This is the story of my family on my father’s side since their arrival in Australia in 1841. It was written by my Aunty Ruth.
Three children of William and Mary (née Simpson) Lindsay from Fintona in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, came to Australia. George (1802-1866) arrived on the “Orestes” in 1841, accompanied by his wife Jane (née McCauley, 1790-1879) and five children. John, who had married Lillian Cochrane, arrived with eight children in 1852 on the “Kate,” but sadly without his wife, who died on the voyage. John settled in the Shellharbour area. There was also a sister who came to Australia later, but details about her are sketchy. It is with George that we are concerned.
William Lindsay & Mary Simpson who arrived in Sydney on 14.05.1841 on the Orestes.
| Child | Date of Birth | Date of Death | Spouse |
| Sister | ? | ? | ? |
| John Lindsay | 1870 | Lillian Cochrane | |
| George Lindsay | 1802 | 1866 | Jane McAuley 1790 -1879 |
George and Jane were brought to Sydney by A.B. Smith and Co. as a farmhand and dairymaid, and the bounty cost for the family was seventy-three pounds. George bought a small store at Charcoal (later renamed Unanderra) in 1841, which had been established in the 1830s by a Mr. Beaver. He purchased a property south of the Berkeley Estate which he called ‘Lake View’ because of the fine view of Lake Illawarra. Here he started dairying and mixed farming. He is said to have sent the first keg of butter from the Illawarra to Sydney and also grew wheat and potatoes. His produce was taken to Wollongong in a dray pulled by a bullock using a horse collar turned upside down. This method of harnessing a bullock became the standard practice in the area. He was granted a parcel of land of 35 acres in 1843. George must have been a go-ahead type, for as well as being a successful farmer, we know that he also bought land at Cordeaux which was later sold to Peter Carr, – my great- great-grandfather on my grandmother (Ethel Lindsay-nee Carr) . He died at Lakeview in 1866. Much later, my grandfather rented Lakeview from the then owner, Ernie Lindsay, and here my father spent his early days.
George and Jane had five children: William, John, George, Anne, and Thomas. William (1829-1881, married Sarah Bryen) was an excellent sportsman and established the Farmers Inn at Charcoal and was a popular mine host for many years.
The five children of George Lindsay and Jane McAuley:
| Child | Date of Birth | Date of Death | Spouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Lindsay | 1829 | 1881 | Sarah Bryen |
| John Lindsay | 1832 | 1894 | Jane Musgrave |
| George Lindsay | 1834 | 1896 | Eliza Little |
| Anne Lindsay | 1838 | Not specified | James Wilson |
| Thomas Francis Lindsay | 1840 | 1889 | Sarah Philips |
John (1832-1894) became a successful dairy farmer. George (1834-1886, married Eliza Little) was an excellent rifleman and competed with the Australian team at Bisley and was later appointed Council Clerk for the Illawarra Shire, a position he held for 45 years. Anne (born 1838) married James Wilson of Victoria. Thomas (1840-1889, married Sarah Phillips) was a successful farmer, but it was John who is the important one in our line of descendants as he was my great, great, great grandfather.
John married Jane Musgrave (1828-1917) at Campbelltown in 1851. She was also an immigrant from County Tyrone. They prolifically produced nine children: Anne (1853-1903), George (1855-1946), John (1857-1930), William (1858-1859), Elizabeth (1861-1944), Sarah (1862-1948), Thomas (1864-1941), Charles (1868-1950), and Lavinia (1870-1907) between their marriage and 1870.
The children of John Lindsay and Jane Musgrave
| Child | Date of Birth | Date of Death |
|---|---|---|
| Anne | 1853 | 1903 |
| George | 1855 | 1946 |
| John | 1857 | 1930 |
| William | 1858 | 1859 |
| Elizabeth | 1861 | 1944 |
| Sarah | 1862 | 1948 |
| Thomas | 1864 | 1941 |
| Charles | 1868 | 1950 |
| Lavinia | 1870 | 1907 |
Of these, only one, William, died in infancy aged one year, which speaks well for their lifestyle in those days of high infant mortality. Jane Musgrave was from Gortmore in County Tyrone and arrived in Australia on the “Victoria” in 1849. She already had three brothers in the colony: John, Thomas, and Charles, and her parents (Charles Musgrave and Ann Love) were deceased. Her occupation is listed in the shipping register as dairymaid, but it is well known that emigration agents in the old country listed occupations to which the immigration authorities were sympathetic to facilitate acceptance by the authorities, so this may not be correct. An interesting sidelight is that John Musgrave stated during the course of his 1861 insolvency hearing that he would have “asked his brother-in-law John Lindsay” to sign a promissory note “but John Lindsay had a lot of Doctors bills and was also building a house.”
John Lindsay was Illawarra’s outstanding farmer for many years. He started on his father’s grant but soon bought more land, first at Kembla Park where he built the family home, and then bought up adjoining properties of another 150 acres as well as 200 acres from the Berkeley Estate, one of the large original grants in the area. In 1876, he bought the western half of Mrs. Brooks’ 500-acre grant, “West Horsley,” and the remainder of the grant a few years later. Mrs. Brooks and Miss Weston had inherited the grant from Lieutenant William Weston, their brother, to whom the original grant had been given, and who had named it after his hometown West Horsley in Surrey. He also bought “Horsley,” part of a grant made in 1821 to John Horsley.
