Henry and Betsy Brinsmead
Henry and Betsy Brinsmead travelled to Australia on the Duke of Wellington. It started out in London, but picked up passangers in Plymouth where the family presumably boarded ship. They arrived in Adelaide on January 16, 1851. The Shipping Report says they had an infant and five children plus Thomas Hackwill with them. We know more about Henry and Betsy Brinsmead's passage to Australia than most others because they wrote home to their friends and family in St. Giles in the Wood and their letter was published in the North Devon News. The letter is dated December 8th 1851 and was written about nine months after their arrival in the Port Phillip area.
Henry and Betsy's letter home
Betsy Brinsmead was a daughter of Thomas Brinsmead and Margery Squire. She was born in St. Giles in the Wood in about 1807. At age 21 on Dec. 17, 1829 she married John Hackwill. They had two children; John Hackwill born in 1831 and Thomas Brinsmead Hackwill born 1834. Her husband John died a young man in about 1834. After that Betsy married her cousin and brother-in-law Henry Brinsmead (her sister Ann having married William Brinsmead). Henry and William were two sons of Henry Brinsmead and Mary Ireland of St. Giles in the Wood.
In addition to the two Hackwill boys, Henry and Betsy had five more children, all born in St. Giles on the Wood or nearby.
- Elizabeth, born September 25th, 1836;
- Mary, born in 1838;
- William, born in 1841;
- Harriet, born in 1844;
- Ruth, born in 1850. Ruth died soon after they arrived in Australia.
Henry's letter refers to the abundance of gold. The Geelong Advertiser of November 12, 1851 reports that he had 17 oz of gold shipped to Geelong under escort, as part of a total shipment of 674 oz shared among other local residents who went to the goldfields.
Life in the Geelong Area
We do not have a lot of information on Henry and Betsy's life. We know they settled and farmed at Port Henry, about 4 1/2 miles from Geelong itself. That area is now industrialized, but at the time it was at the centre of the local wool district. We also know that the family had property in the area to the North end of Geelong in the areas called Bell Post Hill and Lovely Banks, now suburbs of Geelong.
Henry and Betsy, along with the Hackwill boys, remained Methodists. The first services of the Methodist Church held in the area were held in the home of Mr. Hackwill (the report does not say which of the boys this referred to). The house, it is said was situated on the Geelong side of the Ballarat railway, near the Anakie Road. Land was donated for a church in 1866 and it was affiliated with the United Methodist Connexion. The Brinsmead family was one of the original families involved in the Church. Rev. William Garner was the first minister in charge of Lovely Banks.
It has been hard to find is any direct reference to Henry and Betsy being in touch with William and Ann. The only reference found to date is a report of the Geelong Show in October 1868. The Produce competitions show that William and Ann's son Henry and Thomas Hackwill both entered. Henry took first prize in the cheese category, winning £1 while Thomas placed second for 10/-. Henry took second prize for unsalted butter. Thomas brought home the first prize for salted butter while Henry received an honourable mention.
Marriages
Thomas Brinsmead Hackwill was the first to be married in Australia, in 1857, to Margaret Carlisle. We do not know the location.
May 29, 1862 saw the wedding of Wm. Capron Esq. of Moorabool River,to Mary, the second daughter of Mr. H. Brinsmead, Bell Post Hill. The wedding took place at St. Paul's, Geelong. The announcement noted that both bride and groom were from Devonshire, England.
On June 27, 1866, Rev. James Bickford presided at a wedding at Ashby (Geelong) between William Brinsmead, Esq., of Ballarat and Miss Caroline Radford , daughter of Joseph Radford Esq., of Geelong.
The Geelong Advertiser reported on November 19, 1868 that John Daniel, Ironmonger, married Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Henry Brinsmead, Esq., Lovely Banks. The service was performed by the Rev. E.S. Bickford at the Wesleyan Church, Yarra Street. John, an immigrant from Cornwall had been married before and had several children by his first wife who died about five years before he remarried. He was an Ironmonger in Geelong.
Harriet Brinsmead only married later in life, to Richard Trounce. They were married in 1890, when she was 46. Richard, from Ballarat, was probably married before, to Rose Anna who died in 1883 at age 36. All three are buried in the Ballarat Old Cemetery.
Henry Brinsmead's Death
Henry Brinsmead died suddenly on November 6th, 1879 at his farm in Port Henry, Geelong. A Magistrates Inquest provides some details of his death. The inquest was held just two days after his death and several people provided statements or evidence. The examining doctor, after an autopsy, provided his opinion that Henry had died from the rupture of a pulmonary artery and that his upper lungs were infected by consumption (TB). He otherwise had a healthy heart and was well nourished.
The police officer called to the scene, Sergeant Swale gave the following statement:
I beg to state that I have just been informed by Mr. Thomas Hackwill that at about 12 o'clock today Mr. Henry Brinsmead died very suddenly at his residence at Port Henry. The deceased was about 66 years of age and had suffered from chest disease for a number of years.
He left his house today for the purpose of calling one of his men to dinner and in about half an hour afterwards his wife found him lying dead near his garden fence with blood flowing from his nose and mouth.
Henry's wife Betsy, his step-son Thomas Hackwill, and Thomas's son William Henry Hackwill also provided statements. William Henry said:
I knew the deceased he was my grandfather his name was Henry Brinsmead. I saw him this morning at half after 10 o'clock. He then seemed in good health. He was in the paddock where I was working about half after 11 o'clock the deceased's wife Betsy Brinsmead called me saying come quick father is dead. I came and found him close to the garden fence quite dead. There was blood on his face. I assisted my father to carry him into the house where he still lies.
Henry's step-son Thomas Hackwill gave much the same account and added that:
...he was very temperate in his habits. He has been ailing for years with a very severe cough, no doctor attended him. He was taking medicine when the fits of cough came on if he was not supported he would fall. He had a happy home.
Betsy said:
I am the wife of the deceased Henry Brinsmead he was 66 years of age. He has been ailing for years he would not go to a doctor although I often wished him to do so. Between 10 and 11 o'clock this morning I cooked his meal for him which he eat and he seemed rather better than usual. He left me about half after 10 o'clock to see his grandson who was mowing and in about one hour I went up the garden and close to the fence I saw him lying on his back quite dead. There was blood on his face. He was very temperate in his habits.
The newspaper account of Henry's death adds that Henry was "well known and respected in Geelong".
Auction Announcement in the Geelong Advertiser on February 27, 1883
Selling the Farm
The inquest statements suggest that it was Thomas Hackwill who worked with Henry on the farm and he appears to have taken it over when Henry died. This only lasted for four years as we know Thomas Hackwill left the Geelong area and settled elsewhere. The auction notice, to the right, was published in the Geelong Advertiser. .
Betsy's Death
Betsy survived Henry by 18 years. At the time of her death, on February 17, 1897, she was living with her eldest daughter Elizabeth and son-in law John Daniel at 204 Moorabool Street, Geelong. Her death certificate describes her as having spent 46 years in the colony
Burial
Henry and Betsy Brinsmead, along with son William and William's wife Carolyn are all buried in the Geelong Eastern Cemetery in the old Methodist section plot M-807-024