Richard Woodbury

75

iain Frazier on 3rd December 2024

Family connections for Richard (Woodbury) are: Some amendments addedc Jul 2025. WOODBURY Richard (Woodbury) was born on 19 10 1777 & became a brewer. He was living at Current Lane Prince St Bristol Gloucestershire when he was tried for stealing brandy of George (Taylor) at Bristol Quarter Sessions on 29 10 1803, sentenced to 7years & arrived in NSW as a convict on 12 7 1806 after a voyage of 6months on FORTUNE; he was Protestant; he was sent to the Government Farm at Castle Hill before being assigned (maybe) to Andrew (Thompson) in about 1807 at a new brewery at Green Hills/South Creek Windsor. He married Sarah Elizabeth (Everingham) on 17 12 1810 at St Matthews CofE Windsor & probably lived at a house attached to the brewery at Green Hills Windsor. By 1811 he was Free by Servitude & in a partnership arrangement with Henry (Kable) at the brewery & was perhaps the main operator; also farming nearby. He was recorded as settler in 1821 & farmer in 1823, 1824, 1826 & 1829. His life in brewing, farming at Cambridge Reach, 80 acres at Leets Vale, Hawkesbury River, 80acres near Laughtondale, 50 acres Mangrove Creek (moved here 1829), 70acres with small store at Gunderman (which later accomodated the Lower Hawkesbury Wesleyan chapel), 70acres Popran Creek, 30acres Sugee Bag Creek, Sackville North (bought from brother in law Matthew (Everingham)) & 60acres at Bathurst Reach Upper Hawkesbury (sold to son William in 1850) & as First District Constable and Pound Keeper from May 1820 to 23 1 1829 for the Lower Hawkesbury as well as his appointment to the Portland Head branch of the Bible Committee & involvement (as Rev (Woodbury)?) with the new Wesleyan Church, (formerly a reformist movement out of the established CofE) is well described in his entry on this Website. He died on 14 6 1867 age89 at Windsor & is buried at Wisemans Ferry Windsor (Laughtondale) Lower Hawkesbury. [A lot of information taken from this Website] Sarah Elizabeth (Everingham) was born on 9 6 1793 & baptised on 30 6 1793 at St Johns CofE Parramatta. She lived with her various children after her husbands death & died on 29 3 1874 age79 at Mangrove Creek & is buried at Wisemans Ferry Windsor (Laughtondale) Lower Hawkesbury. Details of Sarah Elizabeth (Everingham)s family are given in entry for Matthew (Everingham SCARBOROUGH 1788) on this Website. Richard (Woodbury) & Sarah Elizabeth (Everingham) produced perhaps 11children: 1.Richard (Woodbury) was born on 21 9 1811 & baptised on 13 10 1811 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. By 1829 he may have occupied the 50acres of his father at Mangrove Creek. He also rented 10 of his father’s 70acres at Popran. He married Jane (Neal) in 1837. He died on 13 5 1897 age85. .. Noted 2possible Jane (Neal)s are identified: A. Jane (Neale/Neil) was born on 24 3 1812 & baptised on 25 2 1824 age11 w/James, Agnes at St Matthews CofE Windsor. She married at age16 John (Dunn) on 10 2 1828 at St Thomas CofE/Wesleyan Sackville Reach & produced at least 1child:. She died on 20 2 1848 age35. Details of Jane (Neale/Neil)s family are given in entry for John (Neale HMS GLATTON 1803) on this Website. B. Jane (Neale) was born on 12 4 1820 & baptised on 10 1 1824 age3 w/Francis (De Silvre) at St Matthews CofE Windsor. She died in 1897 age about77. Details of Jane (Neale)s family are given in in entry for William (Dring ALEXANDER 1788) on this Website. .. 2.Elizabeth/Betsy (Woodbury) was born on 3 12 1812 & baptised on 25 4 1813 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. She married, with permission of her parents, William (Hibbs) on 19 1 1830 at Sugee Bag Creek-recorded at St Thomas CofE/Wesleyan Sackville Reach. She died on 8 8 1876 age63. ..Peter (Hibbs) was born on 2 6 1800 on Norfolk Island & baptised on 6 7 1800 at St Philips CofE Sydney (or recorded there) & became a sailor. He owned 60acres Lot no.54 in centre of Norfolk Island in 1796. He died on 19 4 1890 age89. ..Details of Peter (Hibbs)s family are given in entry for Mary (Pardoe LADY JULIANA 1790) on this Website. .. 3.William (Woodbury) was born on 24 10 1814 at Windsor & baptised on 21 5 1815 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. He married Mary Anne (Donovan) in 1835. He became owner of craft WILLIAM AND MARY to trade along the river. He bought his fathers 60acres at Bathurst Reach Upper Hawkesbury in 1850. He died on 9 12 1886 age72. 4.Jeremiah (Woodbury) was born on 8 8 1816 at Portland Head at Sydney & baptised on 25 5 1817 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. He married ??? (???) in 1835. He became owner of a small cutter-rigged packet JOHN AND HERBERT to trade along the river. He died on 29 3 1895 age79. 5.Sarah (Woodbury) was born on 3 3 1819 at Leets Vale/Lower Portland Head & baptised on 30 1 1820 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. She married Joseph (Bridge) in 1834. She died on 16 6 1904 age85. 6.Rebecca (Woodbury) was born on 20/30 12 1820 at Laughtondale/Lower Portland Head & was baptised on 21 4 1821 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. She married William (Craft) in 1837. She died on 14 11 1887 age66. ..Noted a William (Craft) was born on 19 7 1814 at Wilberforce & was baptised on 11 6 1815 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. He died on 23 3 1901 age82.] ..Details of William (Craft)s family are given in entry for Joseph (Crafts ALBERMARLE 1791) on this Wbsite. .. 7.John (Woodbury) was born on 5 11 1822 at Portland Head & baptised on 9 3 1823 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. He died on 14 12 1883 age6. 8.Ann/e (Woodbury) was born on 15 10 1824 at Gunderman/Lower Portland Head & baptised on 15 10 1824 at St Matthews CofE Windsor. 9.Jane (Woodbury) was born on 11 7 1826 at Gunderman/Lower Branch & baptised on 22 10 1826 at St Thomas Wesleyan Sackville Reach (Wesleyan church). She died on 19 6 1897 age70. 10.Matthew James (Woodbury) was born on 15 7 1828 at Gunderman/Lower Portland Head & baptised on 11 1 1829 w/relative Catherine (Dunn) at St Thomas Wesleyan Sackville Reach. He died on 25 11 1835 age7. 11.George (Woodbury) was born on 19 12 1831 at Mangrove Creek. He married Sarah (Charter) at Bathurst Reach on 10 6 1855 & lived at Bathurst Reach Upper Hawkesbury with his parents & brother William. References: Craig James Smee 'Births and Baptisms Marriages and Defacto Relationships Deaths and Burials New South Wales 1788-1830' ..a complete listing from church & other records in the early colony. Irene Schaffer & Thelma McKay 'Exiled Three Times Over! Profiles of Norfolk Islanders Exiled in Van Diemens Land 1807-1813' James Hugh Donohoe 'Norfolk Island 1788-1813-The People and Their Families' Reg Wright 'Forgotten Generation of Norfolk Island & Van Diemens Land'

