Spotlight on ... The Seven Sisters!

Quite a while ago, I decided to branch off from just telling the stories of my direct ancestors and use some of my posts to share other stories of interest. This week the Spotlight is on a remarkable group of women ... seven sisters who were a part of the early settlement of the Richmond River area.

In a strange parallel, when I first began gathering facts about these seven sisters as part of my family tree research, our country's producer of coins, The Royal Australian Mint, released a very special coin named 'The Seven Sisters'.   

Released back in 2020, this coin was part of a series entitled "Star Dreaming", which highlighted some of the most memorable stories in our ancient indigenous folklore about the constellations seen in the Southern Hemisphere. 

"The Aboriginal peoples of Australia are some of the oldest astronomers who used the placements of the stars as a means of travel, like maps, and even to predict the weather. Their skills and stories date back more than 65,000 years, and the stars have aided them in time-keeping for all this time.

The Seven Sisters, as they are known to Indigenous Australians, is also the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades in the constellation of Taurus. Stories passed down over the millennia describe them as a group of young women being pursued by unwanted male attention: Literally a tale as old as time. The celestial cluster tells the story of the seven sisters fleeing to the sky to escape a man who wants to take one of the sisters as his wife."  

(Quote taken from 'Coin Update' website, dated Sept 9, 2020)

Unlike the seven sisters in the indigenous storyline however, the seven sisters in my family tree did not attempt to escape becoming a wife.  On the contrary, marriage for them was the expected thing to do.  As it was near impossible for women to support themselves financially, marriage ensured they were provided for, but also protected them from the rougher elements of colonial society.  Marriage was in reality inevitable during their lifetimes, but I do also hope that marriage for them was loving and respectful.

So, who were these seven sisters?  They were the Exton sisters, one of whom was my paternal great great grandmother and the others were my paternal great great-aunts.

Shared Ancestors:  my 3x great grandparents James Exton and Susannah Lancaster.

Five of the sisters were born in England, between the years 1832 and 1852, which roughly matches the period known as the Victorian era.  This was a period of extreme social inequality, marked by dreadful working and living conditions for so many, which persisted until well after the end of the Victorian age.  

These five sisters and their parents, James and Susannah Exton, lived in the small village of Manthorpe, in an agricultural area in Lincolnshire.  The majority of the inhabitants of this area were chiefly employed in as agricultural workers.  Most of the land was the property of Earl Brownlow, but there were many small freeholders as well.  

It is doubtful that James and Susannah were amongst these freeholders.  The 1841 census shows James's occupation as 'labourer' - not 'agricultural labourer' or 'farmer', as others were identified - so it is likely that James worked labouring jobs wherever they could be found.

The family group sheet below shows that Susannah Exton nee Lancaster gave birth of five girls - one before her marriage to James, and then four more girls over a period of seven years while the family were living in England.

Family Group Sheet provided by Ancestry.com

When Susannah Lancaster married James Exton, she already had a daughter named Harriet who had been born in 1833 out of wedlock. At this point in time, I have no information about the paternity of that daughter, and it's unlikely that will ever come to light. Over 18 years following their marrige, James and Susannah went on to have 8 children together - 4 born in England, and 4 born in Australia.

In early 1844, James and Susannah made the decision to leave their home and emigrate to Australia.  They boarded the ship 'Briton' with daughters Harriet, Sarah, Eliza, Anne and Emma; leaving the port at Liverpool on the 15th of March 1844.  The voyage lasted for 162 days.  That's a very long time for young children to be aboard a clipper ship.  

Living conditions would have been very uncomfortable considering they it's highly likely they spent most of their time in 'steerage' - the lowest deck, below the water line, without ventilation and with little light. The use of candles or oil lanterns was restricted and the girls would have spent their days in very cramped spaces where hygiene would have been very poor and disease would have spread quickly.  No doubt those experiences moulded these young girls into very resilient, tenacious and courageous women who faced everyday challenges with great strength and fortitude. 

Assisted Immigrant Passenger List - 'Briton' - 1844

At that time of embarkation, Harriett was 11, Sarah was 8, Eliza was 6, Anne was 4 and Emma was only 1.

The family's passage had been paid for and James, the girls' father, had been engaged to work for a man named James Kenworthy of Richmond River in New South Wales, as a farm labourer.  

After arrival in the colony of Australia, all the sisters would have helped out their father and mother with their shepherding work, living mostly in tents or small huts, as they would have moved around constantly.  Between 1844 and 1852, James Exton and his wife Susannah became parents four more times.  Firstly Susannah gave birth to two boys, and then another two girls joined the family in 1849 and 1851.  

There were now seven sisters who, within quite a short time, began married lives of their own and had their own quite large families.  Some of the Exton girls married into other well-known pioneering families of the Richmond River area -  the McGuiness, McQuilty, McDonough and Cusack families.

Harriet Lancaster-Exton

Harriett Lancaster-Exton
photo shared by mingma54 on Ancestry.com

Harriett was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England in 1833.  When Harriet was baptised in February of 1833, she was noted as 'illegitimate' on her baptism record.  Harriet's name was recorded on both immigration and marriage records as "Harriet Lancaster Exton", which I find particularly interesting.  Most children who were born out of wedlock took on the surname of their step-fathers at that time, but in this situation a point appears to be made that Harriett was a Lancaster first, and then an Exton.

Harriett married a convict named John Michael Jones when she was 14 years old.  They went on to have 10 children over their 19-year marriage.  Husband, John Michael, died in 1866.  Three years later, Harriett married Henry George Brown when she was 36 years old, and they had 2 children.  Harriett was widowed for a second time when she was 45 years old.

