CHAPTER 7

The Eleven Brien Children.

Now that you have read carefully the story of Ann Parker, Daniel Brien and William Henry Smith, I had better tell you a little about each of the eleven Brien children, so that,  when you  are trying to make them your great (many times)  grandparents, you may be able to make a connection  between one of them and your present grandparents. I cannot include all of the thousands of pages from my histories which will be kept and preserved by my son, Robert J. Cuthill, of 1395 Blackgate Road, Freshwater Creek, Victoria, 3216, where he has an alpaca stud farm, but he also has a set of duplicate volumes which are available for you to borrow and read.  The Master Volumes are never loaned to anybody. 

For the first generation, I will record the married names of their daughters and their husbands to give you a lead when you are trying to fill in the intermediate generations in your family tree. So here are the eleven children, Catherine being the eldest.

CATHERINE BRIEN:  Born 19th October, 1809 at Seven Hills. Died 11th December, 1832 at Parramatta. She married James Foulcher on 28th February, 1825 at St. John's Church at Parramatta.  He was the son of convict Robert Foulcher who had been convicted at Chelmsford on 9th March, 1789 and who was transported for seven years.  He came out in the "Albemarle" and arrived on13th. October 1791.  He died on 6th July, 1838 at Parramatta. His wife was Elizabeth Hutchins, so James Foulcher was also James Hutchins.  James Foulcher was born on 19th July, 1802  at Parramatta.  He became a publican in Smith Street, Parramatta and later had the "Native Companion" Hotel in George Street, Parramatta.

They had three children, their only daughter Sarah Jane Foulcher marrying William Byrne Smith.

Before we move on to the next child, I must refer to our distant cousin, Susan Yule, who has 22 convict  ancestors.  You may not believe it, but she must hold the belt - Susan Yule of North Avoca. The best that most of my readers will have will be two or three. Susan Yule's convict ancestors were Patrick Byrne,  Ann Smith and Joseph Wright, all First Fleeters, and Eleanor Gott, Daniel Brien,  George Best, Robert Hobbs, Robert Foulcher, Thomas Francis, Robert Allcock,  Bridget Esler, Sarah Buchan, Honora Collins,  Martha Chamberlain, Elizabeth Hutchins, Morgan Power, Bridget Byrne, Ann Parker,  James Charles Mostyn alias Butler, William Ledgerwood, Thomas Henry Neal and Thomas Robinson. The histories of each of these people can be read in Vol. II of the full Brien story.

JANE BRIEN:  Born 19th May 1811 at Seven Hills.  Died 7th April, 1894 at "Bungoona", Huon Lane. She was the second wife of Paul Huon whom she married on 5th July, 1831 at Sydney. He was the eldest son of Count  Gabriel Louis Marie Huon de Kerilliau, a French noble from Brittany who had skipped across to England in 1789, during the French Revolution while the French peasants were cutting off the heads of the French nobles with the guillotine. He changed his name to Gabriel Lewis and joined the British Army as a private soldier in the N.S.W. Corps, and he was sent out to New South Wales in the escort in the convict  transport "Surprize" in 1794.   When the convict ship "Indispensible" arrived in 1796,  the romantics seem to think that Gabriel went down to have a look at the load of girls which she had brought to Sydney.  He would have been dressed in his Regimentals, and he heard one of the girls speaking French. He spoke to her and invited her to become his wife,  and she replied  "Yes, Please".  Anyway, they went to live at Elizabeth Farm, the residence of his Officer, John Macarthur.  Her name was Louisa le Sage, and they had two children, Elizabeth and Paul.  Then by permission of Governor King. his Commanding Officer, and because they were both Catholics, and Louisa being a convict they were married at St. John's Church of England at Parramatta by Rev. Samuel Marsden on 7th February, 1801.

Paul Huon had been born on 12th September, 1799 at Parramatta. His first wife was a local girl, Sarah House, whom he had married in 1822.  She gave him  four children.   After Sarah's death in 1830, Paul married Jane Brien, and they had a further nine children.  He was a settler in the Campbelltown area, and he died there on 18th August, 1849.  His wife, Jane, died on 7th April, 1894 at  "Bungonia", Huon Lane. Three of their daughters married; Louisa Huon  to Richard Cobham,  Emma Frances Huon to William John Mullinger Stuckey and Sarah Jane Huon to her cousin James Mitchell.

