Thursday, August 18, 2016

FFa Mary Ann Bradshaw daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Bradshaw

Mary Ann Bradshaw was the daughter of Elizabeth and Thomas Bradshaw, and she came to Australia with her mother on the convict ship "Hillsborough"  She was born 30th January 1797, so would have been only 2 years old during the journey.

She married on 24th March 1812 at St David's Hobart Town, to Charles Horan.  His name was often recorded as Horam, Horne or Houran, they lived at Back River New Norfolk.   Charles had a land grant next to Thomas Shone.   




Charles arrived in Australia in 1803 as a free man.  He was born in 1768.

One night in 1821, Robert Jillett and his sons, William and James were all charged with assault on
Charles Horne! 




They had one child, possibly  Edward Horne  b. 7th July 1813.  Tasmanian Archives also has it recorded as Edward Lorne, father Charles Lorne.  I guess it depended upon who could write!



Charles Horan was granted land in New Norfolk adjoining Thomas Shone's land.                                 

There are some interesting articles in the Hobart Press about both Charles Horan and Mary Horan.  In 1820 Charles was appointed as a constable in New Norfolk. 

On 29th April, 1826 he posted an advertisement, "I the undersigned, hereby caution the public against giving trust and credit to my wife, Mary Horan, on my account, she having left the home without any just cause or provocation, and any person found harbouring, concealing or maintain her after rhs notice will be dealt with for such offence as the law directs.

Then there are two articles in the Hobart newspapers of the day, one dated 26th January 1827, where a Peter Cleary is charged with cutting, with intent to murder, Mary Horan, formerly Gillett.  The prosecutrix, however, denied all knowledge of the statement she had made before the Magistrate, and behaved very improperly in Court, for which she was committed to gaol for one month.  The prisoner Cleary was found guilty of an assault only.  On this trial there was a great prevarication among the witnesses.



Then there is another article on 6th February 1827 where James Cleary was tried for stabbing Mary Horan on 31st July, with intention feloniously, willfully and maliciously aforth to kill and murder.  A second count charges him with assault.  He was found guilty on the second charge.

Mary Horan was committed to Launceston gaol for one month imprisonment for insolent language to the Judge and indecorous behaviour before the court.

Are these the same case?  Or are they different, did she get confused with the name of the stabber?  She landed in Launceston Gaol for this effort.

By 1837 Charles must have risen through the ranks of the Police force, as he is featured in Court proceedings, where he is recorded as questioning the witnesses, in a murder trial which occurred in New Norfolk

Charles was also the witness to Robert Jillett's will.


Charles died in 1864, in Bothwell.

Mary Ann died 2nd March 1842 in Hobart


Tuesday, August 16, 2016

A7 Elizabeth Bradshaw Leaving Norfolk Island 1808

How must Elizabeth have felt, getting rid of all her crops, and her had work, and then gathering her family and her livestock to make ready to go to yet another land?


One of the most difficult problems that Governor Collins had to face was the flood of settlers from Norfolk Island who were forced upon him at the worst possible time.

This was made worse still by the apparent ignorance in London of the supply of building material and stock that the Governor could put his hand on at a moment’s notice, when in fact there had been a famine in Tasmania in 1806 and a great shortage prevailed of screws, axes, nails and other implements required for building houses.



One of the most difficult problems that Governor Collins had to face was the flood of settlers from Norfolk Island who were forced upon him at the worst possible time.

This was made worse still by the apparent ignorance in London of the supply of building material and stock that the Governor could put his hand on at a moment’s notice, when in fact there had been a famine in Tasmania in 1806 and a great shortage prevailed of screws, axes, nails and other implements required for building houses.

The settlers and inhabitants from Norfolk Island were divided into three classes:

The first class consist of discharged marines and old servants of the Government who will be allowed food and clothing free of charge for two years, also four workmen rationed and clothed.  These are to have priority in everything.

