Olivia Gascoigne

More recently discovered information about Olivia Gascoigne has revealed her to have been far more significant than she has appeared to have been at past glances. Olivia, it now seems,was an Aristocrat. Her parents have not yet been clearly identified, however, members of her family have been located, some apparently here in Australia.

Olivia seems to have been the daughter of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, John Gascoigne of Wentworth Castle, near Sheffield, and Sarah Vemon Wentworth of Hanbury Hall, Droitwych, Worcestershire. The name Oliva or Olivia Gascoigne appears three times in the castle's later records. A John Gascoigne and Olive Partridge married in Droitwych in 1724. John Gascoigne appears to have been a naval Captain, commanding HMS Greyhound in Admiral Thomas Rowleys Fleet. Olivia's family in Australia still possess a locket with a painting believed to be that of Admiral Rowley (See "Nathaniel and Olivia"). Mary Rowley, daughter of a Captain Thomas Rowley of the NSW Corps, married Olivia's son, John.

Olivia's problems may have stemmed from a dispute within the Wentworth family. The Gascoignes were the originals of a line which merged with the Wentworths to become the Earls of Strafford. Some families have recalled that it was claimed the Olivia asserted such a connection. At about the time of Olivia's birth the Strafford's estates were carved up. The Gascoignes inherited the title of High Sheriffs of Yorkshire and the use of Wentworth Castle (Britain's largest castle) from the Wentworths whilst the Wentworths continued as the Earls of Strafford but acquired the lesser estate of Wentworth Wodehouse. The Vemon family acquired ownership of Wentworth Castle which the Earls did not appreciate.

The Vemons were a descendant branch of the Wentworths and changed their name to Vemon-Wentworth later. They remained in Hilton Park, Staffordshire and in Droitwych.The Gascoignes were cousins and it seems that they had married back into the family.
The Earls of Strafford were the cousins of the Marquis of Liverpool, the Duke of Argyle, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Cumberland and were Yorkshire Aristocrats. They had estates in Longford County in Ireland (birthplace of D'arcy, W.C. Wentworth's
father who was connected . - some references say he was not connected. He claimed it and it appears to be so). A cousin, Sir Thomas Watson Wentworth, was Prime Minister of England in 1782. He was of the Wodehouse faction . . Olivia's family was of the Castle faction.

In the court hearing no evidence was presented to say that Olivia actually held the pistol used in the armed robbery nor that she personally had received any of the proceeds. The other, all males, appear to have disappeared from the record after being sentenced to death but commuted.
It is interesting to note that Ollivia lived in Sydney where streets were named in her day. She lived at the intersection of Clarence, Argyle, York, Cumberland and Kent Streets (Nathaniel was related to the Ear] of Kent). She was also among the first families to live
in Liverpool and when she moved to Norfolk Plains near Launceston, the village was named Longford shortly afterwards.

One of her descendants (born in 1846) wrote that pioneer entrepreneur Robert Campbell was her grandparent's cousin. Robert Campbell was related to the Duke of Argyle Etc Etc. It is surprising to note that Olivia was recorded sailing on two of Campbell's ships, the Greyhound and the Racehorse. The Greyhound could have been named after her grandfather's earlier command. It is also interesting to note that it is recorded that Henry Vemon of Hilton Hall and a second cousin, is the historically accredited "Father of the Turf". Olivia's son, William, bought 2,000 acres of land from Campbell in Norfolk Plains and later, in the early 1830s, her other son, John, bought land from Campbell, near the Canberra area where both their families finally settled. It is also fascinating to note that another Campbell, the daughter of the Duke of Argyle, Lady Anne Campbell, had a son "Harry" to Prince William (King William IV) who settled in the Canberra area in the 1830s and worked there as a school teacher (died Moruya 1877).

Most of the children of the later Duke of Argyle migrated to Australia and linked up with Olivia's youngest son, Thomas, in Camperdown, Victoria in the 1850s. Olivia's son, William, married Sarah, the daughter of First Fleeter James Squire. The surviving records of Sydney Hospital's Outpatient Register indicates that on some occasions when James Squire and Robert Campbell attended there, they were recorded sequentially and were treated for the same ailments.

A number of Olivia's great-grandchildren were middle-named Vemon or Wentworth. The Middle names of most of her children and grandchildren, in the methods of the times, were not recorded. However, as her eldest son, William, once signed his name "William Nathaniel Lucas" it seems that the children did have middle names and that these names were passed on to great-grandchildren. These were revealed when such recordings became conventional later.

Among the Norfolk Island records was a free person, Martha Wentworth. Martha married a convict named John Paul and followed Olivia to reside in Liverpool later. This person is not D'arcy's sister who came out at the same time. It seems that she was Olivia's aunt. Sarah Vemon-Wentworth's mother's name was Susannah Tongue. This is a rare surname. Buried in St. Anne's Ryde in Sydney is one John Tongue. He is buried adjacent to First Fleeter Edward Goodwin whose son, William, married Olivia's granddaughter Martha Lucas.

