Rediscovering Ginninderra:
Mr Stephen Brown (1832 – 1910)
Born: 1832; Died: 1901; Married: Jane Stear (1) Alice Woodward (2)
Stephen Brown was the first of fourteen children born to Thomas Brown and his wife Sarah (née Turk) He was born in 1832 in Sussex, England, and accompanied his parents and two siblings (Harriet and James) when they emigrated to Australia on the 'Duchess of Northumberland', arriving in Sydney on the 22nd of April 1838.
Travelling southwards from Sydney, the family spent some years in The Cowpastures district before settling permanently near Jerrawa Creek, forty miles west of Goulburn.
Stephen married Jane Stear, who was born in Cornwall, England in 1835, on 4th January 1853, and arrived in Sydney with her family on the 'Julindur' in 1849. Their children were:
1. Hannah (1853-1938) (married James Southwell),
2. Stephen Charles (1854-1878) (married Sarah Southwell),
3. Joseph (1857-1894)
4. Jabez (1859-1922) (married Sarah Southwell)
5. Unnamed child (1862-1862)
6. Mary (1863-1883)
7. Ebenezer (1866-1856) (married Elizabeth Southwell)
8. Alfred (1868-1913)
9. Sarah Jane (1872-1903)
10. Annie Louisa (married Charles William Southwell)
11. Sophia Grace (1878-?)
12. Emily Amelia (c.1880-1944)
Writing about 'Old Wesley Vale' in 1910, Rev F W A Roberts observed that 'the children of Old Tom Brown followed in their father's footsteps':
Among these is Mr Stephen Brown ....He is nearly 80 years of age, and has been a preacher for over 50 years, and still preaches. At the beginning of last winter he drove one very cold Sunday about 16 miles to fulfil two appointments, which caused erisypelas, and which confined him to his bed for weeks, but he was present at all the Jubilee Services and was proud of the part which his son, the rev. Alfred Brown took in the celebration..."
Stephen's wife Jane died in 1884, when her youngest child was still only four or so. She was buried in the Dalton Cemetery. Stephen remarried eighteen months later in December 1885 to Alice Mary Woodward. He died on 30 August 1910 and is buried in the Dalton cemetery.
Related Photos
References
Campbell, W J M. 'Old Tom Brown' of Wesley Vale, Dalton. Centenary Reminiscences, Canberra 1938.