HISTORY OF MATERNAL ANTECEDENTS OF VALDA ASH (Nee HATTON)

 

SCADDEN

 

Sophia Jane Scadden was born at Grafton on 25th April, 1862. She had an older brother William b. [c] 1861 and five younger sisters - Emily b. [c] 1864, Bessie b. 30.5.1866, Martha b. [c] 1869, Sarah b. [c] 1871 and Louisa b. [c] 1875. Their parents were James Scadden and Margaret Arnold, James was a shipwright and boatbuilder, he was born in Cornwall on 27.7.1817. Margaret was born in County Cavan, Ireland [c] 1840.

 

Sophia Jane Scadden married Percival Little Nash at Balmain on 30.3.1887 and lived in Balmain from then on as far as is known. The writer was only about 4 when Sophia Jane died in about 1932 and can only rely on family stories which are not many. Sophia who was known as Jane I believe, was left a widow in 1901 with four children, the youngest of whom was aged 8 months [Maude] and then Edith 4, Walter 7 and Alma 12. Times were hard in those days with no supporting mothers' benefit and my mother Edith Hatton (nee Nash) has told of stories of her mother cleaning houses and always leaving home early in the morning to do so. It is known that an association was formed with a George Bird and Jane was known as "Granny Bird", no attempt has been made to trace a marriage but it is known that Percival and Jane as well as George Bird are all buried in the same grave. The 1913 census gives the names of Jane Nash and George Bird living at 37 Campbell Street, Balmain.

 

James Scadden (Sophia Jane's father) is the son of Richard Scadden and his wife Catherine Penhale, came to Australia with his mother on a ship "Lady of the Lake" which left England on 12.9.1829 and arrived in Hobart on 1.11.1829. From Hobart Catherine, James and his sister Sophia travelled on the "Calista" which arrived in Sydney on 5.12.1829. Catherine had come to Australia to join her husband Richard nearly 11 years after he had arrived in Sydney as a convict. James married Margaret Arnold on 3.9.1860 according to the rites of the Church of England at Grafton. No record of James' arrival in Grafton is known and he died in Killean Street, Balmain on 19.5.1887. To date no arrival in Australia has been found of Margaret Arnold or mother & father, William Arnold, a farmer, and his wife Jane Griffith[s].

 

James & Margaret had 7 children, William, Jane (Sophia Jane) Emily, Bessie Martha, Sarah & Louisa, all living when their father died in 1887. The informant on the death certificate was aged 17 and gave James' age at death at 87 but this is not correct. James was a shipwright and boatbuilder and it is assumed he worked in Grafton at this trade. Margaret Scadden married again in Balmain in 1888 to a William Green but no death date is known. Her age in 1888 was given as 43.

 

Richard Scadden (father of James) arrived in Sydney in 1819 having been found guilty at the Cornwall Assizes at Bodmin on 4.8.1817 of stealing "one ewe sheep of the price of twenty shillings of the goods and chattels of William Roberts". On trial with him were John Wills and Richard Bath and the three were sentenced "to be severally hanged by the neck until they are dead". I have in my possession a photocopy of the newspaper of the day in which it is reported that the judges reprieved the capital offenders and sentenced them to transportation for life. The trial papers are stored at Chancery Lane, London.

 

Richard arrived in Sydney on the convict ship "Globe" on 8.1.1819. Convict records state that he was a native of Cornwall, his trade was ship's carpenter, sawyer and boat builder, his age was given as 42, height 5'5", fair to sallow complexion, brown to grey hair and grey eyes. The value of finding a convict in the family is immeasurable as such good records were kept.

 

In 1822 the Muster of Convicts listed Richard as a government servant appointed to William Thurston of Sydney. The 1828 Census showed that he was a government servant to William Evans at Bellevue, Pattersons Plains. His age was given as 61 and he was working as a boatbuilder. The entry in the 1828 Census is under the name of SEADON not SCADDEN but it is definitely Richard Scadden from other details given.

 

On a petition to Governor Darling in 1831 it was stated that he had been in Mr Evans' service since November, 1823. As well as James & Sophia who came with their mother to Australia there was at least one other child Richard, as well as his wife Grace and their son Thomas, who were the subject of this petition to join the family in the colony. It is not known if Richard ever came to Australia. It is sad to relate that Catherine, Richard, James & Sophia were not to be together for long as Richard died on 29.1.1833 at Matiland at the age of 65, buried in the Parish of Newcastle, County of Cumberland.