TIMOTHY  BRIEN:  Born 3rd July, 1813 at Seven  Hills.  Died 15th January 1897 at Seven Hills.  His first marriage was to Charlotte Gilbert on 26th May, 1833 at St. John's Church at Parramatta. She was the second daughter of Samuel Gilbert who was a porter on the London docks , and his wife, Mary Amanet, being born on 6th May 1814, probably at New Inn Yard in Shoreditch in England. She had come out to New South Wales with her mother who was a free person in the convict ship "Lord Melville" in1817 to join her father who had been transported for14 years for the possession of forged Bank notes.  The full story of Samuel Gilbert, the Parramatta baker, will be found on the Internet at:

Timothy Brien was a publican at the Plough Inn in Phillip Street, Parramatta, at the time of their marriage, and he then became a fruit grower at Seven Hills. On the death of his father, he succeeded to Randall's Farm at Seven Hills, and he bought further property in that area.

His wife, Charlotte, died on 30th April, 1862, and he then married Ann Small, a widow, on 28th October 1867, at West Maitland. She died on 4th July, 1895 at Seven Hills. There  were twelve children of the first marriage but none from the second marriage. Five of the daughters married; Mary Anne Brien to John Moffitt Black, and to James Thomas Greenwood, Charlotte Brien to Edward Newton and to William Mantle, Katherine Brien to Edwin George Crane, Matilda Susannah Brien to Michael McHugh and Hannah Brien to William Fitzgerald.

MARY ANN BRIEN:   Born 21st September, 1815 at Seven Hills. Died 19th November, 1876  at Seven Hills. She married Matthew Woodward Pearce on 29th May, 1834 at St. John's, Parramatta.  He was born on 11th September 1806 at Seven Hills and died on 12th May, 1878 at Seven Hills.  He was the son of Free Settlers, Matthew Pearce and his wife, Martha, who had arrived in Sydney in the convict ship "Surprize" in 1794, and they took up most of King's Langley.  They even had their own burial ground on Seven Hills Road at Baulkham Hills.  At his marriage to Mary Brien, Matthew Pearce acquired large tracts of land.  He already owned King's Langley Farm with his brother William after the death of his father in 1831. He inherited over 200 acres at Bannaby, and he also received several Crown Grants in the Riverina. He owned Howlong Station Murray River where he had his brother-in-law, Hiram Howard as the Manager.  Matthew and Mary had thirteen children, including four daughters, of whom only Mary Ann Elizabeth married Tasker C. Smith.

DANIEL BRIEN, JUNIOR:  He was born on 17th July, 1817 at Seven Hills.  He died on 15th March, 1878 at Parramatta. He married Mary Ann Best on 20th February, 1838 at ST. John's, Parramatta.  She had been born on 18th March, 1820 and died on 6th April, 1876 at Parramatta.  She was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Best and a granddaughter of George Best and Martha Chamberlain, both of whom were convicts.   He eventually became a publican at the Golden Fleece Hotel in 1853, the Peacock Inn in 1858, and the Sportsman's Arms in 1860, all in Parramatta.  Under the distribution of the real estate of his father who died in 1837, young Daniel, then aged 20, received Beckett's farm of 50 acres on the N.W.  corner of the intersection of the Old Windsor Road and Meurant's Lane. He sold that farm to his brother, Timothy, on 3rd November, 1859 for £200.   They eventually lived in Harold Street,  Parramatta.  They had three children, and their only daughter, Sophia Brien, married Edward Braddick.

ELIZABETH BRIEN:   Born on 30th September, 1819 at Seven Hills. Died 13th July1909 at Kellyville.  She married John James on 4th April, 1836 at St. John's, Parramatta.  He was born on 10th October, 1816 at Windsor, the son of convict Samuel James and Ann Bean, who had come free from England in 1799.  John James was a farmer at Castle Hill, and he died on 6th. January, 1897.   They had eighteen children, and three of their daughters married; Annie Cordelia James to James William King, Jemima James to William James, and Rosanna James to ......... King.

