"The Holes Was Eaten By Rats ..."

Mary Askew (1820-1890)

Compiled by Russell Hudson 28 January 2006. Updated 15 September 2006.

St Leonard's Church, Shirland, Derbyshire Mary Askew was born in Higham, Derbyshire on 30 August 1820. I have no record of her baptism, but it is possible that she was christened at St Leonard's Church in nearby Shirland. Her mother, Rebecca McNell/Askew died two years later and was buried in the churchyard of St Leonard's, where her gravestone still stands. Mary Askew migrated to Australia in 1852, travelling as an assisted immigrant with her half-brother Thomas Askew on the sailing ship "Sir Robert Sale". She married James Goddard, from Hampshire, in January 1853 at Geelong, Victoria. (Photograph Ask-hig-007, Russell Hudson, 1993)

Mary Askew of Higham, Derbyshire

Mary Askew was born on 30 August 1820 in, or close to, the small market town of Higham, Derbyshire, England - a village close to the border of South Yorkshire. Click Higham for descriptions of Mary Askew's Derbyshire village.

Mary was the second daughter of Thomas Askew, the village blacksmith, and Rebecca McNell, who probably came from the small town of Tibshelf, a few kilometres to the east of Higham. Mary's elder sister, Sarah, was baptised at Tibshelf on 31 January 1819, but I have not been able to locate a similar record for Mary. It is possible that Mary was baptised at St Leonard's Church, Shirland, a small village to the south of Higham, but baptism records for Church do not appear to be available. Click the link to Higham Askews for details of the records of her birth and other Askew family members.

On 8 June 1822, Rebecca Askew died at the age of 26 years and was buried in the churchyard of St Leonard's Church in Shirland. Rebecca Askew's gravestone is is inscribed: "Erected in Remembrance of Rebecca, wife of THOMAS ASKEW. She died June 8th, 1822 aged 26 years. At the time of her death her elder daughter Sarah Askew was about three years old, and Mary Askew was almost two years old. 

Mary's father Thomas Askew re-married in about the late 1820s, and he and his second wife, Elizabeth, had six children, half-brothers and half-sisters for Sarah and Mary. The first of these, Thomas Askew, was born in about 1830, and he was followed by Ann (~1832), James (1833), Edward (1835), Eliza (~1836), and Ellen (1839).

Little is known of Mary Askew's life in Higham. In 1831, at the age of ten, she completed a cross-stitch sampler (click Sampler), presumably as part of a school or church project. The sampler, includes cross-stitched upper-case and lower-case letters of the alphabet and numbers from one to nine, and carries the message: "JESUS permit Thy gracious name to stand; As first effort of an infants hand. And as her fingers on the canvas move; Instruct her tender heart to seek thy love. With the dear children let her have a part; And write Thy name Thyself upon her heart. Mary Askew Aged 10 Years 1831."

The census record for the year 1841 (7 June 1841) lists the Askew family members, including her father, Thomas, and stepmother, Elizabeth, a Sarah Askew aged 93 (presumably her grandmother), her sister Sarah (aged 22), and all six of her half-brothers and half-sisters. Mary Askew would have been 20 years old at the time of the census, and presumably was living elsewhere. By the time of the 1851 census (30 March 1851), her father and grandmother had died, and only Thomas (21), James (18), Eliza (15) and Ellen (12) remained at home.

Migration to Australia

In 1852, Mary Askew left England on the sailing ship "Sir Robert Sale". She was accompanied by her half-brother Thomas Askew, also a blacksmith, who left the family blacksmith shop in the hands of his mother Elizabeth and brother James Askew. At the time of departure Mary was 31 years old and Thomas was 22.