 

After her husband's death Catherine [aged 48] remarried on 27.8.1833 to William Pregnell, a widower aged 46 in the Parish of Maitland. Catherine had been born circa 1785 and was baptised in the Parish of Gwinear, Cornwall on 22nd May, 1785 the daughter of John Penhale and his wife Eleanor Hooper who were married in Gwinear on 7th February, 1785. Eleanor had been baptised in Gwinear on 26.7.1761 the daughter of John Hooper and his wife Jane. No record has been found of Catherine's death (up to 1905).

 

NASH

 

Edith Sarah Nash, daughter of Percival Nash and his wife Sophia Jane, was born on 12.11.1896 and was only 5 when her father died. Life was probably very hard for mother being left a widow in 1901 with 4 small children, the youngest aged 8 months, with no pension or any financial support and Jane was forced to do housemaid work, leaving early in the morning before the children were out of bed. Much must have fallen to Alma the eldest child aged 12 when her father died but my recollections of Alma are of a cheerful, motherly lady. Edith was of a similar nature, devoted to her family and much-loved by them. Edith had a brother Walter and two sisters, Alma & Maude.

 

Edith married Frank Eric Hatton in the Presbyterian Church, Campbell Street, Balmain on 8.1. 1921 and they had three daughters, Jean Isabel born 21.4.1922, Valda b. 12.2.1928 and Barbara b. 25.1.1937. Edith and Frank were a wonderful couple, devoted to each other. They lived at 21 Curtis Road, Balmain.

 

In 1932 Edith & Frank moved from Balmain to Hurstville where they lived until Edith died in 1959 aged 62 and Frank in 1972 aged 77. Barbara and Valda still survive, Jean died at the age of 54 in 1976.

 

Little is known of Percival Little Nash, an appropriate middle name! He was born at Campbell's Wharf. George Street, Sydney on 24.11.1857 where his father Robert was a storekeeper. The 1891 Census shows Percival living in Campbell Street Balmain, the residence housing 1 male and 2 females [wife Jane and child Alma].

 

Robert Campbell arrived in Sydney from Calcutta in 1798 with a cargo of general merchandise. He saw opportunities for developing an export and import trade, so became Australia's first fully established merchant. He was the first merchant to own warehouses. Campbell obtained a lease of land on the waterfront near the the present-day Overseas Passenger Terminal near Circular Quay and built Campbell's Wharf and warehouse in 1800. Further gabled buildings were built, some of which still stand, to contain not only general merchandise including grog, imported chiefly from India, but also with whale oil, sealskins and cedar and eventually with wool, bought from graziers. In 1834 he was granted 5 000 acres of land on the Molonglo Plains, including much of the site of the present-day city of Canberra. His homestead which was named Duntroon was acquired from his descendants in 1910 for the Australian Military College.

 

Percival's father Robert Nash and mother Elizabeth Emily Buddivent had 2 daughters living and one son dead when Percival was born. Percival, a blacksmith, married Sophia Jane Scadden at Balmain on 30.3.1887 and had 4 children, Alma b.24.1.1889, Walter b. 1893, Edith b. 1896 and Maude b. 1900. Percival died from pneumonia at the age of 44 on 12.10.1901 at Balmain.

 

Robert was born in Sydney on 16.9.1829, the eldest son of David Francis Nash and his wife Isabella Barnett. Robert was a storekeeper at Campbell's Wharf and married Elizabeth Emily Buddivent in Sydney on 16.9.1850. No definite date of death has been proved to date for Robert, it may have been after 1905 and therefore not available in the Births, Deaths & Marriages Index. The Nash family has proved elusive to several interested researchers, there doesn't seem a lot of readily available information except for Robert's father David Francis.

 

David Francis Nash was a Customs Officer in early Sydney. In 1827 Governor Darling had appointed a full-time public servant on a regular salary as Collector of Customs, as the previous naval officer had failed to account for the monies collected. The newly-created Customs Department started operation in the old George Street Police Station. By 1830 the department had expanded and they moved to the Rocks on the corner of Argyle Street.

