The first of our clan to arrive in Australia were Levi Barden, born 1803 in Pett, Sussex to George and Elizabeth Barden of Icklesham, Sussex; and his wife Mary Davies, daughter of Thomas and Anne Davies of Winchelsea, Sussex.
They married in Pett on 19/12/1827, and lived at Winchelsea where they quickly spawned the following eight male offspring:
In 1842 all ten emigrated to Australia on the "Earl of Durham", leaving London on 17th February, 1842 and arriving in Sydney on 11th July 1842.
Levi is described in the shipping papers as a carpenter and sawyer, and Mary as a dressmaker. Both could read and write, and were sponsored to Australia by a Mr. Forsyth.
They were Episcopalians and initially settled in Goulburn, some years later moving to Tempe. [see The Bounty Migrants]
Sidney Barden married Margaret Dolan in Sydney in 1856. Among their eight children was Joseph Thomas Barden who was the father of Kathleen Rose Barden.
The Bardens were Episcopalians, and Kath BardenÕs religion was only Catholic by virtue of the fact that Margaret Dolan was an irish catholic, and so the children of the marriage were brought up as catholics, as was the rule for mixed marriages. Had Kath Barden not been catholic it is possible she and Les Noone may never have married.
Margaret DolanÕs father, Patrick, must have arrived in the Colony quite early in the piece for he was given a land grant of 134 acres at Port Hacking on 29/1/1857. Upon his death on 6/10/1871, he bequeathed 50 acres to Margaret and 50 acres to another daughter, Susan. Margaret had been a widow since SidneyÕs death in July of the previous year.
On the 12/10/1883 she took out a loan of £450 , amd when by 15/11/1892 she had defaulted on repayments of both interest and principal, in lieu of legal action, the Peramanent Land and Building Coy. Ltd agreed to a mortgage over 40 acres of her inheritance.
Acknowledgements | Origins
of the Barden Surname | The Earliest Bardens | The
Reasons for Migration
The First (Barden) Arrivals | The
Bounty Migrants | Down to the Beautiful Valley
Publicans, Butchers, Produce Merchants and Landholders
| A Family Business | The Barden Hotels
Items from Newspapers | Australian Men
of Mark | Sidney Barden | Joseph Thomas Barden
Cooks River - A History
©2007 Peter Noone