The second class will be those who have been convicts but have earned complete freedon; they will be clothed and victualled and given two men to work for them for two years.

The third class covers all those islanders owning land or building but with no claims on the Government.  They will be clothed and fed from Governments stores for 12 months, with two men to help clear their grants of land in Van Diemen’s Land for the same period.

All classes are to be supplied with farm implements and other tools for use in cultivating the soild on their land.

Poor old Governor Collins had no idea how he could fulfil these conditions when he received the orders from Sydney.  Most of his men were old or feeble and some of them even the soldiers had been forced through lack of supplies to make their own clothing from the skins of kangaroos and possums.


In 1803 orders were given for the first group of Norfolk Islanders to be removed.  All moveable property belonging to these people, including their livestock, was to be taken at the cost of the Government, to any place they chose.

For every acre of cultivation they had left behind at Norfolk Island, four acres of land were to be granted them by Gov Collins, and two acres for any unimproved land they may possess.  They were also to receive free rations for them and their men.  Only enough people were to be left on Norfolk Island to grow maize and fatten the pigs.

Initially many of the islanders were happy to the terms, but as their crops were on the point of ripening they asked to leave after they had harvested the crops.  But then after having time to think the matter over, some of them objected strongly to being forced away from their tropical paradise, to the harsher conditions of Van Diemen’s Land.

The first Norfolk Islander to arrive at Hobart was George Guest, who came on the “Sydney” with Joseph Holt.  George brought with him his wife and six children and a flock of sheep.  Gov Bligh, when hearing of the arrival told Collins to by any of the sheep that he could for £2/2/- per head.  However many died during the voyage.

Two years later a stream of ships started bringing the Norfolkers in earnest.  The “Lady Nelson”, “Estromnia”, “City of Edinborough”, “Porpoise”, and “Buffalo” all brought their quota and Gov Collins was in despair.

It was easily seen that the Government would never be able to fulfil the promises that it initially gave as an enticement to come to Van Diemen’s Land.

Some of the islanders were billeted with the residents of Hobart Town, and some offered to waive all claims against the Government if Gov Collins would give them livestock equal in value to the homes they had left behind on Norfolk Island.

They were offered sheep and Bengal cows, instead of the houses, outhouses and barns they had been promised.  They required clothing and bedding, but there was none to be given.  Instead of 386 people expected, there were nearly 800, being the whole of the establishment from Norfolk not including the military.

Some of the characters had been described by Capt Piper, Commandant of Norfolk Island, as being “desperate characters”.   (Robert Jillett was one such person)

Collins also had to contend with the antics of Governor Bligh.  Bligh was certainly a shifty character, and it was not uncommon for him to just take whatever he wanted from the new settlers.
He took command of the “Porpoise” and moored it midsteam.  He loaded its guns, and ordered all
passing craft to come close enough for inspection.  Later the vessel was moved downstream
towards Sandy Bay where the Norfolkers and others smuggled fresh meat and vegetables on
board against orders.

Eighteen of the Norfolk Islanders expressed their support for Bligh, and there was a seething
unrest in the community.
At one stage Bligh ordered the ship’s guns to open fire on passing craft, but the balls were
fired high and while damage was done no lives were lost.

Collins prohibited all communication between the ship and the shore, and finally Bligh moved
the boat down channel to a commanding position at the mouth of the Derwent near Bruny Island.


  Here he behaved like any other pirate, robbing passing ships at gun point and taking supplies
intended for the settlement at Hobart Town.  Many of the settlers risking Collins’ wrath drove
their sheep and cattle to a point where they could be slaughtered for supplies to the Porpoise. 






Elizabeth and her family were on the Lady Nelson and left for Tasmania in 1808.

