William Richard Green- Child 3
A good deal more is known about William Richard Green’s life. One can assume Frances named her first born son William Richard Smith after her brother. William Richard or WR was the first child born in the colony in 1804 on 25th January. This blurry picture below gives us some idea of what he looked like.
On his marriage certificate to Sarah Child on 21st April 1829 at St Philips Church in Sydney he is listed as a cooper. A cooper is a person trained to make wooden casks, barrels, vats, buckets, tubs, troughs and other similar containers from timber staves that were usually heated or steamed to make them pliable.
William Richard was a bachelor aged 25 years and he married widow Sarah. Sarah was born Sarah Hanks on 2nd July 1802 in Sydney to James Hanks and Sarah Trapnell nee Viner. Sarah had married Thomas Bidwell Child Snr in 1822 and bore him 3 children Ann in 1821 who died 1821 however this is only confirmed through a family tree and needs to be evidenced. Thomas Bidwell Child Jr [born 1823 Parramatta and died 23 Sept 1902,St Peters Sydney] and Henry George Child [born 12th March 1825 Sydney and died 1870 Sydney] were the sons of Sarah and Thomas. Thomas died on 7th July 1827 in Hobart. Thomas was a convict sentenced to 7 years transportation in Bristol and he came to Sydney on the Lord Eldon in 1817. Another of our family Joseph Sewell was also on the Lord Eldon and would go on to marry William Richard’s older sister Frances! Thomas had been a clerk and was granted his Ticket of Leave only in 1824. He had 3 years of semi freedom only.
1. William Richard GREEN -8th Feb 1830 born in Windsor and died in Waterloo on 16th Feb 1911. Married Frances McIntosh and they had a son Sydney Moore Green [1880-1954]
2. Jonathan Cooper GREEN-born on 6th August 1831 and baptised at St Phillips Sydney. He married Martha Russell in 1865 and she died in 1875 . They had no children. He went on to marry Caroline Theresa Mary Lodge in 1893 who was a widow and had a son, Charles Henry Lyons and 2 daughters. Jonathan Cooper’s will is an interesting insight into his family. His Last Will & Testament dated 12th February 1898 states clearly that he is a Gentleman and left his estate for the use of his wife Caroline Theresa until her death and thereafter to his son Harold Clarence Green who had been born in 1884 to the marriage. However when his son turned 21 yrs she was to hand him the estate! Clearly Jonathan had property and means in this will. Should his son and wife pre decease him the estate would be divided evenly between his brother and sister, his niece Amelia M Robson, his stepson Charles Henry Lyons, his step daughter Deborah Theresa M Nelson and his step daughter Caroline A Frances Lewis. It states he had properties in Belmore St Sydney, Homebush and Croydon. He appointed his wife and stepson Charles Henry of 43 Burke St Redfern as executors but then something happened and he withdrew in a codicil his step sons role as executor and made his wife sole executor. This was upheld at this death. So what happened to his wealth?
Harold Clarence GREEN his son , a hairdresser , by 1926 was clearly down on his luck and incarcerated. He’d married Catherine Connelly in 1905 and divorced in 1916!! He was not a once off criminal either as the above list attests. He was a beggar, a drunk and a thief. I can only see a life of poverty here. Did the Lyons family reap the benefits of Jonathan’s wealth? He looks a little like Hugh Laurie the actor but a meaner version. What a sad life for William Richard Greens grandson, which finally ended in 1961 in Auburn.
3. George James GREEN; 11th October 1833 to 26th December 1834.
4. Edward Charles GREEN: born 1st October 1836 and he was baptised at St James Church Sydney on 3oth Oct 1836. He married Emily Morris Gunn sometime before 1868 when their first daughter Emily was born in Sydney.BY 1873 the family is in Dunedin Otago New Zealand and William Richard Green is born followed by Jonathan Cooper Green in 1877 who died in 1917 but not from the war. They have a daughter Catherine who did not survive to adulthood [1879-1886] and finally a son Sydney Moore Green 188301884. This family line remains in Dunedin New Zealand. The family were probably chasing the Otago Gold Rush which occurred in the 1860’s.
5. Mary Elizabeth GREEN: born 16th April 1839 Sydney and married by special license John MacIntosh Storekeeper in Sydney on May 12th 1856. The marriage notice lists William Richard Green as Esq. a gentleman. They moved to Dubbo but Mary Elizabeth died at her sons house in Petersham on 13th June 1929 aged 90 yrs. Both John Francis Charles McIntosh and his wife Mary Elizabeth McIntosh are buried together in the Church of England Section of the Old Dubbo Cemetery. They are buried with their lonely child Ada Louisa Best 1871-1898 (daughter) and Elsie B Best 1897-1897 (granddaughter).
6. James Spenser Green: was born on 12th May 1841. We know very little else other than he died on the 16th July 1860 and is buried in Newtown possibly the same Camperdown cemetery as hi Aunty Frances Green Smith Sewell. At his death his abode was Parramatta and he is listed as son of an Inn Keeper. Cause of death is unknown.
7. John Thomas GREEN: Born 6th June 1843 in Sydney. He married Ellen Melba Cook known
as Nellie ie Nellie Melba, on 17th April 1867.