Harriett's obituary stated that she "left nearly 200 descendants ... 10 of her children who survived her, 67 grandchildren and over 100 great grandchildren."   (Leader, Fri 27 Aug, 1915 p.5)

Sarah Emily Exton

Sarah Emily Exton
photo shared by HollingworthN on Ancestry.com

Sarah Emily Exton was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England in 1835.  After emigration to Australia, Sarah lived and worked alongside her parents until she married in 1858 at the age of 18.  She married a man named Edward McDonough, although his name on the marriage record was Edward Banner.

Sarah Emily and Edward had a son named William, born in 1857, but the relationship / marriage must have broken down.  I'm not entirely sure what happened and there is no information I've been able to find that can explain the end of this relationship.  Edward lived until he was 85, so Sarah Emily did not become a widow, but she re-married in 1858 when she was 23.

She married the convict James Hugh McGuiness and they went on to have 8 children.  Sadly, at the age of 50, Sarah died accidentally.  She was found drowned at Hanging Rock Creek, near Lismore.

Sarah Emily was survived by 7 of her children.  My research so far has not yielded information about any grandchildren.

Eliza Exton

Eliza Exton (my great great grandmother) was born in 1837.  She arrived in Australia with her family when she was 7 years old.  At the age of 15 she married convict Patrick Cusack.  They went on to have 11 children.  Eliza became a widow at the age of 39.

 

Eliza's obituary stated that she had 52 grandchildren, 40 great grandchildren and on great great

grandchild.  She was also survived by 8 of her children, including my great grandmother Ellen Cusack.

Annie Exton

Annie Exton
photo shared by lesfay1 on Ancestry.com

Annie Exton was also born in Grantham, England, in 1839.  At the age of 14, she married William Clark and she gave birth to 9 children.  Annie was widowed when she was 32 years old, and re-married when she was 37.  She had another son with her second husband that same year. Sadly she was widowed again at the age of 45.

The obituary for Annie mentioned that she was survived by six sons, one daughter, 46 grandchildren and 38 great grandchildren.

Emma Exton

Emma Exton was born in 1842.  When she was 17 years old, she married James Dooley.  They went on to have 13 children. She passed away at the age of 82.

Emma was survived by 10 of her children and at least 30 grandchildren.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Exton

Elizabeth (Betsy) Exton
photo shared by HollingworthN on Ancestry.com 

Elizabeth (known as Betsy) Exton was born in 1849.  She married when she was 16 years old.  In 1866 she married Francis Thomas McQuilty and they went on to have 11 children.

Elizabeth was survived by 9 of her children and at least 35 grandchildren.

Lucy Exton

Lucy Exton was born in 1851.  She married James McDonough when she was 17.  She gave birth to 10 children

Lucy was survived by 9 of her children and 10 grandchildren.

Notes of interest:

• The marriage ages for all seven sisters would seem particularly young to many of us living in the 21st century, but for women living in the colonial period of Australian history, it would have been the norm - 

          Harriett and Annie married when they were 14.

          Eliza married when she was 15 years old.

          Elizabeth wed when she was 16.

          Both Emma and Lucy married when they were 17 years old.

          Sarah was a little bit older when she married.  She was 18.

          At that time marriage was considered the 'normal state' and indeed absolutely necessary for the 

          population growth of the colony.  It was more an arrangement of convenience and not the 

          result of two people falling in love. 

          There was no legal minimum age for marriage, but it was widely accepted that very young 

          women should only be married with the permission of their fathers. 

          Young men seeking to make a better life for themselves could not really do so without a wife.  

          Land leases were denied those who were unmarried.

• Sisters Harriett, Eliza and Sarah (2nd marriage) married convicts which meant that the young men they were marrying had to make a convict application to marry.  They needed official permission from the colonial government to marry.

• The men that Elizabeth, Sarah Emily and Lucy married were related to each other.  Elizabeth married the biological son of Francis McQuilty and his wife Mabel, while Sarah Emily's husband and Lucy's husband were the stepsons of Francis McQuilty - sons of Mabel's first husband, Bernard McDonough.

• Most of the seven sisters lived very long lives and died of natural causes

         - Elizabeth died at age 69 - cause of death was recorded as senility

         - Eliza died when she was 76 - cause of death recorded as senility / heart failure

         - Annie died at the age of 80 - cause of death was heart failure

         - both Harriett (the eldest of the seven) and Emma died at the ripe old age of 82 - cause of death 

           for both was recorded as senility / senile decay.

• Only two of the sisters died at a relatively young age

          - Sarah tragically died at the age of 50 when she drowned at a local creek

          - Lucy died at the age of 53 as the result of a heart attack

• At the times of their death, collectively, they were survived by at least,

         - 60 children

         - 20 grandchildren

         - 139 great grandchildren

         I doubt very much that these totals are all correct.  The numbers should be greater, as there were 

         limits on the extent of my research and the amount of information I was able to find.  

         What a legacy!

The Seven Sisters Constellation - Pleiades

• Whenever I look up into the night sky and I'm successful in spotting The Pleiades constellation, I think of the Exton sisters. 

          The Pleiades constellation is also known as the Seven Sisters.  It's an open cluster of stars located 

          approximately 440 light-years away.  That makes it the nearest star cluster to Earth.  For the 

          observers in the southern hemisphere, like myself, this constellation is best seen in the  

          summertime.  I'm often outside scanning the northern night sky between the constellations of 

          Pegasus and Taurus, searching for this star cluster during the summer months.

