The Mitchell Family.
under construction.
CHARLES MITCHELL married HARRIOTT HUNTLEY on 13 October, 1821 at Mountfield, Sussex. Mounfield has a long history and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Following their marriage, Charles and Harriott lived at 5 Highgate Hill, Hawkhurst although their issue were born at Sandhurst. They were:-
(Tilden & Iden are believed to have been named after villages in Kent/Sussex).
Some of the Mitchell children were baptised at the Wesleyan Chapel at Cranbrook - by - Sandhurst.
TO AUSTRALIA.
Charles Mitchell and his brother Benjamin, with their families, joined a migration of 251 agricultural workers to Australia on the "Westminster" which left Gravesend on 25 March, 1838 and arrived in Sydney on 27 June, 1838. The Surgeon in Charge on the voyage was Dr. Lawrence and a school was established on board between the hours of 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. At the completion of the voyage Benjamin was given a Bible with the inscription - "From Dr. Lawrence to Benjamin Mitchell for his attention as a school teacher on board the "Westminster" 1838 to New South Wales".
Harriet Mitchell (Charles' daughter) also received a Bible at the completion of the voyage. The inscription in her Bible reads - "Present to Harriott Mitchell for her good conduct at the Baptist Sunday School, Sandhurst, Kent by the Revd. Tas Gates, Pastor, 28th. June, 1838".
During the Voyage, Harriott gave birth to their 10th. child, a son, Edward, on 17th. June, 1838. He died the next day. Harriott is listed as suffering from a "puerperal state". Nine other children died on the voyage.
Information regarding Charles and Benjamin on their arrival is as follows -
Charles MITCHELL - Native place -Kent; Trade - Farm Servant; Age - 38 years; Age of Wife - 37 years; Children - 3 Male and 2 Female; Religion - Protestant; Read and Write - Neither; By whom engaged - F. Mitchell Esq. Sydney; Wages - 30 pounds p.a. with rations.
Benjamin MITCHELL - Native place - Kent; Trade - Farm Servant; Age - 32 years; Age of Wife - 27 years; Religion - Baptist; Read and Write - Both; By whom engaged - W. Caswell Esq. Port Stevens; Wages - 25 pounds p.a. with rations.
AUSTRALIAN MITCHELLS.
Issue born to Charles and Harriott Mitchell after their arrival were:-
FIRST YEARS.
W. Caswell, who engaged Benjamin Mitchell, owned "Balickera" near Raymond Terrace and it is believed that Benjamin and his wife went there first but later moved to Morpeth where Martha Ann was born. Charles Huntley Mitchell was engaged by W. Lawson but it is not known to which property he went. However he was a witness to a marriage in West Maitland in 1839.
F. Mitchell, who engaged Charles Mitchell, was more than likely Francis Mitchell, a Sydney merchant who owned property at West Maitland called "Melville" which was managed by his brother Thomas Mitchell and wife Mary Ann. An old letter dated May, 1839 sent to Charles and Harriott is addressed to "Marril? Farm", Hunter River and most likely Charles Mitchell and family spent at least their first year at Melville. There is no relationship between Charles and Francis Mitchell.
In 1848 Benjamin and Charles Mitchell, both of West Maitland, signed a petition requesting better Court facilities at West Maitland. Charles' movements between 1848 and 1857 are unaccounted for at present. However, he would rarely have been out of work. The Maitland farming area was expanding rapidly and, because of the lack of assigned convicts, farm labourers were constantly in demand.
"AYRFIELD".
the property of "Harefield" was a 100 acre portion of an original grant to Samuel Clift sold to Theophilus Thomas between 1825 and 1840. in 1840, T. Thomas leased "Harefield" to Anne Forster, a widow, for a period of five years. The lease read, in part, - "All that piece or parcel of land called "Harefield" containing one hundred acres of land.... with the dwelling house and out offices erected thereon situate in the Parish of Heddon near Maitland..... and also the use and the milk of sixteen cows and the use and milk of their produce being heifer calves after the reasonable sustenance and support of their calves saving and excepting unto the said Theophilus Thomas the liberty run and grass for five brood mares and their foals during the said demise". The rent was 80 pounds a year.
to date, no further record of leases of the property have been located but it does appear likely that Charles Mitchell was a subsequent lessee, perhaps on a yearly basis. On 2 May, 1857 a notice was placed in the Maitland Mercury which said: - "there has been running on my enclosed run for some two months, TWO RED and WHITE BULLOCKS, unbranded. Unless they are claimed within one month from this date I shall consider them my property. Charles Mitchell - "Ayrfield". "Ayrfield appears as the family residence on all other newspaper notices and birth, death and marriage certificates up until 1868.
