The Tailor and the Shipwright

by Robert Westphal

  ‘Yes, I have Alexander Fraser passing away in January eighteen twenty-seven.’

  ‘Yes, sounds right.’

  ‘So, I will put this into lawyer speech for you. We can say, Alexander Fraser was in bona fide possession of the land from on or before thirtieth of June eighteen twenty-three, who thence held peaceable and uninterrupted possession thereof until he deceased in January eighteen twenty-seven.

  ‘Now, moving on. Fortunately Alexander Fraser prepared a will in March eighteen twenty-five and in that will he appointed John Piper and Robert Campbell as his executors. By his will he gave his executors the power to sell houses and lands. William Thurston acquired the property from the executors on twenty-sixth of May eighteen twenty-seven, some four months after Fraser’s death.

  ‘There followed a number of “short term” owners. On twenty-second of December eighteen twenty-seven, the said Thurston sold the property to Richard Parker. Then six months later, on twentieth of May eighteen twenty-eight, the said Parker sold to William Long, and then on seventh of June eighteen thirty William Long sold the same to you. I have the indenture of that transaction whereby you paid one hundred and forty-five pounds of the lawful money of Great Britain to William Long for the property. That document will be attached to the memorial as evidence of your purchase.

  ‘So based on that history I have sufficient information to lodge a memorial on your behalf to the commission. The providence or continuous line of ownership will provide a high degree of certainty that you have a valid title to the property.’

  Charlton and William worked their way through the other four properties, taking the best part of a full day. William and Charlton were both exhausted from the day’s work. Charlton advised William not to expect a quick response.

  Charlton was right to warn him, as William heard nothing for six months. He was not overly worried. In the intervening period nothing had transpired to indicate there were any issues with his ownership and good title to the properties. The tenants were still in the rental properties and were still paying their rent. However one never knew what skulduggery could occur among those more ‘connected’ with authority.

  In December William received a note from Charlton advising that hearings were to take place concerning his properties on three different dates in the New Year: claims 815 and 821 on Tuesday 20 January; claims 827 and 833 on Wednesday 21 January; and claim 845 on Thursday 22 January.

  ‘Lord, thank god I’m in good health and can afford time off work for all this,’ William said to Anastasia.

  ‘Yes luv, just as well. It will be worth it in the end though.’

  Attached to the note was a clipping from the Sydney Gazette of Tuesday 9 December 1834, which read as follows:

  Office of the Commissioners appointed and empowered to hear and determine upon claims to Grants of Land, under the great Seal of the Colony of New South Wales – Elizabeth Street 1st day of December 1834.

  The Commissioners for hearing and determining upon claims to Grants held within the Colony of New South Wales under the Act of the Governor and Council 4th Wm IV No. 9 do hereby give notice that they will have appointed the several days set opposite the same respectively, at the Supreme Court house, King Street at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, for hearing and determining the under mentioned Memorials of which several claimants interested therein are hereby required to take notice.

  ‘I should have been a lawyer,’ said William. ‘They’ll be getting paid just to sit there while I lose time and money.’

  For the hearing William dressed in his suit. Charlton did all the talking. William was only there to provide backup in case there were questions from the commissioners that Charlton was unable to answer. The purpose of the hearings was for the claimant to put their case and fill in any ‘gaps’ that had not been addressed in the memorials. William thought the hearings went well, but more importantly, Charlton did as well. There were no other claimants on William’s properties, which was a major hurdle passed.

  This was not the end of it but it was getting close. There was a further notice issued in the Sydney Gazette dated 13 April 1835 that required the claimants to appear on Tuesday 28 April 1835. This time all of William Foster’s claims were to be heard contemporaneously.

  ‘Thank mercy for small blessings,’ said Anastasia, who was getting as frustrated as William by the convoluted procedures.

  William and Charlton duly attended the court.

  The commissioners asked Charlton and William to be seated. There were three commissioners sitting on the bench at the hearing.

