The Peacock Family

Hope in the Lord

NORTH-EAST FROM BOLTON AND ROCHDALE across the Pennine Mountains lie the Yorkshire Moors. The Peacock family migrated to Australia from the industrial city of Bradford in Yorkshire but the family came from the districts of Middleham, Coverham and Masham in the North Riding of Yorkshire, where the moors are rugged and more desolate than those north and east of Bolton in Lancashire. On the Yorkshire Moors we are in the kind of country described by Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights.¹ The countryside can be windswept, bleak and snow-covered; but it has an enchanting beauty and even a green softness along the Ure and Cover Rivers. There is very little arable land; the subsoil is shale and limestone, with some alluvial soil along the rivers. Coal and lead in reasonable quantities were once mined in these districts; but the chief occupations are agricultural, the growing of hay and potatoes. The hay is used mainly for horses; the low moor on the south side of Middleham is a celebrated training ground for racehorses. The greater part of the countryside is mountainous, with cliffs of hundreds of feet and peaks of two thousand feet. The moors themselves are wild, blizzard-swept, sparsely inhabited by humans, but teeming with curlews, plovers, lapwings, gulls and grouse. Swaledale sheep (taking their name from the next valley to the north) graze on the uplands around lonely farms such as we saw in the television series All Creatures Great and Small. Sinuous streams between steep banks or undulating folds, with occasional fords for traffic, swell the River Ure as the winter snows melt, in places tumbling over spectacular waterfalls. Cottages on farms and in towns are of grey stone, frequently plastered over; stones also provide boundary fences and farm buildings.

Only about 700 people live in Middleham (pronounced Middl'm in the economic fashion of the English). These people's homes, shops and businesses are spread around Middleham Castle which dominates a central rocky hill and has done since the time of King John in the thirteenth century. Richard III's son Edward was born in this castle. The sixteenth century document Leland's Itinerary says: "Middleham is a praty market town, and standith on a rocky hille, on the top whereof is the castle meately well dikid."² Crouching underneath the castle walls is the Manor House Yard which was used as a horse training establishment by a branch of the Peacock family for over a hundred years until the most recent incumbent, Dick Peacock, died in 1985 when the stables were sold. Dick Peacock's widow continued to live in the Manor House.

Dick's father, Matthew Peacock, won the Derby with a horse from here named Dante in 1945. In 1985 a bejewelled medallion of gold and sapphire, engraved with religious scenes, in the form of Richard III's crest, was dug up in the stables; valued at £2,500,000; it is now in the Yorkshire Museum. The castle and manor were originally occupied by the Neville family, descendants of Count Alan, from the time of Edward the Confessor just prior to the Conquest. Alan's younger brother Ribald was the first tenant of the Manor. The Nevilles were one of the most powerful families in the north of England, linked to the Plantagenet and Tudor kings. One of Alan's descendants, Robert, in the thirteenth century was known as the Peacock of the North because of his taste for ostentatious display. It would be a nice romantic speculation to think that our Peacocks were an offshoot of this family and took their name from him. However, Robert himself had no children but his brother carried on the Neville family. A grandson of this brother, Ralph Neville, was made Earl of Westmorland by Richard II in 1397. This Ralph married twice, and his second wife, Joan Beaufort, was a relative of the Lancasters, and this marriage was one of the factors that sowed the seeds of strife that led to the Wars of the Roses between York and Lancaster. Middleham passed to her heirs. This created two warring branches of the Neville family, the elder being Yorkist and the younger branch Lancastrian. The Earl of Salisbury, being a Lancastrian in a Yorkist stronghold, was executed in 1440. His son was Warwick the Kingmaker who was defeated by Edward IV in 1471; Edward confiscated Middleham and gave the Manor to his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (later Richard III), who married Warwick's younger daughter. The Manor remained Crown property until Charles I sold it to the City of London in about 1628. In 1661 the City of London sold it to Thomas Wood of Littleton. In 1889 it was sold to Lord Masham whose family still owns it.³ This family were tenants of the Lords of Masham. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (later Richard III), began the annual Middleham Fair for cattle, sheep and horses in 1479, and this Fair is still one of the most important in England. The Peacock family have been prominent in exhibiting horses in Middleham Fair.

Map of Middleham & Masham, North Riding, YorkshireThere were Peacocks in various parts of England and it is not possible to say which family ours is descended from, despite speculation about the Peacock of the North. The name was bestowed on a person who was flash, proud and showy. The early spelling, of course, had many variants. There was a Pecoc in Essex in 1086, referred to in the Domesday Book. The Assize Rolls of Cheshire record the name of Roger Paucoc in 1194; and the Pipe Rolls of Cornwall refer to a Roger Pococ, alternatively spelt Pecoc, in 1194-5. There was a Richard Pecoc listed in the Assize Rolls of Somerset in 1225 and, getting closer to home, a Simon Pococ is listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1297. Allowing for the variations in spelling and pronunciation, our family could have been descended from any or none of these.

In Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, that language used in England before the Norman Conquest in 1066, the name of the bird which is spelt peacock today was spelt peacocc. In Middle English (11th to 14th centuries) it was spelt pecok, pacock and pocock. The Irish variant is, of course, paycock. The family of this name referred to in the Domesday Book is recorded both as Pecock and Paycock in the Essex Subsidy Rolls in 1327, but their name has also been recorded as Peacock in 1194. A Reginald or Reynold Peacock, described in Maunder's Biographical Treasury (1851) as a "worthy and learned prelate", was successively Bishop of St Asaph and of Chichester, by favour of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the same one who occupied Middleham Castle, but he was deposed for resisting Papal authority and denying the doctrine of trans-substantiation and other articles of faith. He was required to recant and his books were publicly burnt, after which he was confined in Thorney Abbey where he died in 1460. His parentage is unknown but the Elizabethan historians Leland, Gascoigne and others said that he was born in Wales. There is documentary evidence that he grew up in Wales and that he went to Oriel College, Oxford, and was elected a Fellow there on October 30, 1417. He became an authority on the Lollards, a prominent group of religious dissenters at that time, and most of his books were written to persuade them of their errors.

Temple House, west Witton. Home of William Peacock's grandparents, Jonathan and Jane Peacock.The Peacocks are more prevalent in Swaledale, a little further north. Peacocks are still plentiful there today; our branch of the family migrated from further north to Wensleydale (where Middleham and West Witton are), and to Coverdale and Masham. There is strong, though not irrefutable, evidence that {joaktree person|1|I281|extended}'s grandfather, {joaktree person|1|I287|extended}, though he was married and buried at Carlton in the Coverham Parish, was baptised in the Romaldkirk Parish.⁴ This Jonathan Peacock, if he is ours, was a yeoman farmer whose children have names that fit the family pattern and were registered when baptised as living at Foulsyke, in the Romaldkirk Parish. There is a farm there today called "Fell Syke", near Baldersdale. Romaldkirk is thirty odd miles north east of Wensleydale and Coverham, on the River Tee, near Barnard Castle and Darlington, much closer to the east coast of Yorkshire, and very close to the northern limits of the North Riding. This Jonathan Peacock's son, also Jonathan Peacock [JP4], married {joaktree person|1|I288|extended}, whose name derives from the town of Pickering which is also closer to the eastern coast.

The Manor House, Middleham, 1980THE FIRST OF OUR FAMILY TO MIGRATE TO AUSTRALIA was {joaktree person|1|I281|extended}. He and his twin brother {joaktree person|1|I814|extended} were born at Masham on August 22, 1806, the firstborn of {joaktree person|1|I285|extended} and {joaktree person|1|I286|extended}, who was also one of twins. The fairly high incidence of twins amongst {joaktree person|1|I281|extended}'s descendants has continued to the present day. {joaktree person|1|I285|extended} was born at West Witton, a couple of miles west of Middleham; his name, given in honour of his mother's family, no doubt derives from the town of Pickering twenty or thirty miles further east. His mother, {joaktree person|1|I288|extended}, was born at Calbridge (now known as Caldbergh) in the Coverham Parish, where her father Gabriel Pickering is recorded as a churchwarden, in 1765. There is no further reference to the Pickering family at Coverham after 1777, so they must have moved shortly after that to Masham where Jane married {joaktree person|1|I287|extended}. Jonathan had also probably migrated from further north - from Romaldkirk, about 26 miles north west of Coverham. We have no positive proof that this is our Jonathan Peacock, but the date of baptism, April 6, 1732, tallies with the age given (86 years) when his burial was recorded at Carlton, in the Coverham Parish, in February 17, 1818, and the family names also tally. If this was our Jonathan, his father's name was also Jonathan, and he had a brother {joaktree person|1|I800|extended} and sisters {joaktree person|1|I801|extended} and {joaktree person|1|I802|extended}. One of the witnesses to the marriage of Jonathan Peacock and Jane Pickering at Coverham on December 1, 1760, was Thomas Peacock; and these were the first Peacocks recorded in the Coverham registers. Jonathan and Jane's eldest child was called Mary, which was the name of Jonathan of Romaldkirk's mother, and the fifth child was called Thomas, the same as Jonathan of Romaldkirk's brother. Two of the three intervening children were named after the Pickering side of the family - {joaktree person|1|I805|extended} being named after Jane Pickering's mother, and {joaktree person|1|I285|extended} being given the family name. No record has been found at Romaldkirk of the marriage of {joaktree person|1|I287|extended}, the father, recorded as a yeoman at the baptism of his children. In view of the fact that the Peacock family at large had migrated to Wensleydale and Coverham, and later to Masham, from further north, it seems fairly safe to assume that this is the correct line of our forebears.⁵

The baptismal record for Jonathan and Jane Peacock's children indicate that they lived at Temple, or Templehouse. "Temple Farm", near West Witton today, is still sometimes called Temple or Templehouse, because the Medieval Knights Templar had a chapel there, the ruins of which still remain. The ancient badge of the Knights Templar was a double cross () and there are still three of these ancient crosses carved on stones around Temple Farm, as well as stone coffins (without the corpses) in the ruins of the chapel. The old house where Jonathan and Jane Peacock and their family lived is on the site of the Templars' secular building, parts of it dating from 1608, enlarged in the eighteenth century. After the downfall of the Templars in the fourteenth century⁶ the houses and land were let to Sir Geoffrey le Scrope of Masham and, after passing through various hands they were bought by Oswald Metcalfe for £450 in 1581; but he was a Catholic and so he appointed trustees to hold the property for him. As will be seen later, there was a connection between the Metcalfe and Peacock families. This property has been farmed by the Ewebank family since the mid-eighteenth century. Perhaps Jonathan Peacock worked for them for a time, or merely rented the house. There is still an inscription over the doorway of the house (dating from 1608) - now greatly worn away - that reads:⁷

Masham is an ancient town some five or six miles down the river from Middleham. It was acquired by Count Alan after the Norman Conquest, but it was granted to the de Walton family in the twelfth century and sold to the Scrope family in 1329. Henry le Scrope became the first Lord Scrope of Masham in 1340. His grandson was the Lord Scroop of Masham in Shakespeare's Henry V. He was executed for his part in the Southampton Plot against Henry V in 1415 and all his manors were confiscated and granted to his cousin, Lord Fitzhugh. A descendant of Fitzhugh married Lord Scrope's heir in 1453 and Masham returned to the Scrope family. It passed to the Danby family by marriage in the sixteenth century and was sold to the Lister, or Lester, family in 1883, and that family took the title of Lord Masham. The first Lord Masham founded the Manningham Mills in Bradford in the 1880s.⁸

A branch of the Wintersgill family came from Colsterdale House, Colsterdale, a few miles west of Masham, out on Brown Beck Crags, probably the most rugged part of the district. The House no longer stands, but the Keeper's Lodge is still there. Hannah Wintersgill [JP44] would have been connected to this family, but the relationship has not been established. Her brother Samuel Wintersgill [TW153] married Mary Wintersgill of Colsterdale, who may have been a cousin, Samuel and Hannah were the children of George Wintersgill [TW15], a shoemaker, from Healey, near Masham, and his second wife, Elizabeth Simpson. George Wintersgill was the son of Robert Wintersgill [TW1] and grandson of Thomas Wintersgill [TW], of Healey.⁹

Map of Bradford, abour 1854 (From Bradford Central Library)The Manors of East Witton and West Witton were also held by Count Alan and descended to the Neville family. The graveyard at West Witton was too rocky to dig and, for many years, the people of West Witton buried their dead at Wensley, a couple of miles to the north-east. William Peacock's grandfather, Jonathan Peacock, was born at Coverham (pronounced Cuvrum or, in earlier times, Corrum), just north of West Witton and Middleham. Coverham had been granted to the Lord of Coverham by Ranulph de Middlehan in 1240. The Lord of Coverham, as under-tenant, in turn granted forty acres to the Coverham Abbey in 1252. Ranulph de Middlehan had established the Abbey in 1212-3. In the early seventeenth century James I leased to Sir William Cecil a coal mine, an ironstone mine and all the mines of coal and lead which had belonged to the Abbey and had been granted after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries to the Earl and Countess of Lennox. Miles Coverdale who translated the Bible into English in the sixteenth century was probably born in Coverham. The Scrope family of Masham acquired the Coverham Abbey in 1310.

When Pickering Peacock died in 1840 he was living in Healey. The informant named on his Death Certificate was Thomas Wintersgill, perhaps a nephew of his wife, since all his family by that time had migrated to Bradford or, in the case of William, to Australia. When Hannah died in 1844 she was living at Whetley Fold, Manningham, Bradford, no doubt having moved to join her son Robert, William's twin, who was the informant, living in Victoria Street nearby. All their family had been born at Masham but they must have moved to Bradford shortly after their youngest child Jonathan was born, in 1821, no doubt in search of work in the expanding textile industry. Perhaps Pickering returned to his native district to die, but his widow moved back to Bradford.

Bradford is about forty miles south of Masham and was at that time a rapidly growing industrial centre like Bolton and Manchester in Lancashire. There is a letter¹⁰ which gives an insight into the growth of Bradford later in the nineteenth century, as well as some fascinating family history. It is written by George and Sarah Peacock [JP47] to their brother (and brother-in-law) and sister-in-law on the Campbell's River, dated April 1, 1858. Among other things, the letter indicates that William Peacock and his wife Rebecca Taylor [WP] had emigrated from Bradford and that they saw Bradford, not Masham, as their home town. We cannot be certain whether the letter was written by George Peacock or his wife Sarah, but the internal evidence seems to suggest that it is George writing. In any case, the author was not very well educated and does some injury to English spelling and syntax, and one can almost hear the Yorkshire dialect:

April 1, 1858.

Dear Brother and Sister, I right these few lines to you hoping to find you all well as it leavs us at present thank God for it. I feal glead to See your letter and that you have got Som of your family Married and doing well.¹¹ I Feal Pleas that you and Som of your family are meeting in class and are living for another World. For you with my Self feal this to be a world of trial. I Wood like you to right a letter Every 12 months I have sent two Newspapers sen your letter came. You mushed Ld Spence. I have not seen him a fue years Sence a good meney left the Methodist and they Coal themselves reformers and he is Won of the like is wors of then he was.¹² I have got a letter from my Brother Jonathan on the 16 of March last it is the first letter we have had I ham Glad to hear he is doing well I am goine to right very Soun.

I Sorry to See that he as had is house burnt. he speaks of it been ot on december last. I am still a Watchman at Mr Walkers and Co¹³ and we have 4 Childer the holdest is Jane. She is the verry picter of her ant Jane. She was 17 last december. Bob will be 9 next August Joseph 6 next May William 4 december Next.¹⁴ Neither you nor Jonathan [childer]¹⁵ My brother John I never see him I belive he living on Manning lane at turf tavern as hostler and Farmerman he as not lived with is wife of a long time. She is in the united States of americk for this last 5 years. John as been very wild. I have heard of him goin on rant and Spending 20 pounds in 12 or 14 days, Antney Metcaf is very well he is driving a Robing Cart. is Son George is working there antney is working at dye house William is Breaking horses.

Turf Tavern, Bradford. Rebuilt 1894. Photo taken 1985.Bradford is greatly altred Sence you left. there Si very little coming by hand. We have none for many years. we do it all by combings mechins.¹⁶ the new Shops is Pool down and a weaving Shade belt in the Same place. The population 1851 bradford 52501 Bowling 13542 horton 28142 Manningham 9602 Borough Total 103786. You be aware Bradford is a Coprative Town. The Police force Number 114 and there is three Railways Stations in the brough the Midlan Station Stands were Duncan Street was. it opens into kirkgate. it gos to Shipley Nightley Skiptown: and there is the Lanchshire and yorkshire. it stands operset our yard top in bridge St. it gos to lomoor and halifax. there is the Great Northern Station. it stands at top of Fridrick St. it goes to Leeds. and there is a brance line to Wakefield. and there is very few houses but wat as water taps in. And gas is coming very general in Ctages houses: and Were Doctor Mure lived. Sent Georges all and a noble Bilding: Now I must give you a little of the other Side. there as been a Sevear panic it commensed in americk:¹⁷ and then England and Germany; and it been as bad at Bradford as aney place: there is Many gon Down. There was man the name of Mann: went out on the Same Ship with You: He lived at Piltin Darling downs. he as come back beginning of autom last. 57 he living at Wakefield. he let is land and stock for 5 years he never See you Sence he landid. he as been through Bathirst twice but did not know you lived there. I went to see Thomas Sayrs he as been out of work this last 8 months and your Sister intends righting in a shrt time: This Cark¹⁸ is a present Fro my Daughter Jane to Cousin Jane: I think that your memery¹⁹ is very Fruitful: you and Rebeaky as ad 9 childaren: and Jonathan and is Wife 10. I thought you would hav don long Sence: it very well you plenty of room for them: We have Flour very cheap Good flour 2s 16 pounds I must com to a close: We all join our kind love to you all. So on more at present from your Brother and Sister George and Srah Peacock. Drct your letters to 43 Earl Street Manchester Road Bradford Yorkshire.

