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Mary Brooker was the third child born to Mary Wade and Jonathan Brooker in New South Wales. She was born on 28th November, 1812, in the Hawkesbury District where her father, freed by servitude on Norfolk Island, was supporting his family possibly as a carpenter. While Mary was a very small child the family moved to their new home at Airds (Campbelltown). When 11 years old, Mary shared with her family the tragic experience of being rendered destitute by a severe bushfire. By 1828 we find the family established on the Illawarra, near Corrimal. Jonathan’s household consisted of his wife Mary, their children John, Mary and James, and Edward Harrigan, referred to as Edward Brooker. Shortly after her 16th birthday, Mary Brooker married John Hart on 14th February 1829. Father Therry, a Roman Catholic priest, performed the ceremony and the marriage was registered at Liverpool. John Hart, who had arrived a free man on the Earl St Vincent, was about 29 years of age. This marriage was short lived and without issue as John Hart soon died. Mary’s second marriage, to Christopher Ledwidge, was also conducted by Father Therry on 1 7th November, 1833. Ledwidge had arrived on the transport Isobella in 1822 to serve a term of 7 years transportation, Christopher was listed as a Catholic labourer, assigned to Charles Tunstall, a bricklayer of Lower Minto. In 1824 he was sent to Port Macquarie as a punishment for attempting to rob a cart. He returned to Lower Minto in 1827, gained his freedom the next year, and settled at Fairy Meadow in the Illawarra District. It was here that he met the young widow Mary Hart, daughter of Jonathan Brooker and Mary Wade. She bore him a son, John, in 1832, and they married on 17th November, 1833. The following year, on the very day of Christopher’s death, a second son was born and named Christopher. This meant that within four years, and still only 21, Mary was twice widowed and the mother of two boys. These circumstances probably explain why, less than a year later, Mary married for a third time. The groom was Henry Angel, a farmer of Fairy Meadow. The marriage was by Banns with the consent of the Governor. and took place on 3rd January, 1834, in the Church of England School House in Wollongong. Henry Angel was a very colourful character. He was as born in Salisbury. England, in 1791, and had worked on the land from an early age, becoming proficient in the skills of farming. At the age of 26 a brush with the law earned him a conviction and he was sentenced to transportation for life. Exact circumstances of his crime remain a mystery but according to family Folk-lore Henry may have been the innocent victim of a miscarriage of justice. This version that at the age of 17 he purchased a pair of bloodstained boots from a stranger for one shilling and was subsequently charged with the murder of the owner of the boots. Since could not produce evidence to the contrary, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged, the sentence being commuted to transportation for life. The second explanation for Henry’s transportation rests on more reliable documented evidence. An extract from a sworn statement in the Public Records Office, London states that Henry Angel and an accomplice were tried on 18th March 1817 for highway robbery. Henry was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He arrived in New South aboard the transport Neptune on 9th May 1818 to serve his sentence. Henry was described as having a ruddy complexion, 5′ 2 ½” tall, brown hair and hazel eyes. Sometime after his arrival Henry was assigned to William Cox, a considerable land holder, best remembered for his role in the construction of the first road over Blue Mountains in 1815. It appears that Cox recommended Henry Angel to Hamilton Hume was preparing for his expedition with Hovell, to Port Phillip. Subsequently Angel was assigned to Hume for the expedition and a close bond of friendship developed between these two men. As the overland journey continued, Angel proved of great value in difficult situations. On reaching the Murray, Angel became the first white man to swim across the river. He did do to get a line across in order to facilitate the crossing over of equipment and stores. On returning to Sydney at the completion of the journey, Hume received a land grant at Shoalhaven. Henry Angel’s part was recognised by the granting of a ticketofleave on Hume’s recommendation. This was granted on 5th July 1825 for the district of Appin by special order of the Governor and was later altered to cover the District of Illawarra. Hume also recognised Angel’s contribution by making him a gift of two good quality bullocks and a watch. This watch was in the possession of one of daughters until fairly recently. Its immediate location is not at present known. Angel lived in the Corrimal area, but on the 14th January 1828, his ticketofleave was revoked on a charge of harbouring a notorious cattle stealer in his house, and with having some connection with the gang. He was returned to Government Service and in the 1828 Census taken in November, he is listed as Protestant, aged 36 years and living in convict barracks, Liverpool. At about this time, Sturt