A LETTER WRITTEN BY MELINDA’S GRANDSON FRED.

FROM CATHY AT UQ : A letter written by Henry Kendall’s son Frederick Kendall. What was the mysterious weakness in Melinda ? A weakness more difficult than  “actual wickedness” .

CANADA OR AUSTRALIA - WHERE WOULD YOU PREFER TO RESEARCH ?

Over the last few months , we have had cause to contact the Canadian National Library and Archives and to order copies of documents. These documents are from the period 1812-1813. They have been retrieved and copied for us . Extra attention has been paid to achieving as high a quality duplication as possible.

In the first place, a Canadian researcher, Richard LeLievre ,for free found the actual reel nos and file nos having only been provided with the names PATRICK MCNALLY and CHAMBLY COURT MARTIAL and then simply for the photocopying and mailing fee which came to $4.90 US we received app 8 pages being facsimilies of original handwritten documents of 1812. We also were refunded the  difference between the $15 we had sent  and the $4.90 they charged. They also included a free page due to having made a slight error in reel nos.

Now we attempt to acquire MELINDA KENDALLS Intestate papers from our own State Records office and here is the essence of what we have been told: They tell us that they do not operate a copying service for the insolvency files. (This is on top of NSW BDMS who have had money of ours since early 2008 and who no longer copy originals leaving us only with transcriptions which are inaccurate and do not provide the details we need . e.g. on Melinda and Basil’s marriage certificate below - not the lack of signature by Melinda. These details are NOT on transcription) Back to STATE RECORDS - who do not offer copying service. The representative of State Records informs us that Insolvency files contain a lot of financial/accounting records.

We has assumed that that would be the case and indeed hoped it would be. That is in fact one of the things in which we are interested.

The writer of the email then recommends that we use the standard copy order form ( for the service they do not provide?) Here’s the bite in it. The standard copy flat fee is $25.00  That allows for copies to the value of $5.00. The one we seek has $15.30 worth of copies on the file so an additional $10.30 would “need to be added to the Standard Fee of $25″. So $35.30 it will cost. Hello Canada ! Can we come and live with you ?

We live app 1000 kilometres from said office and operate on PhD income which could lead to our own intestate condition developing.

WHERE WOULD YOU PREFER TO RESEARCH ?

Thank You Canada. It has been a pleasure dealing with you.

As for you Sydney. Think Again.

CANADIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html

LiveJournal Tags: CANADIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES,NSW STATE RECORDS OFFICE,INTESTATE PAPERS

MARY AND WILLIAM MCNALLY AND THEIR LAND GRANTS

According to Mrs Hamilton-Grey,or,as Izzy calls her Fotherington-Smythe , William and Mary received land grants at Bellambi. She claims that these are in some way associated with their being born in England. They are the eldest two children and as yet we haven’t found evidence of the grants nor of what they were associated with. Mrs HG speculates on the possibility of their being connected with the Military Service of their father Patrick. Other possibilities which have so far arisen are:

• THEY MIGHT BE THE CHILDREN OF A FORMER MARRIAGE OF JUDITH. E.G AS MCDERMOTT
• THEY COULD BE FAMILY GRANTS
• THIS MIGHT BE A COMMON OCCURRENCE. EG. IN THE CASE OF THE BELLS OF TWEED WHERE 2 SONS AND ONE SISTER RECEIVED GRANTS WHILE VERY YOUNG.

Below is an extract from BACK TO BELLAMBI AND CORRIMAL. 1980.  by SYD LONG. ( This is from a photocopy whose origins I do not know. Apologies right now if used without permission and appreciation to whoever passed it on to us )

In this article , it says that JAMES MARTIN was granted the 50 acres in 1830. James was the husband of Mary. If Mrs HGs facts are correct then James claims the land which was his wife’s, sells it and leaves her never to be seen again.  I shall add some of her writing which includes information gathered locally and from Elders of the Area.

IS THIS THE TIME AND PLACE MELINDA WRITES OF IN HER POEM: BELLAMBI’S LAKE?  The time when the McNallys have at least 100 acres of land in what is reputed to be a beautiful place. After servitude and criminal investigations - does the McNally family come here and stand before a future they cannot yet envision ?

 

BELLAMBI LINKS

• THE BELLAMBI LIGHT
• PLACE NAMES OF WOLLONGONG
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wollongong,_New_South_Wales

• Colina. Schooner, 54 tons.Timber carrier, operating out of Sealer’s Cove, Wilsons Promontory, 1840s, 1850s. Lost at the mouth of the Wagonga River, NSW, 1865. [LWP]
  In June 1853, capsized in a squall at Geelong, drowning a young lad of eleven (or perhaps fourteen). [WPP],[LC]
  In 1860, almost wrecked at Bellambi, NSW: SHIPWRECKS.

• http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Illawarra:Line.htm: RAILWAY STATIONS

MUSTERS AND CENSUSES AND ARCHIVES ! AAH !

NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL ARCHIVES - ARMIDALE.