Market Place, Masham, from a postcard drawing.It is probably George who is writing since he says: "I have Got a letter from my Brother Jonathan on the 16 of March last it is the first letter we have had." The reference to Thomas Sayers who is out of work, followed by the message that William's sister will write to him soon, is perhaps a reference to a sister and brother-in-law. The Map of Bradford about 1854²⁰ shows the Midland Railway Station (which opens into kirkgate); and the "Lanchshire and yorkshire" Railway Station which "Stands operset our yard top in bridge St" (the yard of George's workplace); "Sent George's all....a Noble Bilding";²¹ the "top of Fridrick St" (but the Railway Station had not been built when the map was drawn in 1854); and the corner of Earl Street and Manchester Road, where George and Sarah Peacock lived in one of a row of terraced houses. The Baptismal Register of the Bradford Parish Church records that at the time of the baptism of William and Rebecca's two children, Robert [WP2] and Richard [WP3], William and Rebecca lived at New Leeds and William was employed as a labourer. New Leeds was a small area in Central Bradford (not shown on the 1854 Map, and the name is no longer in use). When the eldest child Elizabeth [WP1] had been baptised on February 5, 1837, William's occupation was given as Comber; hence George's assumption that he will be interested in the news that there is now "very little coming by hand....we do it all by combings mechins". It is likely that William had lost his job with the onset of the depression of 1839-40, which was followed by the introduction of combing machines. There was a further depression in the late 1850s which George describes graphically as a "Sevear panic" which "comensed in americk".

St Georges HallThe letter mentions "Antney Metcaf" (the Christian name spelt with two syllables in accordance with the English pronunciation; and Metcalfe is spelt as pronounced in Yorkshire). He could have been a friend or, more likely, a relative of the Peacocks. One of the witnesses of the marriage of Pickering Peacock and Hannah Wintersgill at Masham, some 35 miles north of Bradford, was Matthew Metcalfe. Perhaps some of the Metcalf[e] family had migrated to Bradford with the Peacocks in search of work.²² There is also a reference to "My brother John". If George is the writer, this refers to John Peacock [JP45]. He was "living on Manning Lane at turf tavern as hostler and Farmerman". In view of the writer's difficulty with the written word, this is no doubt Manningham Lane (with the last syllable dropped off), a prominent street north of the town in the 1854 Map which is now one of the main thoroughfares in and out of the city on the northern side. John's behaviour unfortunately scandalised the family. Turf Tavern, rebuilt in 1894, still stands on the same site near the northern end of Manningham Lane.

William Peacock, Jonathan's eldest son, married Rebecca Taylor at the Parish Church in Bradford on June 20, 1835. She came from Mountmellick in Ireland, although the Shipping Record on their arrival in Australia says she was a native of Yorkshire. Her parents were Robert Taylor, born 1776, at Mountmellick, and Charlotte Fletcher, and the Shipping Record indicates that her father was a grocer, while Rebecca Peacock's Death Certificate says he was a woolcomber. Poverty and the search for a living had no doubt brought the Taylors from Ireland to Bradford. It is possible that Robert Taylor's grocery enterprise was unsuccessful and he was forced to seek work in a spinning mill; or it is more likely that by the time of Rebecca's death in 1896 there was no one in the family who could remember her father's occupation but they still had a vague memory that someone had been a comber, as their father was. Alternatively, the Shipping Record may simply be erroneous, as it so often is. A John Taylor, possibly Rebecca's brother, was a witness to her marriage to William Peacock. There are so many John Taylors in the Bradford records at that time that it has not been possible to trace him or his family there. There is no John Taylor recorded in the 1851 Census at Bradford whose birthplace is shown as Mountmellick. Perhaps he, too, had emigrated by then. The Taylors of Mountmellick were Quakers, (ie, members of the Society of Friends), and when Rebecca's brother William died as a child he was buried with his grandfather William Taylor and other members of the family at Tiniel, Rosenallis, in the Quaker cemetery, the oldest cemetery of the Society of Friends, dating from about 1770. However, no record can be found of Rebecca's parents' marriage or of the birth of their children. This is probably because so many Irish records were destroyed in a disastrous fire in Dublin in 1922. At the Census of 1851, Robert and Charlotte were living at Bowling, a suburb of Bradford.²³

Lorna and Wal Wilcox with their grandsons and six of their eight grandchildren. Taken 1995.WILLIAM AND REBECCA PEACOCK left Bradford in 1841, again to escape poverty and probably also the threat of violence which was becoming a real problem in Bradford as a result of the agitation of Chartist groups. William Peacock's occupation is given as Comber in the Marriage Register and Ploughman in the Shipping Record (since there would have been no demand for a comber in Australia). The Shipping Record also indicates that Rebecca is a Farm Worker. William would have had farming experience back in the Yorkshire Dales. William signed the Marriage Register but Rebecca marked it with a cross. Three children, Elizabeth, Robert and Richard, were born at Bradford and accompanied their parents to Sydney on the Elizabeth, which sailed from Liverpool on April 29, 1841, and arrived in Sydney on August 23, 1841.²⁴ They were assisted migrants sponsored by A B Smith and Co (who had also sponsored Andrew and Sarah Hamer). The Shipping Record gives the names of William's parents as Pickering and Anna - no doubt the recording clerk did not catch the aspirate - and Pickering is described as a farmer. The Record indicates that both William and Rebecca can read and write, despite the evidence of the Marriage Register six years earlier.Under the heading: "State of bodily health and probable usefulness", it is stated that Rebecca is "Recovering from prem..... confinement." The word abbreviated here is obscured in the binding of the Record, but it can be no other than "premature". In fact, a child was born on August 25, 1841, two days after the ship arrived, and died on the same day. Despite the existence of an older Elizabeth, this baby was called Elizabeth, no doubt in honour of the ship that had brought them safely around the world on a voyage into the unknown. Unfortunately, the ship was not entirely benevolent: a family tradition relates that little Richard had eaten paint on board ship and was suffering from lead poisoning. The young family, full of hope for their prospects in a new land, buried their premature baby in Sydney a couple of days after their arrival and hurried by road to Bathurst.

William Peacock. Taken about 1870. Original in the posession of Arnie Shute. Iris McDonald has postcard size copies of this and the photo of Rebecca Peacock.It was usual at the time for immigrants to be transported to Bathurst by cart. Elizabeth told her great-grandchildren that she travelled by bullock-drawn cart. The journey could be done by horse-drawn coach in four days, thus necessitating three overnight stops, one at the Weatherboard Hut (which provided very primitive accommodation where Faulconbridge is now), the second at Collett's Inn at Hartley (which still stands), and the third at Sidmouth (at the headwaters of the Fish River). It is likely that the journey by bullock cart would have taken much longer, with overnight camps by the roadside. This journey was described by Elizabeth, then four years old, to descendants now living. On arrival they stayed either at Mrs Dillon's Golden Fleece Inn, just below Holy Trinity Rectory at Kelso, or camped on the bank of the Macquarie River. Accounts vary, but the former was more likely, since camping on the bank of the river was forbidden at the time. In August and September it would still have been very cold at night in Bathurst. The journey with a sick baby, especially since the family had just buried one in Sydney, would have been an anguished one, and they had no sooner arrived at their temporary, perhaps makeshift, accommodation than the baby died. Strangely, the Burial Record at Holy Trinity, Kelso, gives the child's name as Henry. The Register of Births at St Catherine's House, London, also gives the name as Henry, though the Bradford Parish Baptismal Register and the Shipping Record both call him Richard. Apparently, the parents were unable to decide on the name but, when it came to burial, must have decided that the legal name was the one registered in London. Rebecca's grief was no doubt sharp; but her hands were soon full and her thoughts occupied in caring for Elizabeth and Robert, and it was not long before the lost infants were replaced with eight more babies born on the Campbell's River, where the family took up farming. They lost the ninth child George when he was eighteen months old and buried him, too, at Holy Trinity.²⁵

There is some uncertainty about where the Peacocks first lived. There is a strong tradition that William immediately found work at "Claremont", not far from where the Fish and Campbell's Rivers join to form the Macquarie River, working for William Lee. Perhaps he had arranged the job before leaving Sydney. That tradition also says that he remained a loyal employee of William Lee until the latter died in 1870 and the Peacocks retired to Queen Charlotte's Vale. However, irrefutable evidence has been discovered that they were farming in their own right from as early as 1850 much further up the Campbell's River beyond The Lagoon where Chifley Dam is now. Labour was scarce and William Lee, one of the first local landowners, would have been looking for reliable farming men. Transport of convicts to New South Wales ceased in 1840, following Sir William Molesworth's adverse report to the British parliament, and the landowners were looking for free workers to take their place. William Lee, a Currency lad who had worked with William Cox (if only briefly) in building the road to Bathurst in 1814, was one of the earliest settlers in the Bathurst district to be given a land grant by Governor Macquarie (with a cow, a convict servant and four bushels of wheat and government stores for twelve months) in 1818. It appears that Lee was favoured not so much because of any work he did in building the road, but because his family had had a connection with the Cox family who took him in at Clarendon after he was orphaned at Norfolk Island.

Rebecca Peacock. Taken about 1870. Original in the posession of Arnie Shote.William Peacock was farming up along the Campbell's River at least from 1850. He placed a notice in the Bathurst Free Press on August 31, 1850, warning people against allowing their stock to trespass on or taking wood from the Big Meadows on the Campbell's River. This locality has not been identified but, since one James Stewart, on August 5, 1851, in a newspaper advertisement also gives his address as Big Meadow Flat, it was probably the centre of several farms, not just Peacock's. It has been suggested that this locality may have been on "Woodlands", between the Fish and the Campbell's River, but this area had been granted to the Street family in 1823. It is feasible that William Peacock could have leased a farm here for a short time, but there is other, later, evidence which indicates that he was much further up the Campbell's River. In a further warning to trespassers on June 9, 1852, William Peacock this time refers to "the run adjoining the Big Meadow Flat".²⁶ In the light of later newspaper reports, William Peacock's advertisement of January 4, 1851, is an interesting one: "£5 Reward Whereas some evil disposed Person or Persons did on the night of Friday week, set fire to my Paddock fence with the evident intention of destroying my Wheat; this is to give notice that the above Reward will be paid to any individual upon giving such information as will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the offender or offenders. Wm. Peacock. Campbell's River Decr. 22nd 1850."

Incendiarism of this kind was a common problem in nineteenth century Australia but, in view of later newspaper reports concerning William and Rebecca Peacock, one begins to wonder whether they had a propensity for antagonising their neighbours; but it is best to set out these matters in chronological sequence. The gold rush to Ophir started in April, 1851, and we find William Peacock offering a reward for the return of a bay mare stolen or strayed from Ophir, in an advertisement on July 9, 1851. Curiosity had inspired him to take a look at the prospects at Ophir, some twenty odd miles to the north-west, but his interest appears soon to have waned, for he was back at Bathurst a fortnight later, a little worse off for his adventure, as we find him advertising on July 26, 1851, (in an advertisement repeated on August 2), seeking information about a black horse stolen from the Frying Pan Hut, which was a well-known inn on the road between Kelso and what is now called Yetholme. Horse stealing was as endemic in those days as car stealing is today, and there must have been a lot of doubtful characters on the roads preying on people going to the goldfields. William Peacock, now emerging on the opposite side of Bathurst, seems to have been dashing about the countryside, perhaps following rumours of new gold discoveries which were already occurring all around the district. It would have been a severe blow for a small farmer to lose two horses in such a brief space of time. He would have been better off to have stayed home, and it seems that the experience discouraged him from joining the gold seekers and their predators any further.

Rebecca Peacock was said to have been a rather formidable person, physically strong and with great strength of character. It was reported that she smoked a clay pipe. Looking at the photograph above, one can believe it. It was one of her jobs to take the produce of their farm to Bathurst in a horse-drawn cart.²⁷ Mutual cooperation and bartering between neighbours were common practices in those days which the Peacocks certainly engaged in. Unfortunately, this creates the potential for disputation. There is a report in the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal of April 5, 1851 - the embellished title was adopted almost as soon as the gold rush began - of a court case between the Peacocks and a neighbour named Lynch, with whom they had an arrangement to exchange wheat and vegetables and to assist one another by the loan of horses and harness and in taking produce to market. The trouble arose when Lynch lent the Peacocks sixteen and a half bushels of wheat in June, 1850, for sowing, to be returned after harvest. The Peacocks had from time to time supplied Lynch with potatoes and other vegetables and had lent him a horse, saddle and bridle. The difficulty now was that, whereas wheat was worth 2s 9d per bushel in June,1850, Lynch was now demanding repayment at the new price of 7s 3d, inflated by the demand generated by the gold rush. Mrs Peacock claimed that she had already partly paid for the wheat in vegetables and potatoes. Lynch conceded the potatoes, but claimed that the vegetables were left by Mrs Peacock only when she could not sell them in Bathurst; and, in any case, Mrs Peacock had frequently been entertained by Mrs Lynch with pumpkin pie and Johnny cake on her way to and from Bathurst. The judges had no hesitation in finding in favour of the Peacocks.²⁸

Gravestone of William & Rebecca Peacock, Georges Plains with some of their descendants. From left to right: Russell Peacock (kneeling), Max Paddison, John Peacock, Vera Hodges, Warren Smith, Fay Landsey and Margaret Smith.Next, on April 12, 1856, there is a report of a case in which a Peacock whose Christian name is not given but must have been Robert, Rebecca's eldest son [WP2], who was eighteen years old at the time, was charged with assaulting a man named John Maclaughlin, who gave evidence that Mrs Peacock had given him a ride home from Bathurst in her cart, when an argument developed over the current wage rates, and he got to his feet to get out of the cart but, while he was off-balance in picking up his bundle, Mrs Peacock knocked him onto the road. She claimed, on the other hand, that Maclaughlin "had greatly insulted and taken liberties with" her. A few minutes afterwards, the younger Peacock and John Shoot - John Shute was the father of Henry and George Shute who had married the Peacocks' two eldest daughters, Elizabeth [WP1] and Charlotte [WP5] - came up and assaulted Maclaughlin, knocking out one of his teeth, and "after using him badly, left him lying in a deep gutter, where he was found by inspector Finnerty in a very dangerous state." Dr Busby deposed that when the man was brought to hospital he was in a state of collapse, with wounds that could have been made with kicks or violent blows. The fact that Robert Peacock was fined only £2 18s, with £2 2s costs, suggests that the judge had some sympathy for him.

Apart from the light that this report throws on the characters of Rebecca and Robert Peacock at that time and the rough manners of the period, there is also another reported detail which helps to identify more closely where the Peacocks lived. Evidence was given by Catherine Morris that John Shoot played no part in the affair (and he was consequently acquitted). Catherine Morris and her husband ran the Apsley Inn just on the Bathurst side of the village of Lagoon (in a building in which the Morris family still live). If this means that the incident occurred near the Apsley Inn, then this gives further weight to the proposition that the Peacocks lived up the Campbell's River beyond Lagoon, since that was the direction in which Mrs Peacock was travelling, and not towards the junction of the Campbell's and Macquarie Rivers (where it has also been suggested that they had their farm).

Clearer evidence is given of this in two other reports of court cases in the Bathurst Free Press, which also give some inkling of the characters of William Peacock and his two sons-in-law, Henry and George Shute; as well as some indication of the conditions of the time. The first is a report on April 29, 1857, in which a person named John Dicker, of Campbell's River, takes action to have Henry Shute bound over to keep the peace, because he had threatened him, at least by implication, when he (that is, Henry Shute) had gone to Dicker's paddock, in company with his brother, and offered to fight Dicker. When Dicker refused to fight the Shute brothers, making suggestive references to a knife, threatened that they would have satisfaction at some other time; and George Shute actually started to fight Dicker's son-in-law (or perhaps it was his stepson - there is some carelessness in the report) by the name of Thomas Shelvey. Both Henry and George Shute were bound over to keep the peace until the next Quarter Sessions, with a personal surety of £20 each, and two other sureties of £10 each - fairly substantial amounts in those days. Henry Shute claimed that Dicker had abused his wife - that is, Elizabeth Peacock [WP1] - when she was coming from Bathurst.

In a further case, reported on July 15, 1857 - about two and a half months later - Dicker sought to have William Peacock and Henry Shute bound over to keep the peace, because they had come to his house armed with substantial sticks and William Peacock had attempted to give Dicker a letter complaining about Dicker's horses trespassing on Peacock's paddock; and had used abusive language and, furthermore, eight months earlier had threatened to destroy Dicker's house by driving a cart through it. (One can picture how insubstantial the house must have been.) Thomas Shelvey, called Dicker's stepson this time, gave evidence that on another occasion in the same week William Peacock had come to Dicker's house looking for Dicker and, seeing a corpse on the bed, said: "I'm sorry it is not the man it should be, the false-swearing b----y dog", meaning Dicker. When Dicker claimed that Henry Shute had "never at any time made use of any threatening language" to him (notwithstanding the case only two and a half months earlier), Henry Shute was discharged, but William Peacock was bound over with a personal surety of £40 and two others of £20 each - again fairly substantial amounts.

