1821-1850

G for Gard family

Miss W. 1821 and prior, 1821-1850, 1851-1880, Buildings, Early families , , , , , ,

Thanks to David Gard for writing this post for the A-Z challenge.

Blue links will take you to the digitized images from Libraries Tasmania website or newspaper articles from National Library website Trove. Clicking on the images will take you to the original article.

WILLIAM GARD, my great great grandfather was born in the village of Allington, Dorset, England in 1815. It is not sure when or how he immigrated to Australia but he was the only one of the seven (7) children in his family to migrate. His father Edward 1789-1823, a stone mason died in Dorset, England when he was only eight.

William somehow made his way to Pittwater, Tasmania (now Sorell) where he became one of the largest land holders in town, but after receiving more than his share of bad luck he was forced on a number of occasions to liquidate his assets. However, through sheer determination he managed to rebuild on each occasion.

His grandfather, Robert Gard was transported to Van Diemen’s Land as a convict in 1818 and buried in Richmond district in 1834 which would have been a few years prior to William arriving in the colony. He also had a brother, Joseph who was transported to Tasmania as a convict in 1838 and was pardoned in 1847. Joseph died in Sorell in 1866. It is not known whether they reunited. Williams uncle, Thomas Bennett Gard was also transported to Van Diemen’s land in 1822 after a reprieve from the death penalty and like his father Robert he was assigned to magistrate James Gordon to work his farm in Pittwater.

William was described as a hard working industrious colonist and built quite a large portfolio of properties and ran a number of business ventures in Sorell. He was on the board of the Sorell Causeway committee and a member of the Clarence council, and a justice of peace. A large farm he leased with a business partner Henry Clack was dissolved in 1840 when William ran off with Henry Clacks wife, Mary Ann Clack (nee Parsons) who he later married in 1848.

Williams financial troubles started in 1843 when he was declared insolvent and was forced to sell off much of his assets. After a 2 year struggle to re-build, a trading vessel he owned was maliciously set on fire (could it have been lit by Henry Clack ?) The Sorell community, which held him in very high esteem called on the government to assist him with his losses and help him obtain another vessel which he intended to trade between Hobart Town and Adelaide.

Community help after an arson attack

 

In 1853 William managed to purchased the towns iconic Bell Bell Inn, but his bad run of luck started again where in 1863 when another large fire destroyed the Inn and he lost all his possessions. He managed to raise a mortgage of 2000 pounds to re-build the inn however the financial strain was too much and for the second time he was declared insolvent and the Inn was passed back to the mortgagee, William Lindsay.

In 1855 William experienced another devastating fire on his farming property where he lost a large stock pile of wheat, grain, barley, oats and peas as well as live stock. William had not taken out insurance because of the way he was treated by the insurance company after the fire that destroyed the Blue Bell Inn 2 years earlier.

In 1864 his entire property holding of fifteen (15) properties in Sorell were put up for sale however because of his debts, it is not known whether he had any equity left after the sales. Lindsay died in 1866 and the Blue Bell Inn was put up for a quick sale and it was purchased by William Gard’s son, Edward (our great grandfather) for a bargain price of 300 pounds. Edward also experienced financial difficulties when he was forced to raise a further mortgage of 180 pounds. In 1869 Edward defaulted on the mortgage and lost possession of the Inn.

On 7 February 1867 William passed away in Sorell with cause of death noted as gout.

In 1874 Edward again managed to regain the family inn but found the financial burden too much and again after a short period of time he lost possession thus sadly ending the Gard connection with the Inn.

F for First People

Miss W. 1821 and prior, 1821-1850, Special people , , , , ,

Thanks to Melinda Reed for writing this post for the A-Z challenge. These words are adapted from articles in Pitt Water Chronicles Vol 1 and Vol 3 published by the Sorell Historical Society.   Blue links will take you to websites for further information.

Sign at Blue Lagoon area

The first people of the land and coastline we now know as Sorell Municipality were the Mumirimina people of the Oyster Bay nation, who lived here for 2000 generations until dispossessed of their home.

Thick forests and grassy plains provided an abundance of animals to hunt, shells and kelp gathered from the ocean beaches, river reeds and other foods collected along the river banks. Women made reed and kelp baskets and collected ochre to decorate hair, faces and bodies. Necklaces were made of wallaby sinews and ochre, or strips of fur or of shells strung on sinews or string made from reeds. Deep spiritual beliefs and an enduring culture evolved over 40,000 years.

Then in 1642 Oyster Bay people watched Tasman’s ships, and in 1772 encountered French ships and explorers who killed one Aboriginal man. In 1803 life changed drastically with the arrival of the British and the rapid colonisation of the south east.

