With a significant imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the colony it seems to have taken Esther little time to find another “husband”, Joseph BIGGE (or BIGGS). Whether he was prepared to take on supporting all 11 of the children is open to speculation, though it appears he did so, eventually taking on one of them (George) formally as an apprentice in his livery stables, but he and Esther lost no time in having their own child, a boy – Robert – born 12 June 1816.
This time Esther had got together with a “free man” i.e. someone who was not a convict. Joseph had arrived as a freeman on “HMS Dromedary” in December 1809. He was one of five servants taken to NSW by Governor Lachlan MacQuarrie and was employed as coachman. Prior to his departure for Australia Joseph was for a number of years coachman in London to Mr Stephen Rolleston, Chief Clerk of the Foreign Office. Joseph was aged about 41 when he arrived in Sydney.
Joseph was the recipient of grants of land, and of donations of cattle beasts from soon after his arrival, and he was also regularly assigned a convict or two to break in and develop his farm lands. These were at Prospect Common, further west of what is now Parramatta.
Not long before he and Esther got together there was a report in the newspaper about a tragic incident featuring Joseph. On 6 October 1814 he accidentally ran over and killed a young boy aged three named Charles Thomas, while driving Mrs Macquarie in her curricle (a two wheeled open horse drawn carriage) along George Street, Sydney. A coronial inquest followed and Joseph was cleared of any charges of negligence or reckless driving. Elizabeth Macquarie was so distressed by the experience that she suffered a nervous collapse that confined her to bed for several weeks. She held Joseph Bigg(e/s) in high regard and in a letter written to Charles Whalan dated February 13 1831 sent from Aberdeen in Scotland she wrote:
"...If you ever see Joseph Biggs tell him that we never fail to enquire after him, that we often think of him; and if a letter could be of any service, he should have one long ago. That Lachlan[1] is a good horseman and whip; and has not forgotten his first master's instructions.”
Joseph was well-established in Sydney by the time he and Esther got together, living in and running a livery stable in Phillip Street. Their relationship must have given Esther a huge lift in the social settings of the new colony as well as giving her yet more economic security. After their son Robert was born on 12 June 1816, Joseph and Esther had a daughter, Louisa, born a mere 13 months later on 12 July 1817. Louisa was to be the last of Esther’s children, all of whom were baptized in the Church of England. At this time Esther was about 42 years old, and the likelihood of further pregnancies was rapidly diminishing.
For the first and only time Esther was officially married, in 1822, when she and Joseph were wed on 25 April in St Phillips Anglican Church, Sydney. St Phillips was also where all Esther’s children were baptized. Although this may suggest that Esther was Anglican/Christian rather than Jewish, there was little option besides a Christian church for anyone wanting to formally baptize and name their children. St Phillips was also very close to where the Bigge/Biggs family lived in Phillips Street.
At first, the Church of England was the established religion in the colony, and during the early years of transportation all convicts were required to attend Anglican services on Sundays. This included Irish Catholics as well as Jews. Similarly, education in the new settlement was Anglican church-controlled until the 1840s[1].
The small Jewish community was unable to build a synagogue until 1844, though services had been held in private homes or rented accommodation from the early 1820’s.
In a Memorial to the newly arrived Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane[i] in 1822 Joseph stated that he had:
“A farm of three hundred acres of land situated at the Eastern Creek and granted to him by His late Excellency Governor McQuarrie which your Memorialist has nearly fenced in, has built a substantial house thereon, a five stall stable house together with a building for the covering of coaches, etc. etc. and has also cleared and stumped 25 acres of the said land, and your Memorialist is now continuing to clear other parts of the said land and to make further improvements thereon”.
The purpose of the Memorial is not specified as it does not include any request for assistance or support of any kind. Perhaps recipients of land grants had to “report” from time to time and a Memorial was the means of doing so. It is not known whether his farm included the 80 acres granted to Esther in 1816.
A “convict muster” was compiled regularly, listing all those who still had convict status. Esther, who had been transported for life, was not eligible for a ticket of leave on serving her time. Nor was she ever granted a Pardon, so she featured in each muster and remained a convict all her life. In 1825, for example she is recorded as arriving on the Indispensable in 1796, and as the wife of Joseph Bigge
By the time of the 1828 census, Joseph was not only the proprietor of livery stables in Phillip Street, Sydney, but also claimed to own 100 acres with 4 horses and 10 head of cattle.
By 1830 many of Esther’s surviving children had married and had children of their own. The head count for grandchildren in 1831 totalled 21.
By the time Joseph was in his 60’s he had developed some form of insanity. In 1833, aged around 65, he suffered a fall into the fire at his residence in Phillips Street and died instantly from severe burns. Newspaper reports of this event referred to him as “Joe the Coachman” who kept the first respectable boarding house and livery stables in Sydney for many years, and was well respected by all who knew him.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Australia>
[i] Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860) was Governor of New South Wales (1821–25), as recommended by the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had seen military service.
A keen astronomer, he built Australia's first observatory and encouraged scientific and agricultural training. But jealous rivals smeared his reputation, in league with the Colonial Secretary, Frederick Goulburn, and he had to defend his conduct, though an inquest cleared him. A new convict settlement was named after him, and became today's city of Brisbane.
