Matthew Bowden and Maria Sargeant
All Is Not As It Seems
In Defence of Maria
The Surgeon and his
Chosen Lady
Researching family history brings
forward many different perspectives on the past life on one's ancestors. Often, their lives become the subject of many
books and articles, often written with the almighty dollar in mind. How better to portray a person, than to contrive
a situation that in effect is so far from the truth, that people then believe
it.
These seems also to be the case
with Maria Stanfield. She was someone's
daughter, mother, and sibling. She
should not become fodder for hungry journalists. All the women who travelled half way around
the world did so for a reason. For some
it was to accompany their "convict" husbands, for others it was what
went with the territory as the wife of a Military person, some came in chains,
unwillingly, leaving their loved ones behind.
But everyone seems to have a reason, except Maria!!!
As one of the original settlers in Van Diemen's Land, the relationship
with Surgeon Matthew Bowden and Maria Stanfield resulted in many descendants
who have married into different branches of the Jillett/Bradshaw Family Tree.
While the relationship may have been unorthodox in the early days of
Hobart, none know of the reasons why.
However, their beginnings were no different to almost all who arrived
almost 215 years ago.
Matthew was the surgeon. He had been an Ensign in the Military,
joining in 1798.
He rose significantly in the ranks, to then be the Assistant Surgeon
then the Surgeon.
Matthew was attending Governor David Collins in 1810 when he died
suddenly. He tried to save him, but was
unsuccessful. Then 4 years later, Matthew himself died.
His death in 1814, was a shock to
all in the Colony. The Rev Knopwood
wrote of it, and that can be read in his diaries either in the Mitchell Library
or Tasmanian Library.
Shortly before his death, another Surgeon died, thus Matthew was
promoted. Then his assistant also
died. From the pattern, it may be that
they contracted diseases from those they were treating.
His parents were John Bowden and Elizabeth Bee, they married at Houghton-le-Spring. Matthew's property at Glenorchy was named
Houghton.
It is
likely that Matthew's family had links with the Military. He had a brother John Bowden who was Lost at
Sea, in 1814. His family were living at
Houghton-le-Spring, near Durham, in Newcastle in UK. The area had a long association with coal
mining.
Limestone quarrying has long been an important industry at Houghton but until the early 1980s the town’s most recent industrial history was dominated by coal. It was in the 19th century that Houghton became a significant colliery district. This followed the opening of Houghton Colliery (1823-1981) which was one of the first collieries to mine the coal that lay beneath the magnesium limestone of eastern Durham, where it was previously thought that wasn’t any coal.
There is a mining museum at Durham which has details about the many coal
mines that operated.
One of those mines was Bowden Close Colliery.
Bowden House was once called the
Jerry Pub it was commonly known as a miner's pub. It served the
Helmington Row and Bowden communities for many years. Story has it that
when the coal mine was flourishing , the pitmen would walk up the field during
their break and fill their tea flasks with beer.
Situated between Crook and
Willington in County Durham, UK, the former Bowden Close Colliery and Cokeworks
were abandoned in the 1960s
Through his mother, the family
lineage comes from the Jobling Family.
They were landowners and lived at Newton Hall.
The
National Archives hold files relating to his Robson Family.
The Newton Hall mansion, built in 1722, is one of Northumberland’s
finest historic homes, a Grade II listed country house. In July 2010 a full
renovation of the property was undertaken. The property had stood empty for
some time and was in a poor state or repair.
Beyond this point appear the village and church of Newton-hall, and the lofty
...... John Jobling of Newton-hall,
he died 27th day of August, 1789, aged 71 years.
Recently, a collection of Sir Henry's letters and drawings has come to light revealing a great deal about these buildings and gardens at Newton. One of the earliest is a builder's final account for the main construction work dated 5 November 1717. The resultant remodelling was very successful, as the Hall's handsome west front would show. During this remodelling it was decided to install new sash windows, something of a contemporary design statement. These were originally made in London and some were sent up to Newton, but after difficulties fixing them Sir Henry agreed to have local craftsmen do the work. [1]
His Commission
COMMISSION
OF ASSISTANT SURGEON 'L'Anson Commission of Assist, surgeon
George
the Third, by Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
King, Defender of the Faith, etc. To Our Trusty and Well
beloved
William I'Anson, Gent.,
Greeting.
We, reposing especial Trust in your Loyalty, Integrity and Ability do by these
Presents constitute and appoint you to be Our Assistant Surgeon to Our
Settlements in NewSouth Wales. You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge
the Duty of Assistant Surgeon to the said Settlements by doing and performing
all and all manner of Things thereunto belonging. And you are to observe and
follow such Orders and Directions from time to time, as you shall receive, from
Us, Our Governor of New South Wales, or any other your superior Officer,
according to the Rules and Discipline of War.
Given
at Our Court of Saint James's, the Fourteenth Day of January,
1803,
in the Forty third year of Our Reign.
By
His Majesty's Command,
(Lord) HOBART.
[Similar
commissions under the same date were issued to assistant surgeons Matthew
Bowden and William Hopley
Maria Stanfield
Maria was born at Portsmouth and
baptised on 23rd June 1782 at St Mary's.
She was the daughter of Ann Crisby who married Richard Stanfield at
Gosport in 1772. Portsmouth at that time
was a Naval and Military Base, as was Gosport. Perhaps "Crisby" is
"Crosby" as people named "Crisby", are very rare.
Gosport and Portsmouth area
Within the enlarged defences, privately owned buildings were used for supplying ships, although the area was later purchased by the Navy and would become the victualling yard now known as Royal Clarence Yard. Forton Mill, a tide mill, had been built nearby to provide flour and the remainder of this area was occupied by St. George Barracks. Between 1780 and 1830 the Town developed rapidly, producing some fine buildings, notably in Clarence Square. The tight streets around the Square however provided squalid living conditions and were often patrolled by the naval Press Gangs.
Why
would a young woman of 21 be permitted to travel on a ship carrying supplies
and convicts to Australia? According to the newspapers there were 50
young ladies taken on the boat.