In 1809 Mumirimina man John Shinall (Shiney, Aboriginal name unknown) was born in the Carlton area, living a tribal life with his family until land grants in that area from 1812, then lived with a settler family and later worked as a farm labourer.

Between 1815 and 1819 an Aboriginal ‘mob’ traversed between Risdon and Pitt Water in the summer and retired to the east coast in winter, including a camp at Sweetwater Hills at Penna.

On 9 December 1826, fourteen Oyster Bay Aborigines were believed killed and nine others, including Kickerterpoller, were captured and lodged in the Sorell gaol.

In 1828 Governor Arthur declared martial law against the Aboriginal people and in December 1830 Sorell settlers took part in the Black Line.

In the 1830s George Robinson documented the Oyster Bay word tipina, the name for what is now Midway Point. It is the only recorded Aboriginal place name in the Sorell area.

On his death in 1839, John Shinall was mutilated and his severed head preserved in alcohol; eventually returned from Dublin University to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people in 1990.

Today, in commemorating 200 years since the naming of Sorell township, we respectfully acknowledge this always was and always will be Aboriginal land. The ancient stewardship of the land and coastline continues in the unique culture of the Palawa/Pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal people), one of the world’s oldest living cultures.

Image source: Owned by Melinda Reed, author of this post

D is for Ralph Dodge

Miss W. 1821 and prior, 1821-1850, Early families , , , ,

Thanks to Judy Pearson (nee Dodge) for writing this post for the A-Z challenge.

Blue links will take you to the digitized images  from Libraries Tasmania website. Clicking on image in post will take you to the original at Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO).

DODGES FERRY was part of the early settlement of the Pitt Water area and its name leads to the story of RALPH DODGE who was born in 1791 on Norfolk Island. He was the son of William Dodge, Superintendent of Convicts and Charlotte Simpson Hall (both arriving in the colony per Second Fleet ‘Lady Juliana’) and also to the new settlement on Norfolk Island in 1790. They had 3 children, the second son born 1793 did not survive and Sarah who was born in 1795 was a few months old when their father left the Island to return to New South Wales and eventually back to England, leaving his family behind. Charlotte became the partner of Hugh McGinnis with whom she had another 5 children, marrying in Van Diemens Land in 1810. Sarah was baptized as Sarah McGinnis.

Ralph was 17 years old when in 1807 the Norfolk Island settlement was disbanded and the inhabitants, productive farmers most having gained their freedom and with young families, were all relocated to Van Diemens Land. Ralph Dodge and the McGinnis family first had small plots of land at Clarence Plains (Rokeby), but the whole family eventually moved to fertile land near the Carlton River on Chaseys Creek, pioneering and contributing greatly to that community. Ralph owned a farm he named ‘Lovely Bottom’ and established the packhorse mail run through to Richmond and on to Port Arthur. In 1841 he built the rendered slab Carlton Post Office and was the first Postmaster at Carlton. This served the community until 1949 with many family members becoming Postmaster, including his step-brother John Hall McGinnis and later, his brother-in-law William Morris, whose daughters also served in the position.

Originally home of Ralph Dodge, TAHO, NS1553-1-417

Ralph married Charlotte Morris in 1824 and they had a family of 11 children. In 1831 he bought another farm property on the shores of Pitt Water opposite the sandy point of Seven Mile Beach and this home later became ‘Ferry Farm’ and by 1832 he operated a rowing boat ferry service across to the sandy point opposite. This service enabled early settlers of the district to cross the bay which gave them access to a much shorter route to Kangaroo Point (Bellerive). This transport was known as “Dodge’s” ferry, and his name became a destination, a name unique to our history and to the Southern Beaches of Tasmania.

Ralph with his island heritage and seamanship skills was recorded in 1832 as having saved an English sailing ship with 200 women immigrants on board, which had been driven towards Pitt Water and certain disaster in a violent storm. Ralph Dodge died in 1871 after a life which made the best of his opportunities by then owning over 2,000 acres of land including the four farm properties which he left to his four sons. Two of the sons operated the ferry boats until the completion of the Sorell Causeway in 1874. In the late 1930s part of the ‘Ferry Farm’ property along the attractive foreshore of Dodges Ferry Beach, was sold in allotments for seaside shack development. Thus beginning a new era and the evolvement of the continually growing Dodges Ferry of today.

I grew up with the knowledge that my childhood was special because of the bond I felt for the place and the life I was able to live when at my beloved Dodges Ferry. I have felt a fierce protection of its environment and watched and experienced many changes in this beautiful location by the sea, and now in my 80s I have fulfilled a lifelong dream to write a book telling the early life of my great-grandfather and through the years of ‘The Dodges Ferry I Knew’.

PS: The book is available through the Sorell Historical Society. Also check this post for other places to purchase the book.