Story: Isabella Snowden (1818 - 1851)

From Vicki Smith, added to this site 16 Sep 2004

Isabella Snowden was born in 1818, the dau of Andrew and Sarah Snowden (nee Darke). Some confusion exists about the actual date of her birth but 5Apr1818 has been accepted.

1. The Mutch Index records an entry for St. John's Parramatta: - 'Andrew Snowden and Sarah Dart had a daughter, Isabella, born 5 Apr 1818 and baptised 25 May 1822'
2. A card in the Mitchell Library card Index states: - '1818, Jun 13, daughter of Andrew, Isabella, born at Northern Boundary.'
3. Bigge's Appendix, Returns of BDM 1816-21, p. 116 A2130 - '1818, Apr 5, daughter of Andrew & Isabella, born at Parramatta. P5. Also 'Oct 25, daughter of Andrew and Sarah Snowden, bap St John's Parramatta.'
4. Bigge's Appendix 1818, Returns of Bigge 1816-1821 p116 A2130 - 'Isabella, Daughter of Andrew & Sarah Snowden Chr 25 Oct 1818 at Parramatta St John. While all these sources cannot agree on the birth date, two dates, 25 Oct 1818 and 25 May 1822 have been suggested for the baptism. A search has not been made of the registers of St. John's Parramatta. (On the Mutch Index for Isabella's sister, Mary, it is stated that she was born 28 Feb 1820 and baptised 25 May 1822. This baptismal date is the same as one suggested for Isabella and may even fit in with the baptism of a brother, John, who is listed on 1825 General Muster but is missing from the 1828 Census)

There could even be a possibility that Isabella was born in 1816 as the 1825 General Muster gives her details as Isabella, born in colony, age 9 and the 1828 Census: Isabella (recorded as Gabella) aged 11 years, born in Colony. A daughter, Sarah, was born to Isabella on 5 Dec 1838 (just two months after Charles arrived on the ship Palmyra). Nothing further is known about Sarah. A son, Henry was born 18 Apr 1840, 'to Charles Gilbert and Isabella Snowden'. The original entry was found on a card index at the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney and has since been confirmed by the indexes and registrars (on microfilm) of the Registrar General of NSW. Henry Gilbert was baptised 15 May 1840 by the Presbyterian Minister Jas Allen at Parramatta. (This Henry died but no record can be found of his death - although the death of a Henery Snowden is registered in 1840!)

Three more sons were born - Andrew, Richard and another Henry - before Charles and Isabella were married. The births of Richard and Henry are on the Indexes BDM Registrar General of NSW. Richard was born 17 Sep 1843 and Henry was born 22 Jun 1845 - both at Castle Hill. No record can be found of Andrew. Perhaps the family was too preoccupied with the death of the first Henry to record the birth of Andrew.

On the 1841 Census a Charles Gilbert was registered as living at Parramatta. All details - approximate ages and sex, number of children, where born, religion and occupations - all agree with Charles, Isabella, Sarah and Andrew at that time.

Isabella and Charles Gilbert (Widower) were married on 4 Apr 1845 by banns in the Church of England Church in the parish of Castle Hill. The Minister was H H Bobart. The witnesses were Thomas Horton and Silvanus Abbot both of Castle Hill. Charles Gilbert signed with his name, Isabella with an "X". Their last child, Charles was born in Windsor on 2 Sep 1847. He was baptised in the parish of Castle Hil; and Dooral, county of Cumberland on 12Dec1847. His father's abode at that time was given as Dooral and his profession as a labourer. (On son Charles death certificate in 1909, it cites his mother as Charlotte Lowe! Perhaps because he was very young when his mother died, he mistook the surname Lowe for Snow and was not aware of the final syllable! The death certificate for Henry Gilbert - b1845 - gives his parents names correctly.)

(Isabella's sister Sarah married John Dean and had six children in Parramatta between 1826 and 1838 after which the family moved to Tasmania. Her other sister Mary was married twice (to John Smith in 1838 and William Lane in 1842) in the Prospect and Pitt Town areas (These two towns are about 30km from each other). Mary produced ten children between 1838 and 1862. I do not know if Isabella had contact with her two sisters and their families. Distances, albeit short, were a great barrier in those early days.)

Within six years of her marriage Isabella was dead. She died on 1 Aug 1851 aged 34 years. Her five children - Sarah, Andrew, Richard, Henry and Charles - were aged from 13 down to 4 years. She is buried at the Upper Colo Cemetery - Row 7, Plot 7.
(see details below***).

I do not know when the family moved from Castle Hill to Windsor then to Upper Colo.

An attempt was made to transcribe her headstone by the Gosper Family in the 1960s but by then the sandstone was considerably worn. The Headstone reads - 'Sacred to the memory of Issabella Gilbert who departed this life on 1 Aug 1851, aged 34 years'. The four line verse is mostly illegible with only several words able to be read.

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(***The Church and Burial Ground at Upper Colo stand on 80 acres of land originally granted in 1823 to Henry Hoile, who sold it to Thomas Gosper Junior in 1835. In 1857 Thomas Gosper bequeathed to the Church of England, "All that piece or parcel of land containing three fourths of an acre or thereabouts, at Upper Colo, of which one portion is used as a Burial Ground and the other portions used as the site of a building used as a Church of England School." The Oldest headstone still standing is that of Charlotte Gill who died in 1842, but it is probable that there are earlier unmarked graves as settlers began moving into the area in the early 1820s. There never has been either a Cemetery Register or a Church Register for Upper Colo. The area came under the jurisdiction of St John's Wilberforce from the early days to about the turn of the century, and under St Stephens Kurrajong until recent times. It has now been transferred back to St Johns Wilberforce. In the 1850s and 60s upper Colo entries apear in the St Alans Register Newcstle, so it would appear that it was included in that Parish for a time. The Church has never been consecrated. The Cemetery Plan was originally compiled in the early 1960s by Dave Simmons and a couple of other old Colo residents and is the only such plan known to exist.

The Cemetery is Listed by the National Trust.

The present Church was built by local residents in the early years of the 20th Century, the bricks were hand made and fired on the site. It was officially opened in April 1906. Although this is the first actual Church to stand in this site, Church of England services had been held for many years in the Church of England School building that is known to exist prior to 1857.

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