George Knight, Free Settler "Neptune" 1844

Entry from Petworth St Mary 1559 - 1876

First names George

Surname KNIGHT

Sex s

Baptism Date 05-Mar

Year baptised 1807

Birth date 27-Dec

Year born 1806

Father first names Joseph

Father surname KNIGHT

Mother first names Anne

Mother surname KNIGHT

Christening Index Family Search IGI

C070891 1559 - 1838 0918253, 0918254 Film 6901232 Film

C070891 1839 - 1876 0918253, 0918254 Film NONE Sheet: 00

http://www.shoal.net.au/~rflorance/page25.html

The Post Office opened as THE SETTLEMENT on 1 January 1860. It was renamed MILTON almost immediately, to distinguish it from Ulladulla, as proposed by Post Master George Knight in his letter to the PMG of 20 December 1859. This was the name of his own adjoining farm, but legend had it that John Booth chose the name himself for the private township he established at The Settlement on 40 acres of Joseph Whatman's Myrtle Forest Farm, purchased by him for development. Surveying work was done by H.G. Morton, and a newspaper report of 1924 states that he suggested the name to Booth.

http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/historyfair/history.html

1850s: The first white settlement occurred at Wandandian when the Walsh and Kerwick families took up land on the Wandandian Creek, settlement was made at Jerrawangala about 7-km further south, by Andrew McKenzie, John Higgins and George Knight.

1860: John Smith is credited with being the first settler in the township and he set about populating it himself for when Nowra boasted a population of about 40 in 1860, ten of them were his children. Henry Moss who arrived in 1851, championed Nowra's cause. Being involved in all moves for local government, he was a fitting choice in 1872 as the first Mayor of Nowra Municipal Council. John Booth purchased 80 acres of land from the first settler Joseph Whatman, and he subdivided the property into the present township of Milton. George Knight provided the first postal services from his home in Milton, and a post office was built in 1880.

Arrived on Neptune 11 Feb 1844

1872 Grenvilles Postal Directory

KNIGHT George carpenter Bulli Mountain Bulli

KNIGHT John selector Bulli Mountain Bulli (this would be George and rebecca's eldest son)

KNIGHT Robert farmer --- Jamberoo (does not appear related)

KNIGHT John farmer Broughton Village Gerringong (does not appear related)

"In 1859 John Booth, the partner of Anthony Hordern who controlled a large department store in Sydney, purchased 80 acres of Myrtle Farm from Joseph Whatman for 240 pounds. He subdivided his property the following year creating the private township of Milton.

Although one theory suggests the place name is a corruption of 'Milltown', most sources believe it was named after 17th-century English poet John Milton, either by the first postmaster, George Knight, or by Booth himself. The apocraphyl story is that Milton's Paradise Lost caught Booth's eye in his library while he was contemplating a name. Settlement of the fertile lands ensued and some impressive homesteads were built." From SMH 8 Feb 2004

Cataract Road. Site of Knight's Saw Mill 1870 - do not know if this belonged to our Knights or not. The only Knights listed in the area in 1872 are those listed above so it appears that the chances are strong that it was our family's. Logs for Knight's Sawmill in Sherbrooke

Cataract Rd is in Illawarra.

“EXTRACT FROM FAMILY BIBLE”

Joseph Knight. Born Arundle, Sussex June 11th 1780.

Ann Knight (maiden name Meachin,) born Petworth, Sussex Nov 24th 1777

Antionette Knight died infant.

George Knight (myself, the son of the above Joseph & Ann Knight, born at Petworth, Sussex, England, December 27, 1807. Arrived in this Colony in the good ship “Neptune” February 11th 1844. Perres Captain.

Mary Ann Knight. (First wife) born at Southerfield, Sussex, England March 29. 1805. Daughter of James & Mary Bassett, Married at the old church, Brighton, April 3rd 1826. Died at Dorking Surry England November 24th, 1841

Joseph Knight, first born, baptised at Brighton, born April 23, 1830.

Sarah Ann Knight (Winley) born at Sheabour Gloucestershire, November 2, 1832.

Kate Knight, born at Lodsworth, Sussex England February 20th 1834 married Thomas Jarrett.

George Knight, born at Dorking, 26 May 1841 died infant.

Rebecca Knight (second wife) (widow of William Gregory) Born at Wescott near Dorking, Surry, September 22, 1819. Daughter of Thomas & Elizabeth Dearling, Married to me at New Cross Church Peckham, Surry 24 November 1842. Died at Bulli, Illawara, New South Wales 23 June 1863.

Eliza Gregory married Frank Moon my step daughter born at Wescott July 22, 1838

William Gregory my step son, born at Wescott January 12th 1840

The following children are my children by my wife Rebecca who were born in New South Wales.