          I love that there is a connection between members of my family tree and the stars ... well at least 

          in my mind there's a connection!

           

         The Seven Sisters constellation has significant importance to many of our indigenous Australians 

         as well.  It figures in the ancient Dreaming Stories and the songlines of several Aboriginal              

         Australian peoples and I do wonder if the seven Exton sisters every heard the Star Dreaming  

         Story of the Seven Sisters!

For those who are interested, follow this link:  The Star Dreaming Story of the Seven Sisters

Spotlight on ... Oldest!

My post this week tells the story of the oldest sons of my Great Great Grandmother, Caroline Penelope Brown/Taylor/Collins nee Browning and her first husband, my Great Great Grandfather, Henry Johnson Brown.  

Caroline, aged 15, and Henry, aged 25, married in 1846 and were married for 22 years, until Henry's death.  The details of Caroline's and Henry's eldest children were very sketchy when I began researching the family, and it's taken me a while to work it out.  It was all a bit of a riddle to start with.

Of course, given that Caroline and Henry lived rather a nomadic life at the beginning of their marriage (with both of them working as shepherds to start with, then living the life associated with Henry's work as a hawker and a cedar cutter), official records are few and far between, so I've had to rely on other sources of information. 

I started with evidence from the death certificates of both my 2x great grandparents.  There was however a mismatch straight away.  One death certificate listed what looked like 11 children, and the other listed 12. 

Extract from death certificate
for Henry Johnson Brown

Looking firstly at my 2x great grandfather's death certificate, dated 1848, was not all that helpful.

11 children were recorded but no names were listed and no ages which would have been helpful in working out years of birth.  

The informant was a clerk named Chatfield and as far as I know, he didn't have an intimate knowledge of Henry's family members.

12 children were recorded on 2x great grandmother Caroline's death certificate, dated October 1894.

All the children's names were listed, apart from two males who were identified as deceased at that time, and the respective ages of those children still living.  Far more helpful!

The informant for Caroline's death certificate was a family member.  It was her son-in-law Robert Gall, wife of her daughter Eliza, who provided this information.  Caroline was living in their home when she died and had been living with them for some time.

As a result, I was more inclined to believe that Caroline and Henry actually had 12 children together.

One of those children listed on Caroline's death certificate was a son named Alexander Brown, who was known as Sandy for most of his lifetime (I have no idea why!) and he was listed as the eldest, so I originally thought he might be the first born.    

I came across an article which seemed to back up this assumption.  One of Caroline's and Henry's sons, John Thomas Brown, was interviewed for an article in the Lismore newspaper, The Northern Star, many years later.  He stated that a boy had been born in March of 1847.  His words were "my brother Sandy was born on that night."  Sandy was the nickname for Alexander Brown, so this recount seems to indicate the first born was indeed Alexander.  

I immediately spotted an issue with the dates contained in that article though.  If Alexander had actually been born in 1847, he would have been older than the age listed on Caroline's death certificate, as seen above.  

Another piece of evidence was an obituary printed upon Alexander's death which indicated that he had been born in 1846 in Lismore, New South Wales.  That didn't match with the age listed on the above death certificate either.  

I continued my search and came across two other sources of  information 

- the Lismore Historical Society's plaque (seen to the left).

This gave detailed information about where my 2x great grandfather Henry had lived and worked during the very early years of his marriage, so I could match up a supposed birth place.

  

- and the book titled 'The Browning Story: Tracings From The Past' written by Esme Smith.

This provided very well-researched and detailed information about the Browning family including Caroline, her husband Henry and their children.

Esme Smith's book indicates that Caroline and Henry were in fact not living in Lismore when they married in 1846.

They began their married life working as shepherds on the station known as Runnymede, owned at the time by Ward Stephens.  It was located on the Richmond River and quite a distance to the west of what would eventually become known as the town of Lismore.  So the "facts" printed in the obituary, mentioned previously, appeared to be slightly misleading.

Another article I found, titled "The Late Alexander Brown", was printed in The Northern Star in 1931 and stated that "he was born near Casino in 1844, whilst his parents were travelling in a waggon to what is now known as Lismore, but which was then virgin scrub."

1844?  That didn't match the age listed on his mother's death certificate either.

If he was born in 1844 his mother would have been giving birth at the age of 13!  Unlikely!

Even Alexander himself, when writing a letter to the editor of The Northern Star, dated September 1924, stated "I may further state that I was born on March 11, 1847."

He was claiming to be the oldest white born person in the Lismore district at the time, and indeed in the town of Lismore itself.

This letter was written to contradict the fact that another man named Mr. J. Greenhalgh had been identified as the first born in the district and had been introduced to the Governor as such.

You would assume that a person would know their correct birth date, so if Alexander stated it was March of 1847, wouldn't that be correct?

Well a problem with all this information I had found up to this point became apparent when I then went on and found a baptism record for Alexander.  His parents had indicated his date of birth as March 9th, 1849 on the official record of baptism.

Alexander was not baptised until a year after his birth, in 1850 and he was baptised in the Burnett District which was much further north of the Lismore district. 

This ties is much more accurately with the information about Henry's working life at that time.