The Norfolk Island Evacuation List of 1808/1808 shows:

Elizabeth Bradshaw   Norfolk Settler,  3rd Class, 5 children
   15 1/2 acres cleared, 68 1/2 acres not cleared
   House (Maten boaded) & Flaxed  17 x 11  Outhouse thatch & logs   Value  £8

3rd Embarkation for VDL Lady Nelson  14th February 1808

         2 Male and 28 female sheep
        17 Male, 2 female sheep, 1.2 grown   Value  £59
        11 acres maize



Elizabeth was a remarkable woman.  The trip on the Lady Nelson, with her 6 children and the farm animals must have seemed like a bit of a breeze from her first voyage to Australia aboard the "Hillsborough".

Just consider for a moment how difficult it must have been just to board the ship.  There was no jetty, no wharf, nothing except the row boats. 

Many ships had perished just a few metres from the coastline.  The most famous among them the ss "Sirius", in 1790, before Elizabeth's time on the island, but which she would have been familiar.  The Sirius went down in 1790, with the island losing all its supplies.



 Today there is a very interesting museum on Norfolk Island, called the Sirius Museum.  It stands in an old Church building at Kingston, and should not be missed.











Unloading and loading of ships at Norfolk Island is done exactly the same way as it was in 1789, as these photos will show.




The men who man the boats are residents.  When a ship comes in they down tools at whatever job they are doing and all come to the wharf to assist in the unloading of the Supply ships.  When these photos were taken the sea was calm.  Can you imagine the dangers of this work when the large swells are rolling?

To launch a fishing boat, they have implements on the inside of the boat, which are hooked onto the crane on the jetty.  Within seconds the boat is out, or in!

The boats are called "lighters". This day there were about 3 sets working the unloading. The front vessel tows the rear boat which is stacked full of pallets.  These are then lifted onto the shore by the crane, and taken by a fleet of trucks.









Robert and Elizabeth and 5 children sailed into Hobart from Norfolk Island on the Lady Nelson in 1808.




One cannot imagine what that must have been like for the family, their possessions, and their sheep and pigs!
Replica of Lady Nelson in Hobart


On April 4, 1812, Robert Jillett and Elizabeth Bradshaw were married by the Reverend Robert Knopwood at St. David's.  Now back then the Church was but a shack, built above the tome of Governor Collins, and which blew down in a storm in 1812.  

  From their marriage certificate, it appears both could write, although often Robert was known as Gillett, or Jillet.       







(Robert indicates on his marriage certificate that he is a widower.  In fact as there was no chance of a convict ever getting back to England to his wife, then on Norfolk Island and in Sydney the Commandants looked on the marriages as dissolved, and the convicts were allowed to live together or to take another partner and on both Norfolk Island and in Sydney there were so few
women that many lived together so the authorities preferred co-habitation (or jumping over the broomstick) for a man and woman, rather than the man to live as a homosexual.  In fact the Government even sent a shipload of women not long after the first settlement, purely to provide comforts to the male prisoners and to populate the Colony.  One such ship was known as the
"Floating Brothel".)


The first child to be born after their marriage was Robert.  He was baptised on 15th November, 1812.   
                              

On 31st January, 1814 a CONDITIONAL PARDON No 323 was sent by the ship ACTIVE and arrived in the River Derwent on 22nd March 1814.  It had been sent to B.L.Desrory.











Charlotte Jillett was born 25th August 1815, and she was baptised St David's Cathedral on 15th September 1815.

Two sons followed, Thomas in 1817 and John in 1819.

With her marriage to Robert assured, the life of Elizabeth seemed to take a backward step. Here she was a battler, a business person in her own right, a free settler, and by marriage he was able to lay claim to all her property.  Wonder who was the smart one in that relationship?




   






A5 Arrival Norfolk Island 1803 The Buffalo - Elizabeth Bradshaw's Lands

Elizabeth Bradshaw on Norfolk Island.  1803

After selling all the goods, Elizabeth and her family joined Robert on the HMS Buffalo to Norfolk Island.




The HMS Buffalo which sailed from Port Jackson 21 April 1803 arriving Norfolk Is 9 May 1803 under the command of master Wm. Kent.

