I haven’t stopped writing. I have just had so much writing to do for my Diploma of Family History from UTAS that I have not been able to keep up with it and with writing up my blog as well.
Tomorrow I am hoping to upload the remaining stories that I have written for my Diploma and make them available here so that people can have read the details of the life of Mary Stevens.
At some stage between 1855 and 1858 Edwin Gransden ended up at Mount Alexander near Melbourne. Mount Alexander was in the heart of Gold Country and Edwin certainly had an interest in gold as shown by a newspaper article in 1858 showing Edwin asking for a partner in a Puddling Machine. A Puddling Machine, introduced in 1852, is a machine that breaks up gold bearing clay and dirt, with a heavy stone drawn by a horse, allowing gold flecks to sift to the bottom of the channel and be made more accessible.
WANTED a Partner- The advertiser being about putting up a Puddling Machine, wishes to join another as mates in the concern. Any party having a small capital, and wishing to join, may hear of further particulars by addressing a letter to Mr. E.
Gransden, at Mr. Parker’s Mount Franklin, Hepburn.
1858 ‘Advertising.’, Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 – 1917), 5 March, p. 1, viewed 1 February, 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197085694
S. GILL
Periton, Devonshire, England 1818 – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1880
Australia from 1839
CAMPBELL & FERGUSSON
commenced 1854 – 1854
printer, lithographic (organisation)
JAMES J. BLUNDELL & CO
commenced 1854 – 1867
publisher (organisation)
Horse puddling machine, Forest Creek.
1855-56
Courtesy of the Australian National Gallery
Doing some research into Mount Alexander I came across a youtube video that gives a nice potted history of Mount Alexander and what it was like to live there during the Gold Rush years that Edwin Gransden was there for.
For my UTAS course on convicts I have to write a story about one of my convicts and a series of break out stories. Not all of them are assessed but some of them are. This is the break out article I wrote about the Gaol at Taunton where Mary Stevens was held before her Assize Court hearings at Lent of 1799 and 1800.
All I can say, is that I wonder how badly she suffered from Scurvey by the time she got to Sydney Cove. Being a convict on a farm even at the time that she arrived was probably preferable to the life she had lived in the gaols and on the trip to Sydney. I suspect that she also received better food on that farm then she had ever had in her entire life prior to coming to Australia.
Taunton Gaol
The Lent Assizes for the County of Somerset were held at the assize hall in the Castle of Taunton. Thus there was a gaol at Taunton that was used to hold the prisoners close to the Castle so that they were convenient for their Trial at Taunton Castle. The gaol was erected in 1754, expanded in 1815 and later became part of the Police Headquarters for the town of Taunton.[1]
Wilton Gaol, Taunton.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=315870.0 This photograph is on a Rootschat forum. If I ever get the details from the person who took the photo I will credit them.
The Gaol at Taunton was assessed once in 1803 and once in 1806 with details of the layout written up at the time. Mary Stevens was in the gaol at Taunton, also known as Wilton Gaol, for at least some of her 18 months or so imprisonment in Somersetshire. It is uncertain how much of that time she would have spent at Taunton and how much of that time she would have spent in the gaol at Ilchester.
Whilst in the gaol at Taunton Mary would have been allowed half a quarter loaf per day and a dinner of meat once a fortnight. On this meagre allowance she would have had to survive for the duration of her time at Taunton, unless she could afford to supplement her food. If she had no way to pay for additional food then any extras she may have obtained would have been reliant on the good nature and bounty of others, possibly even her family, if they visited her.[2]
[1] Google Books. Toulmin, J. The history of Taunton, in the county of Somerset. Printed for J. Poole 1822. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitised 18 Dec 2006. P. 585.
