Were residents of Rochester and lived in Minster Isle of Sheppey

Information on the Erith party derived from No46 on the Colonial Dept list:- A party of 120 from Surry led by James Thomas Erith,a baker of 2 Barden Place, Peckham Surrey and first cousin to Robert Robinson Erith made earlier application in Jan 1819 to take settlers to the Cape in partnership with Thomas Beale, but fell through, Beale's debts made it too risky a speculation according to Erith. With this letter was a list of his party; his own family, two married and 7 single men, all from Minster, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Erith himself was a Kentishman. Only three names from the list - Erith himself, his cousin Robert Robinson and John Pankhurst - were in the final sailing list of the party. They sailed in the ship "Brilliant" captained by Brig. Captain W. Bothwell, embarked at Deptford, which sailed from Gravesend on the 15 February 1820 and reached Simon's Bay on 30 April 1820 and Algoa Bay on the 15 May. They were located on land then forming part of the Bathurst commonage on the left bank of the Torrens River but were shortly moved to the location at the Kaffir Kraal River source rejected by Damant's party. They named it New Botany Bay. The party had dispersed by 1823 and the Government resumed the land. It is now called Botany. Erf No.58 in Paulet Street, Somerset East (Between Paulet and Henry Streets to day No. 41, Mr Pierre Du Toits Place) was bought by Robert Robinson (27) a Butcher, in 1825, his wife Martha (26), and five children under five years: Louise (5), Robert (4), John (2), Phillip (1), William (infant) who was part of this party later settled in Albany, near Grahamstown, after some years of unsuccessful farming, moved to Cradock, where he became a builder in 1837. Here Sir J. B. was born in 1840. After their arrival in South Africa with their five Children, Robert and Martha had ten more children: they had six sons and nine daughters in all. [1]