John Warby

  Research Notes:

source: & Bronwen Wiebe who notes:
The story my grandmother would tell us \endash Ruby who was born 1883, that her great- grandfather [John Warby], was visiting a friend at one time, he was invited to lunch which was being served at an inside table. Sarah Bentley was a servant at the house, John was very much attracted to her, he kept coming back to his friend's house and eventually asked if he could marry her.

  Noted events in his life were:

• source. Lorna Sharf from "Warby Book - My Excellent Guide" by Michelle Vale
& Dannielle Smith @ genes who writes:
Warby, a farm labourer, was charged with stealing two asses in October 1790 and [along with William Deards] was convicted and sentenced to seven years transportation to New South Wales. He sailed on the convict transport Pitt from Yarmouth on 17 July 1791 and arrived in Sydney on 14 February 1792WARBY (WALBEY), JOHN (1774?-1851), convict and explorer, was convicted at Hertford, England, on 3 March 1791 and sentenced to transportation for seven years. He reached Sydney in February 1792 in the Pitt. At Parramatta on 12 September 1796 he married Sarah Bentley (1780-1869), a convict who had arrived in the Indispensable in April 1796; they had nine sons and five daughters.After his sentence expired Warby acquired fifty acres (20 ha) at Prospect and in 1803 was appointed stockman of the wild cattle at large in the Cowpastures. It was along Warby's track leading from his home through the Cowpastures that James Meehan made a line of road in 1805. In 1806 Warby was a constable of Camden County, and he was one of those who signed a respectful address to Governor Bligh on 1 January 1808. He guided Governor Macquarie and his party from Prospect Hill through the Cowpastures in November 1810 and again in October 1815 on an expedition into the rough country along the Nattai River. He was one of the first to explore the Oaks, the Bargo area and the Burragorang Valley, and continued to be in demand as a guide. Thus in 1814 he was among those rewarded for visiting Aboriginal tribes in the inland area and for arresting Patrick Collins, a bushranger, and in 1816 for guiding soldiers who were pursuing Aboriginal tribes.In June 1816 he was granted 260 acres (105 ha) at Campbelltown and there built a house where he died on 12 June 1851. His widow died at Campbelltown on 19 October 1869.John Warby - 'Pioneer was Pillar of Compassion'This article was published in the Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser, Wednesday 5 July 2006, p.22.My passing mention of John Warby in last week's column generated a bit of comment, given the recent death of one of his well known descendants, Les.I'm a big John Warby fan. If a list of the 10 greatest Campbelltownians of all time was ever drawn up, I reckon pioneer John Warby would have to be a frontrunner.Today, he is remembered by not only Warby Street, near the Old Showground, but also John Warby Public School at Airds.So what's his story, then?Warby was transported as a convict for theft, arriving at Sydney in 1792, and four years later, he married convict Sarah Bentley. Together, they had nine sons and five daughters.After his sentence expired, Warby was given a small land grant at Prospect where he worked hard as a wheat farmer. But his life took a dramatic turn in 1803 when he was appointed stockman of the wild cattle grazing in the Cowpastures, the site of modern Camden.(The path he beat between his farm and the Nepean is still known in parts as Cowpasture Road).Warby appears to have been blessed with an easygoing streak of compassion and human dignity and forged a lifelong bond with the Tharawal Aborigines, particularly the hunters Boodbury and Bundle.(In fact, it was Warby and Boodbury who captured the murdering bushranger, Patrick Collins, by spearing him in the leg and arm).Warby gained increasing respect in the colony as a guide and assistant to various exploration parties.Under Governor Bligh, he was appointed a constable, as well as a superintendent of the Cowpastures region, with full responsibility for the herds. As an amateur explorer, he was one of the first to check out The Oaks, Bargo and Burragorang Valley, and continued to be in demand as a guide.His reputation was such that he - and his Tharawal friends - acted as personal guides to Governor Macquarie in 1810 and 1815.When violence broke out between Gundangarra Aborigines and European settlers in 1816, Warby was once again called upon to mediate. But events spun out of control with the arrival of soldiers under Captain Wallis who saw any black face, innocent or not as the enemy.Warby and Wallis took an instant dislike to each other, and the ex-convict's efforts to lead the redcoats on a wild goose chase in the local bush ended in stern words.Particularly when Wallis began to view Warby's Tharawal friends as foes - and the latter arranged for them to escape. In fact it was only after warby was removed from the situation that Wallis undertook the infamous Appin Massacre.After the violence ended, Warby was given a land grant which he called Leumeah, an Aboriginal word for 'here I rest'. The modern suburb is named after it.Warby and his wife raised their large family on surrounding paddocks and he became a respected town elder.It was Warby's advice to use aboriginal trackers that led to the discovery of Fred Fisher's buried body in 1826.The grand old pioneer died at Campbelltown in June 1851, his wife living a further 18 years.

