The Bicentenary celebrations for Holy Trinity Church Kelso continue and on Saturday there was another wander around the pioneer sections of the cemetery surrounding the church.
The weather was a perfect spring afternoon, so very enjoyable for all who attended. This time, I was asked to give a talk about one of the graves. The local family history group, together with the church historian have compiled incredible information about the early graves.
I found the story behind my allotted grave to be really interesting, so thought I might share it here.
MARY TINDALE – NEE WHYBROW
Mary’s story goes to show that complicated
relationships aren’t a new thing.
Mary Whybrow was born in Sydney in 1815, the daughter
of two convicts.
Parents
Her father, William Whybrow, arrived in 1796, having
had his death sentence commuted to transportation for life. His crime was the
theft of several silver items, silk gowns and petticoats and 300 pounds. That was quite a significant theft.
Her mother, Elizabeth Clarke, arrived in 1808, having
been transported for 7 years for stealing 14 yards of printed cotton, which
would not be something to conceal easily.
William and Elizabeth married in 1809.
Mary was one of 7 children and when she was 5, in
1820, her parents separated and her mother, along with the children, moved in
with John Poad Tindale, who later became Mary’s father in law.
Tindale Family
John Poad
John Poad Tindale married Susannah in England and they
had one son, John Richard Tindale. About
a year later, John Poad was convicted of having forged bank notes in his
possession and was sentence to 14 years transportation.
John was assigned to William Cox and worked on the
construction of the first road over the Blue Mountains. He was pardoned in 1816 and started to farm
and acquire land, becoming very prosperous, owning land near Penrith, in
Bathurst and Bylong.
Susannah
About a year after John’s transportation, his wife Susannah
followed her husband to NSW as a free settler.
She left their son behind in the care of family.
Susannah also did well, establishing several
businesses in Sydney.
By 1819 she was in a good financial position, so
sailed back to England to collect their son, now aged 11.
However, upon her return, she found that her husband
was now in a relationship with Mary's mother Elizabeth.
John Richard
John Richard shared his time between his parents and
attended Kings College at Parramatta for his schooling.
He started to acquire land from a young age.
Marriage
In 1830, when John Richard was 20, he married his step sister
Mary, who was 15 at the time, here at Holy Trinity. That was prior to the church being built, so
they would have been married at the Parsonage.
They went on to have 8 children. Records show that 4 of those children were
also baptised at Holy Trinity.
After their marriage, they lived at “Victoria Farm” at
Kelso, one of John Paod Tindale's properties.
This was also known as “Springdale” and established in about 1826. The house still stands at Raglan, next to the
airport, being one of the oldest homes in the district.
Over John’s lifetime he built up an extensive property
portfolio in NSW and farmed at Bathurst, ensuring a wealthy lifestyle for the
family, even having their portraits painted in 1841 by the artist Maurice Felton. These portraits currently hang in the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.
Separation
However, wealth does not always bring happiness, and
John and Mary separated in 1849. Mary
made her permanent home at their property “Hornseywood”, near Penrith.
Meanwhile, John entered a new relationship with Caroline Sollis and went on
to have a further 7 children. They
eventually moved to Tasmania, where he died in 1872.
Death
Mary died in 1882 from chronic bronchitis and heart
disease.
Her death was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30 May 1882:
"May 27, at Hornsey Wood, Penrith, Mary Tindale, widow
of the late John Richard Tindale, Victoria Cottage, Kelso, aged 66 years and 6
months."
So, if she died at Penrith, why was she buried at Holy Trinity Kelso?
My guess is because her children were still here. Her daughter Frances, known as “Fanny”,
married into the pioneering Lee family and is buried in the adjoining grave, as
are several of Fanny’s children.
I hope you found this as interesting as I did.
After the wander around, we all enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea. A rather lovely way to spend some time.
1 comment:
That is so interesting....I enjoy hearing family stories, and also enjoy watching 'Who Do You Think You Are' because, even if you don't know the person being investigated, the stories are fascinating.
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