The vessel, with over 300 emigrants on board, left from London on 18 March, 1852 and from Plymouth on 1 April, 1852. After an eventful voyage, the "Sir Robert Sale" and most of the passengers arrived at Point Henry, Geelong on the 5 July, 1852, a voyage of 95 days. Click the link Sir Robert Sale for details of the voyage to Australia 

On arrival at Point Henry, Thomas Askew went ashore on his "own account to Geelong", where it appears he had arranged a position as a blacksmith with a firm in Little Malop Street. Mary had an employment contract with a Jas Riley for a term of 3 months at wages of £25 per annum with rations. Jas Riley's address is given as "Malcombe", but it is probable that the address refers to a property located on the Barwon River, west of Geelong, which was owned by James Riley, a prominent early settler. James Riley's property was named "Meltham". Mary Askew and the other single women on board the "Sir Robert Sale" would have been escorted to the "Depot" in Geelong to await their introduction to their future employers.

Marriage to James Goddard

Six months later, on 6 January 1853, Mary Askew was married to James Goddard at Christ Church, Geelong. Both the bride and groom gave their address as Pollocks Ford (now written as Pollocksford). Mary Askew was described as a "spinster", and James Goddard as a "widower". Little is known of James Goddard's previous wife, but, interestingly, in the "Geelong Advertiser" of 6 July 1852, page 4, there was a James Goddard included in the list of the recipients of letters awaiting collection at the Geelong Post Office.

The witnesses to the wedding are named on the marriage certificate as Thomas Askew (Mary's half-brother), and Ann Siddall. Ann Siddall was Mary's half-sister, who had married William Siddall in Derbyshire in the June quarter of 1852, and left Liverpool soon after on the sailing ship "Jas Carson", arriving with her husband during October 1852. On 13 March 1853, only about ten weeks after they attended the wedding in Geelong, William Siddall died at Ashby (West Geelong) at the age of twenty two. Click the link to Thomas and Ann Askew for more details of the lives and families of Mary Askew's half-brother Thomas Askew and her half-sister Ann Askew/Siddall/Culliford.

It is likely that James and Mary met at Pollocksford as a result of the employment contracts they entered into on their separate arrivals in Australia. In James Goddard's case it would have been the contract with Mr Willis, whose farming property ran down to the Barwon River, just to the east of Pollocksford; in Mary Askew's case, it is possible that the employer Jas Riley, whose hand-written address was given as "Malcombe", was in fact James Riley, the owner of the property "Meltham" at Pollocksford. Click the link to Geelong District for details of land development along the Barwon River and property holdings of  Edward Willis and James Riley.

Family of James Goddard and Mary Askew/Goddard

Mary Jane Goddard, the first child of James Goddard and Mary Askew/Goddard, was born at Murgheboluc, near Pollocksford, on 4 September 1853. This suggests that the couple were  resident in the Pollocksford area through most of 1853. By 1855, however, when their second child Elizabeth was born, the family had moved to Geelong. Their subsequent children were also born in Geelong. Anne (or Annie) was born on 17 July 1857, and James Thomas on 17 April 1859. For further details of the Goddard family, and their descendants, click the link to Goddard Family.

An early source of information on births, deaths and marriages of members of the Goddard family was a family heirloom, known as “Auntie Belle's old Birthday Book”, compiled by Isabella Hudson (1874-1895). According to a letter from Gertie Wolfenden, written at Christmas, 1998, the book lists the birthday of James Goddard as 9 October 1822 and his wife Mary Sinclair (previously Askew/Goddard) as 30 August 1820. The birthday of their their daughter Annie Goddard is listed as 17 July 1857, her son  J.T. (James Thomas) Goddard is given as 17 April 1859, and her daughter Kate Sinclair (from Mary Askew/Goddard's second marriage) as 20 May (no year given). The following deaths were also recorded: James Goddard in January 1860, and Annie Goddard on 2 June 1860. Kate Sinclair died on 30 June 1895, after the death of Isabella Hudson. The entries in "Auntie Belle's old Birthday Book” confirm the dates provided to me by Marion Charles on 7 July 1982, namely: the birth of James Goddard on 9 October 1822 and Mary Sinclair on 30 August 1820; Marion also lists the birthday of Robert Sinclair (Mary Askew/Goddard/Sinclair's son) as 7 August 1862.

