LIST 29 - 1828 CENSUS - TROISIEME DIZAINE - NEW SOUTH WALES
The first census of New South Wales was the 1828 Census, conducted in
November of that year. There are 3,039 members of the "Troisieme Dizaine"
identified in the census (1,524 males and 1,515 females, 2,635 colonial born
and 408 childhood arrivals).
By the time of the 1828 Census the eldest of the "Troisieme Dizaine" would
have been seventeen years old and the youngest eight. In other words nearly
all were still in their formative years. Some of the childhood arrivals would
of course be older.
As with earlier musters the practice of separating males and females is
continued, once again to take account of the English custom of women taking their husbands surname upon marriage.
Males
The list contains 1,524 names (1,333 colonial born and 191 childhood
arrivals). The information presented for each boy includes:
family name Christian nameyear of birth
parents' names
parents' civil status at the time of the child's birth parents' marital status at the time of the child's birth colonial born or came free age religion occupation place of residence number of acres of land owned name as it appears in the original census reference number linking back to the original source document.The list is ordered alphabetically on the person's name; family name then
Christian name.
There are 67 duplicate entries. George King & Patrick Supple appeared three
times leaving 1,455 individual "Troisieme Dizaine" males in the census. Most
of these duplicates arose because if a boy was an apprentice or a servant in another household he would frequently be recorded both there and at his parents
home as well.Boys quite often appeared under the maiden name of their mother or the surname
of their stepfather but James & Thomas Hornery appeared under their father's
alias of Bradcock as did Edward Powell (Watson) and Thomas Willliams (Wells).
As to why Thomas Maher appeared under the surname of Byrne is unclear.
It is not certain if entry [W1849] for C B Wilson is male or female.
One hundred and sixteen of the male "Troisieme Dizaine" have unknown parents
at this time and are documented in "List 18 - Births From Musters & Censae".
Sixty one boys have no status recorded although Patrick Sullivan is believed
to have arrived in 1817 aboard 'Hunter', similarly George & John Tate of
'Minerva' and Thomas Whitaker of 'Broxbornebury'. The vast majority of
these being boys from the Male Orphan Institute at Cabramatta which recorded
neither status nor religion.
James Brooker is recorded as "NS" (?native son), George Innes as "NB" (?native
born") and Rowland Fairweather as "BF" (?born free).
William Browning is recorded as colonial born when in fact he arrived as
a baby with his convict mother in 1811 on the 'Friends'. Similarly John
Anlezark of 'Lord Sidmouth', Robert Bacon of 'Surrey', Thomas Bogg of
'Broxborneburyh', Henry Easley of 'Lord Eldon', Phillip Fitzpatrick of 'Almorah', John Gore of the 'Wanstead', John McIntosh of 'Wyndham', William McNally of 'Broxbornebury', James Morley of 'Northampton', John Thomas of
'Broxborneburuy', William Thompson of 'Broxbornebury', John & William White
of 'Broxbornebury'.
Antonio Sylvester is recorded as arriving in 1810 aboard 'Harrington'
but it is believed he arrived in 1813 aboard 'James Hay'. Joseph Kendall who arrived in 1813 aboard 'Earl Spencer' is shown as arriving in 1828 aboard
'Elizabeth' which may have been a return voyage to the colony.The ships of arrival of Thomas Boyle, John Freeman, S Henry Lewis, Daniel
Maloney, John Orchard, John Ryan & James Smith are unknown.By the time of the 1828 Census the boys would have ranged in age from 8 to
17 years, with the childhood arrivals being older of course, the oldest of
which was Antonio Sylvester who was 30. Four boys, who all arrived as childhood
arrivals, have no age recorded; James Deacy, Henry Faulkner, James Graham
and William Lawson.Analysis of the Protestant/Catholic divide amongst the "Troisieme Dizaine" males reveals that the colony always was and always remained overwhelmingly
English and Protestant. Catholics numbered 271 (17.7%).
The census does not make any differentiation between the various Protestant
denominations with the exception of nine boys who identified themselves as
Presbyterians 'S'.
