AFTER the initial land sales at Tomerong in 1855, the Conditional Purchase laws of the 1860s resulted in more land becoming available but in smaller parcels. Whilst some land purchasers were speculators or investors, others had the intention of settlement and farming. The descendants of some of these families may still be found living locally, whilst others have long moved on. Of the 21 first land purchasers from 1855, only a small number would settle the area and remain for more than the first decade. But other settlers such as Joseph Suffolk followed, and these pioneers and their families, many of whom intermarried, would form the embryo of a new community.
The 1859 Electoral Roll lists those men (of course women had not yet received the vote) and whether they were resident or qualified through the purchase of land. Some of these lived in Sydney or other parts of the Shoalhaven. Ten years later the residents included members of the Aldous, Barham, Bates, Bettens, Bryce, Craig, Daley, Francis, Hart, Hawkey, Jordan, Masters, Mathie, Pantlin, Parnell, Shepherd, Smith, Stack, Suffolk, Turner, Tyrell, Watt and Williams families. The Tomerong electoral area included an area much larger than the village as the population was sparse.
Once Conditional Purchasing of land commenced in 1862 more settlers arrived to take up a Lot or Portion. Portions were the first subdivisions in the Parish and were normally between 40 and 200 acres around Tomerong (16 to 81ha). Parish Maps and land title records indicate who had an interest in these portions however some initial settlers could not fulfill their Conditional Purchase obligations and would default, leaving the land to a more optimistic settler. Conditions included clearing, fencing and annual payments. Others sold up and moved up or down the coast. In some cases the Portion passed down to the wife or children as the original purchaser passed away before the purchasing obligations could be completed. Records indicate many settlers purchased adjoining Portions, or they were purchased by their wives or children, creating a larger and perhaps more profitable farm.
Family names of those early land purchasers, early settlers and of those who settled later but impacted upon the community include: Aldous, Andrews, Barham, Bartlett, Bettens, Blacket, Bryce, Comerford, Crawford, Duncombe, Ganderton, Gould, Harriss, Hart, Hawken, Henry, Herbert, Kells, Kelly, Lackersteen, Langlands, Mathie, McGuire, McKinnon, Mison, Nelson, Pantlin, Parnell, Pepper, Rogers, Schutz, Shepherd, Smith, Stapleton, Suffolk, Turner, Warne, Watt and Wrightson.
The following map indicates the simplified location of some of the farms of the early Tomerong land purchasers. Just like today, the purchase of land and the transfer of titles was a dynamic process. The map is not intended to illustrate the first land purchasers, the exact location of the family farm, or the situation at a point in time - but a generalised view of where those early purchasers settled. Not only did the land titles change, but so did the names of the farms and their extent. Refer to the links on this site for more specific information, for instance, the details provided on the Tomerong Past Historical Map. The rest of this page provides some details of some of these families.
This list provides some limited details of the early Tomerong families. Many of these families were interconnected. To go to a particular family, click on their name below. To see all families just scroll down. The image below the list may provide a more definitive location of where the family residence/farm was located. It provides names and the circled Portion numbers which are often referred to in the text. The image does not represent a particular point in time as the alienation (the selling of the land by the government over time) would take decades. The details provided on each family are relatively scant as this page would be much too long, so to find out more about a family go to the links on the More Information page.
Twenty one year old James Andrews was transported in 1839 for highway robbery. His first wife, Catherine Browne, died in 1849. She had been transported for stealing a cloak in Dublin. James received a conditional pardon in 1852 and married Catherine White at Terara the following year. Catherine was from Ireland. They would have ten children and farmed at Brundee, Sassafras and Tomerong. James conditionally purchased Portion 106 of 50 acres, which is where the northern part of Andrews Road is today. The family were mainly employed in the timber industry and were active participants in the Tomerong cricket team. James died at Tomerong in 1898 and Catherine died in Nowra in 1918. The family held onto the land until 1952 when it was sold to Ron McGuire.
