Richard Cheers (Part2)

Story

The Story of Richard Cheers, Convict and notable character from early colonial days. PART 2

‘Unto Richard Cheers, his Heirs and Assigns to have and to hold forever, 100 acres of land lying and situated in the District of North Harbour bounded on the N.W. side by a N.E. line of 20 chains, commencing on Manly Beach 13 rods northly of the rocks, on the N.E. by the water of the sea and terminated by the rocks on the eastern side of a small sandy bay, on the S.E. side by a line S 20 deg. W. 41 chains, 50 links to the water of North Harbour & on the south and west sides by the said water to be known by the name of CHEERS FARM. The situation of this grant was roughly from Ashburner Street to the Roman Catholic property & ran from the Harbour Beach to the Ocean Beach. Certain descendants of Richard state that he added 600 acres to his original grant of 100 acres to accommodate his dairy and grazing animals, & thus supply his butchering business at the corner of Hunter and George Streets; and that the extra acreage included the area now occupied by St. Patrick’s Theological College.

In 1818, this land grant was sold to D’Arcy Wentworth who received another 380 acres as a grant to supplement his medical officer’s salary. He purchased other land grants in Manly as well. Upon his death, the land went to his daughter, Katharine Wentworth. As there were restrictions in his will, the land was virtually untouched till 1852.

At Manly’s 150th anniversary in 1960 a cairn was unveiled at Fairy Bower in Richard Cheers’ memory.

Richard conducted a public house in the Rocks known as the ‘Black Bull’. This was on the land bounded by George, Hunter and Pitt Streets. Richard was one of two convicts (the other being John Sparrow) who presented one of the earliest petitions seeking permission to buy directly off the ships. They wanted to buy rum & other spirits, sugar, butter, beef & pork, as well as glass, Irish linen and shoes. While they claimed these were for their private use, their farms & in the ‘useful vocations’, it is likely that they became temporary dealers in these commodities. Small entrepreneurs and steady tradesmen were regarded favourably by governors as useful & industrious, and most also received grants of farms and licences. Richard was referred to in one document as ‘little Dicky Cheers’. (from ‘The Rocks – Life in Early Sydney’ by Grace Karskens, 1997). Richard also became one of the settlers who signed the Act of Rebellion under Governor Bligh.

Richard held a mortgage on James Ruse’s 20 acres at Richmond – dated 12 March 1801 – to secure a debt of £57.17.0 and sold the property in 1802. At the time of Richard’s death in 1827, his estate included a house in Clarence Street, one in George Street & ten other houses, shops & buildings. A record of his Sydney properties appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of 13 January 1845. A paragraph in the first issue of the Sydney Gazette in 1803 states that twenty licences were issued in the name of King Rum. Four of these well-remembered identities of the Rocks, in the personages of Mary Reiby, Samuel Terrey, Richard Cheers and George Howe. In 1822 he was mustered with a horse, cow, 16 hogs & 13 bushels of maize, reflecting a continuing modest level of prosperity. His burial was recorded in the register of St Phillips, Sydney. His estate was administered by his daughter Harriet after the grant of probate in April 1827. In 1835 the Cheers property at the corner of George and Hunter Streets (which was doubtless rapidly appreciating in value) was the subject of a case in the Court of Claims. The land was later subdivided & is now in the midst of the city’s financial district. Richard\’s direct descendants alive in Australia today, are thought to number in the hundreds.

Timeline:

1759: born 12.8.1759, baptised at St Helen’s Church Abingdon 12.8.1759

1784: first marriage 30.8.1784 (at Abingdon), to Mary PRATT

1785: first child (Ann) born 1785

1788: convicted (see below) of horse-stealing

1789: sent to Australia

1789: first wife died

1790: arrived in Australia

1792: granted land at Kissing Point

1795: second marriage; to Esther WEAVER 2.3.1795 (at Sydney)

1801: third marriage; to Margaret FOGART(H)Y

1802: second child, Richard born 1.5.1802

1804: third child, John born 10.5.1804

1806: fourth child Harriet born 11.12.1806

1810: granted land at North Harbour (now Manly)

1815: fourth marriage; to Jane SMITH 16.10.1815 (at Sydney)

1816: fifth child, Elizabeth born 31.5.1816

1818: sixth child, Mary Ann born 8.3.1818

1819: seventh child James, born 18.11.1819

1821: eighth child William, born 7.10.1821

1827: died 21.2.1827

David J. Gaul

GGGG Grandson 01 Apr 2009.

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