Robert Towns (1794 - 1873)

Born 10 Nov 1794 in Longhorsley, Northumberland, England

Husband of Sophia (Wentworth) Towns — married 28 Dec 1833 in Sydney, Colony of New South Wales

Descendants

Died 11 Apr 1873 at age 78 in Sydney, Colony of New South Wales

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British Master Mariner, settled in Australia, pastoralist, funded settlement of Townsville

Biography

Robert Towns was born in Northumberland, England.

Robert Towns was an Australian explorer.

Robert Towns is Notable.

Robert Towns was born at Longhorsley in Northumberland, England in 1794, ^[1] the second child, and son of Edward Towns and Ann Pyle, and baptised there on the 21st of October 1796.^[2]

Robert began his working life as an apprentice on a collier, studied at night, became mate at 17 years and within two years was in command of a brig in the Mediterranean. He arrived in Australia in 1827 and bought his own ship "Brothers" in 1832.

Robert Towns, the "founding father" of Townsville, Colony of Queensland, married Sophia Wentworth, on the 28th of December 1833, at Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales.^[3]

Robert and Sophia Towns had two sons and three daughters.^[1]

1. Robert, b 1841.
2. Sophia, b 1846.
3. Sarah, b 1847.
4. Sabina, b 1849.
5. Edward, b 1852.

He decided to settle in Australia, and bought out his family in in 1843.

Robert was an explorer of the Townsville region with John Melton Black, Andrew Ball and Mark Watt Reid.

Townsville in North Queensland, Australia is named after him.

When a world-wide cotton shortage prompted the Queensland government, to decide to encourage the cultivation of Cotton, Robert Towns was the first to jump at the opportunity, and he hired notorious recruiter Henry Ross Lewin to procure labour for his new Townsvale cotton plantation at Logan, in southern Queensland in 1863.^[4]

Towns, in partership with Alexander Stuart, aquired several pastoral runs , including Inkerman, from John Graham MacDonald. He also acquired John Melton Black's mortgaged property, Woodstock, Edward S. Antill's Jarvisfield property, and appointed Andrew Ball as superintendant at Woodstock.^[5]

In 1864, Captain Robert Towns conducted the first experiment to introduce Coffee cultivation into Queensland, when he procured a boatload of coffee beans and arranged for them to be planted on land in the Burdekin district. ^[4]

Between 1861 and 1871, Towns expanded his grandiose pastoral empire, which included sheep and cattle, until a glut in the market, caused prices to crash. He also funded much of the initial establishment costs for the founding, settlement and development of Townsville.^[6]

Captain Robert Towns passed away after a stroke, at his residence Cranbrook at Bellevue Hill in the New South Wales colonial suburb of Rose Bay, in Sydney, on the 11th of April 1873^{[7] [8][9]} and was laid to rest in the Balmain Cemetery.

Research Notes

• Sources name Robert's father as Edward, however his death names his father as William.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Biography - Robert Towns - Australian Dictionary Of Biography. 2020. Adb.Anu.Edu.Au.>ADB bio, Robert Towns
2. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5J4-291 : 21 March 2020), Robert Towns, 1796.
3. ↑ Australia Marriages, 1810-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTCT-HHC : 10 February 2018), Robert Towns and Sophia Wentworth, 28 Dec 1833; citing St. Philips, Sydney,, New South Wales, Australia, reference ; FHL microfilm 993,951.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Information extracted from Wikipedia Bio.
5. ↑ Kerr, Black Snow and Liquid Gold, pps 26-40.
6. ↑ Bolton, A Thousand Miles Away. see Biblio.
7. ↑ Australia, New South Wales - NSW Death Index > ""Start searching your ancestry ". 2019. Bdm.Nsw.Gov.Au. Accessed October 4 2019. Australia, NSW Deaths Index > Year: 1873; Ref: 2277/1873; Name: Robert Towns s/o William & Ann; Place: Paddington, Sydney.
8. ↑ Australia, Victoria, Index to Probate Registers, 1841-1989," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JVQ9-5QC : 4 April 2020), Robert Towns, 28 Jun 1877; citing Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, series 16, record 389, Public Record Office, Victoria; FamilySearch digital folder 004104488.
9. ↑ England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPJS-1HJT : 30 August 2018), Robert Towns, 25 Sep 1876; citing Probate, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .

See Also:

• Monument Australia, Robert Towns
• Push to rename blogspot
• Townsville City Council Historical Report, Robert Towns study
• Dictionary Blackbirder
• Blackbirding
• Towns' painted hands
• Blackbirders Article
• Fox, Matt, History of Queensland, pdf. The Sugar Industry, Kanaka Labour, Robert Towns, Townsvale, pg 684-688]
• Towns, tree online
• Parliament online, bio Robert Towns
• Wikidata: Item Q7350440
• Robert Towns Bio
• D. Shineberg, 'Towns, Robert (1794–1873)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/towns-robert-4741/text7873, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 3 September 2019.
• Robert Towns, wikipedia
• Trove, Coffee Growing article, Northern Argus, pg 4, Fri. 4 Nov 1904
• Trove QUEENSLAND PIONEERS ROBERT TOWNS Morning Bulletin Rockhampton, Mon 28 Mar 1938 Page 12
• In the shadow of Castle Hill

Bibliography

• • Kerr, John. & Burdekin (Qld. : Shire). Council. 1994, Black snow and liquid gold : a history of the Burdekin Shire from first contact of Europeans with the Aborigines, analysing the development of the pastoral, agricultural, secondary and service industries including sugar cane growing and milling from Inkerman to Giru on the Haughton River, rice, tobacco, mango and horticultural production, irrigation schemes leading to construction of the Burdekin Dam, the establishment of the twin towns of Ayr and Home Hill, sea, road, rail and air transport, local government, health services, social, religious and sporting activities, and the impact of Melanesian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and other immigrants / John D. Kerr Burdekin Shire Council Ayr, Qld
  • Bolton, Geoffrey Curgenven. 1963. A thousand miles away: a history of North Queensland to 1920. Brisbane: Jacaranda Press in association with the Australian National University.
  • Gibson-Wilde, Dorothy. & James Cook University of North Queensland. History Department. 1984, Gateway to a golden land : Townsville to 1884 / Dorothy Gibson-Wilde History Dept., James Cook University Townsville [Qld.]
  • Early Days in North Queensland>"Early Days In North Queensland". 2020. Gutenberg.Net.Au. Accessed January 16 2020. ebook
  • John Drysdale and the Burdekin by Roy Connolly - Hardcover - 1964.>"John Drysdale And The Burdekin By Roy Connolly - Hardcover - 1964 - From Terra Australis Books And Biblio.Com". 2019. Biblio.Com. Accessed November 11 2019. Bibliography
  • Biography - Roy Neville Connolly - Australian Dictionary of Biography>"Biography - Roy Neville Connolly - Australian Dictionary Of Biography". 2019. Adb.Anu.Edu.Au. Accessed November 11 2019. Roy Connolly
  • Fox, Matt J. & Archive CD Books Australia. 2006, Fox's history of Queensland, 1919-1923 [electronic resource] / Matt J. Fox Archive CD Books Australia Modbury, S. Aust>Download here

Acknowledgements

• Wikimedia Commons for Images.
• Pixabay for Image
• Email request sent to TCC on 23rd August 2020, no reply.