Spotlight on ... My Family Connection to the "Father of Bowen".

I'm a small town girl, born and bred in the coastal town of Bowen, north Queensland, and even though I only spent the first sixteen years of my life there, I still feel a deep connection to that place.  

Memories of Bowen from the 1960s-1970s
(the Bowen I remember from my youth)

Until recently, I had thought my family connection to Bowen only went back as far as my maternal Grandfather James O'Donnell and Grandmother Sarah McCane.  Both my grandparents were the children of immigrants.  James O'Donnell was the son of Irish born Edmond O'Donnell and Bridget Burke.  Sarah McCane was the daughter of Irish born Owen McCane (Muckian) and English born Margaret Farrell.  

My grandfather James was born in Toowoomba and initially moved to Kyburra (near Armstrong Creek), outside Bowen, where he established a small farm.  

My grandmother Sarah was born in Charters Towers and then moved with her parents and siblings to Molongle Creek, outside Bowen, where her parents also established a small farm.  

My grandparents spent around the first 21 years of their marriage living on Grandad's farm at Kyburra, before moving into the town of Bowen.  That is where my mother and father married and began their married life, and where my brother and I were born.

I therefore grew up with that history of our family's connection with Bowen, and no inkling of anything different.

Throughout my childhood I became increasingly aware of the history of the town itself of course, and there were names I became familiar with -

Henry Daniel Sinclair, who discovered the harbour in 1859 and named it Port Denison, after the Governor of New South Wales at the time.

George Elphinstone Dalrymple, who founded a settlement at the harbour just two years later, and named it Bowen after the first Governor of the newly declared state of Queensland, Sir George Bowen.

I've only just recently found that there is a connection that links my grandmother's brother to the man who is referred to as the "father of Bowen" - Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair. 

Starting with my grandmother I'll explain this connection:

My grandmother Sarah O'Donnell nee McCane was one of six siblings - one sister and five brothers.  Her youngest brother was Edward Joseph McCane, my Grand Uncle.

When Edward Joseph McCane married, a family connection was created to an ancestral line that leads directly back to Henry Daniel Sinclair.

My Grand Uncle's wife, Alice Maud Wilson was Captain Sinclair's great granddaughter.

From Alice Maud McCane nee Wilson, the ancestral connection to Captain Sinclair is through her female line -

great granddaughter Alice Maud Wilson  >  Alice's mother, Maud Sophia Nash Emmerson  >  Alice's grandmother, Amelia Hollis Sinclair  >  and then Alice's great grandfather, Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair.

Alice Maud McCane nee Wilson
(photos sourced from Jessica Watters)

Captain Sinclair's great granddaughter, Alice Maud Wilson, was born in 1911 in Bowen, Queensland.  She had a half-sister and two brothers, although one of her brothers died when he was only 2 years old.  Alice married my grand Uncle when she was 22 years old.  Their married life began close to the McCane family farm at Broadlands outside Bowen, but they made the move to Bowen just a couple of years later.  They lived on Thomas Street where they raised their two children. 

Maud Sophia Nash Wilson nee Emmerson
(photo sourced from Jessica Watters)

Captain Sinclair's granddaughter (Alice's mother) was Maud Sophia Nash Emmerson.  She was born in 1875 on Pretty Bend Station, near Bowen, and was the oldest of eight children born to Joseph Emmerson and Amelia Hollis Sinclair.  She spent her childhood and many of her adult years living on her family's property, Amelia Vale Station, near Proserpine in Queensland.  

Maud married Richard Hugh Wilson in 1909 when she was 34 years old and they lived for many years either on their farm near Eurie Creek, Merinda, or at Gumlu, before moving to Bowen in their latter years. 

When Maud passed away in 1949, mention was made in her obituary that she was the "granddaughter of Captain H.D. Sinclair, the discoverer of Port Denison."

Transcript:

Bowen Independent (Qld.: 1911 - 1954),

OBITUARY

MAUD SOPHIA NASH WILSON

"Another link with the past was severed when Mrs. Maud Sophia Nash Wilson died on May 27th at Bowen. The late Mrs. Wilson was a member of the well-known Emerson family of Amelia Vale, who were noted throughout the district for their hospitality.

