ALFRED SKINNER

1824 to 1883

EARLY LIFE IN ENGLAND

Mary was born at Canterbury in Kent, and her parents were Gabriel Skinner and Lydia Capeling. Gabriel was a carpenter or builder and worked in many wealthy homes where he met Lydia, and they ran away to get married, her parents disowning her. About 1900 Alfred jnr. received a letter from England asking particulars about his father’s family as there was a large sum of unclaimed money in Chancery under a Skinner name, no doubt left to Lydia. Nothing was done about it as Alfred knew little about his father. (Apparently it was a con similar to some today)

						Joseph Fairhall 13 JUL 1766 - SEP 1858
			James Fairhall 1805 - JAN 1877
						Hannah Watson 8 MAR 1768 - JUN 1843
Alfred Skinner 20 JUN 1824 - 27 SEP 1883
						Gabriel Skinner 3 NOV 1771 - 21 MAY 1844
			Mary Ann Skinner 1805 - 1 APR 1881
						Lydia Capeling 1777 - SEP 1843

MOVE TO AUSTRALIA

Alfred arrived in Sydney three months after his mother aboard the John McLellan of 588 tons, which left Portsmouth 30th May 1838 and arrived in Sydney on 30th October 1838. Alfred would have been only 14 years old and he travelled as a cabin passenger, the fare paid by James Fairhall.

He moved to Port Macquarie with his mother and step-father, John Sharpe, when Mary’s Uncle Charles Skinner came to Australia the following year. Alfred then moved to the Mudgee district and worked as a stockman.

Alfred married Eliza Cummins on 9th February 1847 in Mudgee, he was then 23 and Eliza only 16. Alfred was employed as a stock keeper at that time on Gunlawong Station, Mudgee owned by a Mr. Rouse.

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John Johnstone, born on the 4th April 1852, and took up land in the 1880’s when portions of the large holdings were resumed and owned Goorangarbie and Orwell of about 7,000 acres. He married Mary O’Shea and they had five children. He died at Gulargambone on 20th September, 1934, at the age of 82.

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Eliza died when only 17 years old and was buried in Mudgee, although they were living at Burran by then.

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Alfred Jnr, born on the 3rd January 1857, purchased Brightling Park in 1893 from his brothers and sisters and later expanded it to 6,700 acres. He married Sarah Smith from Lewinsfield, and also acquired this property.

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Lydia, born on the 1st March 1859 married Joseph Jenkins, her first cousin (Joseph’s mother and Lydia’s mother were sisters) and had seven children, one of whom, Roland, was killed in Belgium in 1917, he was with the 18th Battalion, 2nd Division, 1st AIF.

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Caroline, born 25th October 1860, was the first born at Burran, married Sam Maguire and later Jim Maguire, and had 14 children.

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George, born 15th April 1862, married Nellie Smith from Lewinsfield in 1888.

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Selina May, born 12th April 1864 died in 1875, eleven days before Jessie’s wedding and is buried on Warrie, then owned by James Patrick. Several people have reported seeing a ghost on Warrie, believed to be Selina.

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Edward Albert (Ted), born 2nd November 1866, married Louie Burlace but had no children.

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Sarah Maria, born 22nd March 1868 married George Fisher, and had five girls. George owned a lot of land including Back Tenandra, Gulargambone and Whitewood, Nyngan of 15,940 acres.

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Henry Robert, born 19th October 1869, married George’s sister Lily Fisher and they lived at Ulindi Warren, of 3,400acres. The acreage was substantially increased by buying adjoining land and this property was sold in August 1923. They then purchased Ingar Station of approximately 18,000 acres, between Nevertire and Warren which is now owned by Auscott, where cotton is grown. They had six children, but only three survived.

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Richard Thomas (Dick), born 29th June 1871 never married, he built a house for John on Orwell, called the “red house”, owned land at Warren of 2514 acres, next door to Henry at Ulindi. He left there about 1921, when the widow next door, Mrs Smith started to become interested in him and he moved to Lucknow, Girilambone, of about 7,000 acres. He was a keen photographer and travelled to New Zealand. At Lucknow in 1930 his income was £678/13/2, when the average wage was £150 per year and in 1935 he earned £1,647/3/11.

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Ada Lily, born 18th May 1873 married Arthur Smith from Lewinsfield a brother of Sarah, married to Alfred Jnr. and Nellie, married to George. He won Inglewarra in a land ballot in 1898. They had six children.