54

Phil Hands on 3rd December 2017

William and Elizabeth were married on 19 January 1830. In the same year, Richard senior renewed his application of two years earlier to rent 100 acres of church reserve land at Mangrove Creek. In support of his application James Chandler, the Church of England catechist, referred to Richard's recent service as District Constable and the fact that Richard supported nine children (excluding the married, Elizabeth), all of whom attended school and divine service. In his own application the following year, Richard stated that he had £600 in land and cattle at his disposal. He was granted a grazing lease initially, but eventually was able to purchase most of the land. The last of Richard and Sarah's children, George, was born at Mangrove Creek on 19 December 1831. At the birth of George, Sarah Woodbury became the mother of 11 children born over a 20-year time span. She was 38 years old. A large flood occurred in Mangrove Creek in 1832, following which Richard made application for a grant of 12 acres of elevated land above the tide and flood level. This was granted and Richard built a stone or brick house on this site, overlooking the entrance to Sugee Bag Creek. Many of the older Woodbury children followed Elizabeth's lead and married during this period; Sarah in 1834, both William and Jeremiah in 1835 and then both Richard junior and Rebecca in 1837. By about 1838, Richard sold his 50-acre grant at the head of Mangrove Creek. He bought 10 acres of land at Cumberland Reach, Sackville (present day Sackville North) from his brother-in-law, Matthew Everingham the younger. Richard and Sarah were living in the new flood-proof house near Sugee Bag Creek when a list of Hawkesbury householders was compiled in 1841. The youngest children, John (19), Jane (15), and George (10) were still at home. Sadly Matthew, born in 1828 had passed away in 1835. The married Woodbury children all lived nearby. Elizabeth and William Hibbs, Rebecca and William Craft, Richard junior and Jane (Neal), William and Mary Anne (Donovan) and Sarah and Joseph Bridge all lived within the Mangrove Creek catchment. It is likely that all the Woodbury children were experienced boat people, having lived most of their life on the river. In later years Jeremiah owned a small cutter-rigged packet called the John and Herbert that traded regularly along the river to Windsor. William owned the William and Mary of 75 tons that traded between the Hawkesbury region and Sydney. The colony fell on hard economic times in the 1840's and in 1844 Richard was forced to sell his house and both properties near Sugee bag Creek to meet debts. He also lost the 10-acre farm at Sackville. Fortunately in the same year, Richard was granted 60 acres of land at Bathurst Reach back on the upper Hawkesbury, about 2 miles up-river from Wiseman's Ferry. Here Richard and Sarah were to start all over again, at the age of 67 and 51 respectively. Richard built a house on that property also. A few years later, in 1850, Richard sold the property to his son William but he remained there with his wife Sarah until his death 17 years later. His youngest son, George, lived there with his parents also. George married Sarah Charter at the Woodbury home at Bathurst Reach on 10 June 1855. Richard died on 4 June 1867 at Windsor at the age of 90 and was buried at Wisemans Ferry Cemetary (Laughtondale) in the Lower Hawkesbury. His son, George, signed the death notification with his mark. George and his wife probably lived at Bathurst Reach with his mother for some time after Richard died but Sarah seems to have moved back with the rest of her family at Mangrove Creek in later years. She lived with her daughter Rebecca Craft at some stage and Rebecca and her husband built a small house for her on their property. Sarah Woodbury died in 1874 at Mangrove Creek, aged 81. She was given a "river funeral" where her body was rowed to Laughtondale cemetery to be buried alongside Richard.