In the same issue of the newspaper Dicker had a notice warning people not to give his wife any credit since she had left him; and there was a further report of an inquest on one Thomas Cooper, a small farmer from Wimburndale, who was found dead at Campbell's River. Evidence was given that he was returning from Bathurst to Wimburndale and, finding the river impassable, had put up the night at Dicker's. He had drunk too much rum and had been put to bed in a state of insensibility, and was found dead the next morning. Verdict: "Found dead from cause unknown." It is difficult to understand why he would have been going to Wimburndale, which is north of Bathurst, via Campbell's River, which is south of Bathurst, thus making it necessary for him to cross two flooded rivers rather than one. The useful piece of information for our purposes is Dicker's address which is given in an advertisement on September 2, 1857, warning against trespass on Portions 31 and 38, Parish of Okely [sic]. This is south of The Lagoon, where Chifley Dam is now. Assuming that Dicker was a neighbour of the Peacocks and the Shutes, as seems to be indicated by accounts of their coming and going to Dicker's place, and assuming that Dicker lived on this land and not elsewhere, this gives a clearer understanding of where the Peacocks and Shutes lived.

There is a strong family tradition that some of William and Rebecca Peacock's younger children were born at "Woodlands", in the fork between the Fish and Campbell's Rivers. Since the youngest, Thomas [WPL] was born in 1856, and it appears from the foregoing that the family were living near Dicker's place at that time, then this must be discounted. It is possible that William went back to work for the Lee family later before retiring to Queen Charlotte's Vale. If that is so, the younger children would have recollections of that area from early childhood which might have suggested to them that they were born there. On the other hand, there may be some confusion with the fact that Robert [WP2] and, later, Jonathan [WPK] and Thomas [WPL] rented farms near the Junction in the early 1870s, before moving to Queen Charlotte's Vale. Some descendants have a recollection of this, but there is also further evidence from the electoral rolls which show Robert and William [WP7] enrolled with the address given as White Rock in 1869-70. But so also is William Senior. This may simply mean that they were within the White Rock subdivision while living several miles up the Campbell's River. In the 1873-4 Rolls, Robert Peacock [WP2] was still enrolled at White Rock, but William Senior and William Junior had both moved to Queen Charlotte's Vale; William Senior's address is described as a Residence. There is also a family tradition that Robert lived for a short time at "Evernden", on the Rockley Road at Mountain Run.

The village of White Rock took its name from a large quartz rock on a property on the south-western side of the Macquarie River named "Mount Tamar" (later called "Wonalabee"), adjoining Thompson's property "Fairview". Mrs Meredith, an early traveller in New South Wales, says in a book called Notes and Sketches of NSW During a Residence in that Colony from 1839 to 1844):²⁹ "about three miles from Bathurst, near a pretty cottage on the Macquarie (in a district chiefly granite) is a singular group of low rocks rising abruptly from the turf of the plains and perfectly white; they appeared to me to be masses of pure quartz, of which many specimens occur a few miles higher up the river."

St. John's Church of England, Georges Plains. Sybil McCall in the foreground.There is a further news item in the Bathurst Times of May 12, 1877, which confirms, if confirmation is still required, that the Peacocks lived higher up the Campbell's River. This was just before Robert moved to Queen Charlotte's Vale; his parents had already transferred to the Vale. This item is a report of an accident when a man named William Narbary was killed as a result of getting his leg caught in the drum of Peacock's threshing machine on their farm. It is significant that this is reported by the Rockley correspondent, who anticipated that an inquest would be held at Rockley, suggesting that Peacock's farm was closer to Rockley than to Bathurst, since it now fell within the jurisdiction of the Rockley court. No report of the inquest appeared. It was probably Robert Peacock who owned the chaffcutter; it is known that he operated an itinerant chaffcutter in the Bathurst district; and, in any case, by this time his father was dead (died August 18, 1875, in Queen Charlotte's Vale). It appears that Robert carried on the farm on the Campbell's River at least for a few years after his parents moved to Queen Charlotte's Vale, probably in the early 1870s. Robert himself moved to lease part of 'Harrington', adjoining the Hamer farm, probably before the end of the 1870s.³⁰

George Peacock's letter to William and Rebecca (above) raises a couple of problems of fact concerning the Australian immigrants. George expresses his pleasure that William and "Som of [his] family are meeting in class and are living for another world." This can only mean that both William and George, back in Bradford, had linked up with the Wesleyans, who required regular attendance at class meetings. This was despite William's marriage and the baptism of the older children in the Church of England Parish Church. Like the Hamers at Bolton, though non-conformist in religion, the Peacocks would have used the Church of England for formal and legal functions, because of the special standing of members of the Church of England under English law. George relays the news of the apostasy of some of their erstwhile Bradford friends, such as Lloyd [?] Spence - "You mushed [mentioned?] Ld Spence" - who, with "a good many others", had left the Methodists and joined the Reformers (they coal [ie call] themselves reformers")... but he is "wors of then he was" [ie worse off than he was]. But the Peacocks at Bathurst, except for William Junior [WP7] who married a Hamer and became a Wesleyan, and some of the later generations who married Catholics, were staunch members of the Church of England. Or at least they were when they moved to Queen Charlotte's Vale. This might have occurred because the new Church of England at Georges Plains, built 1868, was closer than the Wesleyan Church (but not by much). The closest church when they lived on the Campbell's River was the Church of England at The Lagoon³¹; but the Wesleyans had a church and day school there from 1850, and the Peacocks would have worshipped there, and perhaps the younger children went to school there. It is likely that they got used to going to Church of England and Wesleyan services indiscriminately, whichever was on. The baptism of George [WP9] is recorded in the Register of the William Street Methodist Church, Bathurst. This does not mean that the child was taken to Bathurst for baptism but that the Bathurst Wesleyan Minister brought the Register with him to services at The Lagoon. But when George died in March, 1852, he was buried at Holy Trinity, Kelso, where Henry [Richard - WP3] had been buried. Wesley's requirement that Wesleyans should conform to the rites of the Church of England was largely disregarded in Australia where there were no legal constraints of being a full-blown member of the Methodist Church. There was no impediment to having the baby baptised by the Wesleyan minister, but the last rites were another matter and, with one child already resting in the graveyard at Holy Trinity, there must have been a strong pull to return to the fold of mother church. On their first arrival the Peacocks would have been conscious of the custom of maintaining Church of England links; but they soon found themselves relaxed in worshipping with Wesleyans; but the move to Queen Charlotte's Vale and the completion of the new Church of England at Georges Plains nearby provided an opportunity to return to the fold completely, especially since the family was able to become closely involved in furnishing the new church.

Interior of St. John's Church, Georges Plains. Leonie Trim, Tom Wallace and Faye Wallace in the foreground.The second problem posed by George's letter is the question of what became of the other brother, Jonathan [JP48], who had evidently migrated to Queensland. George says: "I have Got a letter from my brother Jonathan on the 16 of March last it is the first letter we have had I ham Glad to hear he is doing well I am goine to right very Soun. I Sorry to See that he as had is house burnt. he speaks of it been very ot on december last." Later George says that Jonathan has ten children. It is discouraging that no trace can be found of Jonathan or his ten children or their descendants. There is a record of his eleventh child, born at Jondaryan, on the Darling Downs, and named Jonathan. This birth is recorded in the Registrar-General's Office in Brisbane, on November 10, 1863, son of Jonathan Peacock (Birthplace: Bradford - it was actually Masham, but Jonathon no doubt thought he was born at Bradford) and Jane Agness (Birthplace: Wensley - back in the Middleham district). Jonathan, who registered the birth, must have been living at Bradford from a very early age if he thought he was born there. He was the youngest of Pickering Peacock's and Hannah Wintersgill's children, born in Masham in 1821; so it is probable that his parents moved to Bradford shortly after that. Unfortunately, the baby Jonathan's death is recorded at Jondaryan - from convulsions - seven weeks later, on January 21, 1864. His father Jonathan's occupation was given as Shepherd on both occasions. Jonathan Peacock and Jane Hackness already had ten children when George wrote his letter in 1858; six boys and four girls are referred to on the Birth Certificate of this, their eleventh child. Unfortunately, there is no record of any other births, deaths or marriages of members of this family in Australia. George's letter suggested that they had not long emigrated since he had had only one letter from them. If they migrated in the early 1850s, this is the period for which the Shipping Record has been destroyed by fire.

JONATHAN PEACOCK AND JAYNE HACKNESS, both of Leyburn, according to the Marriage Register, were married in the Wensley Church in the District of Leyburn on July 19, 1842. If he regarded Bradford as home, as suggested by his son Jonathan's Birth and Death Certificates, he nevertheless returned to the Yorkshire Dales for his marriage (if this is the same Jonathan: there is perhaps some doubt since he gives his age as 39 on the Birth and Death Certificates of his son in 1863-4, which means that he was born in 1821, whereas our Jonathan was born in 1825; but it was not uncommon for people at that time to be unsure of their ages). Wensley is a village only a couple of miles north-east of Middleham on the River Ure, with a fifteenth century bridge. It is near Bolton Hall, the seat of the Lords of Bolton, built in 1655. Ruins of Bolton Castle are in the nearby village called Castle Bolton. This castle also was granted to Count Alan after the Conquest and passed into the hands of the Scrope family of Masham. Mary Queen of Scots^← was imprisoned there for six months in 1568-9 and is said to have escaped and to have been re-captured down the river. Until recently a family of Peacocks lived in Bolton Castle; they were stonemasons and they used stones from the castle ruins as well as from a local quarry called Apedale Greets for buildings in the district.³²

Isabella PeacockAnother less than thorough clerk recording the baby Jonathan's birth and death rendered the mother's maiden name as it sounded in the Yorkshire dialect: Agness. Jondaryan is a large grazing property near Dalby on the Darling Downs in Queensland, made famous in the 1880s as a major centre of the Shearers' Strike where riots occurred. Records of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Queensland were not collected centrally in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is likely that such records were kept at Jondaryan Station; and, in this case, they would have been lost when the homestead was burnt down. When Jondaryan Station was first taken up, a church was built on the property. After a flood in 1894, this church was moved to higher ground in the present township of Jondaryan, but there are no headstones bearing the name of Peacock at the new site, and none has been found at the cemetery at the original site, which is unfortunately now overgrown with sisal; it would require a lot of work for a thorough search to be made there. Despite all this, it is odd that the records of the eleventh child were filed in Brisbane, while there is no record of any other member of the family. What became of Jonathan and Jane and their ten children is a mystery. Letters to every Peacock on the Queensland rolls brought absolutely no response. Perhaps the family moved back to England, or went to another state, or left for America.

It appears that George and Charlotte Shute [WP5] were the first of the family to move to Queen Charlotte's Vale. Family tradition says that they lived from about 1859 to about 1875 in a cottage on the Vale Road on the junction of the Deep Creek and the Vale Creek near the Hamers. Charlotte's brother William Peacock [WP7] would have met Ann Hamer [AH5] when visiting his sister, or they may have already met as a result of social interchange between the Wesleyan congregation from the new Vale Road church and the Wesleyan congregation at The Lagoon. George and Charlotte Shute moved to Fitzgerald's Valley early in the 1870s. William Peacock and Ann Hamer married on February 23, 1871, and moved into the house that was vacated, or about to be vacated, by the Shutes. The parents, William and Rebecca Peacock, then decided to join their son and new daughter-in-law on the Vale Road. The father was 64 years old, and felt it was time to retire. He seems to have shown no desire to become a landowner in his own right; he was content to have rented a farm on the Campbell's River or to be William Lee's faithful retainer. After the poverty of Bradford there was great security in a situation which today would be regarded as fairly humble; it was the kind of situation which he had seen others enjoy in the Yorkshire Moors but had never been available to him there. As his brother George said in his letter, his hope was not for material advancement in this world but he was "living for another World." This did not, however, preclude asserting himself if others, such as Dicker or John Maclaughlin, tried to take advantage of him or his. He put his faith in St Paul's promise that we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. William Peacock was patient, unambitious, devout and God-fearing, grateful for small mercies.

William Peacock died on August 18, 1875, at the age of 69, after living about five years on the Vale Road. His headstone in St John's cemetery, Georges Plains, carries the following verse:

"This much and this is all we know He is completely blessed. He's done with sin and care and woe And with his Savior rests."

George and Charlotte Shute. Taken about 1870. Originals in the posession of Arnie Shute. captionHis had been perhaps a somewhat restless life which had not rewarded him with the material comfort he may have hoped for. His quarrelsome nature had perhaps kept him unsteady and hindered his attempts to establish himself as a successful settler. His one expedition to the gold diggings had proved disastrous, and, unlike Andrew Hamer and William Cheney, he missed out on the opportunities that success in gold digging might have provided. Instead he dissipated his energies in quarrelsomeness. Rebecca lived on for another twenty years with her son William (according to the Obituary Notice in the Bathurst Times, adding weight to the notion that she and her husband had moved to the Vale Road to live with William and Ann on the Deep Creek.) After a long illness she died in 1896, at the age of 83, and was buried alongside her husband.

St John's Anglican Church at Georges Plains is an architectural gem. It was designed by Edward Gell, a Bathurst architect (who designed several outstanding buildings in the Bathurst district, including SS Michael's and George's Catholic Cathedral, the Church of England at Carcoar, and "Bathampton", the Rutherford's homestead on the Blayney Road); and built in 1867 by Thomas Burns, of Orange, in grey stone with iron roof capped with cast iron decorations. It was opened in 1868. One or more of the Peacocks are said to have built the pews, hand-hewn with an adze, and still in use when the church was closed down in 1985. The Peacocks did not move to the Vale Road until about 1871, unless we count Charlotte Shute [WP5] who arrived twelve years earlier. A Mrs Pearce (said to be the ancestor of George Peacock's wife [WP27] and related to Bill Loudon's wife [WP63], reminiscing in the Georges Plains Church News of March 1919, says that the church had only temporary pews at first There seems little doubt that it was Robert Peacock [WP2] who built the pews; but Robert did not move to Georges Plains until 1877. If the pews waited for some years after the church was built they might well have waited till then. The Barrett descendants of Robert Peacock have stories of their mother, Rebecca Peacock [WP23], taking morning and afternoon tea to her father while he built the pews. William Peacock Senior lived only about three years after his retirement to the Vale Road, and therefore played only a small part in making the pews. In the Church News article, Mrs Pearce recalls that a Mr Paddison was associated with building the pews. This could have been Ernie Paddison who married Bella Peacock [WP24], but, born in 1860, he would still have been a teenager in 1877. Perhaps some of the pews were built later than that date. William Peacock Junior [WP7] was by now a Wesleyan after his marriage to Ann Hamer, and his loyalties lay at the Vale Road Wesleyan Church, but he could well have lent a hand, since there is evidence in the subscription lists that Ann's father Andrew Hamer supported the building of St John's.

The reredos at St John's, made of encaustic tiles painted by Lyon and Cottier of Sydney, comprising six tablets bearing the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, was erected by parishioners in memory of Joseph Smith of "Mildura" (later owned by Bert and Myrtle Cooke - WP697). Apart from introducing hares from England for hunting and coursing, Joseph Smith had given the land for the Rectory, a mile from the church on the Vale Creek, big enough for the minister to run horses and cows. The pulpit Bible at St John's was given by the Barrett family from Cow Flat. Becky Peacock [WP23] later married Ernest Barrett. The stained glass windows, the altar cross, the pulpit and the Bishop's chair were later presented by the Callaghan family in memory of their parents, Phillip Callaghan and Jane Peacock [WP22]. One of the windows represents the Madonna and Child; the other depicts St John.

Bob PeacockWilliam and Rebecca Peacock's two sons Robert and William shared their parents' other-worldly hope, but this did not cut them off from hopes in this world, the realisation of which seemed to be attainable in Australia. For their father, worldly hopes had been satisfied by a life of sufficiency such that he had not thought possible in Yorkshire; but the next generation saw the hope not only of becoming successful farmers, but also of becoming landowners. But the aspirations of the two sons were frustrated. It appears that Robert had stayed on for a few years on the Campbell's River, after venturing for a time into Queensland but he didn't stay there long. William leased a farm at Georges Plains from Francis Croaker, of "Shiraz", Perth, on "The Island", between the Vale Creek and the Georges Plains Creek, on the property known as "Denton Holme" (the word holme meaning island). Robert was on his father's farm on the Campbell's River when his three eldest daughters were born: Sarah [WP21] in 1858; Janie [WP22] in 1860; and Becky [WP23] in 1862. The fourth daughter, Bella [WP24] was born at Ipswich, Queensland, in 1864; but according to the Electoral Roll he was back in the White Rock subdivision in 1869. He appears on the Roll at the Vale Road address in 1877³³. He leased a farm on "Harrington", adjoining the Hamers; and he and William Junior are both described on the Roll as leaseholders. The chaffcutter accident occurred in May 1877, so Robert must have still been on the Campbell's River at that stage; and may have moved immediately afterwards. Alternatively, he may have left his chaffcutter operating in that locality for a few years after moving.

Robert married Isabella Willis, who had come out with her sister from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Her sister had eloped, and Isabella's presence was an attempt to make the elopement respectable.After moving from the Campbell's River, Robert and Isabella lived on "Harrington" where he farmed and operated the itinerant threshing machine and chaffcutter which he had had on the Campbell's River. In a report in the Bathurst Times of May 10, 1879, of a working bee to plough and sow crops for a destitute family at Perth whose breadwinner was in hospital, Robert and William Peacock are listed among those who supplied teams. Robert died in 1899, at the age of 61, and Bella lived on at Perth with her unmarried daughter Annie [WP25]. Their eldest daughter Sarah [WP21] married Joe Johnson, a member of a prominent White Rock family, and lived at White Rock for the rest of her life. Jane [WP22] married Phil Callaghan, a farmer and butcher on the Vale Road at Perth. It is said that Phil Callaghan admired Janie Peacock from a distance but was too shy to approach her, so he asked his friend William Kemp (who was the second teacher at the Perth School - from June, 1878, to December, 1883) to arrange an introduction, since Jane's sister Bella [WP24] was being courted by Ernie Paddison and William Kemp was married to Ernie's sister, Fanny Paddison. Bella [WP24] married Ernie Paddison, whose family farmed "Bellevue" before Tom and Ted Hamer leased the property. Jane's parents must have been admirers of William Kemp since they named their youngest, born September, 1878, Christopher Kemp Peacock [WP29]. Becky Peacock [WP23] married Ernest Barrett, of Cow Flat, a neighbour of the Bell family.

