A Tale of Two Toogoods. Part 3: William's legacy.

 William Toogood left his entire estate, and the tangle of leases and mortgages that went with it, to his wife, Frances King Toogood.[1] At her husband’s death Frances had four children, William Webber age 11, Samuel Joseph age 7, Amy Thirza age 4 and Alfred Haworth just 1 year old. In May 1854 she gave birth to Frances Elizabeth Annerley Toogood.[2]

With a steady income from William’s properties and able to call on advice from Alfred, and presumably also from Robert Haworth, Frances was financially secure and in a position to successfully manage her affairs. For example, she was quick to extricate herself from the lease of the Masonic Hall Hotel, despite the profits being ‘enormous’.[3] And manage her own affairs she did even after she married the Reverend Charles Campbell Kemp in 1859.[4]

Kemp was a graduate of Queen’s College Cambridge who had arrived in the colony around 1841 where he was ordained a deacon and dispatched to Pitt Town.[5] His first wife, Lucy Harriett died in 1858 leaving him with three young sons, Charles Vernon (born 1844), Arthur George Macarthur (born 1846) and Beilby Porteous Pell (born 1853).[6] At the time of his marriage to Frances Toogood, Kemp was the incumbent at St. Stephen’s, Newtown having previously spent some years at St James in the city. 

Before their marriage Frances and Kemp signed an agreement which ensured that all her inheritance was held in trust ‘to the use and for the benefit of Frances King Toogood for the term of her natural life for her sole and separate use free from the control of Charles Campbell Kemp or any future husband.’[7]

With the exception of Alfred Haworth Toogood who died in 1864, William Toogood’s children, grew up with Kemp’s boys in an environment that probably provided them with more intellectual stimulation than they had enjoyed previously.[8] Their mother, Frances Kemp, died in 1870 aged only 49. [9] Charles Campbell Kemp died in 1874.[10]

William Webber Toogood and Charles Vernon Kemp were of a similar age. Both were admitted as solicitors, and they briefly practised together as Kemp and Toogood. Both also died young, Charles aged only 25 in 1871 and William aged 31 in 1875.[11] Arthur George Macarthur Kemp married Catherine Georgiana, daughter of William’s brother Alfred Toogood, in 1875.[12]Samuel Joseph Toogood did not marry before his death in 1898.[13]

Meanwhile William’s daughters moved up in polite society. For the children of many emancipists the association with the convict past of their parents was wearing off by the middle of the nineteenth century. Many ex-convicts had, like William Toogood, prospered and could provide a comfortable life for themselves and their children. One such was John Booth Jones who had made his money from a hostelry business, made significant investments in land and lived at his ‘country house’ Didliston, on the Parramatta Road in Camperdown.[14] Amy Thirza and Frances Elizabeth Annerley Toogood married brothers Sydney Booth and Henry Edward Jones, sons of John Booth Jones.[15] When Amy and Frances married, both William Toogood and John Booth Jones were dignified with the title of ‘esquire’, a clear indication that this colonial born generation were rising in society and rewriting the past.[16]

These marriages ensured financial security and social status. John Booth Jones junior, the elder brother of Sydney Booth and Henry Edward, was a solicitor with his own practice who was subsequently made Examiner of Titles, a handy man to have on your side given the many land transactions involving the Jones/Toogood clan.[17] Even better, the legal practise remined in the family under Charles Smith Jones, a younger brother, and then his two sons William Roberts and Frank Booth Jones also went into practise together.[18] W.R. and F.B. Jones were the solicitors who handled most of the land transactions for the Toogoods. Sydney Toogood Jones, eldest son of Amy Thirza, clerked for his uncles John Booth and Charles Smith Jones and was himself admitted as a solicitor.[19] Of those who had known William Toogood, Amy Thirza was the last. She died 1931.[20]

William Webber lived at Erskineville House until his death. The first major subdivision of William’s land in Erskineville, the six acres adjoining Erskineville House, went up for auction on 4 September 1880.[21] The stretch of what is now called Rochford Street, between Munni Street and Erskineville Road, ran through the centre of the estate and was originally called Toogood Street. Toogood Lane, off Union Street, is the only remaining reference to the Toogood family in Erskineville. The land around Erskineville House was divided into 17 lots in 1884 all of which were purchased by the Lord Bishop of Sydney as a site for a new church.[22]

Subdivision plan of Toogood Estate, auctioned 4 September 1880. 

Source: State Library of New South Wales.

