Cornish Association of NSW

Cobar Cornish History Project

CAPTAIN THOMAS LEAN

In the study of the Cobar district and the association of Cornish miners there, one is impressed by the effort which was made by Captain Thomas Lean in establishing the Cobar Copper Mining Company's development and operations. The location of the copper find in the west of New South Wales set a wide variety of problems which had to be overcome - isolation, drought, floods - with corresponding difficulties in establishing supplies, delivering copper ore and, of course, building up a town for the mining community.
At any mine, Cornish mining captains were seen to be key people who would display the traditional fatherly outlook and were always anxious to stabilise their work force by encouraging the miners to settle permanently and to raise their families in what was to be their town. These men had frequently gained wide experience in setting up such operations overseas in Cornwall, the Americas and South Africa. They had become important perople in the development of mines in Australia.

Captain Lean was one such man - with experience in South Australia's copper mining districts in the Adelaide Hills and at Moonta and Wallaroo. He had been in the gold mining districts of Victoria as well. The Lean family came originally from Cornwall but their activities extended into the mining district of Devon, just over the border of Cornwall with Devon. Thomas Lean was born at Bere Alston in Devon, of put Cornish stock. His father was Joseph Lean, born in the Cornish mining heartland of Gwennap, and his mother Grace nee Goldsworth came from Redruth. In what follows, information has been collected from a variety of sources but the principal family data source was the Biographical Index of South Australians 1836-1885 (BISA), prepared by the South Australian Genealogical and Heraldry Society. Over and above these searches, we are very beholden to two of the Lean descendants from separate branches of the family who migrated to South Australia. Their names will appear as the story unfolds.

The Lean Family of Cornwall

From BISA Listings

The first direct contact was with David J. Page whose 3xGGF was Joseph Lean. From BISA, the record shows that Joseph Lean's parents were Richard and Margaret Lean, a mining family who lived in Gwennap in Cornwall. Richard had married Margaret Notwell in that district, and Joseph Lean was born to them and baptised at Gwennap on 1 July 1790. At this stage, we do not have any further information about Richard and Margaret Lean nor of any other children though it is likely that Joseph had brothers and sisters. The family moved to the silver mines around the Cornwall-Devon border.

Joseph Lean married Grace nee Goldsworthy on 4 September 1813 at Bere Feres, Devon. Grace had been baptised in Redruth in Cornwall on 23 April 1791, the daughter of Paul Goldsworthy and Grace nee Bone. It seems that the Goldsworthy family had moved, about the same time as the Leans, to the silver mines or possibly to the copper mines in the same area. Ten children were born to Joseph and Grace Lean though it is not yet clear where some of them were born as the family apparently moved back from Devon to Cornwall. David Page commented: "Being miners the Leans moved more frequently than others of their social class. Any private records they may have left were dispersed as branches of the family moved apart or were extended by early death and re-marriage. Their movements also complicate the tracing of public records, especially when the moves pre-date the keeping of public records in England."

The BISA information we have is as follows:
Joseph (b.c1816 DEV?), John (b.c1818 DEV?), Thomas (b.c1819 Bere Alston DEV), William (b.c1820 Bere Alston DEV), Mary (b.c1821 CON?),
Richard (b.c1824 CON?), James (b.c1826 CON?), Sarah Ann (b.1830, bpt. 18 Oct 18.10.1830 Lostwithiel CON), Francis (b.1832 CON?),
Stephen (b.14 Oct 1834 Lostwithiel CON)

