Thomas Rose & Sarah Perkins

Pattrick Mould's

Thomas Rose & Sarah Perkins,

talk by Diane Giles

I'm going to talk about Thomas Rose and Sarah Perkins. I'm descended from Thomas

Rose and Sarah Pye but I have a special interest in Sarah Perkins' children, so I have

been asked to talk about them. My sister is married to a Perkins but they are not

connected with this family as far as I know.

We don't know the exact nature of Thomas Rose and Sarah Perkins' relationship, but

we do know that for more than ten years, four of Sarah' s children lived with Thomas

and his family at Mount Gilead.

I first came across Sarah Perkins' children when I looked at the 1828 Census. In the 1828

Census, Thomas Rose was living at Appin with his two children from his first

marriage, James aged 19 and Kesiah aged 20. Also in the household were Anne aged

13, Joseph aged 16, Jane aged 10 and Margaret aged 7.¹ Like other, I had presumed

these were all children from his marriage to Elizabeth Bartlett. It wasn't until I heard

about Thomas' Will that I realised who these other children were.

In his will, Thomas left land to Joseph, Ann, Jane and Mary Perkins, the children of

Sarah Perkins.² Despite a differences in one of the names, that is Mary instead of

Margaret, they are the same. There is some suggestion that some of these children

were Thomas Rose's real children. We may never know for sure but we do know that

they considered themselves his children.

So, who was their mother? Sarah Perkins was born Sarah Burgess on 15 April 1797

in Sydney.³ She was the daughter of John Burgess and Ann Daniels. They were both

convicts and did not marry. John Burgess was sentenced to 7 years on 18 January

1790 at Wigan, Lancashire. He arrived on the Atlantic on 20 August 1791.⁴ Ann

Daniels was sentenced to 14 years on 8 August 1792 in Surrey. She arrived on the

lndispensible on 30 April 1796.⁵ Them are two children listed for them in the Births,

Deaths and Marriages CD-ROM; Sarah born in 1797 and John in 1804.⁶ There may

have been another daughter. In the 1805-1806 Musters of NSW and Norfolk Island,

Ann Daniels is listed as having one male child and two female children.⁷ Ann

Daniels died in 1812.⁸

Sarah Burgess married Richard Perkins on 24 December 1812.⁹ She was 15. Richard

Perkins was a convict. He was sentenced to 7 years in January 1798. He arrived on

the Hillsborough on 26 July 1799.¹⁰

Thomas Rose knew Richard Perkins. They had been involved in an attempt to steal a

boat in 1801 and were sentenced to death but pardoned. ¹¹

John Burgess, Sarah' s father and Richard Perkins both sold land grants they received

to Thomas Rose. John Burgess' was granted 80 acres on the Nepean River on 1st

November, 1809. He sold this land to Thomas Rose on 21 February 1815.¹² Richard

Perkins was granted 50 acres of land on the Nepean River next to John Burgess' grant

on 8 October 1816. He had been promised the land for some time as he sold it to

Thomas Rose on 13 July 1816, prior to Lachlan Macquarie signing the grant. ¹³

Sarah and Richard had two children. Joseph born on 11 May 1813 and Nancy on 10

June 1815.¹⁴ Nancy was usually known as Ann.

Richard Perkins was a sailor. He sailed in and around Sydney, to Hobart, Port

Dalrymple in Tasmania and even to Fiji?¹⁵ During his busiest sailing period, he used

to be home for a few weeks and then be away for a month or more.

Sarah left Richard sometime in early 1818 as on 23 May, 1818 Richard advertised in

the Sydney Gazette that

'The Public are hereby cautioned against giving trust or credit to my wife,

Sarah Perkins, otherwise Burgess, as I am determined against being responsible for

any debts by her contracted; as she absented herself from her home without any

provocation.' Signed Richard Perkins.¹⁶

He had returned home from a trip to Hobart on 12 May and left again on 25 May but

we don't know when Sarah left him.¹⁷ Sarah was 7 months pregnant at the time. Her

daughter Jane Elizabeth was born on 24 July.¹⁸ Sarah registered Jane as

Richard' s child, however, there is speculation that Jane was Thomas Rose' daughter.

We don't know for sure but if any of the children were Thomas' children, it was Jane.

But Richard Perkins had also been in Sydney at the right time to be Jane' s father.¹⁹

Richard Perkins continued to sail. The last time I have been able to find any reference

to him in the records is in the Sydney Gazette on 1 July 1820. He is listed as 2nd mate

on the Brig, called the Governor Macquarie which was to travel from Sydney to Port

Dalrymple.²⁰ We don't know if he actually went but he planned too. He does not

appear on any Ships Musters after this.

