Hi all, I have a James FREEMAN who was a convict transported on the Lord Eldon in 1817. He was a rough diamond and in 1818 was sent to Newcastle for 2 years for being insolent to his overseer. He apparently disliked working on the lime burners gang and attempted to escape with some others. He got 50 lashes for that. Back in Sydney he was assigned to Ellen MacIntosh, wife of a band master with one of the regiments. In the mid 1820's he was assigned to Robert Henderson and ran Henderson's dairy at Cabbage Tree. The 1828 census shows James Freeman as assigned to Henderson and residing at Brisbane Water. In 1831 he married another assignee to Henderson, Mary Ann SMITH, who was transported on the Kains in 1830. They had 5 or 6 children, including James jnr who established a bullock run hauling timber from the Cooranbong area and Watagans. Freeman's Drive and Freeman's Waterhole are named after him. James & Mary Freeman resided at Cabbage Tree for 20 years or more and are frequently mentioned in the Brisbane Water Bench Books, and in Rev Alfred Glennie's diaries. James snr also evidently led Police to a hut near Reids Mistake used by the Jew Boys bushranger gang in 1840. The Freemans had the pleasure of hosting an overnight stay by the gang at Cabbage Tree, as recalled in the obituary of Mary Freeman in the Newcastle Herald in 1891. James snr died in 1871 at Gladesville Hospital suffering dementia and other illnesses. He was sent there from Maitland after having wandered off into the Watagans and being rescued. By the way, there is a fabulous book called "An Organised Banditti" which tells the story of the Jew Boy Gang and sets it in the social context of the day. If you are interested in gaining a much deeper understanding of rural life in the 1840 era and the relationship between the settlers and the convict class I'd strongly recommend it. I bought it from the Wyong District Historical Society at the Henry Kendall Museum for $25. It's a great read and exceptionally well researched. cheers, David

Hello David I have written a short history of Wyee and found the Freeman name pop up quite a few times: "The small cemetery at Wyee is the resting place of many of the early pioneers - the Boyds, Deaves, Freemans, Hodges, Jury, Underwoods and Toepfers, amongst many others. The earliest grave is Baby Anthony Underwood 5.12.1890 (Source:Hunter Valley Genealogy, Wyee General Cemetery.) James Freeman, son of James Freeman Snr. is buried there. He died at Wyee on 24 October 1910, aged 75 years, and is buried next to his wife Soreina who died 18 December 1928, aged 88 years. Many of the Freeman family have their resting place there." Regards Joanne Wyee ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Armstrong" <David.Armstrong@Sun.COM> To: <AUS-NSW-CENTRAL-COAST-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 12:42 PM Subject: Re: [ANCC] Who was your earliest Central Coast ancestor ? > Hi all, > > I have a James FREEMAN who was a convict transported on the Lord Eldon > in 1817. He was a rough diamond and in 1818 was sent to Newcastle for 2 > years > for being insolent to his overseer. He apparently disliked working on the > lime > burners gang and attempted to escape with some others. He got 50 lashes > for that. Back in Sydney he was assigned to Ellen MacIntosh, wife of a > band >