The Lambert Family.
GEORGE STANDEN born 13-5-1812 Hollington, Sussex. died 29-4-1870 Maitland, N.S.W. married 28-5-1850 Hollington to HANNAH LAMBERT born 4-3-1813 Hollington. died 28-3-1852 Bolwarra, N.S.W.......issue -
George & Hannah's first child, Olive was four when they arrived in Sydney on the "Bussorah Merchant" on 5-4-1841. Three more children were born at Largs, the youngest, Esther died in infancy. Hannah died six months later.
GEORGE STANDEN (1812 - 1870) remarried 20-11-1852 in Maitland (Wesleyan church)to HANNAH (nee HUXTABLE)the widow of RICHARD KINGWELL. HANNAH was born 6-3-1830 King's Nympton, Devon. died 13-7-1895 Maitland. Issue -
George & Hannah settled at Largs. The house they first lived in & in which the children were born, is still occupied but has some modification. It is the fourth house on the left hand side of Pitnacree Rd. entering Largs. There is no record of how long they resided there. They then took up farming at a location about half way between Largs & Raworth on the Narrowgut Rd. They grew lucerne for hay, corn, potatoes & other vegetables.
A very big flood occured in the Hunter River in April 1870, with the result that the whole of Phoenix Park, Bolwarra, etc. was covered with flood water. George & Hannah took refuge on the haystack inside the hayshed. George was drowned on t29-4-1870. The Maitland Mercury reported on the inquest thus:-
"We reported in our Saturday's issue, the death by drowning of George Standen, an old resident of Largs, on Thursday last. The particulars then given do not agree exactly with the evidence elicited by the coroner, T.W. Pearce Esq., who held an inquest yesterday at Mr. Murphy's hotel Morpeth, upon view of the body, which had been recovered on the previous evening. From the evidence then given it appeared that Standen posessed a small flat-bottomed dingy, about five feet long, which he had used in the river in the flood of March, but which was better adapted for crossing still water, than the course of a violent current. On Thursday afternoon deceased asked Badcock, a Neighbour, to allow his son, William to assist him in pulling across the river. Badcock objected, and remonstrated with Standen upon the danger of the attempt, but ultimately allowed his son to go. William Badcock can swim, deceased could not. The two got in the dingy, and deceased commenced to row across, but the boat began drifting down the river and so young Badcock took the paddle and he and Standen tried to make headway up the stream. They were unsuccessful, for the boat drifted down the stream again, and deceased stood up in the boat and overbalanced it. Both the occupants fell into the water, and the boat turned bottom upwards. Badcock swam ashore, and tried to get Mr. Bolt's boat to go to the assistance of the deceased, but failed, as he got into a hole. He looked towards the dingy as he went for Mr. Bolt's boat, and saw the deceased clinging to it, but he dropped from it, and was not seen afterwards. It was not the fact that they were picking up pumpkins. Deceased struck his head against the boat as he fell, and that probably stunned him. Search was made about the place where he had sunk, and assistance was speedily afforded by neighbours in boats as soon as young Badcock gave the alarm, but deceased did not re-appear. Search for the body continued for the next four days, Thomas Hall and his crew being particularly active in this work, and on Tuesday afternoon intelligence was brought to the police that a body had been seen floating at Osterley. The verdict was "accidentally drowned"."
Hannah and the children, with the aid of hired labour, carried on the farming and raised the whole family on that farm. Hannah and George are both buried in the Methodist portion of Morpeth Cemetery.
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© 1997 standen@aardvark.apana.org.au
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