James Barham was born about 1797 in Woodbridge (east of Ipswich), Suffolk, England and came to Australia about 1829. He married Charlotte Watson, also from England, and the birthplaces of their four children would suggest that the couple spent time in Sydney, Dapto and Jamberoo. James senior was one of the first land purchasers in Tomerong, obtaining 190 acres (Portion 12) in 1855. His property included most of the existing village of Tomerong and at the time of purchase he was residing at Brundee. He farmed his land at Tomerong and was described as a marksman. He provided land for the erection of the school and gave a 99-year lease, vested in Trustees, for the erection of a Church. Charlotte was a midwife and was called upon to attend to the sick in the district. James died in 1879 at Tomerong and his wife Charlotte died eight years later. Their descendants purchased more land including Portions 60, 63, 101 and 159 all south east of the village. They called it Belfield and a quarry would be established on this land almost a century later.
Richard Bartlett, his wife Lydia and their infant daughter, arrived in Australia in 1841. Richard purchased Portion 21 in the first land sale at Tomerong and the family made their home here for a short time before moving on to Milton in 1860. The Bartlett land was eventually sold to the Hart family who had conditionally purchased an adjoining property in 1883, although they had been residing in the district for some years prior to this.
Ellen Barton was born near Kesh in Co. Fermanagh (Northern Ireland) in 1837. After her parents died, the 19 year old arrived in the Colony of NSW as an assisted immigrant in 1857. She married Robert Kells at Bolong near Nowra the following year. He was from Ireland and had arrived as an 11 year old in 1842. They settled and farmed at Longreach on the Shoalhaven River, upstream from the main settlement of Terara. Significant floods in the 1860s and 70s, which saw them removing furniture through the roof of the house, convinced them sell up and move to Tomerong. William Barton was born in Drumkeeran near Kesh in Co. Fermanagh (Northern Ireland) in 1835, three years before his sister, Ellen. William was educated in agriculture at a charitable school north of Kesh in Tubrid and when his sister married Robert Kells in NSW in 1858, Robert sponsored William to join them in the Colony at Longreach on the Shoalhaven River, before they moved to Tomerong. William purchased Portion 35 on, what is now, Kells Road. Also see the map under the Kells family.
Edward Bayly owned 640 acres to the east of Blacket's purchase on St Georges Basin which he called 'Claylands' after the home he had spent his childhood in. He was born in Weymouth, Dorset in 1849. His father (also Edward) became the Bank Manager in the town and built a respectable house which he called 'Claylands'. After schooling, Edward junior trained as a Merchant Seaman and became a Second Mate in 1871, a First Mate in 1874 and a Master Mariner in 1877. He came to Sydney from London on the ship 'Hawkesbury' every year from 1872 to 1875 rising from third Mate to first. After his timber shipping business with Cyril Blacket failed Edward sold out at the Basin in 1890 and returned to Claylands in England, perhaps to support his ailing father. He returned to Sydney about 1905 after receiving a substantial inheritance. He married Mary Woolcott in Sydney in 1907. Edward Bayly sold his 640 acres, Claylands, on the northern shore of St Georges Basin in 1915 and died at their home in Neutral Bay, Sydney in 1917. He had called their home 'Claylands'. Also see the map under Bryce.
Samuel Bettens (1818-1892), purchased land at Tomerong (Portion 103 south west of the village) whilst his brothers, Samuel John and Francis Hocking Bettens purchased land near Brandaree Creek just south of Lake Tabourie. Samuel had married Ann Hockin (1822-1881) in Cornwall in 1843 and only two of their ten children were born at Tomerong (1864 and 1868). It appears their third son, Joseph (1853 - 1941), acquired the Tomerong land. He had married Ellen Venables (1858 - 1938) in Rockhampton in 1875, but were at Tomerong from about 1899 before they moved and settled in the Richmond River district on the north coast of NSW about 1908. See the map under the Kells family.
