William Bellamy

  General Notes:

Peter Morris notes:
William Bellamy was born to William and Susanna Bellamy early in 1772 and was baptised at St. Andrew's, Holborn, London on February 16, 1772. On December 9, 1789 he was indicted at the Old Bailey for the theft of six pair of leather shoes, value 30/-, the property of one James Smith. Smith testified that he was a cordwainer (shoemaker) and "I lost six pair of leather shoes from my shop, in Beach Lane on Thursday the 10^th December 1789, the prisoner privately came into the shop and took the things; I did not see him with the things." Another witness, Sarah Wyburn testified, "I am a servant of Mr. Palmer; I had been on an errand on the 10^th December 1789 and coming back I saw the prisoner at the end of the counter … with six pair of shoes under his arm … I took hold of the shoulder of his jacket and he dragged me out of the door … I picked up the shoes and gave them to Mr. Palmer."
William Bellamy was tried by a London jury and found guilty. The Corporation of London Record Room indicates that 'London Goal Delivery 9^th December, 1789 No.37, William Bellamy, jury says guilty of stealing the goods but not privately in the shop. To be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years … that William Bellamy late of London, Labourer …' 'The recorder said on the occasion that, I think it will be mercy for the prisoner to remove him from a scene of vice and immorality, therefore, his sentence is transportation for seven years.' For the time such a comment was somewhat unusual!
William languished in the hulks of London before leaving England in January, 1791 aboard the Active, a brig of 350 tons and carrying 175 male convicts with 21 dying on the voyage. The Active was built in England in 1764 and had served with the East India Company during 1791-3. It was part of the Third Fleet and arrived in Port Jackson on 26^th September, 1791. 'Over 200 perished on the voyage [of the Third Fleet] and the convicts complained that they had not received the allowance intended for them and that they were badly and inadequately fed … on examining the state on board the Active when it arrived a month ago the Judge-Advocate, David Collins, was trenchant in criticism of the system.' He said, "Nothing could have excited more general indignation than the treatment which these people appeared to have met with; for, what crime could be more offensive to every sentiment of humanity, than the endeavour, by curtailing a ration already not too ample, to derive a temporary advantage from the miseries of our fellow creatures!"
William was the first permanent settler in the West Pennant Hills area (then known as the District of Dundas) when he was granted 100 acres in 1804. The 1800 Muster, however, lists William as working the 100 acres grant, which wasn't officially granted to him until four years later. He had been in the district since, at least, 1798 residing on the western side of the district among a number of missionaries from Tahiti who had each received 100 acre grants. Those farms were generally run by assigned servants. The present Aiken Road traverses the southern portion of this land. Governor King in 1806 granted William a further 30 acres on the eastern side of Pennant Hills Road, near North Rocks Road.
William Bellamy must have taken to the farming way of life as the 1807 Land & Stock Muster shows that he had 27 acres under cultivation, with wheat, maize, barley and potatoes. Also he had an acre planted as an orchard. This would have been quite significant as he would have been a pioneer of the fruit industry in the colony and the Pennant Hills area played an important part in feeding the young colony for many years. Also William had 103 acres of pasture with 9 sheep, 12 hogs. He also listed a wife, four children and one free convict as an employee. By 1822, William was supplying surplus wheat to the Government Store and in 1826 he advertised that he had a fine flock of sheep for sale. By 1828 he owned
some 200 acres with 60 cleared and 60 cultivated and he had six horses. In 1824 with the news of the imminent closure of the Baulkham Hills Common, William and his two sons petitioned Governor Brisbane that 'the restriction on grazing on Crown Land and possible closure of the Commons forced them into action to protect their interests.' In 1830 William received a grant of 100 acres at South Colah along side 60 acre grants to his sons James and John.
In 1850, shortly before he died, William helped organise a petition to the New South Wales government on behalf of the fruit growers. His signature, along with that of his son James appears on this petition which was an attempt to gain an equality of dues paid by the orchardists of the outlying areas who sold their produce at the city markets. William had become 'a prominent figure in the district and increased his landholding over time, which was passed on to his son James.'
On the 10^th of July, 1797 William Bellamy married Anne Faye at St. John's, Parramatta and they were to bring up four children and have a fulfilling life together. Considering the times and the Catholic/Protestant and Irish/English conflicts this union is a classic example of a successful marriage of two people of opposing religious values, but perhaps, they did not really understand the dichotomies of their backgrounds or, more likely, being of the common people and thrust together on the other side of the world such things mattered little.
In 1840 William leased his 100 acre 'Bellamy's Farm' in West Pennant Hills to his eldest son James who later inherited the property. William died on November 14, 1850 and, as previously stated, is buried at St. John's cemetery, Parramatta. He is remembered by the street names of, 'Ann William Drive' and 'Bellamy Farm Road' and 'Bellamy Street' in North Rocks and Pennant Hills.

William married Ann Faye on 10 Jul 1797 in Parramatta, Sydney, NSW Australia. (Ann Faye was born in 1754 in Dublin, Eire, Ireland UK and died in 1843 ⁸³¹.)