Subdivision plan of land surrounding Erskineville House, auctioned 4 October 1884.

Source: State Library of New South Wales.

There is still much to unravel in the tangled web of connections and relationships that involved the Toogoods. None of William’s children followed in his footsteps as either publican or restaurateur. Perhaps these were not considered socially acceptable occupations, but they had stood William in good stead. His various hotels and their attendant restaurants helped to set a standard for civilised and reputable drinking and eating. In addition, they provided the basis for the comfortable and respectable lives his descendants enjoyed.

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[1] Will dated 6 December 1853. Museums of History New South Wales -State Archives Collection: Supreme Court of New South Wales, Probate Division, NRS-13660-(1-[14/3260]-Series 1_2786, William Toogood, Date of death 7 December 1853, Granted 31 December 1853.

[2] Birth announced SMH 29 May 1854, p. 8.

[3] SMH, 13 December 1853, p. 8.

[4] SMH, 9 March 1859, p. 1.

[5] SMH, 8 June 1841, p. 2.

[6] George Campbell Kemp and Lucy Harriett George were married in London. For death of Lucy see SMH, 23 March 1848, p. 1 For births see SMH, 23 August 1844, p. 3; 19 August 1846, p. 3; 16 May 1853, p.2. Beilby Porteous presumably named after the Church of England reformer of that name, which perhaps gives some clue to Kemp’s own interests and persuasions. Beilby served as Clerk of Petty Sessions in Cowra, Armidale, Deniliquin and Braidwood, see obituary SMH, 24 August 1933, p. 13. 

[7] NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, Book 60 no. 447, settlement on marriage, dated 7 March 1859. The marriage took place on 8 March 1859, officiated by Rev. Robert Allwood who was also named as the trustee in the agreement.

[8] Death of Alfred Haworth Toogood, SMH, 1 March 1864, p. 1.

[9] SMH, 14 May 1870, p. 1.

[10] Empire, 22 June 1874, p. 1.

[11] Charles Vernon Kemp admitted as solicitor, SMH, 29 June 1868, p. 2; death Evening News, 24 April 1871, p. 2. William Webber Toogood, application to be admitted Empire, 30 March 1867, p. 1; death SMH, 12 March 1875, p. 1.

[12] Evening News, 6 April 1875, p. 2. The marriage was solemnised at St Stephen’s, Newtown. This was not a happy marriage, see Nepean Times, 16 March 1889, p. 4. 

[13] Death Of Samuel Joseph Toogood, SMH, 17 November 1898, p. 1.

[14] For business see SMH, 24 March 1834, p. 4; 19 March 1845, p. 3. John Booth Jones arrived in Sydney in 1823 on board the Princess Royal. He married Elizabeth Hughes in 1825. Certificate of Freedom 1841. In 1842 he and his family went to England, (SMH, 4 February 1842, p. 3) returning in 1845, perhaps long enough for his convict background to be forgotten. He had considerable land holdings before 1842 and was living at Camperdown by 1859 (see marriage of daughter Emma, SMH, 1 February 1859, p. 1.

[15] Marriage Amy Thirza Toogood and Sydney Booth Jones, fourth son of John Booth Jones, SMH, 30 May 1873, p. 1; marriage Frances Elizabeth Annerley Toogood to Henry Edward, youngest son of John Booth Jones, SMH, 29 September 1874, p. 1. Frances Elizabeth and Henry Edward lived for many years in Bowral, in a house they named Annerley, and were active in the community there, see SMH, 12 November 1928, p. 10.

[16] How these couples met is not recorded but it is possible that the Jones brothers knew William Webber Toogood or Charles Vernon Kemp or both. It is also likely that they worshiped at St. Stephen’s. Their sister Emma had been married by Kemp at St. Stephens in 1859, SMH, 1 February 1859, p. 1. It may also be possible that William Toogood and John Booth Jones were known to one another and that a family connection went back to the 1840s.

[17] John Booth Jones admitted as solicitor SMH, 23 December 1861, p. 5; appointed Examiner of Titles, SMH, 9 July 1874, p. 4. When he died in 1908 he was declared bankrupt and the finalisation of his estate then took decades. For death see SMH, 10 November 1908, p. 6. He married Lucy Gunther, daughter of the Archdeacon of Mudgee and their daughter Kathleen married Eric David Lloyd-Jones the grandson of the department store founder David Jones. It was these connections albeit tangential which entwined William Toogood’s descendants in respectable society and confirmed their social standing.

