Thomas Clarkson - BUNBURRY CURRAN.
C.1815 - 1822.
A Government notice issued by the Secretary's Office
and published in
the Sydney Gazette of 25 May 1816 announced the completion of a new
line of road leading from Sydney and Parramatta to Liverpool. A toll
gate had been erected at Moore's Bridge and a list of rates considered
to be "reasonable and moderate" was tabled and would take effect from 1
June.(21)
An accompanying notice from John Oxley, the
surveyor, informed the
inhabitants of the colony that he and his deputy would be in the town
of Liverpool on Monday 27 May at 8AM for the purpose of locating and
measuring allotments of land already promised in the districts of
Minto, Airds, Appin and Bankstown.(22)
These areas were thriving and many settlers were
already in occupation
of the lands they'd applied to have granted to them. The Surveyor's job
was so immense that the wheels of officialdom couldn't keep pace with
the rapidly expanding districts and so, many grants were issued quite
some time after they had been occupied.
The concept of the grants was to provide land which
would be utilised
and worked so that the settler's, particularly the small holders would
have means to support themselves and their families. To these ends
Macquarie initiated conditions governing the grants, in order to stop
profiteering by some owners who sold their grants almost immediately.
These conditions were that they couldn't sell or
alienate the property
for 5 years and that a proportion of the acreage must be cultivated
within that same period. After this the grantee paid a quit rent of
usually 5/-. During the 5 year rent free period, if these conditions
were not met, then the land reverted to the Crown. This was known as
the 5 year Alienation Act.
In essence this was understood but the conditions
were extremely hard
to enforce and much exchange of land took place over a short period of
time. Ultimately the small holdings often passed into the hands of a
large landholder.
So it was that most of the settlers awaiting Oxley's
visit were only
wanting his confirmation and measuring of their properties, as they
were firmly established on their proposed grants.
Prior to this visit and in order to expand the original 100 acres for
which he was anticipating a grant, Thomas Clarkson appears to have made
agreements to lease and then to buy various portions of land adjoining
his allocated property.
A) On 17 November 1815, Thomas negotiated
successfully with William
Wilson to lease "a certain allotment of farm land containing 200 acres
which allotment is situate at Bunburry Curran in the district of Airds,
adjoining a farm now in the occupancy of the said Thomas Clarkson", for
5 years commencing from the date of the granting of the land.(23) On
the same date another indenture was made out to transfer the land into
the possession or Thomas Clarkson. Both transactions were witnessed by
William Fleming. (24) The official grant of this land was made to
William Wilson on 8 October 1816, some ii months after the sale of the
property.(25)
B) On 1 June 1816, John Johnson agreed to rent or
lease his forty acres
of land, bounded on the East by Clarkson's farm, to Thomas Clarkson for
5 years.(26) On the same day Johnson "being minded and disposed to sell
the same (farm) to the said Thomas Clarkson after the expiration of a
lease granted to him for five years" transferred the forty acres to
Thomas for 5/ sterling.(27) This deal was completed before the grant of
Johnson's land was officially registered on 20 June 1816,(28) but would
have been made after Oxley's survey of the property. So the conditions
of the grant were adhered to by leasing the land for the mandatory five
years and at the same time selling the grant from the point of time
where the lease expired. Thomas became the owner, and once again
William Fleming, the witness.
Curiously, although Thomas was recognized as the purchaser of both the
above properties the documents of lease and transfer were never
registered, even though Thomas was in possession of the deeds of the
grant.(29)
C) Thomas' next purchase however, WAS registered,
and that was the land
granted to Samuel Pullen. It was also an adjoining property containing
forty acres and being on the west of Clarkson's farm. This farm was to
cost Thomas £35 sterling.(30) This grant bore the date 20 June
1816 and was transferred in a similar way to Johnson's forty acres,
i.e.; by a five year lease and an automatic ownership thereafter.
Although negotiated on 14 August 1816, the transaction wasn't
registered until 8 August 1818, when Thomas acknowledged receipt of the
deeds.
Attached to these documents we found the original promissory notes
which Thomas had made out to Samuel Pullen to cover the purchase of the
land. All dated 14 August, they are for various sums of money and on
the backs of some are records of how the amounts were redeemed.
e.g.;(31)
Sydney,
Aug 14 1816
seven months after the date I promise
to pay to Sam Pullen or bearer
two pounds ten shillings currency for
Value Rec d by me
Thomas Clarkson
The reverse shows the following;
Aug
16 1816
received
rum
5 0
1 loaf
11
glass
7 1/2
tea 7 1/2 sugar 9
1 4 1/2
rum
5 7
butter
2 8
same
2 6
18 8 1/2
10 0 1/2
--------
1 9 9
Image of Promissory Notes
Every note was cancelled so we can safely assume all
was redeemed.
There were other grants adjoining Thomas' land which
were not acquired
by him. These belonged to Francis Cox, John Lee and Owen Lenegan.