[1] Son of Lachlan and Elizabeth McQuarrie
This time Esther had got together with a “free man” i.e. someone who was not a convict. Joseph had arrived as a freeman on “HMS Dromedary” in December 1809. He was one of five servants taken to NSW by Governor Lachlan MacQuarrie and was employed as coachman. Prior to his departure for Australia Joseph was for a number of years coachman in London to Mr Stephen Rolleston, Chief Clerk of the Foreign Office. Joseph was aged about 41 when he arrived in Sydney.
Joseph was the recipient of grants of land, and of donations of cattle beasts from soon after his arrival, and he was also regularly assigned a convict or two to break in and develop his farm lands. These were at Prospect Common, further west of what is now Parramatta.
Not long before he and Esther got together there was a report in the newspaper about a tragic incident featuring Joseph. On 6 October 1814 he accidentally ran over and killed a young boy aged three named Charles Thomas, while driving Mrs Macquarie in her curricle (a two wheeled open horse drawn carriage) along George Street, Sydney. A coronial inquest followed and Joseph was cleared of any charges of negligence or reckless driving. Elizabeth Macquarie was so distressed by the experience that she suffered a nervous collapse that confined her to bed for several weeks. She held Joseph Bigg(e/s) in high regard and in a letter written to Charles Whalan dated February 13 1831 sent from Aberdeen in Scotland she wrote:
"...If you ever see Joseph Biggs tell him that we never fail to enquire after him, that we often think of him; and if a letter could be of any service, he should have one long ago. That Lachlan[1] is a good horseman and whip; and has not forgotten his first master's instructions.”
Joseph was well-established in Sydney by the time he and Esther got together, living in and running a livery stable in Phillip Street. Their relationship must have given Esther a huge lift in the social settings of the new colony as well as giving her yet more economic security. After their son Robert was born on 12 June 1816, Joseph and Esther had a daughter, Louisa, born a mere 13 months later on 12 July 1817. Louisa was to be the last of Esther’s children, all of whom were baptized in the Church of England. At this time Esther was about 42 years old, and the likelihood of further pregnancies was rapidly diminishing.
For the first and only time Esther was officially married, in 1822, when she and Joseph were wed on 25 April in St Phillips Anglican Church, Sydney. St Phillips was also where all Esther’s children were baptized. Although this may suggest that Esther was Anglican/Christian rather than Jewish, there was little option besides a Christian church for anyone wanting to formally baptize and name their children. St Phillips was also very close to where the Bigge/Biggs family lived in Phillips Street.
At first, the Church of England was the established religion in the colony, and during the early years of transportation all convicts were required to attend Anglican services on Sundays. This included Irish Catholics as well as Jews. Similarly, education in the new settlement was Anglican church-controlled until the 1840s[1].
The small Jewish community was unable to build a synagogue until 1844, though services had been held in private homes or rented accommodation from the early 1820’s.
In a Memorial to the newly arrived Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane[i] in 1822 Joseph stated that he had:
“A farm of three hundred acres of land situated at the Eastern Creek and granted to him by His late Excellency Governor McQuarrie which your Memorialist has nearly fenced in, has built a substantial house thereon, a five stall stable house together with a building for the covering of coaches, etc. etc. and has also cleared and stumped 25 acres of the said land, and your Memorialist is now continuing to clear other parts of the said land and to make further improvements thereon”.
The purpose of the Memorial is not specified as it does not include any request for assistance or support of any kind. Perhaps recipients of land grants had to “report” from time to time and a Memorial was the means of doing so. It is not known whether his farm included the 80 acres granted to Esther in 1816.
A “convict muster” was compiled regularly, listing all those who still had convict status. Esther, who had been transported for life, was not eligible for a ticket of leave on serving her time. Nor was she ever granted a Pardon, so she featured in each muster and remained a convict all her life. In 1825, for example she is recorded as arriving on the Indispensable in 1796, and as the wife of Joseph Bigge
By the time of the 1828 census, Joseph was not only the proprietor of livery stables in Phillip Street, Sydney, but also claimed to own 100 acres with 4 horses and 10 head of cattle.
By 1830 many of Esther’s surviving children had married and had children of their own. The head count for grandchildren in 1831 totalled 21.
By the time Joseph was in his 60’s he had developed some form of insanity. In 1833, aged around 65, he suffered a fall into the fire at his residence in Phillips Street and died instantly from severe burns. Newspaper reports of this event referred to him as “Joe the Coachman” who kept the first respectable boarding house and livery stables in Sydney for many years, and was well respected by all who knew him.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Australia>
[i] Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860) was Governor of New South Wales (1821–25), as recommended by the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had seen military service.
A keen astronomer, he built Australia's first observatory and encouraged scientific and agricultural training. But jealous rivals smeared his reputation, in league with the Colonial Secretary, Frederick Goulburn, and he had to defend his conduct, though an inquest cleared him. A new convict settlement was named after him, and became today's city of Brisbane.
[1] Son of Lachlan and Elizabeth McQuarrie