Sydney Gazette, 2 April 1803:


On Saturday the 16th Instant and two following days a number of prisoners convicted of misdemeanors, were shipped on board the Buffalo for Norfolk Island. Robert Jillet was also put on board, with Hailey, implicated in the same offence, and several of the Store Attendants, whose conduct had been such as to render them suspected. Several persons were permitted to go at their own request, some to accompany their husbands, and others from a desire of a change of air.

SHIP NEWS: Sailed on Thursday last for Norfolk Island and from thence to proceed for the Moluccas and Calcutta, His Majesty’s Ship Buffalo, Capt. W. Kent, Commander.
Passenger list - Women are listed by the maiden name
* died on Norfolk Island
Ashman, Susannah    Earl Cornwallis 1801    Convict
Barnes, Hannah (Mrs)    Royal Admiral 1800    Came Free - Soldier’s wife
Barnes, Richard    Born in the Colony
Barnes, Richard    Sergeant - NSW Corps
Barnes, William    Born in the Colony
Bradshaw, Elizabeth    Hillsborough 1799    Free -  wife of Convict
Bradshaw, James    Born in the Colony
Bradshaw, Mary    Hillsborough 1799 Child - Born England
Bradshaw, William   Born in the Colony
David, Catherine    Minerva 1800   Came Free - Soldier’s wife
Davis, Evan     Minerva 1800   Private - NSW Corps
Frost, Mary    Neptune 1790    Buffalo May 1803    Convict
Grey, William    Born in the Colony
Hailey, James    Convict
How, Mary    Minerva 1800  Came Free - Soldier’s wife
Jillett, Robert    Hillsborough 1799     Convict
Jones, John    Glatton  1803     Convict  *
Peck, Joshua    Scarborough - 1788    Convict
Peck, William    Born in the Colony - Norfolk Island
Peck, Elizabeth    Born in the Colony
Peck, Mary Ann  Born in the Colony
Peck, Jane    Born in the Colony
Peck, Thomas    Born in the Colony
Peck, John    Born in the Colony
Spears, William    Earl Cornwallis 1801    NSW Corps
Stokes, Elizabeth    HMS Glatton 1803    Convict
Vine, Thomas    Coromandel 1802    Convict   *
Warwick, James    Matilda  1791    Convict


Many of these people are featured in Rev. Henry Fulton’s Baptism, Burial and Marriage records of 1801 - 1806 on Norfolk Island - More details






Research has indicated that Elizabeth Bradshaw (Creamer) may have been the first "free" woman settler to transact land on the First Fleet Settlement at Norfolk Island.

Elizabeth came to Botany Bay as a "free" settler on the "Hillsborough", with her convict husband, Thomas and her 2 year old daughter Mary Ann.

Accounts of life aboard the Hillsborough give an insight as to just how difficult the conditions were especially for the 6 free women who were among the 300 male convicts and crew.

Perhaps this was an event that shaped Elizabeth as to the person she became.

During the First Fleet Settlement on Norfolk Island the ladies who had land recorded in their names, were the partners, spouses and children of the Military.

None were "free" settlers in the form that Elizabeth was.

                        


Elizabeth and her partner, Robert Jillett (Gillett/Thomas Elston) and three children travelled to Norfolk Island aboard the ss "Buffalo" in May 1803, from Sydney.

By that time the colony had been established for quite some years, and the lands had been surveyed by Chapman in 1796.

Elizabeth bought her first allotment on Norfolk Island, known as Lot 42. This land is high and is bordered by a creek.  It has been cleared but is still full of overgrown undergrowth.  The land looks out onto Cascade Bay.


    




She owned Lot 42, which encompassed 60 acres.     

