GEORGE MAWBEY, COLONIALIST

George Mawbey I arrived in what is now Australia in its colonial era.When it was governed entirely by the English government through its ruling representative, the Governor, in the colony of New South Wales.
The last colonial governor was Sir Charles FitzRoy.
After him, a fledgling form of self-government was established and power-sharing began between the former colonialists and the home country.

NSW MAWBEYS PIONEER FAMILY TREE

George (1) & Ann MAWBEY (nee WILLIAMS)
 m. 1838 Sydney, NSW
                 

David Henry b.12-6-1842

Alfred b.20-12-1843

Alice b.17-9-1845

Ann Jane b.23-8-1847

John (1) Thomas b.12-8-1849

James b.23-11-1851

Grace (1) b.22-8-1853

Elizabeth b.7-10-1855

George (2) b.25-12-1858

Mary Emma b.1862

John Thomas & Sarah MAWBEY (nee CLARKE)
 m. 1875 Mudgee, NSW

John (1) Thomas b.1880

Reginald George b.1882

Grace (2) b.1884 d.1900

Percival b.1885 d.1900

Sydney b.1887

Hilda b.1889 d.1900

Albert b.1890

Cecil James b.1893

Garnet Lindsay b.1896

GEORGE MAWBEY, TINMAN

I hit paydirt again today in my research at the Mitchell Library, Sydney, finding a new piece of information about George Mawbey I.
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In the New South Wales and Port Phillip General Post Office directory for 1839, he is listed as a 'tinman' at George street north, Sydney (p.110).
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When he married in July 1838, he was a publican, holding a licence for the Hope and Anchor in Pitt street.
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Prior to that he had been a clerk for an ironmonger in King street.
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In 1839 he went to South Australia where he set up Refreshment Rooms in Adelaide's commercial district.
It would appear he was trying to go 'upmarket', to live a more refined lifestyle in the new, convict-free province, than he had led in New South Wales.
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I want to find out what type of work he did in England before coming to the colony.

George Wright, the author of the Wright's Australian and American commercial directory and gazetteer: a complete handbook of trades, professions, commerce and manufactures in the Australian colonies, with lists of the American exporters and manufacturers, and traders of British India, says he did the bulk of the information-gathering himself!
The volume containing over 2000 pages was meant to appear at the beginning of 1879, but publication was delayed until 1881.
So the entry for John Mawbey, fruiterer, market lane, Mudgee may actually refer to what he was doing in 1878.
The work that has gone into this book is truly extraordinary!
Wright claimed it was the largest commercial directory ever published in the United States.

To all my Aussie followers:
HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY
26 JANUARY 2012!
Celebrating the day the First Fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Sydney Harbour.
The flotilla of 11 ships carried convicts, soldiers, sailors, a minister of religion, servants and others who were the first 'Aussie battlers' of this wonderful country.
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Thank you to Ancestry.com.au for allowing free access to its Australian convict records for three days as an Australia Day gift!

SYDNEY-PARRAMATTA RAILWAY LINE

It was while George Mawbey I and his family were living at Dural that the Sydney to Parramatta railway line was opened.
This was the first government-owned, public railway line to be opened in Australia.
It must have been a momentous occasion, making it much easier for them to visit their relatives in Newtown.
The opening took place in 1854, prior to the last three Mawbey children being born, Elizabeth (b.1855), George (b.1860) and Mary (b.1862).
Steam trains plied the track between Parramatta Junction (Granville) and Sydney (the station then being located near Devonshire Street, between the present Central and Redfern stations).
There were six stations along the line, one of them being Newtown where the Mawbey relatives lived.

This photograph is copyright.
(C) Pamela Mawbey 2011