Thomas Fletcher

Story

Thomas Fletcher, was the fourth of 8 children of Joseph Fletcher and Elizabeth Wilson. Joseph was a shipowner and merchantman of Hull, Goole and Wapping. At 29, a bookkeeper, Thomas left Antwerp travelling via Ostend to London and, having farewelled various family members and friends, he departed Gravesend on 21/7/1852 aboard “S.S. Wellington”. On board he had booked a cabin, arriving in Tasmania as a free settler in 1852. He kept a diary of his voyage.

Thomas worked as a commission agent in Hobart and, according to family legend, two years after his arrival in Tasmania he is said to have eloped with a young woman from a convent, Maria Theresa DOVE.

Maria Theresa was born 25/2/1839 in Hobart, the eldest daughter of convict parents, William DOVE (b.6/8/1809) of Bethnal Green, London, and Mary RYAN of County Galway who were married 11/2/1839, Hobart. Maria had two younger brothers, William and Samuel. She died 21/7/1891 in Parkes.

Records show that on 18/7/1854, at the church of St Joseph, Hobart Town, Thomas married 16-year-old Maria Theresa Dove in the presence of William Dove and Mary Ann Cleary.

After their marriage they sailed for Victoria and headed for the goldfields. When their eldest son, Joseph, was born, Thomas and Maria were in South Melbourne at Emerald Hill but by 1859 they had already moved on to Adelong, 22 km west of Tumut which was the centre of a huge gold rush two years previously. Apparently they felt they were too late to benefit from it and they moved on to Forbes. A fortnight later, Thomas’s old partners in Adelong discovered gold and offered him a share which he refused. However, they called the vein “Fletcher’s Reef”, which was one of three separate veins of the Donkey Hill Line.

Forbes was established by a gold rush in 1860 and subsequently developed into a thriving market town. Thomas continued mining for some time before moving, in 1871, to Bushmans or Bushman’s Lead where they became one of the founding families of that town later known as Parkes. Gold had earlier been discovered in 1862 and a ‘canvas’ town named “Currajong” had already sprung up there. The discovery of more gold at Bushman’s Lead in 1871 established the area as a very prosperous gold-producing area. It was at Bushmans that Thomas and Maria ran an hotel.

Thomas was secretary of the Progress Committee, and was present at a public meeting held at Bray’s Hotel, Bushmans, on 5/6/1872, to discuss the establishment of a Post Office and a Court of Petty Sessions there. In 1873, Premier Sir Henry Parkes, the “Father of Federation” visited Bushmans. After fulfilling his promise to redirect the railway through the town, the town’s name was unofficially changed to Parkes in his honour. Town plans were drawn up in October of that same year and name change became official in December. The town of Parkes outgrew and absorbed the original settlement of Currajong. The Fletchers owned the first brick house in Parkes. It was named “Alison Cottage” in Currajong Street.

Thomas died 25/10/1877 in Parkes. Three months after Thomas’ death, the family received news from England that his sister, Hannah, had died leaving him a considerable legacy. Maria used Thomas’ share of the bequest to build the Royal Hotel in Parkes which opened in 1881 offering first class accommodation. It was run as a family business. Members of the family still live and work in Parkes and the surrounding districts, and descendants have spread far and wide.

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