Richard Cheers
Born Abingdon, England, 1759 - 1827
Research by Richard's Great, great, great, great granddaughter, Jennifer Bolton, Australia
Richard Cheers was born the sixth of eight children to Edward Chear of Abingdon, Berkshire, England. Richard's father, Edward, was also born in Abingdon where he was christened on 18 November 1722. He married Mary (surname unknown) in 1742 and worked as a hemp dresser and flax weaver, until his death in 1767. His wife died the same year.
Richard Cheers was christened on 12 August 1759 in St Helen's Church. He married Mary Pratt, and they had a daughter, Ann. When Richard was 28, he and his older brother John were arrested on suspicion of each having lead away a horse from Hampstead Norris in Berkshire to the saleyards in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. The brothers were supposed to have delivered the horses as part of their job, to the market near London.
Research by Richard's Great, great, great, great granddaughter, Jennifer Bolton, Australia
Richard Cheers was born the sixth of eight children to Edward Chear of Abingdon, Berkshire, England. Richard's father, Edward, was also born in Abingdon where he was christened on 18 November 1722. He married Mary (surname unknown) in 1742 and worked as a hemp dresser and flax weaver, until his death in 1767. His wife died the same year.
Richard Cheers was christened on 12 August 1759 in St Helen's Church. He married Mary Pratt, and they had a daughter, Ann. When Richard was 28, he and his older brother John were arrested on suspicion of each having lead away a horse from Hampstead Norris in Berkshire to the saleyards in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. The brothers were supposed to have delivered the horses as part of their job, to the market near London.
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Richard, his brother, and the salesyard owner, were tried at Kingston-on-Thames Assizes, and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. Fortunately, the Cheers of Abingdon and Drayton came to their rescue and Richard’s punishment was commuted from death to transportation for life to the New Colony. It was Richard’s good fortune that in New South Wales Governor Phillips was desperate for men skilled in breeding and raising livestock to help relieve the terrible famine being suffered by the desperate convict population on the far side of the world.
Richard’s husbandry skills and experience saw him selected as one of 25 special convicts transported with the second fleet on Lieutenant Edward Riou’s HMS Guardian. These farming type men were charged with loading and taking care of livestock taken onboard at the Cape of Good Hope |
Relief guard arriving at a prison hulk, Deptford. E.Tucker. Permission to use this image kindly granted by National Library of Australia.
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In the 21 months from his committal on 07 December 1787 to when HMS Guardian sailed from Spithead on 12 September 1789, Richard was separated from his wife and daughter. Little Ann would have been almost 4 years old when her father disappeared across the sea forever.
On the voyage out to the new colony, HMS Guardian called at Santa Cruz to take on 2000 gallons of wine, and on 24 November 1789 anchored at Table Bay to load the cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry that Richard and his fellow convicts were responsible for. Ironically, it was the good care of these animals that lead to the first near-disaster on the HMS Guardian. With the animals onboard well watered, supplies on the ship began to diminish. To resolve this, Lieutenant Riou attempted to take on floating ice from a large iceberg the ship encountered in the South Indian Ocean on Christmas Eve 1789.
When the ship hit an iceberg it was almost destroyed but managed to make its way back to port. However, the voyage was doomed and HMS Guardian was finally wrecked in a gale on 12 April 1790. During this disaster and in atrocious weather, Richard worked hard with the surviving crew and convicts in two hour relays to pump and bail day and night until they were rescued. Five of the special transportees had died and of the remaining 20, twelve were transferred to Neptune a former slave ship, and eight including Richard were transferred to Surprise. They left Table Bay to continue their voyage to the New Colony on 29 April 1790.
When Richard arrived at Sydney Cove on 28 June 1790, he and thirteen other convicts were granted conditional pardons by Lieutenant Riou. Richard Cheers, William Careless, John Chapman Morris, and James Weaver were given their freedom with Warrants of Emancipation provided they did not return to England for the duration of their sentences.
On the voyage out to the new colony, HMS Guardian called at Santa Cruz to take on 2000 gallons of wine, and on 24 November 1789 anchored at Table Bay to load the cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry that Richard and his fellow convicts were responsible for. Ironically, it was the good care of these animals that lead to the first near-disaster on the HMS Guardian. With the animals onboard well watered, supplies on the ship began to diminish. To resolve this, Lieutenant Riou attempted to take on floating ice from a large iceberg the ship encountered in the South Indian Ocean on Christmas Eve 1789.
When the ship hit an iceberg it was almost destroyed but managed to make its way back to port. However, the voyage was doomed and HMS Guardian was finally wrecked in a gale on 12 April 1790. During this disaster and in atrocious weather, Richard worked hard with the surviving crew and convicts in two hour relays to pump and bail day and night until they were rescued. Five of the special transportees had died and of the remaining 20, twelve were transferred to Neptune a former slave ship, and eight including Richard were transferred to Surprise. They left Table Bay to continue their voyage to the New Colony on 29 April 1790.
When Richard arrived at Sydney Cove on 28 June 1790, he and thirteen other convicts were granted conditional pardons by Lieutenant Riou. Richard Cheers, William Careless, John Chapman Morris, and James Weaver were given their freedom with Warrants of Emancipation provided they did not return to England for the duration of their sentences.
The plaque that commemorates the granting of land to Richard Cheers in 1810. Photo by Jennifer Bolton, 2008.
