The Andersons of Fairy Meadow lived on a 100 acre grant made to Robert Anderson of Liverpool on 1 May 1833. This land was transferred to his son Gerald Anderson by deed poll on 18 February 1838. At the time of the 1841 Census Gerald Anderson was listed as resident at St Vincent on a government lease. Gerald had held numerous leases in the St Vincent area since 1836.[1] [2]
On 31 October 1842 Gerald Anderson of St Vincent married Mary Ann Smiles at St Luke’s, Liverpool. It is not certain when Gerald settled at Fairy Meadow. Their first child Mary Ann was born on 10 November 1843 and baptised at St Luke’s, Liverpool in 1844. In advertisements offering a reward for a stolen horse in 1844 Gerald is described as of St Vincent and Wollongong. Gerald and Mary Ann’s second child Robert was born on 24 March 1845 and baptised at St Philip, Sydney on 25 December 1845. The family were certainly at Fairy Meadow by the time their third child Gerald was born on 28 October 1846. The family kept growing until 1867:
- Mary Ann 1843-1922
- Robert 1845-1905
- Gerald 1846-1848
- James 1848-1921
- Phoebe 1849-1910
- Thomas 1851-1919 see also Amy Victoria Anderson
- Elizabeth 1852-1947
- John 1854-1941
- George 1856-1939
- Gerald 1857-1943
- William 1858-1944
- Henry 1861-1925
- Charles 1867-1940
Besides the 100 acre grant Gerald held he also purchased 25 acres on the eastern side of his land in 1854.[3]
Anderson family photographs
Unless otherwise acknowledged all photographs are from the JB collection. Thank you to the custodians for sharing these images.
[1] Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 803. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230673384
[2] Also holding leases in the same area were Gerald’s sister Maria’s husband William Graham and her later husband Richard Glanville.
[3] NSW Land Registry Book 31 No. 940
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