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ShareGeorge Williams & Mary Hughes
[Brisbane Grove]
George Williams and his wife Mary (Hughes) arrived in New South Wales on the Broxbornebury as free settlers in 1814 with their ten year old son Vincent and two of Mary's children from a previous marriage, Edward and Frederick Hunt. George was initially employed in Sydney as a cryer at the Supreme Court and then as a printer. In 1823 he worked as a Collector for the Australian Religious Tract Society in Sydney and in 1824 for the Auxiliary Bible Society.[1]
In 1824, at about 64 years of age, George was granted 500 acres of land at Paterson that he named 'Brisbane Grove'. It was on the Paterson River directly opposite Cintra (see map). His son Vincent was granted an adjoining 60 acres. Mary died in Sydney in 1827. George Williams died in 1838 and was buried in Maitland.
At right: advertisement for the lease of Brisbane Grove in the Sydney Herald, 28 November 1836, p3 (on-line 
).
Brisbane Grove was purchased by Caleb and Felix Wilson in June 1834.[2] They advertised it for lease in October 1834[3] and again in November 1836 (see 1836 advert at right). Caleb and Felix Wilson had also purchased the nearby Tocal estate from James Webber in 1834.
Soon after the 1836 advertisement, Brisbane Grove was leased to Samuel Kingston (snr) who ran the estate until shortly before his death in 1852. It was then leased to Joseph Tucker.[4]
Notes
1. Information from Williams' descendants is acknowledged and appreciated.
2. Land Titles Office, Old System Title, Book G/104.
3. The Sydney Herald, 16 October 1834, p4 (on-line ).
4. Information from Kingston descendants is acknowledged and appreciated.
References
Archer, Cameron. The Settlement of the Paterson District. Paterson: Paterson Historical Society , 1986.
Free Settler or Felon website.
Mitchell, Cecily. Hunter's River. Newcastle, 1973.
Williams family website.
External links
Index to the NSW Colonial Secretary's papers. There are several papers listed for George Williams (per Broxbornebury, 1814).
See also
An overview of settlement at Patersons Plains from 1822.
The Williams Family of Australia (book details ).
Abbreviations sometimes used on this site: CS = NSW Colonial Secretary; HRA = Historical Records of Australia; LB = Letters to Benches of Magistrates, Justices of the Peace and Superintendents of Police; ML = Mitchell Library (State Library of NSW); NLA = National Library of Australia; NSWGG = NSW Government Gazette; PRO = Public Record Office, London; PSC = Principal Superintendent of Convicts; SG = Sydney Gazette; SH = Sydney Herald; SRNSW = State Records Authority of NSW;