Olivia was prosecuted twice. She was reprieved the first time. One of her prosecutors was Edward Griffiths. When her sons built their ship, the Olivia, one of the registered owners was a Charles Griffiths. It is suspected that Charles was actually her son in law Charles "Williams" and this begs the question of why the alias? It is guessed that he was related to Edward Griffiths. It follows in thought that Edward Griffiths was an unwitting prosecutor. Recently the Archivist at the Worcestershire Records Office advised that one of their First Fleeters was recorded in goal records as "highly connected". The name was not then recalled by the informant but Olivia is the only one of the eight concerned who fit.

Olivia's husband, Nathaniel, took part in the Rum Rebellion and many Family Historians are now dismissing the Rum issues as the dominant cause of this event. Macarthur, the ring leader and the one most likely to fain from the incident as far as rum concessions were concerned, was not a member of the Corps at the time. The lack of land granted to those committed to staying on in the colony was the cause. There were 160 petitioners concerning Governor Bligh's arrest. It is difficult to get some commonality among them, however, when the wives or partners names are substituted a pattern emerges. It is most interesting to notice that in Sydney that day there were only sixteen survivors of the Lady Penrhyn. Everyone of their partners signed the petitions. There were 3,000 citizens whose household didn't sign and none of the partners included women from the Lady Penrhyn. The Land Titles Office of N.S.W. has records of most Lady Penrhyn convict's partners being granted land shortly after Bligh's arrest.

Later the 'Saviour' Lachlan Macquarie arrived to restore Bligh and then replace him. For the "rebels" there was no resistance to Macquarie, but, Macquarie was a Campbell. He too was related through his mother to the Duke of Argyle and his wife's maiden name was "Campbell". It is fascinating to read the records of the Land Titles Office which reveal that Macquarie cancelled all the land grants made by the interregnum Governor. However, he quietly regranted them. He knew who his friends were. All Governors prior to Macquarie were Navel Officers. "Botony Bay" was a naval operation. Why the change of policy? Who was the King's son's mistress? . . Lady Anne Campbell, cousin to Robert Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie, John Palmer, Olivia Gascoigne and Christopher Palmer and Olivia's husband Nathaniel's kinsman was the King's Private Secretary whilst Crown Prince George's mistress, Fanny Lucas, appears to have been Nathaniel's sister. Who was the power force among the colonists . . the Campbells were. The Campbells, though, wanted the current problems resolved through legitimate channels, however, Macarthur's approach prevailed, hence his historical prominence. However, John Macarthur lived next door to Olivia at the time, Both families moved south west at the same time. Macarthur went to Camden and Olivia to Minto next door.

Olivia Gascoigne was the only convict allowed to marry on Norfolk Island prior to 1794 (in 1788). Why? She was of the privileged class ... the aristocracy. Why did she marry Nathaniel Lucas? Nathaniel appears to have been an aristocrat. He appears to have been related to the Lord John Lucas, Earl of Kent (remember Kent Street). Lord Lucas died in 1799 and the title passed to Prince Edward, the father of Queen Victoria whose son, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited Australia in 1866. He privately spent half a day during the visit with Olivia's son John's family at a hotel in Burwood (Sydney).

The research to date mentions Everinghams in this family too. One of the Wentworth titles was "Earl of Stainborough" which is believed to have passed to the Wentworths in about 1536 from Thomas Everingham. Matthew Everingham's descendants have firmly held their aristocratic connections and this seems to be it. This may put Matthew in the same family group as Olivia. Thomas Eddington was another likely aristocrat convict. John Palmer and his seaman brother, Christopher, were the grandsons to the Duke of Clarence (Clarence Street). Robert Campbell married John Palmer's daughter Sophia.

Our Historians keep telling us that the convicts were of the criminal class, ie the nation's scum. 760 convicts came out in the First Fleet. Were there only 760 convicts in English gaols and on the Thames' hulks? 7,600 plus convicts would be more likely the number. Why the aristocrats among those sent out? Why the very high proportion of tradespeople and the skilled?

Sure there were some gangsters and prostitutes in the First Fleet. There was a role for them. Somebody had to do the labouring and the entertaining! The generalisation though is wrong. It is fair to assert now that the British in the main sent the cream of the English convicts out. There are now too many First Fleet descendants who have found enough records on their ancestors to recreate a profile about them which reveals their people to have been solid citizens and fine examples of parents. Most were truly nation builders. Their children in the main were good people too. The Botony Bay exercise was meant to work. Scum do not make things happen as did the success of the First Fleeter's efforts. They founded the modem Australian family and this nation as it has become. The material coming from family researchers is showing up more and more fallacies about the interpretation of our nation's recorded origins.

Whilst this Is a highly speculative story, the coincidences are too great to ignore. Proof is now being pursued. The family records have been found in Sheffield City Library and Worcestershire County Archives. Unfortunately they are extensive so someone will have to go over to England to read them. Any Lucas travellers?

On a final note, 1 have prepared the family tree from the Earls of Strafford back to Adam and Eve. Notables included are John of Gaunt, King John, St Margaret of Scotland, William the Conqueror and Sir Robert Hastings, the real "Robin Hood".

James Hugh Donohoe