janilye on Family Tree Circles

Son of James Eather (1811-1899)and Mary Ann Hand (1815-1899)

John was born in Richmond 25 December 1837 and in 1874 at Narrabri, married Ellen Mary Spencer b:1853 in Surrey, England. She arrived with her parents Richard and Eliza Spencer on the ship 'Dorigo', 13 April 1860.
They had 12 children. 9 boys and 3 girls.

Until 1899, John Eather owned the Mountain View, a property of some 1100 acres situated 2 1/2 miles from Narrabri, where during the 1880s he conducted the Mountain View Hotel.

On selling the property, he moved his family to the Inverell district where his activities during the first years of the new century included farming and keeping the Royal Hotel at Bundarra.

Several of his sons remained in Inverell where they made their name a well established one in the business life of the town.

Edward Prosper Huxley (1848-1921)and Amy Susannah Eather (1857-1943)

In 1873, Edward was a 25 year old butcher in Narrabri when he married the 16 year old Amy Susannah, the daughter of William Eather and Ann Senior and the granddaughter of Thomas Eather and Sarah, nee McAlpin.

For a few years Edward continued to run his butcher shop at Narrabri, by 1887 had become a publican between Narrabri and West Narrabri, and in 1889 he was recorded as being a grazier at Boheno Creek. In 1897 or 1898 he and Amy left the Narrabri district and took over a produce dealership at Moree. Amy became a substantive partner with Edward in their produce/ merchant business. Her signature is recorded in the East Moree Bank of NSW (Westpac) signature book, dated 24 August 1898.

They continued to operate this business until 1900. In 1903 Edward was shown on the electoral roll as a storekeeper at Ravenswood, but residing at Warren with Amy and some of their family, of whom daughters Olive and Norma were also on the electoral roll. In 1906, Edward was still at Ravenswood but Amy, Olive and Norma were recorded as residing at Trangie. In 1909 Edward had joined his wife and children at Trangie where his occupation was given as a drover. By 1913 they had all moved to Milson's Point in Sydney, and by then daughter Vivienne was also on the electoral roll. All except Vivienne remained at that address between 1915 and 1919. Edward died on 7 June 1921 and was buried at Waverley. After his death Amy moved to Cremorne and appears to have remained there. She died on 30 July 1943 at her residence, 81 Spencer Road. Cremorne.

They had had a family of ten, but all three of their sons and two of their daughters died in infancy or early childhood. Of their five daughters who reached adulthood, Mary married Henry J SAMUELS in 1896, and Olive married Sidney SHIPTON, Vivienne married John Gordon Campbell in St. Leonards in 1915 and Gladys married Ociola Howell Seymour Cowdroy in St. Leonards in 1915. Norma, remained a spinster. Two of the sons Edward Prosper( who was known as Prossie), and Richard Lionel, died within a month of each other in 1890 at Cooma Station. There are very few decendants of Amy and Edward, and none that bear the HUXLEY surname.

For a comprehensive history of the Huxley Family I recommend the book called " Transported to Paradise " by Doug Huxley

RICHMOND CORNWALLIS EATHER (1888-1966),

Soldier, station-owner and manager, was born on 18 January 1888 at Goodooga, New South Wales, son of John Rowland Eather 1843-1923, storekeeper, and his wife Hannah Ann Crothers 1858-1952, both native-born. He was educated at Goodooga Public School but left at 13 to work in local shearing sheds. In 1907 he moved to Richmond, Queensland, and later to Muttaburra and Hughenden, to manage properties owned by his uncles, Robert, Thomas and Henry Crothers.


Eather enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as a private on 17 June 1915, embarked with reinforcements for the 15th Battalion in August and saw action at Gallipoli. In March 1916 he was transferred to the 47th Battalion which reached France in June and in August-September fought in the battles of Pozi?res and Mouquet Farm. Eather was awarded the Military Medal for personal bravery during this period. Promoted sergeant in September, he was posted to the 6th Officer Cadet Battalion at Oxford, England, and in March 1917 was commissioned second lieutenant in the 25th Battalion.


Early in June 1918 a series of minor counter-blows was made by British and Australian formations to relieve pressure on their French allies. On 10 June near Morlancourt the 25th took its objective in a twenty-minute assault. As the battalion's intelligence officer, Eather showed conspicuous gallantry by maintaining communications with the attacking companies after the signals officer had been wounded. He repeatedly passed through heavy enemy barrages to bring in the wounded as well as to maintain telephone lines to the forward companies, and for these actions was awarded the Military Cross.


In September the allied offensive against the Hindenburg line began, and on 3 October the 25th Battalion spearheaded its brigade's attack in a two-corps assault on the Beaurevoir line. Eather again showed great bravery and initiative for which he won a Bar to his Military Cross. The battalion attacked at 6 a.m. across three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) of open country and, after hard fighting, captured its objective. Eather then went across to the right flank under heavy fire and returned with information that the neighbouring battalion was unable to move forward. The 25th immediately established a flank defence to protect against an enemy counter-attack. Eather then went further forward towards the enemy line and brought back valuable information for guiding the next phase of this crucial operation. He was transferred to the 26th Battalion later in the month.


