John Lees

  General Notes:

Name:Richard Lees
Province:New South Wales
Title:General muster
Year(s):1822

Lees, John, came free, ship- Ganges, Land holder Windsor.
Lees, Richard 17, BC (Born Colony)
Lees, John 14 BC
Lees, Esther 12 BC
Lees, Timothy 6 BC
Lees Sarah, 4 BC
Lees Cornelius 1 BC
(noted as children of John Lees) Mary Lees nee Stevens is noted under her maiden name elsewhere in the muster.
Ancestry.com. New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

Notes for JOHN LEES:
FROM THE FILES OF ROBERT WRIGHT:

John Lees Jr. was born at the River Nepean in the District of Evan (later renamed Castlereagh) in the colony of New South Wales on September 19, 1807, the son of John Lees and Mary Stevens. His parents, who already had five children, were married at St. Phillip's Church Sydney on November 20, 1809. John Lees Jr. was baptised at St. Matthew's Church Windson on February 2, 1812. He grew up on his parents' farm at Castlereagh, and one day in 1815 there came a knock at the door of the family cottage and a voice called out "Will you receive a Wesleyan missionary?" John opened the door and laid hold of the stranger's bridle with the one hand and the stirrup with the other and said "Get off sir, my father will be glad to see you" (John's father had recently undergone a religious awakening).

The newcomer was the Reverend Samuel Leigh, and he spent the evening in prayer with the family. This was the beginning of Methodist worship in Castlereagh, and the Reverend Samuel Leigh would become a frequent visitor to the Lees family over the years. In March 1821, at the age of 13, John Lees Jr. had Banns called for his marriage to Catherine Byfield, listing him as 21 years old, but this was forbidden by his father. By 1828 John was working as a labourer for his brother-in-law George Nash, a farmer in the District of Evan. On February 20, 1830 he petitioned Governor Sir Ralph Darling in the following terms:

"To His Excellency Lieutenant General R. Darling, Governor and Commander in Chief, etc, etc, etc.
The Humble Memorial of John Lees - native of the colony, Most Respectfully Sheweth
That you Excellency's Memorialist presuming on your Excellency's goodness beg leave most respectfully to approach your Excellency for the indulgence of a Grant of land, and to add for your Excellency's information the following particulats of his circumstances. viz
That Memorialist is twenty three years of age - unmarried.
That he never received any land from Government by grant or purchase. That he holds fifteen acres of land by inheritance.
That Memorialist is a farmer, and obtains an honest livelihood by the cultivation of his farm.
That being desirous of extending his cultivation should it please your Excellency to grant him a farm he will reside in an improve it.
That Memorialist is the second son of Mr. John Lees a very respectable settler formerly of the 102nd Regiment who resides in the farm granted him for his services in the district of Evan.
That Memorialist having the means, with the assistance of his father, of improving a new farm, and being of an irreproachable character he most humbly hopes your Excellency will be pleased to consider him worthy of indulgence.
Therefore most respectfully solicits your Excellency to be graciously pleased to order Memorialist a Grant of Land and your Excellency's Memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray.
John Lees."

John's petition was countersigned by John MacHenry, J.P., and the Reverend Henry Fulton, who appended by way of character reference: "Memorialist is a very Sober, industrious and honest young man and deserves tobe encouraged".

Apparently there was some confusion in the Surveryor General's office between John and his father, and S.A. Perry, deputy to Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell, returned the memorial to Captain Thomas Wright, Police Superintendent at Penrith, for clarification on July 29, with the following comment on the back of it: "Order dated 31 March 1821 for 80 Acres and 14 April 1825 for 284 Acres - but it is not known whether they refer to this person". On August 10 Captain Wright responded writing from the Police Office to Captain William John Dumaresq, a member of the Land Board in Sydney, in the following terms"

"Sir,
I have the honor to forward to you the accompanying Memorial an in enquiry, I beg to acquaint you that the quantity of land marked on the back thereof was granted to the applicant's father who resides in this district. I am informed that John Lees Jr., the Memorialist, never received any land from Government."

On August 25 the Land Board stated that they had no objections to the application, and John was approved to received a small grant. The bond was transmitted to Captain Wright on October 20, and John was required to call on him to execute it. He did this on November 16, and on December 4 he was allowed to select his land grant.

