John Parker (abt.1781-1854) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

John (John Crane) Parker

Born about 1781 in Swannington, Norfolk, England

Ancestors

Son of Thomas Parker and Margaret (Crane) Parker

Brother of Hannah Parker, Elizabeth Parker, Francis Parker, Sarah Parker and Hannah Parker

Husband of Elizabeth (Cannell) Parker — married 1806 in Booton, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Father of George Francis Parker, William Frederick Parker and Thomas Daniel Parker

Died 11 May 1854 at about age 73 in Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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1 Biography

Biography

Birth

John Parker was born in 1781, in Swannington near Norwich, Norfolk, England. He was the son of Thomas Parker and Margaret Crane. John's father's family came from Swannington and his mother's from Crimplesham, also in Norfolk. His parents married on 2nd December 1771 in Crimplesham and had 6 children of whom John was the 4th child. The family were members of the Church of England.

Name

John seems to have adopted the middle name of Crane sometime between 1842 and 1853. This was his mother's maiden name but it does not appear in his birth, baptism or marriage records. He is recorded simply as John Parker in earlier records. None of his siblings had middle names either. He seems to have adopted the middle name around the same time as one of his grandsons was baptized John Crane Parker (1852), which may have inspired him to adopt the name.

Marriage

In 1806, John married Elizabeth Cannell in Booton, a parish in St Faith district, Norfolk, about 9 km south west of Aylsham. ^[1]

Children

John and Elizabeth had 3 sons:

(1) George Francis Parker was born on 8th March 1807 and baptized in Drayton, Norfolk on 9th March 1807. He was baptized a second time on 28th August 1808 at St Mary's Stoke Newington. ^[2]

(2) William Frederick Parker was born on 28th February 1809 and baptized in the same church as his elder brother, on 19th March 1809.

(3) Thomas Daniel Parker was baptized in the Weld Chapel in Edmonton, Middlesex, on 6th July 1814, and his date of birth is assumed to have been in the same year.

Occupation

John Parker's occupation is described as 'weaver' in his eldest son's baptism record, and the family was living in Swannington, Norfolk at the time. By 1808, John and his family had moved to Stoke Newington in Middlesex and John had a job described as 'agriculturalist'. Later records list him as a 'gardener'. In 1814, according to his third son's baptism record he was still living in Stoke Newington and was recorded as a 'husbandman' (farmer).

1820 Settlers

John and Elizabeth Parker applied for the British government sponsored 1820 Settler Program to South Africa, which included free passage to the port of landing for each family member and 100 acres of land granted on arrival to each male over the age of 18, with the title deeds to be handed to the family after three years of working the land. However, of the 90,000 applications received, only 4000 were accepted and the Parker family was unsuccessful in their applications. They did end up going in 1820, but as independent settlers, paying their own way.

John and Elizabeth Parker and their 3 children are first listed in the application for a proposed 1820 Settler party led by Thomas Berry, who chose men with farming skills that would be helpful. Thomas Berry's proposals were turned down by the British government and the Parker family appear next on the list proposed by Daniel Bealey, on which John Parker was listed as a gardener from Stoke Newington. However, this application was also unsuccessful. The family then appear on a third 1820 settler party list proposed by John Leigh comprising independent Settler parties, traveling on 5 ships chartered at his own expense. These parties were not sponsored by government but paid John Leigh for their passage. It is unclear where the funds came from for the Parker's passage and it has been suggested that their church may have sponsored them. What is clear is that they were not eligible for the 100 acre per man land grants.These were only offered to those who were accepted into the government sponsored 1820 Settler program.

