Chapter 5 - Daniel Brien and Ann Parker

When Daniel Brien took Ann off to the home which she had never seen, it was a complete change of life for each of them. For her, it was to be the first home of her own; for him, it was to be a complete change of his way of living with a woman to comfort him for the rest of his days. Let me take you back to the words of "A Little Grey Home in the West":

In the "Sydney Gazette" of 30th April, 1809, there is a notice stating that there were letters awaiting collection by Ann Parker and Daniel Brien, Settler, at the Office of the Naval Officer's Assistant at the Hospital Wharf, where letters arriving by ship were usually left. There was no postal service, even in England, until the 1d. black postage stamp was invented. New South Wales did not have its own stamps until 1850. So those letters from England had to be brought out by arrangement with the Master of a ship which was leaving for Australia.

It would seem that Daniel Brien had written off to Ann Wilcox at Nymet Foliott, telling her that he had taken her daughter for his wife and that they were living happily together at Seven Hills. Daniel could read and write, but neither Edward Wilcox nor Ann Parker could do so in 1792 when they were married. Maybe they could do so some 16 years later, or have someone else to do that for them. The arrival of letters for both Daniel and Ann in 1809 clearly indicates that Daniel must have sent a letter to Ann Wilcox by some ship which left soon after they had made their home together and that Ann Wilcox had sent separate replies back some six months or more later. The reference to these two letters awaiting collection in Sydney is the only reason why we are sure that Ann Wilcox was told by her daughter, then aged 18, about whom she knew nothing, was living happily in the "tumble down nest" at Seven Hills.

Governor Bligh was having trouble with some settlers and the Officers of the NSW Corps, and an Address of Loyalty to him was prepared on 1st January, 1808 for signature by the Settlers. It was eventually signed by 833 Settlers, including Daniel Brien, who was then a Settler in his own right, and it referred to the troubles which had taken place, and seeking that trial by jury be introduced. It finishes with, "We remain, Sir, Your Excellency's truly devoted, Respectful and most obedient, Humble Servants." But this did not stop the Officers of the Corps arresting the Governor later in the month.

Their first baby, daughter Catherine, arrived on 19th October, 1809. She was probably born in their humble hut or house, with its earthen floor, with the assistance and care of the other women at Seven Hills, for the Sydney Hospital had yet to be built. Everybody helped everybody, even in those days.

Daniel Brien must have been a responsible settler there on his ten acres which are now included in the suburb of King's Langley. On 13th January, 1810, he was appointed as a Constable for the District of Seven Hills by Governor Lachlan Macquarie who had just arrived, and he set up his own Police Force to take the place of the Military. Macquarie had brought his own Battalion of the Black Watch with him, the first and only time that the British soldiers wore the kilt here. Police Magistrate, D'Arcy Wentworth, was in charge of the Police, and Constables wore a blue jacket, a flat cap with a peak, white canvas trousers, and they were armed with a Navy cutlass and carried a watchman's rattle. Macquarie had stated "Our streets frequently exhibited the most disgraceful scenes of rioting, drunkenness, and excesses of every kind, and each morning brought to light the history of thefts, burglaries, and depredations which had been committed the night before, Happily such occurrences are now almost totally suppressed, and when an occasional plunder does take place, such is the vigilance of the Police that Justice speedily overtakes the delinquent."

Policemen were expected to call out the time of night during every half hour of their patrol through their districts; how they were to examine anybody whom they might find in the streets after gunfire at 9.00pm , and if they had any suspicions were to take him to the watch-house; how they were to look up assigned prisoners and quell riots; how they were to raise an alarm in any emergency, see the good behavior of licensed victuallers, and keep a strict eye upon houses of ill-fame; how they should apprehend drunks, suspects, felons and sly-grog sellers; and how on Sundays they were to deal sternly with all whom they might find breaking or profaning the Sabbath day. If Daniel Brien had to arrest anybody, he had to take them to the watch-house at Parramatta until a watch-house was established at Seven Hills.