The history of the dealings of Lot 42 is as follows from other researchers:-


*   Granted to Owen Cavanagh, a seaman from the Sirius arriving on Norfolk Island 6th March 1788. The rent was 1/- a year after 5 years from 16th May 1791.
*  Sold to Robert Leggatt, convict who arrived in the Colony 23rd April 1792  (He left December 1805)   


*  Sold to William N Chapman, convict arrived on Earl Cornwallis prior to 1802 (Left  after Febr 1805)  


(This information seems to be incorrect in fact William Neate Chapman was included in the First Fleet as a friend of Governor Arthur Phililip.  He subsequently went to Norfolk Island with King in 1791.

He was appointed a storekeeper at Phillipsburg, (Cascade) and later surveyed the island.
    
*  Sold to William Dempsey a 1st Fleet Marine,   (left 26 December 1807)        
*  Sold to Elizabeth Bradshaw  
*  Sold 31st August 1802 to Thomas Chaffey convict  for 43 pounds arrived on Scarborough 7th August                                                        1790 left 26th Dec 1807) 


* (Records of the land dealings may be incorrect as Elizabeth probably purchased the land after she arrived in 1803)



Lot 52, which encompasses 60 acres












     

*  Granted to Charles Heritage, a 1st Fleet Marine  (left 26 October 1793)                                                                                                     
*  Sold to Thomas Restil Crowder, convict who arrived on Alexander, 2nd March 1789   (left 26 Dec 1807)                                                                                                                                                            

Another land purchase

Lot 52, which encompasses 60 acres.      

The researched history of the lot includes:    

*  Granted to Charles Herritage, a 1st Fleet Marine  (left 26 October 1793)                                                                                                        
*  Sold to Thomas Restil Crowder, convict who arrived on Alexander, 2nd March 1789   (left 26 Dec 1807)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
*  Sold 30 acres on 1 Mar 1799 for 35 pounds to John Bentley convict arrived Neptune 23 April 1792      left 15 May 1808                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
*  Sold on 26 July 1803 with stock to Elizabeth Bradshaw      (left 1808)                                      
*   Sold 14 ½ acres on 4th July 1804 to William Dempsey          



Recent research at Norfolk Island reveals that Lot 52, a beautiful allotment, in the centre of the Burnt Pine Township was previously owned by Nathanial Lucas.

                                                                                                    

So Lot 52 had been subdivided in 1799 with only 30 acres of the original grant available.

Of that 30 acres Elizabeth sold 14.5 acres to William Dempsey leaving her with 15 ½ acres.    

She must have had another holding of 68.5 acres which has not been sourced.  


The land once again has a creek running through, and for those visitors to Norfolk Island, stroll down the cul-de-sac at the Village past the media shop and follow the driveway.

Later in 1804 Elizabeth was the only female landowner to sign a petition to Captain Piper regarding the closure of the settlement.


Her last block was supurb  Lot 91  Going into lot 91 she owned the whole street to the clifftop overlooking the ocean. Beautiful land any wonder they objected to being sent to Tasmania


None on this one it is all house lots. All the land was resurveyed when the Pitcairns came, and i think they were all 20 acre blocks then. Sam farms on Lot 91


Behind the pink bushes is lot 91






We had dinner on Elizabeth Bradshaw's lot 91, what a beautiful bit of land she chose. 

Elizabeth almost immediately bought land on Norfolk Island as John Bentley who purchased 30 - 60 acres of land at Norfolk Island from Thomas Crowder in 1799; this land subsequently sold by Bentley to Elizabeth Bradshaw in July 1803. 

This land of Lot 52, is located in the middle of Norfolk Island, original granted to Charles Herritage (arrived Norfolk Island, Supply 1788 left October 1793), and owned by Nathaniel Lucas in 1796, of which 14 and a half acres were subsequently sold to William Dempsey by Elizabeth Bradshaw in January 1804.

 On 31 August 1803, Elizabeth Bradshaw sold sixty acres of land at Norfolk Island to Thomas Chaffey, in trust for his son Zachariah. - SRNSW Colonial Secretary's Papers 1788-1828, Fiche 3267; 9/2731 p.77 and Fiche 3267; 9/2731 p.81.