On 13 March 1919 at Knockbreda, Antrim, Ireland, Eather married Mary Jane McFarlane Longmore, a British Army nurse who had won the Royal Red Cross. They returned to Australia in May and until 1927 managed a family property at Muttaburra. Eather then managed Sylvania station near Hughenden and eventually bought the partners out; in 1954 he sold Sylvania and retired to Warwick. He was a prominent citizen in the Hughenden, Richmond and Muttaburra districts and served several terms on the Flinders Shire Council. His main hobbies were horse-racing and exhibiting hacks and hunters in shows. Survived by his wife and two daughters, he died on 21 April 1966 at Warwick.

Darryl McIntyre wrote the above story.

In the photograph below taken on the occasion of their investiture at Buckingham Palace by King George V, Richmond is sitting on the table.

Thomas Eather 1800-1886
submitted by janilye on 21 August 2009
MY 3RD GREAT GRANDFATHER


They came of bold and roving stock that would not fixed abide;
They were the sons of field and flock since e'er they learnt to ride,
We may not hope to see such men in these degenerate years
As those explorers of the bush -- the brave old pioneers.

'Twas they who rode the trackless bush in heat and storm and drought;
'Twas they who heard the master-word that called them farther out;
'Twas they who followed up the trail the mountain cattle made,
And pressed across the mighty range where now their bones are laid.

But now the times are dull and slow, the brave old days are dead
When hardy bushmen started out, and forced their way ahead
By tangled scrub and forests grim towards the unknown west,
And spied the far-off promised land from off the range's crest.

Oh! ye that sleep in lonely graves by far-off ridge and plain,
We drink to you in silence now as Christmas comes again,
To you who fought the wilderness through rough unsettled years --
The founders of our nation's life, the brave old pioneers.
Banjo Patterson



The history of Thomas Eather contrasts dramatically with the failures and sadness associated with the family of his twin brother Charles.
Taught the trade of shoemaker, he was able by the age of 20 to divert his interests to farming whilst continuing to employ several men in his shoemaking establishment at Richmond. In the tight confines of the Hawkesbury valley there was no room for pastoral expansion, so, in 1826 Thomas made his first venture across the rugged mountain ranges seperating Hawkesbury from the hunter, taking with him his young wife Sarah, nee MCALPIN and their 2yr. old son Thomas.

In company with Sarah's brother William Glas MCALPIN, some aboriginals and a stockman named Billy Freeman, the pioneers set out over the mountains, with two pack bullocks and another bullock on which Sally (as she was called) rode with young Tommy on her lap. There was a distance of 100 miles to tramp through the trackless mountains, guided only by the marked trees, blazed a short time before. The aboriginals knew the route and they arrived safely at the foot of the Bulga Plateau where on Cockfighter's Creek (a reach of the Wollombi Brook), they made camp and lived for a short time. Sarah (Sally) EATHER was the first white woman to cross the mountains from Hawkesbury to Bulga.

The name of the Eather property there is called 'Meerea' an aboriginal word meaning Beautiful Mountain.

Before survey and location of lands in the Bulga region there was no possibility of obtaining title, even though many pioneers used Crown Lands as pasturage. On the creek, Thomas EATHER managed to obtain a "clearing lease" where in November 1829, he was living with his wife and four children (Elizabeth, Charles and Annie had now joined young Tommy) and four free servants.

A gauge of his enterprise is given by the fact that in addition to the shoemaking business at Richmond, he had then 20 acres clear of which 10 were fenced and planted with corn and was also running 150 head of cattle and two brood mares far away to the north at 'Muggarie' on Liverpool Plains.

Towards the end of 1829, Thomas EATHER established residence on a farm near that of his brother- in- law Joseph ONUS, at Wollombi where he built two residences and made other improvements before it was discovered that all the occupants of land in the vicinity were on the wrong blocks. Meanwhile he had leased the mistaken farm to a tenant and moved back to Richmond, so that when the error in locating the Wollombi farms became an issue in 1833 there were only two owners ( Thomas TAILBY and George EATON) living on their farms. When the confusion was straightened out EATHER was given title to his Wollombi land, but he had made his headquarters in Richmond. Nevertheless, his interests did not narrow and he extended to the west as well as the north. In 1840 he subscribed 5pound to the building of the road from Windsor to Mt. Tomah. He died at Richmond on the 19 November 1886, surviving his wife by two years.

The earliest official record of the Liverpool Plains squattage mentioned by Thomas EATHER in 1829 does not occur until ten years later when it's name was given as "Muggarie".