Ayrfield No. 1 Colliery was developed in 1910 on the "Harefield/ Ayrfield" property but abandoned in the late 1930s. Family members say Charles Mitchell had been well aware of the potential of the land but was financially (and legally) unable to make full use of it.
In 1867 the property was mortgaged for two years to Henry Laidlow of "Buchanan". It had increased in size to 700 acres. From then on there is some confusion about the area to which the name "Ayrfield" applied. In the 1878 Maitland rates book, "Ayrfield took in five adjoining properties covering 1498 acres. The largest of these properties was 1181 acres belonging to Joseph Clift. However, in 1887 a notice appeared in the Maitland Mercury advertising "Ayrfield estate containing 1180 acres....six miles from Maitland....excellent dairy farm" for lease by Joseph Clift. The name "Ayrfield" - as applied to a district or property - has since disappeared from all records completely.
DEATHS IN THE FAMILY.
Charles Mitchell died, aged 69 years, from a carbuncle on 4 March, 1869 at "Buchanan". It is presumed that he was "transferred" to "Buchanan" by Henry Laidlow who had mortgaged "Ayrfield" in 1867. A death notice in an English newspaper reads as follows:- "MITCHELL - March 4, 1869 at his residence, Buchanan, New South Wales. Mr Charles Mitchell, late of Ayrfield, son of the late Mr. Chas. Mitchell, of Sandhurst, Kent, England; loved and respected by all who knew him; aged 69 years".
Harriott Mitchell died, aged 76 years, of pneumonia on 17 August, 1877 at her daughter agnes Shay's house, in William Street, East Maitland. As well as a notice in the Maitland Mercury, a notice also appeared in an English paper - "MITCHELL - Aug 17, 1877, at her son-in -law's residence, William Street, East Maitland, New South Wales, Harriet, relict of the late Mr. Charles Mitchell, late of Ayrfield, daughter of the late Mr. John Huntley, of Sussex, England, aged 76 years, leaving four sons, four daughters and forty-five grandchildren; deeply regretted".
THE FAMILY OF CHARLES AND HARRIOTT MITCHELL.
WILLIAM HUNTLEY MITCHELL married [1] MARGARET McDIVIT on 4 March, 1850 at St. Peter's Church of England, East Maitland. Issue were:-
WILLIAM HUNTLEY MITCHELL married [2] ELIZA KINCH, nee THORPE, a widow on 25 April, 1891 at the Presbyterian Manse, West Maitland. No issue.
Charles Mitchell died, aged 84 years, of senile decay on 17 August, 1907 at Quirindi where his son, Walter, lived.
The house the Hanks lived in was one of the first houses in East Maitland and still standing today (1988). Harriet's grand-daughters were also midwives and the house was converted to a private haspital for mothers and babies. During floods patients were often passed out through top storey windows to waiting boats. The house has since been sold and is at present in a very dilapidated condition.
Harriet Hanks died aged 75 years on 2 April, 1901.
Iden died, aged 34 years, of heart failure on 13 August, 1863 at Ayrfield. His death notice in the "Maitland Mercury" read as follows "August13th, at his father's residence, Ayrfield, after a long and painful illness of five monhs, Iden, the fourth and loved son of Charles and Harriet Mitchell, aged 34 - deeply and deservedly regretted by a large and numerous circle of friends. His end was peace."
Robert Allen died in April, 1851 and on 15 December, 1851 at East Maitland Church of England Matilda married [2] EDWARD SHOESMITH, an emancipist. He was a widower, 30 years matilda's senior. They lived firstly at Bolwarra and then Morpeth. The Allen boys were raised by the Hanks. Issue of Matilda and Edward Shoesmith were:-
© 1997 standen@aardvark.apana.org.au
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