Joseph Snr was said to be a mining captain by 1840, living at Stoke Climsland in Devon when he and the family decided that they would emigrate to the colony in South Australia, newly formed in 1836. The record shows that Joseph Snr and five of his sons were going out as "bona fide labourers to work for wages". They joined the BRIGHTMAN, a 384 ton 3-mast ship built in 1825, and arrived on 13 December 1840 at Holdfast Bay (now Glenelg) in South Australia. That shipment of emigrants was the last to arrive before emigration to South Australia was suspended as a result of the grave financial crisis in the colony. They were not accompanied by Mary, the elder daughter, who stayed behind to marry William Snell, a Stoke Climsland miner. Mary and William Snell were not able to join the Lean family again until they were given clearance to emigrate on the 434 ton ship ISABELLA WATSON, the first to be despatched with assisted migrants when the emigration scheme was resumed. The ship arrived in South Australia on 3 April 1845 from London and Plymouth. Incidentally, when this ship was conveying a later batch of migrants to Melbourne, it became a complete wreck on Port Phillip Heads in Victoria on 21 March 1852.

Getting Started in South Australia

The 1840-1 financial crisis in the new Colony is well described in the book by A. Grenfell Price, The Foundation and Settlement of South Australia 1829-1845 (Published by F.W. Preece, Adelaide 1924). This crisis caused the 1841 cessation of emigration from England as mentioned above. By 1844-5, two important developments changed this situation. The first was the introduction of agricultural machinery which reduced the cost of production of grain for export. The second was the attention paid to the mineral wealth of the colony by Johannes Mengé, the geologist of the South Australian Company. He had examined large areas of the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Ranges minutely and reported the existence of many minerals including copper and marble from the Barossa Ranges. As Price notes, Mengé reported in 1841 that "all the minerals found in Switzerland across the St Gothard Pass are found in South Australia."

In 1841 the first large mineral discovery of silver-lead was accidentally made at Glen Osmond in the hills above Adelaide. A mine, appropriately named in Cornish style Wheal Gawler, was opened. In 1843, Wheal Watkins was commenced in the same area. Far more important though was the discovery in 1843 of the famous Kapunda copper mine, to the north of Adelaide. Early in 1844, Governor Grey informed the British Government that emigrants in large numbers were needed, particularly miners. The first ship Isabella Watson to arrive in 1845 after the Governor's recommendation had William Snell and Mary (nee Lean) on board.

Where better placed could a family with excellent mining background find themselves so soon after their 1840 arrival. Joseph Lean, well supported by his sons, must have joined in these new enterprises. Joseph is said to have occupied the position of the first mining manager of a copper mine in Australia. Copper ore was discovered in the Adelaide Hills in an area around villages now known as Callington and Kanmantoo near Bremer River. It is not surprising that the Lean family was soon to be found in that area. They must have joined the group of miners who decided to live in the district, at a place that became Staughton, a small village about three miles south of Kanmantoo, almost completely dedicated to cottages of miners and their families.

Lean Family Data

At this point in the story, it is worth recording all the Lean family information to be found in the BISA listings. There is some evidence that the information contained therein may not be entirely accurate as it derives from submissions made to the BISA Group of the South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society. As much careful checking of the data as was practicable was made, but it would be wise those for interested to check the data personally. It is evident that the births are sometimes said to be in Cornwall whereas other information gives them as in Devon.

Lean, Joseph par: Richard and Margaret NOTWELL bapt: 1.7.1790 Gwennap CON ENG d: 19.9.1855 Nairne SA AUS bd: Blakiston SA AUS arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Mining Captain res: Adelaide, Staughton Village rel: C/E
m: c1816 Grace nee GOLDSWORTHY par: Paul and Grace nee BONE bapt: 23.4.1791 Redruth CON ENG d: Adelaide SA bd: WTC? Adelaide SA AUS
ch: Joseph (c1816-1861), John (c1818-1902), Thomas (c1819-1901), Wm (c1820-1909), Mary SNELL (c1821-1889), Richard (c1824-1906), James (c1826-1889), Sarah Ann JACKSON (1830-1909), Francis (c1832-1863), Stephen (1834-1924) In the entries, the daughters' married surnames are given in capitals. The parish, county and other country entries are in the Chapman Code, recognised in all genealogical listings. Arrival (arr) in South Australia is given as year and ship. Parents (par) are given where known. In date listings, c (circa) stand for 'about'. WTC stand for West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide. With this background, the children of Joseph Lean are now listed below.

