D'Arcy Wentworth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
D'arcy Wentworth (1762 - 1827) was an Englishman who immigrated to Australia as an assistant surgeon to then-new colony of Sydney.
Contents |
[edit] Immigration to Australia
The Australian Dictionary of Biography says that Wentworth was from an English aristocratic family that fell on hard times, and when he was acquitted of three charges of Highway Robbery he only narrowly escaped conviction of a fourth by declaring that he was moving to Botany Bay to serve as assistant surgeon to the colony. He arrived in June 1790 on the Second Fleet convict ship Neptune and not only served in this role, but was made Superintendent of Convicts on Norfolk Island, in Parramatta and Sydney.
[edit] Settlement
Wentworth was granted 3.73 km² of land in what is now known as north Homebush, part of the Strathfield municipality. Historian Michael Jones says that "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent." Here he was put in charge of the police force and in 1810 became the commissioner of a road toll from Sydney to Parramatta. He is also reported by Jones to have made a large amount of money selling rum.
Wentworth had several children by several local women; he acknowledged William Charles Wentworth as his eldest son, but it is doubtful whether he was his biological father. He built his home in the relatively secluded settlement he had been apportioned. By the time of his death Wentworth had accumulated 543.2 km² of land and had built a large family home. He died in 1827 and his funeral procession, which started at Homebush and ended at Parramatta, was attended by 150 mourners.
[edit] References
- Jones, Michael (1985). Oasis in the West: Strathfield's first hundred years. North Sydney: Allen & Unwin Australia. ISBN 0-86861-407-6.
