I've been working on this project since 2013, although my interest in local history and my family tree began in the 1980s. One of the key features of this website is to remember the names of those who descend from Hawkesbury convict and free settler families, but also to recall their stories through newspaper articles and family stories.
This website also aims to discuss their relationships with the local landscape, the ways in which villages and towns have been created. It is a work in progress! Below is an excerpt from my postgraduate thesis on institutional landscapes. I have included it to spark some questions about history and the way it is interwoven with our social and physical environments.
Hood (1996:1) suggests that landscapes are cultural because they physically embody the history, structure and contexts of human behaviour in such a way that they are not easily separated from each other. ‘Any understandings of the physical landscape, therefore, cannot be separated from the culture of the people who utilise it.’
According to Atkins (1997) landscape is a term that can be expressed in a variety of ways such as scenery, terrain, nature, topography, place, location, artefact, space and habitat. This is reiterated by Bender (1993) who says that landscapes have to be contextualised, that the way in which people understand and engage in their worlds will depend upon the specific time and place in which they live. Bescherer (1990) also suggests a cultural ecology outlook, by saying that we cannot understand the concept of landscape unless we look closer at the broader relationships and associations within it.
Landscapes are not just the earth we stand on or the vistas before us. Landscapes can be cultural, they can be manipulated to enforce gender roles, they can be formal or unplanned, they be a refuge and they can marginalise. They can be carceral and institutional, they can reproduce social identities and be manifestations of changing social relations: ‘It is also possible to argue that landscapes are not just passive objects that lie silently waiting for successive human imprints. In a sense, they are active participants in channelling socio-economic evolution because they set the physical and psychological constraints within which people must act.’ (Atkins 1999: 224)
Landscapes are dynamic, ever changing
to fit the social framework in which we place them. I am
interested in institutional landscapes and how social “difference” can be
understood in terms of spatial separation. In many ways I take a Marxist
approach and see that land use and landscapes are products of social forces:
‘Other
landscapes or indeed familiar landscapes are in a sense created out of the
prejudices, preconceptions and simplifications that we carry in our heads. In
turn these representations may be naturalised by society and accepted without
question. They then become the basis on which subsequent generations forge
their identities.’ (Atkins 1999: 222)
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I update this site as much as I can. I have not yet covered every family. If you find an error in your family's name, date etc I am happy to correct.
Tracey Hawkins.
Elizabeth married Job Wilson on November 19 in 1813 in Parramatta. Mary married George Turner (although no marriage date has been found). Charlotte married John Barwick (aka Berwick) on June 5 1848 in Kurrajong.
Here's a bit of background on John and Elizabeth Rogers to kickstart the family tree in Australia.
Before being convicted of robbery, John had fought in the American War of Independence where he lost a hand in battle. After returning to England he was said to have stolen some personal items of a traveler, John Fitzpatrick. Apprehended months later, John Rogers was given a life sentence and put on the prison hulk ship ''Censor'' for three years. He was transported to Sydney on the second Fleet ship ''The Neptune''.
John was granted 30 acres of land around Toongabbie in 1796. He had four acres of wheat and a few animals. John died on the farm in February 1806 and is buried in Parramatta. What amazes me is that he ploughed the land with one hand - talk about tough!
His wife Elizabeth Celey was born around 1776. She was convicted of stealing clothes and was sentenced to seven years and was transported on the "Britannia" in 1798. After John died, she sold the farm for five pounds to William Wentworth. She married Robert Richardson in 1811 and had four more children. Catherine married Benjamin Hanslow, Eliza, Peter who married Elvira Tree and Harriet.
Elizabeth and Robert moved to Double Bay, however the Rogers girls all moved to the Hawkesbury region of NSW.
1. Elizabeth Ann (1800 b. Parramatta to 1878 d. Kurrajong)
Elizabeth married Job Wilson on November 19 in 1813 at Parramatta. Job was granted 50 acres at Kurrajong NSW (present day Hermitage Road) and called his property Rocklands. Job was born in 1788 in Cambridgeshire. He was convicted of stealing in 1811 and was given a life sentence. He was transported on "The Guildford" and arrived in Sydney in 1812. He worked in a timber yard in Parramatta and was granted a conditional pardon. Job died on August 14, 1867 and is buried in St Peters Richmond. Elizabeth died in Kurrajong in 1878 and is also buried at St Peters.
Elizabeth and Job had 14 children.