Lean, Joseph (jnr) b: c1816 CON ENG d: 7.8.1861 bd: WTC Adelaide SA arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Miner, Shoemaker res: Adelaide, Nairne SA AUS rel: C/E

Lean, John b: 1818 CON ENG d: 14.6.1902 Kadina SA AUS bd: Moonta SA AUS rel: C/E, Meth. arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Miner, Labourer res: Adelaide, Staughton Village, Nairne, Moonta SA
m: 2.11.1843 Abigail nee ROWE par: John b:c1825 St Austell CON ENG d: 24.9.1891 Moonta SA
ch: Mary Rowe (1844-1919), Louisa Jane (1846-1937), John (1817-1849), Wm (1849-1922), Josephine (1851-1919), Grace BATISTE (1853-1937), Priscilla (1855-1874), Millicent (1857-1886), Beatrice Marion (1859-1940), John (1862-1862), Horace Waldemar (1864-1930), Edith Dagmar (1872-1960)

Lean, Thomas b: c1819 Bere Alston DEV ENG (BISA has CON ENG) d: Cobar NSW AUS arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN dep: to Vic c1843, to SA c1849, to NSW 1871 occ: Miner, Innkeeper, Farmer, Butcher res: Adelaide, Callington, Mt Barker, Nairne, [added: Steiglitz VIC, Moonta SA, Cobar NSW].
m: 14.2.1844 Adelaide SA AUS Mary Ann nee ROGERS par: Wm b: c1822 CON ENG d: after 1901 occ: Dressmaker
ch: John (c1842-1850), Eliz (c1843-1845), Jane (1845- ), Eliz Jane Sanders (1847- ), Mary Ann (1849- ), Frank (1851-c1851), Kitty (c1853-c1853), Thomas Joseph Rogers (1855-after 1901), John (1862-1862), Wm Frank John (1863-after 1901).

Additional Vic and NSW Information

Thomas Lean and his family were in Victoria for six years when he was responsible for the Steiglitz mine north of Geelong. From the Victorian Pioneers Index 1837-1888 with births, marriages and deaths on a CD-ROM, it has been possible to list some information about members of Thomas' family born in Victoria. The NSW CD-ROM Federation Pioneers Index has information about birth, marriages and deaths for the Lean family in Cobar NSW. Births in Victoria: Lean, Kitty par: Thomas Lean and Mary Ann nee Rogers b: 1853 Geelong
Lean, Thomas Joseph Rogers par: Thomas and Mary Ann b: 1855 Chilwell
Lean, Kate Helen par: Thomas and Mary Ann b: 1857 Geelong

Deaths in NSW: Lean, Thomas par: Joseph and Grace d: 1901 Cobar NSW
Lean, Thomas Joseph Rogers par: Thomas and Mary Ann d: 1913 Cobar NSW

Marriages in NSW:

Lean, Kate Ellen m: 1874 Cobar NSW Richard Butler PEAKE Place of Reg: Bourke NSW
Kate Helen Lean is not mentioned in the BISA lists. There is no record of her death in Victoria. However, she was definitely with Thomas and Mary Ann in Cobar NSW, marrying there in 1874. Her second name is recorded in the NSW marriage record as Ellen not Helen. The birth record for her children also show her as Kate Ellen Peake. Kitty is listed in the BISA list but is recorded as dying in c1853. There is no record of her death in the Victorian list so it is not apparent where she died, even though she is shown as born in Geelong VIC.