Deceased was the eldest daughter of Joseph and Amelia Emerson, and a granddaughter of Captain H. D. Sinclair, the discoverer of Port Denison. Mrs. Wilson was born in Bowen on 22nd January 1875, and spent her girlhood in Bowen, Proserpine and Amelia Vale. Her father died when she was 13 years old, and as a young woman for some time she conducted an agency for the old tea firm of Atcherley & Dawson.

In December 1900 she married Mr. Hugh Wilson, and then lived at Euri Creek for a couple of years, until they moved to Gumlu. There they remained until 1944, when they took up residence in Bowen. They had three children, two daughters and a son, Joseph, who passed away at an early age. The daughters, who survive, are Allee (Mrs. E. McCune, Bowen) and Hollis (Mrs. D. Romano, Innisfail).

Besides her husband and daughters, she has left to mourn her loss, four sisters and one brother, the sisters being Mrs. F. A. C. Smith, Bowen, Mrs. C. Spencer, Bowen, Mrs. F. Watts, Amelia Vale, Proserpine, and Mrs. A. Thompson, Norman Park, Brisbane. The brother is Mr. Canty Emerson, Goorganga Creek, Proserpine. One brother, Joseph, predeceased her. Mrs. Wilson also leaves a step-daughter, Mrs. E. Flecher, Gumlu, and eleven grandchildren. The last sad rites were conducted by Rev. A. D. Thorpe, Holy Trinity Church, and another of the old band of pioneers laid to rest."

Amelia Hollis Emmerson nee Sinclair
(seated with two of her youngest daughters behind her,
Ethel Hollis Gertrude, on the left and Lilly Mabel Patience on the right)
(photos sourced from Dinah Souter)

Captain Sinclair's daughter (Maud's mother) was Amelia Hollis Sinclair.  Amelia had been born at Cook's River, Petersham in New South Wales in the mid 1850s and was one of eight children born to Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair and his wife, Sophia Jane Paton.   

Amelia was 4 yeas old when she and her mother, the wife of Captain Sinclair, arrived at Port Denison aboard her father's ship, the Santa Barbara, making her one of the first white children to live in the area.

Amelia married Joseph Emmerson in 1874, when she was 16 years old.  They went on to have a family of ten children, and lived for many years on Joseph's father's property Pretty Bend Station, before moving to a property that Joseph had taken up under the first Land Act. He named it 'Amelia Vale', after his wife.  Amelia continued living at Amelia Vale Station until her death in 1943. 

I found this account, given by Amelia in the 1930s, particularly fascinating.  She recounts her childhood and early married life in the Bowen area and her interactions with the indigenous people living there.

Transcript:

Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld.: 1907-1954), Wednesday 11 February 1931, page 5.

MRS. A.H. EMMERSON

PIONEER CHILD AT BOWEN.  DAUGHTER OF CAPTAIN SINCLAIR.

"I was four years of age, when my mother (the wife of Captain Sinclair) landed at Port Denison in the 'Jeannie Dove' 1859, writes Mrs. Emmerson, so I must be a pioneer child of Bowen, a town I loved as a child and do so still.  My life has been spent in its vicinity.  At that time the water for settlers was got from native wells on the beach.  Where Bowen is now was then all wattle scrub.  Back of Zimmerman's is where the native police camp was formed to protect the arrivals on the 'Jeannie Dove' from attacks by the wild blacks, who were not allowed in the township for some years.  Later they were allowed to camp at Miller's Lagoon.  It was part of our Sunday outings to go and see the tribes, and watch the gins digging up bigaroes around the lagoons.