Arnold Shute. Taken about 1915.Bob Peacock [WP26] married Ellie Webb, a member of a well-known Tarana family; they had no children. Bob developed an interest in politics from an early age. When the People's Federal Convention was held in the School of Arts Hall, Bathurst, in November, 1896, to provide an opportunity for people to express their attitude towards the proposal for federation of the Australian colonies, R W Peacock was listed as a delegate representing the Perth Federation League.³⁴ He was elected President of the Federal Council, an inter-colonial body set up to work for federation at grassroots level. He became Manager of the Bathurst Experiment Farm from 1901 to 1918, having joined the Agricultural Department in 1898 as Manager of the Experiment Farm at Coolabah, Bogan Scrub, between Nyngan and Bourke. He retired from the Agricultural Department in 1918, when he was 48, and started a property of his own, called "The Kurrajongs", on the Peel Road out of Kelso, where he ran sheep and grew fruit trees. He became President of the NSW branch of the Corriedale Sheep Breeders' Association. He was for many years president of the Bathurst branch of the Fruitgrowers' Association, representing the local branch at State conferences on many occasions. He was President of the Bathurst Rotary Club for a term. He was vice-president for a number of years of the Bathurst Agricultural, Horticultural and Pastoral Association that ran the annual Show. He was a keen trout fisherman and frequently gained prizes in national fly casting competitions. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and at one time was President of the Bathurst Lawn Tennis Association. He was very active on the Conservative side of politics and stood for parliament a number of times unsuccessfully. The Bathurst National Advocate, a Labor Party paper, said of him when he died in 1946: "Mr Peacock was admired by political friend and foe. Though there were times when tempers were frayed and there was much more bitterness in politics than is the case today, Mr Peacock never lost his temper. He stood manfully up to what he conscientiously believed to be the cause of right and with his characteristic smile and geniality took and returned hard knocks, thus always earning the esteem and respect of his political adversaries.... even when his brand of old time Conservatives had long become a lost cause so far as Bathurst and district were concerned and Labor was so firmly established, the late Mr Peacock never gave up hope, and with the ever-thinning ranks of those who espouse his strong views, struggled bravely on against the rising tide of the younger democracy as we see it today. There was a time when he stood as a Freetrader.... against the late Mr W P Crick, the then sitting member for West Macquarie. After a stern fight, the late Mr Peacock was defeated rather easily."³⁵ He was the instigator of the move to build the War Memorial Carillon in Bathurst in the 1930s; the fact that the Carillon was built at all was a tribute to his determination and perseverance.

George Willis Peacock [WP27] was a shearer who worked in the building industry in the off season. He married Ruth Pearce from Georges Plains, and they had twelve children. They lived at first in the house alongside the Hope of the Vale Hall at Perth, as indicated by the address given on a petition in 1897 when the people of Perth requested that the Post Office, which had been operating in Cavanagh's store from 1875 and at the Railway Station from 1881, should move to Mr George Peacock's residence. Then they lived for about eight years in Rose Street, South Bathurst, before moving to Narromine in 1907. George's wife was a cousin of Kate Pearce (sometimes spelt Pierce) who married his cousin Bill Loudon [WP63]. Her grandparents had worked and lived at Windsor Castle in charge of the toy tower, and her mother was born there. The grandmother had been in royal service from the age of twelve, and the grandfather was employed as a Master Upholsterer to the Royal Household. He had the task of draping the throne at Windsor Castle following the death of William IV and the succession of Queen Victoria. In the process he overbalanced from a high ladder and broke his skull, from which he died. The grandmother was then given a position as Second Housekeeper at Buckingham Palace. George lost a leg when his family were still young when he rescued a drunk who fell off the platform in front of an oncoming train at Bathurst Railway Station.At Narromine he ran a chaff-cutting plant for a period, using skills he had learnt with his father at Georges Plains, and worked in a sawmill in the off season. His three eldest sons enlisted for the First World War, and George then commenced share farming. When they returned from the War, the three sons, Joe [WP272], Bob [WP273] and Frank [WP274], went on the land around Narromine and Dubbo, while their parents moved to Sydney to run a small mixed business. Their younger brother, Roy Peacock [WP279], served with the New Zealand military forces during the Second World War. After the evacuation of Greece he was posted missing; with other Australians and New Zealanders he hid for eleven months in the hills, with the assistance of the local people, but was finally captured and spent the rest of the War as a prisoner of the Germans. His sister, Ivy Peacock [WP27L], served in the Australian Women's Army Service in North Queensland and at Lae, in New Guinea, from 1942 to 1946.

Five Generations. Jane Smith, Edith Harris, Kim Davis, David Harris and Judith Davis. Taken about 1965.Jack Peacock [WP28] married Mary (Polly) Hamer [AH42] in 1893. They had lived on adjoining farms, as Mary's Aunt Ann and Jack's Uncle William had; history was repeating itself. Jack first took odd farming jobs around Perth, and then they lived for a short time at Wellington. He then joined the Prisons Department as a Special Reserve Warder, serving first at Parramatta Gaol. He was then attached successively to Maitland and Albury Gaols. At Albury in 1916 he was highly commended by the Comptroller-General of Prisons for foiling an escape. In 1920 he was promoted to the rank of Chief Warder and was placed in charge of the Broken Hill Gaol. In 1923 he was transferred to take charge of Albury Gaol and in 1929 became Deputy Governor of Bathurst Gaol. He was appointed Assistant Superintendent of the State Penitentiary at Long Bay in 1932, but returned to Bathurst as Governor in 1934. He stayed only one year before being appointed Governor of Parramatta Gaol in 1935, from which position he retired in 1936 after 35 years service. For his services he was awarded the Imperial Service Medal (ISO). He and Mary lived out their retirement at Eastwood.

Their eldest child Emilie Peacock [WP281] married Mick Collett, from Parramatta, who had been a sergeant in the AIF Veterinary Corps in France in the First World War. After the war he was one of the founders of the Parramatta RSL. He joined up again in the Second World War but, because of his age, he was not sent overseas. Their eldest child Jean Collett [WP2811] served in the WAAAF during the Second World War, and Doreen Collett [WP2815] served in the AAMWS. Their son Jack Collett [WP2812] was in the Navy in the Second World War, and remained there for thirteen years. Bruce Collett [WP2815] was Administration Manager of the Royal Canberra Hospital. His eldest daughter Lynne Collett [WP28151 married a Vietnamese named Tric Tran Nguyen, who was evacuated to Australia as a boy from Saigon after the Vietnamese War. He is a computer scientist. working with the AT & T and Bell Laboratories in the US developing computer language. His parents had been evacuated to the USA. Lynne's sister Sandra Collett [WP28152] works in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra, dealing with several Middle Eastern and African countries. Another sister, Alison Collett [WP28153], married Bill Magee, who works for the Department of Primary Industries in Canberra.

George Peacock. Taken about 1925.Jack and Polly's eldest son Aubrey Peacock [WP282] was a clerk with the Royal Dutch Steamship Company before enlisting in the AIF in the First World War. He went to Egypt on the same ship as his uncle Herb Hamer [AH49], who was only six years older than Aubrey. They were both in camp at Tel-el Kebir but, after ten days, Aubrey embarked for England, where Herb caught up with him in a camp at Rollestone, in Wiltshire. Together they visited Salisbury Cathedral. (No doubt they would have wondered whether the effigy of Baron Cheney commemorated one of their ancestors.)³⁶ After Aubrey went to France in September, 1916, Herb never saw him again. He was killed in action at Flers, near Bullecourt, on November 10, 1916, at the age of twenty. His best mate, named Stan Watson, in the same Company, was killed on the same day. Letters to his parents from his officers and mates give conflicting reports of how he died, the writers obviously trying to spare his parents' feelings. One soldier says that he was an eye witness when Aubrey “was sniped” at Ypres, which is in Belgium, many kilometres away from Bullecourt, and that his friend Stan Watson was making a cross for him when he also was killed by a sniper. Another says that Watson was killed first and Aubrey was making a cross for him when he was killed. Obviously, memories have been affected by the stress of battle. Most say that Aubrey was killed by a direct hit from a German shell, though one soldier reports that he died later in the nearby Dressing Station. What seems to be the most reliable account is by a soldier named Pearce who says that he was less than 25 yards away when he saw both Peacock and Watson killed instantaneously by the same shell. They were buried side by side just outside the trench, but apparently the bodies were later moved to the British War Cemetery at Caterpillar Valley, Bapaume.

Far from reassuring the parents, these conflicting accounts would have caused greater distress. Then there is the sad little note from Herb Hamer to his sister Mary [AH42] and her husband Jack Peacock [WP28]. In France he had bumped into Art Collett who later married Em Peacock [AH421, WP281], who told him that he had heard that Aubrey was wounded and was in hospital in England, but Herb had gone to Aubrey’s Battalion and was told that Aubrey had been killed. He goes on:

“...so I do not know what to think. I do not know how to write to you about it I am very worried but can only hope the next news will be brighter.

Dear Mary you know how I am feeling about it but you know it is very hard to write especially as I know nothing definate [sic]. We are all in God’s keeping and His will be done.”³⁷

The fact that Herb was later seriously wounded twice and that their second son Dolph was also wounded would have caused Mary greater anxiety. Dolph (also known as Jock) [WP283] won a scholarship to Fort Street High School in Sydney, which he attended from 1913 to 1915. He then joined the Sydney Municipal Council as a clerk, but enlisted in the AIF in November, 1916, and served in France where he was wounded. After the War he studied Accountancy with Hemingway and Robertson and was re-employed by the Sydney Municipal Council in November, 1925. He later ran his own Accountancy business in Sydney. In the Second World War he was a member of the Volunteer Defence Corps. He was active in community affairs at Northbridge where he lived with his family. He married Poppy Flower, a sister of the artist Cedric Flower. He was one of the founders of the Northbridge Children's Library, and also set up a Scholarship to honour the first Northbridge man killed in the Second World War. He was also secretary of the Northbridge Bowling Club; and Peacock Pathway at Northbridge is named in his honour. Arnie Peacock [WP284] took up mining prospecting in NSW after he left school. Taking a job with the Burma-Malay Tin Mining Company in 1932 he was first employed in Australia and in 1936 he was sent to Thailand (then known as Siam) to prospect and operate dredges at Katu, Penong, and in the Ratrut Basin. He was evacuated to Australia when the Japanese invaded Thailand in 1942. He then joined the AIF and served for three years in New Guinea. He returned to Thailand in 1947 as Prospecting Manager for Burma-Malay Tin. He came back to Australia in 1950 and worked as Timekeeper for the Commonwealth Housing Commission. He went to Malaysia in 1953 to work for the Sungibidor Dredging Company. He transferred to the Peninsula Tin Company in Langswan, Thailand, in 1957, but returned to Sydney almost immediately. From that year he was Office Manager for Brickworks Ltd at their Eastwood yard. He retired in 1975 and lived at Epping. Eric (Rick) Peacock [WP285] was a draftsman who worked for Dunlop Purdriau and Mort's Dock.³⁸ He then became an Estimating Engineer with Babcock and Wilcox in Sydney.

Thomas and Clara Peacock. Taken about 1900.A major upheaval occurred in the life of William Peacock [WP7] and his family in 1895 when he was made bankrupt when farming on "The Island", Georges Plains. "Denton Holme" of which "The Island" was a part was originally granted to Rev John Espie Keane, the first Rector of Holy Trinity, Kelso³⁹, and was later bought by George Larnach (father of Michael Hamer's second wife [MH]) and, in 1872, by Francis Croaker, of "Schiraz", Perth. The combined properties, "Harrington" and "Denton Holme" were frequently referred to as "Keane's Grant". Croaker was an auctioneer in Bathurst, and he and his family bought up large areas of land around Bathurst. A serious economic depression set in during the 1890s and the Croakers must have found themselves experiencing a liquidity crisis. William Peacock owed a substantial amount of rent and Croaker foreclosed without warning, selling up William Peacock's goods for a song; after the sale William Peacock still owed Croaker £105. Croaker had seized all his stock and farming implements. A trolley for which William had paid £40 was sold for £6, a reaping machine for which he had paid £75 went for £10; horses which he had bought for £20 each were sold for £6 a head.⁴⁰ All William retained was his household furniture valued at £5. He also owed the Storekeepers £13, Massey and Company, machinery importers, £30 (the balance on the reaper and binder), Tremain's Flour Mill £20 (for seed wheat and flour), Bill Paul, saddler, £5, and William's brother Robert £9 for threshing. This must have dashed William's hopes considerably. Prior to his bankruptcy we find him listed in the Electoral Rolls as a Freeholder of a property in South Bathurst in 1889-90. Perhaps he had sold this to finance his farming venture. But he did not give up; he now moved to Wellington where he took up a property and seems to have prospered.⁴¹ Some of his family must have returned from Wellington to Bathurst: Frances Bull [WP712] has a Bible which was presented to her mother, Jane Oakes [WP71], by the officers and teachers of the Stewart Street Methodist Sabbath School, Bathurst, on August 24, 1902. At this time also some of the older Peacock girls did Art courses at the Bathurst Technical College with their cousins Jinnie and Nell Hamer [AH44, AH46]. Edward Peacock, we learn from Eva's letter⁴², set off for other parts of NSW in search of employment. He served in France in the First World War, married an English bride and returned to settle at Ulladulla.

Robert Peacock [WP2] and Jonathan Peacock [WPK] leased parts of "Harrington" in the 1890s. "Harrington" was between "Denton Holme" and "Wardell", the Hamer property, and was also owned at that stage by Croaker. Jonathan's name frequently appears as John in the lease agreements.

William Peacock. Taken about 1945.When the economy began to revive before the turn of the century, the second and third generation settlers in Queen Charlotte's Vale turned their minds to self-improvement both in a material and cultural sense. This was a time when parents resisted the notion that the only opening for their girls was domestic service. Two of the Hamer girls, Nell [AH46], who later married Albert Shute [WP5L], and Alma [AH4J], who married Jack Turnbull, learnt the piano and played the organ at the Perth Wesleyan Church. The school teacher from The Lagoon, named Woolley, conducted a large choir at the church, and there was considerable social interchange between the Wesleyan congregations at Perth, White Rock and Dennis Island. Ellis Hamer [AH4] bought his daughters a piano from H Cecil Slade and Co, Bathurst, for £40 in 1893. Clive Hamer [AH478, WP698] still has the piano and the receipts, and his daughters learnt to play on the same instrument that their great aunts had used at the turn of the century. At this time Jane Peacock [WP71] drew a very competent charcoal portrait of her grandfather, Andrew Hamer [AH] from a faded photo, the only one in existence after his death in 1893,⁴³ and a portrait of the Bathurst Wesleyan Minister, Rev W G Taylor.⁴⁴ She also submitted a very detailed design for a penny stamp in a competition to mark the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.⁴⁵

The 1890s was a period of spiritual revival as well, throughout New South Wales in general. A remarkable evangelistic programme was held at the White Rock Wesleyan Church which was attended by people from The Lagoon, Dennis Island and Perth as well as from White Rock itself. It was reported that there were "Old time cryings out for disquietude of soul. Big farmers [were] weeping like children and calling to God for mercy. Young fellows, hitherto utterly godless, boldly coming out to the penitent form to plead for salvation."⁴⁶ As a result large numbers of people were converted to Christianity and the Wesleyan Church at White Rock had to be lengthened by twelve feet, at a cost of £102/7/10, to cope with the increased congregation; and a new organ was bought. The Peacocks, Hamers and Bells would have been among those who attended. Samuel Short Hunt [JT22] would have played a leading role.⁴⁷ A later report⁴⁸ says: "The wave of blessings that rose at White Rock has swept over the hills to Perth where last week continuous services were held, and between twenty and thirty confessed conversion. Night after night the church was packed to the doors⁴⁹ and at times the influence of the Holy Spirit's presence was manifest in a remarkable manner. The majority of converts are young men." Two young men from Perth, Leonard Peacock [AH56, WP76] and George Pittendrigh, joined the Methodist ministry in consequence.

William and Ann Peacock's eldest daughter Jane Peacock [WP71] married Clifford Oakes who was born of a pioneering family at Wheo, near Crookwell, a brother of Archdeacon G S Oakes, who was Rector of Holy Trinity Kelso, from 1894 to 1924, also serving as Administrator of the Bathurst Diocese of the Church of England from 1911. He wrote Pioneers of Bathurst - Kelso (1923).⁵⁰ The Oakes family were descended from Francis Oakes, William Shelley and Rowland Hassall, three of eleven artisan missionaries who had gone to the Pacific islands with the London Missionary Society in 1796. Clifford Oakes's grandfather came to Sydney from Tahiti, and Shelley came from Tonga in 1800. Clifford's great grandparents, John Small and Mary Parker, came as convicts on the First Fleet and married in Sydney on October 12, 1788. Their eldest daughter, Rebecca Small, married the missionary, Francis Oakes. Clifford's great uncle, Rev James Hassall, was a prominent pioneer clergyman in NSW; his son, Rev Rowland Hassall, married Rev Samuel Marsden's daughter Ann, from whom the historian Professor Manning Clark and the poet A D Hope were descended.

