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| George Rewell |
| 19 Dec 1800, Walberton, Sussex, England 12 Oct 1829 on Caroline 16 Dec 1875, Perth, WA Congregationalist Policeman, gardener, boatman, Jane Parham George Rewell William Rewell Ann Eliza Rewell Charles Rewell George Thomas Rewell Mary Ann Rewell Edward Rewell Lucy Rewell |
| Born: Arr Perth: Died: Religion: Occupation: Wife: Children: |
| Inquirer, 20 Feb 1841 ROBBERY AT THE "COMMISSARIAT" Small Iron Chest Containing 100 pounds Mr Armstrong the native interpreter and several natives joined in the search. It came out during the examination before the magistrate that as George Rewell, the fisherman together with his son, were pulling up the river between the hours of 2 and 3 in the morning in question, their attention was drawn to a loud noise in the neighbourhood of the court house, apparently of the clang of some iron substance violently struck against another. Rewell subsequently pulled in near the jetty but seeing no one, and hearing nothing more he proceeded away to his fishing ground. The approach of Rewell no doubt disturbed the villains who must have decamped rather hastily, as the hammer before alluded to was found close to the chest. Dictionary of West Australians 1829-1941, Vol 1, Stratham: Arr. per "Caroline" on 12.10.1829 from West Tarring as an indentured labourer to the Henty's with his wife Jane b. 1798, and two children, William b.1825 and Ann b. 1829 (married J Bowes 1849). Five other children were born in the colony: Charles b. Aug 1831; George Thomas b. Feb 1840. Was allowed to select 200 acres, and took them in the Avon district on 14.7.1832. Was mentioned in the 1837 census. On 12.9.1840 advertized in the "Perth Gazette" that he had found an oar. On 20.2.1841 Rewell and one of his sons witnessed a robbery on Perth water (Cf. "Inquirer"). On 6.9.1843 applied for a licence for a boat to run from Fremantle to Perth, charging 3/-d per person each way, and 15/-d per ton for goods (cf. "Inquirer"). In May 1846 played cricket for the Perth Tradesman's Club (Cf. "Inquirer"). In April 1849 was elected to the Town Trust Committee. Was named as a defaulter in the WA Mining Company shares in )ct. 1850." The West Australian, 14 Dec 1948 In 1829 to WA, on 3rd sailing vessel to arrive at Fremantle came Mr George Rewell, Seageant of Police, his wife and family among whom were 2 boys William (Bill) and Tom and a baby girl of 11 months. Bill became a boatbuilder and fisherman and of his family one son, Willie, became a member of the water Police. [NB. The Caroline was actually the 8th ship to arrive.] The Geddes Mystery, Brian Jones, Spectrum, 2002 Alice's father, William Rewell, was just four-years-old when he migrated with his parents, George Rewell and Jane (nee Parham). The Rewells had left behind the hardships of Walberton, Sussex, and looked forward to a prosperous life in Perth as indentured servants to James Henty... The Rewells and the Gees had every reason to be optimistic. As yet, no discouraging voices could be heard from the Swan River settlers. Captain James Stirling and the first party of settlers arrived only on 1 June 1829, the day before the Caroline left London... When the Caroline reached the Swan River in the spring it was only the eighth vessel to arrive, numbering its passengers among the first 400 settlers in the new colony. The official christening of the settlement took place on 12 August -- probably as the Caroline was approaching the equator. On that day Stirling led a group to the basin of the Swan River and, as Mrs Helen Dance ceremonially drove an axe into a tree, he declared Perth to be the Empire's newest prize. By the time the Rewells arrived there was virtually nothing there. Few buildings, roads or houses -- only the voice of discontent: Gentlemen's sons were standing behind improvised counters selling tea and sugar to kill time, while women, still tent-dwellers rather than mistresses of manor houses in the Australian bush, gossiped outside their tents. Had they come all that way to be roasted by the sun and tormented at night by the shouts and laughter of drunken soldiers and the mosquitoes and fleas which infested their tents? Had they come to a land where a fierce sun turned the green shoots of their crops into the sickly dry yellow of death? What manner of men would survive and prosper in such a land? Alice's people were undaunted. After all, as Charlie Gee was fond of singing, there was more 'fourchoen' to be made by building a new colony than being 'flounced and bounced' in England 'as if you weare a thif'. For the Rewells and the Gees, Perth was a land of opportunity; for their master, James Henty, it was too much to bear. Manning Clark explains: Not only those on whom the hand of the potter seemed to have faltered had to admit defeat. On 12 October 1829 James Henty and his party had reached Fremantle on the Caroline. Like the other members of the gentry migrating to Swan River, he hoped that he and his family could plant an English village in the Australian wilderness, complete with squire, parson, tenant farmers and agricultural labourers. He had left England because he and his family were threatened with a descent of many steps in the social ladder which their 'feeling could ill stand'. At first he had planned to go to New South Wales where they would all be placed in 'the first Rank in Society'. A few months later Captain Stirling persuaded the Henty family that they could have all their hearts' desires the social standing, the amusements and the huge income at the intended Swan River colony. So James chartered the Caroline and signed on four personal servants, and twenty-nine indentured servants, all of whom undertook to remain dutiful servants in return for a free passage, [sterling]20 a year, and fuel and lodgings. He also loaded the ship with blood stock, seed, trees, farm utensils, a telescope, a bugle, ten pounds of shaving soap, thirty silver spoons, pens, ink, paper and one hundred books. The rest of the family were to follow later. On arrival in Perth he joined the army of settlers searching for suitable land. He inspected sites at Leschenault Inlet, at King George's Sound and at York, but found nothing on which to risk his seed and stock. By then he had had more than enough of summer heat, flies, fleas, mosquitoes, 'country life in the raw', and that plague of every settler the clamour of the indentured servants for houses, food and clothing, and higher wages. He began to find less and less comfort in the claim that society on the Swan was 'above reproach' simply because it was free of those vulgar upstarts, the successful ex-convicts who set the social tone in Sydney. In January 1832 he decided to try his fortunes in Van Diemen's Land. If Alice's grandparents were among the indentured servants who clamoured for more, they had good reason to grumble. They came to Australia with two 'littel' ones, William and Ann, but already had the first of their five Swan River children by the time Henty abandoned them. In the end they were probably happy to see the back of James Henty and cared little that he became the first person to grow apple trees at Portland Bay, Victoria. Freed from servitude they could build a life of their own. George applied for a grant of 100 acres of land and later another 200 acres. This enabled him to eke out a modest life for his family. Over the years the river - through fishing and boating - provided George Rewell with a small but steady income. At one time it even earned him an honourable mention in the courts, as the above article from the Inquirer (20 Feb 1941) indicates. The notoriety he gained from this incident may have led to his eventual appointment as sergeant of police. As early as 1830 a tradition had been established in the colony of choosing the constabulary from 'the steady and most respectable part of the working class'. But this was neither the first, nor the only time that George Rewell had his name in the newspapers: he also found an oar on the banks of the river which he offered to return to the owner, he started a daily ferry service to Fremantle on his boat the Ocean Queen, he played cricket (at the age of 46) for the Perth Tradesman's Club and in 1849 was elected to the town trust committee. The Rewell family showed how salubrious life in the Swan River colony could be by beating the odds in the longevity stakes. George lived to the age of 75; his wife 85. |
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| George Rewell migrated to Perth as an indentured servant of James Henty. He arrived on the Caroline on 12 October 1829. There are several published references below about George. |
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