From the book "A Million Wild Acres"
[Thomas Eather from 'Henriendi' went beyond them all, an extraordinary move to Muggarie on the Narran River near present day Angledool, over a 100 kilometres north-west of the junction of the Namoi and Barwon. The station was so remote that even when it was described nine years later for the 1848 Government Gazette there were no neighbours. In 1847 three of Thomas Eather's nephews, Abraham, Thomas and James, were working at the station. Abraham, one of his brothers and two other young men left to bring up more cattle. By the time they got back with the mob, probably a couple of months later, the water holes had dried up. John GRIFFITHS, an orphan reared with the family, died of thirst. The others abandoned the cattle and barely got through. Aborigines found them and helped them in]

In 1849, Muggarie totalling 32,000 acres, on Narran Creek, was occupied by Robert EATHER 1795-1881 while Thomas's holding, measuring 15 square miles, was "Henryandie". According to family tradition, the original name was "Ing-in-ing-in-ing-indi" but it finally settled into "Henriendi" and as the boundaries were gradually determined it was located on the Namoi River, six miles east of Baan Baa.

Thomas EATHER and Sarah McALPIN 1805-1884 were married on the 24 August 1824 at St.Matthews Church of England. They had 13 children;
Thomas EATHER 1824 - 1909
Elizabeth EATHER 1825 - 1884
Charles EATHER 1827 - 1891
Ann EATHER 1829 - 1918
Peter EATHER 1831 - 1911
William EATHER 1832 - 1915
Sarah EATHER 1834 - 1926
Charlotte EATHER 1836 - 1888
Robert EATHER 1838 - 1838
James EATHER 1839 - 1934
Susannah EATHER 1842 - 1848 Susannah and her little friends were playing in a pound paddock next door to the house, when one of the children set fire to some long grass. Susannah's dress caught fire in the flames. She died 2 days later as the result of her severe burns

John Rowland EATHER 1843 - 1923
Catherine EATHER 1846 - 1928

Thomas Eather's second son, Charles Eather who was born at Bulga on 25 October 1827, was sent to Henriendi in 1841 and twenty years later was given the station by his father. In 1866, in addition to Henriendi(which had then an area of 16,000 acres and was grazing 1,000 head of cattle). he controlled four Warrego squatting stations- Back Ballinbillian, Gumanaldy, Back Moongoonoola and Pinegobla- with a total area of 82,000 acres and a total carrying capacity of 16,000 sheep.

The frequent trips between the Muggarie and Wollombi took two months by spring carts, braving the dangers of the terrain and the threat of surprise by bushrangers.

Frederick Wordsworth WARD 1836-1870 aka Captain Thunderbolt (his sister Amelia was married to Thomas's twin, Charles EATHER 1800-1891 stepson James GOUGH), who terrorised the New England district and the north-west of New South Wales between 1863 and 1870, was a frequent visitor to "Henriendi".
" He always said he'd not molest the Eather's", recalled a daughter of the family many years later, "but he wasn't above stealing a good piece of horseflesh when he saw it".

Excerpt from Aunt Liz's Jottings:
Bulga's original discovery dates with the discovery of St Patrick's Plains by John Howe's party of explorers in March 1820, being the first place reached on leaving the mountains. The explorers, Howe, Singleton and Thorley, descended from a spur in Welsh's Inlet, on the Milbrodale Estate, formerly owned by Mr Len Dodds. Its first pioneers, of which there is an authentic record, were Thomas Eather and William Glas McAlpin, who came to Bulga In 1826, accompanied by aboriginal guides. The journey was made on foot from Richmond, through Colo, Putty and Howe's Valley, leading a bullock used as a pack animal. In some places the track was so steep, that the bullock had to be relieved of his burden, and the packs man-handled down. One night the bullock decided to dissolve his partnership with the men, and ran away. Young William Glas McAlpin said to Mr Thomas Eather, "What ever will we do now?" and Mr Eather replied, "Carry the packs on our backs." This they did all that day, but by nightfall the bullock had become lonely, and changing his mind, caught up with the men. Were they glad to see his old face again! After looking at the possibilities at Bulga, they retraced their steps to Richmond. In the same year, 1826, they returned; Thomas Eather bringing his wife, who was formerly Sarah McAlpin (she was known as "Sally"), a sister of young William Glas McAlpin. At this time horses were extremely scarce and expensive, so Sally rode a bullock led by her husband who was on foot, and holding her 18 month old son, Thomas Eather (the third), in front of her. William Glas McAlpin and Billy Freeman led the pack bullocks, and with some aborigines and dogs, the procession started on the 100 mile tramp through the trackless mountains. Marked trees were the only guide they had, but the black fellows knew the way and where to find water. At last they arrived at the foot of the mountain at Bulga, where they made camp for some time near the creek before erecting a dwelling where "Richmond" stands today. Mr Thomas Eather II had acquired a grant of land from the Crown.
From Eather Family Newsletter September 1998
No 142 Editor Mildred Reynolds.