And Ann Brien, now aged 20, had some standing the community. People calling at their dwelling would have taken her, with her baby, as the daughter of the Constable. Only three years before, she had been sentenced to death at Exeter and then transported.

Governor Macquarie made a tour of the area between Windsor and Parramatta in December, 1810. He gives a good description of the Seven Hills and the Toongabbie areas.

There was a Muster held of all the convicts between 5th February and 5th March, 1811 in which our Daniel was recorded as "Daniel Brien". It was, at this time. that he was issued with a Certificate of Freedom on 5th February. We do not have a copy, but based on the form which was being used at that time, his Certificate would have read as follows:

Their second child, daughter Jane, a sister for Catherine, was born on 19th May, 1811.

Daniel was a subscriber to the fund for enclosing the burial ground for Roman Catholics at Parramatta. It was on the corner of Castle Street and the Pennant Hills Road. According to the "Sydney Gazette" of 4th January, 1812, the Governor gave £12 on behalf of the Government and, of the total of £82.4.7., Mr. Brien gave 2/6d. As there is no record of his burial in 1837, we may assume that, when he died at Parramatta, his body was probably interred there, but the Church record of burials at that time has not been preserved at St. Mary's Cathedral.

In 1812, Governor Macquarie started opening up the country around Campbelltown by giving blocks of land to respectable settlers. They had to pay very little for them, but they had to show their interest by cultivating them. On 25th August, 1812, Daniel Brien was given 30 acres, Allotment No. 21 in the Parish of Manangle, and he had to pay One Shilling per acre a year as rent, and he had to cultivate ten acres within five years, and he could not sell it during those five years.

It would seem that Daniel had a convict named Richard Campbell assigned to him as his first unpaid servant. We do not have a date, but Campbell received a Conditional Pardon in 1814, allowing him to seek employment for himself. We have not looked him up in the old records at the Public Records Office, but here is a job for you. You should find him listed in the Muster of 1811 which should show when and where he was tried, and the name of his ship. Then you find the Convict Indent for that Ship on which he should also be named. And, if you are really interested you can check at the Public Records Office in London to see if the Court papers, which were used at his trial, have been preserved. And, still more, if he was tried at some important city, he may even get a mention in the newspaper there. All of the old newspapers have been preserved and they may be seen at the National Newspaper Library out at the London suburb of Colindale.

1813 was an important year, for my great great grandfather, Timothy Brien, was born at Seven Hills on 3rd July, 1813, a brother for the two little girls. Daniel Brien must have been writing letters to keep in touch with Ann Wilcox, for Postmaster Nichols had a notice placed in the "Sydney Gazette" of 16th October, 1813, telling him that a letter for him had arrived in the Ship "Earl Spencer".

It had not been a good year for farmers, for the "Gazette" of 13th November, 1813, reported that, "We are much concerned to state that the late blights almost wholly destroyed the crops of wheat about Parramatta, Prospect, Baulkham Hills and Seven Hills, which a short time since were so luxuriant in appearance."

The next event was the birth of daughter, Mary Ann, on 21st September, 1815, and, in the middle of the next year, the Government commenced issuing cattle from the Government herds, and they had to be paid for in cash or in wheat at the Government price of Twenty Pounds for full grown cows or bullocks, to prevent over-charging by other settlers. Daniel Brien was No. 8 on the list to attend at the Station at Seven Hills on 17th July, 1816, to receive the cattle which had been assigned to him. If he did not pay in hard cash, or by wheat, he could have credit if he put up a bond that he would pay. On 12th July, 1817, he was then supplying fresh meat to the Government Stores, and was listed to deliver 1,000 pounds under the name of Daniel Bryan.