[2] Google Books. Neild, J. 1812. State of the prisons in England, Scotland and Wales …: together with some useful documents, observations, and remarks, adapted to explain and improve the condition of prisoners in general … Original from University of Minnesota. Digitised 1 Jul 2010. P. 555 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=SwEMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR64&lpg=PR64&dq=Taunton+Castle+gaol&source=bl&ots=6ykeJlDCAa&sig=bEdW-GzP54yIG8oPGga9iMlVBQw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiaq6XWyoXNAhWIv48KHQf_AZgQ6AEIRTAJ#v=onepage&q=Taunton%20Castle%20gaol&f=false (Accessed 1st June 2016)
I have been so busy writing stories for the Convict unit of my Diploma Course that I have not had any time to put up any blog posts recently. So here is a break out story from the main one I am writing on Mary Stevens. This story if part of my assessment. I will put the main story up at a later date.
Sydney N.S.Wales,
21st August 1801,
Gentlemen,
By the way of India I had the honor of writing you, a duplicate copy of which accompanies this. The Earl Cornwallis arrived here the 10th June. By that ship I received your letters and their several enclosures, together with the store, provisions, and passengers, the Commissary’s receipt for all which I enclose. The difference between the number of prisoners sent on board and landed here the mater accounts for by their having died of the dysentery during the voyage. Many of those landed are extremely weak and feeble. No complaint has been made of improper treatment during the voyage, and what is very extraordinary no complaint has been made by the agent or master of any very bad behaviour of any of the prisoners during the voyage. On the contrary they both speak to their advantage. I am sorry to observe that Lieut. Henry Crawford, of the New South Wales Corps, was drowned at Rio de Janeiro. The ship was cleared within the time allowed; therefore no demurrage has taken place.[1]
The death of Lieutenant Henry Crawford, overseer of the guard escort for the Convicts, illustrated the gradual increase in power in the Colony of Sydney, exercised by the Rum Corps and eventually leading to the Rum Rebellion.[2]
After the death of Lieutenant Crawford, another officer of the Earl Cornwallis, Lieutenant Marshall decided to swap a quilt and another item for his own, claiming that Lieutenant Crawford owed him money and thus the swap for better equipment made up the amount that Lieutenant Crawford had owed him.[3]
It appeared that Macarthur, at the time the senior officer, whilst both Governor King and the Lieutenant Colonel Paterson were absent, disagreed with Lieutenant Crawford’s intent. Thus he directed an inquiry before a bench of magistrates.[4] The result was that the Magistrates findings were mild with no ill intent attributed to Lieutenant Crawford. Regardless Governor King issued a reprimand. In addition to a reprimand Governor King also informed Lieutenant Marshall that he had obtained a passage for him aboard the Albion to take him back to England. [5]
Captain John Macarthur. Project Gutenburg. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1302011h.html
Marshall, apparently did not take this direction well and obviously attributed the situation to Macarthur. So publicly and openly he insulted Macarthur. Equally Macarthur did not take that well and sent Captain Abbott to Marshall to challenge Marshall to a duel which Marshall accepted. Marshall chose Mr. Jeffries, Purser from the Earl Cornwallis as his second. Captain Abbott was Macarthur’s second. However, under the rules of the duel the seconds are supposed to be co-equals in rank. Captain Abbott refused to allow that Mr. Jeffries was his co-equal. Marshall and Jeffries both turned up to the appointed place and at the appointed time for the duel but Macarthur and Abbott did not. So the next time Marshall encountered Abbott he stuck him and claimed that he would do the same to Macarthur when he next saw him. [6]
As a result Marshal was prosecuted and bought before a criminal court. The Judges of the Court consisted of a number of people including five military officers. Not surprisingly Marshall claimed that the court was biased and objected to the five military officers trying the case. His objections were overruled and he was convicted of assaulting Abbott.[7]
As Governor King had considerable doubt about the entire case he eventually decided to remit the sentences passed onto Marshall for assault for fifty pounds and one years imprisonment, as long as Marshall left New South Wales. He also requested that the Court be re-convened due to fresh evidence. However, Governor King received a complaint from the five military officers of the trial, claiming that all members of the court had unanimously declared that it was impossible to reopen the case. Two members, the non-army, members of the court did not agree to the protest. This went on for some time. The upshot was that James Tennant, the commander of the Earl Cornwallis and one other officer, were requested to pay a fine if Marshal did not present himself, on entering Britain, to a court and pay his fifty pound fine and spend his year in gaol.[8]
[1] HRA Series 1.,Vol. 3. p.264
[2] Evatt, H. V. 1938. Rum Rebellion: A study of the Overthrow of Governor Bligh by John Macarthur of the New South Wales Corps. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, Australia.