Lean, William b: c1820 Bere Alston DEV ENG d: 20.2.1909 Adelaide SA AUS bd: WTC Adelaide arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Labourer, Miner, Policeman, Butcher res: Adelaide, Kanmantoo, Glen Osmond, Moonta rel: C/E
m: (1/2) 6.7.1842 Adelaide SA AUS Ellen SHILLABEER par: Andrew and Sphia nee DOWN b: c1823 ENG d: 16.4.1865 Adelaide SA AUS
ch: Wm (1843-1843), Edwin Henry (1844-1904), Ellen Sophia JACKSON (1847-1916), Wm Edmund (1850-1881), Amanda Georgina (1853-1854), Amanda Victoria SCHINNERS (1855-1941), Saml Albert Fredk (1860-1916) m: (2/2) 18.1.1866 Adelaide SA AUS Eliza Maria nee LANG par: Wm b: c1849 d: 8.1.1910 Adelaide
ch: Georgina Dorothy (1867-1929), Herbert Wm (1872-1900), Thos Alfred (1873-1927)

Snell, William bapt: c1814 Plymouth DEV ENG d: 17.4.1887 Kadina SA AUS arr: 1845 ISABELLA WATSON occ: Miner res: Staughton Village, Nairne, Kadina rel: C/E, Meth
m: c1840 CON ENG Mary nee LEAN par: Joseph and Grace nee GOLDSWORTHY bapt: c1821 CON ENG d: 1.5.1889 Kadina SA AUS
ch: Wm Joseph (1842-1930), Sarah Ann (1843-1908)m John Lean (1846-1906), Mary BUCKETT, JULIAN (1848-1923), Eliz ROUGH (1849-1881), Francis Lean (1852-1894), Jas Lean (1855-1875), Stephen Lean (1856-1923), Benjamin (1858-1895)

Lean, Richard b: c1824 CON ENG d: 25.7.1906 Dunedin NZ arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN dep: NZ c1854 occ: Miner, Innkeeper, Farmer res: Adelaide, Nairne, NZ rel: C/E, Presb
m: 14.1.1844 Adelaide SA AUS Elizabeth nee CONDIE par: Alexander and Janet nee STEWART b: c1823 Stirling SCT d: 9.7.1879 Pt Chalmers NZ
ch: Richard Joseph (1844-1899), Jas Staughton (1847-1903), Grace (1849-1930), Eliz (1850- ), Frank (1853-), Stephen (1855-1912), Mary (c1860- ), Thomas (c1862-1906), Sarah Ann (1865- )

Lean, James b: c1826 CON ENG par: Joseph and Grace nee GOLDSWORTHY d: 23.2.1889 Yahl Paddock SA bd: Mt Gambier SA AUS arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Miner, Farmer res: Adelaide, Staughton Village, Mt Pleasant, Glenburnie rel: C/E
m: (1/2) 25.12.1848 Blakiston SA Nanny nee CORNELIUS par: Richard and Jane WILLIAMS
ch: Cath James Cornelius (1849-1930), Mary Ann (1851-1937), Emily (1853-1916), Grace (1855-1934), James (1856-1946), Nanny (1858-1945)
m: (2/2) 29.2.1860 Mt Pleasant SA AUS Ann nee EGLINGTON par: Andrew b: c1828 d: 6.1.1869 Yahl Paddock SA AUS bd: Mt Gambier SA AUS ch: No issue

Jackson, Henry Farrington b: c1818 ENG d: Nairne SA bd: Blakiston SA AUS arr: 1839 FAIRFIELD occ: Carrier, Storekeeper, Postmaster and others res: Adelaide, Staughton Village, Callington, and others rel: C/E
m: Adelaide SA AUS Sarah Ann nee LEAN par: Joseph and Grace nee GOLDSWORTHY bapt: 18.10.1830 Lostwithiel CON ENG d: 10.12.1909 Nairne SA
ch: John (1848-1850), Henry Farrington (1849- ), Joseph Lean (1851- ), Stephen (1853- ), Inkerman Farrington (1855-1924), John Brokelbank (1858-1921), Averilda Marion (1859-1943), Dora Farrington COUZNER (1861- ), Francis Lean (1864-1933), Mary Ann (1866-1871), Minna Isabella Erks (1868- ), Sarah Ann McKENZIE (1870- ), Ada Marie Maud May (1873-1874), Olive Mildred (1878-1969)