Altogether, the 1820 Settlers to South Africa numbered 1079 men, 632 women and 1064 children sailing from England and 126 men, 73 women and 150 children sailing from Cork in Ireland. The English parties assisted by government grant sailed from London on 8 ships; The Chapman, Nautilus, Aurora, Belle Alliance, Brilliant, Ocean, Zoroaster, and Sir George Osborn; from Portsmouth on 3 ships, the Northampton, Weymouth, and Amphitrite and from Liverpool on 3 ships, the Stentor, John and Albury. One ship left from Bristol, being the Kennersley Castle, and two ships from Cork, the Fanny and East Indian. A further four ships ended up carrying those who paid their own passage or who were privately assisted, being the Garland, Canada, Duke of Marlborough and the Dowson. It is in this latter group that the Parker family sailed from London on the Brig Garland, captained by Alexander Brown, with 19 other men, 6 other women and 13 other children and infants. Of the men, 17 were listed as farmers, including John Parker, one was a cooper and one a painter. John Parker is listed as being 35 years of age, his wife was 32 years old and his children, 12, 10 and 5 years old at the time of departure. NOTE: The settlers on the Garland are not listed in The Settler Handbook by M.D. Nash (Chameleon Press 1987) which covers settlers accepted into the Government program. They do appear in ‘Story of the 1820 Settlers' by Harol Edward Hockly however, where they are listed as independent settlers.

Cape Of Good Hope

They arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 22nd March 1820 and applied to go ashore and remain in the colony. John Parker also applied for a land grant which was rejected. Life in the Cape was apparently not easy for them and just under 8 years later, on 3rd January 1828 John and Elizabeth Parker sailed for New South Wales, Australia on the Brig Courier, with their 2 younger sons, William and Thomas.

Their eldest son George Francis Parker remained in the Cape colony, South Africa, apprenticed to a merchant and engaged to Ann Housdon. He married her in the English church on 24th March 1828, a few months after his family left. The wedding was reported in the newspaper The Colonist on 28th March 1828. Ann died the following year and George was married again, to Elizabeth Smithers with whom he had 4 children. Over time George became a successful merchant in Cape Town, with a tallow chandlery among other businesses, some in partnership with his brother in law James Smithers. George was sufficiently prosperous by 1851 to buy the farm Altydgedacht" [1] near Durbanville, about 30 km from Cape Town and retired from the tallow business. He remained in contact with his family throughout his life and his letters are held by various descendants of his brothers in Australia.

Sydney

John Crane Parker, his wife Elizabeth and their 2 younger sons, William and Thomas, arrived in Sydney on 1st March 1828. The ship on which they sailed was owned by John Hooke of Norton Hall in Worcester, Worcestershire, and had set off from England, carrying Hooke, his wife, 5 sons, 2 servants, 3 other passengers besides the Parker family, as well as mail for the colony, merino sheep and horses.

John Parker was employed in 1828, as a gardener on the property Piercefield in the Hunter Valley. It was owned by William Carter who was an English settler with over 2000 acres and was Master of the Supreme Court in Sydney. ^[3] John's son Thomas Parker aged 14 was living with him, while his wife Elizabeth Parker was living in Clarence St, Sydney with their older son William Parker who was then aged 19. Elizabeth was working as a servant to William Carter in Sydney and William Parker was working as a carpenter and cabinet maker.

Properties

On 21 October 1831, John Parker was granted 20 acres of land called Sea Kale at the head of Neutral Harbor (Neutral Bay) on the lower north shore of Sydney. This was authorized by Governor Darling, on condition that John Parker used the land to establish a market garden. ^[4]

Henbury Villa at 2 Nook Lane, Neutral Bay is a sandstone house dating back to the 1830's, believed to be the original house of John Parker, built by his sons, a stone mason and a carpenter. It is thought to be the oldest house on Sydney's north shore. Some of the property was much later subdivided and sold off.

It seems possible that the Parkers may have become Quakers. A visiting Quaker, James Backhouse, wrote in his A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies, London, 1843 of a Quaker meeting held at the house of John Parker, a gardener, in Neutral Harbor.

The house originally had red cedar joinery and finishes although these have been supplemented by other timbers as a result of repairs over the years. The house originally had open wood fires, but gas heaters were later installed. In 2003 the owner of Henbury Villa wrote a history of the house after restoring it.