Excerpt from the Eather Family Newsletter September 1997 :- On the 26 June 1834, Thomas Eather Junior took out a license for the "Union Inn" in Windsor Street, Richmond, located in premises owned and built for his sister Ann's husband, Joseph Onus. The public house was situated on land bought from Edward Powell and was one house removed from the home of Thomas' brother-in-law, William Glas McAlpin. In 1835, Joseph Onus died and the two storey brick building housing the "Union Inn" passed into the hands of Thomas Onus, who in 1842 married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Eather Junior. Nearly two years after Joseph Onus' death, his widow Ann, nee Eather, married William Sharp/Sharpe. Hence, on later maps of Richmond the land acquired by Joseph Onus from Edward Powell, appears in the name of Ann/Anne Sharpe. On 10 January 1837, Thomas Eather Junior and William Price were granted a small town allotment in Richmond, consisting of one acre, three roods, and thirty nine perches in West Market and Windsor Streets. Whereas, Thomas occupied the corner section of the grant and held land in both streets, William Price owned a portion of the town allotment fronting Windsor Street. Thomas Junior's daughters were "fine looking women" and the three young women portrayed on the sign of the "Union Inn" were said to strongly resemble Thomas' three eldest daughters, Elizabeth, (Mrs Thomas Onus/Mrs Joseph Rutter) Annie, (Mrs Edwin Young) and Sarah (Mrs William Eaton). These three girls were said to be beautiful although their beauty was not that - "of fair skin and, yellow hair, but the beauty of bright eyes, fine features and good style." Said to be - "a man of very quiet habits who would not allow anyone to impose on him," Thomas managed his hotel, "in a manner beyond reproach."

For more details Please ask. janilye
Below is a photograph of 'Meerea' taken after restoration

Chronology:
1794:
The first land grants were made in the Hawkesbury area to 22 emancipists in response to the need for additional agricultural land. By the end of 1794, over 100 grants were made in the region between present-day Windsor and Pitt Town. A government store, soldiers' barracks, granary, and government cottage were established at Green Hills (later known as Windsor) to service the settlement.

1794:
A road was established between the Green Hills/Hawkesbury area and the older settlement at Parramatta. The road amounted to a track, suitable for travel by horseback or foot. The road traversed the Government Domain at Parramatta and approached the Government Farm at Toongabbie.

1797:
Governor Hunter ordered landholders to undertake road improvements along the Hawkesbury Road, including widening the road to 20 feet. (This is the date for the creation of the Windsor Road as a carriageway.)

1802:
A bridge was constructed at a new South Creek crossing of the Windsor Road, financed by tolls, and replacing the previous punt crossing further east. The current road alignment at South Creek dates from this time. The earlier road alignment, leading to the punt crossing, is reflected in the alignment of the present day Hawkesbury Road.

1804:
Convicts from the government farm at Castle Hill revolted and were confronted by military forces near Rouse Hill. The battle came to be known as the Battle of Vinegar Hill after a 1798 uprising in Ireland against British rule. The soldiers were able to apprehend the rebels by quickly travelling via the Old Windsor Road, which was the key to the containment of the rebellion.

1805:
Surveyor James Meehan surveyed an alignment between Parramatta and Kellyville which became the basis for the (New) Windsor Road in 1813. A committee was formed to collect funds for the upkeep of the colony�s two main roads: Sydney to Parramatta, and Parramatta to Windsor.

1806:
Surveyor Grimes' map of 1806 shows the road from Parramatta to Green Hills (the Old Windsor Road) and from Prospect to the Cowpastures.

1810:
Governor Macquarie described the Windsor Road as "scarcely intitled [sic] to that name...in so bad a state of repair as to be scarcely passable." Later in the year, Macquarie established five towns along the river: Windsor, Richmond, Pitt Town, Wilberforce, and Castlereagh. A contractor, James Harrex, was engaged to build a new turnpike road between Parramatta and Kellyville, following Meehan's 1805 alignment via Castle Hill. This new alignment would avoid the hilly section (referred to by Governor King in 1803 as "the Seven Hills") of the original (Old) Windsor Road. The new alignment also enabled a more direct route to the Hawkesbury from Sydney. Most importantly, the new route avoided the newly-proclaimed Domain at Government House, Parramatta, and was part of Governor Macquarie's extensive plan for the improvement of Government House and its landscape setting.

1812-1813:
Upon the failure of James Harrex to complete the new road works, John Howe took over and completed the contract, which included the construction of 70 bridges. The new road was 32 feet wide and alignment stones marked the carriageway.

1810s:
Governor Macquarie introduced a toll system on the Windsor Road with toll gates north of Parramatta and south of Rouse Hill.

1816:
Land granted to Richard Rouse who built Rouse Hill House and moved in between 1818 and 1825. Rouse also constructed a toll house opposite.

1824:
A regular passenger coach service between Parramatta and Windsor commenced; however, the poor condition of the road caused the coach service to be suspended in the late 1820s. Complaints about the poor condition of the Windsor Road continued in the following decades. By the 1830s, passenger and mail coach services were established. 1826-1832 Governor Ralph Darling held an ambition for the colony�s roads to be developed along the concept of the English system of "great roads."