Elizabeth Bradshaw's signature on a petition




The following is a list of all the land holders as at 1796              Thanks to Researcher Sue Collins





The names of the people who were granted lands on Norfolk, are intertwined many times in this website.  Many married into or are related to members of the Jillett/Bradshaw family.  The lands were granted to the officers and the convicts.

Elizabeth Bradshaw purchased her land, and it is quite possible that she was the first Woman to enter into a Real Estate Transaction for lands on Norfolk Island.  In the list below Ann Harper is shown as getting a land grant.

Ann married Jacob Billet (Bellett) in 1791.  She was a First Fleet convict sentenced to 7 years transportation, and by the time she was transferred to Norfolk Island she had served her sentence thus allowing her to be granted land.






1
60
Daniel Stanfield
2
60
Daniel Stanfield
3
24
Edward Westlake
4
60
John Beresford
5
20
not able to be read
6
60
Thomas Fisk
7
60
John Owles
8
55
William Thompson
9
17
William Thompson
10
60
Stephen Martin
11
60
William Dempsey
12
60
James Sheers
13
60
Samuel King
14
15
not able to be read
15
10
Luke Normington
16
60
John Munday
17
60
John Munday
18
12
John Murphy
19
12
Richard Brown
20
12
William Blunt
21
12
Stephen Martin
22
12
Edward Risby
23
60
Richard Slaney
24
60
William Moulton
25
12
Jacob Billet
26
12
Thomas R Crowder
27
14
Thomas R Crowder
28
14
Thomas R Crowder
29
12
Edward Garth
30
10
John Mortimer
31
10
John Rice
32
10
Noah Mortimer
33
15
Nathaniel Lucas
34
12
Henry Hathaway
35
12
John Hall
36
10
Richard Phillimore
37
39
Ann Harper wife of Jacob Billet
38
10
John Dodding
39
10
John Anderson
40
60
Richard Brown
41
60
George Plyer
42
60
Zachariah Sponsford
43
60
Matthew Wood
44
60
Robert Stephens
45
60
William Hambly
46
60
William Mitchell
47
60
Thomas Sherwin
48
60
Alexander Hand
49
60
Thomas R Crowder
50
12
Thomas Eddington

51
54
Joseph Trimby
52
60
Nathl Lucas
53
60
James Proctor
54
60
Peter Hibbs
55
33
John Cross
56
10
George Whitacre
57
20
James Morrisby
58
12
John Read
59
12
Thomas Eddington
60
12
Edward Kimberly
61
24
James Morrisby
62
12
Aaron Davis
63
60
Thomas Clarke
64
60
Andrew Goodwin
65
30
John Best
66
60
William Collins
67
60
Edward Kimberly
68
12
Samuel Hussey
69
60
Thomas Williams
70
60
Thomas Williams
71
60
John McCarthy
72
60
Thomas Gregory
73
16
James Reilly
74
60
Thomas Hibbins
75
60
Thomas Hibbins
76
12
James Bryan Cullen
77
12
James Bryan Cullen
78
60
John Folley
79
60
Henry Hathaway
80
10
Richard Morgan
81
10
Humphry Lynch
82
10
John Boyle
83
60
Henry Hathaway
84
22
Martin Colls
85
15
Fane Edge
86
60
Thomas O'Brien
87
15
Mitch Nowland
88
66
D'Arcy Wentworth
89
20
Edward Garth
90
12
Thomas Dixon
91
10
Thomas Dixon
92
Not listed
93
40
James Garth
94
34
William Shirbird
95
Not listed
96
Not listed
97
Not listed
98
9
Jasper Harris
99
50
Norfolk King (son of Gov King and Ann
Innett born 1789) He was only 7!
100
50
John Townson


