Yes, I saw this post when I was looking at your site. I almost felt like taking her for a guided tour and asking her around for afternoon tea. If you would care to offer same we would be delighted.
How does one go about finding about the paid passengers on the First Fleet? Young Tom Waterhouse (27 years of age) with whom we spend a bit of time at the Crystal Club at Crown gave us an autographed copy of his grandfather Bill’s biography. It says that the first Waterhouse came out on the first fleet as a free passenger, that he was responsible for encouraging Bass and Flinders to commence their explorative work, and that George Bass married this Mr Waterhouse’s sister. Further, Mr Waterhouse brought the first sheep to Australia for Governor Macarthur and retained 9 for himself. It is fascinating reading.
A L I S T O F O F F I C E R S , M E N A N D F A M I L I E S
Listed is a Henry Waterhouse a Midshipman in HMS Sirius, he had a sister Elizabeth who married George Bass.
Bass also fell in love with Elizabeth, the eldest sister
of his former captain, Henry Waterhouse, and on 8 October
1800 they were married at St James's Church, Piccadilly.
For the next ten weeks they were constantly together and
she went with him in the Venus to Portsmouth. They parted
sadly when the Venus sailed on 9 January 1801.
Here is a history of Henry Waterhouse.
Waterhouse, Henry (1770 - 1812)
Birth:
1770
Death:
27 July 1812, England
Cultural Heritage:
a.. English
Occupation:
a.. defence forces personnel (British)
b.. landowner
a.. Life Summary
b.. Resources
c.. Abbreviations
WATERHOUSE, HENRY (1770-1812), naval officer, was the
eldest son of William Waterhouse and his wife Susanna, née
Brewer. William was a page to the Duke of Cumberland who
was Henry's god-father. He entered the navy at an early
age and saw service in the Portland, Mediator, Ganges and
Merlin. In 1786 he joined the Sirius as a midshipman,
having been recommended to Governor Arthur Phillip by
Cumberland House. He was present at the first settlement
of New South Wales in 1788 and the settlement of Norfolk
Island, and accompanied Phillip on many excursions into
the new country, including the landing at Manly where
Phillip was speared. In December 1789 Phillip made him
acting third lieutenant of the Sirius when Lieutenant
Maxwell was discharged; the appointment was confirmed in
July 1792. His return to England was delayed by the loss
of the Sirius at Norfolk Island in 1790 and his transfer
to the Supply in February 1791; he eventually sailed in
1791 with a letter of recommendation from Phillip to Sir
Charles Middleton at the Admiralty. In May 1792 Waterhouse
was appointed lieutenant in the Swallow, was transferred
to the Bellerophon in March 1793, and was present at
Howe's victory on the Glorious First of June 1794.
Meanwhile Captain John Hunter had been appointed governor
of New South Wales and had sought the appointment of
Waterhouse as second commander of the Reliance with the
rank of commander and power to act in Hunter's absence.
Waterhouse was duly appointed, took charge of the Reliance
in July 1794, and arrived in Sydney in September 1795.
Next year he took her to the Cape of Good Hope to buy
stock for the colony. The widow of Colonel Gordon, who had
imported Spanish sheep to the Cape, offered her husband's
flock for sale; Waterhouse and Lieutenant William Kent
bought twenty-six after Commissary John Palmer had refused
them. The return voyage was very stormy and slow, but more
than half of Waterhouse's stock survived to reach Sydney
in June 1797.. These were the first merino sheep imported
into the colony, and Waterhouse supplied lambs to many of
the settlers including John Macarthur and Samuel Marsden;
most of the flock was sold to William Cox when Waterhouse
left the colony. He was not happy in New South Wales and
wrote to Phillip and Lord Sydney seeking their influence
to have him sent home. He quarrelled with Hunter at one
stage but was later reconciled and supported the governor
against the officers of the New South Wales Corps. He was
granted 25 acres (10 ha) at Liberty Plains and 4½ acres
(1.8 ha) at Parramatta in 1797, and bought another farm;
that year and in 1799 he acquired two leases at Port
Jackson, one of which, on Garden Island, he sold to Robert
Campbell on his departure. He made several voyages to
Norfolk Island but complained bitterly that the Reliance
was unseaworthy. In March 1800 he achieved his desire to
go home when Hunter sent him back to England.
On his arrival in London Waterhouse was promoted first
captain of the Reliance; he sought leave on account of ill
health, but appears to have recovered, for in October 1800
he began dismantling the Reliance, and was appointed
captain of the Raison the same month. He was one of the
witnesses at the marriage of George Bass to his sister,
and after 1810 regularly visited Matthew Flinders. Most of
his later life was spent at The Hermitage, near Rochester,
and his opinions on sheep breeding in New South Wales were
sought by John Macarthur and Sir Joseph Banks. He did not
marry but had an illegitimate daughter, Maria, by
Elizabeth Barnes (Baines), born in Sydney in 1791 and
taken to England by the Patersons in 1796. In his last
years Waterhouse tried to trace his brother-in-law, Bass,
who had disappeared on a voyage to South America.
Waterhouse died on 27 July 1812 and was buried at St
John's, Westminster.
Select Bibliography
Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 2, 3, 4, 6;
Historical Records of Australia, series 1, vols 1-2; J. S.
Cumpston, Shipping Arrivals and Departures Sydney,
1788-1825 (Canberra, 1963); manuscript catalogue under
Waterhouse (State Library of New South Wales); Bass papers
and Waterhouse papers (microfilm, State Library of New
South Wales). More on the resources
Author: Vivienne Parsons
Print Publication Details: Vivienne Parsons, 'Waterhouse,
Henry (1770 - 1812)', Australian Dictionary of Biography,
Volume 2, Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp 573-574.