After Alexander's parents had left Runnymede to work at Lismore Station, it seems that they had moved again within a year.  By March of 1848 they were working on Maryland Station, a 200,000 acre property on the Darling Downs owned by Matthew Marsh.  At that time the area was still part of New South Wales, but was quite a long way north of Lismore.  Alexander's father Henry also worked as a 'hawker' during this time and continued on with this until at least 1850.  The family was travelling around the Burnett District at this time, and this is how the family had ended up in the Parish of Brisbane for Alexander's baptism, which was at that time part of northern New South Wales.

So it appears that Alexander's parents Caroline and Henry were living a nomadic lifestyle in the far north of New South Wales when Alexander was born, and that he had actually been born in 1849, contrary to all that other supposedly reliable information.  The family was not living anywhere near the Lismore district again until early 1850, when they moved back to the Richmond River area to Bald Hill (later named Bexhill) where Henry started working as a timber cutter.  

The question remained however ... was there a son born in 1847 who was the real subject of that story told by John Thomas Brown?  You know ... the story about a son being born while Caroline and Henry were on the move from Runnymede?

Further research, which included reading the valuable book The Browning Story: Tracings From The Past written by Esme Smith, along with examination of information from other Ancestry.com family trees, and the searching of FamilySearch.com and Ancestry.com databases, led me to believe that Caroline's and Henry's first child was indeed a son, named after his father, and born in 1847 whilst they were leaving Ward Stephen's 128,000 acre property at Runnymede.

Map showing the location of Runnymede Station along the Richmond River

According to information found on both FamilySearch.com and Ancestry.com, Henry Johnson Brown Jnr. was the son born in March of 1847 (not Alexander). 

That would make sense as a lot of married couples at this time named their first born son after the father.

According to these records, Henry Jnr's birth place was recorded as 'Richmond River' (Runnymede Station was located along the river) where his parents were working as shepherds.  

It was at this point that Caroline and Henry Snr. decided to leave Runnymede and seek employment with Mr. Wilson on his 23,000 acre Lismore Station located along the Wilson River.

Caroline, nine months pregnant, and her husband Henry made their way on foot to the Wilson property and the story of their first-born son's birth was in fact exactly as told by his brother John Thomas Brown many years later in a newspaper article.

Article in The Northern Star Tuesday, September 10, 1929

Note:  I have already established that the son mentioned in this article could not have been Sandy (Alexander) as stated, but Henry Jnr.

Henry Johnson Jnr. was apparently baptised in the Clarence River District a month later, which means his parents were on the move once again and this coincides with the information I previously mentioned about my great great grandparents leaving the Richmond River area to work at Maryland Station.

Sadly, Henry Johnson Jnr. seems to have died sometime the following year, in 1848, and I know for sure his father was working as a watchman on Matthew Marsh's Maryland Station at that time, but would then go on to become a 'hawker' towards the end of 1848.  Henry Johnson Jnr. would then be one of those two children listed on his mother's death certificate as deceased.

So ... jump ahead another couple of months and Alexander Johnson Brown was born in March of 1849, which would make him the second born son of my great great grandparents.

Apart from the period in his very early life between 1849 and 1850 when his parents were moving around quite a lot in search of work, Alexander lived his life mostly in Lismore, New South Wales.

At the age of 22, he married his cousin Margaret Jane Bustard.  

They were married in November of 1871 at McLeod's Creek in New South Wales, and went on to have twelve children, all born in the Lismore district.

In the very early days of his marriage, Alexander worked "as a timber cutter and as an agent looking for the best timbers available for the market."  ('The Browning Story: Tracings From The Past' by Esme Smith p. 92), as had his father before him.

 

This did not last however, as Alexander became a publican towards the end of 1884.   This was again exactly the pattern of his father, who established the first public house / hotel in Lismore.

Alexander was the publican of the North Lismore Hotel for only a few years, before becoming the proprietor of the Bridge Hotel.  He did not continue working as a publican for long after that though, and by 1891 he was employed as the mail contractor between Lismore, Blakebrook, Goolmangar and Nimbin.

Alexander's and Margaret's children were born between 1872 and 1896.

Elizabeth Margaret was born in 1872.

Henry Johnson came along in 1874.

Mary Ann was born in 1876, but sadly died the following year.

Charles was born in 1878.

Alexander Jnr. was born in 1879.

Martha Jane came along in 1882.

Tempest was born and died in 1885.

Sarah (known as Sadie) was born in 1886.

Mabel came along in 1889.

Sydney was born in 1891.

Bertha Stella in 1893 and

Curtis was born in 1896.

This family photo taken in 1929, when Alexander was aged 80 and his wife (seated in the middle of the photo) was 75, includes their daughter Sarah (back row far left) and their grandchildren Eric, Alan, Hilton (known as Bill) Keith, Mabel, and Dorothea. The other girl is unknown.

It would seem that Alexander and his wife Margaret had quite a close and happy relationship during their almost 60-year marriage.  Sadly, Margaret died in March of 1931 and upon her death, Alexander reportedly stated:  "that he would like to go with her and it would not be long."

It was in fact a mere five months later that Alexander Johnson Brown died, aged 82.  Both had died just months before their 60th wedding anniversary.

An obituary (mentioned before) stated that:

"All that long life he had lived in the district, working hard to rear his family, and having a full share of the ups and downs of life. Beneath a somewhat rugged exterior there was hidden a gentleness and kindness which brought him high regard."

"Personally, I shall cherish his memory as one of the worthy pioneers - as a hard worker, a good husband, a generous father, and as a man of common sense. He set a good example to all around him. At 85 he was loved by all who knew him and then the race was over."