John Knight born at Shell Harbour Illawarra March 17th 1844

Thomas Knight born at Jamberoo January 31, 1846

Alfred Knight born at Jamberoo February 8th 1848

Franklin Knight born Jamberoo August 11th, 1849

Felix Knight born at Jamberoo July 15th 1851

Edwin Knight born at Jamberoo February 14th 1853

Walter Knight born at Jamberoo August 5th 1855

Rhoda Knight (Pinkerton) born Jarrawangla April 16th 1857

Lydia Knight (Brown) born Jarrawangla, April 16th 1859

David Knight born Milton Ulladulla June 11th 1861

signed George Knight

Bulli, New South Wales

February 11th 1864

Hitherto hath the Lord brought us, Bless & praise his holy name.”

_____________________

Above copied from family bible by Reg Knight 2 July 1881

Underneath this copy of the “Extract From Family Bible,” still in my grandmother’s handwriting, she has also written the following family history details that she had also obtained from various family sources:

George Knight, born Petworth, Sussex, England December 27th, 1806

Died March 28th 1881

Anna Knight born April 13th 1801 Died at Bulli 11th November 1893 (GEORGE’S THIRD WIFE)

Moved to Bulli October 1862.

Sarah Ann Winley (nee Knight) died Sydney March 13th 1900 Pneumonia

John Knight died August 9th 1919 at Cowling (Eltham)

Thomas Knight died April 21st 1925 at Woodlawn near Lismore

Alfred Knight died April 10th 1903 at Sherbrooke

Franklin Knight died at Penhurst February 2nd 1922

Walter Knight died at Narrangaroo December 11th 1903

Rhoda Pinkerton (nee Knight) died at Bowral December 12 1892

Lydia Brown (nee Knight) died at Dayboro Qld, 15th June 1931

David Knight died Lismore October 6th 1951

William Gregory died March 31, 1913

• ****************

From Margaret Osmond

George Knight, son of Joseph Knight (b. 11 June 1780 Arundle, Sussex, d. 8 June 1846) and Ann Meachen (b. 24 November 1777) was born 27 December 1806 at Petworth, Sussex. A daughter was also born to Joseph and Ann in 1801, named Antionetta, but died in infancy. (There have been two dates found for the birth of Antionetta, one 1799 and the other 1801 – so far have not found any evidence to support that there were two girls born given the same Christian name, or that the dates have been distorted over time.)

George married Mary Ann Bassett (daughter of Thomas and Sarah Bassett, born 29 March 1805 at Rotherfield, East Sussex), on 3 April 1826 at the Old Church, Brighton. Six children were born to George & Mary Ann – Joseph b. 23 April 1827 Brighton, Sarah Ann b. 2 November 1830 Sherborne, Gloucestershire, Kate b. 20 February 1834 Lodsworth, Sussex, George b. 25 August 1839 Dorking, Elizabeth b. ? Dorking, died in infancy, Harriot b. 26 May 1841 Dorking, died in infancy.

Mary Ann Knight died on 24 November 1841 at Dorking, cause “Consumption”.

George married for the second time to Rebecca Gregory (nee Dearling) on 24 November 1842 at New Cross Church, Peckham, Surrey. Rebecca, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Dearling, was born 22 September 1819 at Westcott, Surrey.

Rebecca had married William Gregory in 1837, with two children being born – Eliza b. 22 July 1838 Westcot, William b. 12 January 1840. Husband William Gregory died from injuries sustained in an accident.

After arrival in NSW, 10 children were born to George and Rebecca –

John b. 17 March 1844 Shellharbour. Thomas b. 31 January 1846 Jamberoo. Alfred b. 8 February 1848 Jamberoo. Franklin b. 11 August 1849 Jamberoo. Felix b. 15 July 1851 Jamberoo. Edwin b. 14 February 1853 Jamberoo. Walter b. 5 August 1855 Jamberoo. Rhoda b. 21 May 1857 Jerawangala. Lydia b. 16 April 1859 Jerawangala. David b. 11 June 1861 Milton.

Note – All the above information was obtained from a photocopy of the front pages of George Knight’s Bible.

From a book on the history of the historic homestead of David Waugh, built in Jamberoo, it is stated that George Knight was the principal builder. In 1960 the original building was demolished and on one of the timber beams the following inscription was found “Knight, the builder of Wauchope House in 1846”.

In 1859 George and his family moved from Jerawangala to “The Settlement” and undertook to purchase Portions 126 &127 from Alexander W. Riley. He named his property “Milton” and built his home. Also during 1859 early postal records document the struggle for the inhabitants of “The Settlement” to have their own post office and finally after a public meeting, a letter was sent to the PMG on 15 October 1859 recommending George Knight as a suitable person to become Postmaster.

Finally after more letters to and fro to the PMG, George Knight was appointed Postmaster on 1 January 1860 and his suggestion that “The Settlement” now be known as “Milton” was approved. (I have a copy of the letters pertaining to the above).

Also during this time, George Knight built a steam driven flour mill and advertised the fact in the Illawarra Mercury a number of times. Unfortunately, because it was found through trial and error that wheat would not grow on the coast because of rust, George Knight’s dream ended and he became insolvent. Family stories go that George did not tell Rebecca of these problems but not sure how true this is.