The
Stanfields of Gosport
Gosport
was a Garrison town, and a port, making it likely that the Stanfields had some
association with either the Military, the Navy or the Port. Maria had a brother named Richard, born
1773. He may very well be the same
Richard Stanfield who was the customs officer.
In
1825 there was a terrible accident at the Portsmouth Docks when Mr Stanfield
the Customs officer was drowned, along with many others. He left 3 children. He was Mr John Stanfield, a locker with
Customs. John was born 1777 and brother
to Richard born 1773. Her other brothers
were William, and Charles, and a sister Augusta Sophia who was younger.
In Defence of Maria
Why
are there no records relating to the arrival in Port Phillip of one, Maria
Stanfield?
That
is a rather serious question. The first
mention of her is in a marriage in April 1803.
There
is reference made in a novel, written not to long ago, where Maria is referred
to as "
a camp-follower
from Gosport, who had formed an attachment to the sergeant .......
Perhaps that is a rather harsh statement, and one that is quite derogatory to a 21 year
old woman, born in the very town of Gosport, where her family lived and worked,
and lost their lives at the dry docks of Portsmouth.
The
very same place that the Calcutta left from on its voyage to Australia, and the
very same place that the Rev. Knopwood married Maria, 4 days before the ships
departed.
Is
it correct to label Maria with this tag?
The definition:
Camp-follower is a civilian not officially connected
with a military unit, especially a prostitute, who follows or settles near an
army camp.
This
same sort of character assignation has occurred in my own family tree, and when
researched properly and thoroughly, a totally different viewpoint can be
obtained.
Maria was baptised on 23rd June
1782 at St Mary's Church Portsmouth[2]. She was not unfamiliar with life in
Gosport. It sits on the entrance of
Plymouth Harbour, and can be a dangerous place for shipping.
These
records might provide a clearer picture of the life of Maria before she and
Matthew formed a relationship, and it might change the public perception that
Rev Knopwood married her to a Marine to "preserve appearances."
She was married, as can be read,
to Richard Sergeant, a Marine.
However, they married on
the 23rd Day of April 1803 on
board the Calcutta, before the ship even left England. It did not leave until the 27th of April
1803, so perhaps Maria was a last minute addition to the manifest, marrying her sweetheart 4 days before they embarked.
They were the first settlers, and it was quite common among the
Military to develop relationships with the married wives of other
officers. Governor Collins was no
exception! Historically, their
marriage was the first recorded, for Port Philip, it being the first port of
call, but the first registered in Van Diemen's Land. Other records indicate another couple as
first to marry in Port Phillip, so perhaps technically correct.
The Voyage
Between
May 1802 and February 1803, the Navy had Calcutta fitted out as a
transport for convicts being sent to Britain's penal colonies in Australia. She
received new armament in the form of sixteen 24-pounder carronades on her upper deck and two six-pounder guns on the
forecastle. Captain Daniel Woodriff recommissioned her in November
1802 and sailed her from Spithead on 28 April 1803, accompanied by Ocean, to establish a settlement at Port Phillip. Calcutta carried a crew
of 150 and 307 male convicts, along with civil officers, marines, and some 30
wives and children of the convicts.
The Reverend Robert Knopwood kept a journal on the voyage.[4]
The
British Government chartered Ocean from Messrs Hurry & Co as a
supply ship for the journey from Portsmouth to Port Phillip. On the voyage to Port Phillip,
she carried 100 people along with supplies needed for the settlement at Port
Phillip. The people on Ocean included Captain John Mertho, nine
officers, 26 seamen, eight civil officers including George Harris (a surveyor), and Adolarius Humphrey, a mineralogist, and a group of free settlers.
Many of the free settlers had skills that would be of value to the new
settlement - five were carpenters, two seamen, two millers, a whitesmith (works
with white or light coloured metals such as tin or pewter), a stonemason,
gardener, painter, schoolteacher, pocketbook maker (maker of wallets and
covered notebooks) and two servants.
The Rev. Mr. Knopwood goes out tin to the
settlement. On board the Calcutta, Government have allowed fifty healthy young
women to go out with them
7 May 1803 - Lancaster Gazette - Lancaster,
Lancashire, England
Who were those 50 healthy young
women? It seems some were the wives of
officers, some were the wives of convicts and a servant. As there is still the question of Maria!
Given Maria's family background,
being a servant, in the normal sense, does not seem probable.
Ocean, the slower of the two ships, was directed to sail direct to Port Phillip if she lost contact with Calcutta. The ships did lose contact so Ocean did not put in at Cape Town, arriving at Port Phillip on 7 October. At Cape Town two more sailors deserted Calcutta. One was captured and returned.
After leaving Rio, Ocean sailed through the Southern Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean.
She experienced frightening weather conditions for 77 days. Twenty days out of Rio, George Harris recorded that ‘for many days we could not sit at table but were obliges to hold fast by boxes and on the floor and all our crockery were almost broken to pieces, besides many seas into the cabin and living in the state of darkness from the cabin windows being stopped up by the deadlights … I was never so melancholy in my life before’. In such conditions work on deck was extremely dangerous. On 9 August John Bowers fell overboard and was lost. Ocean finally sighted land on before sighting land on course and off Port Phillip on 5 October; she was on course and off Port Phillip.
From
The Historical Records of Australia
The
assembling of the expedition with provisions and stores was rapidly completed.
The establishment consisted of the
lieutenant governor; a military guard of three officers and forty-seven non commissioned
officers and men of the marines, accompanied by twelve wives and children; a
civil staff of twelve with four wives and children; twenty-two settlers with
twenty-seven wives and children; a missionary and his wife; three hundred and
seven convicts with thirty wives and children; a total of four hundred and
sixty-seven persons. Some of the settlers had the option of remaining with
Collins or proceeding to Port Jackson. The provisions and stores were estimated
to last for two years
Within
two months of his landing, Bowen had under his command the surgeon; the
storekeeper; lieutenant Moore and twenty two men of the New South Wales corps,
with three women and one child; about sixty-six male and female convicts; two
settlers with families of four; an overseer from Grose farm; one man and two women (unclassed) ; and Meehan,
temporarily attached; a total of over one hundred persons
UNDER SECRETARY SULLIVAN TO LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR COLLINS.