It is now the time for me to tell you about the education of the Brien girls and boys. Catherine Brien was now nearly seven years of age, and I am certain that her father was worrying about her going to school. There was no school at Seven Hills then, and it is possible that Catherine and a couple of other children were being taught to count, to say the alphabet, to do simple arithmetic, and to write strokes and circles. In those days, children used slates and slate pencils, for the ships brought out tons and tons of slates from England, Scotland, and Wales, to be used as roofs for buildings before corrugated iron was invented. Those slates were good as ballast for the ships to keep them upright, and their holds were then filled with goods for sale back in England or elsewhere. Some of the mothers who lived along Meurant's Lane might have had a good education, and they might have taught the children, just in the same way they had been taught.

An old convict, Charles Wiltshire, aged 77, sent a Petition to Governor Macquarie on 15th June, 1816, asking him to assist him to become a teacher in Seven Hills, where he lived. The Petition bore the recommendations of 13 settlers, five of whom signed it with a cross. Daniel Brien wrote the third signature. Only a month before, the teacher at Toongabbie had left without notice, leaving the children without any instructor. Mr. Curtis at the dairy at Toongabbie was able to find Mr. Wiltshire to take over the Toongabbie school. He wrote "He sent for me & asked me if I would like to have the Place to Instruct the children which I did & I have kept them Close to School every Day since so that they should not Loose what they have learned."

On 15th January, 1818, he was able to buy another farm, Randall's Farm, on the north side of Meurant's Lane. It was 100 acres, Lot 64 in the Parish of Gidley, and it was originally a Crown Grant to William Randall on 13th January 1818 which he sold to Daniel Brien just three days later. No wonder that Governor Macquarie brought in a rule that if you received a Crown Grant of land, you could not turn it into cash for the next five years. Daniel was soon able to move to a more suitable place of residence from his first little farm of ten acres down on Vardy's Road. On 10th September, 1818, on the recommendation of H. McArthur, Randall's Farm was measured for him, and his then residence was shown to be Seven Hills in the Remarks column, which also states, "Has a large stock with a large family." When you look at the Parish map of Seven Hills, you will see that, by this purchase, he now owned a farm on the Northern side of Meurant's Lane. In his Will, which he made in 1832, he stated that he resided on Randall's Farm, but we have no idea when the move was made.

On 31st January, 1818, he was listed for the supply of 2,000 lbs of fresh meat to the Government Stores.

But, in 1818, there was more success. A man named Christopher Limebear Bridges lived in the district for the next five years as a Schoolmaster, "and he behaved himself with the greatest propriety." So read a reference dated "Seven Hills. 14th September 1823." and which was signed by eight Landholders, including Daniel Brien.

On 3rd July, 1819,there was a further letter for Daniel Brien awaiting his collection. I often wonder whether these letters from England were ever kept for us. The first two, one for Daniel and the other for Ann, arrived in April, 1809, possibly congratulating them on settling down together at Seven Hills.. They probably carried them around together to show their friends, and they may have slipped them into a Family Bible or some other book to keep them, for little Catherine was soon to arrive. . Would it not be great if those early letters are still in the hands of one of your distant cousins.

On 11th September, 1819, Daniel Brien was supplying 4,000 lbs. of meat, this time in his correct name.

In the 1820 Muster, he is recorded again as "Bryan, Daniel" but this time he is shown as a baker, and, in the 1821 Muster, he is still "Bryan, Daniel", but this time as a Landholder.

Two Catholic Priests, Fathers, John Joseph Therry and Philip Conolly, had arrived here on 3rd May, 1820, and Governor Macquarie told them that they could marry two Catholics, but not a Catholic and a Protestant, and that may be the reason that why Daniel Brien and Ann Parker were eventually married on 29th January, 1821 at St. John's Church of England at Parramatta by Rev. Samuel Marsden.