Lean, Francis b: 1832 CON ENG d: 23.7.1863 Adelaide SA AUS bd: Blakiston SA arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Miner res: Adelaide, Staughton Village, Paringa, Callington rel: C/E
m: 14.8.1852 Adelaide SA Maria nee NEAL b: c1834 d: 29.8.1859 Paringa SA ch: No issue

[NOTE: The village of Paringa in this entry is close to Staughton Village and Callington in the Adelaide Hills of SA; it is not the Paringa on the River Murray near Renmark.]

Lean, Stephen b. 14.10.1834 Lostwithiel CON ENG d: 7.4.1924 Adelaide SA bd: WTC Adelaide SA arr: 1840 BRIGHTMAN occ: Miner, Innkeeper, Butcher res: Adelaide, Nairne, Moonta rel: C/E, Meth
m: 11.1.1855 Adelaide SA AUS Eliza nee BRAY par: Jas and Ann b: 8.3.1834 Chacewater CON ENG d: 19.7.1921 Goodwood SA
ch: Alma (1855- ) and twin Eva (1855-1954), Mary Adelaide (1857-1950), Ada SCHMIDT (1859-1950), Minta Anne (1862-c1962), Joseph (1865-1940), Amy Eliza (1868- ), Stephen Alfred Jas (1870-1961), Richard Arthur Francis (1874-1944)

[NOTE: It seems from some of the mining records in South Australia that Stephen Lean was involved in the Glen Osmond mines in the Adelaide Hills. He was certainly in the mining industry in Moonta. There is a note in Philip Payton's book The Cornish Miner in Australia that Stephen was the Captain Lean who opened the Wirrawilka mine in April 1861 near Hawker in the Flinders Ranges region of South Australia. However, Payton appears to have mistaken the Captain Lean who went to Cobar not as Thomas but as Stephen Lean.]

The Rogers Family and the Lean Connection

South Australia became an important colony for Cornish families from its establishment in 1836 up to the period when emigration into the colony was stopped in 1840. Looking at the names of emigrants who arrived during this early period, one cannot help but be struck by the number of Cornish surnames that are recorded. Even before the Lean family arrived in 1840, one other large Cornish family had already arrived in 1839 on the ship PLATINA, with its family head Francis Rogers. BISA records the extent of this family who ultimately took up residence in the Adelaide Hills at Nairne.

Rogers, Francis par: Joseph and Joan nee SMITH b: 12.2.1786 St Cleer CON ENG d: 28.7.1854 Blakiston SA AUS bd: Nairne SA arr: 1839 PLATINA occ: Shoemaker res: Nairne rel: C/E
m: 4.6.1816 Linkinhorne CON ENG Eliz nee SANDERS par: Wm and Joanna nee STACEY b: 19.2.1794 Linkinhorne CON ENG d: 1.10.1837
ch: Eliz Sanders NANCARROW (1817-1898), Wm (1818-1903), Jane (1819-1904), Mary Ann LEAN (1821- after 1901), Joseph (1823-1903), Johanna CROXTON (1826-1904), Cath WINN (1829-1904), Thos (1832-1898), John (1835-1897), Hannah (1837-1838)

Francis' wife, Elizabeth nee Sanders, probably died after the birth of their last child Hannah who also died in the next year. That was before the emigration to South Australia. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth Sanders Rogers, married William Nancarrow in 1840 in Cornwall and came out later than Francis, in the ship THOMAS ARBUTHNOT, arriving in 1855. They went to Ballarat where William died in 1888 and Elizabeth in 1898. William was a miner and hotelkeeper.