Mr. D. R. Emmerson, my father-in-law, had cattle properties, Eagle Vale and Pretty Bird, where I went to live when I married his son, and where six of my children were born.  We had not so much attention as wives and mothers have nowadays, so we appreciated the help of black gins who became friendly to us.  One blackfellow was made king of Pretty Bend by having his name and title inscribed on a big brass plate to hang on his chest.  His gin Maggie, was always with me, and was delighted when my little ones came into the world.  As well as being a splendid help, she was a great protection.  When any mischief was brewing amongst the blacks, she always came secretly and warned be about their plans.  Her son, who took the name of Willie Emmerson, became a famous horseman, well known throughout the district.  I hold him in great respect, as I have found him sincere and good.

I look back to those times as the brightest and happiest days of my life.  When my husband sold Pretty Bend, we travelled in a bullock dray with a tilt or cover over it, and driven by Jack Gill, then only a boy in years, to Amelia Vale, county my husband had taken up under the first Land Act and given it that name.  From then till now it has been my home.  I am the mother of seven living children, and 22 grand children.  After over 50 years in the bush, I can look back with pleasure to the grand old pioneering days."

(photo sourced from Jessica Watters)

This Sinclair family portrait shows Amelia, seated on the right, with her mother Sophia Jane Sinclair nee Paton (the wife of Captain Sinclair), her daughter Florence Amelia Constance Smith nee Emmerson, and her grandson Hector Smith.

Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair

Captain Sinclair was born Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair, in 1817 in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England.  He was the son of Thomas Sinclair and Amelia Hollis.  Sent to sea at the age of 12, Henry finally earned his Master's Certificate of Service in England, in 1851 at the age of 32.  He emigrated to Australia soon after, and married Sophia Jane Paton in Sydney in 1855, when he was 37 years old.  They went on to have eight children over ten years.

When Captain Henry Sinclair was aged 42, he led the first British expedition to find a port north of what is now known as Rockhampton, in response to a reward offered by the Colony of New South Wales. The then Governor of New South Wales had offered a sizeable bounty for the discovery of a suitable harbour that could be easily accessible by northern settlers.

Captain Sinclair departed Sydney in August of 1859 on his nine-tonne ketch named the 'Santa Barbara'.  He met up with two other partners and a seaman in Rockhampton and the party set sail from Port Alma at Rockhampton, heading northwards.    

There is a fascinating account of Sinclair's discovery that can be viewed on the Trove website:  How Bowen Was Discovered by James Gordon   It tells the tale of a hastily arranged voyage plagued by poor planning and Sinclair's erratic leadership and calls the sighting of Port Denison an 'accidental discovery'.

Gordon, James. 1859, How Bowen was discovered : the cruise of the Santa Barbara, 9 tons, in search of a northern port in the year 1859

Information cited on the ABC television program 'Lateline', aired in 2003, gives a very clear picture of  this time in Captain Henry Sinclair's life.

"The New South Wales Government in 1859 has posted a reward of 2000 pounds to anyone who discovered a suitable harbour north of Port Alma (near Rockhampton).

Spurred on by the prospect of the reward, Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair, his partners James Gordon and Benjamin Poole and seaman William Thomas set sail from Rockhampton in a nine-ton ketch, the Santa Barbara on September 1, 1859.

By September 29, they had sailed as far as Upstart Bay (in the area now known as the Burdekin region) and checked out the shoreline. Heading southwards for the return journey they encountered severe headwinds as they rounded Cape Upstart forcing them to sail through the Gloucester Passage to Edgecumbe Bay, areas previously named by James Cook when he passed by on his epic voyage nearly 90 years earlier.

The Santa Barbara sailed across Edgecumbe Bay on the morning of October 15 passing a couple of islands. Two of them were subsequently named after Poole and Thomas. Behind a third island, later named Stone Island, Sinclair and his crew found what amateur historian Peter Delamothe later described as "a splendid harbour…where ships could remain in perfect safety". They named the harbour Port Denison in honour of the Governor of N.S.W.

The Santa Barbara returned to Rockhampton on October 31 and the three partners then travelled to Sydney to claim the reward. They were interviewed by the N.S.W. Governor, Sir William Denison. At the same time, they were introduced to Sir George Ferguson Bowen, the Governor of Queensland, the name of the new colony approved by Queen Victoria on June 6 of that year.

