Contributed by "Gwen Hubert" <ghubert-at-pcug-org-au>

Thomas Wellsmore was born to Joseph and Anne (Ketley) Willsmore in 1802 in Bocking, Essex, England. He had a brother Joseph and four sisters. A sister Mary Anne died soon after birth. Thomas grew up illiterate. On 11^th December 1822 Thomas was tried in the Essex Assizes on a charge of housebreaking. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was transported to Australia on the ship Guildford on it’s sixth voyage, which was not without incident, as the ship sprang a leak between Teneriffe and Rio, and spent two months in Rio for repairs .

They arrived in Australia in 1824 and Thomas was employed at first by Mr. Wiltshire who employed mechanics. Mechanics were the skilled workers of the time and valued for their skills and sought after in the early days of the colony. Thomas was a tanner according to his papers. Next, Thomas was in the employ of Lieutenant Stoddard as a house servant. On the departure of Lieut Stoddard from the colony, he recommended Thomas to Hannibal MacArthur. Hannibal wrote to the Governor requesting the services of Thomas.

In the census of 1828, Thomas was a groom for Hannibal MacArthur at the Vineyard". Thomas wanted to marry Elizabeth Nicholls in 1831, but was not allowed. Elizabeth was a house servant of Mrs. Redfern at Airds .She was serving a seven year sentence imposed on her in London. They didn’t give up the idea of marriage and applied again in 1833 and this time were given permission. They both had a ticket of leave by this time, so were married at St. Luke’s Church in Liverpool. Sadly Elizabeth died in 1833 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Luke’s.       

 Mary Barrett arrived in Sydney in February 1835 from Cork in Ireland as a free woman. Thomas applied to marry her in August 1835 and they were married in St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney in September. Thomas was appointed a policeman for Queanbeyan in May 1839 and his wife and family of three young children moved into a hut at Bungendore, where Mary was overcome by two bushrangers who burst into her home while her husband was absent. Mary Welsmore gave evidence in the trial of the bushranger Paddy Curran in 1841 when he was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to death. 

The book "Sheep and Shepherds" by Barbara Dawson about Bibbenluke Station noted that Thomas was a shepherd from March 1852 to February 1853 at Ando. In an article by Bob Kearns which was sent to me by Noel Danvers, Thomas was described as a carrier employed at Mt. Cooper.

Thomas and Mary had three children, Mary Anne baptised 1836, Thomas junior born ca.1837, James born ca 1838. Mary Anne married Thomas Fleming on 15^th September 1851 at Buckalong. Thomas junior married Mary Rankin at Bombala on 4^th Nov. 1860. James married Ellen Sarah Whalan in 1866 at Ironmungy. Thomas senior selected farm 16 at Ando according to the book "A Big Lookout" by Frank Allen. Ando is in the Parish of Wellsmore. Also there is a Wellsmore Hill in the parish of Napier, rising from Tom Farm Creek, in the area of Tombong. Thomas Wellsmore (Willsmore) was found dead in a gully near Cooma on 1^st July 1876. He had been on his way to the bank in Cooma. Thomas is buried in the old cemetery at Christ Church Cooma. His name is spelt Willsmor and the date of his death on his tombstone is 5 July 1876 and his age 77 years. There is no record of Mary’s death but we believe she is buried at Mt.Cooper or Craigie. Eileen and Doreen Wellsmore are mentioned in the historical notes of Nimmitabel as pupils at school in Nimmitabel . Charles , a son of James and Ellen Sarah Wellsmore, married Caroline Giddings at Adaminaby in 1899.
 
Their children were: Eileen born 1901, Doreen born 1903, Desmondborn 1905, Noel born 1907, Cecil born 1909. Some time after 1909 the family moved to Ando, calling their property "Chelmsford". The Post Office was managed by Charles and Carrie Wellsmore, assisted by their daughters Eileen and Doreen. (From the book "A Big Lookout " by Frank Allen). An advertisement appeared in the "Bombala Times" for a "Leaving the district clearance sale" on 17 February 1922 for Charles Wellsmore. The property was purchased by Mr. Cotterill. Charles purchased a grazing property at or near Trangie. In 1924 Eileen married Edgar A. Richardson at Narromine. In 1927 Doreen married Stanley W. Richardson, Edgar’s brother.

 Desmond married Lucy Mary Cleary in 1932 at Windsor. Noel married Doris McCallum in New Zealand in 1931. In 1949 Cecil married Daphne M. Frost. One of their children Desmond lives in America. Some local families linked to the Wellsmore family by marriage are as follows: Whalan, Fleming, Langhorne, Summerell, Whitby, Williams, Williamson, Napthali, Crisp, Reid, McPhie, Daniels, Murrell, Mould, Blyton, Aitchison, Constance, Mugridge.

Contributed by "Gwen Hubert" <ghubert-at-pcug-org-au>