[3] Trove. 1931 ‘DUELLING DAYS.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 13 June, p. 9. , viewed 01 Jun 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16785552
[4] Trove. 1931 ‘DUELLING DAYS.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 13 June, p. 9. , viewed 01 Jun 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16785552
[5] Trove. 1931 ‘DUELLING DAYS.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 13 June, p. 9. , viewed 01 Jun 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16785552
[6] Trove. 1931 ‘DUELLING DAYS.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 13 June, p. 9. , viewed 01 Jun 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16785552
[7] Evatt, H. V. 1938. Rum Rebellion: A study of the Overthrow of Governor Bligh by John Macarthur of the New South Wales Corps. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, Australia.
[8] Trove. 1931 ‘DUELLING DAYS.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 13 June, p. 9. , viewed 01 Jun 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16785552
Mary Stevens was Mary was sentenced at Ilchester Court during the Somerset Lent Circuit hearing on 28th March 1799 to “Stealing Goods val. 30/- of Thomas Andrews”. At the Lent Circuit at Taunton in 1800 her sentence was confirmed and she was transported to Australia on the Earl Cornwallis. There are very few Newspaper articles about Mary’s trial and sentence, just a one liner on the 04th of April 1799 – in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Bath, Somerset, England.
04 April 1799 – Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Bath, Somerset, England. Find My Past
Just a couple of months after Mary Stevens was going through the ordeal of being tried at the local Ilchester Court and then being taken to the Assizes at Taunton and possibly kept at the Taunton gaol, Jane Leigh Perrott was being held at the Ilchester gaol awaiting her trial at Taunton. Unlike Mary Stevens, Jane Leigh Perrott was in many of the local and National Newspapers for months with full coverage of her trial and statements by herself and all relevant witnesses.
Jane Leigh Perrott was the aunt of Jane Austen. She came from a well off and titled family and had all of the advantages of wealth and birth that Mary Stevens did not have. Thus whereas Mary Stevens was limited to one courtyard room crowded with all the other female prisoners, with no occupation for any of the prisoners so they had little to do with their time. As a result the female ward was described as a place of dissolution and profligacy, just six years later when the gaol was being assessed and improvements organised. The Rise and Progress of the Improvements at Ilchester Gaol 1806-1821
Mary Stevens would have had an uncomfortable time in Ilchester gaol. The experience of Jane Leigh Perrott would have been very different. Much as Jane Leigh Perrott complained of her situation the realities were far less uncomfortable than those of the other female prisoners. Jane, herself was housed in a room adjoining the gaolers rooms. She gives brief descriptions of the gaol and of her situation in the gaol- “Vulgarity, Dirt, Noise from Morning till night…”
…the Man told me that the Dinning Room I was to consider as my own whenever I choose to be along- and so it was till the Fires began; but this Room joins to a Room where the Children all lie, and not Bedlam itself can be half so noisy, beside which, as not one particule [sic] of Smoke goes up the Chimney, except you leave the door or window open, I leave you to judge of the Comfort I can enjoy in such a Room. Austen Papers 1704-1856 Ed by R. A. Austen_Leigh. Ch 7
Jane Leigh Perrott was accused of stealing a card of lace worth twenty shilling from a shop in Bath. She was arrested in August of 1799 but was not able to obtain bail. Thus she stayed with the Ilchester gaoler until the Lent Assize of 1800, the same Assize that Mary Stevens had her sentence confirmed at, before being transported to New South Wales for the term of seven years.