It must also be noted that 121 boys (7.9%) had no entry in the religion column.
One of the principle joys of studying the 1828 census is the way it helps to
fill in some of the background to the lives of the "Troisieme Dizaine". One
detail of great interest with regard to the males is, of course, their
occupation. In the current era children of this age would all be expected to be in school
but as the tables below will demonstrate this was certainly not the case in
1828. It is noted that only 12 of the "Troisieme Dizaine" are recorded as
being 'pupils' and 73 as 'apprentices'.
The range of occupations recorded is as follows:
Table 29.1. - Male OccupationsOccupation No. Occupation No.
------------------------------------------------
apprentice 73 milkboy 1
assistant 1 miller 1
baker 5 millwright 2
blacksmith 4 missionary 1
butcher 1 overseer 2
cabinetmaker 4 pastrycook 1
carpenter 11 printer 2
clerk 10 publican 1
coachmaker 3 sawyer 2
cooper 2 servant 56
cowboy 1 settler 3
erranboy 1 shepherd 5
farmer 10 shipwright 1
fisherman 2 shoemaker 11
gardener 1 shopboy 1
gentleman 1 shopkeeper 2
groom 1 shopman 1
harnessmaker 1 solicitor 1
herdsman 3 stockkeeper 4
houseservant 5 stonecutter 1
hutkeeper 1 tailor 8
journeyman 1 waiter 1
labourer 27 waterman 1
landholder 2 weaver 6
limeburner 2 wheelwright 2
mariner 1
Three boys were already working as servants at the age of eight; John Ayres,
Joseph Flannagan and James Masterson. Joseph Bridge was already labouring at the age of fourteen.
James Levy, Michael Parker and Charles Pearson described themselves
as 'inmates' presumably of some medical institution.
There was no occupation recorded in 1,103 (72%) instances, so hopefully most
of these would have been at school. Another 61 recorded that they were either
boarding, living with or lodging at another household. Finally 46 recorded whom they were related to, often a mother who had changed their name by remarriage or a stepfather. John Tiernan is interestingly described as the 'supposed'
son of Antonio Berringo.
William Browning following in his mother's footsteps fell fowl of the law and
found himself at Moreton Bay with a 7 year sentence.
John Carney has probably been incorrectly recorded as having a 7 year sentence.
Brothers John and Spencer Green are incorrectly recorded as having Life
sentences. John McGrath's 14 year sentence may be a confusion with his age.
Analysis of land ownership is another fascinating and informative aspect of
the data contained within the census. But for this "Dizaine" only 15 males
are recorded as holding land, ranging from Thomas Barker with 6 acres, up
to Andrew Allen with 10,560 acres. The "place of residence" information is also a great interest to the historian. Only thirteen boy left this column blank.
Sadly 51 boys were resident at the Male Orphan Institute at Cabramatta.
Joseph & James Brierly were also at the institute although they are recorded
at Parramatta which is probably an error. For some reason John Williamson is
recorded at the Female Orphan Institute at Parramatta. Nathanial Brady was also recorded as an orphan working as a servant.
In passing, how pleasant it is to see the street names and suburbs and
districts of Sydney as we know them today, being used nearly two hundred years
ago. These names provide a touching connection and continuity with our pioneer
families.
Females
The list contains 1,515 females (1,298 colonial born and 217 childhood
arrivals). Information recorded for each woman is the same as for the males but with the additional marital details of; name of spouse and current marital
status. This once again is recorded to help make sense of the surname under
which the woman appears in the original document.There were 73 duplicate entries, thus the list contains 1,443individual girls.
Most of these duplicates arise because if a girl was a lodger or a servant
in another household she would frequently be recorded both there and at her
parents home as well.
Girls quite often appeared under the maiden name of their mother or the surname
of their stepfather but Ann & Elizabeth Williams appeared under their father's alias of Wells. It is not known why Bridget & Maria Maher appeared under the
surname of 'Byrne'.
Charlotte Huxley evidently dropped her "h's" since the clerk recording her
details misheard her name as "Oxley". Then for some reason she recorded her
children under her maiden name even though she was legally married to James
Neale at the time of their births. Just to complicate matters even further
for the genealogist, there was another colonial born lass, Charlotte Thorpe,
who had children by John Oxley. One wonders how many more of the mystery entries
in this census have a similarly circuitous origin ?
Sarah Hoodine had her surname recorded as 'Wooden'.
For entry [P0493], with name recorded as just "Peggy", it is uncertain whether
she is female or male.
One hundred and seven of the female "Troisieme Dizaine" have unknown parents
at this time and are documented in "List 18 - Births From Musters & Censae"
It is not clear why Ann Sibree is recorded as the daughter of Elizabeth
Reynolds.
Mary Buckley is recorded as colonial born when in fact she arrived as
a child with her convict parents aboard 'Morley' in 1818. Similarly Elizabeth
Barclay of 'Mary Ann', Charlotte Cooper of 'Broxbornebury', Elizabeth Dyel of 'Janus', Harriet Habworth of 'Northampton', Charlotte Hannan of 'Admiral
Gambier', Mary Howlett of 'Janus', Rachael Ikin of 'Mariner', Mary Leonard
of 'Northampton', Mary McCue of 'Eliza', Sarah Middleton of 'Earl Spencer',
Catherine Nichols of 'Northampton', Matilda Rawlinson of 'Fame', Elizabeth
Smith of 'Hibernia', Elizabeth Stewart of 'Wyndham' and Sarah Taylor of
'Friends'
Conversely Lydia Curl is recorded as arriving aboard 'Indefatigable'
of 1815 when she was not born until 1816. Margaret Finnemore on the
1813 'Archduke Charles' was born in 1814 and Eliza Fish on the 1812 'Clarkson'
was born in 1814.
The ships of arrival of Elizabeth Edwards, Jane Fisher, Eliza Linning,
Margaret McPherson, Ellen Parr, Hannah Quinlan & Mary Sukins are unknown.
Sixty four girls had a blank for her arrival status, the majority (47) of whom
were from the Female Orphan Institute at Parramatta. Of the remainder seventeen had parents who were married in the colony indicating that they were colonial
born, Ann Kelly was an orphan at Bathurst, Ann Blake was a duplicate entry
for a known colonial born and Mary Ann Smith, wife of William Baker, is a
true mystery.
Catherine Doyle was recorded as 'F' (free?) whilst Mary Ann Clarke and
Mary & Ann Pugh were recorded as 'N'(native?) but all three are known to be colonial born. The Peggy referred to above is recorded as 'NB' (native born?).The "Troisieme Dizaine" females would have ranged in age from 8 years to 17
years by the time of the 1828 census. The childhood arrivals would be older
of course, Susannah Dockerell being the oldest at 30. Eleven girls have no age recorded but since all were enrolled at the Sydney
School of Industry which trained young girls for domestic service it can
be safely assumed they were all in the required age range. Interestingly the
parents of none of these girls has been identified which might have helped
estimate their age.As with the males, the Protestant/Catholic divide amongst the females again
confirms the overwhelming Protestant character of the colony at this time.
Catholics numbered 230 (15%), three women; Jane Graham, Matilda Grono and
Elizabeth Tate, were Presbyterians ("S") whilst Sarah Hoodine was recorded
as "A" (atheist?).Those women who had no information in the religion column numbered 136
(9%) and of these 54 were from the Female Orphan Institute in Parramatta which
as has been seen recorded neither religion nor status.Only 168 of the "Troisieme Dizaine" girls were married by the time of the
1828 census. One might expect that most would be the older childhood arrivals
and given their age range it is surprising that any of the colonial born
were married at all. But in fact 74 were, the youngest being two fourteen
year olds; Rebecca Hall and Catherine Mason.The table below lists nine married women whose maiden names are unknown at
this time despite extensive referencing of the early church marriage registers
and the 'Pioneer Register' in an attempt to locate them.
Table 29.2. - Married Women Surname Unknown
Name Born Spouse Ref. No.
-------------------------------------------Catherine 1812 BC James Goodsir G0673
Mary 1811 BC William Jarvis J0204
Mary Ann 1811 BC George Keys K0728
Catherine 1812 BC James Kirwan K0973
Eliza 1812 CF William Linning L0898
Mary 1812 CF Luke Morlan M3046
Mary 1813 BC Peter O'Meara O0233
Ellen 1811 BC George Pearce P0419
Elizabeth 1804 CF William Wilks W2014
All the married women were listed under their married surnames with the
exception of Phoebe Hanks (Mrs John Thomas) which may explain why she was
working as a dressmaker, Elizabeth Palmer (Mrs Thomas Richards) and Catherine
Rutter (Mrs Robert Cooper) who had obviously moved on since she was now living
with Thomas Hammond.For girls of this age one would hope that most would be in school but from information recorded in the 1828 Census this would not appear to be the case.
Eight girls were recorded at Mrs Loves school at 'Lovedale' Concord, five
at Mr Eyres school in Parramatta and one at Mrs Robertsons school in
Sydney. The equivalent of apprenticeships for the boys would be the Sydney
School of Industry which was an institution set up in 1826 to train young
girls for domestic service, where 29 girls are recorded.
Sadly 54 were at the Female Orphan Institute at Parramatta. Unfortunately
these girls were only recorded with initials for their Christian names, not
only were they orphans in reality they are 'orphans' genealogically as well. Another 6 girls recorded that they were orphans living with families.
Colonial born women of this time had but one choice of occupation - that of
wife and mother. Of those few who did record an occupation, they were mostly
of the domestic variety.
Only 190 of the female entries had any information in the "occupation"
column. Not surprisingly 168 were in a group best described as "household
duties" and a further 8 in a sewing group, both groups being typically female
occupations.
Table 29.3. - Female OccupationsOccupation No. Occupation No.
------------------------------------------------apprentice 1 milliner 1
assistant 4 nursemaid 5
dairyman 1? sawyer 1?
dressmaker 5 sempstress 3
housekeeper 7 servant 137
housemaid 6 washerwoman 3
householder 3
houseservant 5 landholder 1
labourer 3? farmer 1
limeburner 1?
maid 1 wife 168
miller 1?
Three girls were already working as servants at the age of eight; Ann Lord,
Rebecca Rayner and Helen Walker.
It is unlikely that Ann Maxworthy (Mrs Galvin) was a dairyman, perhaps the
entry should have read dairymaid. It is equally unlikely that Sarah Biggs,
Catherine Doyle or Sarah Hence were labourers or that Hannah Jackson was a
miller or that Catherine Nichols was a limeburner or that Eliza Booker (Mrs Hacking) was a sawyer.
It is not certain exactly what sort of apprenticeship Ann McGrath was
undertaking.
For the seven girls recording their occupation as a housekeeper, presumably it
does not mean for their husband since all were not married.Ann Good (Mrs Power) was described as a landholder, the only female member
of the "Troisieme Dizaine" recorded as holding land (500 acres). Jemima
Middleton (Mrs Warby) was described as a farmer presumably in league with
her husband but interestingly she is not recorded with any land.
Elizabeth Wilberforce and Eupheme Clarke were 'inmates' presumably
of some medical institution and Sophia Adcock was a patient at the Liverpool
Lunatic Asylum.
There is no occupation recorded in 1,007 (66.6%) instances, so hopefully most
of these would have been at school. Another 87 recorded that they were either
boarding, living with or lodging at another household. Finally 49 recorded whom they were related to, often a mother who had changed their name by remarriage or a stepfather. Sarah Tiernan is interestingly described as the 'supposed'
daughter of Antonio Berringo.
To the great shame of both her sex and her generation Frances Robinson is
regrettably recorded with a six months colonial sentence and incarcerated
in the Female Factory at Parramatta. Mary Cappers was also in the Factory
but she was only there because her mother was.
The "place of residence" information is also of great interest to the historian.
Only 17 girls left this column blank.
Proceed to Census Lists
Return to 1811-1820
Return to Home Page
This work is copyright. Apart from any fair
dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process
without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.