 

David's first appointment under the Colonial Government was 4.3.1833, his position was that of tidewaiter with the annual salary of 150 pounds sterling. A tidewaiter lived on board the ship while unloading was in progress constantly tallying the cargo and so preventing smuggling. Space had to be provided in the ship's fo'c'sle for the tidewaiter's hammock or a high penalty was demanded by the Customs Department from the ship's captain.

 

On 5.5.1840 David Nash was appointed to the position of 4th Landing Waiter on an annual salary of 200 pounds and from there to the position of 1st locker. Landing and costal waiters were appointed to help detect smugglers around the Rocks and isolated bays of Sydney Harbour. The Lockers were the Customs Officials responsible for the goods unloaded and awaiting assessment for duty in the Lock-up Stores. By 19.9.1849 David had been appointed as Acting Warehousekeeper on a salary of 225 pounds. Customs records show that David was superannuated on 30.4.1859 when he was earning 375 pounds per annum and held the position of Warehousekeeper. It is interesting to note that the writer's son Christopher Ash was employed by Customs Department from 1980 until his death on 4.12.1983 at the age of 24.

 

It is not known when David arrived in Australia, his death certificate of 25.2.1878 shows his age as 74. The first known record was the birth and death of his and his wife's first child Rebecca in 1828 in Sydney. No record of his arrival in Australia or marriage to Isabella Barnett has been found and they are not in the 1828 Census. David's occupation has also been given as a mariner so they may have been away on a ship? David and Isabella had 4 living children, Robert 1829, William 1832, Ann 1835 and David 1837, all born in Sydney. It is interesting to note that all these children were christened in 1839, two years after their mother's death in 1837.

 

On the parish of St James, Sydney record of her death on 10.8.1837 Isabella's her age was given as 27 and states that she is a native of the colony, wife of a Customs officer. No trace of her birth has been found, the only possibility other than NSW is either Tasmania or Norfolk Island. Enquiries have been made of the Tasmanian Archivist who states that no birth or marriage has been found in Tasmania of an Isabella Barnett. Some research has been done on Norfolk Island but to date her birthplace or parents remains a mystery, I keep having ideas and who knows?

 

There is a record of David marrying in 1859 to Ann Richards, on the marriage certificate he gives his parents as William Nash, coal merchant and Rebecca Brent. A copy of his will dated 17.6.1863 is also held in which Robert, William, Ann & David are mentioned. A codicil dated 18.2.1878 [one week before he died] mentions Robert, Ann [now Baldock] and David as beneficiaries also grandson George, who was left the sum of 25 pounds. Land in New Zealand, copper and gold shares were left to his stepdaughter Mary Ann Richards, married to Charles Heden, occupation given in the will as Gentleman and trustee of the will and she also shares equally with Robert, Ann and David in the residue of the estate.

 

BUDDIVENT

 

Elizabeth Emily Buddivent was born "near London" circa 1830. She was the third daughter of George Buddivent and his wife Amelia Dash or Nash. Some certificates have Dash whilst others have Nash, hence the confusion. Elizabeth Emily was baptised with her sister Maria Isabella on 15.4.1832 at Stepney St Dunstan, a parish of Middlesex, "near London". Elizabeth came to Australia with her parents in 1832 and little is known of her or her husband Robert Nash whom she married in 1850, one of their children being Percival Little, born in 1857. Again the Nash family proves elusive! Can the Elizabeth Nash who died in an infirmary on 5.7.1869 with scarcely a detail to indentify her be our Elizabeth Emily? She was certainly alive when her father George Buddivent died in 1867, being mentioned on his death certificate.

 

Lack of detail cannot be said of George Buddivent's life and times. He is very well documented and seemingly well known in the Balmain area as a shipwright. George and his wife Amelia arrived in Sydney on 11.9.1832 on the "Arundel". George's age was given as 39 and Amelia 31 and they had 3 boys and 3 girls with them. Two more girls were born to George and Amelia after their arrival in Australia. His occupation was given as shipwright and he was a bounty immigrant.

 

Bounty immigrants were brought out to Australia between 1828 and 1842 by an employer who was paid a bounty for each immigrant he sponsored. Excellent records are available about bounty immigrants. Certain conditions pertained to these immigrants. Preferred immigrants were married couples under thirty years of age with their families, unmarried women between 15 and 30 (under the protection of a married couple) and single men between 18 and 25. Generally, large families were discouraged as they were thought to be a burden on the colony. In 1837 the ages were raised and married men up to the age of 40 were eligible.