Mary Ann Rogers, as given above, became the wife of Thomas Lean in Adelaide SA and followed him up to Cobar NSW in 1871 after their six years in Victoria and their long stay in Moonta SA.

William Rogers arrived on the ship PLATINA with his father. He is listed in BISA as a mason, builder and pastoralist and became an MP in the SA Legislature. He resided in Nairne at first, then to Strathalbyn and finally in North Adelaide. He married Ann Wright in Adelaide on 7.3.1846. Her parents were George and Margaret nee Dougall. She was born in Stirling Scotland c1817 and arrived in SA on the CITY OF ADELAIDE in 1839.

Joseph Rogers did not arrive in SA until 1847 on the ship ABOUKIR. He was a mason and building contractor who lived in Alberton, Strathalbyn, Mount Gambier and Glenelg. He married Ann Childers Paterson Williams at Strathalbyn SA on 16.2.1849. Even with all their moves, they had nine children. Of the others in the original Rogers family, no information has become available at this stage. It seems likely that Francis Rogers would have had many descendants, spread around Australia in places like Ballarat in Victoria and in the mining industry in Queensland by all accounts.

Looking at the wide range of occupations including one MP, the Lean and Rogers families gave a great deal of support to the fledgling colony. There are some intriguing bits of history in some of the material which has been provided by David Page who is descended from Joseph Lean, his 3xGGF. In writing about Thomas Lean and some of his history as a miner, mining captain and, later in life, a grazier in NSW, David indicated that Thomas also dabbled in the hotel trade, mainly through family connections. His brother-in-law, William Rogers, built the New Inn at Nairne in the Adelaide Hills and transferred the licence to Thomas Lean in 1849. Thomas similarly became the licensee of the Callington Arms at Bremer in the next year. Thomas sold the Callington Arms to another brother-in-law, Francis Rogers, for £200 on 24 December 1851 and bought it back for £25 on 22 October 1856 when affairs of the Britannia Mining Company were being wound up. The fact was that all the thirsty customers had long gone to the Victorian Goldfields! It is also quite possible that the same Thomas Lean had a horse Highflyer which was unplaced in the Miners' Plate at the Bremer races on 17 April 1849.

But here is a story written by another descendant of Thomas Lean and Mary Ann nee Rogers. He is Norman Lean, of St George's Basin NSW, whose grandfather was William Frank John Lean, the last child of Thomas and Mary Ann. Their story has been put together by Colin Hadley who is Norman Lean's son-in-law, living near Bateman's Bay NSW. David Page and Norman Lean noticed these Web pages, placed for the Cornish Association of NSW, about Captain Lean and his involvement at Cobar. They contacted John Symonds by email. How different from the early days of communication in Australia!

Colin sent a note to indicate that Norman is descended from W. Frank J. Lean and that, when Thomas Lean died and was buried at Cobar in 1901, he left two living sons, Thomas and Frank, 21 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. Mary Ann Lean, Thomas' widow, was then living at Hildavale, aged 80. Thomas also had four brothers and one sister still living. Their names were John Lean, aged 86 at Moonta Mines SA, Richard Lean in NZ aged 78, Mrs Sarah Jackson at Nairne in SA, aged 76, and Stephen Lean in SA aged 74. Mrs Cath Winn, the sister-in-law of Thomas Lean, aged 72, was staying with the Lean family at their property Hildavale near Cobar when Thomas died. Mrs Winn had travelled from Adelaide to Cobar three months earlier, without breaking her journey (Cobar Herald, 13 July 1901).

In total, it is a remarkable story of two pioneering Cornish families, starting out in South Australia after emigrating from Cornwall around 1840!

If you wish, you can go to other pages of the story of Cobar and Gilbunnia using the Menu list.

The information has been prepared by John Symonds, CANSW Webmaster, with additional background stories provided by David Page and Colin Hadley whose assistance was much appreciated. Dated 20 October 1999 and modified 6 June 2010.