After learning Art at the Bathurst Technical College, Jane eked out a living by teaching painting privately in Bathurst. She did not marry until she was 33 years of age;and her husband, Clifford Oakes, was also extremely poor. He was a good horseman with an expert knowledge of horses and had been a drover, but when they married he was employed as manager of "Bunamagoo", near Rockley, but was unfortunately not well paid. They moved to Sydney, living first with Jane's mother at Eastwood. Clifford then got a job first in the gasworks and then with a backyard manufacturer named, at Annandale, and they lived at Burwood. A small inheritance in 1912 enabled them to buy a small property at Fairfield West with a rudimentary house which they gradually improved, and they developed an orchard. In 1915, Clifford, then 52, declared he was only 49 so that he could enlist in the AIF in the Remount section, serving in Egypt. He was repatriated to Australia in 1916, no doubt because of his age, and got a job at first working for the local Council in road maintenance and then as an attendant in the Parramatta Mental Hospital. Jane conducted the Smithfield Post Office in the family sitting room and, later, Clifford delivered the mail by horse and sulky. Clifford took an active part in community affairs at Fairfield, first agitating for the extension of the water supply, since the local women had to do their washing at a waterhole. With others, he founded a Progress Association and was its first president and was later secretary, working for improvements to roads, the establishment of a school and the building of a hall. They had a public telephone installed in Oakes's house. Clifford was appointed a Justice of the Peace (JP) in 1919 and was an alderman of Fairfield Council from 1926 to 1928. He worked for electricity extensions to Fairfield West and Jane was given the honour of switching it on. Clifford suffered a broken hip in an accident with a horse in his old age. In 1944, the people of Fairfield presented him with a framed address and a wallet of notes in appreciation of his work for the district. Their children married and settled in the Fairfield district.

Like her parents, Jane was an ardent Methodist, and ran Sunday School classes on the verandah of their house, but inexplicably became a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses about 1918, and spent the rest of her life proselytising for that sect, walking all around the district with a portable gramophone and a case full of tracts. Her husband and family were tolerant but refused to join her, despite the fact that meetings were held in their home and members of the Jehovah's Witnesses often stayed as guests, sometimes for long periods. Clifford died in 1945, and in 1950 Jane sold the house to her granddaughter and her husband, Audrey and Ray Gendle [WP7131], and joined a party of Jehovah's Witnesses touring England and America. On her return she lived with various Witness families in Fairfield, but, as she grew frailer, she went to live with her daughter Wyn Haynes [WP711]. When she died in 1963 a Theocratic funeral service was held in accordance with her wishes.

William Peacock's eldest son Ernest Peacock [WP72] went off to South America as a missionary. He married a South American, and contact with his descendants has been lost. Leonard Peacock [WP76] trained as a Methodist Minister and, over a period from 1905 to 1944, served at Wentworth, Woodburn, Brunswick, Tweed River, Junee, Young, Forbes, Lakemba, Bondi, Haberfield, Five Dock, Earlwood, Bowral and Parramatta. He was Chairman of the Western District of the Methodist Church from 1921 to 1923, and of the Bowral District from 1939 to 1943. He was Financial Secretary of the NSW Methodist Conference from 1928 to 1930, and again in 1937 and 1938. During the period from 1926 to 1931 he sailed a dinghy down the Murray, Darling and Murrumbidgee Rivers, with the Rev W T Dyer (Darling and Murrumbidgee) and the Rev Dr John Churchward (Murray River). He used photographs from these trips as the basis for what used to be called in those days Lantern Lectures, travelling around the churches of NSW to raise money for Home Missions. He called the series: Down the Murray in a Dinghy. After retirement in 1947 he and his wife toured the state again on behalf of the Home Missions Department, and he wrote a series of articles for the NSW Methodist, the Church's official journal, under the heading: Where Our Caravan Has Rested. He also wrote a number of articles for the Sydney Morning Herald. All of them reveal his keen interest in the conservation of nature through anti-soil erosion practices, and in closer settlement.⁵¹ He was President of the Repatriation Committee appointed by the Commonwealth government with the responsibility of placing returned soldiers on the land after the First World War. He had a profound love of the bush, no doubt gained during his growing up at Perth. He was a farmer at heart; and he put his knowledge and understanding of farmers to good use in serving his country congregations. When Rev Arthur Oliver wrote a tribute to him in the Methodist after his death, he commented on his love for the land and recalled: "We were talking about gum trees. He said: 'Arthur, they talk to me.' He loved rivers and explored them. He loved mountains and rain, and his face carried their benediction."

WILLIAM AND REBECCA PEACOCK'S ELDEST DAUGHTER, Elizabeth Peacock [WP1], was four years old when the family migrated to Australia. She had memories of the sea voyage, the trip over the Blue Mountains, the arrival at Kelso and early days on the Campbell's River, which she passed on to grandchildren. She married Henry Francis Shute, whose family appears to have been neighbours on the Campbell's River, on August 22, 1855, at All Saints' Cathedral, Bathurst. They lived first on the Campbell's River, and then for almost twenty years on the road between Georges Plains and Cow Flat, near Bell's, where Henry carried limestone from Bell's quarries and copper from the Cow Flat copper mines by horse-drawn trolley. This place was a little more isolated than the Campbell's River or those parts of Queen Charlotte's Vale closer to Bathurst, and Elizabeth told stories of how she was frightened by visits to her house of aborigines demanding food.

THE SECOND DAUGHTER, CHARLOTTE PEACOCK [WP5], married Henry's brother George. The Shute family has an interesting ancestry. They were descended from two convicts, Anthony Rope and Elizabeth Powley (or Pulley), who came out on the First Fleet in 1788, Anthony on the Alexander, Elizabeth on the Friendship. Anthony came from Rochford, in Essex where, in 1785, at the age of 26, he was sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing items of clothing to the value of 35 shillings. Elizabeth Powley was sentenced to death in Norfolk in 1783 for stealing food valued at six shillings and sixpence (bacon, flour, raisins and twenty four ounces of butter) and cloth valued at one shilling. She was 22 years of age. Together with several other female convicts she was in trouble even before the Friendship left England for disorderly conduct; they were selling sexual favours to the Marines on board. Lieutenant Ralph Clark recorded in his Journal on Wednesday, October 3, 1787, that Elizabeth was pregnant as a result of this escapade; she miscarried before she reached Sydney.⁵² She was also in trouble for fighting; Clark had her and three other women put in irons for this offence on June 9, 1787, but Captain Meredith released them ten days later. Clark recorded (June 17, 1787): "ther was never three great [sic] whores living than they are, the four of them that Went throu the Bulk head while we lay at the Mother Bank -- I am convinced the [sic] will not be long out of them the [sic] are a disgrase to ther Whole Sex." Elizabeth Pulley was not deterred as a result of these episodes; on July 3, 1787, Clark recorded that he "was cald up by the Capt of the Ship last night informing use [sic] that his men had brock throu the Womens Convict Bulkhead again and the [sic] he had caught four of the women in the men's place -- four of the number that had gone throu while we lay at the Mother Bank & two of them that I had put in Irons while we lay at Teneriff for fighten [sic]" The Captain had the men flogged and ordered the women to be put in irons, which were removed on August 13, 1787. Elizabeth Pulley was still not convinced, since she and another woman had been fighting again on August 13, despite the restrictiveness of leg irons.

As soon as the First Fleet arrived, in an attempt to encourage morality and order, Governor Phillip required the Chaplain, Rev Richard Johnson, to marry as many convicts as wanted to marry, without enquiring too deeply into whether some of them might already have been married back in England. Anthony Rope and Elizabeth Powley did not take advantage of this early offer, but decided to marry on May 19, 1788. A week later they held a supper party at their tent to celebrate their wedding. They served to the six friends present a meat pie; and five days later were tried with two of their guests for stealing goat's flesh, the property of Lieutenant George Johnston. They were acquitted when evidence was given that they had found the goat already dead and had cut meat from it. The only animal capable of killing a goat would have been a dingo. They were indeed fortunate, since stealing food in the early years of settlement at Sydney Cove was a hanging matter, because food was so scarce.

Anthony Rope was given twenty lashes on two occasions for neglecting his work. He received a further 25 lashes in 1791 for buying shoes from a fellow convict. Despite this, he and his wife, who by now had two children, were granted 70 acres of land at The Ponds, two miles north-east of Parramatta, in December, 1791. They subsequently had six more children, and ran a farm on South Creek, between Penrith and Windsor (then called Green Hills). The second child, Mary Rope, from the age of about sixteen, lived with Lieutenant Thomas Hobby, an officer of the NSW Corps who had arrived in Sydney in 1798 and was Commandant in the Hawkesbury district where he was granted 100 acres of land at Mulgrave. It was common for officers of the Marine Corps, and later of the NSW Corps, to take wives without benefit of clergy, some of them having wives back in England. Hobby was in a different category, since he had brought his wife out with him; she was childless, and he set her up in a house in Sydney and took Mary Rope into his house at Mulgrave. She bore him two, perhaps three, children, and then married Michael Ryan, an emancipist. Hobby was one of the ringleaders of the Rum Rebellion against Governor Bligh, actually one of the three officers who went to Government House to arrest him. Hobby's Yards, near Blayney, bears his name, but what connection he had with this place is not known. Michael and Mary Ryan's son, T J Ryan, became a Member of Parliament in New South Wales, a prominent racehorse owner, a very successful farmer and a philanthropist. The second child of Thomas Hobby and Mary Rope, Elanor Hobby, married John Shute, the father of Henry and George Shute. John Shute was himself a convict, born near Bristol, and transported to Sydney on the Malabar in 1819 at the age of nineteen. He and Elanor settled in the Bathurst district, evidently on the Campbell's River, and are buried at Georges Plains.

George and Charlotte Shute moved from their residence on the Vale Road to Fitzgerald's Valley probably in the early 1870s. Church records at St John's, Georges Plains, show them contributing to church funds at Georges Plains in 1875 and at Fitzgerald's Valley in 1877.⁵³ At Fitzgerald's Valley they bought portion of a property originally owned by William Lawson, one of the three explorers who originally crossed the Blue Mountains, and established a farm which they called "Pine Hope", and constructed a substantial brick homestead in 1896; they gradually added to their farm by buying up several adjoining blocks. They sold it in 1908 to Tom Gordon; it was later renamed "Te Koona" and became the centre of a famous racehorse stud. They moved to "Roselands" on the Vale Road north of Perth in 1908, purchasing the property from Peter Furness. This farm, still occupied by their grandson Arnie Shute [WP5L2], has a fine old homestead built in two parts, the older part of stone and rammed earth with exposed wooden posts and beams, built by Mr Rodwell, who began the dairy there that the Furnesses and Shutes continued. Rodwell's butter was the chief supply of that commodity for Bathurst before other dairy farmers in the district built the cooperative dairy factory in 1901. The more recent part of the homestead was built of brick by the Furness family. The Shutes, like their predecessors, conducted a milk run to Bathurst, carried on by their son Albert [WP5L] and his son Arnie Shute [WP5L2] in their turns. Arnie married Ison Gold, descended from another pioneering family at Fitzgerald's Valley. George and Charlotte Shute retired to Bondi, where they died, Charlotte in 1921 and George in 1923.

Their son Bill Shute [WP55] carried on a very successful lucerne growing farm and dairy on the flats of the Macquarie River at Kelso, on a property previously owned by Thomas Kite, one of the original ten convicts who built the road over the Blue Mountains. (He had started out by running the Dun Cow Inn at Kelso, and was later one of the pioneers of the Orange district.) There is a very impressive two-storey homestead on this property, named "Woolston", built by Thomas Kite's family in 1890. Bill Shute married Isabella Earp, who lived at Wimbledon, where she was organist of St Stephen's Church. Another son, Arthur Shute [WP58], was a shearer. Jane Shute [WP56] married Henry Smith of Fitzgerald's Valley. They farmed for some years at Wimbledon and then moved to Sydney where Henry was a carpenter. Henry's brother Arnold Shute [WP5M] married Jane's niece Emma Smith.

Elizabeth Peacock and Henry Shute [WP1] had ten children. When their fifth child Sarah Jane [WP15] was born in 1867, Henry was described as a farmer and, in 1877, when their youngest daughter Rebecca [WP1J] was born, his occupation was given as labourer. Henry died in 1877, when Rebecca was only a few days old. The family had moved from Cow Flat to live in Piper Street, Bathurst; Elizabeth continued to live in the Bathurst district in various residences for another 43 years. At one time she lived in a cottage on the hill near the convent at Perth. Ten years after Henry died she married Robert Derepas, but the marriage was not successful and they soon separated and she lived on alone, reverting to the name of Shute, occasionally taking in grandchildren, such as Lena Shute [WP113], to make it more convenient in this case for her to attend the Public School in Howick Street than it would have been from her parents' home in Violet Street, South Bathurst. At that time Elizabeth was living in Bentinck Street, just off Lambert Street. She suffered very badly from arthritis as she got older, but still did very beautiful crochet work. Derepas was her legal name at her death in 1920, but her headstone records her as Elizabeth Derepas Shute.

Her eldest son Harry Shute [WP11] had a barber's shop in Howick Street, Bathurst, in the 1920s. His daughter Lena [WP113] married Walter Crofts, who worked most of his life in charge of the Manchester department of the Western Stores and Edgleys, in William Street, Bathurst. His family, who had a bootmaker's shop next door to Heath's Cafe in George Street, were descended from Charles Crofts, one of a group of 264 lacemakers who migrated en masse to Australia in 1848, 121 of them settling in Bathurst.⁵⁴ Walter and Lena Crofts lived for many years in a house that had been Pixie College in William Street, now demolished. Lola Crofts [WP1131] has been a music teacher in Bathurst for many years. Elizabeth Shute's eldest daughter Eleanor (Ellen) Shute married Phillip Hicks. They lived for some time in a cottage that stood at the top of the lane that runs up along the northern side of Hamer's property. Their eldest daughter Mary Hicks [WP121] married Richard Hornery and lived at Bathurst and Wellington.⁵⁵ Various members of their family have been farmers at Gunningbland and in the Parkes district. Their daughter Thelma Hornery [WP1212], who married Allan Rawson, was a talented pianist. Her brother Ted Hornery [WP1215] was a very competent sportsman, playing Australian Rules football, tennis, cricket and bowls. He represented the Far West of New South Wales in cricket in 1928, at the age of sixteen. He was Parkes tennis champion in 1933 and 1934. Three of Phillip and Ellen Hicks's sons, Alf Hicks [WP122], Sid Hicks [WP123] and Walter Hicks [WP125], served in France in the First World War; both Alf and Walter died as a result.

Valerie Shute [WP116] married Harry Brindley, who was a very talented entertainer who played many leading roles in Bathurst Musical and Dramatic Society productions in the 1930s and was much in demand as a comedian in church concerts. Their son Wes Brindley [WP1161], after completing his early education at Bathurst Primary School, Bathurst High School and the Metropolitan Business College in Bathurst, where he was dux in 1938, joined the Bathurst City Council as a clerk in that year. After serving in the AIF in the Second World War he qualified as a Town Clerk and County Clerk in 1946 and was appointed Deputy Shire Clerk of the Jemalong Shire Council in Forbes in 1947. He became Town Clerk in Molong in 1949 and, when the Molong Municipality was amalgamated with the Molong Shire in 1951, he held the position of Deputy Shire Clerk of the enlarged local government area. In 1956 he was appointed Deputy County Clerk of the Ophir County Council at Orange. He was County Clerk of this body, which is responsible for electricity distribution in the central west, from 1963 to 1970, when he became a Chartered Accountant in private practice, first at Orange and then at Port Macquarie.

Sarah Jane Shute [WP15] married George Ranger, the son of a butcher from Grafton, who had moved to Bathurst with his mother after his father died, where he became a brickmaker and also made a name for himself as a sprinter. George and Sarah lived at Kelso for some time and later moved to Granville and then to Newcastle, where he worked for the Sulphide Corporation at Cockle Creek, Boolaroo. Their son Lyle Ranger [WP155] was killed in action in France on April 25, 1917, when, with others, he was setting explosives in a tunnel which exploded prematurely. He is buried at Ypres. James Ratcliffe [WP153311], a descendant of Sarah Ranger, has a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Mathematics, while his sister Sarah Ratcliffe [WP153312] is completing a similar degree with Honours in Mathematics.