• Property. On 29 May 1820, John the Elder and his 18 year old son John, petitioned Governor Macquarie for further grants of land. Grants were awarded to both early in 1821 and later in the year William received a grant.
On 18 Oct 1826 he applied for an additional grant of land without purchase.
In his memorial he lists his major possessions as 400 acres of land by grant and 400 acres by purchase (300 of which were cleared or under tillage), 120 head of cattle and 17 horses. During the year prior to his death he had maintained 8 convict servants. He owned a good mixed varm with 115 acres under wheat, 7 acres of peas, 7 acres of rye, 4 acres of barley and 4 acres of potatoes. In addition he owned about 100 pigs.

• emigrated. ⁴¹² emigrated to the colony of Sydney in 14 Feb 1792 as a convict. He was transported for 7 years for stealing two asses and arrived on the Pitt in 1792 His dependable pesonality allowed governors Phillip, King, Bligh and Macquarie to entrust him with responsibility and he seemed to have the knack of being able to communicate with a cross section of the community form the early governors through to black trackers.Hard word brought him land and good living conditions which he could never have dreamed of in England. He gained much of his land while it was granted free and before it became available only by purchase.

• connection. The connection between Bridget Haylock and Les is as follows:
Bridget Haylock (1963)
Her father was Robert Haylock (1927) who married Janice Edgar (1933)
Her father was Hector Edgar (1903) who married Margaret Cooper (1903)
Her father was Charles Cooper (1862) who married Sarah Sharp (1868)
Her father was Robert Sharp (1868) who married Elizabeth Warby (1847)
Her father was Benjamin Warby (1825)
His father was Benjamin Warby (1805)
His father was John Warby (1767) & he also had Elizabeth Warby (1802) who married James Layton (1804)
They had Eleanor Layton (1821) who married James Keighran (1808)
They had John Keighran (1845)
He had Joseph Keighran (1879)
He had Leslie Keighran (1904)
He had Mary Keighran (1927) who married Mervyn Collins (1924)
They had Les Collins (my ex husband) who married Robyn Bray (nee Davies) (1950)

• Will. John Warby (1757) in his will left all his goods to William Fowler (his daughter, Eliza's husband)
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, (NSW), Friday, 25th July, 1851, page 4
" IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES. ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION. In the Will of John Warby, late of the Parish of Saint Peter's, in the District of Campbelltown, County of Cumberland, and colony of New South Wales, farmer, deceased. NOTICE is hereby given, that, at the expiration of fourteen days from the publication hereof, application will be made to this Honorable Court, in its Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, that probate of the Will of the abovenamed John Warby, deceased, be granted to William Fowler, of Campbelltown, in the colony of New South Wales, Postmaster, and Joseph Warby, of the same place, farmer, the executors in the said Will named.
Dated this seventeenth day of July, A.D. 1851.

AUGUSTUS HAYWARD,
Proctor for the said Executors, 124, King-street East, Sydney. 1204."

• Death Notice. THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, (NSW), Tuesday, 24th June, 1851, page 3
" DIED
On the 12th June, at Spring Valley, near Campbelltown, Mr. John Warby, aged 84 years, much regretted by a very numerous family, and extensive circle of friends."

• note. ³⁸³ Ted & Ronda Collins notes:
Council will lower the Aboriginal flag outside its administration building on 17 April 2019, to mark the anniversary of the Appin massacre of 1816.

In 1816 Governor Macquarie (pictured) dispatched troops to `inflict terrible and exemplary punishments` on the Aborigines of the Appin area.

Captain James Wallis and a number of his men came across a Dharawal men's camp, slaughtering the mostly older men.

While Captain Wallis returned to Sydney, the remaining men found the camp where the women and children were staying, slaughtering them as well.

Further information on the massacre can be found online at: dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/appin_massacre

Since 2000, members of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community of the Dharawal lands have come together on 17 April to remember the Appin massacre.

My (Ted Collins) 's direct ancestor - Grandfather x7 - John Warby was involved in this sorry episode. He was hired by the British to guide the soldiers fortunately he led them on a goose chase . But unfortunately on their way back Wallis and co came across a camp. The history books state - " Wallis had well-known white bushman John Warby and Aboriginal men Bundle and Budbury."

• alt birth, 18 Feb 1770, Cottered, Herfordshire England.

• note. John Warby - 'Pioneer was Pillar of Compassion'

This article was published in the Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser, Wednesday 5 July 2006, p.22.