A. Edward born and died 1816
B. Edward 1816 to 1902 (married Ann Sherwood, died 1839) & (married Susannah Riley in 1847)
C. Simeon 1818 to 1902 (married Elizabeth Horan in 1842 at Pitt Town)
D. Elizabeth 1819 to 1898 (married George Davis in 1838 at Portland Head)
E. Job 1821 to 1873 (married Mary Green, nee Sherwood) and (married Sarah Douglass)
F. Susannah born and died 1825
G. Timothy 1826 to 1897 (married Elizabeth Riley in 1848 at Richmond)
H. Phoebe 1829 to 1843 single
I. John 1831 to 1916 (married Catherine Barwick in 1870 at Richmond)
J. Susan 1833 to 1888 (married Joseph Hawkins in 1857 at Richmond)
K. Thomas 1835 to 1901 (married Hannah Douglass 1857 at Richmond)
L. Jane 1838 to 1892 (married Daniel Neal 1856 at Richmond)
M. Jessie 1840 to 1905 (married Henry Silk 1858 at Richmond) and (married Charles Reynolds)
N. Matilda 1842 to 1883 (married Thomas Silk 1862 at Richmond).
2. Mary (1803 b. Parramatta to 1860 d. North Richmond)
Mary partnered with George Turner sometime around 1818. George Turner, born around 1790 in Kent, was given a life sentence for stealing in 1812 and was transported on the "Earl Spencer" in 1813. He was assigned to Dennis Duggan near Ryde. He remained as a convict for Duggan until Duggan's death in 1818. He was then assigned to Richard Rouse at Rouse Hill. George was granted a ticket of leave in 1818. Sometime after this, George met Mary Rogers and they moved to the Hawkesbury.
George was listed as a farmer in North Richmond in the 1828 census. He rented land from Thomas John. George died in North Richmond in 1872 and is buried at St Peters Richmond. Mary died in 1860 at Kurrajong and is also buried at St Peters.
Mary and George had 7 children.
A. Mary 1820 to 1901 (married George Overton in 1836 at Richmond)
B. William 1822 to 1852
C. Thomas 1824 to 1878 (married Elizabeth Bayliss in 1845 at Richmond) & (married Mary Ann Cooper in 1862 at Rylstone)
D. Ann 1827 to 1840s (married Squire Brooks in 1844 at Richmond)
E. George 1830 to 1906 (married Sarah Mitchell in 1854 in Kurrajong)
F. Elizabeth 1834 to 1878 (married to Michael Tierney in 1851 at Richmond)
G. John 1836 to 1882 (married Ann McCarthy/McCartney in 1862)
3. Charlotte (1806 b. Parramatta to 1893 died Kurrajong)
Charlotte married John Barwick aka Berwick on June 5 1848 at Kurrajong. John Barwick was born in 1792 and was tried for house breaking in 1808. He was transported to Sydney in 1810 on the "Ann II."
In the 1814 muster, John is listed as being part of a jail gang in the Windsor area. He was granted a conditional pardon in 1816. John worked land around Kurrajong as a farmer and more than likely rented the land. He and Charlotte did not get married until after the birth of their 13th child.
John died in Guildford in 1858 and was buried at St Peters in Richmond. There is a headstone for him, Charlotte, their daughter Mary and their son George. Originally he was called Berwick, but it appears to be known as Barwick by subsequent generations.
Charlotte and John had 14 children.
A. Elizabeth 1822 to 1900 (married Samuel Hurst in 1837 at Richmond)
B. Mary 1823 to 1849 (married Thomas Leonard in 1842 at Richmond)
C. Charlotte 1825 to 1856 (married Edmund Brown in 1846 at Richmond)
D. James 1827 to 1908 (married Mary Tarrant in 1851 at Richmond)
E. Eliza 1829 to 1908 (married Cornelius Hynes in 1846 at Richmond) & (married William Williams in 1883 at Carcoar)
F. Harriett 1831 to 1898 (married William Giddins in 1849 at Richmond)
G. John 1833 to 1861 (married Sarah Douglas in 1856 at Richmond)
H. Catherine 1835 to 1908 (married John Wilson in 1870 at Richmond)
I. William 1836 to ?? (married Mary Douglas in 1857 at Richmond) & (de-facto Jemima Shepherd)
J. Emma 1840 to 1913 (married Francis Skinner in 1857 at Richmond)
K. Sophia 1841 to 1933 (married Denis Handley in 1869 at Richmond)
L. Henrietta 1843 to 1928 (married George Jaffray in 1868)
M. Robert 1845 to 1848 buried at St Peter's
N. George 1849 to 1864 died unmarried buried at St Peter's.