invited Hume to accompany him on his first expedition to trace headwaters of the Macquarie River. Together, Sturt and Hume selected a small party soldiers and convicts to assist them on the journey, among whom Henry Angel was included. This expedition reached the Darling River before returning to Sydney. On 22nd February 1832, Henry Angel’s ticketofleave was restored in recognition of his assistance in the capture of a bushranger named Patrick Burke, notorious for his activities on the lonely road between Appin and Illawarra. Thereafter he was registered at the P.O. Wollongong as a resident of Fairy Meadow and 1834 he married Mary Ledwidge (nee Brooker). It is interesting to note that Henry did not get his conditional pardon until 1st October 1841 so he was still a ticketofleave convict at the time of his marriage. After this marriage, Henry and Mary lived in a pitsawn timber shed on the Angel farm, together .With Mary’s two young sons, John and Christopher Ledwidge. The two small boys were soon joined by some Angel children. There were Henry (1836), William (1838) and twins, Keturah and Robert (1841). The Ledwidge boys and Robert Angel in due time attended the local school, a simple slab and bark building about one mile south of Angel’s Bridge which spanned Towradgi Creek running through the Angel farm. From time to time the boys would arrive at the school with the two bullocks Hume had given to Angel, in order to carry firewood for the teacher. The bullocks carried the double H (HH) brand of Hamilton Hume and were always of great interest. Angel’s English farming upbringing, together with his bush experience in Australia, stood him in good stead as a pioneer settler. James Gormley recalls “I had frequent opportunities of seeing how Angel cultivated his land and managed his working horses and bullocks and the plan he then adopted 1 have not since excelled … (he) did the work slowly and carefully, evidently on a well defined plan.” A good description of the area at about the time was recorded in 1846 by a retired army colonel, Godfrey Mundy:The pretty village of Fairy Meadow, close to Wollongong, separated by a ridge of highish land from the seaboard, backed by the mountain range, with a meandering stream of fresh water running through the flat; settlers’ houses perched on the hills, bark huts overgrown with passion flowers, vines, ivy or gourds; fields of growing wheat or maize with its tall, green flags and yellow plumes; rude barns at the corners of the enclosures, where the cheerful sound of the flail reaches the traveller’s ear.” A prominent feature on the range behind Fairy Meadow is called Broker’s Nose. (Broker was the spelling used for Brooker in many old documents). This feature resembles the outline of a human face profile, and is so named as it is a part of the range close to Brooker land. By the eighteen fifties the descendants of Mary Wade (Mary Angel’s mother and an early resident) were leaving permanent place names throughout the district. These include street names such as Brokers Road, Harrigan Street, etc, and features such as Angels Bridge and Broker’s Nose. During the eighteen thirties, Henry appeared to be interested in various parcels of land. In 1839 he was unsuccessful in purchasing land at Garie but later purchased 50 acres on the Cataract River near Wollongong. In 1841 he received a conditional pardon from the Governor, Sir George Gipps, to take effect from 28th December 1841. He was now a free man, but unable to return to England. Two of Mary Angel’s nephews, John and Edward Ray, journeyed southwest into the Riverina in 1840. Their assessment of the land available in the. Hay district was enough to encourage Henry Angel to move his young family 450 miles to the area in 1844. Originally Angel settled on the opposite side of the river to the Rays, believing the land to be available. He built a house there on the south bank, called ‘Yangunjular’ after the name of the local aboriginal tribe. The Commissioner for Crown Lands changed the name to Wardry, which is not an aboriginal name. It finally reverted to Uardry, a native name meaning yellow box tree and to this day the station retains the name Uardry. Another son of Mary Wade, Edward Harrigan, went to the area in 1849 but he preferred the Illawarra and returned there in 1853. While at Uardry four sons and a daughter were added to, the Angel family between 1844 and 1853. Uardry was an extensive holding used by Ray and Angel as a cattle and sheep run. The N.S.W. Gazette for 1866 states, “Uardry” station(Lachlan District) occupiers Ray and Angel; area 32,000 acres, grazing capability, 900 head of cattle. Crown charges £53/13/9. It is recorded that Angel and some of his sons made trips to Sydney from time to time. On one such trip in 1846, Henry Angel junior remembers that he and his father carried a ton of cheese to Sydney which they sold, bringing back provisions. The team used consisted of a horse in the shafts of a dray and four bullocks leading. The round trip took three months. On his return, Henry Angel presented the local Aboriginal chief with a brass plate he had obtained in Sydney, inscribed to Jacky, King of Yangunjular. It should be realised that while at Uardry the Angels were living