It is described as having four ground floor rooms each with a fireplace and two larger rooms upstairs which are connected by a passage. He stated that the sandstone blocks are faced in the early primitive ‘bitch picked’ design and the mortar between the bricks reveals pieces of sea shell. The downstairs walls are solid sandstone and rendered with plaster while the upstairs walls and ceilings upstairs are lathe and plaster. The house has tall doorways and there are no cornices or picture rails in the house. He states that the floors slope and the old sandstone steps are worn. ^[5]

In 1835, John applied to purchase Lot 25 in Balgowlah, north Sydney but although he appears to have been living at this address, the sale didn't go through. Then on 12 September 1836, he applied to purchase 50 acres at present day Brookvale north of Manly. On 10 October 1836, J.C. Parker purchased Lot 79 for £36. The deed for 20 acres (8 hectares) was executed on 12 April 1837. [LTO SN63/170]. The land is described as land and rocks on the eastern side of [Manly] cove. He was assigned two convicts, Henry Collinger and William Hilles, for labor and established a market garden, growing shrubs, fruit and vegetables for the Sydney markets. His 2 sons built a stone house on the property. ^[6] ^[7]

Mr Parker has purchased twenty acres of land and rocks on the eastern side of the cove, part of which he has laid out very tastefully, his two sons having been occupied in the mean time in erecting a neat stone walled cottage with suitable outhouses, part of the walls of both being the solid rock, which has been hewn away in certain places, and allowed to remain in others to suit the taste or convenience of the proprietor. In short, the combination of mechanical force which Mr P's virtuous and respectable family have been able to bring to bear on their little property is one of the happiest we have witnessed in the colony, and the result, we are confident, within a very few years hence will be the transformation of their twenty acres of rocks and land, hitherto deemed good for nothing, into one of the best cultivated, most romantic, and most valuable properties of its size within a day's journey of the capital. Mr P's object has been to establish himself as a gardener and nurseryman, to supply the Sydney market with vegetables, fruit, fruit-trees, and shrubs.^[8]

On 3 May 1838, John's son William applied on behalf of his father to purchase 2 lots of adjoining land but neither went ahead. On 16 October 1840 John Parker applied to purchase a further 70 acres of land, near Balgowlah but this too did not go ahead.

In the census of 1841, John Parker and his wife Elizabeth are listed as living in their stone house in north harbor (Manly). On the 1842 electoral roll, John Parker was listed as living at Sussex St, in Sydney. In the Sydney Commercial Directory in 1851, John Parker is listed as a freeholder of land at Manly Cove. In the 1853/4 New South Wales electoral roll, he was listed as living on the North Shore of Sydney with both his sons, William and Thomas. This is the first time his name is officially listed as John Crane Parker.

Sale of Property

On 11 May 1853, John Parker and his wife Elizabeth sold their 20 acres at Manly Cove, to Henry Gilbert Smith. The property had a magnificent view through the Heads of Port Jackson, ^[9] and Smith built his house named “Fairlight” there. [LTO Book 45 No. 449]

Death

John Crane Parker died at North Harbor in Sydney, Australia at 6 pm on 11th May in 1854. ^[10] ^[11] ^[12] and was buried on 13th May 1854 at 1 pm, at St Thomas cemetery at St Leonards in the Parish of Willoughby, North Sydney.

RESEARCH NOTES

The transcript from St Thomas Cemetery states he died on 4th May 1854. ^[13] His death certificate states that he was 71 years old, however parish baptism records suggest he must have been at least 72, perhaps 73 years old when he died. There are a number of discrepancies regarding his age in the various records and letters over his lifespan. In correspondence from 1819, prior to the departure from England by John and his family, for the Cape Colony, his age is stated as 33 in one letter and 35 in another. According to parish records, he would have been at least 37 years of age and turning 38 that year. It must be remembered that he was born in England and died in Australia. Also that the records and letters referred to above were largely written by third parties who would have been estimating his age.