Holy Trinity Church Pioneer Cemetery Wander

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.

Mary is aged 26 at this time.

John is 31 at this time.

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.