Joseph Douglass 1782-1865: First Settler at Kurrajong Heights NSW

http://members.pcug.org.au/~pdownes/douglass/index.htm 

A family genealogy site with background for the 1815 period in NSW and some beautiful images.

MELINDA KENDALL : HER LIFE AND WRITINGS

BASIL KENDALL’S COURT CASE

FROM CATHY AT UQ , WE have the information below regarding Basil and his Crime.

LETTERS HOME FROM THE COLONY OF NSW

 

FROM A BRITISH NEWSPAPER OF THE 1820s : a period during which Melinda lived first with her family in the Hawkesbury Region and then in Rev Richard Hill’s household in Castlereagh Street, Sydney.

 

MELINDA KENDALL : HER LIFE AND WRITINGS

OLD BRITISH NEWSPAPERS 19TH CENTURY

FOR THE WEEK JULY 4-11 - I AM LOCKED AWAY LOOKING AT OLD BRITISH NEWSPAPERS ONLINE. AND WRITING ON THE NELLIBELL49 BLOG.

 

http://nellibell49.wordpress.com/

 

SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIAN GENEALOGISTS HAS PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A LOOK AT GALE CENGAGE LEARNING’S  OLD UK NEWSPAPER FILES AND I AM TAKING THAT OPPORTUNITY. http://www.sag.org.au/ http://find.galegroup.com/

 

Flickr Tags: SCOTLAND,NEWSPAPERS,HISTORY,ENGLAND,SUTHERLAND SHIRE,BELLS,READYS. DEVON,IRELAND,SURREY,SANDERS,JULLIAN,KENDALL FAMILY,MELINDA KENDALL,ROSCOMMON,CANADA,MONTREAL,100 REGIMENT,CHAMBLY,GRAFTON.ILLAWARRA,SYDNEY STREETS 19TH CENTURY,POETRY,MCNALLY,MCDERMOTT

PHTHISIS

In the 19th century - as it is still in the 21st century - there were some most unpleasant ways to ” do a perish” . Phthisis being one of them. Basil E died from it along with Basil the father and many others. Heres a homeopathic viewpoint from the 1880s

http://www.homeoint.org/hompath/articles/147.html

THE TREATMENT OF PHTHISIS [Treatment Of Pthisis]

Transactions Of World Congress Of Homoeopathic Physicians & Surgeons By Pemberton Dudley

Volume: 1893 May / June ( Melinda died in jan 1893)

KENDALL’S MILL CAMPBELLTOWN

KENDALL’S MILL CAMPBELLTOWN HERITAGE WALK

Marjorie Kendall suggests that Judith McNally died in Campbelltown. The only connection we have found so far with Campbelltown is with Lawrence Kendall’s Mill. Patrick was a carter at Barker’s Mill in Sussex Street and Lawrence was apprenticed there as a clerk. Lawrence was brother to Basil Kendall. So far we have not found evidence of Judith’s Death or Burial. It does seem likely possible that Patrick was working at the Mill.

Here are some articles relating to Kendall’s Mill Campbelltown.

• “Fisher’s Ghost Restaurant” or “Kendall’s Mill
  House”
  No. 316 Queen Street, Pt. Por. 33 Parish
  of St Peter DP 77280, Campbelltown.

• Historic Precinct
  Opposite Big Rooster, at 320 Queen St, is the Campbelltown Art and Craft Society. This building was licensed as the Farrier’s Arms Inn in 1843 and was owned by blacksmith Edward Fitzgerald. Some sources claim the building was originally a grog shop dating back to 1826. It is certain that it was in existence by 1840.

  Next door is Kendall’s Millhouse, now Fisher’s Ghost Restaurant. It was erected adjacent Campbelltown’s first steam-driven flour mill in 1844. Both were built by the uncle of noted 19th-century poet Henry Kendall. The mill closed in the 1880s.

  Virtually opposite is the Campbelltown Community Centre, originally a produce store and bakery dating back to 1853.