John Lees Jr. married Ann Bolton, daughter of Robert Bolton and Ann Smith, by Banns at the Castlereagh Church of England on December 24, 1830 in the presence of John's sister and brother-in-law, Esther and Edward Field, the Reverend Henry Fulton officiating. John and Ann both signed with their mark. A month later, on January 31, 1831, they were witnesses at the marriage of Ann's sister, Sarah Bolton, to James Mills, also at the Castlereagh Church of England. John and Ann's first child Maria, was born at Castlereagh on August 8, 1832. They had her baptised on September 9 by Reverend Fulton. Their second child, Mary Ann, was born at Castlereagh on June 16, 1834. They had her baptised on July 27 by Reverend Fulton. Their third child, Esther, was born at Castlereagh on July 24, 1836.

Later that year John's father, John Lees Sr., died, and John inherited a further part of the family farm at Castlereagh, which he continued to work. John and Ann's fourth child, Sarah, was born at Castlereagh on October 19, 1838. They had her baptised on November 18 by Reverend Fulton. Their fifth child, John, was born at Castlereah on December 14, 1840. They had him baptised on January 6, 1841 by the Reverend Frederick Lewis. The same day the Methodists of Castlereagh, including John's wife Ann, held their first tea meeting to raise money for a new brick Methodist Chapel, the old wooden one built by John's father being dilapidated and too small for the congregation.

John carried on his father's religious work, remaining a devout Methodist all his life. Prayer meetings were regularly held at his house, which were attended by such men as Joseph Stanton and James Rutledge, and "many were subsequently brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God." On June 29, 1842 John was a witness at the marriage of James Rutledge to Lucy Ann Field at the Methodist Chapel at Castlereagh. Sometime around 1842 John and Ann moved to Llandilo, near South Creek, and their sixth child, Annie, was born there on April 23, 1843. John and Ann took their children over a rough bush track every Sunday to attend Divine worship at the Methodist Chapel at Castlereagh. John and Ann's seventh child, Samuel, was born on May 17, 1845. They had him baptised at Castlereagh on July 2 by the Reverend Jonathon Innes.

In 1846 the erection of the new brick Chapel was commenced at Castlereagh. John Lees Jr. assisted in the building, the bricks being made on land at the rear of the Church grounds. John and Ann's eighth and last child, Jane, was born at Llandilo on July 27, 1847. They had her baptised on August 22 by the Reverend William Scholfield. That year they moved from Llandilo to a farm on Castlereagh Road. That year too the building of the new Methodist Chapel was completed. It measured 40 feet by 25 feet and was built by the side of the old Chapel. It had cost £250, the money being raised by the Methodists of Castlereagh in a total of 22 tea meetings. The new Chapel was officially opened on Wednesday, February 16, and Sunday, February 20, 1848.

John Lees Jr. died at the age of 41 at South Creek on December 22, 1848. He was buried in the small cemetery adjoining the Methodist Chapel at Castlereagh on December 24, 1848, the Reverend Frederick Lewis officiating, and his grave may still be seen there today. He was survived by his wife Ann and his eight children. In his short but eventful life John Lees Jr. had been a labourer and a farmer, carrying on the work of his father by his devotion to Methodism and by helping to build a new Methodist Chapel at Castlereagh. He also raised a large family, as a result of which he has hundreds of descendants in Australia today.

SATURDAY, FEB. 4.
Richard Lees and John Lees, natives of the  
Colony, were charged with stealing a jacket and
other articles, the property of Michael Martin.
John Lees discharged-RichardLees committed
for trial.
1837 'SATURDAY, FEB. 4.', The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838), 6 February, p. 2. (EVENING), viewed 11 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32154796

John married Ann Bolton, daughter of Robert Bolton and Ann Smith, on 24 Dec 1830 in Anglican Christ Church, Castlereagh, New South Wales, Australia.³⁷⁰ (Ann Bolton was born on 13 Mar 1814 in Agnes Banks, near Richmond, New South Wales, Australia ³⁷⁰ and died on 22 Nov 1901 in Hutchinson Street, St. Peters, New South Wales, Australia ³⁷⁰.)