Mary had stolen thirty shillings worth of cotton. Jane had stolen twenty shillings worth of lace. Mary quite probably did it to survive. The trial of Jane Leigh Perrott gives evidence that suggests that Jane stole because she considered the lace that she had stolen to be over priced and that she was entitled to the lace https://austenonly.com/2009/11/28/jane-austens-particular-places-easton-lincolnshire/ Mary was sent to Australia, Jane was acquitted and sent home with her friends. In later life it seems that Jane stole again, yet she was always protected by her family. Mary never had another brush with the law that has been recorded. It is probably an over simplification to put down the differences in their experiences to class, but it would certainly have some impact on the differences in their experiences.
I generated a copy of a Mothers Tree for my mother for Mothers Day. It is quite a lovely tree and has some wonderful women on it. But because it contained details of women who are still living it was not suitable for putting up on this website. However, I really wanted to share the amazing photos that I have going back through generations of mothers. So I have adjusted this Mothers Tree. It only has five generations instead of all of the generations that I had on the original but it is able to be shared as none of these people are still alive.
This is a Mothers Tree of the women in my family. Each of them loses their own name when they marry and thus their stories are often harder to find and harder to tell. So it is very special to have a visual tree of so many of them.
Mothers Tree of Shirley Heather Guest nee Gransden.
Back in 2011 Geneabloggers did a podcast that focussed on finding female ancestors. One of the things that was bought up very comprehensively in that podcast was the difficulties of tracing women because of their name changes. For example there are the normal name changes when a woman marries a man, but then what happens if she marries two, three or even more times? What happens if she also has a nick name and that is the name that the family knows her as and has written on all of her photos, if there are any, etc? Sometimes those names may have a link to her name but sometimes they do not. For example I have an Aunty Betty who is not a Betty, or an Elizabeth at all. Her name was Una Jessie and that somehow became Betty. What about all the derivatives of different names, taking the example above Elizabeth could become Betty, Bessie, Eliza, Lizzie, Lizabeth, Lizabet, Bess and the list goes on. Men also have name changes but they do not tend to be as extensive as those for women. It is these name changes that make finding women so difficult in the records.
Given all of this you would think that it would be nice to find some records that actually retain that maiden name and thus make it easier for a descendant to find an ancestor. Today at the NSW State Archives I finally had that experience. A group of records that trace a woman through her maiden name and kept that maiden name for almost the whole of her life. So it came as a surprise to me that I was upset on behalf of my ancestor, that she had been recorded under her maiden name long after the reason for that record had been and passed. You see Mary Stevens was a convict.
Today I looked up Mary Stevens or Stephens in the 1806 Convict Muster, the 1811 Convict Muster, the 1814 Convict General Muster, the General Muster of Land and Stock 1822, and The General Muster List of NSW 1823, 1824 and 1825. In each one of them Mary was mentioned. In the 1806 Muster details given include the Ship that Mary was on and the fact that she was the House Keeper for John Lees. The next two give further details. The 1811 Muster gives the details of Marys trial in Ilchester and her sentence, the 1814 give details of her children and the fact that she is married to John Lees and incorrect details about the ship she came out on, although this is corrected in the Appendix.
Convict Muster 1811- Mary Stevens (Stephens) NSW State Archives courtesy of Ancestry.com
The difference between the 1806 census and the 1811 and 1814 census is that in 1809 Mary had married John Lees, yet she was still being defined by her name as a convict despite obtaining her Freedome through servitude in 1811. Mary was also being defined by her marriage, the “wife of John Lees” rather than any occupation, even child carer, home duties etc. Her children and husband are all on a separate page together while Mary is on her own page under her maiden name, branded as convict.
Mary Stevens General Muster and land and stock Muster of NSW 1822. NSW State Archives.