 

George was over the age limit and with a large family when he arrived so he must have given a favourable impression. The 1835 Calendar & Directory show George at Darling Harbour and the same directory lists Mrs Buddivent as a schoolmistress at Fort Street, Darling Harbour. This must make her one of the earliest and possible first teacher at Fort Street. Education Department records do not extend this far back.

 

The 1841 Census showed George to be in residence at Balmain, there were 10 people in his home. The City of Sydney Directory of 1844 listed George Buddivent, Shipbuilder of Balmain.

 

George had bought "good- sized" waterfront land at Balmain in June 1840. The boatyard was laid out and by October 1843 he had erected an "excellent cottage of four rooms with kitchen attached. He borrowed heavily on the land to build further cottages. In all six stone cottages [now demolished], some with attics, were squeezed on to the land in an attempt to get the maximum rent income for the least outlay. There were no planning controls and an owner could build what and where he wanted. In an oversupplied market of the 1840s good rents were hard to come by and after trying to sell the houses in the teeth of the depression then raging, Buddivent lost all in 1849.

 

In 1844 George had the hull of a fine new schooner, copper-fastened, about 45 tons burden for sale. The same year he was offering a 1 pound reward in return for a net purse containing 12 one pound notes lost between Campbell's Wharf and Cockle Bay. When George's cottages came on the market they were acquired in April 1850 by John Little, a well established Sydney grocer. Little saw them as a good buy and the houses were soon known as "Little's cottages". The lane going down to the cottages was later known as Brett Avenue. There are now tall home units built on the site which is now 3 Gallimore Avenue Balmain..

 

George was made insolvent and signed papers on 15.6.1846. He surrendered his estate, which does not mention the cottages, the cause of the insolvency was "without any fraud or dishonesty on his part - he attributes his insolvency to debts contracted three years before and the depreciation of his property and the loss of 200 pounds on the "James & Amelia" a cutter built by the insolvent" (from insolvency petition to the Supreme Court of NSW). The amount of debts was 98 pounds six shillings & sixpence. His assets were land valued at 6 pounds being 6½ acres at Brisbane Waters. An advance of 5 pounds was made to him for this land which was situated in the present-day Woy Woy. The 98 pounds was owed to 22 creditors for timber, ironmongery, paint, meat, bread and rent. George was allowed to keep his wearing apparel, furniture and necessaries not exceeding 5 pounds. He had certainly fallen on hard times but was discharged from the insolvency in 1847, only to lose his cottages in 1849. Nothing is known about George from then on.

 

Amelia Buddivent predeceased her husband on 3.6.1865. She died at Mitchell Street, Glebe and on her death certificate her place of birth was given as Amboyna and her father was James Dash a Captain and her mother Eliza James. (Other certificates state her name as Nash). Their marriage took place in London in 1821 and and she had been in the colony for 33 years. George died on 14.6.1867 and they are both buried at Camperdown Cemetery, now St Stephen's Churchyard, Newtown. A headstone on their grave says that George was a "Shipbuilder from Blackwall". From a Gazeteer of England: Blackwall, on the Thames. A hamlet parish, Stepney, Middlesex.

 

George's death certificate gives his birthplace as Boston, Lincolnshire, England and his father as Peter, a schoolmaster. The name Buddivent is unusual and research in the IGI has shown that the name occurs in the village of Fishtoft where a George was born to Peter and Elizabeth on 25.12.1788. Tracing back in the bishop's transcripts [returns of births, deaths & marriages, sent to the bishop from the parishes on Lady Day, 25th March each year] at Lincoln Castle it was found by the writer that in the early 1700s the name was Bullivant and the next year it appeared as Buddivent or Buddivant with no further mention of Bullivant. Although the name Buddivent [Bullivant] seems to commence in Fishtoft in the early 1700s marriages into the family were traced back to about 1625 when the handwriting became indecipherable.

 

George and Amelia's children were James, Elizabeth, Caroline, George, Peter, Maria, Amelia and Ada. The first 6 were born in England, Amelia & Ada were born in Sydney.

 

 

 

Compiled on 28th June, 1992 by Valda Ash (Hatton) with thanks to Laurel Livingston for information supplied and others especially my son, Greg Ash, for his time, patience and assistance with computers.