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Government Immigrants were,
under government rules, provided with shelter and rations for a short time after arriving
in the colony until employment could be found. The availability of jobs in the
colony at this time was good.
The location of the Manwaring's for the first two years after their arrival in
Australia is still a mystery and because
of the lack of documented material we will probably never know.
Only the stories of the older members of the family are known.
I was told that at first the Manwaring's tried growing hops around Sydney without
success and after spending two years in Sydney and on hearing of land being opened
up over the mountains, they decided to give it a go and travelled by bullock dray to
Bungendore, but have also been told that they tried to grow hops in the Appin area
near Wollongong for a few years and then travelled to Bungendore. No
documented evidence from any source can be found to support either of these
stories. Appin Historical Society has no record of hops ever being grown in or near
Appin.
We know that George and Mary were living at "Negoa" near Muswellbrook at the end
of 1858 as their 4th child, George, was born there on 20th November 1858.
George's occupation was stated on his sons birth certificate
as a labourer. Negoa was then owned by John Hobart Cox, his father William having bought
the land from the crown in the late 1820's. No documented connection has yet been
found between Manwaring and Cox or Cox and the Tooth family.
It is not known whether other family were with them at Negoa as records are
scarce or non-existant. George was known to be living in the Bungendore area in 1860 as
his fifth child Thomas William was born in that area in December of that year but when he
settled there is unknown. William is known to be in the Bungendore area as early as
1859. The trip to Bungendore would have been in very hard pioneering conditions with
the journey taking weeks to complete and the people travelling with the
bullock drays normally having to walk as riding on the
drays was not allowed by the bullock masters.
William bought two blocks of land in Bungendore township on 12th April 1859 as
stated earlier. The family resided there and William and his sons worked leasehold
land until the early 1870's.
George's two sons, George and William attended Bungendore Provinsional School and were
fairly good cricketers playing against St Mary's School in inter-school competition
(reported in the Queanbeyan Age Dec. 21st 1871 and Oct. 24th 1872). The Manwaring's were
active in social activities, assisting in a bazaar and tea party held on
the grounds adjoining the Catholic Church in October 1871 (reported in the
Queanbeyan Age Oct. 26th 1871 - thanking George Manwaring and Miss Manwaring).
The Electoral Roll of 1869 - 70 for the Queanbeyan area lists William and George as
living at Halfway Creek and having leasehold property, while Edmund, Jesse and
Alfred were listed as living in residence also at Halfway Creek.
The Electoral Rolls of both 1873/74 and 1874/75 are the same except Jesse is not listed. A
search shows that he is listed in the Electoral Roll for
West Sydney 1876/77 as living in Rose Street. Jesse married Ann
Fletcher at Sydney in 1870 so presumably returned to Sydney around 1870.
Edmund married Sophia Duncan at Christ Church, Queanbeyan on 22nd March 1870. Some of
George's children were also born at Bungendore as were Jessie's first child and also
Edmunds first child .
William and Sarah's second son, Thomas William and his family stayed in Sydney and William
and Sarah's third son William, also appears to have gone his own way in search of gold. He
died at Forbes on 24th April 1862. It is not known whether William and Sarah's daughters
Ellen and Caroline stayed in Sydney or travelled with them to Bungendore. Ellen
married Edward "Ned" Gregory (famous in Australian Cricket) at Sydney in 1863
and Caroline married Francis Artlett also in Sydney in 1872.
Around 1873 - 74 George travelled to the Kyron area of New South Wales
situated between Cootamundra and Jugiong to look at selections of
land and to see what the area was like. The prospects of selection were very good indeed
so not long after his return the family left Bungendore and moved to this district. The
journey was made by wagon and dray with the horses having to be spelled
frequently because of the very harsh conditions.
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