John Gladwish Richardson, Free Settler "Thames" 1855

BIRTH & BAPTISM Born 1822 Brede, E Sussex, christened 29 Dec 1822 at St George, Brede.

The Gladwish family are from Ewehurst, Bodiam and Northiam, so it is possible that a Richardson has married a Gladwish in the recent past, or that a Gladwish is his godparent..

• Sussex Advertiser of 28 June 1813 reports: DIED.--On Tuesday last, John Gladwish, Esq. of Ewhurst, near Robertsbridge, in this county.

CENSUS 1841 census, age 15 yrs living with parents. 1841 census, Sheerfold House, Brede: James Richardson, farmer, age 50 yrs Eliza Richardson, 45 Jane Richardson, 20 Jack Richardson, 15 Lewis Richardson, 15 Hannah Gains, 20yrs, female servant. See docs. Sheerfold House is now named Shearfold House/Farm, and its barn is a listed building.

1851 census, for Meadow Cottage, Udimore, E Sussex: John Gladwish Richardson, 25 yrs, farmers son, widower, born Brede Sussex; lives with James Richardson, 60 yrs, farmer of 60 acres employing 2 labourers, born Brede Sussex; Eliza Ann Irvin, wife. 57yrs, born Brede Sussex; Jane Elizabeth, daughter, 33yrs, born Brede Sussex; Mary Ann Sargent, visitor, born Rye Sussex; Sarah Foster, born Rye, & George ??, servants, indoor ag lab, born Northiam See docs.

FIRST MARRIAGE

1845, age 23 yrs, married Elizabeth Campbell of Brede, in Brede.

1846, daughter Elizabeth Bertha/Burtha born - and dies? 1846, wife Elizabeth dies, childbirth?

1851 census, widowed, age 25 yrs, (no occupation), with parents (all born Brede) in Little Udimore.

SECOND MARRIAGE

1853, age 31 yrs, marries Caroline Hannah Ransom of Northiam. Marriage transcript attached.

Sussex Advertiser 1 March 1853 MARRIED
RICHARDSON - RANSOM -- February 17, by the Rev Wm Brocklebank, vicar of Udimore, John Gladwish Richardson, farmer, to Caroline Ransom , of Northiam.

Sussex Advertiser 9 November 1853
BIRTHS
RICHARDSON.---November 21, at Meadow Farm, Udimore, the wife of Mr John Gladwish Richardson, of a son.
Dec 1853, birth of son John Maher in Udimore, Sussex Reg Rye Q4 1853.

MIGRATION Oct 1855: Caroline age 21 yrs, John age 31 yrs, John age 1 yr and James 0 yrs, arrive in "Thames" to Victoria as assisted migrants. There is no further mention of James, and no burial at any of the Geelong area cemeteries. James was in fact Robert James, baptised 1855 at Udimore. His profile is now completed. There was no James except Robert James in this family.

PROV Age Book Month Page Ship Year Name 1 12 OCT 144 THAMES 1855 RICHARDSON, JOHN 21 12 OCT 144 THAMES 1855 RICHARDSON, CAROLINE 31 12 OCT 144 THAMES 1855 RICHARDSON, JOHN I 12 OCT 144 THAMES 1855 RICHARDSON, JAMES

1856, son William born, probably at Connewarre.

1858 - 1874, 6 more sons born in Ballarat.

DEATH & BURIAL There are several men named John Richardson in Ballarat district in the late C19th and not always clear who newspapers are referring to - an MP, a farmer, an habitual offender, a draper, a magistrate and JP.

John's probate record shows him as a bootmaker at Ballarat. I haven't yet found a report of his death and burial.

John Gladwish Last name Richardson Age 74 Sex Male Birth year 1822 Death year 1896 Father's name Richardson John Mother's name Ann Eliza Death place Ballarat East State Victoria Registration number 4703 NB: I don't know if the mistaken names for John's parents are with the transcriber, the recorder or the reporting person.

Ballarat Star 17 Feb 1896 The sudden death of an old man named John Richardson, a gardener, who with his son on the White Horse Ranges reported at the Ballarat East police station Saturday, From enquiries made by Constable Wheatley Smith it appeared that the deceased who was 70 years of age, was attacked with dysentery, and died before medical assistance could be obtained As the old man had previously suffered from fits, and had attended the Hospital, an enquiry was not deemed necessary, and a certificate for burial was given by Mr Geo King, J P [It may be simply a coincidence that this John Richardson died at Ballarat at the same time as John Gladwish, or it might be that John had moved to live with his son and was working as a gardener. It also accounts for the lack of coroner's inquest. I am fairly confident that this is John Gladwish]

No death or burial notices so John was probably buried without ceremony. John and Caroline are buried together in Grave 8, Section 2 of the Church of England area B at Ballarat Cemetery. John in 1896, and Caroline in 1916. John and Caroline's grave holds the bodies of four of their grandchildren, all of whom died within weeks or months of birth between 1877 and 1890, the children of their son John Maher Richardson and his wife Mary Ann, born Dermoody.

I have added some photos of Brede to John's profile because he was likely to have seen Brede as it is in the pictures.

There is so little public information available for John Gladwish compared with his brothers that understanding his life is a challenge. Perhaps that it was apparently so uneventful is a thing to be noted.

WHITE HORSE RANGE The first recorded gold finds in the district was at Clunes, July 1851, some 20 miles north of Ballarat, and this started a small rush. A few weeks later gold was found at Buninyong about 10 miles south of Ballarat. This was poor yielding ground and although diggers came to the area, they quickly dispersed seeking more profitable ground. Two such characters were John Dunlop, a seventy-year-old veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, and a much younger James Regan, whose ancestry was Irish. They had been disappointed with the gold at Buninyong, so decided to prospect the area themselves in anticipation that both Clunes and Buninyong would not be the only gold bearing ground in the district. They were right and after finding gold in creek beds along the White Horse Range on Ballarat Station, they came to a small hill on the northern end of the range and washed the first gold from what was to become one of the great gold bonanza's of all time. The date was 21st August 1851. This hill became known as Poverty Point. (Only because the top of the hill contained no gold) The discovery only remained a secret for about a week, and with news of the gold find the first great gold rush of Victoria had begun. [Suggests that one of John's sons was working on the diggings at White Horse Range.]