  Walk up Queen St to the mall. At number 315 is the old town hall, located on the site of George Worrall’s farm. The building was constructed around the old Temperance Hall (built either in 1862 or 1882 depending on which source one accepts) which the newly-formed municipal council bought, adding the facade and front offices in 1892, the year they also took over the newly-built fire station next door, now incorporated into the structure. These buildings are now used by the Campbelltown Theatre Group.

• Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage: The Macquarie Cinema, Corner Queen and Browne Streets, Campbelltown 1920s - 1979
  • By John Daley
    October 1967
    Copyright © 2005 Campelltown & Airds Historical Society Inc. All rights reserved.
    (published in “Grist Mills” Vol. 1 Nos 1 & 2, Nov 1982 & Feb 1983)
    The building material of the cinema is also of interest. By one unconfirmed account, Dr Mawson had a pile of surplus sandstock bricks left over from the demolition of the former Kendall’s mill (circa 1844). Having this surplus stock, he decided to use them up in a cinema building. Why he chose a cinema is not presently recorded .
• http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Fwww2.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au%252FLocalHist%252Fscripts%252FExtSearch.asp%253FSearchTerm%253D002997

MORE ABOUT MELINDA FROM MRS A H HAMILTON-GREY

It is a little concerning that one of the most prolific writers on Henry Kendall and his life is Mrs A H Hamilton-Grey - a phrenologist. Extracts from her work were waiting for us when we returned from the Clarence - courtesy T.G. on the Illawarra. She might well have some factual data and has a flourishing way with words  - but the disconcerting aspects of her flowery language and odd turn of thought have left me CAUTIOUS whilst wishing to adopt the more appealing elements.

There are some descriptions of Melinda and her family - which appeal to me. I shall include some examples simply because they exist and will precede them with some links to sites which refer to this hyphenated lady. Keep in mind that she had not met any of the characters about whom she wrote. Nor is she likely to have had any idea of some of the details such as the weather on the day that Melinda gave birth to her twin sons.

• http://skepdic.com/phren.html
• http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-18814_ITM
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-103121850.html
• http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6937414_ITM

• Not far from the ” Levy” fountain, rest a moment on the Henry Kendall Memorial
  Seat. The winged horses, carved by L Bicego, were completed in 1940. The
  seat was erected through the bequest of Mrs Hamilton Grey, an admirer of
  Kendall’s poetry.

 

VIEWS OF MELINDA FROM MRS AH.

THE BIRTH OF THE TWINS - HENRY AND BASIL E APRIL 18 1839 ILLAWARRA. The Kendalls were then living at Kirmington on Kendall land.

“Mother Nature gave her child - Nature’s Child- her sweetest welcome.

But preparations for the reception of the twins were not so perfect in other directions.”

Here she refers to the lack of cradle as did McCrae. Mrs AH describes Melinda on receiving the crib from the ” good-hearted bushmen”.

” Mrs Basil, a very vivacious and somewhat romantic young woman , was delighted and declared it the most beautiful cradle one could possibly have. “

“Mr and Mrs Basil Kendall’s family was increased while at Kirmington by several daughters. Two at least were born there - and may be the third.”

“When first married Mrs Basil is said to have been a handsome woman and lively in disposition. She was always good-natured, warm-hearted and very social; and as a rule she gained the good-will of those who really knew her. But it is said that she was not a clever housewife and had not the gift so desirable in a woman of limited means of making the home comfortable.”

” Life for adults, at best, especially for Mrs Kendall who was well-educated and intellectual must have been hard and rough in ‘those wilds’. Ulladulla District being a convict settlement it was a brave woman who faced it and all its inconveniences.”