Cyril Blacket (1857-1937) was a prominent figure in the Tomerong, Nowra, and Bay and Basin area from about 1885 to the early 1930s. He was first an architect, but turned his hand to being a timber merchant, land developer, gold prospector, university lecturer, local government alderman and transport company director. Essentially a speculator and entrepreneur, he was a prominent advocate for Jervis Bay and its environs and an important figure in Tomerong's history. He married Christian Home (1861-1911) in 1881 and they had four children. Cyril purchased land on St George's Basin and called it Tasman Park. He engaged with his neighbour, Captain Edward Bayly, purchased a light draught steamer and they entered the timber trade carting logs to Sydney, but the venture was not a success. One of their sons would become a Tomerong Anzac whilst a second joined the British armed forces. Also see the map under Bryce. Much more information about Cyril and family is available from the links on the 'More Information' page.
Brothers Alexander and William Bryce, together with their wives Isabella (nee Watt) and Mary (nee Stark) migrated to Australia about 1851 from Scotland. The couples resided for some time with an uncle at Jamberoo, John Russell, before purchasing the Erowal Estate (often spelt differently) of 2560 acres, overlooking St Georges Basin in 1854. The families successfully farmed the property, raising sheep and cattle and growing corn, oats, barley and vegetables.
Whilst William (1820-1892) and Mary (1822-1911) would build a house on the western Portion, 1063 acres called Cockrow, Alexander (1822-1898) and Isabella (1832-1922) would live on the eastern portion of 1084 acres. The land was formally subdivided in 1886. The name Erowal had probably come from the native term for the area and the original owner, Captain John Lamb, had buildings on the property from the 1830s. The northern portion of Cockrow of 426 acres was purchased by their brother-in-law, Malcolm Mathie who lived at Tippet Hill, an adjoining portion on the north western boundary of 40 acres. A few years before he died William subdivided Cockrow and 419 acres of Cockrow (south of Mathie's farm) was sold to his son Alexander.
William died in 1892 at Cockrow aged 72. Mary died in 1911 aged 89. William and Mary's son, Robert Bryce (1864-1933), would marry Elizabeth Harris (1868-1956) and would make their home at Rosebank (Stewart's Hill) just south of the village. Alexander Bryce was an active participant in the manning of the Tomerong Post Office, the administration of the School and the Tomerong Union Church. Alexander died in 1898 aged 76 whilst Isabella died in 1922 in Maleny, Queensland aged 89. See image under Watt family.
Thomas Crawford (1842-1913) was born in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. His family had emigrated in 1855 when he was 13 and eventually farmed on the Braidwood (Albatross) Road, just north of what is now Calymea Street. Thomas would marry Easter Aldous (1839-1890) and would own Portions 61 and 125 in Tomerong, south east of the village and just east and south of Portion 159 which his daughter Sarah (1872-1938) would purchase. Sarah married John Bryce (1865-1941) whilst her sister married a Pepper, her brother married a Bryce and another sister married a Bryce. (Samuel Crawford of Sydney purchased Portions 79 and 80 north west of the village. We have found no connection between Samuel and Thomas Crawford).
Mathias Duncombe was born in 1812 and was transported as a convict to Australia in 1836. Two years later he married a widow, Ellen Neves, who had travelled free to Australia from Cork, Ireland, in 1835. The couple had six children although Mathias would probably never live at Tomerong on Portion 9 (to the east of Barham's 'village' purpose), although some of his descendants did (Nelson and Parnell), he was convicted of the manslaughter of his wife in 1857.
The site of 'Bayview' (Portion 68) was originally purchased by Matthew Feehan, of Braidwood, who paid 110 pound for the 110 acres in 1855-6. It was purchased by John Cuthbert in 1866, an Irish Shipbuilder who had a yard at Darling Harbour, opposite what is now the Australian National Maritime Museum. Margaret Davis, a Wollongong Hotelkeeper, purchased the property after 1874 and it was sold to William Bryce of Erowal in 1886. It passed down to his son John Bryce in 1891 and then on to John's widow, Sophia Maria Bryce (nee Harris) in 1927. Herbert John McKinnon leased the property and then purchased it in 1928 before it was transferred to his son Ian Herbert McKinnon in 1956. It was sold to an investment company in 1972. The home was destroyed in the October 1980 bushfires that resulted in the loss of a father and son who tried to save the home. The road to the site of Bayview is now called Oldham Close. Also see the map under Barlett.