Meanwhile, Sarah got on with her life. She had a relationship with a William Blake.

On 30 November, 1820, she gave birth to his daughter Mary who was always known

as Mary Perkins.²¹ It is not known which William Blake this was. There were about

three in NSW at the time.

Sarah then met Thomas Coils. He was a convict, sentenced to 7 years and arrived on

the Ocean in 1816.²² He was a shoemaker. By 1822 he was free by servitude. In

1822, Sarah had a child with him named Thomas Colls.²³ This child died in 1826.

She had two more children with him, another Thomas born in 1826 and John born in

1827.²⁴ In 1828 Sarah was living with Thomas Colls and their two sons. Coils

became a publican. He held the licence on the 'Plough Inn' on Liverpool Road from

1830 to 1831.²⁵ Sarah and Thomas Coils did marry on 19 July 1831 but he died on 5

May 1832 aged 40.²⁶

Within a month, on 6 June 1832, Sarah married Lewis Solomon, another publican and

one of Thomas Colls' executors.²⁷ Sarah and Lewis did not have any children. I don't

know what happened to Lewis Solomon but he must have died because on 31 May

1837, Sarah married for the fourth and last time.²⁸

She married Thomas Humphries, another publican. Sarah and Thomas Humphries

had two children, Isabella and possibly Alfred.²⁹ Then they moved to Yass, taking the

two ColIs boys with them.

Sarah Burgess Perkins Coils Solomon Humphries died at Yass on 5 October 1875.³⁰

Her son John Coils was the informant on her death certificate. He knew about the

Perkins children, which included Mary, he knew that two of them had died by this

time but he left out Sarah' s marriage to Lewis Solomon. I don't think there was

enough room.

Now back to Sarah Perkins' children. Sometime after 1822 Sarah' s four oldest

children began to live with Thomas Rose. It is not known when this occurred but it

was prior to the Census of 1828 when they are listed in his household. They

continued to live at Mount Gilead through his marriage to Sarah Pye and up until their

own marriages. They were part of Thomas' family even if they were not his own

children and the girls, at least, considered him their father.

What became of them?

I know that Joseph Perkins married an Anne because she is listed with him on a land

sale on 21 December 1838.³¹ The only marriage I can find for a Joseph Perkins and

an Anne prior to this was a Joseph Perkins who married Anne Rowe on 28 October

1834 at St Mary's, Sydney.³² This Joseph was a millwright. I can't find a death for

Joseph or his wife, Anne.

The next child was Ann. Ann Nancy Perkins married Richard Cornelious on 1 May

1838 at St Peters Church, Campbelltown.³³ Her sister Jane was a witness, as was

James Pye, Sarah Pye's brother and one of Thomas' executors.

In the newspapers of the time the wedding was advertised as:

'Cornelius-Perkins Married on 08.05.1838, by special licence, by Rev. C. Redall, at

Campbelltown, Richard Cornelius, late master of Experiment, steamer, to Ann Perkins

of Mount Gilead, Appin' .³⁴

This proves that Ann was still living at Mount Gilead until her marriage. Richard and

Ann moved to West Maltland where they had a pub 'The Albion Inn' for a number of

years.³⁵ They had two children, Frederick born in 1840 and Quentin born in 1842.³⁶

Quentin died in 1849. Richard was an auctioneer as well as a publican. He died in

1842 aged 33.³⁷

Ann took over the pub and then moved to the 'Rose, Shamrock & Thistle' at Morpeth

in 1843.³⁸ She held the publicans licence here until 1858. Ann never remarried. She

died on 29 April 1907 at Burwood aged 97.³⁹ The informant on the death certificate

was Rosanna Rose, the wife of Charles Henry Jacob Rose. Rosanna listed herself as

Anne's sister-in-law. Interestingly, her father's name was listed as Thomas Rose and

her mother as unknown.

The next child was Jane. Jane Elizabeth Perkins married Thomas Whitty Toby on 20

June 1838 at St Peters' Church, Campbelltown.⁴⁰ The witnesses were Andrew Nash

of Parramatta, Mary Perkins of Appin and Ann Nancy Cornelius of Parramatta.

