Sarah Mary Wade

Sarah Mary Wade was born on 22nd September 1793 at Mt Pitt Settlement, Norfolk Island, the first daughter of Mary Wade. Both Edward Teaque Harrigan and Jonathon Brooker, fellow convicts, were there at the time and Mary had children by both these men though it is uncertain who Sarah's father was as the early records aren’t available. Sarah assumed the Brooker surname. (Only one of Mary’s children went by the Harrigan surname.) Sarah died on 5th July 1887 at Picton, NSW and is buried at St Marks, Picton. Sarah had a daughter, Mary Ray.

Edward Ray and Catherine Herrick

Edward Ray is listed in the Campbelltown Pioneer Register as Edward HOWE and it seems that he was the illegitimate son of Mary Ray, who was William Ray's and Sarah Mary Wade's daughter. Mary Ray was a servant and may have been working for John Howe (a farmer) at the time. Edward's birth may not have been recorded but he was born at Campbelltown on 28th November 1826 and died in 1884 in Hay NSW. He was baptized at St Peter's Church, Campbelltown on September 17th, 1827.

According to the 1828 Census, Edward (aged 2) was living with his mother, Mary Ray (junior) aged 19 years, Mary Ray (Sarah Mary Wade) and Nathaniel Boon.

Edward became a squatter at Hay NSW. He lived at "Uardy" station in the 1840s, working for his uncle William Ray, and great-uncle Henry Angel before moving to Hay where he became licencee of the Farmer's Home Hotel. He and Henry Angel reputedly made the first ton of cheese on the river and took it to Sydney for sale in a dray drawn by a horse in shafts and four bullocks in front (J.J. Baylis in WWE July 14, 1914; Aug 1, 1914; and Oct 8, 1938).

(Henry Angel married one of Mary Wades’ daughters – Mary. Henry Angel was part of the Hume and Hovel Expedition which opened the path from Sydney to Port Phillip (Melbourne).)

On 19 November 1852, Edward married Catherine Herrick, the daughter of two convicts, in St Johns Catholic Church Campbelltown NSW. She was born on 14th February 1829 in Campbelltown NSW, and died on 9th January 1909 in Hay NSW. Catherine was named after her older sister who died in infancy. The tradition at the time was to name the next-born with the same name.

Edward contributed five pounds towards the construction of St Michael's Church, Wagga Wagga in 1859, and resided in the Narrandera-Hay area in 1869 (WWA March 6, 1869). He died at Riverview Farm, Hay on February 24, 1884, aged 57 years from chronic bronchitis. His headstone is at Hay Cemetery (Section RC Row G Lot 41/42).

Edward left his estate to his wife Catherine RAY of Hay, and his will is dated 14/7/1883 (papers held at Hay).

Thomas Raynor Blunden and Louisa Crawford

Thomas Raynor Blunden arrived in Melbourne in November 1852 aboard the "Severn" and soon after married Louisa Crawford at St. James, Church of England, Melbourne in 1853. Thomas was born in Matloch Bathe, Derbyshire, England around 1827.

After the wedding the family lived in Prahran, an inner suburb of Melbourne. They also spent time on the goldfields of Bendigo (Sandhurst) where Thomas was a prospector. Some of the children were born in this area. Around 1881 the family moved to Wylong in New South Wales, and Thomas became involved with some of his children in the local mining industry.