CLARA  BRIEN:  Born on 10th November, 1821 at Parramatta. She married Robert Holt Best on 24th December 1836  at  St. John's, Parramatta.  He was born on 27th  August, 1812 at Castle Hill, the son of convicts George Best and Martha  Chamberlain who were farmers . at Castle Hill. They were a very prosperous family, and it was a great blow to them when their son, Robert, was killed by a fall from his horse on 3rd April, 1853 on his property "Flowerdale" at Wagga Wagga.  The Robert Best family were the first settlers there on 42,000 acres in about 1842.  They named the place.  "Wagga" means a crow, and Wagga Wagga  is the plural, meaning "The place of many crows." They had ten children.  After the death of her husband on 26th September 1853 when his horse collided with a tree trunk, Clara Best married Edward Charles Pearson on 4th November,1856 at South Wagga Wagga. His parents were Mr. & Mrs. George Pearson of George Street, Parramatta. There were three children of the second marriage.  Her husband died on 18th December, 1887 and Clara Pearson passed away on 6th September, 1900. They were both interred in the Best private cemetery on the "Flowerdale" property at Wagga Wagga. There were five daughters married from the first family;  Clara Agnes Best married James Joseph Rudd,  Jr., Martha Susannah Constance Mary Best married James Bourke, Henry Edwin Tompson  and Charles Scriven, Diana Elizabeth  Best married Charles John Tompson and Amelia Ann Best married Thomas F. Murray. From the second marriage, daughter Isabella Agnes Pearson married John Russell Ross.

JOHN ROBERT BRIEN:    Born 11th November, 1823  at Seven Hills.  Died On 27th October, 1895 at Rouse Hill.   He was 13 years of age when his father died in 1837, and he would have lived with his mother on the 10 acre farm on Vardy's Road. Under his father's Will, he was left the l10 acre farm on the South side of Meurant's Lane.  Pembury's Farm had been left to his brother James, who did not want it and who offered it to his brother Timothy, who also did not want it, so John eventually bought it from James for £250 on 13th July 1862.

His marital affairs are a little confused but between 1846 and 1852, he formed a relationship with Sarah Pye who as the daughter of George Best and Martha Chamberlain, born on 26th June 1809 at Toongabbie, had married James Pye on 20th June 1836,and he became the Mayor of Parramatta in later years.  Sarah Pye and John had three children between 1848 and 1851, whom we must regard as Brien descendants.  After the death of Sarah Pye on 11th May 1882 at North Rocks, John then married Mary Elizabeth Johnson  in 1882, the daughter of John Johnson of Seven Hills, and his wife, Letitia.  They had no children. She died on 2nd May, 1917, at Kellyville.  John Brien and Sarah Pye had daughters; Harriet Brien who married Robert James Meurant and another who was baptized Catherine Grace Bryan and who, as Catherine Grace Pye, married her cousin, James Pearce.  We are proud of our relationship with Ferdinand Napoleon Meurant, the grandfather of Robert Meurant.  He was the famous French forger of Bank notes in Ireland,  who met the French explorer. Peron, when he was here in Sydney in 1802. Peron published his lying story in English when he got home, arid this is what Ferdie actually told him:

"My only crime was that I wished to be a partner in the Bank of England, without putting in any stock. The War had just broken out between Great Britain and France; the forces of the two nations were opposed; but it appeared to me more easy to destroy our rival by finances than by arms : I therefore resolved , like a good patriot, to undertake this ruin, and to complete it in the very heart of London.  If I had succeeded, France would have erected altars to my memory ; but I have not been .proclaimed the avenger of my country: Scarcely had I arrived in England , before I began my operations, and they  succeeded beyond my  utmost hopes.  Being ably seconded by an Irishman, not less clever than myself, and who, influenced by me, by a noble patriotism, I soon succeeded in counterfeiting the Bank notes with such great exactness, that it was even difficult for ourselves to distinguish them from the real ones; those which issued from  our presses. I was beginning to triumph; all my arrangements were made for inundating England with the produce of our manufactory; I only waited for some private information with respect to the manner in which they were to be numbered, when my companion, whom I had hitherto considered a very honest man; took it into his head to steal from our depot, a handful of these notes, before I had given them certain finishing strokes, which though trivial, were indispensable.  The consequence was, that he was very soon apprehended, and as he had not hesitated to forfeit his honour on one occasion, he had no compunction at acting the second time like a villain.  He disclosed everything; and I was taken up and sent with him to a dungeon. All our instruments , all the contents of our manufactory, were seized and Great Britain was saved from the ruin which I had prepared for her! "

I thought that my young readers would have liked to read this lying explanation by Monsieur Meurant, for the descendants of Robert and Harriet Meurant are your distant cousins, although it is not really Brien history.