George Shute [WP17] was a Railways employee in Bathurst, a keen trade unionist and a member of the Labor Party.⁵⁶ In 1919 he was one of eleven candidates for Labor pre-selection for the State seat of Bathurst, together with Ben Chifley and C A (Gus) Kelly. The election was called at short notice and the pre-selection was made by the State Electoral Council instead of by vote of members. Neither Ben Chifley nor George Shute was selected. Those were the days of multi-member electorates (three per electorate in country areas), and it was usual for parties to nominate more than one candidate in each electorate; and the two sitting members and Gus Kelly were selected. Gus Kelly remained member for Bathurst for the next twenty years. Ben Chifley sought nomination for the State seat of Bathurst again in 1924 and again was unsuccessful. He gained pre-selection for the federal seat of Macquarie in 1925, but at that election was defeated by the Conservative candidate, A G Manning. He was not elected to parliament until 1928, when there was a big swing to Labor because of the Depression, and he remained member for Macquarie until his death in 1951. The Manifesto which George Shute issued for the pre-selection ballot of 1919 said he had been Secretary of the Bathurst Branch of the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service Association for two years, and a member of the executive of that union; President of the South Bathurst Labor League, delegate to the Federal Electoral Council, President of the No-Conscription Campaign, and a member of the Bathurst Eight-Hour Committee. His brand of politics was directly opposite that of his cousin Bob Peacock [WP26], who stood several times (unsuccessfully) as the Conservative candidate for Bathurst at that time. It would have been interesting if George had gained Labor pre-selection and the contest had been fought between these two cousins.⁵⁷

Henry and Elizabeth Shute's sixth child Annie Shute [WP16] married Robert Bell in Bathurst in 1891, and they moved to Western Australia in the 1890s. They settled at Three Springs, near Geraldton. Their fifth child Robert Bell [WP165] married Ena Bruning; and their son, under the name of Robert Bruning [WP1651], became a famous television actor and producer in Sydney. He produced Australia's first official telemovie, Is There Anybody There? He has also written and narrated films, including a short film entitled Heaven Help Us (1967), a feature film Ned Kelly (1976), and many others. He was the narrator for Sunday Too Far Away (1975).

Henry and Elizabeth Shute's youngest son Thomas John Shute [WP18], migrated to Western Australia in the Depression of the 1890s as well. He married Martha McKay (known as Annie) in Northam, after she had sailed across to join him (on the sailing ship Rockley) in 1896. She came from Orange. They established their home in Bellevue, near Midland Junction, which was the headquarters for the building of the new railway system. Arthur and Annie Hill [AH41] also lived at Bellevue when they first moved to Western Australia in the 1890s.⁵⁸ They may not have known each other very well in Bathurst, but must have had some contact when they both settled in the very small and new suburb of Bellevue, although, because the Hills were keen Methodists and the Shutes were nominal members of the Church of England, their paths are likely to have been quite divergent. Thomas and Annie Shute had five children. He worked, not on the Railways, but at the Meatworks at Midland, and later moved to Wyndham, and later again to Townsville, where he died, while his family stayed on at Bellevue. The eldest son Percy Shute [WP181] served as an artillery gunner in the First World War. He had a son and two daughters; the son, Brian Shute [WP1811] was killed in action in World War II, when HMAS Colac was sunk off Bougainville on May 25, 1945. The second child Bette Shute [WP1812], married Frank Usher, who became a prominent State High School Headmaster in Western Australia. Their son Brian Usher [WP18121], having completed a Science degree with Honours at the University of Western Australia, went on to earn a Ph D in Physics, and holds a senior position with Telecom in Melbourne. Bette's sister Maureen Shute [WP1813] married Ted Rosher, who runs a farm machinery sales and service company in Perth. Their eldest son Cameron Rosher [WP18131] works with his father in the machinery business; their eldest daughter Andre Rosher [WP18132] is an occupational therapist; the second daughter Angela Rosher [WP18323] is a bank officer; and the youngest, Bryan Rosher [WP18124] is a student nurse. Norman Shute [WP184] married Ethel Maley, a descendant of Frederick and Fredericke Waldeck, German settlers in Western Australia who worked as Wesleyan missionaries with the aborigines at Wanneroo, Guildford and Geraldton in the 1840s and 1850s; and whose descendants developed the Wanneroo Plant Nurseries in Western Australia.

BECKY PEACOCK [WP8] MARRIED TOM DREW, who was a fettler on the railways. Theirs was one of the first weddings recorded in the Registry of the new St John's Church at Georges Plains, on April 19, 1870. It may actually have occurred at The Lagoon, which was part of the same Parish, but, since Tom's sister Mary Ann Drew was married at the same ceremony, it is more likely to have been at Georges Plains, where the Drew family lived. Becky Drew became the gatekeeper at Georges Plains and they lived in the gatehouse. One of their daughters, Lillian [WP83], married Wal Dixon Swift, an enginedriver stationed at Bathurst. At the time of his retirement, he was No 1 on the promotions list of drivers in NSW. Ben Chifley, later Prime Minister of Australia, was his fireman for many years.Wal and Lil's eldest son Gordon Dixon Swift [WP831] was Principal of various schools in New South Wales, an Inspector of Schools and at one time Governor of Rotary for the South Coast District. Their daughter Vera [WP832] married Cliff Sloggett, a descendant of the White Rock family, two of whom had married Hamers.⁵⁹ Another of the Dixon Swift daughters, Lorna [WP834], married Wal Wilcox, an Art teacher, who was a pioneer lecturer at Balmain, Wagga and Newcastle Teachers' Colleges. When the Newcastle College became a College of Advanced Education he was in charge of the Campus in the University of Newcastle where he established the first four-year course in Industrial Arts. After 31 years as a lecturer he was awarded an Honorary Degree in recognition of his contribution to education. Lorna and Wal's son Ron Wilcox [WP8343] has been a lecturer in Mathematics for 28 years in the School of Education at Wollongong University. Vera's son Brian Sloggett [WP8321] was also a school Principal; in fact, he was Principal of The Lagoon school from 1961 to 1967. His daughter Kathy Sloggett [WP83212] was a TAFE teacher at Moruya.

Tom and Becky Drew's daughter, Pearl Drew [WP85], married Leslie Windsor, a descendant of a pioneering family from Evans Plains. Hilda Drew [WP87] married Frank Chamberlain, and several of their descendants live at Lithgow; and Mabel Drew[WP88] married William Bayliss of Bathurst. Eric Chamberlain [WP875] married Marie Gleeson; he was Citizen of the Year in Deniliquin and was awarded the Paul Harris Rotary Award for his dedication to the welfare of the aged and his work towards the establishment of a sixty-bed geriatric complex at Deniliquin and his work in the Deniliquin Hostel for the Aged. Their eldest son Terry Chamberlain [WP8751] is a solicitor in Canberra, in the firm of Crowley Chamberlain and Associates. His brother Barry Chamberlain [WP8752] runs a real estate business and a small farming property at Deniliquin. Their sister Kaylene Chamberlain [WP8753] is a teacher and has also worked in public relations, while Peter Chamberlain [WP8754] has completed an Economics degree, and Tony Chamberlain [WP8755] is a chiropracter. Gay Chamberlain [WP8731], daughter of Alec Chamberlain, married Kevin Gee who is an electrician in the coal mines at Lithgow. Jann Chamberlain [WP8742] also married an electrician, Stephen Hamilton, who works in the power house at Doyalson. Millie Chamberlain [WP874] married Kevin Felgenhauer who works at the Small Arms Factory at Lithgow. Their daughter Marilyn Felgenhauer [WP8741] married Kevin Slaven who works at the power house at Wallerawang. Their second daughter Robynn Felgenhauer [WP8742] married Colin Barker, who is a builder at Port Macquarie. Ivy Chamberlain [WP876] married William Hatch who works for 3CAD, Lithgow.

ANNIE PEACOCK [WPJ] MARRIED JAMES MARTIN, who was born in England in 1846. At first they carried on farming at Sofala and Peak Hill. There is a story from the Sofala period that a bushranger (unidentified) once called at their home for food. The story goes that James hid his eldest son Harry [WPJ1] in the haystack while Annie supplied the food. The family moved to Sydney where they conducted a hotel near the old Mortuary platform at Central Railway and then a butcher's shop at Newtown. Their sons Frank Martin [WPJ9] and Edwin Martin [WPJ4] were also butchers. Edwin's shop was in Elizabeth Street, Strawberry Hills, not far from Central Station; he and his family lived above the shop. Harry Martin Senior [WPJ1] worked for the Tramways in Sydney. His son James Martin [WPJ12] was apprenticed to Mauri Brothers and Thomson, an engineering firm, at the age of fourteen. By the age of 24 he was appointed Chief Engineer of that firm, the beginning of a brilliant career. During the Second World War he was in charge of the manufacture of ammunition by his firm and, after the War, became Manager for Mauri Brothers' Engineering's total Australian operations. He was considered to be the foremost authority on Brewery Engineering in Australia. He worked for the same firm for 54 years. His interest in breweries came about because of his aunt's involvement in Resch's Brewery in Sydney. She was Rebecca Maud Martin [WPJ3], whose husband, Jack McGarry, was a partner in Resch's Brewery. They lived in a house in Centennial Park which was later bought by Pat Hills, who was Lord Mayor of Sydney and a Minister in a succession of Labor governments in NSW. Their son, James McGarry [WPJ32], was a pharmacist in Sydney. Annie Martin [WPJ6] worked at the Women's Reformatory at Long Bay, where she rose to be second-in-command at about the same time as her cousin Jack Peacock [WP28] was second-in-command of the State Penitentiary nearby. She never married; relatives remember her as a fine Christian woman who spent her life serving women in trouble. As a young woman she was particularly friendly with her cousins Belle Loudon [WP69] and Joe Loudon [WP6J]. Belle Loudon’s Postcard Album⁶⁰ contains lots of cards which Annie wrote to her two cousins, almost invariably lamenting the fact (or at least her perception) that they were neglecting her and envying their social contacts with old friends at Bathurst. Her regret reaches a piquant level almost of anguish when Belle marries Art Hamer [AH47] and Joe becomes engaged to Susie Thompson. There is almost a degree of pathos in the fact that she remained unmarried. Ethel Martin [WPJ7] was also a special friend of Belle Loudon; she married Bert Lewis who for many years had a shoe shop in Bathurst; he called himself "Lewis the Shoeist". Edwin Martin's son, Stan Martin [WPJ42] worked for the Sydney County Council for 49 years, rising to the position of Supervisor of Installations Inspections. Another son, Harry Martin [WPJ43] was a photographer who established a name for himself as a sports photographer for the Sydney Morning Herald. He was highly regarded amongst his journalistic colleagues who included such notables as former Test cricketers Bill O'Reilly, Richie Benaud and Ray Robinson, as well as Bob Slessor, brother of the famous poet, Kenneth Slessor. Harry Martin had the unique distinction up to the time of his death in 1969 of covering every Test cricket match in Australia since the Second World War. His pictures appeared in cricketing books and magazines all over the world. He served the John Fairfax newspaper group for 41 years. A tribute to him in The Journalist, the official organ of the Australian Journalists' Association, said: "He had the true dedication of the profession. He hated being beaten on the job. He had a "news sense" which made him a joy to work with.... He was unflappable. He was a good mixer; he was one of the first in the press gang whom the Duke of Norfolk, when manager of the MCC team here a few years ago, called by his Christian name.... Visiting newspaper men, especially those aiming to produce a book, sought his assistance." The writer of this article, Tom Goodman, tells how a cricket writer for the London Daily Mail, Ian Wooldridge, described Harry Martin as the world's best cricket photographer, and wrote a feature article on him for his newspaper. This article told how the fascinated Wooldridge watched the photographers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground concentrating as hard as any opening batsman, and he asked a young cameraman standing next to Harry: "When do you shoot - on instinct, I suppose?" The young man pointed to Harry and said: "I shoot when he shoots." For some time Harry was also a specialist photographer on Rugby League football. Frank Martin [WPJ9] was President of the Canterbury-Bankstown Ambulance. Aubrey Martin [WPJK] worked for the Postmaster-General's Department. Charles Martin [WPJL] was a competitive cyclist who took part in cycle races at the Sydney Showground.

THE ELEVENTH CHILD OF WILLIAM AND REBECCA PEACOCK, Jonathan Peacock [WPK], married twice and had a large family. His first wife was Susannah Johnson, a member of the White Rock family whose brother Joe married Sarah Peacock [WP21], a daughter of Jonathan's elder brother Robert. Maude Peacock [WPK5] married Walter Gunning from White Rock whose family owned property alongside the Thompsons⁶¹ and inter-married with the Johnsons and the Gordons (Thompson descendants) at other points.

THOMAS PEACOCK [WPL], THE YOUNGEST of William and Rebecca Peacock's twelve children, married Clara Aitken, and lived for some years at White Rock, and then went to Wentworth Falls working as a railway fettler. Following the 1917 Railways Strike he lost his job but was subsequently reinstated, beginning with the lowly position of gatekeeper at Merrygoen. After that he served at various times at Bourke, Byrock and Talbragar. He retired at Brocklehurst, near Dubbo, and died in 1924 in the Rydalmere Hospital. His brother-in-law, James Loudon [WP6], died there two years later.⁶² Thomas Peacock's daughter Florence [WPl1] married Charles Wright, who was also a Railways fettler. This meant that they had to move fairly frequently and they had a hard struggle raising their five children. They retired to Toukley, on the Tuggerah Lakes, where their grandchildren remember spending many happy holidays, swimming, fishing and bushwalking. Thomas Peacock's second daughter Elsie [WPL2] married Alfred Ison, a member of a pioneering family from Troy, near Dubbo. He died at the age of 45, leaving a young family; many of their descendants still live in and around Dubbo. William Peacock [WPL3] became an engineer, beginning with an apprenticeship at the Clyde Engineering Works in Sydney. He served in the Light Horse during the First World War and, after the war, he served as an engineer in the coalmines at Wonthaggi in Victoria and at the Newport Power Station, and then transferred to the Australian Paper Mills at Fairfield. He became Chief Engineer at Bradford Mill in 1926 and held this position until 1934 when he began his own engineering firm in Melbourne, W D Peacock and Associates Pty Ltd. He remained active in this firm until his death in 1969 at the age of 80. His daughter, Muriel Siggins [WPL31], and her two sons Peter Siggins [WPL311] and Gary Siggins [WPL312], still carry on the business.

PHIL AND JANE CALLAGHAN [WP22] had nine children. The eldest, Gilbert Callaghan [WP221], was an all-round sportsman, but most outstanding as a rifle shooter. He won the Queen's Medal, the top Australian trophy for rifle shooting. He married Mildred Barnes, whose mother, Mary Loftus, was the niece of Sir Augustus Loftus, Governor of NSW from 1879 to 1885, and a daughter of Jacob Barnes, of Rockley. This Jacob Barnes was the stepson of Jacob Barnes, who was one of the original buyers of portion of the Wardell Estate, from whom Andrew Hamer bought part of his farm. The original Jacob Barnes was a blacksmith who came to Australia from Lancashire in 1837. He was very successful, and bought up a lot of land in the Bathurst district.

Ab Callaghan [WP222] and his brother Frank Callaghan [WP223] served in the First World War in the Light Horse Division. Ab's wife died young and they had no children. He stayed on with his parents to run the farm on the Vale Road at Perthville which they called "The Pines". Laura Callaghan [WP224] married Charles Willott, a member of an old family who settled in Queen Charlotte's Vale in the 1840s, about the same time as Andrew Hamer. In later generations, other descendants of the Willott family married descendants of the Hamer and Peacock families. Ella Callaghan [WP226] married Frank Pratley, a member of a pioneering family who lived at "Melton", Georges Plains. The story of the courtship of Frank Pratley and Ella Callaghan was told in a letter to the Bathurst Times written by Frank Callaghan as a tribute to Frank Pratley after the latter had died.⁶³ He recalls how, during a drought in 1902, his sister Ella, then only eight years of age, cared for a number of pet lambs whose mothers had died in the drought, in the harness room at their home at "The Pines" on the Vale Road, Perth. The Pratley family, passing on their way to Bathurst occasionally, brought a lamb for Ella to care for. The friendship thus established between Frank Pratley and Ella Callaghan matured as they got older, and they married in 1914 when Ella was nineteen. Clem Callaghan [WP225] learnt butchering with his father at Perthville and later conducted a butcher's shop in William Street, Bathurst; he was one of the original Directors of the company that was set up to establish the Bathurst radio station 2BS which began operations in 1937. Since Ab had no children and all his brothers had gone on to other careers, the farm at Perthville passed to Clem's son Doug Callaghan [WP2251].

Elsie Callaghan [WP227] married Arthur Kemp, the son of her parents' old friend, the Perth schoolteacher. After William Kemp had moved to Sydney with his family in 1883 they often spent their holidays with the Callaghans in Perth. Elsie had developed osteomyelitis in 1902 at the age of five. Medical advice seemed to suggest amputation of a leg but Phil Callaghan sought another opinion which resulted in a series of 24 operations to scrape the bone of the leg. It was in the days before sophisticated prosthetics, so to avoid damage to the leg Elsie was moved around by her parents and her older brothers and sisters in a makeshift pram. She was unable to attend school and was taught by one of the Furness girls from "Roselands", further down the Vale Road. Arthur Kemp was ten years older than Elsie but as a young man he fell in love with her. Realising that she was too young to be courted he removed himself to North Queensland where he operated open-air picture theatres, running roller skating rinks on the same premises in the off season, in Townsville and Mackay. Around 1913 when he was 27 and Elsie was 17, he bought a car and drove it to Perthville with the intention of making an impression on the young lady; but she was too embarrassed to be seen in what she regarded as an infernal, new-fangled contraption, since cars were rare in Queen Charlotte's Vale at that time. Fortunately, her mother was not so abashed; she volunteered for a drive, thus breaking the ice sufficiently to allow Elsie to accept the invitation without loss of dignity. After their marriage in 1916 they lived in Bathurst for a number of years and moved to Sydney in 1930. Arthur Kemp conducted an electrical business in Market Street and, during and after the Second World War, Elsie Kemp conducted a photography kiosk in Her Majesty's Arcade until the building was demolished to make way for Centrepoint. She provided a contact at that spot for members of the family visiting Sydney. Their son William Kemp [WP2271] served in the AIF in the Middle East during the Second World War, and their daughter Helen [WP2272] joined the Australian Women's Army Service and after the war became a nurse.