1827:
Newspaper report on "an outbreak of bushranging on the road between Sydney and Windsor. Several vehicles have been stopped and the passengers stripped of all valuables." Escaped convict, 'Bold' Jack Donohoe, described in 1830 as "the most notorious of the bushrangers currently operating in New South Wales," got his start robbing bullock drays on the Windsor Road. Donohoe is remembered as the last of the convict bushrangers and the first of the bushrangers to be romanticised in bush ballads.

1833:
Windsor Road was proclaimed as a Main Road under 4 Wm IV No 11, gazetted 11 September 1833, to be maintained at public expense.11 The Old Windsor Road was declared a Parish Road. 1835 A toll house, the second on the site, was constructed at the South Creek crossing near Windsor.

1830s:
The deteriorated condition of the Old Windsor Road rendered it "impassable" in sections, and the options of either repairing and re-opening the Old Windsor Road or creating a new road alignment were debated. The alignment stones along the Old Windsor Road may date from this period.

1830s-40s:
The No. 12 Road Gang, a convict gang, was assigned to maintain the Windsor Road, however lack of men and ineptitude of the overseer compromised were complained of in correspondence by the Roads Branch of the Surveyor General's Department.

1849:
The Windsor Road Trust was formed to oversee maintenance of the Windsor Road. Convict labour carried out maintenance in the previous two decades to the establishment of the Windsor Road Trust.14 Responsibility for the road between Vinegar Hill and Windsor was charged to the Windsor Road Trust, while from Vinegar Hill to Parramatta, responsibility for maintenance of the road was under the Parramatta Road Trust.

1853:
Fitzroy Bridge constructed across South Creek at Windsor, replacing the earlier Howe's Bridge.

1864:
Steam railway extended from Penrith to Richmond via Windsor.

1867:
Factors including the 1867 flood of the Hawkesbury River, the opening of land west of the Blue Mountains brought about by the railway in 1869, and the onset of the rust disease which affected the area's wheat crops combined to bring about the end of the Hawkesbury's role as Sydney's 'breadbasket.' Maize and vegetable crops replaced wheat farming, and in the 1880s, farmers in the Hawkesbury Valley turned to orcharding.

1885:
Surveyor Mackenzie surveyed the Old Windsor Road for the Surveyor General.

1920s:
Dairying and poultry farming industries took hold in the Hawkesbury Valley. Orcharding continued to take place along the roads in areas such as Baulkham Hills area.

1924:
The Department of Public Works used water-based macadam in reconstructing the Windsor Road near Rouse Hill. A bitumen coating was laid down in 1925-6, and renewed in 1928-9. Water-based macadam was an improved road surface treatment necessitated by the rapid rise of the motor vehicle.

1928:
Windsor Road, together with Bells Line of Road and the Darling Causeway was announced as Main Road 184 on 22 May.

1940s:
Cutting and filling of the Old Windsor and Windsor Roads was reportedly undertaken by the United States military to prepare evacuation routes should a Japanese invasion take place in Sydney.

1948:
Shoulders of the Windsor Road were widened to 22 feet to provide for anticipated traffic.

1981-1984:
High-level bridges constructed by the Department of Main Roads over Pye's Crossing and Johnston's Bridge. The last unmade section of Old Windsor Road was surfaced by Blacktown and Baulkham Hills Councils

Written Clive Lucas Stapleton 2005 Windsor and Old Windsor Roads Conservation Management Plan.

*Historical Significance The alignment (route) of the original Hawkesbury Road (now Old Windsor Road, and part of the Windsor Road) is of historic significance as the second road alignment to be established in the colony of NSW. The alignment influenced human activity in the region from its establishment in 1794, related to the earliest phase of expansion of settlement beyond Sydney and Parramatta. The alignment defined aspects of the settlement pattern (such as the laying out of grants and the consolidation of services at Green Hills) and provided the region's primary overland transport route, vital to the settlement of the north-western Cumberland plain. The re-alignment of the Windsor Road in 1812-1813 (after the foundation of the Macquarie Towns in 1810) is historically significant as a component of Governor Macquarie's vision for the orderly settlement of the colony, particularly for the Hawkesbury region and the Governor's Domain at Parramatta. The new alignment's avoidance of the hilly section of the original route provides evidence for the presence and naming of the 'Seven Hills' now known as the Hills District. The Windsor Road is part of the first turnpike system in the colony. The decline in status of the Windsor and Old Windsor Roads post-1850 reflects the corresponding decline in the Hawkesbury region's importance as Sydney's breadbasket.

Son of James Joseph EATHER 1829-1906 and Bridget Harriet Honan 1833-1886.

James was 21 when the provisional school was opened on the Bellinger and the total length of his formal education was twelve months.
He married Millicent Sarah BATH (1867-1960) at Walcha,New South Wales in 1885. Producing 11 children.
Millicent was the daughter of Thomas Hull BATH (1836-1890) from Wiltshire, England and Rebecca TURNER (1839-1887)from Berkshire, England.