SARAH JANE  BRIEN:   Born 1st December, 1825 at Seven Hills. Died 21st July, 1868, probably at Wangaratta.  She married Benjamin Warby, Junior, on 31t March, 1846 at St, Bartholomew's Church of England at  Prospect. He was a grandson of convict John Warby who gave the family name to the Warby Ranges, near Wangaratta. Benjamin Warby, Senior, married twice. He had nine children by his first wife, Elizabeth  Hunt, and Benjamin, Junior, was the only surviving child, the other eight being stillborn. Elizabeth Warby died on 26th November, 1835, and Warby then married  Frances Judith Bent, who gave him a further 14 children.

Benjamin and Sarah Warby had a station called Taminick, near the Warby Ranges,  which had been bought for him by his father, in 1846. The Warbys were great racing men with their horse Cardinal Wiseman.  There was one incident with Sarah Warby which is worth mentioning here. In 1865, Sarah was at home with her younger children when bushranger Daniel Morgan called and bailed her up and ordered her to make breakfast for him. Benjamin was away at the time, and Sarah was alone with the children.  He also wanted to borrow a horse, for his was knocked up.  But there was no horse for him, and, after breakfast, he left in the direction, of Peechelba.  He held up Peechelba the next morning, and he rounded up all of the people there. But he missed one girl, who was able to send a message to the Police, who then called and shot him. 

Benjamin Warby, Junior, died suddenly on 16th November, 1869. Ben and Sarah had eight children.  Six daughters were married - Elizabeth Mary Ann Warby to Robert Sharp; Emily Jane Warby to James Hoban; Isabina Matilda Warby to James McKay; Susan Isobel Warby to Robert Bell; Adelaide Frances Warby to David Campbell and Rose Florence Eleanor Warby to James Fuller.

JAMES  BRIEN:  Born 26th December, 1829 at Parramatta.  Died on 5th July 1919 at his home in Green Street, Wangaratta. He had been a blacksmith and wheelwright in Albury where he met Elizabeth Ann Barrett who was then living with her sister,  Mary Ann Layton, whose husband, James Layton, had the Royal and Advance Australia Hotels there.  They married on 6th August 1856 in Albury when James had his own business in Wangaratta.  Elizabeth Barrett was born on 23rd September, 1836 at Liverpool, N.S.W. the daughter of convict William Barrett and his wife, Elizabeth Craft, and she died on 18th February, 1926 at Wangaratta.

When his father died in 1837, James, then 5, was left Pembury's Farm on Meurant's Lane.  He did not want it later, and he eventually sold it to his brother John for £250 on 13th July, 1862.  They took up land at Wangandary, where they established an orange orchard.  They had eight children, three of their daughters marrying; Mary Ann Frances Matilda Brien to Thomas James White; Elizabeth Eleanor Catherine Brien to William Buckler and Florence Amelia Brien to William James Corry.

ELEANOR GRACE BRIEN:   Born 8th March, 1832 at Seven Hills.  Died 30th April, 1926  at Howlong.  She married Hiram Howard on 16th August, 1852 at St. Bartholomew's Church of England at Prospect.  He was the son of convict Thomas Howard, a blacksmith, and Ann Williams, born at Windsor in about 1826, and who died on 2nd October, 1895 at Howlong.  After his father died in 1861, Hiram went to Sydney and worked for his brother Jonathan at the Glebe Omnibus Company.  On his marriage, he went back to Seven Hills and, later,  to Howlong, where he managed the Howlong Station for Matthew Woodward Pearce, his brother-in-law.  But, he was charged with horse stealing in 1858 and was convicted at Goulburn Quarter Sessions and sentenced to five years hard labour on the roads.  After two years, possibly on the pleas of his influential brother-in-law Matthew Pearce, he was released on a Colonial Pardon in 1860 which required him to leave the Queen's Dominions during the balance of his sentence.  He left for America with his wife and three infant children and returned in 1863 with four children, to resume his position at Howlong.  Hiram and Eleanor had eleven children, two of their daughters marrying; Emma Henrietta Howard to John M. Johnson and Clara Jane Howard to John Foley.