They had a truck load of children with interesting names:
John Thomas William [1868-1927]; William John Cooke [1871-1940];
Theophilus Victor Elishama [1873-1953]; Wesley Cooke [1875-1954];
Beatrice Mary Gertrude [1877-1878]; Grace Ethel [1879-1938]; Elsie Melba [1882-1891]; Barnabas Uzziel [1884-1953]; Daisy Nightingale [1886-1966]; Percy B [1886-1887] and Rupert Contennal Cornwall [1888-1969].
John Thomas died on 16th August 1923 at 12 Burton St Randwick NSW.
Ellen died on 2nd April 1894. They are buried with their son John Thomas William and
daughter Elsie. Their headstone at Rookwood Cemetery Sydney.
We know from Wesley Cooke Green’s marriage certificate that John Thomas was a
public school teacher.
There is an interesting story about Ellen's mothers estate. Wesley Cooke Green took his siblings and cousins to court in 1905 to claim a more equitable share of his grandmothers properties. The case dragged on until 1908. Click on the button here to find the story out:
8. Sydney Moore Green: whose name recurs through
the family was born 15th March 1846. He was baptised
on 5th April 1846 at St Lawrence Church. He married
Caroline Silk on 27th Dec 1873 at St Mary’s Cathedral
and he is described as Sidney Moore Green Esq.
Caroline was the 2nd daughter of the late J.W Silk of
Twofold Bay Eden. They had 6 children Oswald born
1874, Reginald and Carlingford in 1889 , Edith ,
Phoebe and Florence. Sydney died in St Leonards
in 1912 and Caroline in 1931. They are buried at Gore Hill. At her death Caroline lived at 373 Military rd Mosman. Her will also identifies she could come into money through the estate of the late James Silk [ ? her brother] of Flinders St Moore Park Sydney and the late James Walpole Silk [ ? another brother] of Twofold Bay which is under the management of Perpetual Trustees. I suspect Caroline came from a quite wealthy family. She states these monies to be equally distributed to her children Oswald, Reginald, Carlingford, Edith, Phoebe and Florence and her step daughter Amelia Martha Ann Robson. Amelia was also listed in Jonathan Cooper’s will. Why was this young lady needing to be looked after in their wills? Caroline calls her , her stepdaughter. Amelia was married to James Watkins Robson and they appear to have lived around the Petersham Redfern area. Perhaps she was the illegitimate daughter of Sydney or from a previous marriage? Like his brother Sydney Moore had been a teacher and he also owned 640 acres in Belanglo Camden probably now the infamous Belanglo State Forest
9. Sarah Green: born the 5th May 1853 and baptised in the District of Clarence River on 12 th March 1854. A little Sarah Green of York St Sydney died on 22nd January 1855 and was buried a day later in Camperdown. Her father is listed as a basket maker so not sure this is the real Sarah? We need further evidence here.
Sarah Childs died on 18th June 1855 and is buried in Camperdown cemetery also where many of the Greens now rest. William Richard married Eliza Whitmarsh on 20th December 1855 at Parramatta. They had both lost their spouses. It looks like William’s daughter Mary was a witness. William would have had 3 to 4 children under 14 years of age.
William Richard Green was an innkeeper and clearly a successful one. On 5th April 1836 he obtains a license for the Wellington Inn on Parramatta St Sydney. That license is renewed 1837- 1839. William transferred the license of the Wellington Inn in Dec 1839 to Daniel Stewart. In 1841 it looks as though William Richard takes out a license for Ashfield Cottage in Ashfield. This would make sense given Henry Spenser Green was baptised in 1841 in Ashfield / Croydon / Burwood. In 1843-1844 William takes out a license for the Chippendale Inn. In 1845-46 William Richard is an elector listed as having a freehold property in Parramatta St. remains through to 1851 listings. His 1860 license for the Wellington Inn lists Henry George Child as well as William Walker. Henry George was his stepson and William Walker could well have been the colonial politician.
William Richard died at Greens Place, Parramatta St on 15th August 1864. His funeral notice noted his residence was very near the Wellington Inn suggesting he had a lifelong investment there.
Eliza had died before William in 1861.Her funeral notice was listed in the Sydney Morning Herald on 18th April 1861. Eliza appears from the marriage notice to own the license to the Australia Inn Parramatta St Sydney
William Richard’s will written prior to 1861 gives us some insight into the family:
He leaves all his household furniture to his wife Eliza who ends up pre deceasing him. Portraits of he and his first wife Sarah go to William Richard Green Jr. He then divides the rest of his estate equally among his children-William Richard; Jonathan Cooper; Charles; Edward; John Thomas; Sydney Moore and Mary Elizabeth McIntosh. Interestingly he states that Mary’s portion shall be paid to her solely and cannot be spent on paying the debts of her husband now or in the future. That would suggest WR did not approve of Mr McIntosh. John Francis Charles McIntosh died in 1891 after WR Green Snr. He appoints his son WR Jr and Thomas Bedwell Child his step brother as executors, indicating a closeness with Sarah Child’s boys. Thomas Bedwell Child died in 1902.