The entry in the Parish Register of St. John's Church of England, Parramatta of the marriage of Daniel Brien and Ann Parker on 29th January 1821. (Mitchell Library Microfilm FM4/3700)

Although he entered her name in the record as "Ann Parker", she could not sign her name, and made a cross which Marsden showed as "Ann Brien. Her Mark." Although they already had six children, this may have been done to ensure that Daniel may have been favoured with a further Crown Grant of land by Governor Macquarie who was really enthusiastic about making clandestine marriages legal. You see the law the rights of wives under marriages was the same here as in England, ever since 1788, and it was under this law that they were married. But action was being taken in England for a change in the law, which eventually took place in July 1822. Maybe, Marsden knew that was likely to happen, and that he advised them to get married immediately in his Church, particularly as Daniel Brien was a Roman Catholic and Ann had been Christened in the Church of England at Nymet Tracey. And, as Governor Macquarie was not happy about giving a Crown Grant of Land to people who were not married, that may also have made them decide to take this important step.

On 9th March, 1821, Mr. D. Brien, of Parramatta was listed as delivering a further supply of 2,000 lbs. of meat.

On 5th April, 1821, he received a further Crown Grant of Land on Meurant's Lane, this time n the south side, 110 acres, being lot 182 in the Parish of Prospect, and he was required to cultivate twenty acres during the ensuing five years. The rent was 2/- per acre per year. I wonder if this Grant was made as a reward for their marriage in January.

The next important event was the birth of their daughter, Clara, their seventh child, on 10th November 1821.

Then, on 11th November, 1823, their eighth child, son John Robert, was born to them.

There was a Census in 1824 in which they were recorded as the "Brian" family. This shows that Ann had received a Ticket of Leave, no date is given, just the number 165, which was the same number as that given to her husband, Daniel. Her friend on the "Sydney Cove" in 1807, Maria Smith, had been granted her Ticket of Leave in February, 1811.

Daniel Brien must have prospered, and he may have moved his residence up to Randall's Farm by this time. James Beckett of Seven Hills was appointed as a Constable at this time, and it is possible that he took up the position from Daniel Brien.

On 12th January, 1824, Samuel Beckett, Daniel Brien and William Hathaway, whom we understand all might have been Police Constables at the time, applied for permission to send 80 head of cattle to new country over the Cookbundoon River under young John Hillas. Daniel Brien owned 20 of the herd.

Samuel Beckett was given a Crown Grant of 50 acres, being Lot 71 in the Parish of Gidley on 13th January, 1818, and he sold his Right to Daniel Brien on 17th February, 1824. It is on the North-west corner of the intersection of Meurant's Lane and the Old Windsor Road, and the whole area has now been created into a soccer complex - soccer on the Brien Estate. When the Bi-Centenary Celebrations for the arrival of Daniel Brien were held in 1991, the whole proceedings took place in the buildings in the soccer complex.

Daniel Brien also became the owner of Pembury's Farm which had been a Crown Grant to Edward Pembury, of 30 acres, being Lot 70 in the Parish of Gidley and which lay between Randall's Farm and Beckett's Farm. So he eventually owned 180 acres altogether on the north side of Meurant's Lane and a further 110 acres across the road on the south side. We do not have a date for his purchase of Pembury's Farm.

On 28th August, 1824, Daniel put in an application for another Crown Grant of Land. It was written by somebody else, and his name is shown as "Daniel Bryan"..Rev. Samuel Marsden supported the application, by stating ,

I do not think that he had success this time. He had just received a Grant of 100 acres in 1821, just after his marriage.

In the papers which have been left by Police Magistrate, D'Arcy Wentworth, we have found a Constable Bryan locking up prisoners Alice Graham and William Bernard on 28th February 1825. On that very day, daughter Catherine Brien, aged 15, married James Foulcher or Hutchins at St John's Church of England at Parramatta, maybe to make more room for so many of the Brien children. Foulcher was aged 23.

Then the Briens had another daughter, Sarah Jane, born on 1st December, 1825.

The "Australian" newspaper of 2nd May, 1826 and the "Sydney Gazette" of the same day, contained a list of former convicts who had been given Certificates of Freedom or Tickets of Leave. Our Ann received her Certificate of Freedom as "Ann Parker alias Willcocks" on 1st May 1826. It bore the number 4/5264, but the important thing is that it had her personal description on the back. It is the only description which we have of her, and it reads: Age 36. Height 5 feet. Complexion Sallow & pock pitted. Hair Brown. Eyes Blue.