The youngest child, Ralph Callaghan [WP2279], was an oil company representative for many years. He served as a Captain and Acting Major in New Guinea in World War II. He married Molly Elliott in 1932 in Boggabri where they lived for several years before moving to Albury where, amongst other community activities, he was President of Rotary. They retired to Melbourne.

Allen Callaghan [WP228] had a very distinguished career. He completed his early schooling at Perthville Primary School and Bathurst High School, and then went to the University of Sydney where he was a residential student at St Paul's College, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. He was selected as Rhodes Scholar for NSW in 1925 and went off to St John's College, Oxford, to do a Ph D. He carried out research into aspects of the anatomy of oats, a cereal crop he was very familiar with at Perthville. He represented St John's College and Oxford University in Rugby Union. He returned to Australia in 1928 with his doctorate and a further Bachelor of Science degree and carried on research in cereals and plant breeding at Cowra and Wagga Experiment Farms. He was appointed Principal of Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia in 1932 and served in that position with a most distinguished record for eighteen years. From 1949 to 1965 he was Director of Agriculture for South Australia. From 1959 to 1965 he served as Senior Commercial Counsellor to the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC, USA. From 1965 to 1971 he was Chairman of the Australian Wheat Board. While filling these positions he worked in other capacities as well: as Chairman of the Crown Lands Development Committee in South Australia (1941-1945); Assistant Director for Rural Industry of the Commonwealth Department of War Organisation and Industry (1942-3); Chairman of the South Australian Land Development Executive responsible for the War Service Land Settlement Programme (1945-51); and was Chairman of the Washington Sub-Committee on Surplus Disposals in 1962. He was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1945 for his service to agriculture and the war effort; he was awarded the Farrer Medal for Distinguished Service to Australian Agriculture in 1954; he was made a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science (FAIAS) in 1955; he won a Carnegie Travelling Scholarship in 1956 so that he could do lecturing and research overseas; and he was created a Knight Bachelor (Kt) in 1972 for his contribution to agricultural science and service to his country.

ERNEST AND BECKY BARRETT'S DAUGHTER Ruby Barrett [WP235] married Cecil Blumer. Their son Tony Blumer {WP2351] had a distinguished record in the Second World War. He was killed in action on returning from accompanying in a fighter plane a bombing raid over Europe. He had first joined the AIF as a despatch rider, since, with his brother Alex, he was very keen on motor bikes. He transferred to the RAAF in 1941 and was trained as a Pilot in Canada during 1942 under the Empire Air Training Scheme. In January, 1943, he was posted to England with the rank of Warrant Officer and during that year was shot down over France. He found his way into Spain where his bright red hair and freckles, inherited from the Peacocks, made him very conspicuous. He dyed his hair black and managed to get back to England. On his return from Spain he insisted on getting back into action but, within a week, on returning from a mission, he crashed into a mountain in Kent and was killed. His brother Alex Blumer [WP2352], also in the RAAF, held the rank of Flying Officer and was the hero of an incident off the coast of Italy in 1944, when he was the section leader of a squadron which, on shipping patrol, intercepted a formation of fourteen German Messerschmidts which dived out of the sun to attack an English vessel. He singled out one enemy plane and shot it down but was then attacked from behind by eight enemy fighters. Both his radiators were holed and a shell exploded on the throttle quadrant of his plane, smashing his first and third fingers which later had to be amputated. He damaged one of the Messerschmidts before he had to bail out and was picked up by the ship.⁶⁴ He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation accompanying this award said that he had destroyed at least one enemy aircraft and had destroyed large quantities of enemy transport on the ground. "Many of his operations have been completed in the face of fierce and accurate anti-aircraft fire, but despite that he.... invariably displayed outstanding courage and the keenest enthusiasm."

Tony and Alex's cousins, Bruce Alexander [WP2341] and Ross Alexander {WP2342], also served in the Second World War, Bruce in the Signal Corps in the AIF, and Ross as an engineer officer in the Navy. Ross's daughter, Christine Hiller {WP23422] is an artist in Tasmania, and won the Patricia Gooch Prize for Art in 1986 and 1987, and also has had portraits hung in the Archibald competition.

OF GEORGE WILLIS PEACOCK'S AND MARGARET PEARCE'S FAMILY, two sons, Ralph Peacock [WP277] and Keith Peacock [WP278], worked on the Railways, and both completed their careers at Wollongong where Keith died, but Ralph returned to Dubbo. Their brother Joe Peacock [WP272] had a son Russell Peacock [WP2722] who has a grazing property at Dubbo. Russell's son John Peacock [WP27224] runs a business in Sydney, called Yarran and Baxter Training, which researches, designs, promotes and conducts conferences and training courses for non-profit organisations.

Joe Peacock's brother, Bob Peacock [WP273], was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for conspicuous gallantry in France during the First World War. He was one of a silent raiding party comprising one officer and eighteen men who, on May 18, 1918, were ordered at a moment's notice to capture an enemy machine gun at Morlancourt. The party had to cross ninety yards of open ground to reach their objective. The citation reads, in part: "This man made straight for the machine gun in the post and got it. The courage, dash and precision with which this man carried out his orders helped materially towards the success of the enterprise." The operation resulted in the capture of 33 prisoners and a machine gun, without casualties.

BILL SHUTE'S SON, ROY SHUTE [WP551], was awarded the Imperial Service Order (ISO) for a lifetime of work in government service. Nita Shute's and Jack Scott's daughter Joan Scott [WP5521] married Ted Cutler, a farmer on the Sydney Road at Raglan ("Springdale" and "Lansdowne"). They had four children: Cheryl Cutler [WP55211] graduated Bachelor of Arts with Honours and was the senior Art teacher at Sydney Church of England Grammar School at Darlinghurst before her marriage to David O'Mara. She and her husband then worked for the Church Missionary Society in Kenya for a number of years. Her twin brother Greg Cutler [WP55212] went into partnership with his father on the farm, and won several awards, including the Royal Agricultural Society's Field Wheat Championship in 1972 and the Beef and Cattle Section of the Farmer-of-the-Year competition in 1978. Their sister Bronwyn Cutler [WP55213] studied piano and flute at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and then obtained a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's degree in Law. She married Andrew Warburton and they live in Cologne, in Germany, where her husband works as a finance controller for an international firm. The fourth child, Francine Cutler [WP55214], attended the Sydney Conservatorium High School where she studied piano and percussion and played in the Sydney Youth Orchestra. After completing a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance, she travelled and worked abroad for a year with the NSW Premier's Department and then did a post-graduate degree in Business Management at Canberra University. John Scott's daughter Justine Scott [WP55222] is a graphic artist, working for the Sydney Morning Herald and several magazines. Her brother Peter Scott [WP55223] is an accomplished musician, gaining the AMSA on clarinet for which he composed some music and played in the Sydney Youth Orchestra; he is also a talented actor. He is training as a diplomat with the Foreign Affairs Department and will shortly take up an appointment in Vienna dealing with Australian relations with Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. He will also be responsible for cultural relations as well as for nuclear and outer space issues at the United Nations in Vienna. John Scott [WP5522], is a bridge engineer.

Bill Shute's daughter Edna Shute [WP555] married Sid Pike who was a carrier with a Bedford truck at Kelso in the 1930s, mainly carting wood supplies; they later moved to Wagga where they ran a corner shop, where Edna's brother also had a shop. Sid and Edna Pike's eldest son, Max Pike [WP5551], trained as an industrial chemist and worked for many years with the paint manufacturing firm, Dulux, in Melbourne, until he changed employment to an investment banking group in that city.

Lysle Shute [WP582], eldest son of Arthur Shute and Ada Luck, married Dulcie Wolstenholme and had three sons, Des [WP5821], Ralph [WP5822] and Roy Shute [WP5823], who carried on a roof tiling and slating business in Sydney for many years. Des Shute's grandson, David Shute {WP582111], son of Neil Shute and Lynette Johnson, represented Queensland in Under 15 Soccer in 1982 and later played for Penrith City Youth team. Darryl Shute [WP58232], son of Roy Shute and Edna Madigan, is a member of the Order of Marist Brothers in Queensland.

Harry Luck [WP592], son of Annie Shute and Alick Luck, had a long and meritorious career on the Railways. He started as a Call Boy in Bathurst in 1916 when he was fifteen years of age. One of the engine drivers he had to call was Ben Chifley, later Prime Minister of Australia; another was Walter Dixon Swift, who married his mother's cousin Lil Drew [WP83]. In November, 1916, Harry was transferred to the Eveleigh Workshops at Redfern and found himself embroiled in the 1917 Railways Strike, which began at Eveleigh. The dispute concerned the threatened introduction of a time-and-motion study on the mechanical staff. The enginedrivers refused to take out the locomotives handled by black labour, and the strike spread throughout NSW, affecting virtually all Railway employees. Harry Luck was rostered to do adult duties as a fireman to replace those on strike; he refused and was dismissed. He was not re-employed for almost two years and then was reinstated as a cleaner at Enfield in 1919. In the intervening twenty months he worked on horse-drawn trolleys servicing the Sydney waterfront. Reinstatement came as a result of the 1919 Royal Commission set up by the Fuller Nationalist government. Harry's seniority was restored in 1925 by the Lang Labour government. He worked 96 hours over a 12-day fortnight with no penalty rate for Saturdays but an extra quarter of a day's pay for Sunday work. In 1924 he was appointed a fireman and transferred to Lithgow. He was promoted to enginedriver in 1940. Promotion had been retarded by the economic depression in the thirties and also by the spread of electric trains in Sydney which meant a decreased requirement for steam locomotive drivers. At Lithgow Harry was an active member of the Workingmen's Club, established in 1886, the oldest such club in Australia. He was fireman for the royal train which carried the Duke of Gloucester when he was Governor General of Australia during the Second World War. He was transferred to Newcastle in 1952 and drove the Special Class engines that were then the fastest in Australia, pulling trains such as the Newcastle Flyer. For the final six years of his career he was the driver of the Railway Commissioner's train when it went on tour to northern parts of NSW. On retirement in 1968 Harry was awarded the Imperial Service Medal (ISO). Harry's son, Digger Luck [WP5922], also qualified as a Special Class driver.

LEONARD PEACOCK'S ELDEST DAUGHTER, Leonora Peacock [WP761], married Frederick Cherrett, who made a career in the retail trade, starting as an apprentice with Marcus Clark's in Sydney. He was invited to join the display and advertising department; he won several promotional competitions and then became Display Manager and, later, Promotions Manager. He was an A Grade tennis player and also represented New South Wales in lacrosse. He was a champion lawn bowler and an all-round sportsman. He and Leonora won several gardening competitions, some of them on a statewide basis. Their son Grahame Cherrett [WP7611] was qualified in electronics and worked at first for AWA. He then was appointed as an instructor on HMAS Nirimbla, the Navy's Trade Training Centre, where he was in charge of the practical training of naval apprentices and adult trainees. He represented Australia as a judge in electronics in the International Work Skills Olympics in 1993. Like his father, he was interested in sport, and was a qualified soccer referee. His son Stephen Cherrett [WP76113] married Catherine Fox, who is a descendant of William Paddison, a brother of Ernie Paddison, who married Isabella Peacock [WP24].

Another of Leonard Peacock's daughters, Gwendolyn Peacock [WP764], married Stanley Caldwell who was engineer for the Lyndhurst Shire at Blayney for 30 years, following four years' service in the Second AIF as a Captain in the 2nd 14th Field Company. Their oldest daughter, Julie Davis [WP7641], holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma in Social Work. Her early schooling was at Blayney Primary, Orange High School and Methodist Ladies' College, Burwood. She was a Social Worker with the Red Cross Family Welfare Service for three years prior to going to Canada where she worked for the Family Service Centres in Vancouver in 1964 with the task of helping families under stress. She was highly commended publicly by the executive director of that service who said she had brought an outstanding change in the lives of the families and the community in which they lived. She helped to develop a service in which the staffs of various aid agencies - schools, the YWCA, and others - worked in cooperation to serve families under stress. Julie's three children are adopted. Jenny Davis [WP76413], the youngest, has African blood and has a gloriously rich voice and is emerging with some degree of fame as a singer. To avoid confusion with another actress named Jenny Davis she has adopted the stage name of Geneveive Davis. She has performed in several of the capital cities in the cast of Hair, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Blues in the Night. She also appears in an Asian promotional film for the New South Wales Tourist Department. Because George Gershwin placed a caveat on his masterpiece Porgy and Bess that it is only to be performed with an all-black cast, this show has not been performed in Australia. However, in 1995, a concert performance is being staged in the Sydney Opera House with special dispensation to use black soloists and a white chorus. Geneveive Davis is one of the principal singers in this concert.

Stan and Gwen Caldwell's second daughter, Lynne Caldwell [WP7642], married Roger Sheen, an agricultural scientist at Dunsborough in Western Australia, where she set up a business as a designer and potter, and later as an architect and urban planner. Her early education, like that of her sister, had been at Blayney Primary School, Orange High School and Methodist Ladies' College, Burwood. She trained in Architecture and Design in Sydney. Her pottery combines good design and functionality; she produces mainly domestic ware which fits well into her work in designing houses. She is a finalist in the 1995 BHP-Colourbond competition for architectural design.

Their brother, Rob Caldwell [WP7643], was a Traffic Consultant practising in Canberra under the business name of Traffic Engineering Services. He was previously engaged as a Traffic Planner with De Leuw Cather Pty Ltd, and was also a Research Officer with the National Capital Development Commission and an Assistant Engineer in the local government councils of Chilliwick (Canada), Turon, Orange and Marrickville. He is a Member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. He is very experienced in the use of Traffic Engineering techniques, especially in the development of measures for the reduction of traffic accidents. Following his grandfather's interests in nature conservation, for a time he ran as a sideline a nature reserve which was a big tourist attraction at "Parkwood", on part of the property which was settled by the Southwell family, a pioneer Methodist family who first established their home at Hall, just north of Canberra, in 1838. "Parkwood" features the spectacular Gininderra Falls on the Murrumbidgee River, some rugged bush, long-necked tortoises and other wildlife, wildflowers and deer breeding. His younger brother, John Caldwell [WP7644], was a Squadron Leader in the RAAF, flying Neptune, Orion and Caribou aircraft. He saw service with the United Nations in Kashmir and later became Commanding Officer of 26 Squadron at Williamtown in NSW. The squadron received the award for the most efficient and progressive Reserve Squadron in 1984. Both Robert and John attended Blayney Primary School and Orange High School. After John retired from the Air Force, he and Robert conducted a toboggan run at Salamanda, near Nelson's Bay.

FRED PEACOCK [WP784], SON OF ARTHUR PEACOCK AND NETTA WINDRED, was a senior RAAF officer during the Second World War and was attached to Staff Headquarters in Washington. He never married and, after the War, he devoted himself to welfare work. He was head of the Methodist rural training centre, Iandra, which was established in a mansion that had been the home of the I'Anson family on a farming property near Grenfell. It provided training for emotionally disturbed boys. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald,⁶⁵ telling the tragic story of one of Iandra's former inmates, said of Fred Peacock that he was "one of those outstanding people who turn up in welfare organisations, people possessed not so much of academic qualifications but with intelligence and compassion. His quiet discipline and skill won the boys over." They called him "Chief". When this particular boy was sent to a psychiatric training centre on Peat Island on the Hawkesbury River, Fred Peacock visited him. Again the standards set by William and Ann Peacock were bearing fruit.

OF JONATHAN PEACOCK'S DESCENDANTS, Hilton Agland [WPK22], son of Amelia Peacock and John Agland, began his working life as a messenger with the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand in 1921 at the age of fourteen, and stayed with that firm in Newcastle for fifty years. On retirement in 1972 he was Chief Clerk and Relief Manager. He was particularly interested in soccer and cricket, and a plaque was erected at Adamstown Sports Oval in recognition of his work for these two sports. Thora Agland [WPK23] was awarded the Medal of the Imperial Service Order (ISO) for long and meritorious service as a telephonist with the PMG. Athol Agland [WPK24] served his apprenticeship as a metal moulder with the Commonwealth Steel Company at Waratah and later worked with James Tickle and Sons. His war work with this firm was recognised by an Australia Remembers Certificate. He trained in Metallurgy through the Technical College and became an instructor. He became Principal of Leeton Technical College from 1964 to 1982 and was then appointed Head of the Division of Metal Fabrication for NSW TAFE, retiring in 1982 after 35 years service. Like his brother Hilton he was a good cricketer and also represented Newcastle in hockey.

Maude Peacock [WPK5] married Walter Gunning, a member of an early White Rock family who were also related to the Johnson and Short families. Walter and Maude Gunning's eldest son, Reg Gunning [WPK51], went on the land at Forbes;and their eldest daughter, Iris Gunning [WPK52], was a teacher for several years serving in several towns in NSW until she married Andy McDonald at Forbes in 1936. A sister, Dean Gunning [WPK54], married Ben Morrison, a grazier at Forbes, and another sister Kathleen [WPK55] was a PMG telephonist at Forbes before she married Arthur Atkinson, a dairy instructor with the Department of Agriculture at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Richmond, where they lived after marriage.

Their brother Bert Gunning [WPK53], who married Bessie McRae, was a grazier at "Bryson Park", Currabubula, near Gunnedah, where he settled in 1939. He was elected as a Councillor of the Liverpool Plains Shire in 1956, and thereafter served eight years as Deputy President and five years as President, retiring in 1983. During that time he was Councillor for 17 years of the Namoi County Council which is responsible for electricity distribution in that area. He joined the Farmers' and Settlers' Association (later called the United Farmers' and Wheatgrowers' Association) in 1931 and became a member of that body's Executive Council in 1961. He was elected Vice President and was made a Life Member of the Association, and retired from the Executive in 1977. During that period he also served as the association's Industry Representative for Wheat and Wool nationally. He was a member of the Commonwealth Grain Sorghum Marketing Board for nine years. He was an active member of the Gunnedah Rotary Club and was made an Honorary Member of the Club for his services. He was also made a Paul Harris Fellow of International Rotary. As President of the Liverpool Plains Shire in 1977 he was presented with the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal. He was also awarded the Australia Day Council's Medal for Achievement in 1984 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1991.