Thomas Ganderton was born in Pershore, Worcestershire (south of Birmingham) in 1833. He married Mary Jane Thurgate in 1855 shortly after arriving in Australia. Thomas spent some time trying his luck in both the Californian gold fields and at Araluen, near Braidwood, before settling at Tomerong. Thomas purchased 40 acres of land in 1878 (Portion 52) south west of the village, but he was residing in the vicinity prior to 1875. Thomas and Mary were actively involved in the establishment of the Tomerong Church Hall and its fundraising activities. They relocated to Nowra around 1889 where they lived until Mary's death in 1908 and Thomas' in 1913. Thomas jun. remained at Tomerong having purchased 210 acres (Portions 87 and 88) east of the village in 1887. He was a director of the Tomerong Creamery Company and an active participant of the Literary & Debating Society. Thomas jun. was a member of the Tomerong Cricket Club for some years and a committee member of Tomerong's first Tennis Club.
John George Harriss was born in All Hallows, London on 12 May 1839 and travelled to Australia about 1857. John purchased 176 acres (Portion 84) to the east of Tomerong village in 1886 and a further 41 acres (Portion 98) in 1894. Both properties bordered that of Malcolm Mathie. Records indicate that the family had settled at Tomerong as early as 1860. By 1885 John had increased his land holding to 590 acres. John and Emily were still residing at Tomerong at the turn of the 20th century, but afterwards they removed to Marshall Mount, near Dapto, where John died in 1908. Emily Margaret lived to the age of 80 years and died at Tomerong in 1923.
Matthew Hart, a farm labourer (1818-1885) and Elizabeth (nee Moore, 1819-1894) arrived from Cambridgeshire in 1853 with their two children. Matthew conditionally purchased Portion 75 of 53 acres not long after they arrived. He added Portion 21 of 117 acres in 1864 originally purchased by Comerford and then Bartlett (this land is on your left as you drive north on Hawken Road around Tomerong Hill). Unfortunately they lost their home and possessions in a bushfire there in 1867 and the parents moved to Pyree. Their first son, Freeman (1847-1921), remained and would inherit Portion 75 and purchase further portions just past Blackbutt Range Road. Freeman, a farmer and bullocky, lost his house to the devastating bushfires of January 1909 just like his parents had 42 years earlier. Portion 21 was sold to Joseph Herbert Barham after Freeman died. The highway has had four different routes through Portion 21; 1862, 1891, 1928 and 1995. See the map under the Bartlett family.
John Hawken was born at Coolangatta in 1852. He was the only son of John Hawken and Elizabeth (nee Craig) of Cornwall, England who had migrated to Australia with their two daughter about 1851. John sen. was the shipwright for Alexander Berry and his wife Elizabeth assisted in the establishment of the Wesleyan Church in the Shoalhaven. John jun. married Sarah Jarrett in 1874 and the couple commenced farming at Jamberoo; they had eight children. Sarah died in 1887 and a year later John married Isabella Sinclair from the Shetland Isles. John jun. purchased 400 acres of land at Tomerong in 1891 where he commenced dairy farming and established an orchard with 1200 trees, predominantly apples, and was successful despite the poor quality of the soil. The exact location of the Hawken home at Merry Gully is not known, but John and Isabella conditionally purchased six Portions (26, 24, 30, 48, 103 and 109) in this area from 1889 totalling 546 acres. After 1913 John and family moved to Huskisson where they built a guesthouse known as 'Federal Villa'. The family moved to Austinmer in 1921 before finally moving to Sandringham in the late 1920s. In 1927, 700 acres of John and Isabella's land at Tomerong were advertised for sale. Three years later John died at the age of 82. Isabella died in 1951. Following the construction of the Bypass to the west of Tomerong, the road passing through the village (previously the Princes Highway) was renamed Hawken Road. See the map under the Bartlett family.