Sir, Downing Street, 5th April, 1803.
Lord Hobart has directed me to transmit to you the enclosed List
of Persons who have obtained Permission to proceed as Settlers to Port Phillip,
and I have to request that, upon their arrival at the Settlement, the usual
Rations of Provisions may be issued to them, as well as such Grants of Land
made to them* as have been heretofore allowed to Persons of a similar Description.
The Occupations, which these Persons have hitherto followed, are
expressed against their respective names, and they have all produced very favourable
Testimonies of their Characters. I trust therefore they will not only Contribute
to the Prosperity of the Settlement under your Government, but that they will
merit your favourable Protection. The total Number of these Persons including
Women and Children amounts to Twenty.
If any of the Settlers, who are embarked on board the Ocean, should
prefer establishing themselves at Port Phillip to proceeding to Port Jackson,
you will give them Permission to do so, and you will forward to Governor King a
List of their Names.
I have, &c,
JNO. SULLIVAN.
[Enclosure.]
List of settlers. LIST of Persons, who have obtained Lord Hobart's
permission proceed as Settlers to Port Phillip.
Name. Occupation. Age. Family. Recommendation.
Mr. Collins Seaman — — —
Edward Newman .... Ship
Carpenter — — —
Mr. Hartley Seaman — Wife
—
Edwd. Ford Hamilton... — — — __
John Joachim Gravie. . — —
1 Child —
Mr. Pownell — — Wife
and Child —
A Female Servant ... — — —
Thomas Collingwood. .
Carpenter — —
Duke Gharman — — —
John Skelhorn '. . Cutler
— Wife and Child M. H. Tatham,
. . , _ , . , 37
Charing Cross
Anthy. Fletcher Mason —
do and do
T. R. Preston Pocket
Bk. Maker — Cols. Collins and Bake
On
the voyage, the officers did not have funds to buy supplies.
In
1803. Messrs. Bowden, Fosbrook, Hopley, Harris, four Officers of the 16 July.
Civil Establishment, having found it impossible to procure any Advances made
Stock here without money, and that money could not be obtained but through my
means, I have advanced them each Five Pounds, taking their Receipts for the
same, which I shall transmit with some other vouchers by the return of the
Calcutta, and hope the Colonial Agent, Mr. Chinnery, may be directed to stop
the same from their growing allowance.
They arrived at Port Phillip and later relocated to Van Diemen's
Land.
In the returns Maria Sargeant is listed as the Private's
wife. Her husband was Richard Sargeant a
Private in the Royal Marines.
Sources
HISTORICAL
RECORDS OF AUSTRALIA.
SERIES
III,
DESPATCHES
AND PAPERS RELATING TO THE SETTLEMENT OF THE STATES.
VOLUME
I.Port Phillip, Victoria,
1803—1804.Tasmania, 1803—June, 1812.
•Published
by:
THE
LIBRARY COMMITTEE OF THE COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENT. 1921.
Richard Sargeant
Royal Marines
Richard
Sargeant was a member of the 1st Parade Company of the Royal Marines.
However
he was also not a person a good character.
He faced Court Martial 4 times.
In 1803,
Serjt. Richard Sargent of the 1st Parade Company
Having been found Guilty of the Crime, with which he stood charged before a
Martial, was sentenced to be reduced to the Pay and Duty of a Private Centinel; but, some alleviating Circumstances
having appeared Course of the Proceedings, and, in the defence offered by the
Prisoner, he was recommended by the Court to the clemency of the Commanding
Officer, which recommendation he was pleased to confirm, and Prisoner was
restored to his former Situation. A Review of arms and necessaries to-morrow
morning after Troop Beating
In 1804
General
Orders Hobart Town 7th July 1804
Parole Bangor C. Sign Landass
Parole Bangor C. Sign Landass
Garrison
orders
A Review of arms and necessaries tomorrow as usual.
A Review of arms and necessaries tomorrow as usual.
Serjeant
Richard Sargent of the 80th Company is reduced to the Pay and Duty of a Private
Sentinel for drunkeness by the Sentence of a Garrison Court Martial. He will do
duty in the 1st Parade Company.
General
Orders Hobart Town 10th July 1804
Parole Sawbridge C. Sign Bull
Parole Sawbridge C. Sign Bull
Garrison
Orders
Richard
Sargent, Private in the 1st Parade Company, is at the request of 1st L.t
Johnson restored to his former situation of Serjeant in the 80th Company. The
Commanding Officer trusts that this second Instance of his Lenity will not be
thrown away but that Sarg.t Sargent will recollect he has been twice reduced by
the sentence of a Court Martial and twice restored.
General
Orders Hobart Town 15th Augt. 1804
Parole Basilesk C Sign Escort
Parole Basilesk C Sign Escort
Garrison
Orders
Richd.
Sargent Lieut. in the 80th Co. being reduced to the Pay and Duty of a Private
Sentinel by the sentence of a Court Martial. Corpl. Robert Alomis is appointed
Sargent in his [indecipherable] in the 80th Co. He will do duty in the 2nd
Grade Company.
What became of Lieutenant Richard Sargent? Was he convicted and hung, due to his many
misdemeanours? Or did he remain in the
80th Royal Marines.
Meanwhile in Sydney, Mary Sargeant was emancipated,
and in 1813, she was preparing to leave the colony. She had lived at Coal River, near the Skite
of Hut. Her house in Liverpool Street, in Sydney, as reported in 1820, was
spacious.
Was she a relation of Richard Sargeant?
Or did Richard get sent back to Sydney, and was he
the same Richard Sargeant who had land lease in 1835? who arrived in 1816, on
the "Fame".