Both governors confirmed the statement by the N.S.W. Premier Sir Charles Cowper that they were entitled to the reward if the harbour was suitable.

Governor Bowen was to proclaim a separation of Queensland from N.S.W. on December 10, 1959. On August 11, 1860, Governor Bowen instructed Joseph W. Smith RN to command the schooner Spitfire to go to Port Denison and confirm Sinclair's reports on the suitability of the harbour. Smith was accompanied by George Elphinstone Dalrymple (who had previously trekked the area by land and had been appointed Lands Commissioner for the proposed Kennedy Pastoral District), surveyor R.P. Stone and botanist Fitzalan.

On September 29, 1860, they entered Port Denison and found the harbour ideal for a port and the site on the coast ideal for a township. According to Delamothe they advised Governor Bowen that "Port Denison among harbours of eastern Australia was only second in beauty to Port Jackson and as the site most suitable for a first settlement and port for the new Kennedy District".

The Kennedy District was opened for pastoral occupation in January 1, 1861, and Port Denison was proclaimed a port of entry in March that year. The town was officially named Bowen.

As Queensland had separated from N.S.W., the N.S.W. Government reneged on its promise to reward Sinclair. Governor Bowen believed the reward should have been paid, but the new colony did not have the money to pay it. Sinclair and Gordon pressed their claim for the reward but without success. Instead Sinclair was offered the job as Harbour Master and Chief Constable at Bowen, while Gordon was fobbed off with the job of Collector Customs.

Bowen, as North Queensland's first settlement and port, was surveyed with a view to it becoming the major centre for the North. Its wide, symmetrically designed streets, as surveyed by Clarendon Stuart, were to accommodate a fast growing town, perhaps a city. But with the opening up of the goldfields in Ravenswood and Charters Towers, as well as the powerful political lobby that favoured the port of Townsville in Cleveland Bay, Bowen's aspirations went unfulfilled. 

Ironically, the discoverer of Port Denison, Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair, accidentally drowned in Cleveland Bay in March 1868 and was buried in the old West End cemetery in Bowen's rival town of Townsville."

So it was to be that, unfortunately, Captain Sinclair was never able to claim the reward offered.  The first  British settlers began arriving at Port Denison in March of 1861 and Sinclair assisted with the transport of these people on board the Santa Barbara.  The settlement was officially proclaimed on April 11th, 1861 and named Bowen.  Sinclair stayed on in Bowen, and lived out the remainder of his life there.

He served as the harbourmaster for a number of years but grew disgruntled with the place, took to drink, and was dismissed.  Tragically, and rather ironically, Captain Sinclair accidentally drowned in Cleveland Bay, at Bowen's rival town of Townsville, just a few years later!!!

Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair died in March of 1868 at the age of  50.  Sadly, earlier that same year, Sinclair's brother and twelve-year old son drowned during an excursion on Bowen Harbour, and Sinclair followed them to a watery grave in a sailing accident at the St. Patrick's Day Regatta on Townsville's Cleveland Bay.  He was quickly buried in the Townsville Cemetery, which seems like a rather unworthy ending for such a man.

Newspaper Article - Death of Captain Sinclair - Brisbane Courier Mon 13 April 1868 p3.

In 1934, a cairn was unveiled in Santa Barbara Park in Bowen, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Captain Sinclair's discovery.

It still stands, loud and proud, today.

In 2009, another Captain Henry Sinclair monument was erected, commemorating 150 years since Captain Sinclair landed in Port Denison. 

Interestingly, the Sinclair line was the topic of a newspaper article published in the Townsville Daily Bulletin in 1951, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Federation of Australia.  There was to be a re-enactment of Captain Sinclair's landing as a major part of the events planned in Bowen.  My Grand Uncle's wife, Mrs. Alice McCane is mentioned, along with her two children (my first cousins 1x removed) Mervyn and Merle McCane.

On a side note ... During my childhood, I lived on a street named Denison Street in Bowen.  I went to a school named Santa Barbara Infant School which was on Sinclair Street. My grandparents lived on Dalrymple Street. Small town living!  At the time I was unaware of the significance of any of these names.