The next two musters again define Mary by her convict name and only once that is done do they define her in terms of who she was married to. By the 1837 Muster Mary is no longer mentioned. At this stage it appears that the NSW Government had realised that they had no ability to force those who were free to turn up to convict Musters. I suspect that I am not the only one who finds it a bit upsetting that a person was still being identified by their crime long after they had paid their dues and done their time.
Mary died in 1839. Even here she is an adjunct to her husband as her tomb stone has just her name, no other details and it is at the foot of the tomb stone of John Lees. In the register book her name is Mary Stevens, wife of John Lees. In many ways it is great to be able to find Mary and follow her through her life. In other ways it is upsetting that Mary is defined not by who she is but by the one time she was caught doing something wrong and by her husband. Once in Australia there is no evidence that Mary ever committed another crime yet her crime defines her life.
John Lees tomb stone
Authors Collection
Mary Stevens nee Lees
Authors Collection
Between 1800-1803 a French expedition lead by Nicholas Baudin travelled along the coast of Australia with the intention of mapping the coast of “New Holland”. The expedition did not arrive in the Sydney area until 1801 just prior to the arrival of the Earl of Cornwallis. On the Earl of Cornwallis was a young convict woman named Mary Stevens, along with 193 male convicts and another 94 female convicts and some free settlers. Mary Stevens is the Convict Ancestor that I am following for my unit on Convicts at UTAS.
By Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) – Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, USA, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36841826
The Baudin expedition contained two ships the Geographe and Le Naturaliste, they reached Port Jackson in June 1801. François Péron was on this expedition and he kept a record of his arrival in Sydney. The sights that he saw would have been the same ones that Mary Stevens would also have seen as she arrived in Sydney aboard the Earl Cornwallis just a short while later.
Géographe and the Naturaliste
Date Early 19th Century
Source avaloncoastalretreat.com.au
Towards the middle of this magnificent port, and on its southern bank, in one of the principal creeks, rises Sydney Town, the capital of the country of Cumberland, and of all the English colonies in this part of the world; seated at the base of two hills, that are contiguous to each other and having the advantage of a rivulet, which runs completely through it; this infant town affords a view, at once agreeable and picturesque. To the right, and at the north point of Sydney Cove, you perceive the signal battery, which is built upon a rock, difficult of access; six pieces of cannon, protected by a turf entrenchment, cross their fire with that of another battery, which I shall presently mention; and thus defend, in the most effectual manner the approach to the harbour and the town. Further on, appear the large buildings that form the hospital, and which are capable of containing two or three hundred sick. Amongst these buildings, there is one particularly worthy of notice, as all the parts of it were prepared in Europe, and brought out in Commodore Phillip’s squadron; so that in a few days after its arrival, there was an hospital ready to receive such of the crews as were sick. On the same side of the town, at the sea shore, you observe a very fine magazine, to which the largest ships can come up, and discharge their cargoes. In the same direction are several private docks, in which are built brigs and cutters, of different sizes, for the purpose of trading either inland or beyond the colony. These vessels which are from fifty to three hundred tons burthen, are built entirely with the native wood; even their masts are obtained from the forests of the colony. It is at the spot called Hospital Creek, that the ships of individuals unload their cargoes. Beyond the hospital in the same line is the prison, which has several dungeons capable of holding from an hundred and fifty to two hundred prisoners; it is surrounded by a high and strong wall, and has a numerous guard on duty, both by day and night. A short distance from the prison is the storehouse, for the reception of wines, spirituous liquors, salt provisions etc. In the front of it is the armoury where the garrison is drawn up every morning; accompanied by a numerous and well composed band, belonging to the New south Wales regiment. The whole western part of this spot, is occupied by the house of the lieutenant governor general; behind which is vast garden which is worth the attention both of the philosopher and the naturalists on account of the great number of useful vegetables which are cultivated in it; and which have been procured from every part of the world by its present respectable possessor, Mr. Paterson, a distinguished traveller, and member of the Royal Society of London. Behind the house and the magazine just mentioned is the public school; here are educated in the principles or religion morals and virtue, those young females who are the hope of the rising colony; but whose parents are either too degenerate too poor to give them proper instruction. In the public school however, under respectable matrons, they are taught from their earliest years, all the duties of a good mother or a family. Behind the house of the lieutenant governor in a large magazine , are deposited all the dried pulse and corn, belonging to the state. It is a sort of public granary intended for the support of the troops and the people who receive their subsistence from the government. The barracks occupy a considerable square, and have in front several field pieces; the edifices for the accommodation of the officers, form the lateral parts or ends of the building; and the powder magazine is in the middle. Near this, in a small private house, the principal civil and military officers assemble. It is a sort of coffee house, maintained by subscription, in which there are several amusements but particularly billiards, at which any person may play, free of expense. Behind the armoury is a large square tower, which serves for an observatory to those English officers who study astronomy.
