in 1838, paying  Robert for £120 rent per year. Bergen held the license for the Sprig of Shillalah. The same building would would become the Dove Inn in 1842.   
3. In January 1838 Robert purchased 33 perches of land adjoining the Inn site to the west. The vendor was William Tiernan who is shown as the owner on the plan and the price was £650. This land was absorbed into the Inn site.
4. In November 1853 Robert purchased the site of the Bethel Chapel at auction. The Bethel Union had moved their operations to the Rocks. Robert paid £3,450, which shows how much prices had increased.
5. Robert had leased several properties in Erskine Street from George Allen in 1850. He established the Clarence Hotel in one of these properties, which was on the north-western corner of Erskine and Shelly Streets, one block west of the Dove Inn. It looks to me like he set up this hotel for his son, Robert Jr. Robert did not buy the property until May 1865. It was then described as Lot 3 of Phoenix Wharf, and Robert paid £2,100. By this time, Robert Jr was in disgrace, having deserted his family and his wife, Hannah, was the licensee of the Clarence Hotel.
6. In June 1865,  Robert purchased Lots 4 and Lot 5 of Phoenix Wharf from George Allen at a price of £927. These properties were on the north-eastern corner of Erskine and Shelly Streets, opposite the Clarence Hotel.

The last five of these properties where still in Robert's possession when he died in 1868 and they became part of the Trusts that he established in his will. If you are interested in tracking what happened to the properties, see my 2023 posts on those trusts.

My 2022 post on Robert Henderson's Sydney properties mentioned several other properties that Robert seemed to advertise for sale. Given that Robert was an Innkeeper, and the advertisements mentioned the hotel as well as Robert's name, it is possible that 'Robert Henderson's Dove Inn' was given the address of the vendor and Robert himself was not the vendor at all. I have not found any evidence in the official land records that Robert sold any more properties in Sydney, so I have now discounted these properties.

My confusion over the Sydney properties was to some extent because of the property I have marked in blue. If you look carefully, there are two blocks, one fronting Erskine Street and one fronting Sussex Street. The owner of both is shown as Mary Stewart, widow of the Late Robert Stewart, with a note in red 'R. Henderson C. Pass trustees'. Other documents spell-out the names as Robert Henderson and Casper Pass. And the description of the combined properties make it sound like a corner block. So we have Robert Henderson and Casper Pass showing up in a series of transactions for a property that seems to be on the corner of Erskine and Sussex Streets! It was the above plan of the properties that finally made it clear to me that this property was on the diagonally opposite corner to the Dove Inn site.

So what is going On? Well clarity came in one of the Land Records. It describes the person as 'Robert Henderson of Sydney aforesaid gardener'. So not our Robert Henderson at all!

This man was born in England in about 1800 and arrived in the Colony as a free settler about 1830. He married  Elizabeth Shepherd in Sydney in 1831. They had eight children born between 1833 and 1848. He lived in Newtown and worked initially as a gardener and later as a nurseryman. He was involved as a trustee in several trusts including this one. He was also a trustee for a church property in Lime Street, also quite close to the Dove Inn.

Once again the cautionary tale about similar or duplicate names. I have double-checked the other properties for collaborating details to make sure I have the right Robert Henderson. The sale document for the Kent Street property refers to Robert Henderson and Catherine his wife, so clearly our Robert. All the other properties were detailed in his will.