August 30 is
Melbourne’s birthday – the day the city was founded when settlers sailed from
Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and landed on the north bank of the Yarra River from
the schooner Enterprize in 1835. Here
is (one of) my link(s) with early Melbourne.
Henry Condell c1860 from Libraries Australia collection |
Henry CONDELL
(1797-1871) was Melbourne’s first mayor, serving from 9 Dec 1842 to Nov 1844. He
is my 4great grandfather.
He arrived in
Hobart on 24 Dec 1822 leaving his wife Marion and daughter Jane behind in
Edinburgh. Marion Condell nee VALLANGE (1789-1866) came to Van Diemen’s Land
three years later and Jane CONDELL (c1821-1904) was raised by her grandparents,
not coming to Australia until 1840.
Jane was my 3great grandmother - she married a convict and was disowned by
her father. That’s a story for another blog post.
Henry worked for
some time on Maria Island as Commissariat Clerk and left in controversial
circumstances (again another future blog post), and built the very successful Bevley
Bank Brewery in North Hobart, billed in the mid-1830s as having the best pale ale
in the colony.
Henry moved to
Port Phillip in 1839 and set up a successful brewery in Little Collins Street.
From what I
read, as a mayor he made a great brewer – his 'term of office was a time of
financial distress, constant bickering and turmoil'. It is said in articles in
The Argus that his ale had played a ‘conspicuous part in the riotous election
campaign’.
Edward Long, Henry's great grandson, and my great grandfather |
When he left
Melbourne for England in 1853 he was a very wealthy man - I wonder if all of his wealth was profit from his brewery.
His son, William
Vallange CONDELL presented the Melbourne City Council with a clock for the Town
Hall tower in memory of his father. That clock remains today.
There is a
street in Fitzroy, a lane in Melbourne city, and a lane in North Hobart that
all bear his name. The lane in North Hobart is all that remains to mark his
house and brewery there.
Jane Brooks nee Condell, Henry's daughter, and mother of Frances |
Frances Eliza Long nee Brooks, Henry's grandaughter, and mother of Edward |
The plaque in North Hobart |
Hi There, I have found your blog amazing as I believe that we are related through my grandfather's lineage. I think the Island is Maderia not Maria. This is where I am from and my cousin and I have been doing our family tree and the Condell lineage has come up. How fascinating.
ReplyDeleteHi, it's always great to find new cousins. The island is a small island off the east coast of Tasmania, Australia. When Henry came to Australia, he was stationed there for some time before moving to Hobart, then Melbourne. But, yes, Henry was born in Madeira
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