Ann should have received a Ticket of Leave after she served two years of her sentence, but we have no record of that, but the Certificate of Freedom so long after her arrival must have been overlooked.

We also know about the attendance at the Seven Hills school at this time from a Despatch by Governor Darling. There were 14 on the Roll in 1825-26 with an average attendance of 11 - 7 boys and 4 girls. In 1827, Mr. Kirk was the master of this school, then called Prospect, the name of the Parish on the map. A Church of England school also opened between 1826 and 1829.

Then we come to a most important document, the Census of New South Wales in 1828. It has been preserved in England, and it has been microfilmed, and it is available in the Public Records Office in each State. In addition, it has been printed in full and indexed, and it is a great help to seekers of information on the early days. The Householder had to sign the sheet, and Daniel Brien's sheet was written by R. Hathaway, the District Constable.

When my father was a boy, he went over from Melbourne to Sydney to meet his grandfather, Timothy Brien, who was then an old man. He was told by Timothy that his ancestor, Daniel Brien, had come to New South Wales as a Free Settler in the Second Fleet. And my father told me that, and I believed him. So, in my later years, when I heard of the 1828 Census, I looked him up, and he was marked F.S. But that did not mean Free Settler. It meant Free by Servitude. He had been a convict, and he had arrived in the ship "Salamander", one of the ships in the Third Fleet. And now you know why I have been tracing our families ever since to find out the correct stories and to write down all of that for you. It has been a wonderful job, and it is all true. But you have really read nothing yet. Wait until you come to the final Chapters when you will find out everything that happened over 130 years ago and which has all been hidden away in the old records.

The Brien sheet gives the names of Daniel and Mary Anne Brien. This is the first time that our Grannie has been given that name. The religion of the family is given as "Catholic" and, from then on, she is recorded as Mary Anne Brien. Hathaway, who wrote the details on the form must have believed that they were all Catholics, but you will remember that Grannie was Christened at St Bartholomew's Church of England at Nymet Tracey. The Catholics were spelling "Ann" after St. Ann, but the Protestants were spelling it as "Anne" after the late Queen Anne, who had died in 1714.

The Brien children are all listed down as far as Sarah, but Catherine is not there, for she had married, and she would be living with the Foulchers.

The sheet, which was signed by Daniel Brien, also lists his three convict servants:

   William Philips    Age 31 who had arrived in the "Glory" in 1817
   William Morris     Age 22 who had arrived in the "Princess Royal" in 1823
   John Wallace        Age 39 who had arrived in the "Batavia" in 1818

They all came to serve seven years' transportation. In addition he had William Browning, aged 70, who had come free as a marine in the First Fleet in the "Friendship", as his servant.

The Census also shows that Daniel Brien was a settler at Seven Hills, holding 300 acres of land, 50 acres of which had been cleared and were being cultivated, four horses, and 97 horned cattle.

The Householder's Sheet for the 1828 Census of NSW signed by Daniel Brien

On 20th December, 1829, Governor Darling must have been insulted on his leaving the Church of St. James in Sydney. All of the important citizens of Parramatta signed an Address to the Governor which is worth inclusion here, for "Dan Bryan" signed it and it reads:

Their tenth child, James, was born to Daniel and Ann Brien on 26th December 1829.

The Old Windsor Road, which ran past Beckett's Farm, is mentioned in "The History of Kellyville" which was written by Eric Rainbow, where he states:

The second marriage in the family, then of ten children, was that of second daughter Jane, aged 20, to Paul Huon, aged 30, of Airds, for his second marriage on 5th July, 1831, in Sydney. He was a son of Count Gabriel Louis Marie Huon de Kerilliau, a Breton noble and was a settler in the Campbelltown area. His first wife had been Sarah House by whom he had four children before her death.

Their last child, number eleven, daughter Eleanor Grace, was born to the Briens on 8th March, 1832.