Interestingly, in an article mentioned previously, 'The Late Alexander Brown: Lismore's First White Child' printed at the time of his death, the reporter Mrs. Margaret Kearney stated:

"Alexander (or Sandy) Brown, as he has always been called, had an intimate knowledge of dialects of every aboriginal tribe from the Tweed to the Clarence ...  This stood him in good stead when buying as agent in search of the best cedar patches in the giant scrub.  He was able to converse with each tribe in his own dialect, and had a great advantage over trade competitors."

Alexander and his wife Margaret were survived by ten of their children, although their daughter Sarah, known as Sadie, died just three months after the death of her father.  

The Story of Anne (Nancy) Littlejohns

This is the story of my paternal Great Great Great Grandmother, Anne (known as Nancy) Littlejohns (1801 - 1875).

My 3x great grandmother was baptised Anne, but was known as Nancy for most of her life.  This is apparently quite a common tradition for those of Irish heritage.

Huh???

The many peculiarities in Christian names in Ireland can apparently be divided into five different classes:
- names that can apply to both sexes
- names that are usually given to one sex, but are applied to the other
- diminutives that differ substantially from the original given name
- names which are different but for varied reasons are used interchangeably
- Irish equivalents for English names and English equivalents for Irish names


In the case of my 3x great grandmother, it seems that a common variation used for the given name of Anne, is 'Nancy'!  I just can't see the logic in it, and it seems that 'Nancy' was often used for the given name of Hannah as well!!!  It's confusing, and it certainly didn't help my research efforts.  For many years, I felt as though I had hit a brick wall, until a distant family member enlightened me about the use of 'Nancy' for those actually christened Anne.

For the purposes of this post, I shall refer to my 3x great grandmother as Anne (Nancy), using both names so it's clear for all who might be reading this story.

Anne (Nancy) was born in November of 1801.  Her father John Littlejohns was aged 29 at the time, and her mother Mary Ayears was aged 31.

St Sidwell's Parish Register - Baptisms and Burials 1772-1804

Anne (Nancy) was baptised at the same church where her father and mother had married in Exeter, Devon, England.

page from St. Sidwell's Parish Register - last entry

She was baptised at St. Sidwell's Church in Exeter on the 29th of November, 1801.

So far my research has only produced records showing six other children born to Anne's parents, John and Mary.

A boy named Henry was born in 1794, but died a month before his first birthday.
Frances (known as Fanny, which makes a whole lot more sense!) was born in 1795.
Mary Anne came along in 1797.
Jane was born in 1800 but died the same year.
John was born in early 1803, when Anne was only 1 year old.  Sadly, he died the following year, in 1804.
John Edwin was born in 1807, when Anne was 5 years old.

With the deaths of three of the Littlejohns children before Anne (Nancy) had turned 6,  Fanny, Mary Anne and John Edwin were to be Anne's (Nancy's) only siblings as she grew from a young child to an adult.  It appears that the family were quite poor and lived in impoverished circumstances for most of Anne's (Nancy's) childhood.  Father John worked as a fuller in the woollen cloth-making industry, which was not a well-paying job.

By the time Anne (Nancy) was born, in 1801, Exeter had a population of around 20,000 and was considered an important town in England.  This however changed very quickly as the industrial revolution more or less passed Exeter by, and other towns grew enormously in terms of size and economic importance.

Exeter decreased in size over the following sixty years and dwindled to becoming just a market town.  This coincided with the decline in its wool manufacture and tanning industries.  As a result, it ceased to be an important manufacturing centre and rates of unemployment grew, along with the numbers of impoverished people.

I imagine Anne (Nancy) and her siblings would have been sent out to work at a very early age.  Most likely my 3x great grandmother would have worked in one of the woollen manufacturing factories or worked as a servant / household staff.

When she was 20 years old, Anne (Nancy) married William Henry Browning in Exeter, Devon on the 28th of July 1822. On this record her name was recorded as Nancy.

You can see that Anne (Nancy) had not learned how to write her own name, as she signed her marriage record with a mark - an X.  My 3x great grandmother had not benefited from an education during her childhood, which would indicate her family was indeed very poor and most likely had no fixed address for any great period of time.  It was probably a tough childhood for Anne (Nancy).

The obligatory banns had been posted three times previous to her date of marriage, on three consecutive Sundays.  Obviously there were no objections made, so their marriage was solemnized in the presence of a James Legitt and John Marwood in 1822.



Anne (Nancy) and William Browning went on to have 11 children over the next 24 years.  The first seven of their children were all born in England, and the records of their births indicate that Anne (Nancy) and William moved quite often between Exeter in Devon, Anne's (Nancy's) home town, and Launceston in Cornwall, William's home town.  It's possible that this was the result of a constant search for work and the means to support their growing family, hence the constant moving between Anne's birthplace and William's.

Daughter Susannah was born in 1823.  She was born in Exeter.
Hannah was born in 1825, but the family had moved by then as she was born in Launceston, Cornwall.
John Thomas was born two years later in 1827, but the family was back in Exeter by then.
Caroline Penelope (my great great grandmother) was born in 1830, when Anne (Nancy) was 28 years old.

The family had fallen on really tough times by then though, as Caroline was born in the Poor House, and the family were once again back in Launceston, Cornwall.  The next three children were all born in Launceston, so it seems the family stopped moving for a while as they were likely dependent on parish relief.

William Henry was born in 1832.
Dinah was born in 1835.
Mary Anne was born in 1837.