Or was he Corporal Richard Sergeant of the 84th
Regiment of the Royal Marines who left Sydney on the "Isabella" to
return to England.
Highly likely!
And also the reason that Maria Sargeant and Matthew Bowden were not able
to be married, before his untimely death.
General Orders
General
Orders Sullivan Bay 21st Jan.y 1804Parole Wilson C Sign Adams
Mr Wm. Nicholls is appointed a Superintendent of Convicts and is to be observed as such, he will take upon him the direction of the Carpenters belonging to the Colony.
Samuel Gunn will direct the Department of Shipwrights and John Fell will assist the Storekeeper in the Issue of Stores and Provisions.
Lt Sladden, The Rev. Mr. Knopwood and G.P. Harris Esqr. will meet on Monday Morning at Eleven o'clock at the Mess room to hear and determine such Complaints as the LtGovernor shall cause to be laid before them for that Purpose.
The Rev.d Mr Knopwood, Mr. Bowden (Assistant Surgeon) G.P. Harris Esqr. (Surveyor) and A.W.H. Humphrey (Mineralogist) will hold themselves in readiness to embark on board the Ocean Store Ship with the Lt.Governor.
Garrison Orders
A Detachment consisting of 1 Sub.n 1 Serj.t 2 Corpls 1 Drum.r & 20 Privates will hold themselves in readiness to embark on board the Ocean Store Ship.
Officer for this Duty 2d Lt Lord.
Knightsbridge
It having been represented to the Lieutenant Governor that some Person or Persons have inconsiderately suggested from the Suddeness of the Death of the late Nicholas Piroelle, that he had died by Poison, he thinks it necessary to publish the following Report of the Surgeon, who opened the Body and in his presence satisfactorily and clearly ascertained the Cause of his Death.
Surgeon’s Report
Upon opening the Thorax, the Pericardium and the sides of the Chest contained a large quantity of water which had stopped the Action of the Lungs. The Heart was unusually large but not otherwise diseased. In the Abdomen I examined the Stomach and Intestines particularly, which were perfectly health and contained a small quantity of half digested food, in which there was nothing remarkable. The Liver was also much enlarged from some former disease.
Signed Matt.w Bowden
Ass.t Surgeon
General Orders Hobart Town 1st July 1804
Parole Dorchester C. Sign Carlton
A Ewe Lamb the Property of Mr Bowden having been stolen from the Penn in the rear of the Hospital in the course of last night by some Person or Persons at present unknown the Lieut Governor is hereby pleased to promise to procure a conditional Emancipation for any Prisoner who shall give him such certain Information of the offender or offenders as shall enable him to convict him or them of the said Felony.
PORT ORDERS.
BY His Honor David Collins, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of a
Settlement, pr Settlements, to be formed in Bass's Straits, New South Wales.
First.—No person but the Pilot, or Officer authorized by the
LIEUT.GOVERNOR, is to board any ship or vessel arriving in this Port.
Second.—A Guard will
generally be sent on board to prevent any articles being landed, until
permission is given. The Guard is to be as comfortably lodged as circumstances
will allow of, and not to be interrupted or insulted in their duty.
Third.—When the Ship is
secured, the Commander is to produce a
manifest of his cargo, specifying the
different articles in the Vessel for sale. He is then to give a Bond of
security, in the penalty of two hundred pounds sterling, not to open the
Vessel's hatches for the sale of any article whatever, until a general Permit
is given for that purpose ; and not to send from the Ship, any Spirits, Wine,
Beer or other strong drink, after that general permission is given, without a
written Permit, signed by the LIEUT. GOVERNOR, specifying the qualities and quantities,
with the name of each purchaser; and not to send from the Vessel, or to sell,
any Arms or Ammunition to any person, without the LIEUT. GOVERNOR'S permission
as above, on the pain of the Bond being forfeited.
Fourth.—It being of the
utmost importance, that none of the Convicts are carried from the Settlement,
and that every precaution is taken to prevent their secreting themselves on
board of Ships layingin this harbour, it is hereby ordered and directed, That
no Convict, either male or female, be ever received on board of any Ship, or
into any boat belonging to such Ship, unless permission has been obtained for
that purpose from the Lieut. Governor.
Fifth.—No person is on any
account to purchase any article whatsoever,whether Provisions, Bedding,
Clothing or Tools, from a Convict, or from any of the Military, all such
articles being the property
of the Crown both before and after their being issued from the
Public Stores. Any person or persons acting in disobedience to this order will
be subject to a criminal prosecution.
Sixth.—Ships, not commanded
by King's Officers, are never to send their boats on shore at any other place
but the Public Landing Place, nor give their people leave to go into the
Country, without having first obtained permission from the L I E U T . G O V E
R N O R.
Seventh.—No boat is to come, or to go
from the Landing Place after the Tattoo has beat, upon any account, without the
knowledge of the Lieut. Governor, or, in case of his absence, the knowledge of
the Officer second in command.
Eighth.—No kind of Spirits
are ever to be given, or sold, to any Convict. And none are to be landed for
any person without a permit, which will be given on application being made-to
the LIEUT . GOVERNOR, and the quantity approved of by him. All
Spirits landed without a permit will be seized.
Ninth.—The taking spears,
fishgigs, g u m , or any other articles from the Natives, or out of their huts, or
from the beach, where it is their custom to leave those articles, will be
punished as a robbery; and if any of the Natives are wantonly or inconsiderately killed or
wounded, or if any violence is offered to a woman, the offender will be tried
for his life.
Tenth.—Ships, not King's
Ships, wanting wood, will on application have a place for their wooding pointed
out to them.
Eleventh.—His Majesty's Ships
will wood in any part of the Harbour they may find most convenient, the ground
immediately in the vicinity of the Settlement excepted.
Twelfth.—No boats are to be
sent from the Ships to any part of this Harbour, either to haul the seine, or
for any other purpose, without a petty officer and arms in the boat; and
particular orders are to be
given that the boat is never suffered to ground, or the arms to be
landed, two or more people always remaining in the boat for the protection of
those who are hauling the seine, or otherwise employed
on the beach.
