Eliza(beth) Maud Field (Orphan 1815)

Born 1828 Launceston, Died 17 July 1911, Wilcannia, NSW

Parents:

Catherine (Kitty) Rowen (Rowan)

Born about 1794 Londonderry, Northern Ireland; Buried 9 September 1836 Norfolk Plains, Tasmania

Ship: Princess Charlotte 7 June 1820 arrival Port Dalrymple

Francisco (Francis, Frank) Field

Baptised 3 November 1797 Birmingham, England; Died 14 May 1837 Norfolk Plains, Tasmania

Ship: Elizabeth Henrietta 13 February 1819 arrival Port Dalrymple

Discharged to Dr. John Learmonth

Ancestry Profile of Eliza

https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/14740108/person/302020877033/facts

Eliza and her siblings Catherine, Maria and Thomas entered the Orphan School in 1837 after their Norfolk Plains former convict parents died. The children were destitute as their father had been a poor provider and was constantly in trouble with the law. Like the other orphans, their adult fate was heavily determined by who they were discharged to. In an incredible stroke of luck, Eliza was to have a safe and happy placement to a prominent family, the Learmonths of Victoria's Western District.

Prior to entering the Orphan School, Eliza had been part of a largish family. Her parents Frank and Kitty Field had two boys and five girls (including twin girls). Her father Frank's character was summed up by the magistrate who appointed him as a special constable in Launceston in February 1828. The Police Magistrate said that Frank could "only be employed on the maxim that an old smuggler makes the best revenue officer". [1] Frank was dismissed in June 1828 as he had been convicted of illegally retailing wine. His wife Kitty did stay with him despite these ups and downs. At least this gave some stability to the children of the marriage in their very early years prior to admission to the Orphan School.

After being in the care of the Orphan School for nearly 4 and a half years, Eliza Field, aged 13, was discharged to Dr. John Learmonth in 1841. [2] The Learmonth family were well known in the medical field in Scotland and they also made their mark in Australia particularly in Victoria's Western District. [3] In 1845 at age 17, Eliza was taken by Dr. John Learmonth and his young family back to England and Scotland before returning to the Western District in 1848 and later marrying with Learmonth support. [4] The stability of Kitty and Frank's parenting, housing of the Orphan School and stewardship of employer Dr. John Learmonth set Eliza up well for married life.

In 1849, Eliza was married at age 21 at a Learmonth property in Moorabool, Western District and her witnesses were Learmonth women. They were clearly protective and fond of Eliza.

Eliza's wonderful placement with the Learmonth family was unlikely to be happenstance as there was a connection between the Orphan School and the Learmonth family. In January 1837 Mr Thomas Learmonth (presumably Senior) was appointed to a committee to enquire into the operations of the Orphan School at Hobart just prior to the Field children entering the institution. [5] The Learmonths continued to support the Orphan School in both their official (committee member) capacity and also by taking in discharged residents.

Eliza's sister Maria also was discharged to the medical fraternity this time in Geelong. [6] Quite probably this was a result of the Learmonth medical connection and their ongoing support of the Orphan School.

Eliza and her new husband Henry Duncan moved to Geelong, then the Victorian Goldfields in 1856 followed by a move in the late 1870s to Wilcannia, New South Wales. They went from the lure of gold to riding on the sheep's back in Western New South Wales. Eliza and Henry became the parents of 9 children (4 girls and 5 boys).

Henry Duncan died in Wilcannia in 1879 and Eliza remarried to an Alfred Henry Powell, confusingly also known also as 'Henry'.

Eliza died in 1911 in Wilcannia aged 83 having grown up in poverty on the Norfolk Plains, entering the Orphan School at age 9, being discharged 4 ½ years later to a kind family in the Western District of Victoria, then taken by them to England and Scotland for 3 years in her late teens, to marrying at 21 and living in Geelong, Victoria, moving to the Goldfields and finishing her journey in Wilcannia, Western New South Wales. Eliza lived a varied life with some incredible changes of fortune but overall, she succeeded from a very challenging start in life.

Figure 1. [7]

Figure 2.[8]

Bibliography

Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/tree/14740108/family?cfpid=191253590 , Accessed 4 August 2023.

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Duncan family, Photograph, c.1890s Wilcannia, New South Wales, original held by Fran Ferris, Sydney, New South Wales.

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'New South Wales Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers 1788 - 1856', Ancestry.com, Accessed 4 August 2023.

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