Sadly, daughter Dinah was to pass away the following year, in 1838, when she was only aged 3.  Anne (Nancy) at the time was 37, and it appears that the family was once again living in the work house.  The living conditions they had to endure at this time might have contributed to the decline in the health of daughter Dinah, and ultimately caused her death.  I can imagine the heartache that Anne (Nancy) endured during these years as she and her husband tried to find work wherever they could, and when they couldn't, were forced to rely on parish relief and life in the poor house.

The workhouse that was in operation at this time in Launceston housed up to 40 inmates.  It was a building that had originally been a prison and the day-to-day life of the workhouse inmates would have been harsh, to say the least.

A mere 30 years previously the Quaker and prison reformer James Neild visited the workhouse in Launceston and reported that there was:

"a scene of filth, rags and wretchedness ... The large room below stairs has a mud floor; and whole families, men, women and children, pig together.  The upper room had several bedsteads in it, with the most ragged and dirty bedding I ever saw; the windows were small and close, the want of ventilation and decent cleanliness produced a stench almost insupportable.  I was in the room but a few minutes before I was seized with sickness, which obliged me to withdraw."

Nothing would have changed much by the time Anne (Nancy) and her family were living in that same workhouse.  It wasn't until 1838 that a new workhouse was built on acreage just outside Launceston.  The Browning family would not have known this newer, much larger and cleaner workhouse.

By early 1840, Anne (Nancy) and her husband William, had made the decision to take the opportunity to emigrate under what was known as the 'Bounty Scheme', leaving their country of birth to face the challenges of a new life in the far-off colony of Australia.

Anne (Nancy) and her husband were both in their late 30s when they made the decision to leave home and family and travel to the other side of the world.

I've been fortunate enough to have benefited from a lot of family tree research compiled and published by Esme Smith in her book: The Browning Story: Tracings From The Past, published in 2001.


Esme is a descendant of Anne's (Nancy's) daughter Mary Anne, whilst I am a descendant of Anne's (Nancy's) daughter Caroline Penelope.

According to Esme's book, Chapter 1 p.1 "It may have been the prevailing adversity of being poor that drove them to leave England.  Perhaps the conditions in the Poor Houses, where they had spent a number of years, were so difficult for the family that the parents were prepared to forego the known for the unknown.  The harshness of their circumstances may have caused them to believe that there was nothing to be lost in taking this journey."

Bounty Immigrant List showing William and Anne Browning and four of their children. 
 Their eldest daughters were listed separately under 'single females'.

The Browning family were members of a party of 158 assisted immigrants on board the ship 'Premier' which set sail from Plymouth, England on the 2nd of April, arriving at Port Jackson on the 1st of July 1840.  Assisted immigrants were individuals who were paid for or subsidized by another person or through an agency working on behalf of an employer in the colony.

At the time of their journey to Australia, Anne's (Nancy's) six children would have been aged between 16 and 3 years of age.  What strength of resolve and fierce willpower would a mother need to ensure the health and happiness of her children while undertaking such a voyage?

The ship did not touch land at any point on the journey, so the family would have endured a tedious three-month long trip on a crowded ship, with little food to eat and very cramped living conditions, although this would not have been a totally new experience for any member of the family really, given the time they spent living in the workhouse.  Sickness and disease were rife as well.  There was an outbreak of measles one week into the journey and the epidemic lasted for five weeks!

I can imagine the worries Anne (Nancy) must have had about whether or not her children would succumb to the disease.  Four babies did die on the journey, so Anne (Nancy) would no doubt have been particularly concerned about the health of her youngest, Mary Ann, who was aged 3 at the time.  Given that Anne (Nancy) had already lost a daughter when she was three years old, it must have weighted on Anne's (Nancy's) mind a great deal.

View of Sydney Cove - 1838, by Conrad Martens

Thankfully all of the Browning family survived the trip and landed safely in Port Jackson on the 1st of July, 1840.

Although both Anne (Nancy) and her husband William were really close to the cut-off age for eligibility for assisted migration (40 years of age), they had a family which included four daughters, two of whom were close to a marriageable age.  This was considered an asset, as the colony had very large numbers of young men looking for brides!  No surprise then that Anne (Nancy) and her husband were accepted for the assisted immigrant scheme, despite their ages.

Map from Esme Smith's book: 
The Browning Story: Tracings From The Past p.17

Even after three months of sailing, the travelling continued for the family after they had arrived in the colony.  The Browning family were all employed by the Australian Agricultural Company on the company's holding at Carrington, Port Jackson.  

This was a fifteen hour journey on another smaller ship further north.  It was here that William began working as a shepherd.

Map showing some of the sheep stations
the Brownings worked on as shepherds - including Carrington

Anne (Nancy), and the younger children, would have worked alongside William while it's likely the two older daughters were employed as servants in one of the large property houses at either Carrington or Stroud.

While at Carrington, another son was born to Anne (Nancy) and William.

Francis came along in August of 1841, just over a year after Anne (Nancy) and her family had arrived in Australia.  My 3x great grandmother was aged 39.

During the next month, September 1841, Anne (Nancy) saw her eldest daughter Susannah married to Joshua Craven, a convict assigned to the AA Company.

Just four months later, in January of 1842, the second eldest daughter Hannah was also married. She wed Thomas Norton, also a convict who had been assigned to the AA Company.

It seems that Anne (Nancy), her husband and the rest of the family left the AA Company and Carrington sometime after the weddings of the two eldest daughters.  By the end of 1842 her son John Thomas would have been 15 years old; daughter  Caroline Penelope (my 2x great grandmother) would have been 12; son William Henry would have been 9 years old; daughter Mary Anne would have been aged 5; and baby James Francis would have been 1 year old.

Over the next few years, Anne (Nancy), husband William, and the children that were still living with them, moved around a lot.

George Bishop, Surveyor-General's Office, New South Wales 1872 [Public domain]

According to the information in Esme Smith's book, "it's likely that the Brownings moved, initially to Ward Stephen's holdings in the Hunter River District (marked in red), and then to the New England area (marked in green) and finally to the Richmond River District. (marked in yellow)" (p. 22)


By June of 1842 Anne (Nancy) and husband William were employed as part of a family team of shepherds who drove Ward Stephen's flock down from the highlands of New England, to the rich plains of the Richmond Valley on the coast (later to become known as the Lismore area).

Ward Stephen's station 'Runnymede' highlighted on map

It was here that Ward Stephens moved to Runnymede where he built his homestead, and the Brownings went there as employees.  Sadly, whilst Anne (Nancy) was working alongside her husband at Runnymede, her daughter Susannah passed away back up on the highlands of New England, in Stroud.  Susannah was only aged 20 at the time and had been married for just two years.

It appears that Anne (Nancy), William and their younger children remained working for Ward Stephens for at least another five to six years.  During this time in the Richmond River district Anne (Nancy) and William had another three children.

Joseph was born in 1845.
Elizabeth was born the following year, in 1846, but died just a few weeks later.
Matthew came along in early 1848.  Anne (Nancy) was aged 45.

By this time however, Ward Stephens, their employer, had sold his property Runnymede and the Brownings had moved on once more.  They had taken another shepherding job, together with members of their family, at Maryland Station back up on the New England Tablelands.  Maryland, then owned by Matthew Henry Marsh, was in the Darling Downs area, which was still part of New South Wales at that time.

According to Esme Smith's 'The Browning Story: Tracings From The Past:

"The family's employment at Maryland commenced on 4 May 1848." (p. 30)  ...
"When William and Nancy arrived at Maryland Station, they had with them their children, John, William, Mary Ann, Francis, Joseph and Matthew.  There they worked as shepherds and watchmen at a wage of  £70 per annum.  This is a rather large annual wage given the times. ...so it probably meant that it included the work of the other members of the family."  (p. 31)

By 1848, their daughter Caroline Penelope (my 2x great grandmother) had married.  She was aged 15 when she wed Henry Brown in 1846, and was now a mother herself.  It appears Anne (Nancy), her husband William and six of their children, had followed their daughter Caroline and her husband Henry to Maryland Station, as Henry had started work there in March of 1848.

1848 was also the year that the second eldest daughter, Hannah, re-married.  She had been widowed around 1846, when she was aged just 21, and soon after becoming a mother for the first time.  It's likely that Hannah, with her daughter Mary Ann, had also joined the family soon after the death of her first husband and had moved onto Runnymede Station when the family had been working there.  Hannah then followed the family to Maryland Station where she met her second husband.

Anne (Nancy) and her husband William left Maryland Station sometime between 1851 and 1853.  When their daughter Mary Ann married in late 1853, when aged 16, the family were living in the Armidale area.  It's possible Anne (Nancy) and William were working on one of the other properties owned by March, either Salisbury Court or Booralong, which were both in the Armidale district.

By early 1855, Anne (Nancy) and William were living in the Tamworth area, on Goonoo Goonoo Station, a property owned by the A. A. Company.  This is where their son William Henry married.  Their daughter Mary Ann and her husband were also living and working on Goonoo Goonoo, and were witnesses at the wedding.  As Esme Smith stated on p. 38 of her book "It is likely that various members of the family were again working for the A. A. Company at that time."

Sometime between 1858 and 1859, the family appears to have moved back to the Richmond River District / Lismore area.  Then in mid-1864 Anne's (Nancy's) husband William made an application for the purchase of some land, a block of 40 acres, on the western back of Terrania Creek.  This is where Anne (Nancy) and William built their own home and where they finally settled.  Their property was known as 'Rosehill'.

Their son Francis bought a block of 40 acres right next door to his mother's and father's block, and both William and son Francis, along with the other younger sons Joseph and Matthew, began working as timber-getters.

Anne's (Nancy's) husband William died at Rose Hill a mere 3 years later, in 1867.  He was buried at the Rosehill burying grounds.  Anne (Nancy) remained living at Rosehill until her death in 1875, when aged 74.

The years between 1840, when the family arrived in Australia, and 1864, when the family finally had their own home, would have been years of back-breaking hard work with quite austere and challenging living conditions for Anne (Nancy), as the wife of a shepherd.

Information gleamed from an article titled:  Shepherding in Colonial Australia, written by John Pickard in the 2008 edition of 'Rural History' indicates that there was no idyllic life for a shepherd,  "the reality in colonial Australia was brutally different.  ...  They worked in isolation, with poor accommodation and rations, exposed to a range of diseases, and were relatively poorly paid."  (pp. 55-56)

Replica of a bark gunyah

Living conditions would have been quite primitive (by our standards!)  It's likely that the first type of accommodation for Anne (Nancy) and her family would have been a tent or a bark gunyah - a temporary structure made with bark and tree branches - until a proper shepherd's hut was erected.  They may have even lived out in the open for a time.

Shepherding was a nomadic lifestyle and Anne (Nancy) went with William wherever work could be found; living, working and raising their family in temporary homes quite a long way away from towns and settlements.  They would have lived quite an isolated existence, apart from the day-to-day presence of their own family and perhaps the occasional meeting with other shepherds and their families.

