| Description |
x, 276 pages : illustrations, maps, genealogy table ; 23 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction -- Burrin farm -- Rise and fall -- Administering illegal oaths -- A fool and his money -- Letters from Ireland -- The landed gentry -- A new trial -- Summing up -- The storms of fate -- Epilogue -- The ejectment legacy -- Digressions and postcripts |
| Summary |
In 1794 and 1799 Superintendent of Convicts Nicholas Devine was granted 210 acres on the edge of the current CBD of Sydney. After the demise of Governor Bligh (to whom he was closely allied) Devine reluctantly retired to his estate where, as an old man living alone, he was constantly beaten and robbed. An Irish convict named Bernard Rochford befriended the old man in 1825 and upon his death in 1830 forged a Will and seized control of the estate and proceeded to subdivide it and sell it off. Many of the purchasers (and others, including the Governor) knew Rochford was in no position to sell the land as even if the will he had was authentic, he was a nonetheless a convict and therefore was prohibited from holding property, let alone profit from its sale. Rochford sold much of the land in exchange for grog and was continually in court over a variety of issues. As devious as Rochford was, he proved no match for his wife whose deceit landed him in jail where he died in 1839. The 30 new landowners included judges, mayors, magistrates, aldermen, newspaper editors, solicitors and other Sydney luminaries. They believed that with Rochford's death all suspicions regarding their ownership of the land would also die but that was not to be. In 1848 Nicholas Devine's heir John Devine arrived to lay claim to the entire estate |
| Analysis |
Australian |
|
Law (Australia,New South Wales) |
|
Modern history (c 1788-1914) (Australia,New South Wales) |
| Notes |
"An intriguing tale from the early history of Sydney wherein is unearthed the dastardly doings of shady convicts, lazy bureaucrats, disreputable lawyers, troubled governors, scheming businessmen, manipulative brides and other scurrilous and deceitful rogues to document the unfolding drama of what was the longest and most expensive court case in Australia regarding the fertile valley of 210 acres which now contain much of the suburbs of Newtown and Erskinville, known as the Newtown Ejectment Case"--Title page |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references |
| Subject |
Devine, John.
|
|
Devine, Nicholas, 1739-1830
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Rochford, Bernard, 1757-1839
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Ejectment -- New South Wales -- Cases
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Ejectment -- Australia -- New South Wales -- Cases.
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Land titles -- Australia -- Newtown (N.S.W.)
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Land titles -- Australia -- New South Wales -- Newtown
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Land titles -- Australia -- New South Wales.
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Trials -- Australia -- Sydney (N.S.W.)
|
| SUBJECT |
New South Wales -- History http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh90001495 -- 1788-1900
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Sydney (N.S.W.) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79021855 -- History http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99005024 -- 1788-1900
|
| ISBN |
0868069264 (paperback) |
|
9780868069265 (paperback) |
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