Dadswell Family History
Generation 8
Charles Frederick Dadswell (1847-1928) and Hannah Richardson
On this page:
Ancestors of Charles Frederick Dadswell
Charles Dadswell's story
Key family dates
Further information
Ancestors of Charles Frederick Dadswell
Robert Doudeswell 1560 > Robert Doudeswell 1606 > Edward Dodswell 1659 > Edward Dodswell 1679 > Robert Dadswell 1711 > Robert Dadswell 1773 > Charles Dadswell 1817 > Charles Frederick Dadswell 1847
Charles Dadswell's story
Charles Frederick Dadswell was the only child of Charles and Elizabeth (Hoessner, nee Broadfield) Dadswell. He was born at Islington, London on 1 May 1847. It is thought Elizabeth died in 1849 and Charles Frederick is known to have been staying with an uncle, Robert Dadswell, at Poundfield, Rotherfield in 1851.
In the following year, Charles and his father boarded the sailing ship General Hewett to migrate to Australia, to join his uncle Thomas Ovenden Dadswell who was already living in Sydney. However Charles Sr became seriously ill during this 1852 voyage.
On this occasion the ship was carrying merchandise and 185 passengers from England. An extract from 'Eliza's Diary 1852' (written by a passenger, whose surname is not known) records the ship left London docks on August 14th, sailed to Plymouth, then resumed the voyage, 'crossing the line' (the equator) on October 13th and nearing the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, on November 12th.
She then tells of the death of a fellow passenger on November 22nd, and went on to write "Saturday [November 27th] Mr Dadswell died." So there is a record that Charles Dadswell died on 27 November 1852 while aboard the General Hewett although the exact location is not recorded. According to NSW shipping records, three passengers died during this voyage - two from dysentery and one from fever.
While the NSW passenger list for this trip gives the names of cabin passengers, it does not record the names of steerage passengers (those travelling in the cheaper accommodation formerly used for cargo).
The Dadswell name does not appear among cabin passenger names but it appears that Charles Sr and his five-year-old son Charles Frederick Dadswell were on board - the younger Charles continued onto Australia and when the ship arrived in Sydney almost a month later, on 24 December 1852, he was taken into the care of his uncle, Thomas Ovenden Dadswell (1802-1880) a bootmaker living at 34 King Street, Sydney.
Charles lived with his uncle for many years, became a bootmaker himself, and on 29 September 1870 married Hannah Maria Richardson, daughter of George Richardson. Together they had eight children (two died as infants). On the death of his uncle in 1880, Charles inherited his relative's sizeable estate. Hannah died in 1913, and Charles in 1928.
Picture below: The boot manufacturing business conducted in King Street, Sydney initially by Thomas Ovenden Dadswell and then by his nephew Charles Frederick Dadswell. The group is believed to be staff. It is unclear if Thomas Dadswell or his nephew Charles Dadswell is among them. According to notes on the back of the photograph, the picture was taken by Beaufoy Merlin of the American and Australasian Photographic Co., presumably in the early 1870s.
An obituary in the 9 August 1928 Sydney Morning Herald (where one of Charles' sons worked), read:
The death occurred yesterday afternoon, at the residence of his daughter at Mosman, of Mr Charles Frederick Dadswell, in his 81st year.
The late Mr Dadswell, who was for many years in business as a boot and shoe manufacturer and importer, was esteemed by all who knew him. He was one of the partners in the old firm of Wickham, Martin and Dadswell, which had one of the most extensive boot importing businesses in its day. Of recent years he had acted as agent for a number of English manufacturers.
Mr Dadswell, who was born in England on May 1, 1847, had been a resident of Sydney since he was five years of age. He is survived by three sons - Mr. H. E. Dadswell (secretary of John Fairfax and Sons, Ltd.), Mr. O. R. Dadswell, Mr. A. R. Dadswell - and one daughter, Mrs. C. H. Read.
Key family dates
| Charles Frederick Dadswell born 1 May 1847 - died NSW 8 Aug 1928 |
married at Sydney NSW 29 Sep 1870 |
Hannah Maria Richardson born 29 Sep 1851 - died 29 Jan 1913 |
Children -
1. Thomas Ovenden Dadswell born 2 Sep 1871 - [marr Laura Elizabeth Browne] - died 22 Dec 1909
2. Charles Frederick Dadswell born 1872 - died 1872
3. Ernest George Dadswell born 1874 - died 2 Dec 1874
4. Herbert Edward Dadswell born 25 May 1875 - [marr 1. May Walton, 2. Linda Isabel Quinton] - died 5 Mar 1968
[Herbert and May are parents of Australian forester and wood scientist Eric Dadswell]
5. Ethelind Mary Dadswell born 13 May 1878 - [marr Charles Hope Read] - died 1971
6. Gertrude May Dadswell born 5 Apr 1880 - [marr Morris Henry Meyers] - died Nov 1909
7. Oscar Reginald Dadswell born 8 Jun 1882 - [marr Margaret Agnes Jane Reid] - died 29 Apr 1975
8. Arthur Raymond Dadswell born 15 Nov 1884 - [marr Maysell Cobcroft Pidgeon] - died 18 Jun 1984
[Arthur and Maysell are parents of Australian sculptor Lyndon Dadswell]
Further information
Charles and Elizabeth Dadswell, parents of Charles Frederick Dadswell
Thomas Ovenden Dadswell, uncle of Charles Frederick Dadswell