Thomas Cunnington
| First name | Thomas |
|---|---|
| Last name | Cunnington |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 7/18/1842 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1864 |
| Submitted by | Don Cunnington |
Story
Family of Thomas Sharp Cunnington and Ann Burgoine
Life Before Australia
18 July 1842 Thomas Sharp Cunnington was born at Thorpe Arnold, Leicestershire, England to parents William Cunnington (b.1800) and Catherine Sharp (b.1815) who were married 1839.
1844 Ann Burgoine was born at Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leicestershire, England to parents Philip and Rhoda Burgoine.
1851 Census Thomas was age 8 and living with his parents at Bottom Lodge, Coston.
21st June 1859 Thomas became an apprentice to George Chester of Waltham to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner.
1861 Census Age 18, he was an apprentice living at 8 Melton Road, Waltham-on-the-Wolds, in the house of George Chester. At 20 Melton Road, was Ann Burgoine, (age 16) a servant with her sister, Rhoda (age 18), dressmaker.
21 January 1862 at 17 years of age, Ann Burgoine, departed Plymouth aboard the “Lincolnshire”. She sailed with her eldest brother Thomas, brother Joseph with his wife Elizabeth and their children Annie and Emily, and her sister Keziah with her husband Ferdinand Sahlberg.
22 September 1864 Thomas departed Liverpool on the “Red Jacket” bound for Australia. He was the only one of his family to emigrate. The passenger list shows a Thos. Cumington (sic), age 25, with Philip and Rhoda Burgoine, their daughter Rhoda and her husband John Brown, and their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, then 15 years old.
Life In Australia
26 April 1862 Ann Burgoine arrived Port Phillip aboard the “Lincolnshire” and probably lived in the Sutton Grange area with her brother, Joseph.
21 December 1864 Thomas arrived Port Phillip on aboard the “Red Jacket” and practised his trade of carpenter and joiner on the Bendigo, Central Victoria, goldfields.
11th June 1867 Thomas and Ann were married at her father’s residence at Sutton Grange. Ann’s sister, Rhoda Brown, and her brother Thomas, were the witnesses. Their children were – Bert (b.23.12.1877, d.5.7.1963), Cecil (b.13.2.1879, d.20.11.1951), Percy (b.21.2.1881, d.21.11.1959), Phillip (b.9.6.1883, d.24.12.1964) and Les (b.1.12.1888, d.29.3.1959).
18th February 1873 Thomas gave his occupation as a carpenter and his address as Barnard Street, Sandhurst (gold fields, Central Victoria) when he made application for a licence under Part 2 of “The Land Act 1869” for Diggorra (Northern Victoria) allotments 255 and part of 256 being 120 acres in all.
27th February 1873 he applied for a further 180 acres in Diggorra, being allotment 283 which was diagonally across the road.
1875 A daughter, Catherine, was born but she died a year later.
1876 A report shows that he had built a 4 roomed weatherboard dwelling house, an underground cellar, stock yards and pigries (sic) on allotments 255, 256 and paid £6 rent. On allotment 283, he had 64 acres of wheat and paid £9 rent. (plus, in both cases, £1 for a certificate and £1 for the lease)
13 April 1878 he mortgaged his lease to the bank to obtain a loan of £124 “to work his farm more profitably”. The bank later demanded repayment and on 11 July 1878 he re-mortgaged to William Welshman.
11 August 1883 for £1 per acre, he purchased the leasehold of allotment 282B, which was 320 acres, from James Cooper Penny who had mortgaged his lease to Richard Dunstan in September 1878. Due to 4 crop failures in a row, Penny had been unable to pay his rent or to repay the mortgage. Thomas went on to acquire more land to a total holding of 836 acres, a property he named “Frogmore”.
25 December 1905 Ann died and was buried in the Rochester (Northern Victoria) cemetery.
22 June 1910 (age 67) In St.James Old Cathedral, Melbourne, Thomas married Elizabeth Mary Ann Adams, the daughter of Alfred Adams and Eleanor Bartlett. He left sons Phil and Les to work the farm, and moved to 310 Punt Road, South Yarra, a suburb of Melbourne. Elizabeth Adams was well to do, her family owning several properties around South Yarra from which they collected rent. Some time later, he took his second wife back to England for a trip to see his old home. (A trip he had promised to Les.) In 1924/25 Les left the farm when he and his wife, Annie, went to the Mallee to live.
26 March 1913 a daughter, Joyce, was born. At this time, he had 12 grandchildren.
6 July 1919 a son, George, was born.
1 June 1928 Thomas died at 310 Punt Road, South Yarra and was buried in Rochester alongside his first wife, Annie. His son Phillip purchased the farm, ‘Frogmore’ from the estate.