Whether Thomas attempted to buy these at any time is uncertain.
Another successful negotiation was with Thomas
Prentice who occupied a
portion of land which narrowly adjoined Clarkson's property of 100
acres. On the 17 September 1816 Prentice leased and transferred his 50
acres to Thomas Clarkson. This transaction was witnessed by William
Fleming and was registered at the Judge Advocate's Office on 17 July
1817.(32) An agreement to sell the land must have been made some time
previously to this, as in a later document Thomas was to refer to
comments passed between Prentice and the surveyor who was measuring up
the land, stating that Prentice had remarked that the surveyor was to
consider the land as Clarkson's property. --- Quite a bold remark to a
Government Individual from one who was about to become bound by a
condition not to alienate his land for 5 years. This would have been
around the date of 27 May.
Adjoining both the properties of Clarkson and
Prentice was 50 acres
owned by Mark Millington. This portion was acquired by Thomas the very
next day after the grant had been formally granted, on 9 October 1816,
in the same manner as the others, by lease and then ownership. Thomas
paid £25 sterling to Millington for the 50 acres and this was
sinned, sealed and delivered in the presence of George
Jubb.(33) Image of Transfer
The 8 October 1816 was to mark the granting of
Thomas' own grant at
Bunburry Curran, Airds. (34)
I do
by these presents give and grant unto Thomas Clarkson, his heirs,
and assigns, to have and to hold forever one hundred acres of land
lying and situate in the district of Airds --- bounded on the North
side by a line of thirty seven chains, commencing at Lenegan's North
North West corner, On the West side by a South line twenty eight
chains. On the South side by an East line twenty seven chains to
Pullen's farm, and on the West side by that and Lenegan's farm --- To
be had, held by Him the said Thomas Clarkson, his heirs and
assigns, free from taxes, quit rents and other acknowledgements for the
space of five years from the date hereof provided always, and it is
hereby expressly to be understood, that the said Thomas Clarkson, the
grantee in the presents named shall in no wise either directly or
indirectly sell, alienate or transfer any part or parcel of the land
hereby granted within the said term of five years. And also
provided always that the said Thomas Clarkson shall clear and cultivate
or cause to be cleared and cultivated within the said term of five
years the quantity of twenty acres of the said land hereby granted,
Otherwise the whole of the said land shall revert to the Crown and the
grant hereby and thereof shall be deemed null and
void.
Image of this Grant
The Government reserved the right to make Public
roads where ever necessary and was at
liberty to claim any timber growing on
Thomas' land which might be deemed fit for use for Naval Purposes.
After the term of 5 years he would be expected to pay a quit rent of
2/-
annually.
Image of some of Thomas' Quit Rent Receipts
In anticipation of a formal grant to the land of
George Berry, Thomas
contracted to buy those 34 acres. These 34 acres adjoined William
Wilson's 200 acres which were already in Thomas' possession. They
became part of the Clarkson estate on 26 October 1816.(35) Thomas was
to find the grant did not eventuate until 13 January 1818.(36) That did
not deter occupation though.
On 28 November 1816 Henry Cole leased, conveyed and
simultaneously
transferred his 200 acres to Thomas Clarkson for the sum of £100,
making Thomas the leasee for 5 years and then after that period, the
automatic owner.(37)
Similarly, on 20 December 1816, Thomas negotiated
the lease and
transfer of the 80 acres adjoining Henry Cole's 200 acres (see map) and
these 80 acres were leased and transferred to Thomas by the owner.
Esther Spencer.(38) By the time the grant was officially given on 13
January 1818, Esther Spencer had become Hester Stubbs.(39) She was
later to become Esther Bigg and was resident in Phillip street.(40)
One land holding which was to cause Thomas Clarkson
considerable
anguish at a later date was the 50 acres he'd acquired from Thomas
Prentice on 17 September 1816.(41) On 22 August 1822 Thomas Clarkson
addressed a letter to the they Governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane,
complaining that Thomas Prentice had "dishonestly and fraudulently"
disposed of the 50 acres which, in 1816 he had sold to Clarkson, to
another party, namely Joseph Ward. (44)
He claimed that Prentice had given him a "Power of
Attorney" to take
the grant out of the Secretary's Office but that Prentice himself had
collected the grant and in 1819 had sold the land to the above
mentioned Ward, who, by the way, just happened to also be the Constable
in the District of Airds and who was fully aware of the former sale to
Clarkson.
Thomas claimed he had purchased the land 6 years
previously (making it
1816, which was perfectly true) and that the only reason for the
purchase was the close proximity of the land to his "capital
substantial dwelling house" and office built on an enlarged and
extensive scale, costing in excess of £1500.(43) (We believe this
house to be the present day Eschol Park House at Campbelltown).