EMILY JOHNSON [WP218], DAUGHTER OF JOE JOHNSON AND SARAH PEACOCK, married Walter Short whose ancestor, also Walter Short, had a store in Bathurst and a farm at White Rock. The original Walter Short was declared bankrupt in 1856, and started a hay and corn store in Bathurst in 1860.

FLO ELBOURNE [WP1261], A DESCENDANT OF ELIZABETH PEACOCK through the Hicks family, married Bluey Markwick who was for many years an enthusiastic worker for the Bathurst Police Boys' Club from its inception. His father had been a schoolteacher at Dunkeld and White Rock. Bluey began his working life as an employee of Mockler Brothers' Store in Howick Street, Bathurst, and later joined the Bathurst building firm of Roche and Lane, before taking up farming at Goulburn and later at Parkes. He then joined the staff of the Bathurst Experiment Farm (later called the Agricultural Research Station) from where he retired after 25 years' service. Flo Elbourne's sister, Nancy Elbourne [WP1263], married Ellis Hamer [WP696], both descended from William and Rebecca Peacock, but one generation apart. Jason Howey [WP5L811], a descendant of William and Rebecca Peacock through the Shute family, married Melinda Mattson [WPK7521], a descendant through the Jonathan Peacock line. They met in Perth, Western Australia, and were unaware of their family connection until after they married.

Douglas Shute [WP5M3] and Jack Shute [WP5M4], sons of Arnold Shute, served together in the AIF in the Second World War. They first served in Western Australia in the 30th Infantry Battalion and then went to New Guinea in 1943.

Noni Staggs [WP12712], a descendant of Elizabeth Peacock via Daisy Hicks [WP127], holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts and is a teacher in NSW. Marie Hicks [WP1293], daughter of Anthony Hicks, married Jeffrey Prior and lived on the Prior farm, "Penrose", at Dunkeld, for fifteen years. In 1965 they moved into Bathurst where Jeff was engaged in the transport business for the rest of his life. he Prior family have been active in St Stephen's Presbyterian Church in Bathurst where Jeff was Session Clerk for eight years. Their son Andrew Prior [WP12931] was educated at Bathurst High School and the NSW Institute of Technology from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. He worked as a Civil Engineer for Bathurst City Council for eight years and then worked for a short time in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy, and after that at Cowra; then he was appointed Deputy Shire Engineer for the Harden Shire Council. His wife Linda (nee Holland) is an Architectural Draughtsman. Denise Prior [WP12932] was educated at Bathurst High School and at Alexander Mackie College, Enmore, becoming a teacher of Mathematics and Music, serving in a number of high schools in NSW. She is a qualified pipe organist and plays for St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Wollongong. She married Peter Garland in 1977. Janette Prior [WP12933] was educated at Bathurst High School and Bathurst Technical College where she did a Secretarial course. She worked as a clerk until she married Rodney Eslick in 1977 and they settled at Meadow Flat. Carol Prior [WP12934] was also educated at Bathurst High School and did the Secretarial course at the Bathurst Technical College, and then worked as an insurance clerk and taxation consultant in Bathurst. Margaret Prior [WP12935] was also educated at Bathurst High School and then worked for the Commonwealth Bank.

ALISON NEWMAN [WP2231] A DESCENDANT OF ROBERT PEACOCK [WP2] through Becky Peacock and Ernest Barrett, married Rod McGregor, a banker. After he retired she went back to University to do a degree in Social Sciences. She also spent a great deal of time pursuing a genealogical hobby.

MARGARET PRATLEY [WP2262], daughter of Ella Callaghan and Frank Pratley, married Gordon Jackson, who became president of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, and was later knighted. He was Australian of the Year in 1985. Wally Kemp [WP2271] was manager of a car radio business in Brisbane, a branch of Phillips Industries, for 25 years. His eldest son, Graham Kemp [WP22711], is Production Manager of Radio Station 4BK Brisbane. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth Pledger [WP22712], is Company Secretary and Accountant for McKinney's Stores in Brisbane and Toowoomba. Her sister Margaret Brough [WP22713] was President of the Women's Auxiliary of the school her children attended; while the younger brother Alan Kemp [WP22714], is a Building Surveyor with considerable experience in the building of mining towns in central Queensland.

LORNA PADDISON [WP2454] MARRIED FRANK CULLEN. Their eldest son Derick Cullen [WP24541], is an economist with the Bureau of Census and Statistics in Canberra and his brother Phillip Cullen [WP24542] is a television producer/director. Jack Paddison [WP2432] married Olwyn Martin, and their eldest son Brian Paddison [WP24321] is Company Secretary for L J Hooker, the real estate firm. Their second son, Robert Paddison [WP24322], runs a plumbing and draining firm at Mount Colah. Their daughter Evonne Paddison [WP24323] holds degrees in Arts and Divinity, and Diplomas of Education and Religious Education. She served two years as a missionary teacher in the Diocese of Victoria Nyanza in Tanzania and then became Deputy Master of Robert Menzies College at Macquarie University. Marjorie Paddison [WP2441], eldest daughter of Roland Paddison and Hilda Hughes, was a teacher of Secretarial Studies in the Technical Colleges at Forbes, Parkes and Condoblin for 28 years. She also worked for the Forestry Commission at Forbes. Her sister, Leila Paddison [WP2433] who married Adrian Hiscox, taught Eng lish to some Chinese students on a voluntary basis in Canberra and, as a result of this, was invited to go to Beijing to teach English to adults.

KEN McDONALD [WPK411], SON OF VERLIE WARD AND TOM McDONALD, a descendant of Jonathan Peacock, has had quite a deal of success in table tennis. He was Newcastle Champion eight times between 1960 and 1975. He was NSW Country Champion in 1969 and again in 1971. He represented NSW on five occasions. He is a motor mechanic by trade and was a teacher of Motor Mechanics at Glendale Technical College, Newcastle and then joined the NRMA as an Inspector. His wife Barbara is a teacher-librarian, an elder in the Charlestown Uniting Church, and has had a degree of success as choir mistress with school and church choirs, and is active in the Girl Guides. She led a troop which won the Guides' competition in NSW, and she took a group of Guides to Queensland. In January, 1995, she went to Uganda as a missionary for five weeks, when she taught at a Pastors' conference, preached in villages and taught in a children's ministry programme. Their daughter Julie Garner [WPK4111] is a Mathematics teacher and their son Christopher McDonald [WPK4112] works in a bank. Another descendant of Jonathan Peacock, Helen Kelly [WPK762], is a Sister in the Little Company of Mary at Kogarah.

IAN WALSH [WPL241], A DESCENDANT OF THOMAS PEACOCK [WPL], has been an outstanding Rugby League player. He began his football career at Bogan Gate and Eugowra. He represented NSW against Queensland on five occasions between 1962 and 1966; against New Zealand in 1963, and against France in 1964. He also played in four Tests against England and France in 1963, and three Tests against New Zealand in 1965. He was Captain of the Australian Test team for many of these games. He played with St George Club in Sydney a total of a hundred first grade games between 1962 and 1967, and was Captain-coach of St George Club in 1967. For many years he wrote a column on Rugby League in the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

JEAN BULL [WP7121], LIKE HER SISTERS Nancy and Mary, was born and grew up at Fairfield West, Sydney, where her father grew grapes and peaches. She attended Parramatta High School and the University of Sydney where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, with Honours in English, and a Diploma in Education, in 1957. She married a fellow teacher, Bruce Mitchell, in 1958, and settled first at Blacktown. Bruce was appointed a Lecturer at Sydney Teachers' College and then went on to gain a Ph D in History at the Australian National University. They moved to Armidale in 1970 where Bruce was appointed a Lecturer in History at the University of New England and Jean became a teacher at the Presbyterian Ladies' College where she became Senior Mistress in 1973 and Deputy Principal in 1979. Their two sons, Peter Mitchell [WP71211] and Ian Mitchell [WP71213], pursued music careers in Sydney, and their daughter Judy Mitchell [WP71212] completed the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney. Nancy Bull [WP7122] went to Strathfield Girls' High and Mary Bull [WP7123] attended Parramatta High School. Both became teachers, but Mary transferred to the Department of Youth and Community Affairs where she holds the position of District Officer and is involved in Staff Development.

FRANK PEACOCK [WP79] was a person of creative mechanical mind. Frank was born 8th March 1888, the ninth of ten children. Due to the serious economic depression of the 1890s his father William was declared bankrupt. He owed substantial rent and the owner foreclosed. The family moved to Wellington, New South Wales and later to a house in Shaftsbury Road, Eastwood, New South Wales.

Frank Peacock's 1914 monoplane, built for the Commonwealth Prize.

At the age of 21, after considerable experimentation with model gliders, Frank Peacock obtained three months leave from his engineering work, in order to join George A. Taylor (first man to fly a heavier than air craft in Australia) at his Redfern aeroplane factory as leading hand and foreman. The project underway was a monoplane something like a Blériot, to be exhibited in the 'Building Australia Exhibition' which was held in the old Exhibition Building, near Central Station (Syd) in October 1909.⁶⁶

Peacock also designed and built a powered aircraft in the period 1910 to 1912. It did fly but no record of how well it flew has survived. He married Nellie May Hines at Burwood in 1918. He was described as quiet, and was always active "fiddling with things". He developed a gearless motor car in the 1930s but was unable to gain any backing to develop it. He was nicknamed 'feathers' by (Sir) Charles Kingsford-Smith. Frank died in 1970.⁶⁷

In 1960 he gave the date of 10 March 1910 for his claim to be the first man to fly (under power) in New South Wales.⁶⁸

His son, Frank Robert (Bob) Peacock [WP793], died young, leaving a baby son, Greg Stevens [WP7931], who took his mother's surname when she re-married. Greg now lives at Orange and recently renewed contact with the Peacock family. He is a Research Scientist with the NSW Agricultural Department. Frank also had two daughters, Betty and Helen. Betty married and had four children, Robert, Elizabeth, Susan and Allison. Helen married and had three children, Margot, Graham and Roger.

1 Not to be confused with Howarth or Haworth in Lancashire, near where the Hamers originated.
2 "mightily well dyked"
3 See p 96.
4 Alison McGregor [WP2311] has done much more research on the antecedants of the Peacock family, including the Taylors, from Mountmellick, Ireland, and the Wintersgills, from the Masham district.
5 Additional research on Jonathan Peacock's forebears, both Peacocks and Pickerings, has been done by Alison McGregor [WP2311] and Bob Loudon [WP644].
6 The Order of the Temple was founded in 1118 or 1119 by a group of French monks, and spread all over Europe. It was dissolved by Pope Clement, as a result of the intrigues of King Philip of France, in 1314, so that this building.could in no way have been a Templar building, but was built on the site of one of their houses.
7 H Speight: Romantic Richmondshire. This information was supplied by Bob Loudon [WP644].
8 See George and Sarah Peacock's letter, p 98.
9 Additional research on the forebears of Hannah Wintersgill has been done by Alison McGregor [WP2311] and Bob Loudon [WP644].
10 Presented to the Mitchell Library by Irene Holden [WP673].
11 Elizabeth [WP1] and Robert [WP2] were married at this date.
12 There were quite a few Methodist breakaway groups in the nineteenth century. The Wesleyan Reformers were a very large breakaway group which began in 1849. The Spence family of Coverdale and Wensleydale are still largely Methodists today.
13 William Walker was a partner of John Wood who set up a factory at Goodman's End, in Bradford, in 1812. This factory expanded considerably between Manchester Road and Bridge Street. After 1837, William Walker assumed gradual responsibility for management of the mill. Both Wood and Walker had a reputation as humane employers concerned for the welfare of their workers. They introduced the 10 hour day and sought to influence other employers to do so; they provided education for their workers, taking particular care for women and children, teaching knitting and sewing as well as reading and writing, so that the women would become successful housewives when they married.
14 These ages do not tally with the birth dates in the Church records at Bradford.
15 This word is unclear in the original.
16 Hand spinning disappeared by the 1820s and handloom weaving by the 1840s. Combing machines, however, were not introduced until the late 1840s, and there were still many thousands of combers in Bradford up till the 1850s, but they suffered great hardship as a result of mechanisation of combing.
17 A Great Depression began in America in 1857 and continued until 1859. There was a further recession in 1860 - 1.
18 Cake in the Yorkshire pronunciation; but it is hard to imagine why they would send cake to Australia.
19 The word is clearly memery; but what George meant is hard to understand in this context.
20 See map facing page 86.
21 Still standing, as are the Midland Station and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Station.
22 Metcalf[e] is still the most common name among farming families around Masham and Middleham. Muriel Metcalfe and her husband Fred Lawson are artists whose landscapes of Wensleydale are famous. (Marie Hartley and Joan Ingleby: The Yorkshire Dales.)
23 Additional research on the Taylors has been done by Alison McGregor [WP2311].
24 There were several ships called Elizabeth on the Australian run; further research is required to establish which one this was.
25 Rev Joseph Orton, in 1834, called on the Rev Espie Keane when the church was in course of construction, and pronounced: "In my judgment it is a very badly constructed place; the external appearance is heavy and unscientific and internally incommodious." Charles Darwin, who saw Holy Trinity in 1849, called it "a hideous little red brick church". Buttresses and a tower were later added, making it more handsome,
26 Emphasis added.
27 There was no proclaimed road from the Campbell's River to Bathurst at this time, and farmers had to drive their carts through other people's property to get to market. In 1854 thoughtless government authorities subdivided and sold land at Gorman's Hill, and one of the purchasers, a butcher named Lee, fenced his new acquisition, cutting off this road altogether. The alternative route covered over twice the distance. Questions had to be asked in parliament before this absurd situation was corrected.
28 The facetious tone of this newspaper report would constitute contempt of court today.
29 J Murray, London, 1844, p 90.
30 See map at the front of the book.
31 Until the 1930s the Lagoon from which this village took its name was frequently filled with a sheet of water well stocked with water birds. Since then, silting, a consequence of local agriculture, has meant that very little water lies there, even in wet seasons. In 1916 it was four feet deep. See Minutes of Finance Committee of the Abercrombie Shire, November 4, 1916. The area around the lagoon is gazetted as a bird sanctuary.
32 Marie Hartley and Joan Inglesby: The Yorkshire Dales.
33 By 1889-90, John Peacock (presumably Jonathan - WPK) was old enough to vote and was also enrolled at the Vale Road address.
34 Bathurst Daily Times, November 16, 1896.
35 National Advocate, Sept 2, 1919.
36 See p 176.
37 Dated “Somewhere in France, 18th Dec 1916”. All these letters are in the possession of Max Peacock [WP2833]
38 Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, who founded Mort's Dock in Sydney, was, like Eric Peacock's Hamer forebears, a native of Bolton, Lancashire. He also stood for parliament in the Bathurst area in the nineteenth century.
39 Rev Joseph Orton described Keane as "a broad-minded though eccentric man."
40 Public Examination before the District Registrar in Bankruptcy, Court House, Bathurst, May 31, 1895.
41 See the letters from his daughter Eva [WP73] to her cousin Ada Hamer [AH43], pp.66-70.
42 See p
43 See portrait facing page 47.
44 In the possession of Frances Bull [WP712]
45 The new Commonwealth government did not, in fact, issue its own postage stamp until 1912, until which time the stamps of each of the former colonies continued to be used.
46 Quoted from The Methodist, June 5, 1897, in D Wright and E Clancy: The Methodists, Allen and Unwin, 1995, p 123.
47 See p 134.
48 The Methodist, July 3, 1897
49 The Perth Church had already been enlarged in 1892-3.
50 See Bibliography, p 189
51 The Closer Settlement Movement was popular before and after World War II, but farm economics changed radically in the 1970s, completely reversing the trend for closer settlement.
52 The Journal and Letters of Lt. Ralph Clark 1787 - 1792, Australian Documents Library, 1981.
53 Other contributors at Georges Plains included Mrs Peacock, Mrs Barrett, Andrew Hamer, George and Will Cheney, Robert and Jonathan Peacock, and Tom Drew.
54 Charles Crofts's wife Jane was a witness to the marriage of George Edwards and Mary Hodgson at Scots Kirk, Bathurst on April 7, 1857; George and Mary Edwards were the ancestors of Alf Edwards who married Madge Loudon [WP936].
55 Information about the Hornery family, omitted from the 1985 edition, has been supplied by Rodney Hornery [WP12154].
56 Information about George Shute [WP17] Thomas Shute [WP18], Annie Shute [WP16] and their descendants, omitted from the 1985 edition, has been supplied by Beverley Ratcliffe [WP15331] Bette Usher [WP1812] and Margaret Sheedy [WP1844].
57 See pp 104.
58 See p 64.
59 See p.62-3.
60 In the possession of her son, Ralph Hamer [WP694]
61 See Chapter 4.
62 See Chapter 5.
63 October 4, 1963.
64 Sydney Morning Herald, March 1, 1944.
65 March 28, 1983.
66 Australian-built Aircraft and the Industry by Keith Meggs. p118
67 Feeling the Air, by David A Craddock, 1999, a history of early aeronautical experiments. p 51
68 Australian-built Aircraft and the Industry by Keith Meggs. p118. p 119