William Henry Tom

  General Notes:

Sailed to Australia in 1823 in the Betsy Ann
"The Bestsy Ann lost its steering gear in a storm while trying to navigate the mouth of the Derwent River in Tasmania. The ship was being driven onto the rocky coast. After some fearful hours of praying etc. the ship managed to arrive at Hobart. The Toms and Lanes, and Anne Tom's nephew who travelled with them stayed with a Rev. Mansfield for a couple of weeks and then were able to procure a passage on "a very small craft" named "Jupiter" and so came to Sydney Cove. The families made their headquarters at Parramatta for three months. Then they decided to cross the Blue Mountains, follwoing Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth's route of 1813. They settled in Tarana, near Bathurst. "
Bryant Book

Pioneers of Bathurst/ Kelso and Bush Memories of the West of New South Wales. Oakes, G. S.
Chapter XI
The Webbs and their Connections.
"This family group includes the Toms, the Webbs, the Lanes, the Glassons, the Llanarth-Smiths, the Tempests, the Barretts, and other well known families, all of whom have played an important part in the development of the western distrcits. The head of the clan was Mr. William Tom senior (populalry known as "Parson Tom"), a man of great force of character who wielded an influence for morality and religion which was much needed in the early days. A party numbering eleven in all arrived in Sydney in 1823; it included William Lane, who afterwards built in Orton Park, near Bathurst, and John Tom Lane, for many years police magistrate at Orange. The eldest daughter of Mr William Tom married the late Hon. John Smith, M.L.C., of Llanarth, Bathurst; and the fourth daughter married the late Hon. Edmund Webb, M.L.C. Mr. Tom's grant was Tarana, he afterwards lived at Sidmouth Valley, Wallaroi and Bosworth Falls, and finally settled at Springfield, near Byng, eleven miles from Orange. Mr Tom had eight sons and five daughters, all of whom, with one exception married and had large families.
Members of this family took up many well known stations, such as Booligal, Boorambil, Guntawang, and Gunningbland, the latter was sold for 20 pounds and is now said to be worth 100,000 pounds. All that was necessary to aquire a fortune in those early days was to take up good country, put on good stock, and then "hold on," and the unearned increment would do the rest. A square mile of country could be secured for about 10 shillings...."

The Discovery of Gold

The select committee of the Leislative Assembley, appointed in 1890 to inquire into and report upon the claims of William Henry Tom, James Tom and J.H.A. Lister for remuneration as the first discoverers of gold in Australia, agreed to the following decision:-
That although Mr E. H. Hargraves is entitled to the credit of having taught the claimants, Messrs W. and J. Tom and Lister, the use of the dish and cradle, and otherwise the proper methods of searching for gold, your committee are satisfied that the Messrs. Tom and Lister were undoubtably the first discoverers of gold in "payable quantity." According to his own evidence, Mr. Hargraves was not within the 100 miles of them when they made their first discovery of "payable" gold on the 6th of May, 1851...

On receipt of the report, the Parliment of New South Wales awarded Messrs Tom and Lister, a grant on 1000.00 pounds.

Longevity
The members of the Tom family appear to have been remarkable for longevity. William Tom senior died at Springfield aged ninety-two years; his son William was eighty; Mrs John Smith died at Llanarth in her ninety- fourth year; and Mrs Edmund Webb, born in 1835, is still in good health and gives promise of completeing the century.

The First "Cradle"
Miss Keyes..., was governess at Springfield when Mr. E. H. Hargraves stayed there in 1851. She and Miss Tom helped to work the first "cradle," which was built under his directions...

Fascimile reprint published 1978 by the Library of Australian History, North Sydney, Australia. Original edition published by D. S. Ford, Sydney, Australia 1923.

William married Anne Lane in 1817. (Anne Lane was born in 1796 and died in 1870.)