My passing mention of John Warby in last week's column generated a bit of comment, given the recent death of one of his well known descendants, Les.
I'm a big John Warby fan. If a list of the 10 greatest Campbelltownians of all time was ever drawn up, I reckon pioneer John Warby would have to be a frontrunner.
Today, he is remembered by not only Warby Street, near the Old Showground, but also John Warby Public School at Airds.

So what's his story, then?
Warby was transported as a convict for theft, arriving at Sydney in 1792, and four years later, he married convict Sarah Bentley. Together, they had nine sons and five daughters.
After his sentence expired, Warby was given a small land grant at Prospect where he worked hard as a wheat farmer.

But his life took a dramatic turn in 1803 when he was appointed stockman of the wild cattle grazing in the Cowpastures, the site of modern Camden.
(The path he beat between his farm and the Nepean is still known in parts as Cowpasture Road).
Warby appears to have been blessed with an easygoing streak of compassion and human dignity and forged a lifelong bond with the Tharawal Aborigines, particularly the hunters Boodbury and Bundle.

(In fact, it was Warby and Boodbury who captured the murdering bushranger, Patrick Collins, by spearing him in the leg and arm).
Warby gained increasing respect in the colony as a guide and assistant to various exploration parties.
Under Governor Bligh, he was appointed a constable, as well as a superintendent of the Cowpastures region, with full responsibility for the herds. As an amateur explorer, he was one of the first to check out The Oaks, Bargo and Burragorang Valley, and continued to be in demand as a guide.

His reputation was such that he - and his Tharawal friends - acted as personal guides to Governor Macquarie in 1810 and 1815.
When violence broke out between Gundangarra Aborigines and European settlers in 1816, Warby was once again called upon to mediate. But events spun out of control with the arrival of soldiers under Captain Wallis who saw any black face, innocent or not as the enemy.
Warby and Wallis took an instant dislike to each other, and the ex-convict's efforts to lead the redcoats on a wild goose chase in the local bush ended in stern words.
Particularly when Wallis began to view Warby's Tharawal friends as foes - and the latter arranged for them to escape.
In fact it was only after warby was removed from the situation that Wallis undertook the infamous Appin Massacre.
After the violence ended, Warby was given a land grant which he called Leumeah, an Aboriginal word for 'here I rest'. The modern suburb is named after it.
Warby and his wife raised their large family on surrounding paddocks and he became a respected town elder.

It was Warby's advice to use aboriginal trackers that led to the discovery of Fred Fisher's buried body in 1826.
The grand old pioneer died at Campbelltown in June 1851, his wife living a further 18 years.