Having learned that the Gransdens lived for a while in Longbottom Concord, NSW last weekend I thought this weekend that I would go and see what Longbottom was like. There is, of course, not much left on the original stockade or any real indication of what Longbottom would have looked like at the time but it was still lovely to visit.
When researching Longbottom last week I came across mention of a memorial plaque that had been set up to commemorate the French Canadian convicts that had been quartered at Longbottom in the 1840’s. I decided to search out the memorial to see if it was still there.
Memorial of Canadian Exiles 1840- Longbottom
Tina Bean 2016
Memorial of Canadian Exiles 1840- Longbottom, Concord
Tina Bean 2016
The memorial plaque reads-
Near this spot in Longbottom Stockade fifty-eight French speaking Canadian prisoners from the uprising of 1837-38 in Lower Canada were incarcerated from March 11, 1840 to November 1842 before being released on ticket-of-leave and eventually pardoned to return to Canada. Their sojourn in the Parramatta River area is recalled by the names of Exile Bay, France Bay and Canada Bay.
Ninety-two English-speaking prisoners captured in Upper Canada in 1838 were similarly exiled in Van Diemen’s Land.
Measures taken as a result of the uprisings in Lower and Upper Canada represented significant steps in the evolution of Responsible Government and Parliamentary democracy in Canada and Australia.
This plaque was unveiled on May 16, 1970 by the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Tredeau- Prime Minister of Canada, to mark the 130th anniversary of the Landing of the Canadian Exiles in Australia and to commemorate the sacrifices made by many Canadians and Australians in the evolution of self-Governing, equal and free nations within the Commonwealth of Nations.
Sitting just above the plaque there is another much smaller plaque.
Movement of the Canadian Exiles Memorial Plaque to Bayview Park.
This plaque tells the story of the Canadian Exiles Plaque and its movement from its original site at the location of the Longbottom Stockade.
This monument was originally located at Cabarita Park but was moved to here following the development of Bayview Park.
This is the site of the original wharf where the Canadian Exiles disembarked on their way to the Longbottom Stockade down Whaft Road which is now known as Burwood Road.
The Longbottom Stockade was situated on the present Concord Oval.
This plaque is to commemorate the relocation of the monument and was unveiled by Mr. Denny Stimpson, Canadian Vice Consul on 17th of February, 1984.
Bayview Park wharf, Concord.
Tina Bean 2016
Now I had an exact location for the Longbottom Stockade. It happened to be at the end of Burton Street, the street on which Robert Gransden had owned a block of land in Concord that had probably housed him, Edwin and his first wife, Maria, at some stage and quite probably Mary Ann Russell nee Gransden.
So I decided it was time to go to Burton Street and have a look at Concord oval and the street that the Gransdens had lived on.
Concord Oval is now a sporting ground. There is no indication of its original use that I was able to see as they had a game on this weekend. Maybe another time I will get to wander around the oval and the much larger park area on the other side of the road that was also part of the Stockade.
Concord Park, previously the Longbottom Stockade.
Tina Bean 2016
However, on Burton Street was a lovely old Church. St Lukes Church is the oldest Church known in the Concord area and once again there was a plaque to commemorate the church.
St Lukes Church Concord memorial plaque.
