Charles Sykes

  General Notes:

Lyn Millington notes:
Out of interest Mary Louisa's father, Charles Sykes who had arrived about 1854, born about 1828 at Sheffield seems to have headed for Bathurst soon after his arrival. He met and married Mary Hunt daughter of June, 1856 2 years after arriving at Bathurst. He worked as a painter, painting houses for a while. He had also served as a soldier in India for a period before coming to Australia. He decided to join the Police force and was working as a constable by 1857 when his first child a son was born. On August 16th, 1860 was officially registered as a Constable after many changes were made to improve the workings of the Police Force which had become quite disorganised. Served in the Western Region (Headquarters at Bathurst) known as the Western Police District which covered areas like Bathurst and other outlying areas, Emu Plains, Canowindra, Cowra, Bowenfels, Hill End and the Tambaroora areas for a short while. While at Canowindra had two confrontations with Ben hall and his gang, the second time being captured tied to his horse and dragged up the street when he arrived back from Cowra on Police business and found the town taken over by the gang. Ben Hall had earlier confronted his wife at the Police Barracks, Charles being still down at Cowra, demanding Charles pistol that Mary handed over. Charles was imprisoned in one of the local hotels with some of the community for three days till released when Ben Hall decided to finally leave. He retired on 21 August, 1872 on a pension and went back to his trade of painting and died in August 1884 from a sudden heart attack at Bathurst while painting a house.

Charles married Mary Hunt, daughter of Humphrey Amhurst Hunt and Rebecca Bartholomew, on 3 Jun 1856 in Bathurst, NSW Australia.¹¹ (Mary Hunt was born on 2 Sep 1838 in Rochester, Kent England and died on 26 Jun 1919 in Ashfield, Sydney, NSW Australia ¹¹.)