Elizabeth Roberts

Elizabeth Roberts (1812-1856) was the daughter of Warwickshire-born William Roberts, (1754–1819) and his wife, Jane (née Longhurst, c. 1785–1836). Both William and Jane had arrived in the colony as convicts: William Roberts on the Second Fleet in 1790 under sentence of seven years for horse theft, and Jane, also sentenced to seven years transportation, in 1803. They were married at St. Phillip’s Church in Sydney in 1810, by which time they’d had at least two children together. William had earned his freedom by this time and had won the first of a number of lucrative government contracts for the construction of bridges and roads. Roberts was favoured by Governor Macquarie, who in 1810 re-affirmed a grant to Roberts of 200 acres of seafront land encompassing what is now the suburb of Bondi. This grant is thought to have been made to Roberts in payment for his role in the creation of a road to South Head (eventually completed in 1811). During 1811 and 1812, Roberts was engaged in ‘constructing Streets and Bridges in Sydney’. ‘Having rendered much Satisfaction to His Excellency’ for his work in repairing George Street, in June 1813 Roberts was awarded the contract for the construction of a road from Sydney to Liverpool and in September the same year received £300 in part payment for the job. By 1814, a route (now Woodville Road) connecting Liverpool with the Parramatta Road was in progress. Between 1816 and 1818, he undertook further road and bridge-building projects in the districts of Appin, Camden, Minto, Airds and Bringelly. In addition, Roberts ran a pub (the King’s Arms) on Hunter Street – being among those liquor licensees who survived the governor’s crackdown on ‘the very great and unnecessary Number of Licensed Houses’ in the colony – and was involved in farming and various other entrepreneurial ventures, including being among the first subscribers to the Bank of New South Wales. On his death in August 1819, he was remembered as ‘one of the first inhabitants of the Colony; a man respected for his integrity and honesty; and who has rendered great services to the Colony in the construction of its public roads’. Jane remarried in 1825, her second husband being William Hutchinson, a George Street merchant. Jane died in Sydney in 1836. William and Jane had eight children; Elizabeth, one of their two daughters, was born in Sydney in 1812. In March 1831, at St. James’ Church, Sydney, Elizabeth married John Farmer, a soldier in the 39th Regiment of Foot, which had been stationed in the colony since late 1825. Elizabeth presumably accompanied her husband to India when the regiment was ordered there in July 1832.