Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries

  Today's blog has a segway to a few other organisations and events; The State Library, The Friends of Rookwood and the National Trust but more of that later... The essence of this blog is that having convict ancestors in the family is something to be proud of. They were sent out to a penal colony 16,000 kilometres away from the "mother" country to basically fend for themselves and those that survived due to their intestinal fortitude should be celebrated as many of us would not be here without them. Let me introduce an individual, the son of a convict, who did very well. JOSHUA FREY JOSEPHSON - Musician, Solicitor, Judge, Businessman Joshua was born in February 1815 in Hamburg Germany, the eldest son of Jacob Josephson and his wife, Emma. Jacob was transported to Sydney in May 1818 on the Neptune and sentenced to 14 years for having fake £1 notes and stolen goods in his possession. In 1820 Jacob received a conditional pardon from Governor Macquarie and was soon j...

  I intended for this week's blog to be dedicated to those lesser-known architects calling Rookwood "home" who have left an indelible mark on Sydney's landscape. As I was compiling information, one person, who I must admit I had never heard of, impressed me greatly with his ability to take on challenges in many other fields and get the job completed. I felt he needed to have a piece written solely about him and his achievements. A man who never let the grass grow under his feet! If I haven't heard of him, I expect many of you haven't either so this blog is dedicated to a champion of many things. I introduce..... JAMES NANGLE - Architect, Educator, Astronomer. James was born in Newtown on the 28 December 1868 to Thomas Nangle and his wife Maria (nee Carney) and was their eldest child. James commenced his working life at the age of 9, albeit part-time, but by the age of 11 he was working in an engineering company. By 15 he was a carpenter's apprentice ...

  Recently the Helping Hands Gardening Group - an offshoot of the Friends of Rookwood - have been "liberating" headstones and monuments from a forest of overgrowth in Section one of the Old Anglican area of the Cemetery. This area has many large monuments to highlight the "elite" of Sydney in Victorian times but has a sizable portion of small headstones that one might just pass by. I was tasked with finding out information about the various inhabitants in the "released" plots and I have to say the stories of the people have proved to be interesting, very interesting. Many prominent people have risen from their convict past to become pillars of society and some of the society of the day became "infamous". Today's blog is about the information I found about the inhabitants of two plots with inconspicuous headstones.   MARY ANNE BOWERMABLESON AND HER GRANDSON DAVID GRANT FORBES Mary was actually Marian Anne Willans who was born in 18...

  With Reconciliation Week and another anniversary of the Mabo decision just passed as well as over 15 years since the Sorry apology (together with NAIDOC week on the horizon), it seemed fitting to discuss the life of an Indigenous man, a tracker and later a thief, who is buried a long way from his country.   For any First Nations people reading this blog I wish to advise that an image of a person who has passed is contained herein. BILLY BOGAN Billy was born sometime in the 1860’s at Dandaloo on the Bogan River just west of Dubbo, NSW, in Wiradjuri Country. The names of his parents have been lost in time and no formal records were kept. Billy, although without a regular education, was skilled in life and bush skills and by the age of @ ten was living and working on a large pastoral property near Cowra known as Bumbaldry. His companion there was Stephen Field whose surname he chose to use on occasion as an alias. In October 1875 a warrant was issued for both boy’s arrest...