54

Phil Hands on 3rd December 2017

Living in Current Lane, off Prince Street, Bristol - occupation Brewer, when he was convicted in the Bristol Sessions of 29th October 1803 of stealing six gallons of brandy from George Taylor, a Victualler on The Quay. He was sentenced to transportation for seven years. Left England on 28th January 1806. Ship: - the 'Fortune' sailed with 260 male convicts on board of which 4 died during the voyage. Arrived on 27th July 1806. When Richard arrived in New South Wales the colony was only 18 years old and it was just becoming self-sufficient after earlier facing desperate food shortages and starvation. By the end of 1806, over 11,000 acres were under crops in New South Wales and industries were becoming established in sealing and whaling, shipbuilding, timber and coal mining. The colony was also trading with India, China, North America, Europe and the Pacific Islands (Cathcart, 1996). The Colonial Muster of August 1806 was held in the colony within a few weeks of Richard's arrival. He was listed as working on the Government Farm at Castle Hill, which at that time was given over to growing crops of wheat, barley, oats and maize. At the time of the Muster, Richard still had a little more than four years of his sentence to serve. Fortunately, Richard probably spent less than a year at the government farm because his brewing skills were needed in the growing colony. Governor King had encouraged beer brewing as a way of weaning the colonists off hard spirits, and in 1806 he provided land to an emancipist, Andrew Thompson, to establish a brewery at South Creek, Windsor (known then as Green Hills). Richard probably worked as an assigned man in Andrew Thompson's brewery from about 1807 onwards. Valerie Ross suggests that when Andrew Thompson went to the government farm in 1807 to select men for Governor Bligh's model farm he probably selected Richard for work in his own brewery, to relieve some of the pressure of his extensive business and community interests (Ross, 1980). Thompson's health was in serious decline by 1809 and he leased the brewery where Richard worked to a fellow expiree named Henry Kable in February 1810. Andrew Thompson died from tuberculosis only eight months later at the age of 37. Richard Woodbury and his father in law (to be), Matthew Everingham, followed the hearse at Thompson's funeral in Windsor. Richard and Sarah probably lived in the house attached to the brewery on South Creek in Windsor immediately following their wedding. By about 1811, Richard was in a partnership arrangement in the brewery with Henry Kable[. Kable had extensive farming interests and other interests in shops, stagecoach transport, shipping, whaling and sealing so it is likely that Richard was the main operator at the brewery in that period. However, as well as running the brewery, it seems that Richard was also undertaking some small-scale farming on the South Creek property or somewhere nearby. In February 1811, Richard attended an auction sale of Andrew Thompson's goods, held on behalf of the executors of his will. Some 613 lots were auctioned over the 7 days of the sale grossing an astonishing £3,827. Richard's father in law, Matthew Everingham, and Richard's business partner, Henry Kable, bought goods at the auction, as did many other farmers and business owners in the district at the time (Reel 6040: ML C197 pp.3-18). The auction sale shows that the economy in Windsor was robust, and also that Richard had ready cash available at that stage. Richard spent £17-3-6 on a range of goods such as bootlegs, saddles, bridles, casks and a fowling piece (rifle) but he also bought material that was clearly intended for farming. In addition to the general goods, he bought 24 hundredweight (about 1220 kg) of brimstone (sulphur), which was used at the time as fertilizer, insecticide and a fungicide on crops and pasture. In 1811, Governor Macquarie established a scheme to loan stock from government herds to help establish a pastoral industry in the colony. Richard's father-in-law, Matthew Everingham, borrowed one cow, two oxen and four sheep. Richard borrowed a cow (possibly with calf). However, Richard wasn't able to collect the cow due to an injury he suffered at the brewery. In a letter to the Colonial Secretary Richard wrote: Windsor, 3 June 1811 Sir, In consequence of a very severe wound I met with in Mr Kable's brewery at Windsor I am at present prevented from attending His Excellency's order for receiving the Cows which are promised me and the enclosed certificate from James (illegible) Esquire will I hope be satisfactory on that score. Mr Kable who will be in Sydney is ready to sign the necessary Bond on my behalf and as soon as I am able will come to Sydney to undersign the same which circumstances I hope Sir you will have the goodness to represent to His Excellency the Governor whose Benevolence I trust will not let my accident deprive me of the indulgence. I am, Sir with all possible respect your very obedient humble servant Richard Woodbury During major floods that engulfed the Hawkesbury River in 1816 an unknown artist sketched views of Windsor showing the location of houses and properties at the time. A sketch has been reproduced in Valerie Ross' book Matthew Everingham: A First Fleeter and his Times (Ross, 1980, p 125). The diagram shows the location of "Woodbury's" in Macquarie Street and the location of the original South Creek brewery. In February 1816, the brewery in Macquarie Street was advertised for auction. The reasons for the sale are unclear. Perhaps Richard had over-committed himself financially or he merely decided to concentrate on farming rather than brewing. Whatever the reason, this appears to be a time of declining fortunes for Richard. Perhaps the Woodbury family moved to the George Street property after the sale. The great floods of June 1816 created financial hardship for many on the Hawkesbury River, and Richard was not spared. On 28 June 1816, the farm at Cambridge Reach was put up for sale to satisfy a debt, along with a quantity of corn, pigs, a steel mill and household furniture from the property at Leet's Vale. We know that Sarah (perhaps accompanied by Richard) was in Sydney about this time for Jeremiah was born there on 8 August 1816. Calamity struck Sarah's father, Mathew Everingham, the following year. Matthew was District Constable at Portland Head in the Hawkesbury River at the time. On Christmas day, 25 December 1817, Matthew went aboard the Anna Maria, which was anchored at Lower Portland and under suspicion for "rum running"; that is, selling liquor to the local population without a licence. In the course of his investigations Matthew fell overboard and drowned. Richard attended the Coroner's inquest for his father-in-law held the following day, which returned a verdict of Accidental Death. There was speculation in later years that foul play had been involved in the drowning although no evidence of this was advanced at the inquest (Ross, 1981). Shortly after the inquest Richard moved his family to Leet's Vale (about 5 miles up-river from Wisemans Ferry) and he devoted his energies to farming the 80-acre property. Sarah (the younger) was born at Leet's Vale on 3 March 1819 and she was baptised the following year. Unfortunately three great floods, one in 1817 and two in 1819 ruined Richard's efforts along with those of many other farmers on the Hawkesbury River. Richard lost the Leet's Vale property and the house in George Street, Windsor in a writ to recover outstanding debts. Starting over again in early 1820, the Woodbury's moved to an isolated land grant of 80 acres near Laughtondale, about 9 miles down river from their former home at Leet's Vale. There was no road access to this property and all communication was by river. The nearest town was Windsor, a 45-mile boat trip away. Sarah and the children must have felt very isolated and vulnerable on their new land. The area was subject to attacks by "natives" and bushrangers, and Sarah must have also carried some of the mental scars from her experience as a 10 year old girl in May 1804 when local aborigines wounded her father and mother in a surprise attack while they were harvesting corn. A neighbor at the new farm, Thomas Dillon, had been forced to flee with his eight children from persistent attacks around the time the Woodburys moved to the farm at Laughtondale. Sarah was expecting her sixth child at the time of the move. In May 1820, Richard was appointed First District Constable and Pound Keeper for the Lower Hawkesbury. The pound was up-river from Richard's farm close to present day Wiseman's Ferry but as District Constable he was responsible for maintaining law and order on all of the lower reaches of the river. This was defined in later years as being between First Branch (the Macdonald River near Wisemans Ferry) and Long Island, at present day Brooklyn (Reel 3302; 4/7419.1 p.18). This is a distance by river of about 40 miles (including Mangrove Creek) and much of the travel in the district would have been by boat. Initially Richard received payment for his duties in stores, but from 1824 onwards he received a salary of £10 per annum, paid quarterly. Apart from maintaining law and order, Richard was also required to inspect the properties of new settlers on the lower reaches of the river to certify that the owners had met the conditions of their grant; specifically that they had built permanent houses and cleared and cultivated land. Title deeds would only be issued if these conditions were met. Richard was also required to attend the Court House in Windsor, for cases where he was required to give evidence. In the same month (May 1820) Richard and four others were appointed to the Portland Head branch of the Bible Committee, the main role of which was to ensure poor families had access to a copy of the bible. His official duties and his role in the church must have kept him away from home often and for extended periods. A daughter, Rebecca was born at Laughtondale on 20 December 1820. But Sarah was not completely alone on the Laughtondale farm. The Magistrate's Population List for Wilberforce in 1822 shows that Richard had three assigned convicts to help with the farming; two "lifers" (Robert Atkins and Patrick Russell) and Jacob Adder, serving 14 years. As First District Constable, Richard took his responsibility for law and order seriously. In August 1822, nine convicts in Port Macquarie (home to the most hardened and recalcitrant prisoners) overpowered their guards and stole a whaleboat and provisions to make their escape. They set to sea making south towards the remote parts of Tasmania where they believed they were less likely to be found. However, on their first night at sea they got caught in a storm and all their provisions were lost. By early September they had reached Broken Bay nearly starving. One of the gang knew settlers in the Hawkesbury River and they all agreed to go there for provisions. On the night of 4 September three of the group burst in at the house of Adam Clink, a settler who owned land adjoining Richard Woodbury's. They assaulted Clink and made off with salt pork, meal, sugar, tea, clothing, knives, a compass and the shoes off Clink's feet. District Constable Woodbury was alerted and he left home early the next morning in pursuit. Unfortunately, another neighbor, George Mollison, gave him false information and he spent three days searching down-river while the fugitives were hiding less than a mile from Richard's farm. Richard confronted Mollison, who seeing the error of his deception delivered the ringleader, Daniel Clarke, into custody at the Woodbury farm. Clarke remained there while Richard went in pursuit of the others. Search parties eventually captured all the runaways and they were tried in the Criminal Court in Sydney for robbery of Clink's property and theft of the whaleboat. They were found guilty of the theft of the whaleboat and sentenced to death (but only one of the group was subsequently hung). Mollison was sentenced to 14 years at Port Macquarie. Richard, together with Thomas Walsh and William Gray, a native youth aged 17, received recognition for their role in apprehending the band of "notorious runaways and pirates". Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane approved a reward to be shared amongst the men. The Colonial Secretary wrote: "The police order for sixty dollars that accompanies this letter I am directed by the Governor to enclose for the purpose of being divided in such shares as you may think proper among the 3 constables who distinguished themselves in the apprehension of certain runaways who had effected until they reached the Hawkesbury their escape in a boat from Port Macquarie." (Reel 6053; 4/1756 pp. 105-105c). This incident gives some insight into Richard and Sarah's life on the river. To capture desperate and hardened criminals is an achievement in itself, but Richard's role and the remoteness of the farm left the family in some danger. Sarah most likely had to make arrangements for the security of the runaway Clarke, probably with the help of the three assigned convicts on the farm. Her oldest boy, Richard junior was then only 11 and would have been of limited assistance. Sarah was also heavily pregnant at the time and only about eight weeks after the runaways first arrived at the Hawkesbury she gave birth to her seventh child, John (born 5 November 1822 and baptised on 9 March 1823). In June 1824, Richard ended up on the other side of the law, albeit briefly. Richard and John Hunter were charged with assault on the Provost Marshal's bailiff from Windsor who arrived on Hunter's property to levy maize for a debt to Solomon Wiseman, mistaking it for another property close by. By Richard's own admission he and Solomon Wiseman were "enemies". Richard was called in by Hunter to adjudicate but the bailiff would not budge. According to the court papers, a scuffle broke out. Hunter hit the bailiff with a "brush hook" and Richard knocked down one or both of the bailiff's men and moved the bailiff off the farm forcibly. Richard and Hunter were each bailed for £50. The Sydney Gazette reported Richard and Hunter's subsequent acquittal on the grounds that the bailiff had been at the wrong property and "no unnecessary violence was used in repelling the invasion" [Sydney Gazette, 2 December 1824]. In October 1824, an aborigine know to his clan as "Devil Devil", due to his aggressiveness and a deformity in one of his feet, came to the Hawkesbury after leaving a trail of murder and assault in the area around Newcastle. In the Lower Hawkesbury he stole food and clothing from a young lad after clubbing him and leaving him senseless. He then bartered a gun in his possession for food, a gun that was thought to be the property of another man that Devil Devil had murdered. Local aborigines told District Constable Woodbury about the murder weapon and Richard took possession of it. Richard then managed to track down and apprehend Devil Devil and then lodged him in Windsor gaol where he was "charged with murdering a servant of Mr. Dickson's in the bush by severing the poor man's head from his body with a tomahawk" [Sydney Gazette, 11 November 1824]. This incident gives some further clues to Richard the man. To track and capture an aboriginal man in a bush environment is a significant feat. As Valerie Ross also points out, horses were few in the Hawkesbury at the time and Richard didn't own one, so he must have stalked Devil Devil on foot and then rowed the prisoner to the lock-up at Windsor (Ross, 1981). Trouble struck again in June 1824. Because of floods and other financial difficulties, Richard's Laughtondale property had to be sold to meet debts. Richard applied for and was granted another 50-acre property at the head of Mangrove Creek but perhaps because the property was too remote for his duties as District Constable he did not move to the land. There is some evidence that Richard junior was occupying the land by 1829 (by then aged 18 years). With the Laughtondale property sold, the Woodbury family moved across the river and rented a property at present day Gunderman from Chief Constable, John Howe. Three further children were born at the new property. Anne was born on 15 October 1824 and Jane on 11 July 1926. Matthew was born on 15 July 1828. During this period Richard and Sarah seemed to embrace the then-new Wesleyan Church, which began as a reformist movement out of the established Church of England. Ann was baptised in the Established Church. However, Jane and Matthew were baptised according to Wesleyan rites; but their names were also entered into the Parish Register. Richard's property eventually became a fixture in the Wesleyan preaching circuit. Much later, in 1855, the Lower Hawkesbury Wesleyan Chapel, which still stands, was built on what had been the Woodbury farm at Gunderman. On 23 January 1827, the son of Thomas Green, a neighboring farmer, set fire to wheat stubble on the Green's property. Unfortunately the wind came up and the surrounding drought-affected grasses exploded into flame. The Sydney Gazette reported that "the grass was burning in all directions for more than a mile in circumference" [Sydney Gazette, 31 January 1827]. The fire raced across onto Richard Woodbury's property and Richard's house and three corn stacks were burnt to the ground. Apart from a few pigs, the family lost everything they owned. However, by the time of the NSW Census in 1828, Richard Woodbury and his family had rebuilt. Richard farmed 70 acres at Gunderman of which 60 was cleared and cultivated and he owned 15 head of cattle. His farm operated a small store and supported an assigned servant, John Harman, married in 1827 to Sarah's sister Elizabeth ("Betsy"), as well as a female servant, three labourers, a blacksmith and a stonemason. Also, in April 1828 a small part-time school opened in Nelsons Reach directly opposite the Woodbury farm and it is likely that some of the Woodbury children rowed across to attend when it was in session. In October 1828, four escapees from Number Three Iron Gang who were working on the construction of the Great North Road just over the hills burst in and attacked the Woodbury farm. During the attack, young William Woodbury (then 17) shot at the leader, Richard Peacock. The forefinger of Richard's right hand was broken in the assault and many pieces of glass were taken from Richard's head over the following week. During his convalescence, Sarah probably persuaded Richard to resign his position as District Constable and on 23 January 1829, a fortnight after the Iron Gang escapee's trial, Richard officially resigned. He had served nearly nine years under very difficult circumstances. He was 52 at the time. Free from his policing duties, Richard moved his family from Gunderman down-river to Mangrove Creek. According to a submission written by Richard junior in 1831, his father and mother moved to a 70-acre farm at Popran Creek and Richard senior then bought another 30-acre property opposite Sugee Bag Creek, about 5 miles further upstream. Richard Senior also bought the property at Gunderman, which he then on-sold the following year. In the same submission, Richard junior stated that he was renting 10 of his father's 70 acres at Popran, had built a house and had 10 head of cattle and a wheat crop. Farming in Mangrove Creek must have been successful because in the early part of 1830, Richard was briefly under contract to the Commissary Department to supply victuals to Number Nine Iron Gang working on the Great North Road around present-day Gibba Gunya. According to the Superintendent, Richard gave satisfactory service. Around this time, the family moved to the 30-acre property near Sugee Bag Creek and it was here that Elizabeth Woodbury (then 18) met a neighbouring landholder's son, William Hibbs. William and Elizabeth were married on 19 Janua