Robert Kells was born in 1831 and married Ellen Barton in 1858. Originally a farmer of the rich flats of the Shoalhaven River, Robert had endured the floods of the 1860s, after which it was said that some of the family furniture was found at Comerong Island. When the floods of 1870 wiped the family out again, they decided to move to Tomerong. He had conditionally purchased 120 acres (Portion 103), south west of the village, off Samuel Bettens about 1863 and a further 36 acres (Portion 156), adjoining his property, in 1870. Unfortunately Robert's time at Tomerong was very short. In 1872 he was transported to the Albert Memorial Hospital at Wollongong by steamer where he died a week later from an acute case of dropsy. The family continued on at the farm after Robert's death, the eldest son Robert William combining timber work and farming and eventually increasing the family's property to 280 acres. Robert married Ann Bryce in 1885, the first wedding to be held in the Tomerong Church Hall. Sadly, both Ann and their baby died in childbirth in the following year. Robert remarried in 1889. Robert died in 1923, aged 64, and Emma died in 1947. Part of the old Princes Highway that was isolated by the bypass was renamed Kells Road. Also see the map under the Barton family.
Born in 1866, William Lackersteen moved to Tomerong about 1898 from Sydney where he had previously worked for a solicitor. In 1891 Matilda Jane Miller was appointed as assistant to the Postmaster at Tomerong, Frederick Morris Watts (Matilda's Uncle). In 1899 Matilda and William were married and shortly thereafter, Matilda was appointed as Postmistress, following the resignation of her Uncle, Frederick. The couple was, at this time, operating the Post Office and store from the same premises on the crossroads of the Main South Road and Huskisson Road (Hawken and Pine Forest Roads). The couple had only one child, Muriel, who sadly died aged 12. Matilda continued in the position of Postmistress until 1906. In 1907 William (Bill) was appointed as Clerk of the Clyde Shire Council and continued in the position until his retirement in 1942. From 1909 the couple made their home at 'Bundor', the Clerk's residence to the south of and adjoining the Clyde Shire Council Chambers on the eastern side of the Main South Coast Road. Bill was involved in the establishment of organisations such as the P&C Association in 1924, The Tomerong School of Arts in 1926, the Tomerong Branch of the Red Cross in 1935 and the Tomerong Bush Fire Brigade in 1947. He was the first President of the Rotary Club of Nowra and was a prominent Freemason for many years. Matilda suffered from ill health for several years before she passed away in 1948. Bill Lackersteen died in October 1951 at the age of 85.
Thomas Langlands was born in Bedlington, Northumberland in 1846. He came to Australia at the age of 21 and married Mary (sometimes May) Marsh in Ballarat, Victoria, five years later. The couple had 11 children. Thomas was a Miner at Wallsend, Newcastle, which could account for his ill health later in life, but changed careers in 1879 and became a teacher at Robertson Public School before moving to Tomerong in 1884. Whilst at Tomerong a new residence was built to accommodate his large family. He frequently applied for transfers to other schools on his doctor's advice as he suffered from asthma and was urged to move away from the sea. However, all applications were unsuccessful and Thomas died of bronchitis on 8 March 1903. Thomas was buried alongside his 14 year old son at the Christian's Minde cemetery opposite Sussex Inlet. Mary Langlands died at Sydney in 1910.
Malcolm Mathie senior, Ann (nee Bryce) and family arrived in NSW in late 1856. He conditionally purchased Portion 102 of 40 acres, in 1863, adjacent to the Cockrow Estate (near Erowal), which he called Tippet Hill. When the Bryce brothers subdivided Erowal in 1886 (into Erowal and Cockrow) the north western corner of 426 acres came to Malcolm. Malcolm also conditionally purchased 300 acres at Basin View in 1886, where the Watt and Mathie Sawmill was established. In 1875 his eldest son, William, conditionally purchased Portion 14 of 110 acres which incorporated part of the Old Main South Coast Road that would later become Kells/Suffolk and Andrews Roads. In 1882, he conditionally purchased Portion 158 of 73 acres that shares its eastern boundary with Portion 14. This land had belonged to the Tomerong School Teacher Matthew Craig. Malcolm was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. and Catherine often assisted community members in times of sickness and childbirth. After their deaths, Ann (1866) and Malcolm (1888) were both buried at Tippet Hill, but were later reburied at Nowra General Cemetery. From about 1889 William's younger brother, Alexander Mathie and his wife Ann (nee Watt), would settle on either Portion 14, or on the other side of the highway, on 158. William would make his home at Albion Park. In 1879 Alexander was operating a sawmill at Tomerong, believed to be in the Suffolk Road area. In the 1890s he went into partnership with William Watt and established a new mill at Basin View, which was known as the Watt and Mathie Sawmill. Alexander was actively involved in the Church. He erected the Tomerong Union Church building in 1887 and was the Superintendent of the Sunday School for 21 years. He served the local community in his role as a member of the District School Board, the Chairman of Tomerong's first Progress Association, as a Trustee of Pelican Point Park and also as a Justice of the Peace. He died in 1903 at the age of 57 and Ann died in 1916 at the age of 76. Also see the map under Bryce and image under Watt family.