Then they had the sad event of the death, on 11th December, 1832, of Catherine Foulcher, their daughter, at the age of 23, the wife of James Foulcher, the Publican at "The Native Companion" in George Street, Parramatta, leaving three small children. He then married Helen Lee at St. John's on 23rd October 1833, by whom he had another four children.

Other events which must be mentioned are the marriages of Timothy Brien, aged 29, to Charlotte Gilbert, aged 19, the daughter of Samuel Gilbert, the Parramatta baker, at St. John's Church of England at Parramatta on 26th May, 1833, the marriage of Mary Ann Brien, aged 19, to Matthew Woodward Pearce, aged 27, also at St. John's, on 29th May, 1834. He was a son of prominent settler Matthew Pearce, who owned most of the King's Langley area. This was followed by the marriage of Elizabeth Brien, aged 17, to John James, aged 20, on 4th April, 1836, also at St. John's. He was a son of Samuel James, an ex-convict who was an orchardist at Baulkham Hills.

And then we come to Clara Brien, aged 15, who married Robert Holt Best, aged 24, the son of ex-convict George Best of Seven Hills at St. John's on 24th December, 1836. It was Robert Holt Best who became the pioneer settler at Wagga Wagga. He named the place.

There is no official record of the death of Daniel Brien on 22nd August, 1837, apart from the Index of Probate Applications in New South Wales - Probate Application No. 896, Series 1. St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney has the records of Catholic Church burials in 1837, but the first few pages are missing. As this register lists burials at Parramatta, it is unlikely that there is any other record. The few missing pages may have been destroyed in the fire which gutted the Cathedral on 29th June, 1865. Daniel Brien was probably buried in the Catholic Cemetery at the junction of Castle Street and Pennant Hills Road for which he contributed 2/6d. in January, 1812. There is no register of the graves preserved in respect of the early burials in St. Patrick's Cemetery which had been dedicated well before his death on 22nd August, 1837.

In his Will, Daniel Brien left his old home and farm down on Vardy's Road to Ann for herself, and, all the other farms went to the four boys, but she had an interest in them while she lived.

They were living on Randall's Farm at the time of Daniel's death, and their son, Timothy, received that farm under the Will. He needed the house there for his wife, Charlotte, and their children, Mary Ann 3 and Charlotte 2. This house was still standing there in 1897 when Timothy died and a valuer described it then as follows: "The buildings are a very old wood built cottage, shingle roof. Slab hut, stables and sheds covered with iron and bark." Daniel and Ann Brien may have lived in that house from l5th January, 1818 until his death.

Their son, Daniel, Junior, received Beckett's Farm on the old Windsor Road corner, and he sold it to his brother Timothy for £200 on 3rd October, 1859.

Son, John Robert Brien, was given the l10 acres on the south side of Meurant's Lane, and he sold that to his brother, James, for £250.

Pembury's Farm went to son, James Brien, under the Will.

I have mentioned earlier the Crown Grant of 30 acres in the Parish of Manangle to Daniel Bryan on 25th August, 1812, but I feel that must have been given to another Daniel Bryan, who was buried on 27th. December, 1836 at Liverpool, for it is not mentioned in the Will of our Daniel Brien.

While his mother was a widow, Daniel Brien, Junior, then 21, married Mary Ann Best, 17, at St. John's, Parramatta on 20th. February, 1838. She was a daughter of Thomas and Mary Best and a granddaughter of convict George Best He had just received Beckett's Farm under his father's Will, and he did not sell it to his brother, Timothy, until 3rd October, 1859.

Widow Ann Brien still had the four youngest children John Robert 14, Sarah Jane 12, James 7, and Eleanor Grace 5 living with her, and she must have moved with them back to the old place on Vardy's Road. She remained as a widow for only two years, before she married William Henry Smith on 8th October, 1839, at St. John's Church, Parramatta, and all that he had to do was to walk into that home and hang up his hat.

In the next Chapter, I will tell you about her life for the next 26 years with her second husband, Bill Smith.