[18] Charles Smith Jones also handled Robert Haworth’s will, NSW Government Gazette, 4 January 1876, p. 59. He died in 1906, Australian Town and Country Journal, 18 July 1906, p. 18. He lived at Midanga in Camperdown, the property next to the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children where the Trio apartments now stand. This was close to his father’s estate Didliston.

[19] Daily Telegraph, 22 May 1907, p. 2.

[20] The Sun, 14 July 1931, p. 9. Frances Elizabeth Annerley, who was born after William died, outlived her sister, she died in 1933, Southern Mail, 1 December 1933, p. 3.

[21] The details of how the trust was administered after Frances’s death has not been investigated. For sales of Toogood Estate see SMH, 28 August 1880, p. 11; SMH, 2 July 1881, p. 14: 27 September 1884, p. 20.

[22] Balmain Observer and Western Suburbs Advocate, 4 October 1884, p. 3; Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 11 October 1884, p. 2; Evening News, 20 April 1885, p. 5.

A Tale of Two Toogoods. Part 2: William makes good.

In 1843 there were significant changes in William Toogood’s personal life. Little is known of his first wife, Ellen O’Brien, other than that she had come to the colony as a free woman. What role she played in William’s commercial success is open to conjecture. Their marriage was childless and in February 1843 Ellen died.[1]

Lamented beloved wife she may have been, but William, now 40, was quick to remarry. On 1 May 1843 he married Frances King Webber aged 24, who had come to the colony as an assisted immigrant.[2] How the two met is unrecorded as are the circumstances of Frances’s life before her marriage. From the evidence Frances (15) and her older sister Harriett Sophia (16) both arrived on the David Scott in 1834. [3] They were either joining or were subsequently joined by both parents, Samuel and Sophia, and three younger sisters, Thirza Tapp, Rachel Sarah and Susannah.[4] When William married for the first time he held a Ticket of Leave but was still required to ask the Governor’s permission to marry. In 1843 he was a free man and he and Frances married by special license. This was one way that emancipists could signify their rise in status - purchasing a license indicated that they were not just free to do as they chose but could afford to do what they wanted rather than wait for banns to be called.

In April 1844 Frances gave birth to their first child, William Webber Toogood. William and Frances would have a further two sons, Samuel Joseph and Alfred Haworth and two daughters, Amy Thirza and Frances Elizabeth Annerley.[5]

Having transferred the license of the Rainbow to his brother Alfred, William now established himself at Toogood’s Hotel on the corner of Pitt and Market Streets.[6] Whether he was tired of the business or family life was too much of a distraction, William announced in June 1846 that he was retiring from the retail trade and he leased Toogood’s to Thomas Douglas for 7 years at £300 per annum.[7] Samuel Joseph was born in August and by October William was advising that he planned to leave Sydney.[8] In December he purchased land in the Illawarra (including a town lot in Wollongong), before he paid £800 for Woodland’s Estate, the property of Captain Robert Marsh Westmacott, former aide de camp to Governor Bourke, in early 1847.[9]

This last investment was a major step for William. Woodlands covered a total of 160 acres in a pleasant valley between the coast and the new line of road between Sydney and Wollongong in the vicinity of Bellambi. The property boasted 14 acres of highly improved agricultural land, with a fully furnished 8 room house surrounded by a garden, orchard and vineyard.[10] Some of his contemporaries would have seen this purchase as an example of an emancipist who, by hard work and good management, was making a respectable life for himself, others might view it as another upstart ex-convict thinking he could turn himself into a gentleman. William may have intended to make a statement about his status by making this significant purchase, he may also have always fancied the life of a gentleman farmer, or, more probably, he may have simply recognised a good deal when he saw one. One clue as to why he chose to buy land in Wollongong is his association with Richard Haworth.

Reports of Haworth’s early life are not well documented.[11] What seems likely is that he either found himself in debt or otherwise disgraced himself and escaped the consequences by emigrating, arriving in Sydney around 1835.[12] He established himself in Wollongong and by the mid 1840s operated a tannery, with an outlet in York Street, Sydney.[13] Of a similar age, William and Haworth obviously formed a strong attachment, although there is no way of knowing when, where or how they met. William christened his third son Alfred Haworth Toogood, and the two families moved even closer when Haworth married William’s sister-in-law, Thirza Tapp Webber, in 1854.[14] The Webber sisters played an important role in establishing extended family bonds. William’s brother Alfred married Rachel Sarah Webber in 1853 after the death of his first wife, and Robert Haworth’s Sydney agent for the Wollongong Tannery, Thomas Wilton Eady, took Susannah Webber as his second wife in 1859.[15]