This farm was to the west of West Horsley. His son George was placed on Horsley, and son John on the eastern half, which was West Horsley. The confusion between the names and their respective positions is a result of the methods of naming used by the original grantees. A very progressive farmer and the largest Ayrshire breeder in the area, he purchased a prize Ayrshire bull, The Earl of Beaconsfield (named from Benjamin Disraeli’s title) from Victoria. Many considered this a foolish extravagance, but it enabled him to breed Honeycomb, the champion NSW cow of its day, which was said to set the standard for all dairymen. He also bought the champion New Zealand bull, Cheviot.
HoneyComb, What She Is, and What She Can Do
This article, ( Sept 1897) authored by “St. Magnus,” highlights the renowned dairy herd from Kembla Park, Unanderra, established by the late Mr. John Lindsay. Known for his exceptional judgment of dairy cattle, Mr. Lindsay assembled one of the finest herds in Australia and potentially the world. His cows consistently excelled as prizewinners and milk producers at agricultural shows both on the South Coast and in Sydney, attesting to his expertise.
Mr. Lindsay’s sons have continued his legacy, effectively maintaining and enhancing the quality of the herd. Data from Mr. T. W. Lindsay reveals the herd’s impressive average annual milk yield, even during challenging seasons. In the favourable season of 1894, an average of 80 cows at Kembla Park produced 827 gallons of milk per cow annually..
In 1876, the price of butter fell to 6d a pound, so with his brother-in-law James Wilson and Thomas Wilson, he brought a cheese factory from Victoria and established it in Brown’s old flour mill at Brownsville. Dairymen supplied milk at 3½d per gallon, but when the price of butter rose a few months later, they ceased to supply, and the venture foundered. This machinery was then moved to West Horsley, where butter and cheese continued to be made with success, as many prizes were won for both cheese and butter.
He became involved in public affairs, becoming a JP, and when Central Illawarra was proclaimed a municipality in 1859, he was chosen as one of the nine aldermen at the first election. He was also one of the main proponents of a public school at Unanderra and was a signatory to the application to the education department for such a school. He also was present to help with the enrolments on the first day. When the Mullet Creek bridge was opened in 1861, he was there to represent the council.
Of his family, only four married: George, John, Sarah, and Charles, but Charles’s marriage was childless. This John (born 1857) is my great grandfather, and he married Mary Dunster at All Saints Church of England Macquarie River on 25 March 1885. Mary’s grandparents Joseph (1788-1861) and Mary (née Randall) arrived in Sydney on the “Lady Nugent” on November 27, 1838, from Stone Oxney, Kent, England, and took up residence in Shellharbour. Their fourth child, Joseph (1826-1877), who was one of the original councillors of the Shellharbour Shire, married Jane Elizabeth Stratford, and the second child of this marriage, Mary, was born on April 19, 1858.
John and Mary lived at West Horsley and ran a successful dairy farm. There were 10 children of this marriage: Jane Eva Muriel (“Jan”: 1887-1961), Charles John (“John”: 1888-1964), Joseph Roy (“Roy”: 1890-1929), Walter Dunster (1893-1967), Eric Stratford (“Gug”: 1894-1970), Harold Thornbury (1895-1959), Mary Estelle (“Estelle” 1897-1962) Olive Doris(“Dos”:1899-1980) Hilda (1900-1963) Thomas Hilton (“Hilton”:1902-1964).
Of these 10 children only three married. John married Eileen McPhee a childless marriage, Hilton married Edith Martin and had one child and my grandfather, Walter, married Ethel Carr and had 4 children. It is interesting to speculate why in the last 2 generations of 19 children only 7 married and of these 7 marriages only 5 produced children. Was there a shortage of suitable partners ? We know there was the shortage of fit men after the carnage of the WW1. We know from anecdotes that there were plenty of social engagements with dances, picnics and tennis parties.
All the sons became farmers. The eldest son, Charles John, was placed on a property on Flagstaff Hill and Roy on Berkeley Crescent. When Roy died of appendicitis John took over Berkeley which had a bigger home and remained there till the property was resumed for housing in the migrant boom of the years following the second world war. Harold and Hilton farmed West Horsley .
Estelle and Doris lived there with Harold and Hilton built a separate house on the farm. Hilda trained as a nurse and attained the rank of Matron.
Jan lived in Sydney and worked in secretarial positions. Eric (“Gug”) and Walter farmed first at Lake View which was rented and then at Karara where they built the family home .John (Walter’s father) placed each of his sons on a property but we do not know how much he contributed to the cost of the properties.
Unfortunately little is known of Mary Dunster who was known for being a “nice lady” and was loved by all and my grandfather Walter, whose second name, Dunster, was the family name, and he was named for Mary’s favourite brother.
Sadly her obituary tells us little and I’m struck by a recurring theme: the erasure of women’s identities. Reading the obituary of my great-grandmother in the Kiama Independent from June 10, 1925, it’s evident that women were often not given the dignity of being named in their own right. MRS. JOHN LINDSAY – not even her first name is mentioned. Instead, she is an extension of her husband’s identity. This was a woman who lived a full life, moving from Tullimbar to Shellharbour, raising a family, and being an ‘ideal wife and mother’. Yet, her personal identity is overshadowed by her husband’s name.
#LindsayFamily #AustralianHistory #Genealogy #FamilyHeritage #DairyFarming #19thCentury #CountyTyrone #NorthernIreland #Immigration #Shellharbour #Illawarra #Unanderra #AgriculturalHistory
