Richard Watson is my great great grandfather. And he is a mystery. 

On 4 Nov 1844, he married Eliza Welham at St Andrews Presbyterian Church of Scotland in Sydney. The ceremony by performed by Rev John McGarvie and the witnesses were Alexander Douglass and Sarah Lindon.

About three months earlier, Eliza had given birth to their first child, Elizabeth. they went on to have 10 more children including my great grandfather, David.

When Richard died on 21 Jun 1898 at Hillgrove from senile decay and a stroke, David was the informant on the death certificate. He tells us that his father was 71 years old, that he was born in England, and that he had lived in the “colonies” for about 60 years. He records that Richard was 17 when he married Eliza. He also tells us that Richard’s parents were unknown.

So from this scant information we can add a little to what we know, or think we know, about Richard. He was 71 in 1898 and 17 in 1844, so he was born about 1827 in England. He had been in the colony for about 60 years, so when he arrived he was only 11 years old.

And that is all there is. We know nothing more about Richard prior to the birth of Elizabeth on 12 August 1844. Who was he? Where was he born? Who were his parents? How did he come to be in Sydney?

One thing I can say for absolute certain is that, whatever went before, he is definitely my great great grandfather. Twenty DNA matches is pretty conclusive evidence supporting a strong and complete paper trail.

In Van Diemen’s Land in August of 1827, a third fleet convict called Richard Watson and Hannah Williams, the daughter of two convicts from Norfolk Island, had a son called Richard. There is a birth certificate for Richard and then nothing. VDL Richard completely disappears. Because of the birth date many researchers believe that Sydney Richard and VDL Richard are the same Richard. For many years, I believed that this was the case and spent a lot of time researching VDL and Norfolk Island history. But I have more recently become convinced that this is not so, no matter how much I want it to be. 

Today I have started a six-month dedicated research project to try to find Richard’s story. To find out if Sydney Richard and VDL Richard are the same person. To find out the true story behind the tale of two Richards.

---