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Richard’s efforts for Captain Riou during his ship’s demise were further rewarded when he was granted 30 acres at Kissing Point (Ryde) known as Cheers Farm at Eastern Farms. He was also given two town leases.
On the latter he successfully established the first butchery in the New Colony, running his animals on the area bounded by George, Pitt, Hunter, and Bridge Streets. His shop occupied the corner of George and Hunter Streets, and his slaughterhouse the tip of Dawes Point. Today this is where the south pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge stands. In 1798, Richard opened Black Bull public house on the corner of George Street North and Middlesex Lane, his other property. Richard was one of the first to petition for and gain permission to buy spirits, sugar, butter, beef, pork, glass, linen, and shoes, directly off the ships. |
On 1 January 1810, Richard officially became the owner of his leases when Captain Macquarie signed a Crown Grant of the land for Richard and his heirs to have and hold forever. 150 years later a commemorative cairn was unveiled. The plaque was later stolen, but has since been replaced. In 1818, Richard Cheers sold his grant to D'Arcy Wentworth.
At age 36 Richard married 24 year old Esther Weaver (a.k.a. Hester Vevars) on 02 March 1795. Esther, a convict from Gloucestershire, arrived at Sydney on the Mary Ann on 09 July 1791. She died about 1799 at Sydney Cove. The marriage produced no children.
By 1801, Richard was living with Margaret Fogarty, also a convict. In Bristol on 07 April 1795, Margaret was sentenced to be hanged for stealing money and a muslin handkerchief. Her sentence was reduced to 14 years transportation and on 18 July 1798 she arrived at New South Wales on Britannia. While they never married, Richard and Margaret had three children:
Richard - 04 May 1802, Sydney, christened 24 October 1802 at St Phillips, died before March 1827
John Henry - born 10 May 1804, christened 10 June 1804 in St Phillips, died 1840
Harriett F - born 11 December 1806, died 30 July 1841
At age 36 Richard married 24 year old Esther Weaver (a.k.a. Hester Vevars) on 02 March 1795. Esther, a convict from Gloucestershire, arrived at Sydney on the Mary Ann on 09 July 1791. She died about 1799 at Sydney Cove. The marriage produced no children.
By 1801, Richard was living with Margaret Fogarty, also a convict. In Bristol on 07 April 1795, Margaret was sentenced to be hanged for stealing money and a muslin handkerchief. Her sentence was reduced to 14 years transportation and on 18 July 1798 she arrived at New South Wales on Britannia. While they never married, Richard and Margaret had three children:
Richard - 04 May 1802, Sydney, christened 24 October 1802 at St Phillips, died before March 1827
John Henry - born 10 May 1804, christened 10 June 1804 in St Phillips, died 1840
Harriett F - born 11 December 1806, died 30 July 1841
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In 1803 Margaret took Richard to court for selling her house on the Rocks, apparently after she had left him, leaving her with no means to support their baby, Richard. Her husband responded by advertising in the Sydney Gazette that he would not pay his wife's debts, perhaps in the hope that she might return to him. The court ordered Richard to provide Margaret with another house and pay maintenance for the child. The couple later reconciled but it was not a happy marriage.
In 1810 Richard came home to find his wife drunk again. Fed up, he ordered their servent to turn her out of the house but Margaret collapsed and was put into her bed. She was dead by the next morning having drunk herself to death and leaving three small children without a mother. At the inquest, Richard and Margaret’s servent Henry King expressed that he was frequently alarmed by the great excesses of strong spirits Margaret repeatedly consumed. She was buried in the Old Sydney Burial Grounds which now lie under the Sydney Town Hall |
A view of Sydney Cove, 1804 by Edward Dayes Image courtesy of www.prints.co.nz
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Richard’s fourth partner and third wife was Jane Ann Smith, born 1785. Jane was tried at Old Bailey and arrived in Sydney on the convict ship Wanstead in January 1814. The couple married on 16 October 1815 in St Phillips, Sydney, and had four children:
Elizabeth - born 31 May 1816, died 13 December 1883
Mary Ann - born 8 March 1818, died 20 August 1857
James – born 18 November 1819, died 09 October 1894
William Smith – born 7 October 1821, died 4 July 1886
However this was not to be a successful marriage for Richard either, and on 22 December 1822 he claimed no responsibility for his wife's debts in the Sydney Gazette, publicly stating that she had left her home without cause or provocation. 10 weeks later Jane Anne Cheers was buried aged 32 at the Elizabeth Street Burial Ground where her family erected a memorial. This burial ground today lies under Sydney’s Central train station.
Richard Cheers died on 21 February 1827 in Sydney. He was buried the next day in Devonshire Street cemetery.
Elizabeth - born 31 May 1816, died 13 December 1883
Mary Ann - born 8 March 1818, died 20 August 1857
James – born 18 November 1819, died 09 October 1894
William Smith – born 7 October 1821, died 4 July 1886
However this was not to be a successful marriage for Richard either, and on 22 December 1822 he claimed no responsibility for his wife's debts in the Sydney Gazette, publicly stating that she had left her home without cause or provocation. 10 weeks later Jane Anne Cheers was buried aged 32 at the Elizabeth Street Burial Ground where her family erected a memorial. This burial ground today lies under Sydney’s Central train station.
Richard Cheers died on 21 February 1827 in Sydney. He was buried the next day in Devonshire Street cemetery.