James cut cedar in the Dorrigo mountains for several years, and taught himself to read and write. He joined the police force as a mounted trooper when they started recruiting 'colonials'. He rose to the rank of Inspector and was a recognised court interpreter for the aborigines in New South Wales. He patrolled with constable Walker who captured Thunderbolt, and was with him when Walker captured the Inverell 'Hairy man'

The Division of "Henriendi"
John William was the only son of Thomas Eather (1824-1909) and Eliza Eather nee Crowley (1823-1907) to reach manhood.

By 1897 'Henriendi' had shrunk to a fraction of it's former extent and in 1900 it was resumed by the government and subdivided into 600-acre allotments, which were put up for ballot under a closer settlement scheme. Over the years many members of the Eather family had been involved in partnerships on 'Henriendi' and the subdivision had the effect of bringing some later branches back in control of small portions of the old squattage. Among those who thus became small proprietors on 'Henriendi' were two grand-daughters of James Eather ( 1811-1899 ), Mrs. Leo Guest (Julia Eather) and Mrs. Jim Nelson (Edith Eather) and their brother, Thomas Charles Eather.

The family at Bulga retained interest in the old station after 1900, for John William Eather's six sons by his marriage to Harriet Clark (1849-1928) (daughter of James Swales Clark of Bulga), in 1872, were keen to be able to maintain the links between Bulga and the Namoi. Some of the brothers ballotted unsuccessfully for the Henriendi allotments, but in 1905 they finally persuaded the farmer who had drawn the homestead block, to sell out to them. The old house with the small area of land surrounding it reverted to the ownership of Eathers.

When Reginald Victor Eather, eldest son of John William and Harriet married in November 1910 he took his bride to Henriendi.

The property was passed on to their daughter, Mrs. Charles Cochran, whose son, Malcolm represented the fifth generation of family to live there.

Henriendi could no longer support partnerships on the old scale and Reginald's eldest brother, Arthur Alexander, moved to the Scone district after marrying Jean Pankhurst of Singleton; there, on the upper Hunter, the partnership of Eather Brothers at first leased the homestead area of old Milgarra station at Bunnan and later in 1926 purchased it outright. The families of Arthur Alexander became well established in the district- James Allan and David Arthur at Milgarra, and Archibald Maxwell at Belford, Scone.

William Tobias EATHER 1852-1922 and Charlotte Elizabeth, nee STRATFORD 1854-1932 had eight sons, one of whom, Joseph Henry EATHER, born Henry Joseph on the 1 December 1876 at Richmond in New South Wales.

In their family bible a note, testifying to the breaking-up of families in the jobless nineties, records that on the 7 February 1897 Joseph EATHER left Richmond with his uncles, (Leslie STRATFORD 1862-1904 and Joseph STRATFORD 1868-1943), bound for Coolgardie Western Australia, two thousand miles away.

Joseph's fortunes in Western Australia were ill-starred. He never married and he met a mysterious death by drowning in the Avon River. His body was recovered from the river at Dale's Bridge, Beverley, on the 12 June 1930 and it was noted that his hands were tied behind his back. The Acting Coroner at the time, Mr.D.H. FORBES began an inquest the next day, which was adjourned sine die.

I have never been able to find whether or not this inquest was resumed or the outcome.

* The William Tobias EATHER Family bible was in the possession of Mrs. Eric Rogers of Ashfield NSW, many years ago, I do not know it's present whereabouts.

William Tobias EATHER and Charlotte Elizabeth STRATFORD were married in 1874 at Richmond NSW

The children of William Tobias EATHER -son of Robert Vincent EATHER 1824-1879 and Ann, nee CORNWELL 1831-1889 and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth, nee STRATFORD the daughter of Joseph STRATFORD 1826-1885 and Rachel ROBERTS 1827-1882. were:-

William Frederick Charles EATHER 1875 ? 1917
**Joseph Henry EATHER 1876 ? 1930
Albert Edward EATHER 1878 ? 1881
John Roland EATHER 1880 ? 1918
Elsie Rachel EATHER 1883 ? 1954
Ruby Elvina EATHER 1885 ? 1948
Cassma Carrington EATHER 1888 ? 1960
Robert Carrington EATHER 1889 ? 1941
Hilton Claude EATHER 1892 ? 1959
Reginald Gordon EATHER 1894 ? 1894

This is the Robert EATHER 1795-1881 Mary LYNCH 1802-1853 line
Story Source: janilye

The son of Charles Eather 1800-1891 and Ann CAIN 1797-1871
Charles Eather was born at Richmond, New South Wales in May 1825 and married twice. His first wife was Frances Emma WATT 1829-1866 whom he married on the 3 December 1849, at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Windsor.

His second wife was Mrs. Maria SOMMERS nee NORRIS, Maria was the daughter of Patrick NORRIS 1823-1890 and Eliza WILSON 1827-1905. They married in Queensland in 1868. Maria's first husband had been George Sydney SOMMERS 1840-1918 with whom she had one son -George Patrick Sommers born in Cornwallis in 1865 and died in 1948.