THIS IS THE HERITAGE CENTRE. UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND. C.B. NEWLING CAMPUS. ARMIDALE NSW. 2351. TEL. 02 67736555

FROM THE FILES AT THE CLARENCE  HISTORY SOCIETY AND UNE REGIONAL ARCHIVES WE HAVE SOME MUSTER AND CENSUS DETAILS. Mr William Oates in Armidale brought us in from the cold of Armidale in Winter and introduced us to the Archives held there as well as explaining what he could and accessing files for us. William told us that Armidale and Grafton had a strange relationship. Finding a way from the New England down to the Clarence created an interesting dynamic then as it does today.  William took us upstairs to the Stack. It included a 15th century document found in a shearing shed on the New England. He wished us well on the Clarence and we had hoped to find ledgers or station books for Gordon Brook or Bushy Park which didn’t happen - YET. We were however able to access , in both towns , various papers , books and documents. Includijng the Musters and Census. McNally turned out to have even more spelling variants than we had so far considered. 

• 1814 MUSTER - JUDITH MCANNALLY, BROXBORNEBURY, 3 CHILDREN , WIFE OF P MCNALLY.

 

• 1822 MUSTER

 

MCINNALTY,PATRICK	TL	SURRY I	LIFE	COUNTY GAOL SYDNEY
MCNALTY, JUDITH	CF	BROXBORNEBURY	WIFE OF P MCNALTY	WINDSOR
MCNALTY, MARY  15	CF	BROX		WINDSOR
MCNALTY, WILLIAM  12	CF	BROX		WINDSOR
MCNALTY, ELIZA  10	CF	BROX		WINDSOR
MCNALTY, MATILDA 6	CF	BROX		WINDSOR
MCNALTY, SARAH 3	CF	BROX		WINDSOR

 

• 1823 MUSTER

MCNALTY, PATRICK ,	TL	SURRY I 1814	LIFE	GOVT SERVANT TO WIFE
MCNALTY, JUDITH	CF	BROXBORNEBURY 1814	HOUSEHOLDER	KENT ST SYDNEY
MCNALTY, MARY  17	BC		CHILD OF JUDITH	KENT STREET SYDNEY
MCNALTY, WILLIAM  15	BC		“	“
MCNALTY, ELIZA  12	BC		“	“
MCNALTY, MATILDA  9	BC		CHILD OF JUDITH SERVANT	WITH REV MR HILL
MCNALTY, SARAH  5	BC		“	KENT STREET SYDNEY
MCNALTY, JOHN  2	BC		“	KENT ST SYDNEY

 

• 1825 MUSTER ? MCANNALTY PATRICK EMPLYED BY UNDERWOOD SYDNEY ?

 

• 1828 CENSUS

MCKNALLY, PATRICK F45	GS	SURRY I 1814 L	C.	LABOURER	KENT ST SYDNEY
MCNALLY MARY 19	CF	BROX 1814	C	HOUSEKEEPER JAS MARTIN	KENT ST SYDNEY
MCNALLY MATILDA 11	BC		P	WITH REV HILL	CASTLEREAGH ST SYDNEY
MCNALLY WILLIAM 18	BC		C	AT PATRICK KEIGHRAN	AIRDS
MCNALTY 40	GS	SURRY I 1814 L	C	CARTER THOS BARKER	KENT ST SYDNEY

MELINDA BY BERTRAM STEVENS

” Mrs Kendall is always reputed wherever she has been well known , as more than ordinarily good-looking, clever and lively; that she took great interest in the education of her children, especially that of Henry and early saw the promise of his poetic gift, the boy clinging to her particularly though also very devoted to his father.

Mrs A H Hamilton-Grey says that Stevens and Holdsworth both knew that Henry Kendall considered it to be from his mother that he inherited his talent. That she helped in his education and encouraged him to write verses when he was of an age to make his first letters. Mrs H-G then uses the lines of Melinda’s poem to illustrate this.

HENRY KENDALL

(By his mother)

He was born at the foot of the mountain,

He was taught his first letters in sand;

His companions – mimosas and gum trees –

And the beautiful birds of the land.

To his ear the wild scream of the curlew

Was sweeter than sweetest of fruits;

And the silvery tinkling of bell birds,

More soothing than ladies’ fine lutes.

The despised aborigines loved him,

They partook of his dry crust of bread;

And he followed wherever they led him

Without fear, or peril, or dread

POEMS BY M.M AND ANON

FROM THE SYDNEY HERALD. 16 MAY 1831

In the Sydney Herald of 1831, a writer signing as M.M. appears with the following poems.

ORIGINAL POETRY

___________

FOR The Sydney Herald.

_________________

“Cupid on Bread and Water”

” Day by day he fed on the sighs and tears of Leonora, Sad Cheer ! but the food of the Heart not withstanding. “                                                                                ANON.

 

I.

I tell thee plain, my Stella dear,

That work like this will never do;

I loathe the good English beef and beer,

And fricasee and French ragout,

All cake and custard without you.

My night’s cherout, my noon’s rappee

Engender only spirits blue

Unlike the Spirit dwells in thee.

