Herman Gerard GERDES
| Town/City | Canberra |
|---|---|
| First name | Herman Gerard |
| Last name | GERDES |
| Country of Origin | Germany |
| Date of Birth | 1834 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1856 |
| Submitted by | Beverley Hammond |
Story
Herman Gerdes was born in Osternberg, Germany, son of Anton Gunther Gerdes of Berne and Helene (Ziesen ). His Application for Certificate of Naturalisation in 1907 states that he arrived in Sydney on the “Cornalis Bernhard Edward ” in December 1856. Research showed he arrived on “Cornelius Werd. Edourd”, a ship from Rotterdam via Manila on 28th December, 1857 (Gerdes H.G., station A.B.,age 23, German).
In 1860 Herman, labourer of Lane Cove, married Mary Anne Thorpe of Lane Cove at Church of All Saints at Hunter’s Hill.
Mary Anne, born in 1841, was the daughter of John Thorpe and Catherine Connolly. John Thorpe, born in Manchester, England, was a private of the First Regiment of Foot based in Enniskillen, Ireland. He was transported to NSW for life on the “Captain Cook” ,1836, following a conviction for insubordination and outrageous conduct. Catherine was a dairymaid .daughter of farmer Cornelius and his wife Margaret (Corbet) from Mallow in Cork, Ireland. She was an unmarried female immigrant who arrived on the “Mary Anne” in 1840. Both parents died when Mary Anne was very young and she lived with either the Lofberg or Schweikert families in Lane Cove.
After working as a waterman, rowing cargo from ship to shore, Herman, popularly known as Bob, was one of a crew of two in the first ferry to the North Shore, “Ferry Queen”. He also served in “The Brothers”, the first steamer to run between Manly and Sydney. In 1872 Herman was awarded a “Certificate of Competency as Master of a Harbour or River Steamer”, licence 38, and worked as a Captain for the Balmain Ferry Company until 1894.
Mary Anne and Herman lived variously at Lane Cove, Balmain, Bridgewater Street, Rozelle and Baron’s Crescent, Hunter’s Hill. They had eleven children : Mary Helena (1861m. C. Booth ), William (1863 m. M. Buckley), Catherine (1865 m. D. Lewin ), Martha (1868 m. O Spencer then T. McBride), Herman (1870 m. A. Smith), George (1873 m. E.Howard ), Frederick (1875 m.
R. Brohan), Alfred (1878 m. J. Scott), Florence (1881 m. F. Lancaster), Henry (1883 m. E.OIssen then F. Hirst) and Edith (1885).
Four of the boys were also Captains with the Balmain Ferry Company. George was the Captain of the “Greycliffe”, but was off duty when it was involved in a collision with the “Tahiti” off Bradley Head in 1927, with the loss of 40 lives.
Seventy five members of the family were present at the 60th Wedding Anniversary at Rodd Island in 1920. Herman died in 1925, aged 91. His headstone in Macquarie Park Cemetery reads HERMAN G A GERDES (BOB). When Mary Anne died at Hunter’s Hill in 1930 all of her eleven children were alive.