PARENT (M) Alfred Skinner
	Birth	20 JUN 1824	Brightling, Sussex, England
	Death	27 SEP 1883	Botany Road, Waterloo NSW Australia, buried Coonamble Cemetry, Coonamble NSW Australia
	Marriage	9 FEB 1847	to Eliza Cummins at St. John The Baptist, Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
	Marriage	11 JUN 1883	to Fanny Frances Booth at St Silas'' Church, Waterloo, NSW, Australia
	Father	James Fairhall
	Mother	Mary Ann Skinner
PARENT (F) Eliza Cummins
	Birth	19 SEP 1831	Tanderagee, Ballymore, County Armagh, Ireland
	Death	30 SEP 1881	Burren, Castlereagh River NSW Australia
	Marriage	9 FEB 1847	to Alfred Skinner at St. John The Baptist, Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
	Father	Joseph Cummins
	Mother	Eliza Finnegan
CHILDREN
M	George Joseph Skinner
	Birth	15 APR 1862	Burren, Castlereagh River NSW Australia
	Death	26 SEP 1934	Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia
F	Sarah Maria SKINNER
	Birth	22 MAR 1868	Baronne, NSW, AUS
	Death	27 APR 1950	Gulargambone, New South Wales, Australia
F	Jessie Ann Skinner
	Birth	24 MAY 1850	Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
	Death	1894	Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia
M	John Johnstone Skinner
	Birth	4 APR 1852	Mudgee, NSW, Australia
	Death	20 SEP 1934	Petersham, New South Wales, Australia
F	Eliza Jane Skinner
	Birth	13 JAN 1855	Mudgee NSW
	Death	17 MAR 1872	Mudgee NSW Australia
M	Alfred S SKINNER
	Birth	3 JAN 1857	Mudgee, NSW, Australia
	Death	17 MAR 1927	Waverley, NSW, Australia
F	Lydia SKINNER
	Birth	1 MAR 1859	Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
	Death	14 OCT 1931	Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia
F	Caroline Skinner
	Birth	25 SEP 1860	Baronne, New South Wales, Australia
	Death	11 FEB 1908	Quirindi, New South Wales, Australia
F	Selina Mary SKINNER
	Birth	12 APR 1864	Baronne, New South Wales, Australia
	Death	3 APR 1875	Warrie, Gulargambone, NSW, Australia
M	Edward (Ted) Albert SKINNER
	Birth	2 NOV 1866	Baronne, New South Wales, Australia
	Death	19 JUN 1950	Gosford Hospital, Gosford NSW
M	Richard Thomas Skinner
	Birth	29 JUN 1871	Baronne, New South Wales, Australia
	Death	23 JAN 1943	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
F	Ada Lily Skinner
	Birth	18 MAY 1873	Baronne, Gulargambone NSW Australia
	Death	6 AUG 1965	Coonamble NSW Australia
M	Henry Robert (Bob) Skinner
	Birth	19 OCT 1869	Baronne, NSW, AUS
	Death	4 AUG 1935	Warren Hospital, NSW

PARENT (M) Alfred Skinner
	Birth	20 JUN 1824	Brightling, Sussex, England
	Death	27 SEP 1883	Botany Road, Waterloo NSW Australia, buried Coonamble Cemetry, Coonamble NSW Australia
	Marriage	9 FEB 1847	to Eliza Cummins at St. John The Baptist, Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
	Marriage	11 JUN 1883	to Fanny Frances Booth at St Silas'' Church, Waterloo, NSW, Australia
	Father	James Fairhall
	Mother	Mary Ann Skinner
PARENT (F) Fanny Frances Booth
	Birth	ABT 1863	Sydney, NSW, Australia
	Death
	Marriage	11 JUN 1883	to Alfred Skinner at St Silas'' Church, Waterloo, NSW, Australia
	Father	?
	Mother	?
CHILDREN

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RE-MARRIAGE AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH

Alfred remarried on the 11th June 1883 to Fanny Francis Booth, after Eliza passed away in 1881, and moved to 27 Botany Rd Waterloo in Sydney to live. Alfred died three months later on 27th September 1883 by drowning (according to family folk lore, Fanny’s two brothers, William and Thomas drowned him in six inches of water in Botany Bay), most likely murder as the autopsy showed a hit on his head and no water in his lungs. Fanny remarried twice more, she also spent time in gaol for prostitution and drunkenness. The Coroners verdict was that he committed suicide.

Their thirteen children ranged in age from 33 down to only 10 when Alfred died, and the older ones still living at Brightling Park must have looked after the younger ones, with help from their neighbours, the Smiths.

CORONERS INQUEST

…The city coroner also held an inquest at the South Sydney Morgue yesterday afternoon, on the body of a man named Alfred Skinner, who was found drowned in a water hole underneath a bridge on the Botany Road, Waterloo on Monday by a man named Thomas Booth. The evidence showed that the deceased retired to bed as usual about 10pm on the 16th instant, but rose and went out early on the following morning. He left a note on his table addressed to his father-in-law Mr Henry Booth, with whom he was staying, stating that he intended to do away with himself, owing to certain domestic troubles, and further stating where his body could be found. A post-mortem examination of the body was made by Dr Milford, who gave evidence to the effect that the deceased’s brain was much diseased. The jury after hearing the evidence found that the deceased died from suffocation by drowning, and that the drowning was his own act.

Fanny claimed all his estate, a notice appeared in the Government Gazette 8 days after Alfred’s death., but she didn’t get anything and it took 10 years to finalise his estate. At probate in September 1891, Alfred’s assets were listed as an allotment of land at Mudgee, 40 acres of freehold, 640 acres conditionally purchased and 1200 acres conditionally leased, all 18 miles from Coonamble. There seems to have been some legal disputes shortly after his death, but the estate was divided amongst his children, and was sold in 1891 and the proceeds divided equally. His son Alfred jnr bought the 640 acre block and it is still owned by his descendants.

The autopsy performed by Dr Milford at the Sydney Mortuary stated his cause of death as syncope and asphyxia, which is loss of consciousness and not breathing. There was also a bump on his head and bleeding under the scalp. It appears he either slipped and hit his head or someone hit him and pushed him into the water.

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PHOTO GALLERY FOR ALFRED SKINNER