WARBY, John. Per "Pitt", 1792; settler at Campbelltown and explorer
Warby was appointed Superintendent of Wild Cattle at the Cowpastures in 1803 and by 1806 was also a Constable in the district; acted as a guide on a number of exploring parties and expeditions; was the first to explore the Oaks, the Bargo area and the Burragorang Valley; in June 1816, having been granted 260 acres at Campbelltown, he settled there.
1799 Mar 20-21
Thirty acres of land in the Field of Mars sold to by James Kenny; sold the next day by Warbey to Captain John MacArthur (Fiche 3267; 9/2731 p.91)
1802 Apr 10
Of Toongabbie. Particulars of arms in possession of (Reel 6041; 4/1719 p.88)
1806 Aug 24
Introduced to Governor Bligh by Mrs P G King; very good character and settler at Prospect Hill; accompanied G Cayley on expedition to Cow Pastures (Reel 6041; 4/1721 p.25)
1810 Jan
Memorial (Fiche 3010; 4/1822 No.324)
1811 Jun 12
Of Prospect. On list of persons to receive grants of land in different parts of the Colony as soon as they can be measured; at Airds (Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p.6)
1812 Mar 6
Juror at inquest on Benjamin Moody held at Prospect Hill (Reel 6021; 4/1819 p.461)
1813 Jul 1
Subscribed to fund for building a court house at Sydney (Reel 6043; 4/1728 p.133)
1814 Jun 11
To Bent re investigation into murder of Aborigines; Warbey as witness (Reel 6004; 4/3493 p.187)
1814 Jul 22
To take charge of expedition against hostile natives (Reel 6044; 4/1730 pp.218-23, 233-4)
1814 Aug 6
Paid from Police Fund as remuneration for visiting natives in the Interior (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.515)
1814 Nov 12
Paid from Police Fund for apprehending bushranger and pursuing hostile natives (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.554)
1816 Apr
Guide to accompany Captain Wallis' detachment on an expedition against hostile natives (Reel 6065; 4/1798 pp.45, 47)
1816 Apr 9
To act as guide in punitive expedition against hostile natives (Reel 6045; 4/1735 p.8)
1816 May 9
Guide to expedition against hostile natives, refused to take charge of native guides (Reel 6045; 4/1735 p.52)
1816 Aug 10
Paid from the Police Fund as reward for services in acting as guide for military detachments sent out in pursuit of hostile native tribes (Reel 6038; SZ759 p.237)
1818
Referred to in petition of his assigned servant James Layton; listed as Wharby (Fiche 3187; 4/1855 p.162)
1820 May
Memorial (Fiche 3033; 4/1825B No.775 pp.923, 926)
1821 Feb 24
Store receipts of for wheat (Reel 6051; 4/1748 p.161)
1822 Aug
Signatory to petition objecting to the Commissariat's new system of paying for supplies in Spanish dollars (Reel 6017; 4/5783 p.124b)
1822 Aug 24
Signatory to letter from the inhabitants of Airds re measures that should be taken against robbers in the district (Reel 6054; 4/1758 p.40b)
1822 Nov
Convicts landed from "Mangles" assigned to at Airds (Reel 6009; 4/3506 p.431)
1822 Nov 15
Landholder at Campbelltown. Application for clearing party (Reel 6022; 4/7014 p.233)
1823 Mar 11
Convict landed from "Surrey" assigned to at Airds (Reel 6010; 4/3507 p.422)
823 Apr 17
Francis Kenny's clearing party employed to reap wheat on his farm in the Campbelltown District (Reel 6058; 4/1769 p.159b)
1823 May 28
Re wheat to be received from at the Liverpool Store as payment for reaping performed on his estate by clearing gangs (Reel 6010; 4/3508 pp.401-2)
1823 Jun 14
On list of applicants for clearing gangs; for 150 acres to be cleared on his estate at Campbelltown (Reel 6010; 4/3508 p.515)
1823 Sep 3
Certifying to the character of William Prior in support of his petition for mitigation of sentence (Fiche 3235; 4/1870 p.50b)
1823 Dec 23
Convict landed from "Isabella" assigned to at Airds (Reel 6012; 4/3510 p.31)
1824 Sep 4
Referred to in memorial of his son Benjamin (Fiche 3115; 4/1840A No.1023 p.101)
1825 Mar 15
On list of applicants for assigned Government servants as farming men (Reel 6062; 4/1783 p.35)
1825 Apr 12
Supporting the petition of his servant James Browne for his family's passage to the Colony (Fiche 3285; 4/1112.1A p.34)
1825 Aug
Farmer of Airds. On list of persons liable to serve as jurors in the district of Liverpool (Reel 6062; 4/1782 p.78b)
1825 Aug 26
Convicts assigned to at Airds (Reel 6015; 4/3515 p.217)