Thirteenth.—Persons dying on
board are to be buried on shore; and no stone, gravel, ballast, or iron hoops
are to be thrown overboard below high-water mark, on the penalty of five pounds
sterling for each offence, which will be levied by a Magistrate.
Fourteenth.—The Master of any
Ship, who takes a Convict from this Settlement, whose sentence of
transportation is unexpired, will be prosecuted for such offence. And if after
leaving this Port, any Convict should be found on board the Ship, the Master is
hereby enjoined and directed to deliver up such Convict to the Governor, or
Commanding Officer, at the first post he
shall touch at, whether English or foreign, as a prisoner who has absconded
from this Settlement.
Given under my . Hand, at Head Quarters, Sullivan Bay, Port Phillip,
this 12th Day of January, 1804.
David Collins.General Orders Hobart Town 8th Octr. 1804
Parole King Island C Sign Calcutta
The Deputy Commissary will until further orders issue to the sick at the General Hospital the flour that came from England in the Ocean Store Ship.
Garrison Orders
During the hot weather the non commissioned officers and privates will dress in mosquito trousers.
The officers will dress in white, or nankeen breeches and boots or nankeen pantaloons.
General Orders Hobart Town 20th May 1806
Parole Northwick C Sign
Garrison Orders
The Quarter Master will receive from His Majesty’s Stores one pair of Shoes for each of the Detachment tomorrow morning at Eight o’clock.
Detail for Duty
General Orders Hobart Town 21st May 1806
Parole Whitecomb C Sign
A few pair of shoes having been forwarded from England in the Ship William Pitt and received here by the King George, the Commissary will this day issue one pair of Shoes to each of the Drummers and Privates of the Royal Marines, and one pair to each of the Male Prisoners whose names are contained in a List delivered to the Storekeeper. As soon as more arrive they will be issued to those who are not included in the present serving.
General Orders Hobart Town 16th June 1806
Parole Wellingboro’ C Sign
Garrison Orders
The Commanding Officer having received an application from the non-commissioned Officers and Privates of the Detachment praying to be informed upon what terms and conditions they came out to this country, acquaints them, that from the circumstance of his having been furnished by the Secretary of State, in his quality of Lieut. Governor, with the assurances that were given to the first Detachment of the same Corps that was sent on a similar service to New South Wales, he has reason to suppose they were meant for his guidance with respect to that now serving in this Settlement and for whose information he now states what those assurances were, viz.
That such of them as should have behaved well, should be allowed to quit the Service upon their return to England, or be discharged abroad upon the relief designed to take place at the expiration of three years after their landing and be permitted to settle in the Country.
[Page 253]
That in the event of any of them becoming Settlers the following encouragement was held out, viz.
To every non-commissioned Officer, an allotment of 130 acres of Land, if single, and of 150 acres if married.
To any Private Soldier 80 acres of Land, if single, 100 if married, and 10 acres of Land for each child, at the time of the allotment taking place, free of all Fees, Taxes, Quit Rents, and other acknowledgments for the Term of 5 years, then to be liable to an annual Quit Rent of one shilling for every 50 acres, to be supplied with cloathing and one year’s Provisions, with Seed Grain, Tools and Implements of Agriculture; and on it appearing that they can maintain, feed and cloath them, a certain number of Convicts is to be assigned to each of them for Labour.
With respect to the wish of the Detachment to be informed, why, if the Marines formerly at Port Jackson should have been allowed Spirits from their landing, until their leaving the Settlement, and they were only to receive it for 2 years after their Landing, so great a distinction should be made between them. The Commanding Officer informs them that it was at his particular request they received any Spirits, and that it is not for them to enquire why any distinction was made with respect to them, but to be thankful for this liberal allowance they have been indulged with.
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2015/D36393/a1492.html
Matthew and Maria
Maria Sargeant became the partner of Surgeon Matthew Bowden.
The
Calcutta and Ocean sailed in company from Yarmouth on the 27th of
April, 1803. After calling at Teneriffe and Rio de Janeiro, the ships sailed
from the last port on the 15th of July.
Did
the relationship only begin in September 1804 around the time Richard Sargeant
was facing court martial, when 9 months later their first child, John, was
born.
Perhaps Maria had been badly treated by her husband, Richard
Sargeant, and Matthew, being a kindly soul, cared for her. They proceeded to have a family, of four
children. That she cared for him, is
evident on his headstone.
Each of the surnames births of her children were recorded in the
registers by Rev Knopwood as Sargeant.
The only record not found is the birth of their daughter Ann Elizabeth
Sargeant. It is probably transcribed
incorrectly.
7 years after his death Maria had another son, again Sargeant was
his recorded name.
Matthew Bowden made a
will in 1811, and he named each of the children and Maria as beneficiaries.
At
what point then, did the Sargeant children adopt the name Bowden?
Matthew
was appointed an Ensign with the 3rd Regiment of the Royal Lancaster Militia in
1798. He rose to become Assistant
Surgeon.
Maria's
home in Hobart was on the corner of Campbell and Liverpool Streets. She was a neighbour of Robert and
Elizabeth.
In the 1822 muster, Maria Sargeant is listed, so to
is a Maria Stanfield born in the Colony.
She was the daughter of Daniel Stanfield.
She had a rooming house, and a Captain Thomas had
his boots stolen from there in 1827, he was not the only person to suffer the
same robbery.
Lieutenant-Governor
Collins began his settlement at Hobart Town, on the memorable 21st February,
1804, a marquee was doubtless pitched for the purposes of the General Hospital.
Where or when the marquee was erected has not yet been ascertained from the
published records. Possibly this important item
of information may be gleaned some day.
At the beginning of its history the
General Hospital was staffed with a
principal surgeon and two assistant surgeons in the persons of William L'Anson,
Matthew Bowden, and William Hopley.
From
the 27th July, 1804, the assistant surgeon on duty at the hospital was required
to attend all punishments which might occur among the prisoners. Hopley, it may
be stated here, came hither with a wife and two children.