a frontier existence. The Angels enjoyed a good friendly relationship with the local aborigines, but among themselves the native tribes observed their traditional customs, including conflict. Murder was not unknown among them, and Henry Angel himself witnessed at least one fight to the death between two rival chiefs. Henry’s wife Mary relates a story of an aboriginal visitor sampling chillies from her kitchen table. “He got the surprise of his life”,said Mary, “shouting, ‘Pattacollu, Pattacoliu’, meaning give me water. The white population of Uardry was comparatively large with both the Ray and Angel families there. The Ledwidge boys became expert horsemen and worked as stockmen on the station. The trips to Sydney provided an opportunity to visit relations and family friends at Campbelltown and on the Illawarra. Such trips provided contact with school friends of the Ledwidges and Henry Angel junior. On one such trip in 1855, Christie Ledwidge married Margaret Ann Herrick, who came from a family connected by marriage to his cousin Edward Ray and his uncle, William Brooker. The same year John Ledwidge married Julia Ahern of Fairy Meadow who had attended the local school with him. John and Christie each had ten children and 26 and 54 grandchildren respectively. Consequently many Australians can trace their origins to these two brothers. Most of John’s descendants come through his seven daughters and do not carry the Ledwidge name, but Christopher’s descendants are mostly through his sons and this ensured the Ledwidge name still survives in the area. By 1859 the district had developed sufficiently for the establishment of a new township called Hay at Lang’s Crossing. The Ledwidge brothers left Uardry at this stage to try their luck as publicans in the new town. It was not long before John, who sadly missed his horses, purchased a new team and set up as a carrier. Christie continued as a publican of the Caledonian Hotel, Hay, and did well. In 1868 he left Hay to open the Currathool Hotel at Carrathool. He died the following year and his wife carried on the business. John gave up carrying and worked as a labourer until his death in 1873. One of Christie’s sons, John, became a pioneer of Swan Hill in 1876, arriving there on foot having walked from Hay. He has recorded a notable description of white settlement in the area at that time: The country at that time had not been opened up for closer settlement and was largely in the virgin state. As a contractor with a large number of men under me, 1 ran 28,000 acres of box timber on Lalbert Station, and about 20,000 acres on Springfield Station. Blacks roamed everywhere, and there was an encampment on the other side of the river, opposite the present pumping station. They were a tame lot however, and did not molest the white invaders. Wildlife abounded and there were any amount of emus and kangaroos. The rabbit population had reached alarming proportions and presented a major problem; they were so thick that at one time they actually blocked the Boga road when the coach was proceeding to Swan Hill. We killed thousands in Lake Boga alone. There was a great social spirit pervading the whole community. The greatest event of the year was the Oddfellows Ball, held in the new brick school. It was a wonderful affair and attended by all the people of the district. Tickets cost one pound ten shillings apiece but was worth every penny of it. What a feast we had! Plenty of suckling pig and turkey, in striking contrast to the suppers of today perhaps a piece of cake.” John’s wife, Annie, was employed as a cook at the Swan Hill Coffee Palace in Campbell Street and afterwards accompanied him on his contracts, cooking for the men and camping under bullock waggons. In 1864 (?) Henry Angel sold his rights to at least part of Uardry and purchased a property called Spring Vale near Lake Albert, a few miles south of Wagga. He was now in his seventies and remained there until his death, aged 91, in 1881. Perusal of his Will indicates that by the time of his death, Angel was a man of considerable wealth, a rather remarkable achievement for a former convict transported to the colony in 1818 to serve out a life sentence. It was entirely due to his own efforts that he had acquired such wealth and he did not wish to see it frittered away. His Will contains a firm direction to his beneficiaries as follows: “I wish it to be understood by all my dear children that as 1 have worked hard and long to gain the property which 1 now possess and which 1 hereby devise and bequeath in their favour, so 1 earnestly desire they will not, unless for very good reasons, sell or mortgage the said properties, but 1 do not forbid them so doing.” Mary Angel survived Henry by nine years. She died on 29th September 1890 at Lake Albert, aged 78 years, and was buried beside Henry in the Church of England section of Wagga Wagga Cemetery. She was survived by six sons and two daughters, three sons being deceased. One of Mary’s descendants received considerable acclaim in 1941. Corporal John Hurst Edmondson was awarded a V.C. posthumously. for bravery in action on the night of 1314th April 1941 at Tobruk. This V.C. medal was the first awarded to an Australian in the Second World War. |