In the newspaper of the time it said:

'Toby-Rose Married on 20.06.1838 at Campbelltown by Rev. Thomas Redall,

Thomas Whitty Toby, of Steam Packet Inn, Parramatta, to Jane Rose, daughter of the

late Thomas Rose, of Appin' .⁴¹

Thomas Whitty Toby was a master mariner from Devon.⁴² He was the master of the

Experiment on 16 April 1837 which Richard Cornelius was to become the master of

the following year.⁴³ He owned and built the cutter 'Will O' the Wisp' in 1843.⁴⁴ He

was a publican at 'The Steam Packet Inn' at Parramatta from 1837-1838, 'The

Waterloo Inn' at Bungonia in 1840, 'The East Gosford Family Hotel' in 1841-1842,

'The Masons Arms' at Gosford in 1843 and 'The Union' at Maitland from 1853-

1854.⁴⁵ He was a storekeeper in Tasmania in 1858.⁴⁶

Thomas and Jane Toby had eight children:

Thomas Whitty Toby was born in 1839, Alfred Henry Whitty Toby was born in 1841,

Ada Jane Swift Toby was born in 1844, Richard Crawford Toby was born in 1846,

Charles Ransom Toby was born in 1849, Frank Cornelius Toby was born in 1852,

Elizabeth Rose Toby born in 1858 and Frederick W Toby was born in 1866.⁴⁷

These Toby' s have many descendants and we are pleased to have some here today.

Thomas Whitty Toby died on 13 October 1865 at Surry Hills.⁴⁸ Jane Toby died on 21

October 1879 at Redfern.⁴⁹ Her son Alfred was the informant on the death certificate.

He said her father's name was Thomas Rose, a baker and her mother's name was

unknown.

The last child, Mary Perkins married Quinten Valentine Swift on 10 July 1841 at

Church of England, Maitland by Rev. G. K. Rusden.⁵⁰ The witnesses were James

Cox, E L Smith, Richard Cornelius and Anne Cornelius.

Quinten was from Mauritius.⁵¹

Mary and Quinten had four children:

Bernard R J Swift was born in 1845 and died in 1849. Quinton James B Swift was

born in 1847, Rose E C Swift was bom in 1850 and Horace J V Swift was born in

1852 and died in 1853.⁵²

Quinten Swift took over Richard Comelius pub, 'The Albion Inn' for a year after

Richard died and then Ann, Richard' s wife took over the licence.⁵³ Quinten died on

20 January 1866 at 410 Bourke Street, Sydney.⁵⁴ Mary Swift died on 17 September

1872 at Strawberry Hills.⁵⁵ Her son Quinten was the informant on the death

certificate. He listed her father as Thomas Rose, a farmer, and her mother as Sarah

Perkins. Their two surviving children married and have Swift, Hood, Scott, Ratcliffe

and Rush descendants somewhere.

If there are any questions or you have information to add, please write to me.

Diane Giles

RMB 208/0 Warrah Road

TAMWORTH NSW 2340

¹ Malcolm R. Sainty & Keith A. Johnson (ed.s), Census of New South Wales November 1828, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1980.

² Will of Thomas Rose, Probate No. 816, Series I, Supreme Court of NSW.

³ Baptism Certificate of Sarah Burgess, Vol. 4, No. 463, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁴ AO Fiche No. 623, Principal Superintendent of Convicts: Bound Indents 1786-1799, Archives Office of NSW.

⁵ AO Fiche No. 623, Principal Superintendent of Convicts: Bound Indents 1786-1799, Archives Office of NSW.

⁶ The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

⁷ Carol J. Baxter (ed.), Musters of New South Wales and Norfolk Island 1805-1806, ABGR in association with the Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 1989.

⁸ The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

⁹ Marriage Certificate of Richard Perkins & Sarah Burgess, Vol. 3A, No. 1435, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

¹⁰ AO Fiche No. 617, Principal Superintendent of Convicts: Alphabetical List of Convicts on Transports, 1788 - 1800, Archives Office of NSW.

¹¹ Carol J. Baxter (ed.), Musters and Lists New South Wales and Norfolk Island 1800-1802, ABGR in association with the Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 1989.

¹² Grant Register, Series No. 5, NSW Lands Title Office, p. 136; and Copy of lndenture dated 21 February 1815, in Primary Application No. 33654, NSW Lands Title Office.

¹³Grant Register, Series No. 5, NSW Lands Title Office, p. 282; and Copy of lndenture dated 13 July 1816, in Primary Application No. 33654, NSW Lands Title Office.

¹⁴ Baptism Certificate of Joseph Perkins, Vol. 1B, No. 3645; and Baptism Certificate of Nancy Perkins, Vol. 1B, No. 3646, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

¹⁵ J.S. Cumpston, Shipping Arrivals & Departures, Sydney 1788-1825, Roebuck, Canberra, 1977.

¹⁶ The Sydney Gazette, 23 May 1818.