II

Thy form divine no more in view

‘Wildered no more by beauty’s eyes

I picture scenes Appeles drew

And quite forget corporeal ties

My craving soul her duty flies;

No Cossacks ranked in fell platoon,

Can force what recreant will denies,

And this I feel at night and noon.

III

‘Tis said the God that gives relief,

From love is blind,I own it true,

But what is more he must be deaf,

And worse than that is all speechless too,

I’ll vouch the truth, for when he threw,

His mantle o’er my sickening soul,

I deaf and blind and speechless grew,

Nor longed for daily food or bowl.

IV

A single tear from Stella’s eye

Will end the longest love disputes,

A tender glance or heaving sigh,

My heart prefers to richest fruits,

Such pleasing work my fancy suits,

A blameless task! thy lovers cry,

Who own thy gracious smile recruits

The hearts of better men than I.

 

V

Though doomed for life to dungeon vile

If Stella’s hand supplied the cheer,

On captives fare, I’d live and smile

At falsest Hope, and foulest Fear:

Let others shake the Head and sneer,

And pout to Hollow Heart or Brain,

I still maintain the sigh and tear

Are food for heart of loving swain.

M.M.

Barambah, April 1831.

 

 

We found the Sydney Herald in our quest for Melinda, while visiting Kati B in Bellingen. In the Cafe Bookshop,on a shelf at the very bottom under a large handwritten tome, we came across the SYDNEY HERALD of 1831. Rather over priced at $80 but we soon located an online bookshop and ordered our own . We know that Melinda was on the 1828 census as still being in the household of the Rev. Richard Hill, presumably as a servant . Some say she was there as a foster child and treated to the elegant upbringing of turning fine seams and writing pleasant verse, probably executing dainty watercolours at the same time - but the census entries specify SERVANT.  They also list her as being PROTESTANT (as was the good Reverend. Minister of St James Anglican Church in which he later did a perish from apoplexy). It seems more likely to this writer, that this child of a Roman Catholic Irish Convict was precisely what is states on the census - SERVANT. And fortunate not to have been running from the house with her skirts on fire from her work lighting the stoves and cleaning behind fireplaces. There is more than one account of that in the 1831 SYDNEY HERALD. By 1831, Melinda was 16-17 years old and 4 years from marrying Basil Kendall. What happened in these unseen years ? What was her life on the streets of Sydney ? She was till at least 1828 resident with the Hills in Castlereagh Street and her family, the McNallys were down in Kent Street near the Sussex Street Barkers Mill where Patrick appears to have been a Carter and where at least two of the Kendall lads were working as clerks.

What literary and social contacts did she have ?  What did she pass as she walked between her home and the Hills. Her sister Mary was working as Housekeeper to James Martin in Kent Street. The other children remained with their parents and were listed as Roman Catholic. Who was the young woman of the early 1830s ? Was she writing verse even then ? Did she have access to the poets and writers of the time ? In 1831, the Sydney Herald begins publication and accepts ORIGINAL POETRY. Who were these ORIGINAL POETS ?

I searched long and hard for Barambah - locating at first only Barambah, home of organic food and aboriginal community in Queensland and then a town in Sri lanka. Now I have found BARAMBAH STREET ROSEVILLE. The poem could well have been written on the Northern Shores of Sydney in 1831. Who was M.M. in Barambah ? L.

APPELES - GNOSTIC-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apelles_(gnostic)

KENDALL’S BOYHOOD : HUGH MCCRAE

We have an extract from MY FATHER AND MY FATHER’S FRIENDS by HUGH MCCRAE.  It adds another image of Melinda and her life.

Henry Clarence Kendall and his twin-brother Edward Basil were born on 18 April 1841(actually 1839) in the Ulladulla district of New South Wales. 

Ulladulla is a native name meaning SAFE HARBOUR.  It was a convict settlement, populated by timber-getters, old lags, bullock-drivers, aboriginals and so forth. A place to be remembered for its noise of whips and axes.

The Boys’ grandfather ( an ex-missionary, engaged in the cedar trade) was continually grasping for land;but as well as land he came by water,for he was drowned when his ship was lost at sea.

Basil,his sixth son, the father of Henry,had been a Man-of-war’s man, who saw service under Lord Cochrane in South America. He returned to Australia in 1840 (not likely) met Miss McNally at a party one night and married her next morning.

He is said to have had a good head for books but a bad one where wine was concerned. In any case he signed away his share of the paternal estate and thereafter  was compelled to work like a horse, merely to be able to live. At the end of six years, he descended into a bush grave, his harness still weighing upon him.

The poet’s mother seems to have been typically happy-go lucky; fond of reading the same literature as her husband, rather untidy and of not much use in the house. Indeed she was of such an irresponsible nature that her twin sons surprised her by bringing her to labour before she had even thought to make provision for a cradle.

So, an acquaintance , Jim Burkinshaw, became the hero of the day by chopping down a tree and without any wizard’s wand,turning it into a cot, instanter,  … a cot with spacce for Henry at the top end and for Edward at the other.

It is pleasant to imagine to imagine the careless, easygoing Mrs Kendall, seated in bed, surrounded by gossiping neighbours,quite co