Peter McGuire was the third son of (convict) Peter and Hannah and was born in 1852 in the Milton area. He married Elizabeth Suffolk. The couple settled at Tomerong where Peter was employed as a farm labourer on the Suffolk farm. In 1884 Elizabeth McGuire conditionally purchased 90 acres (Portion 100) west of the village and in 1909 Peter McGuire purchased 400 acres of land previously the property of James McCleery. Around this time, Peter established a sawmill situated on the western side of the Main South Coast Road, south of the turn-off to St Georges Basin. Peter and Elizabeth's five sons were all involved in the timber trade. George, Reuben and Peter were bullock drivers, supplying logs to the mill, Archie was a sawyer and Walter was a sleeper cutter. Elizabeth died in 1930 and Peter died nine months later in 1931. As well as their involvement in most community organisations, many of the descendants of Peter and Elizabeth were prominent in the sporting arena, dominating in cricket, woodchopping and tennis for many years.
Herbert McKinnon and Clariss (nee Stockdale) arrived in the area after 1921. Bert worked in the timber industry before leasing the property Bayview (Portion 68) north of the village, later purchasing the 350 acres. They had a large family and he continued as a teamster but became better known as a dealer in cattle and property. Clariss was an active member of the community. During the war years she was a keen organiser of several Red Cross fundraising functions and was also involved with the local P&C Association. Clariss died in 1962 and Bert died thirteen years later. The descendants of Bert and Clariss also became large land owners in the area and have been devoted contributors to the operation of the Timber Industry, the P&C, Bush Fire Brigade and School of Arts.
Reuben Mison conditionally purchased 100 acres of land (Portions 157 and 117) in 1869. The land is south west of the village and had previously been held by the Tomerong Schoolteacher Matthew Craig. Reuben married Isabella Suffolk (daughter of Joseph and Ellen) in 1874. Following the death of Isabella and their only child a year later (probably in childbirth), Reuben married Isabella's older sister, Sarah, in 1879. Whilst at Tomerong, Reuben was engaged in a butchering business and was also the proprietor of a sawmill situated south-west of the village. He moved out of the district after establishing another sawmill at Bomaderry.
The Pantlin's were another family who spent only a few years at Tomerong after moving from near Coolangatta. James, his wife Mary (nee Chapman) and James' brother Frederick arrived in Australia from Surrey in 1856. Frederick conditionally purchased Portion 107, south-west of Tomerong, in 1865. Records indicate that Frederick, James and Mary resided here as early as 1860. The family remained at Tomerong until about 1870. Frederick was shown to be engaged in woodcutting and residing at Woollamia in the 1872 electoral role, but the families eventually moved to the Milton area.
John Parnell was born near Plymouth, England and spent his early life at sea. He visited Sydney in 1826 as a 21 year old and evidence suggests he moved to the South Coast of NSW between 1830 and 1837. He married widow Harriet Smith, who had two young children, in Gerringong in 1849. The following year they were farming at Brundee on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River, as were many future Tomerong land purchasers. The 50 year old would establish a Farm and a Hotel on Portion 11 and extend their land holdings. They would operate the Hotel for about the next 28 years. John Parnell was an owner of race horses and an ardent supporter and organiser of race days in the village. Politically active, often in the Court as a defendant or plaintiff, a temporary Post Master, a Patron of the first Public School for the village, a Trader with the ships of Jervis Bay, and a supporter of the Meeting House/Hall/Church building. He was an entrepreneur who shared his ventures with family members. John Parnell died at Tomerong in 1894 after living in the area for more than 40 years and is most likely buried at the rear of the old hotel site. His wife Harriett died in Sydney in 1908. Much more information about Parnell and family is available from the links on the 'More Information' page.
