Thomas and Mary

(Photo with thanks from Diane Edwards - July 2006)

Wednesday, June 30^th 1909

Obituary

Mr. Thomas Avery.

Another of the old and revered pioneers of the Manning district passed away to his reward on

Monday morning last at his residence, Purfleet. Although able to move about, it was recognized

for some time past that Mr. Avery’s strength was declining rapidly, and that the end might be

expected at any time. Throughout his illness he received the constant and loving watchfulness

of his family, also of his devoted wife, who predeceased him by only about three months. Death

came at last as a happy release from suffering.

The late Mr. Avery, who was 77 years of age, was one of “the saints of God,” and his work in

the Methodist Church and Sunday School at Taree for over half a century will never be

forgotten. For fifty years, in storm or sunshine, he was at his post – having to pull across the

flooded river at times and overcome great obstacles in order to be present. He will be best

remembered, however, by his work among the younger children of the school, for whom he had

a great affection, and by whom he was loved in return. Many to-day who have reached

manhood’s and womanhood’s estate have reason to bless the name of Thomas Avery. Towards

the close of last year, as a mark of esteem and sympathy with him in his illness, the teachers and

scholars of the Sunday school presented their old friend with an adjustable easy chair.

The late Mr. Avery was married at Bandon Grove, Williams River, to a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.

Wm. Martin, and early in the year 1855 arrived on the Manning, settling at Tinonee, where for

some years Mr. Avery carried on a butchering business. He then came to Taree, and erected a

flour mill near the present ferry site, at the mouth of Mill Creek, from which the creek derives its

name.

Mr. and Mrs. Avery afterwards went to reside on the Hastings, and later on for a short time at

Newendoe, but returned to the Manning again, when Mr. Avery purchased from the late Mr.

Snowdon the farm at at Carter’s Creek, near Taree, which he subsequently sold to Mr. C. Lean,

who has since disposed of it to Mr. A. W. Pulsford. Mr. Avery then purchased his present farm,

opposite Taree, from Mr. H. McLennan.

The sons and daughters of the marriage are:- Mr. John Avery, Miss Mary Ann Avery, Mrs. W

Strickland (Comboyne), Miss Lizzie Avery, and Mrs. S Doust. One son is deceased.

Gentle and retiring in disposition, avoiding strife, industrious in his daily work, an affectionate

husband and father, he was an example to all around him.

The remains were interred in the Dawson Cemetery yesterday (Tuesday) morning – Rev L. H.

Kelynack, B. A. conducting the service. The funeral cortege was large and representative. 

Excerpt from The Struggle Against Isolation by John Ramsland pages 48 & 49.
 'At subsequent Taree township sales allotments were purchased by John See, Thomas Avery, J

Beraud, Charles McDonell, H. Edwards, H. Weston, C. Benjamin, JohnCaldwell, Thomas Bligh,

Thomas Dyball, Henry Lyndon, James Parker and Thomas Wootton. All these purchases were

made before 1864.
Thomas Avery established a flour mill near the mouth of Mill Creek to serve all and sundry in the

pioneering district. He was born in Gloucestershire, England .. and migrated at the age of nine with

his parents to the colony in 1839 aboard the Orestes, arriving on 28 November. They had departed

from Bristol, England on 13 August 1839. His parents settled in the Hunter district from which

many of the early settlers eventually moved north to the Manning and other coastal rivers. In

1853 Thomas Avery, as a young man of about twenty three years, married Mary Martin at Seaham

on 24 February. They were married by the Rev. Robert Blain, an early Presbyterian minister. The

next year the young Avery couple moved north and became pioneers of the Manning District.

They were to remain there for the rest of their lives. They took up residence first at Tinonee but

then purchased their allotment at Taree. Thomas then established his flour mill on a small stream

close to what was later known as Fotheringham's Wharf. The stream at this spot derived its name

from the fact that Thomas Avery's flour mill was established on its bank. The Avery flour mill

stood on the site where the union sale mart was later established. The pioneering settlers came

from many miles around with their burdens of bagged-up wheat to have it processed at the mill.

Some pulled up the river for many miles on small, heavily laden boats. For many years the mill

building was a landmark in the district, especially on the River. Avery's flour mill did not produce

a superfine white flour but a coarse meal flour from the wheat. The early settlers brought the grain

to the mill, had it treated, and took it home again to form the basis of the family bill of fare in

coarse and heavy textured home-made loaves. The early settlers were enthusiastic about growing

wheat, especially for domestic consumption, and produced several reasonably successful crops

before rust and other diseases became a serious problem. Surplus bagged flour from Avery's mill

was often used in barter by early the settlers. Avery's mill was perhaps the last relic of the wheat

venture. Mill Creek is now contained in boxed drains under Fotheringham Park.
The boiler from the flour mill was sealed by Thomas Avery when he closed the flour mill through

lack of customers when the rust ruined the valley's wheat crop. He floated the boiler across the

Manning to the Purfleet side of Carter's Creek where he had purchased a property from Mr.

Snowden who moved to the Richmond River. The boiler was installed as a tank for rain water.

After some years on this property Thomas Avery purchased an extensive portion of the

McLennan Estate on Purfleet in its place. Thomas and Mary Avery both died in 1909 on their

property at Purfleet. Thomas Avery was a devout Christian and helped to establish the Wesleyan

faith in the Valley. When he owned the mill in Taree he would boat to Glenthorne on Sundays and

run a Methodist Sunday School there. He later became closely associated with the Methodist

Sunday School at Taree.
Thomas Avery's boiler from the old flour mill is still in existence at the Pines, Glenthorne (originally

Purfleet), close to the southern side of Martin Bridge. '

More About Thomas Avery:

Burial: Dawson Methodist Cemetery, New South Wales

Immigration: 28 Nov 1839, "Orestes"

More About Mary Martin:

Burial: Dawson Methodist Cemetery, New South Wales

Immigration: 02 Oct 1838, Coromandel

More About Thomas Avery and Mary Martin:

Marriage: 24 Feb 1853, Williams River, New South Wales

Children of Thomas Avery and Mary Martin are:

        2                 i.    Mary Ann⁸ Avery, born 1856 in Termone, New South Wales; died 26 Jul 1926 in Taree, New South Wales.

More About Mary Ann Avery: