LIST 6 - BAPTISMS - DEUXIEME DIZAINE - ST DAVIDS HOBART

 
 
The third church to be established in the colony was St Davids at Hobart in 
Van Diemens Land. This third 'primary source' list contains the details 
of 137 baptisms recorded in St David's church register for children born 
between 1801 and 1810, 77 males and 60 females.
 
The information recorded for each child includes: 
 
 reference number
 date of baptism 
 date of birth
 Christian name
 father's Christian name 
 father's family name 
 father's year of arrival in the colony 
 father's ship of arrival in the colony 
 father's status upon arrival in the colony 
 mother's Christian name
 mother's maiden name
 mother's year of arrival in the colony
 mother's ship of arrival in the colony
 mother's status upon arrival in the colony
 parent's civil status at the time of the child's birth
  parent's marital status at the time of the child's birth
 parent's year & country/church of marriage where applicable 
 
The list is presented in chronological order by date of baptism then 
alphabetically by father's surname. 
 
These St Davids baptisms account for 4% of the "Deuxieme Dizaine".
 
There was one duplicate entry on the register during the period under study 
(James Washart) reducing the total of individual baptisms to 136 and 76 males. 
It is possible that Donald McCoy may have had a duplicate entry.
 
James and Mary Cummings were baptized for a second time at St Phillips when 
their parents returned to Sydney, for some reason.
 
Where the father's surname has a second name separated by a slash '/', the surname 
after the slash is how the name was spelt in the original document or if second 
name is substantially different it refers to an alias. Where the mother's surname 
has a second name separated by a slash, the surname after the slash is her 
married name at the time of the recording being made if she was married more 
than once. 
 
The reference number would direct the reader to the relevant entry in the 
original source document.
 
St David's Church in Van Diemens Land had a very similar beginning to 
St Phillips in New South Wales, insomuch as both church registers were 
commenced on the voyage from England to Australia. In St David's case, the 
Reverend Robert Knopwood recorded the first baptism at sea on board 'HMS 
Calcutta' on the 6th June 1803 for Thomas Wiggins, son of Marine Samuel Wiggins 
and his wife Susannah.
 
The second baptism took place at Port Phillip Bay (in modern day Victoria) on 
the 25th November the same year for William Thorne, son of Marine Samuel Thorne 
and his wife Ann.
 
The next nine baptisms took place at Sullivan's Cove on the Derwent River 
after the settlement had been moved there in January 1804.
 
The first baptism at Hobart Town, where the settlement finally settled was 
on 18th June 1805 for Joseph Kearly, son of Marine George Kearly and his wife 
Mary.
 
Five baptisms were late baptisms of members of the "First Generation"; 
Ann Billett, Susannah, Richard & Edward Garth and Mary Walford. These are 
not recorded in the current list but since they were overlooked in Volume 
One, they are presented in this Volume as Appendix IV.
 
Jonathan & Frederick Paterson, Charles & James Peck, Ann & Sarah Lowe were all 
double baptisms with the same reference number.
 
George & James and Thomas Free were all born on Norfolk Island. Elizabeth Mason 
was born in Sydney.
 
The father of Elizabeth Mack is unknown, but she was adopted by Rev Knopwood 
after the death of the mother and he did state the her father was a marine who 
abandoned her mother.
 
The register did not record the date of birth until 1814 so it has been assumed, 
not unreasonably in most cases, that the year of baptism roughly corresponds 
to the year of birth. The only child to have an exact date of birth recorded 
is Henrietta Bowen and her birth date was derived from other sources.
 
Most children were baptized soon after birth but there are some (ten to be 
exact) who were later baptisms, the last being for Susannah Solomon in 1849 
at the age of forty. The only problem is to determine if their birth took place 
in the colony or not.
 
Those baptisms for the three years 1811,1812,1813 may contain some members 
of the "Deuxieme Dizaine" but in the absence of evidence to the contrary 
they must remain unknown. 
 
The list contains the first baptisms of native children, ten in this period. 
As well as one native of New Zealand, Mary Tippahee and one half caste child, 
Mary Bruce.
 
On this occasion there were more boys baptized than girls. Notice on this list 
how there was a lesser percentage of convict fathers and a much lesser 
percentage of convict mothers than for the mainland births. Notice also 
a much higher percentage of legitimate births. This is a reflection of 
the fact that in the early years at least it was mainly the soldiers and officials 
who were having children with their legal wives.
 
The colonial born make their first appearance as parents, with three children 
having colonial born fathers and twenty children having colonial born mothers.
 
 Table 6.1 - Baptisms St Davids Hobart
 
 Total Males Females Convict Convict Legitimate Illegitimate
 Father Mother
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1803 2 2 0 0 0 2 0
 1804 5 2 3  2 0 4 1
 1805 14 7 7 5 5 5 9
 1806 7 2 5 4 1 5 2
 1807 11 8 3 3 2 8 3
 1808  15 7 8 10 9 9 6
 1809 33 17 17 22 11 20 13 
 1810 39 24 15 20 13 25 14 
 >1810 10 7 3 8  9 4 6 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 Totals 136 76 60 73 50 82 54
Percentages 55.9% 43.1% 53.7% 36.8% 60.3% 39.7%
 
Entries on this list have the reference identifier "SDH" on List 1. To locate 
an entry on this list; firstly an alphabetical search on the name would be 
made on List 1 from which the date of baptism would be retrieved, secondly using 
the appropriate date, the baptism would be located on this list and finally 
an alphabetical search on the name would be made on the baptismal date if 
there should be more than one entry for that date. 
 
 
The abbreviations used in this list are explained below:
 
 d = defacto
 m = married
 
 CF = came free
 GS = government servant (convict)
 FS = free by servitude (emancipist)
 AP = free by absolute pardon
 CP = free by conditional pardon
 EX = exile
 NE = never emigrated
 -- = unknown
 
 Eng = England
 Ire = Ireland
  Sct = Scotland
 Wal = Wales
 
 Ldn = London 
 Sst = Somerset
 
 NI = Norfolk Island
 SDH = St Davids Hobart
 SPS = St Phillips Sydney
 
 * = duplicate entry

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