John Pepper was born in Nottingham, England in 1824. He travelled to Australia in 1848 to seek his fortune in the gold fields. During the voyage he met Rachel Aldous, the daughter of John and Eliza, to whom he was married in September 1849. He first worked at the Old Military Barracks in Sydney but the family later moved to the Shoalhaven residing at Terara and Brundee for several years. He was leasing five acres of auriferous land at Danjera Creek in partnership with three others in 1873. Three years later he purchased 89 acres (Portions 93 and 154) north of Tomerong and by 1885 John had increased his holding to 210 acres. Rachel died at Tomerong in January 1909 and John died nine months later. Rachel and John's son George purchased 122 acres in 1882/83, south-west of his parent's property. George's brother Charles also purchased land north of and adjoining his parents' property, whilst Edward purchased land to the west. Pepper Road runs along the boundary of Charles' original portion and was named after John Pepper. Like John and Rachel, their children and grandchildren devoted many years of active service to the Tomerong Union Church and several of their descendants were prominent Shoalhaven cricketers. See the map under the Bartlett family.
Victor Schutz came to Australia from Alsace Lorraine, Germany at the age of eight years about 1888. He spent his early years at St Georges Basin and married Mary Bryce, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth in 1908. As well as farming, Victor was also a blacksmith and boot maker. The couple had twelve children. The family moved to Tomerong about 1913, making their home on the eastern side of the Princes Highway (Hawken Road) south of Stewart Creek. Victor spent 15 years working for the Main Road's Board, and died in 1940, when he was struck by a passing car whilst carrying out road repairs. Mary died 26 years later. The descendants of Victor and Mary have played a major role in the development of the village and have been committed members of the Bush Fire Brigade and School of Arts.
English born William Smith married Irish born Elizabeth Barker at Wollongong in 1855. William conditionally purchased Portion 105 of 40 acres in 1864 and they settled there raising ten children. The land is at the southern end of Andrews Road with its western boundary fronting that road which, at that time, was the Shoalhaven to Ulladulla Road. Sixty three years later the Princes Highway would divide the Portion in two. William became insolvent in 1869 and had to sell two bullocks, a cow and a horse at Parnell's Hotel in Tomerong, but in 1876 he conditionally purchased Portion 155 of 53 acres across the other side of the Shoalhaven to Ulladulla Road. A William Smith built the Tomerong Church in 1877. In 1876 William (or his eldest son) was the owner of 40 acres of land (Portion 105) in the Andrews Road area (known as Cedar Hill) and by 1885 his total holdings had increased to 95 acres. William senior. died in August 1892 and Eliza in 1905. Two of William and Elizabeth's sons, George Franklin and Alexander, enlisted with the NSW Imperial Bushman's Contingent bound for South Africa and the Boer War. About 1903 the family left the district. George would become the Governor of Goulburn Gaol and another brother, Robert, would become Tomerong's most decorated soldier of WWI. He died in a horse race in France in 1918.
John Stapleton and Margaret Carroll were born in Birr, Ireland in 1815, married about 1832 and arrived in NSW in 1840. They had three surviving children, including John Stapleton II. Margaret died in 1842 and John remarried three years later having more children and moving to Falls Creek about 1854. He was an active participant in the Tomerong Boxing Day Horse Racing and often acted as a Steward for the race events, organised by Tomerong Publican John Parnell. Either John Stapleton senior or John junior purchased 40 acres near the junction of Kells and Suffolk Roads (Portion 115) which, for reasons unknown, they called 'Lebanon'. John senior died at the Currambene property in 1879. John junior married Amelia Stack at Greenwell Point in 1864 and they had three children. Margaret (or Marguerite), Frederick and John Stapleton III. John II died when camped at the base of Governor's Hill in Goulburn in 1894 after walking from Wyalong (about 300km). After Amelia died in 1906, Frederick James Stapleton and his sister Margaret Amelia Stapleton continued to reside at Lebanon. When aged 40, Margaret married 36 year old Tomerong saw mill worker, Francis Ferguson. He was ex British Navy, serving for 14 years, and they made their home at Lebanon before Francis enlisted for WWI in the Australian Army in 1916. After fracturing his leg in France he was discharged in 1917 and returned to Tomerong, before he and Margaret took up a soldier settlement block at Yenda near Griffith.