¹⁷ J.S. Cumpston, Shipping Arrivals & Departures, Sydney 1788-1825, Roebuck, Canberra, 1977.

¹⁸ Baptism of Jane Elizabeth Perkins, Vol. IB, No. 4921, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

¹⁹ J.S. Cumpston, Shipping Arrivals & Departures, Sydney 1788-1825, Roebuck, Canberra, 1977. [Richard had returned to Sydney from a trip to Newcastle on 18 September and sailed for Fiji on 9 November, 1817.]

²⁰ The Sydney Gazette, 1 July 1820.

²¹ Baptism of Mary Blake, Vol. 1, No. 5577, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

²² Malcolm R. Sainty & Keith A. Johnson (ed.s), Census of New South Wales November 1828, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1980.

²³ Carol J. Baxter (ed.), General Muster and Land and Stock Muster of New South Wales 1822, ABGR in association with Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 1988; and The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

²⁴ The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

²⁵ Jean McNaught (indexer), Butts and Certificates of the First Publican' s Licences 1830-1860, Richmond-Tweed Regional Library, 1997.

²⁶ Marriage Certificate of Sarah Perkins & Thomas Coils, Vol. 3B, No. 5287; and Death Certificate of Thomas Coils, Vol. 16, No. 1536, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

²⁷ Marriage of Sarah Coils & Lewis Solomon, Vol. 16, No. 1100, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

²⁸ Marriage of Sarah Solomon or Coils & Thomas Humphries, Vol. 74A, No. 2974, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

²⁹ The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

³⁰ Death Certificate of Sarah Humphries, Ref. No. 1875/10641, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

³¹ Lease and Release, Book P, No. 532, dated 21 & 22 December 1838, NSW Land Titles Office.

³² Marriage of Joseph Perkins & Anne Rowe, Vol. 126, No. 136, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

³² Marriage of Ann Nancy Perkins & Richard Cornelious, Vol. 22, No. 1866, NSW Births, Deaths and

Marriages.

³⁴ Nola M. Mackey, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol. 4, 1838, Grafton Family History Centre, 1994. [The Australian 8 May, 1838; and The Sydney Monitor 11 May, 1838.]

³⁵ Jean MeNaught (indexer), Butts and Certificates of the First Publican' s Licences 1830-1860, Richmond-Tweed Regional Library, 1997.

³⁶ The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

³⁷ Death Certificate of Richard Cornelius, Vol. 26B, No. 1230, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

³⁸ Jean McNaught (indexer), Butts and Certificates of the First Publican's Licences 1830-1860, Richmond-Tweed Regional Library, 1997.

³⁹ Death Certificate of Anne Cornelius, Ref. No. 1907/4430, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁴⁰ Marriage of Jane Elizabeth Perkins & Thomas Whitty Toby, Vol. 22, No. 1870, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁴¹ Nola M. Mackey, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol. 4, 1838, Grafton Family History Centre, 1994. [The Sydney Monitor 22 June, 1838.]

⁴² Death Certificate of Thomas Whitty Toby, Ref. No. 1865/1064, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁴³ Ian Hawkins Nicholson, Shipping Arrivals & Departures, Sydney 1826-1840, Roebuck, Canberra, 1963.

⁴⁴ Graeme Broxam & Ian Nicholson, Shipping Arrivals & Departures, Sydney 1841-1844, Roebuck, Canberra, 1988.

⁴⁵ Jean McNaught (indexer), Butts and Certificates of the First Publican' s Licences 1830-1860, Richmond-Tweed Regional Library, 1997.

⁴⁶ Information supplied by Nancye Toby.

⁴⁷ The NSWPioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD- ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New

South Wales, 1994; and Information supplied by Naneye Toby.

⁴⁸ Death Certificate of Thomas Whitty Toby, Ref. No. 1865/1064, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁴⁹ Death Certificate of Jane Toby, Ref. No. 1879/3284, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁵⁰ Marriage Certificate of Mary Perkins & Quinten Swift, Vol. 25C, No. 551, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁵¹ Death Certificate of Quinten Valentine Swift, Ref. No. 1866/128, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.

⁵² The NSW Pioneers Index 1788-1918, Pioneers Series 1788-1888, Births, Deaths & Marriages CD-ROM, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1994.

⁵³ Jean MeNaught (indexer), Butts and Certificates of the First Publican' s Licences 1830-1860, Richmond-Tweed Regional Library, 1997.

⁵⁴ Death Certificateof Quinten Valentine Swift, Ref. No. 1866/128, NSW Births Deaths and Marriages.

⁵⁵ Death Certificate of Mary Swift, Ref. No. 1872/1259, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages.