Thomas Clarkson - VANDALISM

    On the night of 16 March 1813, a little after 9PM Thomas Clarkson was alerted, by two young boys, to the fact, that three men passing by, had knocked the ball from one of the pillars at the front of his house. On running outside, he saw the offenders run away as far as the corner of Hunter and Castlereagh Streets where they stopped at the paling fence of William Robert's House. Tearing two palings off the fence, they quickly ran up Castlereagh Street. Thomas pursued them, calling for them to stop. The District Constable managed to arrest one and locked him up in the Watch House of District No 4 at the corner of King and Pitt Streets. (52)
    A little after 10PM, Thomas was standing at the front gate of his house in Hunter Street when he saw the Master of the "Samarang", (a ship recently arrived in port), accompanied by two other men. They passed him by and went to the house of Hester Stubbs in Phillip Street. A short time later, Hester, herself, went by, as far as William Robert's, for some liquor. Not long after, the three men, armed with bludgeons went down Hunter Street. Thomas called out to one of them, informing him of his intention to name and report him for his behavior, then he retired for the night.
    Just after midnight, there was a noise at the front of the house, and, on coming down the stairs, Thomas saw three, maybe more persons, knock two more balls off the pillars and then run up Elizabeth Street.
    As a result the Captain and several Officers of the "Samarang" were charged with a number of offences relating to the incidents of that night.(53)
    During the hearing of evidence, Thomas Clarkson was referred to as being "a peaceable and industrious inhabitant",(54) Be this as it may, he was also not afraid to face aggressors nor allow the defacing of his property without a fight.
    It is interesting to note the participation of Hester Stubbs in this drama. Later events were to show that she and Thomas Clarkson feuded for many years over a piece of land adjoining both their properties and originally owned by Mrs Stubbs (or Mother Stubbs as she was referred to).(55)
    According to the lady herself, "in 1797 Governor Hunter authorised her, then named Esther Spencer, to occupy an allotment or ground in Phillip Street".(56) (At that time Elizabeth Street did not exist and the land extended back to a dividing line between the allotments in Phillip Street and Castlereagh Street).
    She enclosed the whole lot with a fence and erected a dwelling house. On the formation of Elizabeth Street she was forced to relinquish part of her land to accommodate the new road. Irksome to be sure, but worse was to follow.
    While she was absent, Stubbs, the government servant with whom she lived, entertained William Smith. During a bout of drinking and carousing, Stubbs sold the back portion of Hester's allotment to Smith. Then she claimed, Smith immediately gave it to Clarkson. Thomas took possession and pulled down the fence and erected his own.(57)
    Hester Stubbs maintained that as she never married Stubbs he had no right to sell her land, so the sale should be null and void.(58)
    An agreement, dated 2 September 1811, was registered at the Judge Advocate's Office and was stated to be between Esther Spencer and William Smith. It said that for the sum of £8 ---
the said Spencer doth covenant and agree to sell unto the said Smith,, one half of the garden ground on which her dwelling now stands.
    It was signed simply "by the Parties' and bore the witness of Joseph Nettleton.(59)
    Whether Hester Stubbs actually was a party to this sale or not is uncertain but the issue became constantly disputed between she and Clarkson and perhaps she felt sweet revenge that night when she supported the men of the "Samarang" in their vandalism of Thomas' house.
    In spite of all Hester's protests the land was to remain part of the Clarkson's property.
    The next day Thomas had recovered sufficiently from this drama to negotiate the conveyance of an allotment of ground from William Reynolds. This was situate at the rear of Reynolds' property in Phillip Street, fronting Elizabeth Street. It was to cost Thomas £9.(60) City Section Map No 40 shows this land as allotment No 10, containing nineteen and a half perches, backing onto William Reynold's premises of allotment 14.(61)
    It was not long before Thomas was forced to mortgage some of his premises and in the light of the speed with which he had acquired them, and the quantity of his purchases, this was not surprising. Coupled with the expenses he must have been facing with regards his building, his available cash would have been depleted fairly quickly --- if indeed he was using cash, for it is not unlikely that some may have been "promissory" purchases.
    On 15 December 1813, in order to secure the tenure of £300 sterling Thomas mortgaged his properties at No 4 Hunter Street, No 13 Phillip Street and one other in Phillip Street. Rowland Walpole Loane took the mortgage and advanced Thomas the money.(62) Only three days later Thomas advised that No 13 Phillip Street was available for rent. His notice in the Sydney Gazette of 18 December read .... (63)
To be let and entered upon on the first day of January next, a commodious dwelling house. pleasant1v situated No 13 Phillip Street, Hunter Street, Sydney, well adapted for the residence of a genteel family -- For further particulars enquire of Thomas Clarkson, at the sign of the Woodman, Hunter Street.
    The "Woodman" was the name of Thomas' Inn.
    By July 1814 the debt was obviously still outstanding and Mr Loane resorted to action in the Court of Civil Jurisdiction from which he received an order to recoup his losses. William Gore, the Provost Marshall, advertised his intention to put the above premises up for sale by Public Auction unless the costs were previously liquidated.(64)
    Liquidated, they must have been as later in 1820 these same properties were being mortgaged by Thomas so were obviously still in his possession.(65)
    On the same page of the Gazette as the above notice was a list of properties put up for sale by Mr Bevan, (a well known auctioneer), and included in these was a property that was to become part of Thomas Clarkson's estate in later years. When Thomas actually made it his is unknown. It was No 12 Phillip Street and was described as follows:(66)
A valuable, brick dwelling house, No 12 Phillip St… being the corner of Hunter and Phillip Street being many years established in the baking business; has an oven capable of baking 8 bushells, 2 wells constantly supplied with water and every convenience.
    No owner's name was tendered.
    The remaining corner of Hunter and Phillip Street, No 53 became the property of Thomas Clarkson on 16 February 1814.(67) It belonged to Thomas Legg who sold it to Thomas Parsonage on 11 November 1813 for £105/-/- subject to his allowing Legg to rent the premises for six months.(68) For that same amount Thomas Parsonage sold the property to Clarkson -- "Legg ratifying the same". The transfer was witnessed by John Cureton.(69)
    At this time it was described as a house and premises, but by the time it was mortgaged to Cooper and Levy (financiers of the day) in 1820, it had become "that capital brick built dwelling house a built by the said Thomas Clarkson". It appears he may have made vast improvements on it.(70)
    As well as being let to Thomas Legg, it was occupied by William Baker (convict) who left Sydney in 1817 to become the schoolmaster at Lane Cove. 71) In 1817 it was in the hands of Isaac Wood. another schoolteacher,(72) and by 1822 it was still listed in Thomas' possession.(73)

 Page last updated -  7 July 2006