The following address was printed in the Sydney Gazette 8 Dec 1810, p. 1 from the settlers of Hawkesbury and presented to Governor Lachlan Macquarie in Windsor, by Thomas Arndell. Thomas, a prominent Hawkesbury resident, Magistrate was the Assistant Surgeon with the First Fleet in 1788. The address read:
"We, the undersigned settlers, residents of the Hawkesbury and its vicinity, beg leave respectfully to congratulate your Excellency on your arrival at this settlement, and earnestly hope your Excellency will be pleased with the agricultural improvements and industry that pervade here; and trust that the continuance of our exertions will ever merit your Excellency's approbation. We also beg leave to return our unfeigned thanks for your Excellency's recent appointment of William Cox, Esq., as a magistrate at this place - a gentleman who for many years has resided amongst us, possessing our esteem and confidence, who, from his local knowledge of this settlement, combined with his many other good qualities, will, we are convinced, promote your Excellency's benign intention of distributing justice and happiness to all."
The settlers signing the address were as follows:
Thomas Appledore William Etrel John Merritt
Thomas Arkell G.W. Evans James Milaman
Thomas Arndell William Ezzy Patrick Murphy
Benjamin Baits William Faithful Henry Murray
William Baker Daniel Fane Richard Norris
Henry Baldwin Robert Farlow Charles Palmer
William Baxter Edward Field Thos. Matcham Pitt
John Baylis R. Fitzgerald James Portsmouth
David Bell Thomas Gordon Edward Pugh
John Benn John Gregory Paul Randall
Elias Bishop Jonathan Griffiths James Richards
James Blackman Robert Guy Jacob Russell
John Boulton Thomas Hagger John Ryan
John Bowman George Hall William Shaw
Paul Bushel Thomas Hampson William Simpson
William Carlisle John Harris William Small
Richard Carr William Heydon Robert Smith
Benjamin Carver Thomas Hobby Stephen Smith
Thomas Cheshire John Jones Benjamin South
Patrick Closhel Donald Kennedy Thomas Spencer
John Cobcroft Henry Lamb John Stevenson
Pierce Collett Thomas Lambley Owen Tierney
George Collis John Leese James Wall
Roger Connor Matthew Lock John Watts
Thomas Cowling John Lyoner James Welsh
Hugh Devlyn Joseph McColding Thomas Weyham
John Dight Daniel McKay John Wild
William Dye Thomas Markwell Caleb Wilson
Elizabeth Earl Robert Martin Robert Wilson
William Eaton Laurence May Thomas Winston
Rowland Edwards Martin Mentz John Yoel
John Embrey
Governor Macquarie responded:
"I beg you will make known to those respectable settlers of the Hawkesbury who signed the address presented by you to me, that I am much pleased with the sentiments it conveys, and to assure them that it will always be an object of the greatest interest to me to promote their prosperity by every means in my power. With this view I have fixed on ground for four(sic) different townships for the accommodation of the settlers who have suffered so severely by the floods of the river; and by a speedy removal to those situations of security, I hope they will enjoy the fruits of that labour, which, I am happy to observe, promises this season to be rewarded with one of the finest crops I ever beheld in any country. I hope on my return to this part of the colony to find the new habitations built on an improved and enlarged plan to those hitherto erected on the banks of the Hawkesbury. I am very glad to find that my appointment of Mr. Cox has met with the satisfaction of the settlers, and I have every reason to believe that he will fulfil the duties of his office so as to gain the good will of all."
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| Hawkesbury River at Windsor NSW. M. Nichols 2013 |
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