Benjamin McKenzie Gouldthorp **

   Cause of his death was Disease of Lungs.

   Other names for Benjamin were Benjamin Goldthorp and Benjamin Mackenzie Gouldthorpe.

  General Notes:

His daughter Agnes' marriage announcement in the Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November, 1863 records that Benjamin was "formerly of Greenwich, near London".

According to Benjamin's Death Certificate he was married in 1832 in London. According to Sarah's it was Clerkenwell, year unknown. Clerkenwell is an area of central London lying south of Kings Cross between the City and the West End. St James is in Clerkenwell Close overlooking Clerkenwell Green.

There is a record dated 11 December 1831 at St. James, Clerkenwell of a marriage between Benjamin Gouldthorp and Sarah Ann Fitch. The entry is curious as her first name is originally recorded as Mary, which has been crossed out and Sarah written above it. Sarah is also crossed out and Mary again written below the original entry of Mary. On their son George's Birth Certificate in 1838 her name is clearly recorded as "Sarah". They appear to have been "of this Parish" as there is a symbol I believe means "ditto" after Benjamin's name.

There is also another record of a marriage at St James' Clerkenwell between a Benjamin Gouldthorp (a Bachelor) and a Mary Ann Fitch (a Spinster) on 29 January 1832.

At the time of the 1841 Census he and the family were living at Poplar Cottage, High St, Napton on the Hill at Southam, Warwickshire. The family name was spelled as GOLDTHORP. Details were as follows: Benjamin, aged 30, occupation Excise Officer, born Outside Census County; Sarah, aged 30, born Outside Census County; Anne, aged 6, born Ireland; Elizabeth, aged 4, born Outside Census County; George, aged 2, born Outside Census County; Benjamin, aged 4m, born Warwickshire; and Harriet BAND, aged 12, Female Servant born Warwickshire.

At the time of the 1851 Census he and his family were living at 14 Amelia St, St Mary's, Newington. Benjamin was age 43, a Schoolmaster and Writing ? born Yorkshire. Living here also were his wife Sarah Ann, age 40, a Fruit Shop Keeper, born Ware, Hertfordshire, daughter Anne, age 16 an Artificial Flavour Maker, born Ireland, Daughter Elizabeth age 14, also an Artificial Flavour maker, born Colerne, son George age 12, a Shop Boy born Colerne, son Benjamin age 10, a Scholar born Napton and daughter Agnes age 7, a Scholar born Southwark in Surrey.

The family obviously moved around quite a lot with each of the children born in a different location, including one in Dublin, Ireland.

He arrived in Sydney on the Bussorah Merchant in 1853 with his family. According to his Shipping Record he was a Schoolmaster, his religion was Church of England, and he could read and write. His Immigration Record states he was an Accountant and Schoolmaster, and that he had paid a fare of 47 pounds for himself and family.

The State Library of Victoria holds a watercolour painting of the Bussorah Merchant in the La Trobe Picture Collection. "The vessel, formerly a convict transport, has the dubious honour of being the first known to use North Head, Sydney, as a quarantine site in August 1828. With smallpox raging through the ship, the Bussorah Merchant landed her passengers and crew on a small beach at North Head, the dramatic and ruggedly beautiful northern promontory at the entry to Sydney Harbour."
Source: Migrant Ships for South Australia 1836-1860 by Ronald Parsons

The Bussorah Merchant was built entirely from teak at Calcutta in 1818. "An older vessel than most on the emigrant run, she had carried the first group of government-assisted emigrants to Sydney in 1833. The ship had undergone repairs several times over the years. She was felted and doubled in '33, had repairs to topsides and decks in '46, and was sheathed with yellow metal in '49."
Source: The Somerset Years, Florence Chuk, Pennard Hill Publications, p 135

On Thursday 27 July 1854 Benjamin made an appearance at the Central Police Court as a witness in a trial of a John Whitell who had been charged under the Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The case was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald the next day. Whitell had been thrusting a red hot poker at his neighbour's dog through the paling fence separating their properties. The dog had been chained up near the fence and was biting the poker sustaining burns to it's mouth. Benjamin had witnessed the incident and recounted the facts to the court. Withell was found guilty and fined £5, or a month's gaol.

There are a total of 12 children referred to on his Death Certificate, 2 males & 4 females living and the same number of each sex dead. This differs from Sarah Ann's death certificate. Sarah Ann was the informant but I'm inclined to think it was a mistake. None of these unknown children are referred to in the 1841 Census record, and there is no record of their births in Australia. His Death Certificate records that he was born in Doncaster.

He was buried at the Camperdown Cemetery in Newtown, Sydney, Grave No. 12749. He is buried with his son, Benjamin. There is no surviving headstone, and the burial site was part of a section of the cemetery reclaimed to create the Camperdown Cemetery Rest Park in the 1940's.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He emigrated to New South Wales, Australia on the "Bussorah Merchant" on 19 Mar 1853.

• He worked as an Excise Officer according to son George's birth certificate on 7 Dec 1838 in Colerne, Wiltshire, England.

• He worked as an Excise Officer at the time of the Census in 1841 in Napton on the Hill, Southam, , Warwickshire, England.

• He worked as a Schoolmaster according to his Shipping Record on 19 Mar 1853.

• He worked as a Schoolmaster and Writing ? at the time of the Census in 1851 in St Mary's, Newington, , Kent, England.

• He worked as an Accountant & Schoolmaster according to his Immigration Record on 22 Apr 1853 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

• He worked as a Liquor Inspector according to daughter Elizabeth's Death Certificate.

• He worked as a Storeman at the time of his death on 25 Dec 1864.

• He resided at the time of the Census in 1841 in Napton on the Hill, Southam, , Warwickshire, England.

• He resided at the time of the Census in 1851 in 14 Amelia St, St Mary's, Newington, , Kent, England.

• He resided at the time of son Benjamin's Death on 17 Aug 1856 in Chippendale, New South Wales, Australia.

• He resided at the time of Agnes' marriage on 29 Sep 1863 in Chippendale, New South Wales, Australia.

• He resided at the time of his death on 25 Dec 1864 in Cleveland Street, Chippendale, NSW, Australia..

• He worked as an Excise Officer according to Son George's marriage certificate in 1866.

Benjamin married Sarah Ann Fitch **, daughter of Zachariah Fitch ** and Elizabeth Cordell **, on 11 Dec 1831 in St James, Clerkenwell, London, England. (Sarah Ann Fitch ** was born on 23 Aug 1809 in Ware, , Hertfordshire, England, christened on 15 Sep 1809 in Old Meeting Dead Lane-Independent, Ware, , Hertfordshire, England, died on 28 Jan 1889 in Walter St, Granville, , New South Wales, Australia and was buried on 28 Jan 1889 in CofE Cemetery, Rookwood Cemetery, Lidcombe, , New South Wales, Australia.). The cause of her death was Chronic Bronchitis/ Old Age / 3 months.