“Mrs basil was an ardently loving wife and a warmly affectionate mother. She found her companionship in her own little home with husband and children, her special pride being her twin boys”

“He (Henry) always acknowledged her as favouring his poetic trend of mind though, with the exception of P J Holdsworth and later on Mr Bertram Stevens, those who have written of Kendall have always ignored the fact. She is said at one time to have written and published a small volume of verses which were very good but had not a large circulation, few volumes being printed. “

 

 

KENDALLS IN GRAFTON ACCORDING TO BAWDEN

LiveJournal Tags: CLARENCE RIVER HISTORY,KENDALL FAMILY,BASIL KENDALL,BAWDEN

 

 

One book which we purchased from the Clarence History Society is the Bawden Series of Lectures with accompanying notes by C.C.LAW. T. Bawden delivered these lectures on the FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF SETTLEMENT IN THE CLARENCE DISTRICT at the GRAFTON SCHOOL OF ARTS IN June 1886, July 1886 AND August 1888. Mr Bawden came to the Clarence in one of the very first overland parties as a 9 year old boy travelling with his family.

As with most research into Melinda and her family, there are conflicting stories and mysteries. As we hunted for Basil’s grave , we had several accounts of the Kendall period on the Clarence. Basil was arrested for some dodgy dealings with a cheque and his brother-in-law’s name. The Marjorie Kendall book “KISSIN COUSINS” says that Basil presented this cheque on Dec 15,1847. When it was declared to be a forgery ( the signature was in the name of THOMAS WHEATON BOWDEN who was married to Sister Susannah and was declared bankrupt earlier in the year of 1847) a warrant was issued on Dec 23 1847 and Basil was arrested in his home on Christmas Eve and sentenced early in 1848 to two years in Parramatta Gaol.

Did he actually serve this time in Parramatta ? Were convicted criminals still assigned as servants in this time ? Might Basil have been sent with Dobie as such ?

On Page 105 Of BAWDEN’S LECTURES with notes by CC LAW , Mr Bawden says( THIS  being the only first hand report we have of this period at this time );

It was at Gordon Brook that I first knew the poet Kendall. Mr and Mrs Kendall were engaged by Dr Dobie in Sydney to take charge of a sheep station and two flocks of sheep.  One of these flocks was tended by the poet Henry Kendall and his twin brother Basil who was also animated to a slight extent with the poetic fire. After living 12 months at Gordon Brook, the Kendall family left and came to Grafton where Mr Kendall kept a school for some years up to the time of his death. His remains lie in the Old Cemetery at South Grafton. From his time of leaving Gordon Brook, I saw no more of Henry Kendall until some years afterwards he came to Grafton as a clerk in the office of that extraordinary man JAMES MICHAEL LIONEL.

 

http://www.clarencehistory.org.au/

MORE CLARENCE SCATTERINGS

 

SCHAEFFER HOUSE GRAFTON.    

Back as we are from the Clarence, Izzy is out on the front porch with Mac laptop open and papers covering the round table. It rained heavily for the 2 days we were in Grafton and we were accommodated in a small caravan. That all added nicely to the explorative atmosphere. 

Some of the areas on which we were seeking elucidation were:

• Location of Basil Kendall’s grave
• Location of GordonBrook, Bushy Park and Rose Valley - the three properties on which the Kendalls lived whilst on Clarence.
• The route taken by the Kendalls to reach the Big River Settlement
• Details of the Kendalls’ lives in this period
• Exact dates
• The events following the death of Basil.

HUT ON RUSHFORTH ROAD NEAR POLEY  BRIDGE ON THE ORARA RIVER

Some of the details which came to light were:

• Rose Valley was a sheep run of James Aitken - owner of Bushy Park. It was on RUSHFORTH ROAD - the very road which we were directed to by ‘chance’ in the Clarence Historical Society rooms.
• The first Presyterian Minister on the Clarence was John Gibson who arrived in 1851 - taking up residence in what was Durno’s Hotel.

SEEKING THE LONELY GRAVE DEEP IN THE FOREST

Now bear with us as we try to weave them into a Clarentian tapestry and determine some more of the missing threads.

Still known to be eluding us are:

• The means by which Melinda and Family arrived in and departed from the Clarence.
• Basil’s precise status on the 3 properties
• Where did Basil serve his 2 year sentence ?

GRAFTON