In the early 1890's Charles moved to Queensland to live and his many decendants have since made the name familiar in that state. Although by trade a cabinetmaker, he spent much of his life in Farming. have since made the name familiar in that state. Although by trade a cabinetmaker, he spent much of his life in Farming.

Charles age 74 died at the Blackall Hospital from the effects of arsenic poisoning. He was camped at Ravensbourne Station at Blackall and it was supposed that arsenic was accidently mixed with the flour supplied by the station. Several others in the same camp were taken ill after eating damper made with the flour

One of his daughters, Frances Emma, 1854-1866. had married Captain Henry Alban Gray, a ship's pilot in Sydney, and they seem to have led the migration to Queensland for they were living at Bundaburg in 1889. In that year, Mrs. Gray's half sister, Lavinia Eather b:1869 visited them and met another shipping man, Capt. Hugh McIntosh whom she married at Bundaberg on 26 December 1889.

The children of Charles EATHER 1825-1899 and Frances Emma, nee WATTS were:-

1.Edward Charles EATHER 1850 ? 1937 a saddler, never married, died on Stradbroke Iseland.

2.John James EATHER 1852 ? 1920

3.Frances Emma Eather 1854 ? 1946

4.Albert E EATHER 1857 ? 1857

5.Maria W EATHER 1858?1939 m. Charles Frederick ROSE in 1882.

6.Louisa EATHER 1860 ? 1860

7.Charles Olinzo EATHER b: 1864 d: 2 June 1949, Petersham. m. Emma Ellen OBORNE 1866-1943 at Penrith in 1886.


The Children of Charles EATHER 1825-1899 and Maria NORRIS 1844-1891:-

1.Annie EATHER 1867 ? 1867

2. Emily EATHER 1867 ?

3. Lavinia Eliza EATHER 1868 ? 1955

4. Frederick Charles EATHER 1872 ? m. Ellen RICE 1872-1938

5. Eva Louise EATHER 1881 ?

6. Ada Florence EATHER 1883 ? 1958

Joseph Onus was born in 1782 to Thomas Honess and Sarah (nee Field) at Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey (Thames Estuary), Kent and died at Richmond NSW on 22 June1835. He is buried at St Peters, Richmond.

Joseph was a labourer aged 19 and living at Sheerness, when, early in 1801, he was arrested. At the Lent Assizes on 16 March 1801, he was tried before Judge Baron Hotham and jury, on the charge of having stolen naval stores to the value of 5 pounds 17 shillings and 11 pence. He was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until he was dead.

He was obviously granted a reprieve, duly arriving in Sydney on the "Glatton" on 11 March 1803.
On 11 March 1810 he married Ann Eather 1793-1865 and had a family of six children.
He began his farming career with 25 acres on the river flats near Richmond. He rapidly prospered, and in about 1820, he built the fine two-storied house - now called the 'farmhouse - on the north side of Francis St, Richmond.

In the early 1820's his interests spread to the Hunter Valley, and in some of his ventures he worked in partnership with his wife's brother-in-law, Robert Williams. In December 1823, he sought a pass for 40 head of cattle of this partnership to go from the Hawkesbury to Benjamin Singleton's property on the Hunter River and from there selected land on the Woolombi Brook. On 12 August 1825, Joseoph Onus received Grant No. 225 of 1550 acres of riverflat land at Bulga. Williams was also granted 1000 acres adjacent. In 1826 the partners took cattle over the Liverpool Ranges establishing the property Boorambil on Onus Creek, a tributary of the Mooki River.

In 1832, they were forced off Boorambil when the famous Australian Agricultural Company was granted 600,000 acres of prime land. They were forced to move their stock onwards.

He took up several 'runs' particularly at Wollombi and in the Hunter Valley.

Thomas Eather, assisted by Joseph Onus's head stockman, John Bazley, is understood to have taken up three runs on thr Namoi River in 1833, namely, 'Hendriendi" for himself and brothers Charles and Robert; "Boggabri" for his brother-in-law, Robert Williams; and "Theribry" for another brother-in-law, Joseph Onus.


From The Eather Newsletter March 2001 No 152 Editorial. Editor Mildred Reynolds.
The following newspaper snippet reveals that Joseph Onus and the three men he was convicted with, spent about ten weeks in Maidstone Goal, and in Joseph's case, around 15 months on a hulk in Woolwich before being transported to New South Wales.

5th June 1801: "Early on Saturday morning the following convicts were conveyed by Mr Watson from Maidstone Goal under strong guard to Woolwich, and there put on board a hulk to remain till a vessel is prepared for their transportation to New South Wales." (Kentish Gazette)

The newspaper listed 25 convicts. Four of these men were - Joseph Oness, Jacob Inness, Joshua Appleton and Thomas Gibbons. (Joseph's name also appeared in the ship's indent of convicts as Joseph Onness.)

Joseph Onus was tried on the 16th March 1801, was transported to the colony on the "Glatton," which sailed from England on the 23rd September 1802. He arrived at Port Jackson on 11th March 1803.

