Posted originally on January 20, 2015 by Neil.

This series of posts is the most comprehensive I have done on family history. I am doing them backwards here so that in due course they will appear sequentially.

The 1850s were certainly a turning point in our history. Mostly this has to do with GOLD! At least one of my family (this item from 1858 confirming oral history I heard when a boy visiting Picton) was involved in this decade, and more later on:

Mogo is now a goldmine theme park. But more happened in this decade: see the My Place site.

William and Caroline Whitfield were settled in PIcton; I visited their descendants there many times through to the 1960s. Indeed I recall having lamb for lunch one day in Picton’s beautiful King George IV Inn (established 1839).

Established in 1839 George IV Inn, is one of the oldest colonial inns, still operating as a hotel. Constructed from local hand hewn sand stone, the George (as known by locals) still contains that great colonial and vibrant heritage. Constructed on the banks of Stonequarry Creek, the stables (now know as the great hall) dates back to 1810 being one of the first buildings in Picton and possibly the oldest.

The Inn has a rich history with the transportation of convicts. Convicts were kept over night shackled in the cellar while en-route to Berrima prison from Sydney. You can still see some of the shackles behind the bar. In it’s early days the Inn has been providing accommodation for travelers over the decades, on the Great South Road from Sydney. Giving access to the areas of Bong Bong (Southern Highlands) and Argyle County (Goulburn).

Another early inn (established 1849) has changed function somewhat:

And here is one of the district bigwigs in William Whitfield’s day:

James Macarthur (1798-1867)

James Macarthur (1798-1867), landowner and politician, was born on 15 December 1798 at Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta, fourth son of John Macarthur. He was educated privately at Parramatta by the Breton emigré, Huon de Kerilleau, until March 1809, when he left for England with his father and his younger brother William. He went to a school at Hackney, London, run by Dr Lindsay, classicist and Unitarian, until in 1813 he was apprenticed to a broker in a London counting house. From March 1815 to May 1816 he travelled with his father and William in France, Switzerland and Northern Italy. In September 1817 the three arrived in New South Wales. The elder John Macarthur had decided that his eldest son, Edward, should take up a military career in England, that the most intelligent son, John, should read law and represent the family’s interests in England, while James and William administered the colonial holdings. For the next decade James devoted himself to estate administration, although he also served as unpaid magistrate in the first Court of Petty Sessions in the Camden district and helped to establish churches, schools and other local institutions….

The gold rushes had accentuated the trend to increase the power of the popular party. Macarthur was becoming increasingly disillusioned: in 1854 he felt like selling all his assets except Camden Park and going to England. He displayed some interest in education, supporting the foundation of the University of Sydney and becoming a member of its first senate. He continued his political activities, albeit with gloom. In 1856 he was elected to the new Legislative Assembly for Camden. To enable Donaldson to form a cabinet, Macarthur agreed to serve briefly as colonial treasurer, for certain conflicts could not otherwise be resolved. When Donaldson had the support he needed, Macarthur resigned his seat and the portfolio and was re-elected for West Camden. In 1859 his unhappiness reached its peak: he retired and refused Governor Sir William Denison‘s offer of a knighthood. In 1860 he returned to England, his whole life seeming wasted. In the 1820s he had opposed representative government. In the late 1830s he adopted delaying and compromising tactics so as to make the constitutional change of 1842 as moderate as possible. In the early 1840s his economic affairs were suddenly changed when he began squatting, and he found that imperial control of immigration and land policy conflicted with his new interests; he began to work with desperate hopefulness for a conservative Constitution, partly to obtain independence from Britain, partly to forestall the liberals. But his constitutional checks and balances had been reduced and the nightmare of his whole life, popular anarchy, appeared imminent….

In that 1856 election one of his supporters was William Whitfield. See also Respectability achieved–and rapscallions left behind? but note that I now believe William’s father, the convict Jacob, was left in Sydney mainly because of his age. There I noted:

Here’s a bit of history.

The demands for self-government by the free settlers of New South Wales and the other colonies were largely met when the Imperial Parliament passed the Australian Colonies Government Act of 1850. This authorised the Legislative Councils in the Australian colonies to pass bills establishing themselves as bicameral legislatures. In 1853, proposals were submitted to the Imperial Parliament from the New South Wales Council. After some amendments, the Imperial Parliament passed a Constitutional Statute in 1855, (Imperial Act18 & 19 Vic. No.48 Cap.54). This authorised Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, to assent to a bill passed by the Legislative Council of New South Wales (New South Wales Act 17 Vic. No.41) giving New South Wales a fully responsible system of government, with two Houses of Parliament.

It was not, however, fully representative government. The franchise was still property and gender based, with only men able to vote; but it was a very low property qualification and it was a poor man who could not vote. To register, potential voters had to be male adults of over 21 years who owned freehold property of at least 100 pounds per year, or leased property with an annual value of at least 10 pounds per year, or occupied lodgings or rooms with a rent of at least 10 pounds per year or had an income of at least 100 pounds per year. In the nineteenth century, women were not considered capable of making a rational choice at the polls, so were therefore not given the franchise.

The property qualification for Members was lowered, but because Members of Parliament still received no salary, only those who were wealthy could afford to run for Parliament.

The first New South Wales Parliament established under this new Constitution met on 22 May, 1856. The population of the colony was approximately 300,000.

And here from 26 March 1856:

It does seem William and Caroline Whitfield have come a long way in the ten years since leaving Strawberry Hills.

And Picton? Still a place full of history – and ghosts, apparently.

This post was first published on  January 21, 2014.

Been to several funerals at both these locations, particularly in the 1950s and 60s.

Anglican Church, Picton. Comes complete with ghosts.

Cemetery in Upper Picton

My great-aunt Annie’s first husband. There is a back story there well worth exploring – and Bob Starling has: Unravelling the mysteries of the Janzen – Owen – Hooke – Vacchini families : who are these three men?

Ann Elizabeth Whitfield and Tiberio Janzen Vacchini:
Marriage: 1 Oct 1902

Picton Station 1870

1863: Extended line from Campbelltown to Picton and Picton railway station are officially opened. Historians believe the Antill family’s influence and desire to bring more people to Picton prompted it to be built. It was designed by John Whitton

Those Antills pop up all over the place: see Camden Remembers, Picton NSW – The Early Years.

Three generations of the Antill family of Picton are central to this paper: Henry Colden Antill (1779-1852), John Macquarie Antill senior (1822-1900) and John Macquarie Antill Junior (1866-1937). Henry Colden was born in New York of British stock, his great grandfather Edward Antill having migrated from England to America in 1680. His father John Antill had fought in the war of American Independence. The family migrated first to Canada; Henry was in the British army in India; he migrated to Sydney on 1 January 1810; he married Eliza Wills in Sydney in 1818; settled near Liverpool, N.S.W.; in 1825 settled on his estate near Picton, named Jarvisfield; and, in 1844 he subdivided part of his estate on the north of Stonequarry Creek, as the result he made possible the founding of the town of Picton (originally known as Stonequarry). He died and was buried in the family vault at Jarvisfield, in August 1852, survived by six sons and two daughters…

Jarvisfield

My dad pointed the place out to me, and there were stories about it too – but I didn’t really listen or have forgotten…