It seems that Henry probably took his new wife back with him to Wangaratta to start their life together. It is reported in the "Victorian Historical Magazine" (Vol. 8, No.1, dated 20 November 1920) in an article about Early Wangaratta - "The pioneers in the butchering trade were Mr. Harry Ponchard and Mr. M Cusack in 1848".Henry and Elizabeth had their first child in 1849 in Kilmore, Victoria, and named him John Ponchard. The Victorian Pioneer Index has unfortunately misspelled the surname in this entry to read "John Pounchart" but it is not uncommon for their spelling to vary as it appears neither Henry or Elizabeth could read or write.
It may have been that Elizabeth was visiting her mother, Mary Reilly, in Kilmore to aid her through her time of pregnancy. Mary Reilly, was still living at Kilmore at this time and continued to live there until her death on the 17th of November 1866. She was buried in the Kilmore cemetery on the 19th of November 1866.
Henry Ponchard appears to have purchased his first parcel of land in Wangaratta during some land sales in 1849 as his name appears in the Port Phillip Government gazette of 1849 under a proclamation of town allotments with deeds dated 30th of August 1849. It lists the purchase details as "Henry Ponchot, 2 roods, Wangaratta, Lot 49". The deed of sale for this lot reveals that Henry bought it for £9/15/-. It describes the land as :
"- Allotment No. Six --- of Section No. Nine --- Bounded on the North by Templeton Street, .... on the East by Allotment Number Seven, .... on the South by Rowan Street, .... and on the West by Allotment Number Five."
There is a second listing for land purchases in Wangaratta which appears in an entry, also in the Port Phillip Government Gazette, is for title deeds ready for delivery at the office of Sub-Treasury, Melbourne, on the 1st of January 1851. He is also listed in this entry as "Henry Ponchot". It is possible that this is just a notification that the deed documents for the 1849 purchase were available for pick up.
It seems that Henry bought a further block in Wangaratta later in 1851 which was, coincidentaly, also of 2 roods in area. This block was slightly to the North-East of the town on the other side of the Ovens River.
The second child for Henry and Elizabeth, Mary Jane Ponchard, was born early in 1851, probably in January, but there does not appear to be any official birth certificate to show the exact date. She died at either the end of April or the 1st of May and was buried, according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, Parish of St. Francis, on the 2nd of May, 1852, at the reported age of 16 months. The place of abode given on this certificate is simply "Melbourne" and no other information is given, not even the place of burial is listed.
D. M. Whittacker's book on Wangaratta also mentions, on page 53 -
"....discovery of gold .... in 1851 emptied Wangaratta. There were only 6 women left in Wangaratta in 1852, Mesdames Meldrum, Millard, Ponchard, Drover, Parker and Vincent. The women had to go around carrying guns for their personal safety....".
This story appears to be confirmed in the book "Through Women's Pioneering Eyes" by Brenda Leach, which states on page 42 -
"Mrs Vincent often spoke of being one of only six women left in Wangaratta when the gold rush broke out in 1852. The other five women were Mrs. Mary Meldrum, Mrs. Annie Millard, Mrs. Ponchard, Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Catherine Dillon."The association between Henry and Jacob Vincent continued in 1853 when they purchased 56 acres of the "Laceby Estate" on the King River at Wangaratta, in partnership. The Vincents rapidly prospered as farmers and soon bought out Henry Ponchard's share of this block. It was not far from this block that the Vincent's later built their home, which was named "COMO". This may be the area referred to in the earlier part of this story.
The 3rd child to Henry and Elizabeth, Catherine Sarah Ponchard, was born in Wangaratta on the 18th of January 1854, and her father's profession is listed as "Butcher". Strangely, in the column which asks for information regarding previous issue, Catherine's birth certificate shows that she had "2 living & 2 dead" older siblings! Despite combing the Birth & Death Index listings I have had no luck in finding these two missing children, although it is quite possible that there may have been some children who were not registered as, of the 9 children that they are proven to have had, 4 of them seem never to have had their birth officially registered.