The outcome of this dispute between Clarkson and
Ward was not evident
until documents lodged at a later date showed that Ward emerged the
winner from an eviction battle dated 22 August 1822.(44)
By the end of 1816 Thomas' holdings at Bunburry Curran were well and
truly functioning. As Thomas himself still resided at Sydney with his
family, he installed his friend and son in law, Thomas Rowley in his
new house and would have been hopeful of seeing his substantial
expenditure there, recouped before too long. It is also possible that
he'd hoped to establish a reasonably large and prestigious estate
through all his efforts.
Thomas' herds of horned cattle had increased so that
by May 1816, they
were large enough to tender to the Government stores for the supply of
fresh meat to the inhabitants. A tender of 2000 lbs was accepted(45)
and he was soon advised of the point of delivery (which was usually the
premises of a shopkeeper.) We have assumed that the meat came from the
Bunburry Curran farms and not the Hawkesbury as a notice published in
the Sydney Gazette on 17 August 1816 informs us that he had a herd
running in the Airds district.(46)
Strayed
into the herd Of Mr T. Clarkson at Bunburry Curran some time
ago, a large black buffalo bull with no marks and a young brindle bull
about 2 years old with white face and legs. The owner may have them on
paying the necessary expenses
Thomas continued to tender to the stores in 1817 for the same 2000
lbs(47) and then in 1818 increased the supply to 3000(48) and then
doubled this again in 1820 to 6000.(49) A tender for 100 bushells of
wheat in 1821(50) was accepted and in 1823 he undertook to supply 1000
lbs of salted pork.(51)
The surveyor made another visit to the Airds
district in 1818 to
allocate and mark out land allotments. As before, Thomas was in
possession of leases of land about to be granted. Direct access between
these portions was made possible through the grant of George Berry,
obtained in 1816.(52) This 34 acres bounded Wilson's 200 acres, already
owned by Clarkson, and led onto the 60 acres granted to William Guise
on 13 January 1818 and purchased by Clarkson for £60 on 14
October 1818.(53) Grants given to Hester Stubbs (formerly Esther
Spencer) for 80 acres, Henry Cole for 200 acres, John Yates for 80
acres, John Cureton for 50 acres and Thomas Clarkson for 50 acres all
bore the same date of 13 January 1818, All of these became part of the
Clarkson Estate,---Cole's already in his possession since 22 November
1816, Hester Stubbs since 20 December 1$16 and now Clarkson added
Cureton's 50 acres on the 15 August 1818,(54)
"The said John Cureton was desirous of selling" his
50 acres to Thomas
Clarkson "after the expiration of a lease granted to him for five
years".
Reciting
that the said John Cureton was seized and possessed of a grant
and reciting that the said John Cureton was desirous of selling the
same to the said Thomas Clarkson after the expiration of a lease
granted to him for five years, it is witnessed that the said John
Cureton in consideration of the sum of 5/- ….
John Cureton sold the 50 acres to Thomas.(55)
On 23 September of this same year, Margaret, widow
of John Irish Yates,
conveyed the grant she had accepted on her husband's behalf, to Thomas
Clarkson. This grant contained 80 acres and was next to those 50 acres
of Thomas Prentice. John Irish Yates was the son of Edward and
Catherine Yates and had been born at Std Bototh's Aldersgate St, London
on 27 October 1772. His father was a playing card maker and stationer.
Yates did not live long enough in NSW to see the granting of his
land.(56)
Thomas continued to negotiate for land in the Airds
region and on 13
March 1819 Edward Shakely of Sydney leased his "recently granted 200
acres of land at Bunburry Curran" to Thomas.(57) This was definitely in
anticipation of a grant, as it didn't become official until 1823.(58)
Edward Shakely had arrived free into the colony in 1818 on board the
"Ocean".(59) It is apparent that he must have made his way to the
Liverpool district quite soon after this. His allotment of land was
leased on a five year term from the date of the original grant but
Thomas Clarkson occupied the land from the date of the lease, i.e.:
March 1819. By the time the grant was finally issued the land had
become part of a mortgage from Thomas Clarkson to Daniel Cooper.(60) So
Shakely took possession of the grant and conveyed it to Cooper. By the
1828 census Shakely was listed as a gardener working far Thomas Rowley,
Rowley at this time was a tenant on a property at Holdsworthy.(61)
Part of the land that Thomas Rowley was to possess
in his lifetime also
became part of the Clarkson Estate. Rowley held 60 acres of land in
Airds, bounded by Barrett's Goldsmiths and Beddow's farm, near Bow
Bowing Creek and he conveyed it to Thomas Clarkson under the same
conditions as Shakely's negotiation.(62) Once again a grant was not
issued for this allotment until 1823 and the land passed to Cooper in a
similar manner.(63)
All of this land that Thomas had acquired at Airds,
was to pass to
Daniel Cooper in 1822(64) and in 1828 on to Jemima Jenkins.(65)
Subsequent owners were to divide it up into diverse portions. One such
portion became what is today known as the "Eschol Park Estate", a name
given to the property as far back as 1876.
Image of Map, Thomas's Estate Bunburry Curran, Airds
Page last updated - 7 July
2006