Explorer, guide, farmer, and government official.
Born at Cottered, Hertforshire [though his date of birth is uncertain: the 1828 Census lists him as 54 years of age (which would make his year of birth c.1774); while his death certificate in 1851 states that he was 84 years of age at his decease (which would make his year of birth c.1767).
Warby, a farm labourer, was charged with stealing two asses in October 1790 and [along with William Deards] was convicted and sentenced to seven years transportation to New South Wales. He sailed on the convict transport Pitt from Yarmouth on 17 July 1791 and arrived in Sydney on 14 February 1792. The voyage of the Pittvia the Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town resulted in high mortality rates, with the death of 20 male and 9 female prisoners; in addition, 120 prisoners were landed sick.
By the end of 1792 Warby had been granted 50 acres of land at Prospect (5 miles from Parramatta, close to Prospect Creek at the foot of Prospect Hill). Four years later, on 12 September 1796 he married Sarah Bentley who had arrived on 30 April 1792 on board the Indispensable. She was 16 years of age and had been convicted of stealing cotton and linen goods, and as a consequence had been sentenced to 7 years transportation to New South Wales.
Warby worked hard as a small scale farmer, and by 1801 he had eight acres under wheat, thirteen acres under maize, twenty five bushels of maize in stock, and ten pigs, as well as two men, one free and one a government servant in his employ.
A year earlier their first child Edward had been born on 20 April 1800; other children followed in regular succession: William on 31 July 1801, Elizabeth on 30 September 1802, John on 3 November 1803, Benjamin on 3 March 1805, and the twins Sarah and Jane on 10 October 1806. [After 1810 the Warby household continued to grow, with the birth of at least another 16 children: in a Memorial to Governor Bourke in 1837 Warby stated that out of a family of 23 children born in wedlock, 11 had survived - all borne by his first and only wife Sarah].
Warby gained increasing respect within the colony as a guide and assistant to exploration parties in the south-western region of Sydney. In 1802 he accompanied Ensign Barrallier in his attempt to find a route along the Nattai and Kowmung Rivers and Christy's Creek across the Blue Mountains; and later, in 1806, he assisted the naturalist George Caley in his endeavours to retrace Barrallier's route. Warby had an extensive knowledge of the Camden/Appin area by the time of Macquarie's arrival in the colony; and in fact had been appointed during Governor Bligh's administration to the position of Superintendent of the wild cattle in the Cowpastures region, with responsibility for the protection and culling of the herd. As a constable at Camden, along with Thomas Harper, Warby was provided with the assistance of a military guard and a hut at Cawdor. [This hut was the first building constructed by white men in the Camden district, though the date of construction is unknown].
After Bligh's overthrow in January 1808, Lieut.-Governor William Paterson made a grant of 100 acres to Warby; however this was rescinded by Macquarie on his arrival in the colony - as were all grants issued by the military administration in the period 1808-1809.
On 22 July 1814, Macquarie authorised Warby and John Jackson to lead an armed party of twelve Europeans and four native guides to track down and capture five Aboriginals who had been identified as responsible for a recent series of attacks on white settlers (Goondel (chief of the Gandangarra tribe), Bottagallie, Murrah, Yellamun, and Wallah). The party returned without making contact. Three months later, in September 1814, Warby and several native trackers assisted a party of soldiers sent in pursuit of the bushranger Patrick Collins, who had been robbing and murdering settlers in the Hawkesbury area. They led the soldiers to Collins'hiding place and when Collins tried to escape the Aboriginal trackers speared him in the leg and arm - he was overpowered and brought to trial in Sydney.
Although instructed to assist the party of soldiers sent out in April 1816, under the command of Captain Wallis, to take prisoner any natives that they met, Warby refused to assist. The native guides, Boodbury and Bundell, absconded when they discovered the purpose of the expedition, and Warby absented himself from the party soon after - fearing that it would compromise his credibility and favourable relationship with the tribes of the Sydney region.
On 20 June 1816 Macquarie granted Warby 260 acres of fertile land in the district of Airds (on the site of present day Campbelltown). It is unclear as to when Warby and his large family moved there, though there is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that this took place soon afterwards: there are baptismal records for five of their children listed for 11 August 1816 at St. Luke's Anglican Church at Liverpool; records listing Warby as liable for the delivery of fresh meat to the Government Stores at Liverpool on 23 November 1816; as well as a warning in the Sydney Gazette on 11 May 1816 that cautioned people against trespassing on the farm at Prospect known as 'Warby's Farm'. Among Warby's neighbours at Airds was his fellow accomplice William Deards (with whom he had been convicted of theft in 1791) who had a 30 acre grant.
Warby's involvement in the provision of fresh meat to the Government Stores continued as a lucrative source of income - with deliveries of 2,500 lbs of meat in August 1817 and again in March 1818.
By 1826 Warby had built a house, granary, barn, stables, storeroom, and a hut for assigned labourers and had acquired extensive land holdings. On 18 October, he applied for an additional grant of land without purchase, stating in his Memorial that he currently held 400 acres of land by grant, 400 by purchase (300 of which were cleared or under tillage), owned 120 head of cattle and 100 pigs, and employed and maintained eight convict servants.
Warby died on 12 June 1851 at Spring Valley near Campbelltown. His wife Sarah lived on until 19 October 1869. At the time of John Warby's death there were eleven surviving children: William (1801-1885), Elizabeth (1802-1984), Benjamin (1805-1880), Jane (1806-1876), Sarah (1806-1893), Charles Cable (1810-1876), Mary Ann (1813-1904), Robert George (1814-1853), Eliza (1815-1896), James (1817-1899), and Joseph (1818-1899). Three of his children predeceased him: Edward (1800-1804), John (1803-1826), Richard (1821- died as an infant)

• alt death, 12 Jun 1851, 'Wallbrook', Eagles Vale, Campbells River, Rockley, near Bathurst, NSW Australia.

John married Sarah Bentley, daughter of Edward John Herring Bentley and Susannah, on 12 Sep 1796 in St Johns C of E, Parramatta, Sydney, NSW Australia. (Sarah Bentley was born in 1776 in Highgate, London, Middlesex England, christened in 1779 in St James, Westminster, London, Middlesex England, died on 19 Oct 1869 in Mossberry, Campbelltown, Sydney, NSW Australia and was buried in St Peters C of E, Campbelltown, Sydney, NSW Australia Plot C L.)