Hi Drew,
Glad the info was of some help to you!
Re the localities- all are situated west of Sydney in central NSW. Am not sure about Lachlan as a place as there is nnothing to my knowledge by that name in NSW however there is one in Tasmania near Hobart ( New Norfolk) but given the Lachlan River is not far from these places then it may refer to a place near to the other places you mention all of which are due west of Sydney across the Mountains ( or Great Dividing Range) on the other side of what we Aussies call the sandstone curtain- near Bathurst and south of there on the road to Cowra. In fact the Lachlan River runs through Cowra and into the Murrumbidgee River (the River closest to where we live). Of course The Bidgee runs into the Murray which runs all the way from the Victorian mountains ( along the border of NSW and Victoria) into South Australia and into the sea south of Adelaide.
( My geography lesson for the year!!!:2fun: )
They also mined for gold at Mudgee with is a little further north and east of Dubbo and north of Hill End.
Hartley is a tiny little place between Lithgow and Bathurst. Carcoar is between Cowra ( now a reasonable sized country town) and Bathurst ( now a city). Molong only small , is also near Orange ( quite large) and Bathurst and Tuena is a tiny little place 80k Sth of Bathurst probably about 20 km SE of Carcoar as the crow flies ( an Aussie saying meaning in a straight line and not as the road winds!):biggrin: .
Hill End is North East of Bathurst and is a Gold mining area where gold was first found back in the 1850s. Perhaps your ancestors were into mining gold as were some of mine- only they were in Victoria near Ballarat - north West of Melbourne. There was a great deal of Gold mining around the Bathurst district. Other than that- it is farming land. Bathurst is quite a large township these days. Is very cold though- in winter. Has been known to snow at times!!!
Went to Hill End once and it was wet. cold and bloody miserable!
Plus the road was unsealed and rough boneshaker! Is very hilly there and rocky- typical gold mining countryside. I think even today there are only about half a dozen houses plus a pub.
( At least that is a plus!)
Happy researching....
I would imagine your convict received a pardon or ticket of leave as it was known so headed off to seek his fortune. When I was teaching I did a lot on the Gold Rush with the kids and also early Australia and we had a ball. It was interesting that many of the convicts sent out had committed relatively little crime- perhaps stealing a loaf of bread to feed the family or a bolt of cloth- even a handkerchief. As the hulks were full in England - captain Cook came a lookin' for somewhere to send the poor buggers... and so they ended up here minus their families- women included. The worst convict camps were Norfolk Island and Port Arthur in Tasmania. I think they are what makes us Ozzzies such a laconic bunch- plus resilient ( although I can't find any convicts in our lot- which is surprising!). Harsh life back in those times.
If you are interested in reading up on this stuff there is certainly plenty on the internet plus on Hill End, Sofala, Hargraves, Bathurst areas. Also on life in early Sydney... the Run Rebellion etc, The Rocks area, Parramatta et al.
I am having some fun finding out about Tickhill Castle at the moment where GGGgrandfather was a groom working at the stables back in the early 1800's.
Hope I haven't bored you to tears
cheers for now
Glen