Sunny Hills was the home of the Suffolk family. Joseph Suffolk (1815-1905), son of convict John Suffolk, arrived in the Colony in 1836 and married Ellen Ferguson (1818-1855) at Windsor in 1839. His first wife had died the previous year, and after bearing six children, Ellen died at Crawley's Forest in 1855 (just west of the Kiama Bends), in the same year that Joseph started conditionally purchasing land at Tomerong. Joseph's land was predominantly in the Kells Road - Battunga Drive area, whereas his son Archibald (1850-1924) purchased land further west up, what is now, Suffolk Road (whilst eventually purchased by Archibald many of these portions were probably initially conditionally purchased by his father, Joseph). In fact about 15 adjoining portions were purchased in this area but Sunny Hills was located on Portion 113 of 40 acres that was originally conditionally purchased in 1867.
Charles Turner was born in 1840 and married Elizabeth Barham (daughter of James and Charlotte) in 1862. They had 12 children. Charles' father conditionally purchased 38 acres (Portion 110) of land south-east of Tomerong in 1865. Charles also purchased land in the same vicinity in 1865 where he commenced farming. In 1884 Charles had acquired another 40 acres of land (Portion 151) north-west of his father's original purchase, and in the following year his total holding was 120 acres. Charles died at Berry in June 1901 and his wife Elizabeth died at Tomerong in 1913.
Alfred Ernest Warne was born in 1868, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (nee Tregonning). Thomas was a farmer who conditionally purchased the adjoining Portions 7 (1881) and 47 (1884), a total of 151 acres which now borders the Grange and Warne Roads. Alfred was a Mining Engineer and married Ada Jane Langlands (daughter of Thomas, the public school teacher). They had six children. In March of 1903 Alfred purchased the remaining buildings and machinery of the Tomerong Creamery Company with the intention of reopening it, but it was the invention of a gold saving machine which caught the attention of the local newspapers. Warne stated that he had designed a machine which could recover 80 per cent of the gold which was now lost in tailings from the old process. He entered into an agreement to treat the slimes from the Pioneer Battery at Yalwal and exhibited his process in Sydney. He continued his exploits in the mining industry particularly around the Bell's Creek area. Warne's parents died in 1917 and 1918 both aged 79, Alfred died in 1942 predeceased by Ada by about 20 years.
James Watt was born in 1836 and at the age of 20 migrated to Australia with his sister Ann from Linlithgow, Scotland. They travelled aboard the ship Conway with Malcolm and Ann Mathie and arrived in Sydney Cove on the last day of 1856. James resided with Alexander and William Bryce and their families at Erowal for a short time. He married Margaret Mathie (daughter of Malcolm and Ann) in 1860 at Erowal and the couple had 12 children including two sets of twins. James conditionally purchased 77 acres (Portion 91) at Tomerong in 1862 which he called 'Torbin Hill', also spelt 'Torben' or 'Taubon'. James was a stone mason by trade and is reported to have erected the steps of the Tomerong Church Hall in 1877. However, farming was his main pursuit. Margaret died at Tomerong in 1881 at the age of 41 years and James died 31 years later in 1912 at the age of 76. Their adult children and descendants purchased additional land and their activities included dairy farming, the Timber Industry, the Tomerong Creamery Company and they were involved in organisations such as the Clyde Shire Council, the Literary and Debating Society, the Progress Association, the P&C, the General Store, the Presbyterian Church and the School of Arts.
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