Cousens family tree
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James Cousens* (bap. 1790, Wells, Norfolk, England) purchased the Crown land where Koonung Cottage was eventually built. His interesting family had a long association with the land.
* James was sometimes called James Booty Cousens but is James here, to distinguish him from his son and grandson. |
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MarinersJames Cousens and his sons James Booty and Richard John were all master mariners. James Cousens was captain of the Duke of Bedford. In 1853 he advertised in Melbourne that the ship was available for freight or stores and in 1854 he promoted the ship's passenger accommodation. His son, James Booty Cousens was master and owner of the 249-ton barque Druid, built in 1826.
Life in VictoriaIt is beyond the scope of this project to trace all family members but it is clear that at least some of the family came to Victoria, Australia. James Cousens bought land at Nunawading. James Booty Cousens married Jessie Elizabeth Gaynor in Madras in 1849 and their first daughter was baptised in Stepney, London in 1851. They had another ten daughters and one son in Melbourne between 1854 and 1875. Their son was also named James Booty Cousens.
James Cousens was involved in the formation of the district Road Board at Nunawading and was an auditor of its accounts in 1863. On 26 November 1864 at 74 years he lost his home, contents, £40 and valuable instruments in a fire at his Nunawading property. He died in Melbourne a few months after the fire, on 17 May 1865. In 1869 James Booty Cousens was a local agent at the gold reefs at Mount Pleasant. This was probably James Booty Cousens senior as his son was only thirteen. The discovery of a new reef on his lease in April 1869 caused great excitement in the district. James Booty Cousens junior died on 23 June 1875. At 19 years he was an unmarried miner. His father died two months later on 17 August 1875. In the same year that Jessie Elizabeth Cousens lost her only son and her husband she gave birth to her eleventh daughter. LandOn 2 December 1858 James Cousens, James Booty Cousens, George Knight and Stephenson Atkyn Bryant had made an Indenture of Settlement concerning section 69 and part of section 70 of the Crown land purchase. James Cousens leased this 156 acres to Knight and Bryant. After his death the rents were to be shared between the children of James Booty Cousens.
Section 71 and part of section 70 of the land originally purchased by James Cousens was mortgaged to Robert Summons for £180 due on 31 August 1866. This land was auctioned on 15 November 1866 under mortgagee’s instruction. The notice for the auction (Argus, 14 November 1866) gives a good description of the property. |
The property is said to be composed of good agricultural land, with the advantage of a valuable deposit of the best pottery clay on a small part of it, valued at £10 per acre. It is well watered, and the whole is in a forward state of development, viz., brick cottage, men’s huts, extensive shed, kitchen garden of two acres, cultivation paddock.
Missing people
James Cousens died intestate in 1865. His son Robert Booty (often spelt Bootie) Cousens was an engineer, of 109 Elizabeth Street Melbourne, and applied for letters of administration. Robert stated that he and his older brother James were the only surviving next of kin and that James was a mariner not resident in Victoria. Robert had not heard from his mother for at least two years. At that time she was living at Mile End near London and he had no reason to doubt that she still lived there. Administration of the estate was granted to Robert on 8 June 1865, three weeks after his father’s death.
James Booty Cousen’s widow, Jessie, never saw or heard from Robert after her father-in-law’s funeral, although she made many enquiries. Her family connections did not seem to help. (It was reported that her father was S.J. Gaynor, Esq, HEICS (Honorable East India Company Service) and her grandfather was Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Stuart, 72nd Highlanders.)
Robert left Nunawading soon after his father’s death. On 7 March 1864 Robert Cousens had been a civil engineer in Melbourne when he applied for a patent for his invention for separating metals from tailings or other earths. In February 1866 he was the District Engineer at the Ovens District Water Supply. In early August 1866 it was reported that he had been laid off and applied for the position of Mining Surveyor for the Beechworth Division.
Jessie heard that Robert had gone to Beechworth and worked for the Water Supply Department. She wrote to him there but received no reply. When she heard that Robert had a son living in Fiji, she wrote to him. Robert’s son replied in 1888 that he did not know where Robert was and had not heard from him for many years.
In September 1882 Jessie and her children attempted to sell the 156 acres at Nunawading. The land was fenced but unimproved and let for grazing at £26 per year. The land was submitted to auction but not sold.
On 11 September 1889, Catherine Elizabeth Lindt was granted administration of her grandfather’s real estate. (Catherine married photographer John William Lindt.) James Cousens had also bought land at Gypsy Village, Moorabbin and it took his family almost a quarter of a century to trace it. The Nunawading land had been sold by this time. See Owners.
James Booty Cousen’s widow, Jessie, never saw or heard from Robert after her father-in-law’s funeral, although she made many enquiries. Her family connections did not seem to help. (It was reported that her father was S.J. Gaynor, Esq, HEICS (Honorable East India Company Service) and her grandfather was Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Stuart, 72nd Highlanders.)
Robert left Nunawading soon after his father’s death. On 7 March 1864 Robert Cousens had been a civil engineer in Melbourne when he applied for a patent for his invention for separating metals from tailings or other earths. In February 1866 he was the District Engineer at the Ovens District Water Supply. In early August 1866 it was reported that he had been laid off and applied for the position of Mining Surveyor for the Beechworth Division.
Jessie heard that Robert had gone to Beechworth and worked for the Water Supply Department. She wrote to him there but received no reply. When she heard that Robert had a son living in Fiji, she wrote to him. Robert’s son replied in 1888 that he did not know where Robert was and had not heard from him for many years.
In September 1882 Jessie and her children attempted to sell the 156 acres at Nunawading. The land was fenced but unimproved and let for grazing at £26 per year. The land was submitted to auction but not sold.
On 11 September 1889, Catherine Elizabeth Lindt was granted administration of her grandfather’s real estate. (Catherine married photographer John William Lindt.) James Cousens had also bought land at Gypsy Village, Moorabbin and it took his family almost a quarter of a century to trace it. The Nunawading land had been sold by this time. See Owners.
Sources:
- England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 www.familysearch.org
- England Marriages, 1538-1973 www.familysearch.org
- England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 www.familysearch.org
- Birth Death and Marriage Index, Victoria.
- UK & Ireland Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 www.ancestry.com
- Lloyd’s Register of Ships, 1852, 1853 & 1854.
- The Argus (Melbourne), 10 June 1853, p. 2; 23 February 1854, p. 2; 24 August 1857, p. 8; 19 May 1865, p. 8; 14 November 1866, p. 2; 18 March 1880, p. 1.
- South Bourke Standard (Victoria), 11 December 1863, 1; 9 December 1864, p. 2.
- Ballarat Star (Victoria), 5 April 14 July 1869, 4; 31 July 1869, 3; 3 August 1869, p. 4.
- Ovens & Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Victoria), 27 February 1866, 2; 4 August 1866, 2; 9 August 1866, p. 2.
- Victorian Government Gazette, 11 March 1864, p. 608; 6 March 1891, p. 1105; 14 April 1891, p. 1589; 10 June 1891, p. 2391.
- Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 28, P0000, Unit 53, 5/176.
- Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 28, P0000, Unit 497, 40/297.
- Public Record Office Victoria VPRS 28, P0000, Unit 158, 13/536.
- Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 28, P0000, Unit 306, 26/095.
- Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 28, P0002, Unit 150, 26/095.