101
34
William Blackall
102
60
Thomas Lucas
103
45
Henry Girdler
104
24.5
William Moulten
105
35.5
James Chamm
106
10
Thomas Eccles
107
31.5
John Triffett
108
5
Joseph Hall
109
19
John Brabyn
110
37
John Drummond
111
23
James B Cullen
112
41
James Redman
113
9.25
William N Chapman
114
34
James Jamison
115
15
Robert Jones
116
7.25
William Rayner





















John Piper  

by Marjorie Barnard

This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, (MUP), 1967
John Piper (1773-1851), military officer, public servant and landowner, was born on 20 April 1773 at Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Hugh Piper, a doctor. The Pipers were in the main an army family, and Scots only by adoption, having come from Cornwall and before that from Germany. Through the influence of his uncle, Captain John Piper, young John received a commission as ensign in the newly formed New South Wales Corps in April 1791, as his younger brother Hugh was to do in 1799.

John sailed in the Pitt and arrived in Sydney in February 1792 when the infant settlement was still fighting for its life in the face of starvation. Piper was an immediate social success and became a close family friend of John Macarthur.
In 1793 at his own request he was sent on duty to the even more primitive settlement at Norfolk Island, possibly because of an entanglement from which his more discreet friends were anxious to rescue him. While he was away they looked after his interests and secured him a land grant of 110 acres (45 ha) at Parramatta. On the island he received a liberal education in those savage military quarrels which beset the early days of the colony.

In 1795 Piper was promoted lieutenant and returned to the mainland. From 1797 to 1799 he was away on leave. In 1800 he was given the local rank of captain. In the struggle between the corps and Governor Philip Gidley King, of which Macarthur was the ringleader, Piper stood with his friend, and in September 1801 acted as his second in a duel with Colonel William Paterson, his commanding officer. King arrested both Macarthur and Piper, but decided that Piper could be dealt with locally. At his court martial in 1802 he apologized and was acquitted, much to King's disgust.

In 1804 he was again detailed for duty on Norfolk Island. It was fortunate for Piper that he spent the next six years on the island and so was thrown clear of the troubles on the mainland, notably the Rum Rebellion. In September 1804 Lieutenant-Governor Joseph Foveaux left on prolonged sick leave and Piper became acting commandant, with the inadequate extra allowance of 5s. a day. His rule was mild. As one of his charges, Joseph Holt, declared, 'the new Governor had the good will and respect of everyone, for he had always conducted himself as a Christian and a gentleman'. He was promoted to the full rank of captain in November 1806.

By this time Norfolk Island had become an expense rather than an asset, and the British government was planning to close down the settlement and transfer its inhabitants to the mainland or Van Diemen's Land. The duty of beginning to carry out the frequently altered instructions fell to Piper and in it he appears to have exhibited both tact and organizing ability.

In 1810 he returned to Sydney. It is probable that on Norfolk Island he met Mary Ann Shears, the 15-year-old daughter of a convict, and formed an attachment to her that lasted throughout his life. When he sailed for Britain on leave in September 1811 he took her with him, as well as their two little boys, and Sarah, the child of an earlier liaison. He faced a problem connected with both his family and his career, but he preferred Mary Ann and New South Wales to his regiment. Whereas his brother Hugh, now a captain, left the colony with his regiment to continue his army career, John resigned his commission and decided to seek civilian employment in the colony. In 1813 he was appointed Naval Officer in Sydney and arrived back in February 1814. On 10 February 1816 he married Mary Ann, by special licence. She had borne him two more sons while they were away and in due course they had nine more.

His duties included the collection of customs duties, excise on spirits and harbour dues, control of lighthouses and work which is now the province of the water police. The post was very much to Piper's taste and proved very remunerative: with a percentage on all monies collected, his income from it rose to more than £4000 a year.

He bought the property now known as Vaucluse House. In 1816 he was granted 190 acres (77 ha) of land on Eliza Point, now Point Piper, for the site of his official residence. Here he built Henrietta Villa (also called the Naval Pavilion) at the cost of £10,000 and furnished it in the most luxurious style. It was completed in 1822 and became the scene of many sumptuous entertainments.