Thomas Lucas (1807 - 1888)

Born 17 Nov 1807 in Sydney Cove, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Sydes) Lucas — married 29 Nov 1830 in Corwall, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Descendants

Died 10 Apr 1888 at age 80 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Note

Note: #NI5365

Thomas was born in 1807. He passed away in 1888.

Notes

Note NI5365Thomas was the last of Nathaniel and Olivia's children. He was born in Sydney on 17th November 1807. He married Margaret Sydes at St. John's Church, Launceston on 29th November 1830. Margaret was born at Launceston in 1815, the daughter of Richard Sydes and Ann nee White. She was only fifteen when they married.

Thomas and Margaret lead an unsettled life, moving from place to place, Perth, Evandale, and Longford. The promise of a better life took them across to the newly founded town of Melbourne about 1839. About 1843 the family moved and settled in Candover Street, Geelong West.

Thomas died at Geelong on 10th April 1888, the year Australia celebrated its Centenary. Margaret having predeceased him, dying at Geelong on 26th July 1887. They are both buried in the Geelong Cemetery. They had fourteen children.

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Child 13 Thomas Lucas Born 17th November, 1807.

The last-born child of Nathaniel and Olivia, Thomas, moved from his birthplace in Sydney with his mother, brothers and sisters to Port Dalrymple in van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] some months after Nathaniel's death.

In 1830 he married Margaret Sydes, at St. John's Church of England, Launceston.

Family background of Thomas' wife Margaret Sydes.

Blacksmith Richard Sydes had been transported for 14 years on the "Ganges", arriving in Sydney in 1797. Margaret's mother, Ann White, had been transported to Sydney for theft of a bolt of cotton, arriving in 1791 on the "Neptune". Ann White is thought to have born a child [which died in infancy] to a sailor named Scott. Sent to Norfolk Island by 1799, Ann in the next few years gave birth to children of Kennedy Murray. By 1804 she was living with Richard Sydes and bore more children.

In 1813 the Sydes family moved to Port Dalrymple, where Richard took the Government post of Superintendent of Blacksmiths at 50 pounds per year. In 1814 Richard and Ann were legally married, and Margaret Sydes was born in 1815. Her mother Ann died in 1820.

Thomas and Margaret Lucas seemed to lead an unsettled life, moving from area to area, Perth, Evandale, Norfolk Plains [Longford]. The promise of a better life took them across to newly-founded Melbourne between 1839 and 1841. Their fifth child was baptized in Van Diemen's Land and their sixth in Victoria. In approximately 1843 the family moved and settled in Candover Street, Ashby [Geelong West]. The population of Geelong was 800 when they moved there, and within 8 years had grown tenfold. Two of Thomas and Margaret's children died in infancy, and their eldest daughter Margaret died in childbirth, her infant son living only a few days.

Thomas and Margaret's eldest son Richard became bankrupt in 1855 after unwise speculation in land; Following the many anomalies in his testimony he spent 24 days in Geelong Goal. The family of Thomas and Margaret Lucas then moved to Camperdown, Victoria, 70 miles west of Geelong between 1855 and 1859.

Thomas Lucas is said to have built several small houses in Camperdown, most of which no longer exist, although his place of abode still stands in use. Richard's death, and lived at the Candover Street residence. Their youngest daughter died after childbirth in Camperdown in 1884.

Following Margaret's death in 1887, Thomas lived with his daughter and son-in-law [Mary-Ann and John Walls] at Weller Street, parallel to Candover Street, on the next block in Ashby. He died in 1888 and is buried with his wife in an unmarked plot at the Geelong Eastern Cemetery.

Thomas Lucas was born on November 17, 1807 in Sydney Cove, New South Wales, Australia.

Thomas married Margaret Sydes (born about 1811). Their son was Henry Lucas (~1836–~1905).

Thomas died about 1860, aged 52.

Sources

• "Australia Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTCX-C89 : 28 January 2020), Thomas Lucas, 1813.
• Death #5789/1888. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/164468083/thomas-lucas
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/KLVS-5HR

• WikiTree profile Lucas-735 created through the import of Elice Tree.GED on Aug 19, 2011 by Elice Green. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Elice and others.