Death of James Goddard

James Goddard and Mary Askew and their family were resident at Austin Street, Chilwell, Geelong, Victoria, when he died on 11 February, 1860, age 37. The cause of death was given on his death certificate as “rheumatic fever, atrophy about 12 months”. The death certificate confirms he was born in Hampshire, England, and that he had lived about 10 years in western Victoria in the Australian Colonies. On James Goddard’s death certificate it is recorded that he was “about 30 years old” at the time of his marriage to Mary Askew in Geelong. His death is recorded in the Index for the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages 1860/2206 – Father Unknown, Mother Unknown, age 37, born HAM.

The informant on the death certificate was George Culliford, painter of Coronation Street, Chilwell, Geelong, and brother-in-law of James Goddard. George Culliford married Mary Askew/Goddard’s widowed sister Ann Askew/Sidall/Culliford. Details of this marriage are given in the link to Thomas and Ann Askew.

James Goddard was buried on 12 February 1860 at Geelong Cemetery. His burial is recorded in the cemetery records as being in the “Old Church of England Section”, but there is no evidence of him having had a tombstone, nor is there a record of where he is buried within this section of the cemetery.

Marriage to Richard Sinclair

James Goddard’s death in February 1860 left Mary Askew/Goddard to support four young children. Mary Jane Goddard was six years old, Elizabeth Goddard was about four, Anne Goddard was two and James Thomas Goddard was not yet one year old. In June of the same year, Anne Goddard also died.

In 1861, Mary Askew/Goddard (age 40) married Richard Sinclair in Geelong. Two children were born to this marriage, Robert Sinclair (07/08/1862- ?) and Catherine or Kate Sinclair (20/05/1867-30/06/1895).

Resident in the Clunes-Smeaton District

Mary Askew/Goddard/Sinclair spent her last years at Middle Creek, between Campbelltown and Ullina, on a small block which had previously been gazetted as a “Water Reserve”. This block was to the south of, and close to, the farm where her daughter Elizabeth lived with her husband, John Weatherson. For details see link to James Goddard and Mary Askew.

When she moved permanently from Geelong to Middle Creek is not known, but it is probable that for some time she and her family were regular visitors to the farming property to the north of Ullina, where her half-brother Thomas Askew and his wife Christian resided. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to speculate that it was through these visits, and subsequent residency, that her daughters Mary Jane Goddard and Elizabeth Goddard became acquainted with their future husbands.  In September 1873, at the time of Mary Jane Goddard’s marriage to William Hudson, Mary Jane gave her occupation as “domestic” and her address was "Campbelltown”. Similarly, at the time of Elizabeth Goddard's marriage to John Weatherson on 6 October 1874, Elizabeth gave her present and usual address as "Middle Creek".

Gravestone of Mary Askew/Goddard/Sinclair Mary Askew/Goddard/Sinclair is buried in the Campbelltown Cemetery, close to where she lived the latter years of her life. She died in 1890 aged 69 years. Her daughter Kate Sinclair is also buried in the grave, having died in 1895 at the age of 28 years. The gravestone reads: " In Loving Memory of Mary Sinclair who died May 12th 1890 age 69 years. Also her dearly beloved daughter Kate who died June 30th 1895 aged 28 years". (Photograph God-fam-015, Russell Hudson, 1988)

Mary Askew/Goddard/Sinclair died aged 69 years on 12 May 1890 at Middle Creek, Creswickshire, County of Talbot, from senile decay and influenza. The informant was John Weatherson, son-in-law of Middle Creek. She was buried on 14 May 1890 at Campbelltown Cemetery. Her daughter Kate Sinclair died on the 30th June 1895 aged 28 years and was buried in her mother’s grave. Her daughter Elizabeth Goddard/Weatherson is also buried at the Campbelltown Cemetery, having died on 25 July 1935, at the age of 79 years.