  William took a deep breath. The head commissioner sat between his fellow commissioners. He looked across the space to Charlton and William.

  ‘Mr William Foster, could you please stand before the Commission.’

  William stood, straightening his jacket.

  ‘Now let me see, the land portfolio of Mr William Foster. Sir, you have claims over five properties. Claims eight hundred and fifteen, eight hundred and twenty-one, eight hundred and twenty-seven, eight hundred and thirty-three and eight hundred and forty-five. Is that correct, sir?’

  ‘Yes, Your Honour.’

  ‘Mr Foster, your memorials are very thorough. They traced a strong uninterrupted ownership history. Sir, there have been no counterclaims over these properties. On the face of the information I cannot see any reason that the commissioners will not endorse your ownership of these properties. We still require a little more time to consider the matter. The findings of the commissioners will be published in due course. Thank you for your attendance today.’

  After they left the hearing William thanked Charlton as they stood on the court steps.

  ‘This is a very good outcome for you, Foster,’ said Charlton. ‘Not only will your existing ownerships be confirmed but if you continue to acquire properties you will have a much higher level of confidence that you are receiving good title.’

  36.

  Margaret Kearns

  MIDDLE HARBOUR, 1832

  Following Barney’s death, with the help of other local settlers Margaret Kearns continued to maintain the Shell Cove ferry service. She was fully aware, a fact that Barney had impressed on her, that the right to occupy the two acres of land at Shell Cove only continued so long as the ferry service was maintained. She did not have the strength or inclination to row Barney’s heavy boat back and forth. Margaret did so by sharing the proceeds fifty-fifty with a man who was prepared to do the rowing. A tidy little income for not doing too much, she thought.

  So, Margaret continued to live at Hunters Meadows, tending her orchard and garden.

  Her peaceful domestic life and occupation were interrupted in 1833 when the government decided to auction ten acres of untitled land at Hunters Meadows, which included Margaret’s house and orchard.

  Barney Kearns had not sought or obtained title to the acre of land that their house and farm stood upon, let alone the surrounding nine acres. Margaret decided she had to participate in the auction. In the event that she failed to buy the land, her only alternative was to seek charity from one of her neighbours; most likely the Hulls. Of the original settlers, only Margaret remained at Hunters Meadows. By this time Thomas O’Neil had departed and moved in with his daughter, Mary Ann.

  In accordance with the government’s process of sale, interested parties were entitled to bid for the entire ten acres. The government set a minimum bid price of five shillings per acre, being £2/10/0 for the whole parcel of land.

  In order to make an offer, Margaret set about collecting all her available coinage to see if she could meet the minimum bid price. To the few coins in her purse, she was able to add the coins that she and Barney had stashed and buried over the years in the orchard. She was very pleased when she counted all her money to find that she could reach the minimum bid price. But would it be enough to secure her home?

  At the appointed time Margaret lodged her bid for ten acres.

  Following the closing of the auction there were only two
bidders: Mrs Margaret Kearns and Mr Thomas Rice. The Surveyor General presented Governor Bourke with the two names together with their nominated bid prices.

  Bourke scanned the piece of paper he had been handed by the Surveyor General. Following a moment of thought, Bourke commented, ‘Well, this will be an easy decision, Mr Surveyor General, you should accept Mr Rice’s offer as it is the highest and best price.’

  ‘Sir, it is not so easy. I need to point out while Mrs. Kearns does not have title to the land, she has lived at the site for almost twenty years.’

  ‘So you are saying, Mr Surveyor General, she should get dispensation for her extended period of occupation? Hmm, I agree, there is some legitimacy in that.’

  ‘However, sir, her late husband Mr Barnard Kearns has already been the recipient of government largess. Sir, he was given two acres of land at Shell Cove so long as he maintained a ferry service there. Mrs. Kearns continues to run that ferry service. I suggest, if I may be so bold, that one acre of land upon which her home and orchard sit be sold to her at the minimum price. The remaining nine acres can be sold to Mr Rice at his nominated offer per acre.’

  ‘An excellent resolution to a quite difficult matter,’ commented Bourke.

  Margaret was very relieved when she received the news. She had title to her land at Hunters Meadows. She was now a landowner in her own right and had gained security over her home and orchard. She was very pleased with herself and her newfound status.

  She was very surprised when she found out that Mr Thomas Rice was the successful purchaser of the adjoining nine acres. She had met Thomas Rice and his wife, Elizabeth, over the years in the company of Mary Ann Brown (formerly O’Neil) when they came to visit at Hunters Meadows. Elizabeth had originally accompanied Mary Ann and Eliza from Ireland on the Woodman back in 1823. Further, both had witnessed the marriage of Mary Ann and Thomas Brown. My, she thought, Sydney was a small place! With Rice being the purchaser Margaret need not have worried anyway but she was glad she was not living in her house at the whim of a third party, even a known third party.

  It was no coincidence that Thomas Rice had bid for the land at Hunters Meadows. Elizabeth Rice had seen the notice of the forthcoming auction placed in the Government Gazette. After conferring with Mary Ann she realised it was the land previously occupied by Barney Kearns and now by his widow. From her previous visits to Hunters Meadows with Mary Ann she had always liked the location. Given the low asking price, she considered it an opportunity to acquire beachfront property at a good price and had convinced her husband to put in an offer.

  All this activity had focused Margaret’s attention on her own affairs. She, therefore, needed to have a will for when the inevitable happened.

  In this regard Margaret knew she needed help and approached a trusted friend, William Foster. William engaged a lawyer by the name of McEnroe to draft the document. Margaret’s will was straightforward. Her assets were few. She had no descendants or relatives in the colony and, as far as she was aware, neither did Barney. Neighbours, John Hull and his wife, had been very kind in supporting her following the loss of Barney. She determined to leave all her few assets to them.

  William Foster and Anastasia looked in on Margaret from time to time to make sure she was in good health.

  37.

  The Nerneys

  HUNTER VALLEY, 1836

  It was the middle of winter. The Nerneys had been enjoying the rural life. They had fitted into the Patersons Plains local community and enjoyed the comradeship of the place. After eight years they had acquired the mantle of long-term residents. Managing the orchard and the livestock had been a new experience for Nicholas, far removed from his shoe repair and shoemaking business.

  But Eliza had been contemplating moving back to Sydney. Farming life was not easy and Nicholas had injured his back, which made the day-to-day chores increasingly difficult. Furthermore it was becoming more and more difficult to obtain convict labour. The volume of convicts arriving in the colony had not kept pace with the demand of the growing population. More troublingly, trivial crimes in the ‘Old Country’ were no longer punishable by transportation. The convicts now arriving were more serious offenders and thus more dangerous.

  Eliza and Nicholas, as a result, had become wary of including convicts in their household. They often reflected back on Mary Connolly. Mary had been indentured to them in 1831. She had arrived on the ship Edward from Ireland in 1829. They had found her to be rabble rouser and a drunkard. Nicholas eventually had to report her to the authorities. That resulted in her being locked up in Newcastle prison for seven days.

  In 1833 Eliza Nerney had received a letter from Tom Brown telling her that her sister Mary Ann had suddenly passed away from the effects of influenza. This death had left Tom without a wife and with three motherless daughters. Tom indicated he was receiving support from members of his family and that life was under control. His father-in-law Tommy had moved in with them following the death of Barney Kearns and had agreed to sell the thirty acres of the farm that had been deeded to Mary Ann and Tom back in 1825. Tommy had come to the realisation that he had no real intention of living back at Hunters Meadows. It was time to move on to start another branch in his life.

  The letter from Tom Brown had severely distressed Eliza. She had been very close to her sister and never more so than since they had sailed from Ireland for Sydney. Eliza was also concerned about her father and how he was coping with the loss of Mary Ann. Not well, she thought. He would be in a very bad way. Patersons Plains was too distant from Sydney for the Nerneys to easily return. For the time being they would have to stay put.

  The death of Mary Ann was three years in the past when she received another letter from Sydney, this time from her father. Tommy wrote to her quite often – she had just recently received a letter from him. But another one arriving a week after the previous was out of the ordinary. With some trepidation she picked up the letter opener and slid it under the sealed envelope flap. Extricating the folded letter from the envelope she carefully retrieved the note.

  My Darling Eliza,

  It is with sad news I write to you this day. Your brother in law Thomas Brown is now late. He passed away in the last week. I did not write to you earlier as I did not want to worry you and Nicholas. As you know he has three daughters who we are now looking to manage. Thomas Brown’s brother has temporarily taken in the girls however they are too much for him and his wife to look after. I was hopeful you would have the capacity to take Sarah on. I do not like the idea of splitting up the girls but there is little choice.

  Your loving father

  Eliza was shocked by the news.

  That afternoon, when Nicholas returned from the fields, washed down and was seated in his favourite rocking chair, Eliza broached the subject that had long been on her mind.

  ‘Nick, I got some awful news this morning from Dad,’ she said between tears. ‘Thomas Brown has also passed away.’

  ‘What?’ said Nicholas trying to take in the message. ‘First Mary Ann and now Tom. That leaves the girls without a parent. How are they managing that?’

  ‘Tom’s brother is currently looking after them but cannot cope with three. Daddy is seeking our help in taking care of Sarah.’

  ‘If that’s what you think we should do then it is time we returned to Sydney,’ replied Nicholas. ‘Where’s you father staying now?’

  ‘At William and Anastasia’s.’

  The Nerneys relocated back to Sydney and rented a house on Parramatta Road, Glebe. Tommy O’Neil and Sarah Brown, the eldest daughter of Tom and Mary Ann, moved in with them. Tommy was distressed that the Brown family was raising the two younger granddaughters as Protestants. What would become of them?

  38.

  Charles Beilby and Hunters Meadows

  SYDNEY TOWN, 1838

  Tommy O’Neil was 84 years of age and he felt it. Those years of felling trees and clearing land at Hunters Meadows had taken their toll. The tailor had sore knees and a painful back
. Tommy had taken to spending most of the day sitting in his favourite rocking chair on the verandah at Eliza’s home. This particular day as he closed his eyes he reflected on Hunters Meadows, Charles Beilby and the dramatic events surrounding his Middle Harbour property over the past five years.

  Tommy had first met Charles Beilby in 1835. Beilby had approached Tommy to inquire whether he was of a mind to sell the remaining 10 acres of his Hunters Meadows property.

  Charles Beilby, at the time, successfully operated a wholesale store and warehouse in George Street, Sydney. Beilby sourced products through the local shipping companies, such as Campbell & Co, and on sold them through his store. He traded in a wide range of products, including flour, hardware, stationery, books, prints and wines, and regularly advertised his products in the newspapers. Frederick Beilby, his son, worked with him.

  Following Mary Ann’s death in 1833, Tommy had resolved his differences with Tom Brown concerning the 30 acres of Hunters Meadows that Tommy had settled with Tom and Mary Ann. Tom Brown could see no benefit in owning the 30 acres and in January 1834 he had sold the acreage to Mr George Hickson. Hickson only retained ownership of the 30 acres for some fourteen months before onselling it to Charles Beilby in March 1835. Beilby paid £200 for the 30 acres, in two bills that he duly honoured.

  Charles Beilby had previously acquired a substantial parcel of land stretching across Middle Head, land previously owned by Bungaree and others. The purchase of the 30 acres of Hunters Meadows from Hickson gave Beilby a very substantial contiguous land holding.

  Beilby thought Tommy O’Neil might sell the remaining 10 acres and had approached Tommy to acquire the balance of the site. While Tommy and his daughter, Eliza, were not interested to sell their remaining acreage at that time, Tommy encouraged Beilby to stay in contact on the off chance the acreage could be for sale in the future.