Note – I have a copy of all the insolvency papers. My frustration for some time has been my failure to establish the exact site of this flour mill.

Shortly after the failure of his flour mill, the family packed up and moved north to Bulli, then Sherbrooke. Rebecca’s daughter Eliza had married 1861 in Ulladulla, her son William also married. George’s sons Joseph and George, daughters Sarah and Kate had also married, and George & Rebecca’s son John was also married. This left 9 children to make the move with their parents. The youngest of these children was baby David, who was to become my great grandfather. I was fortunate to spend time with him as a young child – I was born in 1944 and Grandfather Knight died in 1951, in Lismore. Some of my precious possessions are the photos taken of David and me.

Rebecca died at Bulli on 23 June 1863, aged 43. George married again, this time to twice widowed Anna Phillips (Gange, nee Dearling) on 19 June 1864 at Wollongong. Anna died 11 November 1893.

From Alan Brawn

Extract from Book - Hewitson Story 1844-1944

The Knights were an English family from Sussex, earlir members give their address as Arundel. We don't know if they worked in the district or in Arundel Castle. Their occupation is given as carpenters and joiners.

We have no written history of the Knight family but there is an old Bible in which George, the first member of the family to come to Australia has written the date and places of his childrens births. From this we learn where he was at different times during his life.

He married three time. His first wife Ann Bassett was the mother of his first four children*, following Anns death he married Rebecca Gregory (nee Dearling) widow of William Greagory and daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Dearling. Rebecca already had two children and she had a further 10 children all born in NSW. Rebecca died when her youngest David was 1 year old. There were four children under 10 years. His theird marriage was to Anna Phillips who reared his family and survived him. (Note: It was later found there were more than four children.)

Family history claims that he was converted by a Wesleyan Preacher following the death of his first wife and as he prepared to marry Rebeca, the Wesleyan Minister suggested he come to NSW to make a fresh start in life.

The family arrived on the Neptune, a sailing vessel of 643 tons on 11 Feb 1844, having left Cork on 26 Oct 1843. The Neptune did not touch any ports on its voyage to NSW.

When we first began inquirig at the Mitchell Library we were allowed to handle the actual book that Captain Ferriss used on board the Neptune but all the information is now on microfilm. We learned that there were 314 bounty immigrans on this voyage - 212 adults and 92 children, 49 children were aged under 7 years of age. 4 adults and 6 children died during the voyage. Five children were born on the voyage. George paid 84 pounds and 3 shillings for his share of his family's fare to the shipping company, the Australian Government paid the balance from a fund raised form the sale of land in Australia.

As the Neptune was docking in Sydney, Captain Towns walked along beside the ship and called up to the passengers, lining the side anxiously watich for a glimpse of their new home, asking for carpenters. George Knight and his eldest son Joseph who was 16 years old offered and were engaged. They were trans shipped to a coastal vessel an went immediately to Shellharbour.

Rebecca didn't have an easy time. On the shipping list her occupation is given as a nurse, she would need all her skills to meet the challenge of her new situation. To mould her husbands four older children and her two younger children into a family would have been no easy task. But she must have succeeded, the Gregorys were regular visitors at Terania St. When I was in Lismore last year, 1985 a lady touched me on the shoulder in a bus and asked "arn't you related to me somehow? Way back?" She was a descendant of Rebecca's son William.

When teh family arrived at Shellharbour, Rebecca found herself in a very new settlement in the bush. George and Joseph were employed to build storeshed, a school building and a house for the teacher, there may have been other buildings.

On 17 Mar 1844 the first child of her 2nd family was born to Rebecca in Shellharbour. She had just completed a voyage of 110 days on a sailing vessel with 304 immigrants, now she is in the bush without any buildings, possibly in a tent, giving birth to her first Australian son.

We have no written record of the years George and Joseph worked around Shellharbour and Dapto and Jamberoo. When a large house was being renovated of recent years, someone showed Eric a beam of timber with KNIGHT written across it. There were a lot of permanent homes built about this time and we can only guess George had a fair share of these to build.

In 1861 he took up land at the settlement near Ulladulla, he planned to grow wheat and established a mill to make flour. He was also the first Post Master and named the town of Milton, the name of his property. The venture failed aminly because rust spoilt the wheat. While the family were in Milton, Eliza, Rebeccas daughter married Frank Moon of Milton in 1861.

After the failure of his venture at Milton, George moved his family to Bulli. He worked as a Carpenter at the mines. He bought land at Sherbrook later and this land was held under the Old Title. He willed it to his surviving sons, their descendants collected 'coal money' royalties on the coal mined under the land until the 1980s.

ID: I600662992

Name: George KNIGHT

Given Name: George

Surname: Knight

Sex: M

Marriage 1 Mary Ann BASSETT

Children

Kate KNIGHT b: 20 February 1834 in Lodsworth, Sussex - England

1841 census shows George, wife Mary, children Joseph, Sarah, Kate, George and a 1week old girl (Harriet?) in Back Lane, Dorking, Surrey.