Bowden
came from Port Phillip in the storeship Ocean with Lieutenant-Governor Collins
and the first detachment numbering 259 persons of all ranks and classes.
Hopley, and perhaps L' Alison too, remained at Port Phillip until the removal
of the second detachment, under Lieutenant Sladden, which comprised about
74.persons and arrived here in the ship Ocean on the 25th June.
Whether the
General Hospital was set up at Hobart Town before or after the landing of the
second detachment is unknown at the present time. Nor is it known so far
whether the marquee for the patients was pitched on Hunter Island or within
''the camp,''
possibly on a site not far distant from what was
designated in print twelve years later as Hospital Hill.
Wherever
the General Hospital was established by the Lieutenant-Governor, there it
remained during his command of the settlement. Certainly in his time neither
material nor labour was
available
to him for erecting a permanent structure. It was not till the 8th February,
1812, that a decision was come to at Sydney to erect a hospital building here.
It is also highly necessary, writes Governor Macquarie on that date to Major
Geils the commandant, that a General Hospital for the reception of the --sick convicts
and other persons in the settlement who cannot. otherwise procure medical attention should be erected
at Hobart Town as soon as the Government can conveniently command the means of
doing so.
Until
the latter part of the year 1808 there was not, seemingly, a settler here with
medical qualifications. In the last quarter of that year the local condemnation of
the ship Dubuc, a South Sea whaler was the happy means of furnishing the
settlement with
its first private doctor in the person of Thomas
William Birch, who arrived here on the 2nd May, 1808. This gentleman was an
Englishman who had served as medical officer on the Dubuc till her condemnation
as an unseaworthy vessel After that event he decided to settle in Hobart Town,
where he married a settler's daughter, fol1owed commercial and pastoral
pursuits, and built Macquarie House in 1814, besides relieving suffering
humanity, very often freely, at his popular surgery in Macquarie Street.
A
few sceptical persons
are disinclined to recognise T.W. Birch as a
qualified medical man; but that attitude of mind cannot be maintained in the
face of an official recognition of his professional status. On the 6th
September, 1808, William Hopley, second assistant surgeon at the General
Hospital, requested leave of absence to enable him to proceed to England for
the recovery of his health.
Thereupon
the
Lieutenant-Governor ordered a survey on the sick
doctor by a board of three surgeons, namely, William L 'Anson and Matthew
Bowden from the General Hospital, and Thomas Birch, surgeon on the ship Dubuc.
These
professional gentlemen,
his Honour required and directed to visit Surgeon
Hopley, enquire into the state of his health, and report to him under their
hands whether they thought it necessary that he should be invalided and sent to
England.
The
report of these recognised surgeons may be seen in the first volume of the
Historical Records of Tasmania. In those far off times the title of ''doctor''
was not often used at Hobart Town or Sydney in official documents. The general practice
was to describe Matthew Bowden, for example, as Mr. Bowden, and sometimes as Surgeon Bowden.
During
his visit to the Derwent in November, 1811, Governor Macquarie selected sites
for the erection of a permanent hospital and gaol. The site for the hospital is
mentioned by him to Major Geils in a despatch written on the 8th February,
1812. The place I pointed out to the Inspector of Works most eligible for those
two public buildings,, says his Excellency, is a rising airy piece of· ground
on the west side of the rivulet near the present lumber yard, and it is there
they must· be erected whenever it may be convenient to commence building
thereon.
I
shall send you plans and elevations of both these -public buildings at- some
future period, and long before you can commence building them. As soon as
sufficient materials are collected for the barracks for the officers and soldiers,
you must next prepare the necessary materials for the General Hospital and the
gaol...,...brick for the former and stone for the latter-each to be only one
story high.
The
exact position of the site is marked on the plan of Hobart Town approved by his
Excellency here on the 30th November, 1811. A copy of the plan is given at page
64 of the Walker Memorial-Volume, which should find a place in the home of
every son of the soil. On the 1st June, 1812, his Excellency recurs to the
subject. I hope, he remarks to Major Geils, you will not lose any time in
setting about building the barracks on Barrack Hill for the accommodation of
the detachment, with kitchens and a small military hospital, after you finish
the additions and repairs now making to the church and Government House- for your accommodation.
These Barracks and also a Civil General Hospital and new gaol must first be erected
and completely finished before any new Government House is attempted to be
built.
According
to a summary·
of the despatches from Lieutenant Governor Davy· to
headquarters, he wrote on the 3rd May, 1815 a despatch, in which he announced
to his Excellency his intention of building a new General Hospital on an
eligible situation, but not the one fixed on by the Governor.
Only
a summary of the despatch was available
to Dr. Watson, but in the first volume of the Historical Records of Tasmania
he puts the Governor as command on this subject to Lieutenant
Governor
Davey. I understand from the' Deputy Surveyor of Lands. writes his Excellency on
the 12th December 1814, that you have changed the site originally marked out
and initialled by me for erecting a new hospital on. I must therefore desire
that the hospital: shall not be erected
on any other site than the one directed and approved of by me. I do not allow
Surgeon Luttrell to interfere in cases of this kind, and I shall expect an
instant compliance with my orders on this point.
How
the Lieutenant-Governor replied to this censure is not known, for after the
conclusion of his administration, he sent most of his official papers
to his friend and patron, the Earl of Harrowby. The task of raising a permanent
home for the General Hospital was inherited by Lieutenant Governor Sorell. I
leave it now to your own discretion, writes the Governor to him on the 3rd
June, 1818, to employ whatever number of convict labourers on
the Government Public Works at the Derwent that may be deemed actually necessary
to complete those now in progress, including a new General Hospital, and
completing the Military Barracks.
It
was not till the 18th December 1818, that his Honour was in a position to
inform his Excellency that "the foundation of the Colonial Hospital has
begun on the plan and on the spot approved by Your Excellency
Garrison
Orders 7th February 1812
In
1812, Mathew Bowden returned from Sydney to the Settlement and he will in
future act as Colonial Surgeon until further Orders, and assistant surgeon
Dermot of the 73rd Regiment will deliver to him, what Medical stores are now
remaining, received by him on the death of Mr. L'Anson later principal surgeon.
