From TheBestLinks.com
D'arcy Wentworth (1762 - 1827) was an Englishman who immigrated to Australia as an assistant surgeon to the recently formed Australian colony of Sydney.
Immigration to Australia
The Australian Dictionary of Biography says that Wentworth was from an English aristocratic family that fell on hard times, and when he was convicted of three charges of Highway Robbery he only narrowly escaped conviction by declaring that he was moving to Botany Bay to serve as assistant surgeon to the colony. He arrived in June 1790 and not only served in this role, but was made Superintendent of Convicts on Norfolk Island, in Parramatta and Sydney.
Settlement
Wentworth was granted 373 hectares of land in what is now known as North Homebush, part of the Strathfield municipality. Historian Michael Jones says that "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent." Here he was put in charge of the police force and in 1810 became the commissioner of a road toll from Sydney to Parramatta. He is also reported by Jones to have made a large amount of money selling rum.
Wentworth had several children by several local women and built his home in the relatively secluded settlement he had been apportioned. By the time of his death Wentworth had accumulated 54,320 hectares of land and had built a large family home. He died in 1827 and his funeral procession, which started at Homebush and ended at Parramatta, was attended by 150 mourners.
References
- Jones, Michael (1985). Oasis in the West: Strathfield's first hundred years. North Sydney: Allen & Unwin Australia. ISBN 0-86861-407-6.
External links
Related links
Top visited
0 of
0 links
[no links posted yet]
>> place link >>
Discussion
Last posted
0 of
0 messages
[no messages posted yet]
>> post message >>
Watch
You can
add this article to your own "watchlist" and receive e-mail notification about all changes in this page.
