Emma COLLINS appears in the 1841 census living in Lansdown, Bath, Somerset. The census states that Emma was 7, and born in 'Sydney'. Emma is at the home of a a large family: George Clark, 25, painter, b Somerset; Emma Straight, 25, independent, born out of county; Jane Straight, 6, born out of county; Sophia Straight, 5, born out of county; Frances Straight, 2, born out of county; and Ann Wade, 30, female servant, born out of county.
Who was Emma? Where were her parents? How did the Emma's family come to be in NSW, and what became of them after 1841?
The COLLINS family have been described in a number resources. While I don't have access to it, a self-published book by Collins family descendant Morland Smith entitled 'Captain Thomas Collins, Master Mariner, Whaler, Queensland Pastoralist', and a seminar by Morland Smith on the family's history (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2Qhh5DzITA) are both available and provide great detail. There is also a significant amount of information at http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/Tamrookum_AllSaints/Other/Collins%20Family.htm , and descendant Dave Collins helped fill out details and confirm connections. This information allows me to briefly outline the Collins family, but refer the reader to the pages above.
Thomas Collins was born in Road, Somerset, England, and was a mariner who captained and owned ships. He first sailed to Sydney on the 'Three Bees' in 1814 (which burnt to the waterline in Sydney Cove). In 1823 he bought a ship, 'Elizabeth', and traded between England and Australia. His wife and children accompanied him on some of the voyages, and children were born on voyages, and around 1829 the family settled in Sydney NSW, Thomas becoming a notable whaler.
In Sydney, Thomas and his wife Sophia (nee DANVERS, also of Road, Somerset) had a number of children, identified from NSD BDM indexes and other sources. An example where I've accessed the transcript is that for William, born and baptized in 1831:
William Henry Collins, [child of] Thomas Collins, Master Mariner & Sophia Collins; Abode: Elizabeth Street [Sydney] [NSW AUS]; Born 11 Oct [1831], Baptised 17 Nov 1831, by Richard Hill, Registered at St James' Church of England Sydney, [NSW AUS]
This transcript reveals that Thomas was a 'master mariner', and that the family were living on Elizabeth Street in Sydney, attending St James' church (that still stands, across from the Hyde Park Barracks). In 1834, Emma P Collins was baptized (NSW 483/1834 V1834483 18). Five children were born in the period Thomas and Sarah lived in Sydney:
James Carden COLLINS, registered 1829 (actually born at sea): 415/1829 V1829415 15
William H COLLINS, registered 1831, 485/1831 V1831485 15 (died same year)
William COLLINS, registered 1832, 305/1832 V1832305 16 (died same year)
Emma P COLLINS, registered 1834, 483/1834 V1834483 18
Thomas COLLINS, registered 1837, 496/1837 V1837496 21
Jessie D COLLINS, registered 1838, 326/1838 V1838326 20
In 1838/9 Sophia and children relocated back to Somerset (with Thomas the father remaining behind). It is during this period that Emma's 1841 census entry appears while she is staying with family in Lansdown, Bath. The STRAIGHT family where Emma was staying were part of the extended DANVERS family - Emma STRAIGHT (nee DANVERS) was Emma COLLINS' aunt on her mother's side. While Emma was staying with an aunt and cousins, Emma's mother and siblings can also be found in the 1841 census in Road, Somerset:
Sophia Collins is present in the home, along with children Jessie, Thomas, Arthur, and Robert. Arthur and Robert were born in Somerset, but Jessie was born in New South Wales. Remarkably, they are simply listed as 'not born in the county', which highlights that there are undoubtedly many people present in the 1841 census that were born in the Australian colonies, who are simply listed as 'not born in the county'.
According to a descendant, it seems a financial crash in Sydney about 1843 led Thomas, involved in import and export businesses as well as continuing in whaling, unable to maintain the family in England and they returned to Sydney. Thomas completed one more whaling voyage (these could take up to a year and in one case 18 months) and ultimately settled on cheap land in Queensland as a grazier.
Emma and her Australian-born siblings returned and settled with the family. Emma married Andrew Inglis Henderson (1822-1908) on 2 Feb 1854 :
Empire (Sydney), 26 Feb 1853
MARRIED,
At Telamon, Moreton Bay, on the 2nd February, by the Rev. H. O. Irwin, Andrew Inglis, youngest son of James Henderson, Esq., Spyfield Cottage, near Edinburgh, Scotland, to Emma Pamela, eldest daughter of Thomas Collins, Esq., of Telamon, Logan River.
Andrew founded the Jimboomba Station in Queensland. Family records indicate that "In the late 1850s Andrew Henderson and his wife and 2 year old son, James, visited Scotland on a holiday trip, and returned to Brisbane on 25 July 1862, in the barque 'Sultana', with a tonnage of 1308 tons."
Given these movements it is difficult to determine the children Andrew and Emma had, but these include James (Qld, born 3rd May 1856, reg 1856/B/58), who travelled to Scotland on the family vacation. I cannot identify any other children of Andrew and Emma. Andrew died in 1908, and Emma on 6 July 1915 (1915/C3209) in Queensland, and is buried with her husband at grave location 11-65-28 of Toowong Cemetery, which may well have a headstone - I hope to see a picture of it.
Brisbane Courier, 7 July 1915
Emma's son James HENDERSON survived to adulthood and married. Of Emma's Sydney-born siblings who grew to adulthood:
James (really born off Trinidad but baptised in Sydney) married Mary Helena GLENNIE and died 1870 in Bundaberg QLD.
Jessie married Frenchman Alfred William Compigne, and died in Brisbane in 1911 (1911/B14236).
Thomas died 4 March 1856 at Marroon Station.
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