Assistant
Surgeon Dermot of the 73rd Regiment will in future attend the Detachment of
Royal Marines, by order of His Excellency the Governor in Chief. John Murray Commandant.
Some
information about the early years of the Hobart General Hospital is supplied by
Dr. F. Watson in his last contribution to the Historical Records. Various
articles of medical necessaries, stores, etc., were shipped on board H.M.S.
Calcutta for the use of the settlement to be formed by Lieut.-Governor Collins,
either at Port Phillip or in Tasmania. He carried with him three surgeons and a
clergy-man. No doubt the hospital at Sullivan Bay, in Port Phillip, was
conducted in the marquee. On the 10th November, 1803, according to a general
order of Collins, Samuel Lightfoot was appointed an assistant of the
"General Hospital" On the 18th November a ration for sick convicts under medical treatment was fixed. On the 3rd August, 1804, Collins informed Lord Hobart that the prevailing diseases at the Derwent wore scurvy, diarrhoea, and catarrh.
This was the period of famine and suffering, and a vigorous effort was made to arrest the progress of scurvy by the issue of kangaroo meat and soup. It was announced by general order on the 10th September, 1804, that the Lieut.-Governor has caused two boilers to be set up at the General Hospital, whereat, under the inspection of the surgeon, soup boiled with rice will be issued at 12 o'clock each day to all persons who may be afflicted with the above disease or who may be of a weakly habit of body.
By the 27th September the principal surgeon was able
to tell the anxious Lieut. Governor that the scorbutic patients under his care
were considerably benefitted by the fresh animal food. Thereupon His Honour
requested that those gentlemen who have dogs will exert themselves in procuring
an ample supply of kangaroo for the hospital.
Again, on the 14th September, 1805, he directed that a
quantity of kangaroo should be boiled into soup at the General Hospital, and
one quart thereof issued at noon to such persons as chose to apply and until
further orders. On the 27th July, 1804, there was issued an order that the
Assistant Surgeon, on duty at the General Hospital, will attend all punishments
which may occur among the prisoners.
On the 16th January, 1805, Principal Surgeon . L'Anson
reported to His Honour that the sago and rice sent out for the use of the
General Hospital are nearly expended, and suggested the expediency of a
quantity of each article being purchased from the ship lately arrived.
The disobedience of hospital patients was provided for
by the general order on the 9th June, 1806. The surgeon having repeatedly
complained that the patients in the hospital absent them-selves there from
without permission and contrary to the regulations thereof, recites this order,
that any patient who shall in future go beyond the limits of the hospital
without permission shall be severely punished.
On the morning of the 25th July, 1806, between the
hours of three and four, the Hospital Stores were set on fire in several places
and destroyed. Rewards were offered the Lieut. Governor in the hope that such
vile and atrocious miscreants may be brought to justice. On the 30th April,
1808, Valentine Henly was Placed on the list of overseers, and was to attend at
the General Hospital.
The most eligible place for the erection of a hospital and a gaol, he pointed out to the Inspector of Works, is a rising, airy piece of ground on the west side of the rivulet, and it is there, declared His Excellency, they must be erected whenever it may be convenient to commence building them. The death of Dr. Matthew Bowden, Principal Surgeon at Hobart Town, occurred on the 23rd October, 1814, and the surgeon in charge of the General Hospital in 1815 was probably Dr. William Hopley, who died in October of that year and was buried in the same grave as his old friend, Lieut.-Colonel Collins, with whom he arrived in Tasmania.
He was succeeded at the institution by Dr. Edward Luttrell, who had only three months previously received the appointment of assistant surgeon at Parramatta. In February of 1817, Samuel Lightfoot was still performing the duties of assistant, for in a case he gave evidence that he was called to dress the wounds of man who had been stabbed in the neck by a woman. Lightfoot died suddenly on the morning of Sunday, the 17th May, 1818.
According to the obituary in the Gazette he had been for many years assistant at the General Hospital. He came to the Settlement with the late Lieut.-Governor Collins, and was generally respected by all who knew him. As the deceased was in perfect health before he died a coroner's jury was, of course, summoned, which turned the verdict of died by the visitation of God.[6]
The Death of the Surgeon
Matthew
Bowden died suddenly in 1814. He was
buried in St David's Hobart.
In
1862 her son Thomas Bowden died, and he is also buried at the same place.
In
1925, the cemetery was a scene of destruction.
Not many tombs were saved* (Hobart Then and Now).
Exact
measurements : 112 x 154 mm.
Photograph
shows three inscriptions on the vault: Matthew Bowden, Thomas Bowden and Maria
Sergeant.
Matthew
Bowden Biography
This
article was published in Australian Dictionary of
Biography, Volume
1, (MUP), 1966
Matthew
Bowden (1779-1814), surgeon, served as a surgeon in the Royal Lancashire
Regiment before he was commissioned as a civil assistant surgeon on 14 January
1803 to accompany Lieutenant-Governor David Collins's
expedition to found a settlement at Port Phillip. He sailed in the Ocean,
accompanied Collins when the settlement was transferred to Hobart Town, and was
one of the first ashore, landing at Frederick Henry Bay on 12 February 1804 and
walking to Risdon on the River Derwent. In the starving years of the new colony,
Bowden played a prominent role attending the sick, condemning imported stores
as unfit for human consumption and joining the celebrations when each store
ship arrived. He was one on the first to equip his assigned servants to hunt
kangaroos for meat; one of his men was speared by Aboriginals and left to die
in the bush.
On his 100 acres (40 ha) at Humphrey's
Rivulet, granted in August 1804, Bowden had a vegetable garden and crops, and
began to acquire livestock. He also encouraged exploration, himself making a
three-day excursion up the Derwent Valley, and by 1809 he was depasturing sheep
at New Norfolk.