"The logistics of shepherding in the Australian colonies varied somewhat, but most often ... shepherds were based at an outstation which consisted of a hut with a set of yards made of moveable hurdles for each shepherd (where the sheep were penned at night).  Some outstations had fixed yards made of brush or logs.  These outstations were five to twenty-four kilometres from the head station." (Shepherding in Colonial Australia p. 56-57)

"A well-established outstation had a pole-frame hut, perhaps eleven feet wide by twelve or fifteen feet long, covered with bark stripped off suitable Eucalyptus trees, or shingles.  The bark roof would be held down with a framework of logs pegged together.  The fireplace would be lined with stones and clay, and smoke dissipated up a bark chimney."

The artist impression shown here was an idealised version of a well-established outstation.  It's highly likely the artist never ever saw one for himself!

A more commonplace hut would have been "slabs with bark roofs about twenty-four by ten feet, with two rooms ... and there would be a slab fireplace for cooking, a three-legged pot and a bucket would be all the household business.  The floor was just the ground."  (Shepherding in Colonial Australia p. 65)  This is likely to have been the home that Anne (Nancy) would have been familiar with.

It was usual that when married couples were employed, the husband shepherded and the wife was the hut-keeper.  Children were expected to look after sheep from an early age as well. It's likely that Anne (Nancy) and the younger children would have slept in the hut at night; whereas her husband William and the older boys most likely slept in a watch-box or even in the open near the yarded flocks of sheep, keeping guard against predators such as the native dogs, the dingoes.


There would have been the constant dangers of snake bites and accidents, and no chance of  prompt medical assistance.  There is likely to have been the constant fear of Aborigines as well, as relationships between the white settlers/squatters and the indigenous people were strained, to say the least.


The diet would have been extremely monotonous, based essentially on meat, damper and tea.  "Shepherd's wages included rations which would most likely have been:  ten a half pounds of meat, ten and a half pounds of flour, seven ounces of sugar, three and a half ounces of soap, two ounces of salt per man per week.  (Shepherding in Colonial Australia p. 66)


Throughout all of this it would have fallen upon Anne's (Nancy's) shoulders to keep the family together and to keep her family fed, housed and healthy.  Given that the entire family remained close-knit and close-by for her entire life (and onwards with the following generations), it seems Anne (Nancy) was the rock on which this family built their lives.

When Anne (Nancy) left her homeland and her own family far, far behind, I have no doubt she would have had some trepidation about the future.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to leave everything behind, including your own mother, father and siblings, to travel so very far away.  Did she keep in contact with her family back in England?  I doubt that very much, given the life she experienced as the wife of a shepherd and the fact that she never learned to write.

It's unlikely she would have known about the deaths of her father and her mother.  It's unlikely she would have known much about the lives of her sisters Fanny and Mary Ann, her brother John Edwin.

Anne (Nancy) passed away in early 1875.  The details on Anne's (Nancy's) death certificate were recorded by son Matthew, but are not all correct - Anne's (Nancy's) father's name was listed as Thomas, whilst her mother's name was listed as Martha Killark.   Neither of these pieces of information are supported by the details provided by Anne (Nancy) herself upon emigration to Australia.

New South Wales Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists - 1828-1896
- Anne Browning (nee Littlejohns) 1840

The assisted immigration passenger list for those arriving on board the ship Premier in 1840 shows Anne's (Nancy's) parents listed as John and Mary.  Perhaps an explanation of the mismatch between the details on these records can be found in the fact that it's unlikely there was much communication between Anne (Nancy) and her English family, so therefore it's unlikely her son Matthew would have been in possession of the true facts.

At the time of her death, Anne's (Nancy's) family was quite large.  Eight of her children were still alive, and there were around 44 grandchildren living at that time ... with many more to come!

Her daughter Hannnah had married twice and still had 8 surviving children.
Her son John Thomas had married and had 8 children by then.
Her daughter Caroline Penelope (my 2x great grandmother) had married twice by this time, and still had 10 surviving children.
Her son William Henry (known as Bill) had married and had 5 surviving children.
Her daughter Mary Ann had married and had 10 children.
Her son James Francis had married, but had no children at that time.
Her son Joseph Edward had married and had 3 children by then.
Her son Matthew had married just the year before.

The Browning (Littlejohns) dynasty had been well and truly established in the land downunder!


Some of Anne's (Nancy's) children or grandchildren:

Top row:  granddaughter Caroline Maris Kean nee Browning with her children
Middle row L to R:  granddaughter Harriett Thomas nee Wright, granddaughter Sarah Ann Smith nee Bustard, and grandson John Thomas Brown.
Bottom row L to R:  grandson James Irving Stevenson Brown, granddaughter Eliza Stevenson Duncan Brown and grandson William Edward Wright.

Top row L to R:  grandson Thomas Charles Bustard and wife, grandson Arthur John Browning and wife
Middle row L to R:  grandson Richard Joseph Brown ( my great grandfather), his brother Richard Brown, and grandson William Henry Browning Jnr. with his mother Sarah.
Bottom row L to R: daughter Mary Ann Bustard nee Browning with her husband, granddaughter Martha Ann Reeves nee Bustard, grandson William Francis Browning.

Top row L to R:  grandson Joseph W Browning and family, and son Matthew Browning.
Bottom row L to R:  granddaughter Margaret Alice White nee Browning, and grandson Alexander Johnson Brown.


Special Note to any family members:  If you have memories to add, photos or information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.