Tina Bean 2016
The plaque gives details of St Lukes Church.
St Lukes, the oldest Church known in Concord was designed in the Gothic style by noted architect E. T. Blackett. Construction was by W. J. Godbolt, Dr. Frederick Barker Bishop of Sydney set the Foundation Stone on St. Lukes Day 1859 and consecrated the Church on the 2nd of May 1861. Additions of the Northern and Southern Aisles, Apsidal Chancel and Organ Loft were planned by W. Coles and completed in 1882. The Church became the recipient of its Hill Organ in 1884 from the Walker Family in Celebration of Eadith Walker’s (later Dame Eadith) 21st Birthday.
St Lukes Church, Concord. NSW.
Tina Bean 2016St Lukes Church, Concord. NSW.
Tina Bean 2016
Thus while the Gransdens were living on Burton Street this part of the Street would have been a building site for the entire time that they lived in the area. Sometime between 1857 and 1864 the house or land on Burton Street was sold. By this time Robert had lived in Bathurst for many years and Edwin was living first in Melbourne with the wife he had bought back to the Longbottom House and later at Mount Franklin, in an area of the Victorian Gold Rushes. Mary Ann had by this stage disappeared from the records. It is possible that she made use of the Longbottom House when she left her husband in 1852 but she seems to be back with her husband again by the time she gave birth to their last child in 1854.
Robert Gransden kept the Longbottom house for a considerable time after he and his brother no longer needed it. Did Mary Ann move here after she had her last child and is this where she died? If so the disposal of the house over this seven-year period may give an indication of when and where Mary Ann died. So there is still a lot to explore about this area.
The houses on Burton Street all look to be from around the 1920s-1930s. Without more details as to the exact location of the Gransden property and more information about any potential house, it was impossible to tell if the Gransdens had lived on this block of land and which part of the Burton Street they may have been located on. There is still much to find out. Explorations have started.
The earlier part of this story Longbottom- Gransdens in the Concord area can be found here.
It appears that Robert Gransden’s Oil and Colour shop was more extensive than just providing paint and pigments to painters. Robert Gransden had at some stage partnered J. Snell as an Iron Founders. It seems that this partnership had not gone well and the partnership was disbanded in 1844.
Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian (Southampton, England), Saturday, February 24, 1844. British Newspapers 1600-1950 (Gale)
However, Robert Gransden, son of John Gransden, appears to have retained some of the equipment and practices of the iron foundry in his Colour and Paint Shop in Orchard Lane, Southampton.
In 1848 Robert Gransden appeared at court as a witness against Elijah White and Edward Bevan who were bought on charges of stealing three quarters of a hundred weight of Iron, the property of George Gould. White and Bevan had been arrested in January of 1848. White had been in the employ of Mr Gould for eight years and Bevan was Mr. Goulds apprentice. At the hearing in January both White and Bevan were committed for trial and were then admitted to bail.
Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian (Southampton, England), Saturday, January 29, 1848. British Newspapers 1600-1950 (Gale)
Robert Gransden had been the receiver of the goods. However, despite being “occasionally severely rough handled” Robert Gransden seemed to be unable to confirm that Bevan or White were the people who had come into his shop to sell iron.
Robert Gransdens partner had weighed out the iron and called out the amounts to Robert who was in his office in the middle of the store. Robert had paid the men as they had passed him but only saw the man’s hand as he, Robert, passed over the money.
Charles Ford, a labourer, was the man who had weighed the iron and Robert Gransden trusted him to assess the correct weight. As the scales were in the back of the shop this was out of the line of sight of Robert Gransden. Meanwhile Robert Gransden had not seen the men while he was in his office because he was busy shaving.
At the conclusion of the trial in April of 1848 both men seemed to get off relatively lightly with Elijah White sentenced to six weeks in gaol and Edward Bevan to just three weeks.
Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian (Southampton, England), Saturday, April 15, 1848. British Newspapers 1600-1950 (Gale)