105

Denis Pember on 7th December 2015

Sainty & Johnson; 1828 Census of New South Wales: [Ref W2478] Woodbury, Richard, 47, free by servitude, Fortune, 1806, 7 years, Protestant, farmer, Lower Portland Head, 70 acres, 60 acres cleared and cultivated, 15 horned cattle. [Ref W2479] Woodbury, Sarah, 30, born in the colony. [Ref W2480] Woodbury, Elizabeth 16, born in the colony. [Ref W2481] Woodbury, Richard 17 born in the colony. [Ref W2482] Woodbury, William 14 born in the colony. [Ref W2483] Woodbury, Jeremiah 12 born in the colony. [Ref W2484] Woodbury, Sarah 10 born in the colony [Ref W2485] Woodbury, Rebecca 7 born in the colony [Ref W2486] Woodbury, John 5 born in the colony. [Ref W2487] Woodbury, Ann 4 born in the colony. [Ref W2488] Woodbury, Jane 2 born in the colony. [Ref W2489] Woodbury, Mathew 2 months born in the colony.

105

Denis Pember on 7th December 2015

In the colony; Richard married Sarah Elizabeth Everingham at St Matthew's Windsor, December 17th 1810. Sarah had been bornin the colony and was the daughter of Matthew James Everingham (First Fleet Convist, Scarborough, 1788) and Elizabeth Rimes (Second Fleet Convict, Neptune, 1790). Richard farmed in the Lower Portland Head area. In 1812, he owned 70 acres of land around Lower Portland Head. He was granted and purchased another 150 acres or more in the Northumberland County along Mangrove Creek. He and Sarah had a large family (11 identified so far) between 1812 and 1831.