Thomas Sherwood

  General Notes:

Keith Shrimpton where it is noted:
THOMAS SHERWOOD (SHEARWOOD) was the son of John Sherwood and Ann Lane, and was born at North Richmond on 26th December 1824 and baptised as Thomas Shearwood at St.Peters Richmond. Although John spelt his name Sherwood at the time of his marriage, he insisted on the spelling Shearwood for the rest of his life, which could have been as a result of a family altercation as in his fathers will he was bequeathed One shilling and no more.

He married Hannah Crump the daughter of Thomas Crump and Mary Johnson on 28th April 1846 at St.Peters Richmond. Thomas and his brother James were well known sawyers in the Kurrajong area until Thomas took up land at Mount Tomah on the Bell's Line of Road in 1862, where he proceeded to build a boarding house from the remains of the by then

Page 336


derelict house that was the result of the ill-fated attempt by George Bowen to wrest a living from this isolated mountain wilderness. Thomas however was made of sterner stuff than Bowen and made a living by providing accommodation for travellers and the drovers bringing stock along the Bell's Line of Road. Their establishment was described by W.W. who wrote of a. A Trip from Windsor to Mount Tomah in the Sydney Morning Herald dated 22nd May 1863: -

Sherwood has built a new house a mile or so nearer the Kurrajong, which is very commodious, but does not occupy so good a site as his present abode. This he intends to move to, shortly. It was now half past two p.m. and we ordered a hasty meal to be prepared-as we had had nothing since breakfast and the mountain air had not blunted our appetites. Our wants were soon supplied with abundance of wholesome bread, bacon and eggs, liquefied with tea, and were promised something more exquisite for supper. The nymph then informed us that Mount Tomah was two miles further on. We therefore determined to walk it.

After describing their visit to Mount Tomah they return to the Sherwoods.

We then retraced our steps to Sherwood's, at Bulgamatta, much quicker than we came, inasmuch as we found it took us an hour and a half to walk to Tomah, whereas we came back in less than half that time. A substantial supper awaited us, as promised, and a roaring fire in a comfortable room removed the weariness that was now beginning to be felt.

The nymph mentioned would probably have been daughter Mary Ann, who at that time would have been fifteen years of age and was apparently helping her mother Hannah operate the boarding house. Thomas and the boys engaged in droving and helping other drovers bring stock over the mountains.
Alfred Brown whose son Alfred was to marry Matilda Gosper, was the builder of the Shearwood establishment at Mount Tomah. There is a cave in the vicinity that still has the inscription The Cave Hotel by T Shearwood carved in the rock face.

Thomas and Hannah eventually purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty seven acres freehold at Oak Creek near

Page 337

Orange and Thomas died there in 1891 and is buried at Orange. Hannah lived on until 1901. Thomas was sufficiently socially prominent to have a short biography included in the prestigious publication Australian Men of Mark 1788 - 1888.

Thomas and Hannah had a total of thirteen children: James born 1844; Charles Thomas, who married Margaret Gosper 1846; Mary Ann 1848; Joseph 1850; George 1852; Emma 1854; Henry 1856; William 1858; Elizabeth 1860; Peter 1862; Andrew John 1864; Sarah 1867; and last but not least Ada in 1871. Some of their children continued using the spelling Shearwood while others reverted to Sherwood.

  Noted events in his life were:

• source. http://www.easystreetretreat.com.au/australianroyalty

Thomas married Hannah Crump, daughter of Thomas (the first) (convict first fleet) Crump and Mary (convict) Johnson, on 28 Apr 1846 in St Peters, Richmond, NSW Australia. (Hannah Crump was born in 1825 and died in 1901.)