Week 8 (February 19th -25th ): Prosperity


Week 8 (February 19th -25th ): Prosperity

From Amy Johnson Crow - Do you have an ancestor who seemed to do well for himself? What about a family photo showing a big car or fancy dresses? How about an ancestor with a "prosperous" name like Wealthy or Fortune?
This week’s theme of “prosperity” has had me thinking and struggling, as I couldn’t think of any of my ancestors that were prosperous or wealthy. I had no surnames linked to this theme either. Then at about 3am it came to me – Abner Haylock, the Australian Pioneer.

Abner Haylock is my 2nd cousin 4times removed via my mothers side of the family (she was born a Haylock). There had been tales passed down that some of the Haylock family had gone to Australia during the goldrush but no-one knew any more than this.

Abner was the 9th child out of 11 of John Haylock and Ann Guymer, he was their 5th son. Abner was born in 1845 in Great Thurlow, Suffolk, UK. On the 1841 and 1851 census John is listed as an “ag lab” (agricultural labour or farmer) and the area they lived was not a wealthy place but not really poor either.

Abner’s eldest brother Elijah had gone to Australia aboard the “Catherine” ship, he arrived in Adelaide in May 1851. The rest of the family all followed him to Australia in 1852 aboard “the Omega” ship (See below). The family spent 7months in Adelaide before settling in Kingstown.
Transcript of passenger list: Haylock John, 44, farm labourer, Great Thurlow, Suffolk; Ann, 42; Hannah, 21, domestic servant; Peter, 16, farm labourer; Daniel, 13; Ephraim, 11; Abner, 8; James, 6 and Thomas, 2.

Amongst the interesting information I found on the Monaro Pioneers website, I learnt that after John Haylock and his family landed in Australia on 24th August 1852 they had made their way onto the goldfields of Victoria by purchasing a 96 acre allotment, adjoining the village of Kingston, east of Ballarat.
Abner’s parents died in the 1860s and the family all went their separate ways. Abner went into the carrying business and married Elizabeth Hargreaves in Campbelltown in 1867. In 1878 Abner had become successful enough to go up into the Riverina where he bought land at Gunbar (between Hay and Griffith), he called this Kingston Park, and its eventual size was 16,000 acres.
During the great drought of 1902 Abner bought ‘Coonerang’ near Cooma as relief country, which his eldest son Arthur ran before and after his father’s death, increasing the acreage over the years. Sme of the properties were taken over by Abner’s sons after he died, others were sold.

So from being a farmers son in the UK, Abner ended up being very “prosperous” out in Australia.



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