Maidstone Goal was also the prison, which housed the pioneer, Thomas Heather/Eather.

***
From Eather Family Newsletter dated December 2002. Editor Mildred J Reynolds.
Police District of Wee Waa - Namoi District, 16th November 1854
Cattle brands supposed to have been stolen therefrom, October last.
Mr Joseph Onus - cattle on Murran Creek Station.
JO near rump, 22 near shoulder, top off near ear.
WS near rump, 7 on near shoulder, with a hole in near ear.
TO near shoulder, 22near rump, TO on near rump and 6 near shoulder
70 pounds reward to prosecute to conviction.

The above information obtained from the Victoria Police Gazette by the editor, shows that in 1854, Joseph Onus Junior was at (or also at) Murran Creek Station. The cattle branded WS would have belonged to William Sharp - his mother's second husband and the TO would have belonged to his brother, Thomas Onus, who at that time was married to Elizabeth Eather - a daughter of Thomas Eather Junior and his wife Sarah (nee McAlpin).


Joseph Onus b:1782 in Sheerness, Kent d:22 June 1835 Richmond New South Wales
Son of Thomas Honess b:1750 and Sarah Field b:1756
Married Ann Elizabeth Eather 1793-1865 at Windsor, New South Wales, on the 11 March 1810

Produced 6 children:-

1. Elizabeth Onus b: 1 January 1811 Windsor, NSW d:23 August 1882 Richmond, NSW m. John Gordon TOWN 1806-1883 on the 17 June 1830 at Windsor. The children of this marriage were:-
John Thomas Town 1831?1889 Elizabeth Jessie Town 1833?1908
William Barker Town 1836?1838 William Gordon Town 1838?1858
Mary Ann Town 1842 ? 1846
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2. Mary Ann ONUS b:14 August 1813 Windsor, NSW d:19 March 1887 Maryborough, Queensland. m. John EATON 1811-1804 at Windsor on 17 January 1831. The children of this marriage were:-

Mary M Eaton 1831 ? 1831
Charlotta Eaton 1844 ? 1923
Baby Eaton 1846 ? 1846
William Eaton 1847 ? 1887
Caroline Eaton 1850 ? 1850
Euphemia Eaton 1854 ? 1939
Veronica Eaton 1854 ? 1942
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3. Susannah ONUS b:28 October 1815 Cornwallis, NSW d: 12 August 1882, 'Glen Alpin' Bulga, NSW. m.William Glas MCALPIN 1810-1902 on the 1 February 1833 at Christ Church, Castlereagh, NSW.
The children of this marriage were:-
Elizabeth McAlpin 1833 ? 1835
Ann McAlpin 1836 ? 1838
Peter McAlpin 1838 ? 1838
William McAlpin 1840 ? 1923
Susannah McAlpin 1842 ? 1882
Sarah McAlpin 1845 ? 1922
Joseph McAlpin 1849 ? 1913
Mary McAlpin 1852 ? 1915
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4. Joseph ONUS b: 2 May 1818 Richmond, NSW and died 3 December 1895 Richmond, NSW. m.(1) Emma POWELL 1819-1865 on the 13 June 1837 at Richmond. The children of this marriage were:-
Mary Ann ONUS 1838 ? 1861
Joseph Edward ONUS 1840 ? 1891
Emma Susannah ONUS 1843 ? 1931
Joseph Tertius ONUS 1844 ? 1928
Laura Australia ONUS 1854 ? 1855
(2) Clara HUNT 1820-?? on the 28 May 1867at Richmond had one child Linda ONUS 1869 ? 1894
Joseph also had a relationship with Margaret SILK 1824-1884 she had one child to ONUS. Maria Emma SILK 1841 ? 1883
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5. Thomas ONUS b:29 April 1820 Richmond, NSW and died 28 March 1855 at Richmond, NSW. m. Elizabeth EATHER 1825-1884 on 22 August 1842 at St.Andrews Presbyterian, Windsor, NSW. The children of this marriage were:-
Ann Onus 1842 ? 1905
Sarah Onus 1845 ? 1910
Susannah Onus 1847 ? 1935
Thomas Alexander Onus 1849 ? 1934
Matilda J Onus 1852 ? 1853
Elizabeth A Onus 1854 ? 1855

Before his marriage Thomas ONUS had a relationship with Eliza JAMES 1819-1862 which produced a daughter Ann ONUS in 1841 hence his marriage in the Presbyterian Church after Rev. Henry STILES of the Church of England refused to marry him.
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6. William ONUS b: 3 September 1822, Richmond, NSW and died on 8 May 1855 at Richmond, NSW. m. Ann HOUGH 1822-1889 the daughter of Peter HOUGH 1776-1833 on 1 March 1882 at Richmond, NSW.
The children of this marriage were:-
Joseph Onus 1844 ? 1928
Elizabeth Onus 1848 ? 1892
Emily A. Onus 1851 ? 1907
Andrew Onus 1853 ? ??
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Credit for some of the above belongs to the Eather Family Newsletter of January 1976 and September 1998.