In May
1809 when William Bligh arrived
in the Porpoise, Bowden certified the ill health of some of her crew,
but he was credited with leading Hobart's civil officers in opposition to the
deposed governor. Next year he attended Collins at his death in March, and in
April was appointed first assistant surgeon of the civil medical establishment
in Hobart; in October Lachlan Macquarie,
impressed by his record, granted him an additional 500 acres (202 ha) on the
Derwent and, after the death of I'Anson in November 1811, appointed him
principal surgeon at a salary of £182 10s.
Soon
afterwards, when Macquarie visited Hobart, he was shocked to find the civil
hospital in very bad order and Bowden 'a man of dissolute habits, prematurely
old'. He instructed the commandant 'not to permit Bowden to presume to molest a
marine … on account of him having had his lawful wife restored to him by my
orders', and later warned Thomas Davey against
him.
Nevertheless
Robert Knopwood recorded
that 'the whole community was plunged into gloom' by Bowden's sudden death on
23 October 1814.
Information
written of his death at that time can be found in the Mitchell Library or in
Tasmanian Library.
[Extract
from the diary in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, October, 1814, 21st - 30th,
concerning the death and funeral of Matthew Bowden].
His land in Hobart.
Author/Creator: Knopwood, Robert, 1763-1838.
Hobart
Reading Room (Tas)
|
Crowther
- pamphlets quartos (Stack)
|
CRO.PQ
994.6 BOW
|
On
shelf
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Matthew
Bowden's will was made in 1811, and his executors were A.W. Humphrey and Maria
Sargeant.
Humphrey,
Adolarius William Henry (1782–1829)
This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, (MUP), 1966
Adolarius
William Henry Humphrey (1782?-1829), public servant, was the son of George
Humphrey (1739?-1826) of Westminster, London, and his wife Sarah, née Hamilton
(d.1821). He sailed as mineralogist with David Collins from England
in 1803 to found a colony on the southern coast of Australia. Collins,
dissatisfied with Port Phillip, sent William Collins and Humphrey
to Port Dalrymple at the mouth of the Tamar River, with a view to settling
there. They searched especially for fresh water, so much lacking at Port
Phillip, but apart from the South Esk, found only a little stream which they
named the Supply River. Here Humphrey carved with his hammer and chisel the
legend, 'A.H.1804', deep into the dolerite rock, where it is still legible.Having returned to Port Phillip, Humphrey sailed with the rest of Collins's expedition to the Derwent where he was soon at work searching for minerals. He made several journeys of exploration with the botanist, Robert Brown, and Jorgen Jorgenson. They ascended the Derwent at least as far as the River Clyde and made two excursions over Mount Wellington to reach the Huon River. In 1805 Humphrey moved to New South Wales where he worked for two years on both Norfolk Island and the mainland, chiefly engaged in examining iron deposits, samples of which were sent to Sir Joseph Banks. In 1807 he accompanied Surveyor Charles Grimes to Launceston and discovered near Tunbridge the salt pans which proved a great boon to the early settlers. From Launceston he walked to Hobart Town in three days. He resigned in 1812 as mineralogist, pleading that he was worn out by the privations endured in his explorations in both colonies, but it seems that he was no longer interested in his profession. However, he maintained his interest in scientific subjects by becoming a corresponding member of the Horticultural Society of London. He also corresponded with Sir William Hooker.
In 1814 his appointment as a magistrate, held temporarily for the previous four years, was confirmed though Governor Lachlan Macquarie did not at first approve of him. Because of punishments he had meted out, he was hated by the convicts. Michael Howe and his fellow bandits burned down his stacks and barn and ransacked his house at Pittwater.
In 1815 he sought compensation for his losses. Three years later he was appointed coroner, superintendent of police and chief magistrate at Hobart. This made him the most powerful man in the colony next to Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell, being the chief executive officer in the capital. He was the most important witness called by Commissioner John Thomas Bigge, supplied him with much information about his control of licensing, the convicts, the police and weights and measures, and gave a comprehensive report on transportation.
When Van Diemen's Land was made a separate colony Humphrey was appointed a member of the newly-established Legislative Council and in 1825 of the Executive Council. An important assignment for him in 1826 was to sit with two others on a board of inquiry into the conduct of the attorney-general, Joseph Gellibrand. As a result of their finding Gellibrand was dismissed. The same year Humphrey was highly commended for his service against the bushrangers led by Matthew Brady who attacked his farm at Plenty in the Derwent valley.
In 1828 he retired from his official duties owing to ill health, receiving a pension of £400. He retained his seat on the councils until his death the following year. (Sir) George Arthur, like Sorell before him, praised highly the work of his chief magistrate who with a modest salary had in no way enriched himself while holding public office.
Humphrey also played a large part in the growth of agriculture in the island, supplying the commissariat with meat, breeding stud pigs and Saxon merino sheep, a number of which were slaughtered by Brady's gang.
The land commissioner, Roderic O'Connor, thought Humphrey's farm Humphreyville at the Plenty River was 'one of the most gratifying Sights in the Colony'. It was managed by his wife, formerly Harriet Sutton of Sydney, a convict whom he had married in 1813 rather than obey Macquarie's request to return her to her father in Sydney. He left the property to his widow, and the government bought grain from her, to save her from financial embarrassment. She later married John Kerr.
A Most Unusual Find
Megatags
and search engines often do amazing things.
Who would have thought that by searching one particular person, that
this information regarding Matthew Bowden would have been revealed.
His
handwriting and his letter, which is a valuable historical object in its own
right.
Displaying 8 Lots in Category - Settlement 1788-1825 - Van
Diemen's Land (Tasmania)*
|
[1] Sir Henry Liddell is in my own family lineage, as were
many of the owners of coal mines in and around Durham
[2]
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/history-of-portsmouth-church-site-goes-back-to-11th-century-1-7233395
[4] Wikipedia
[5]
Photograph of drawing by A. Fleury of the old Hobart hospital, Hobart,
Tasmania, Australia. UTAS Library Special and Rare Materials Collection
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