The Toogoods did not live at Woodlands, and, although William continued to buy land in the Illawarra area, his main interest was elsewhere.[16] William took up the license for the Rose and Crown on the corner of Pitt and King Streets in December 1847. This move coincided with Alfred’s departure for England and his lease of the Rainbow Tavern to Joseph Roche (for five years at the rate of £500 per annum, paid in monthly instalments).[17] Being back in Sydney and on the opposite corner obviously allowed William to keep his eye on the Rainbow while collecting the rents from his hotels and from his Illawarra investments. And it was business as usual with William recommencing as a restaurateur and assuring his patrons that, under his personal superintendence they could expect to find ‘the usual attendance to comfort, convenience and despatch’.[18]

 

Image from Joseph Fowles Sydney in 1848. Toogood’s Rose and Crown top right and the Rainbow Tavern bottom right.

 Location of Toogood’s Hotels. Detail from Bryan Thomas, Commercial Sydney 1844-1848, based on the Map of the City of Sydney, 1843 by W. H. Wells. State Library of New South Wales, 1979.

Whether William had a restless nature or was simply keen to take advantage of all and any opportunities he soon tired of the Rose and Crown and, in early 1849, moved to the Golden Fleece hotel at the corner of George and King Streets.[19] Despite the economic depression and the financial uncertainty of the 1840s William appears to have prospered through shrewd investments. He and Alfred were also importing wine and spirits, which will be covered in more detail in Alfred’s story, giving them control over their profit margin. How much of this success was also due to advice from connections like Robert Haworth, friendships made through his involvement with the Independent Order of Oddfellows or just plain good luck?[20]

William started the next decade with the declaration that he was retiring again. In January 1851 he informed his ‘numerous friends and the public’ that he had disposed of the good-will in the Golden Fleece and was selling his remaining stock at reduced prices. The public were obviously wary of such announcements because William felt bound to include the following statement:

W.T. begs to acknowledge the innumerable favours bestowed upon him, and to assure his friends and the public that this advertisement is not inserted with the view of misleading or deceiving them – his retiring from the above business being bona fide.[21]

At around the same time William purchased ‘the beautiful house and grounds’ of Erskine Ville at Newtown for £560. Erskine Ville was built by Reverend George Erskine in the 1830s on land he purchased in 1831. Erskine sold off part of his holding during his lifetime and his wife Lydia continued to do so after his death in 1834. 

The house was described as ‘a beautiful and compact residence replete with every convenience for the residence of a family of the first respectability’. This then was to be the final confirmation of William’s rise in society and presumably where he intended to spend his retirement as a gentleman of leisure. All in all, he purchased a total of 10.5 acres (4.25 hectares) in three lots – lot 1 comprising the house, ‘a substantial brick building’ of 8 rooms surrounded by an 8’ wide verandah, set on 3 acres of land; lot 2, 4.5 acres with a small cottage and lot 3, 3 acres of vacant land.[22] This was another shrewd investment providing the family with a comfortable home and land to subdivide or rent as required, in an area which was close to the city and ripe for development.

The announcement that payable gold deposits had been found at Bathurst in February 1851 changed the fortunes of the colony and William was quick to recognise the potential. In July he was advertising that he would pay cash for any quantity of Bathurst gold and by November he was able to export just over 189 ounces (5.35 kilos worth over £600).[23] Newspaper reports suggest that in the same month William himself left the colony briefly, but the record is frustratingly silent regarding where he went and why.[24]

He certainly felt that the time was right to continue to invest in property. Aside from continuing to buy land in the Illawarra, in May 1852, William purchased what were spruiked as ‘valuable freeholds in the very heart of the city’, four cottages, three in Elizabeth Street and one in Bathurst Street for a total of £2110, his biggest investment yet.[25] These properties were said to occupy ‘one of the best positions for private dwellings to be met within the city’ and could be expected to demand a substantial rent.[26]

Alive to ways in which he could capitalise on the arrival of gold seekers in the colony and their requirements, in December 1852 William took out a mortgage on the Golden Fleece Hotel, borrowing the staggering sum of £5500 at seven per cent interest. The terms of this agreement required him to pay back £1000 per annum over five years beginning 1 January 1854, the final payment due in 1858.[27] Given that he already had a steady income from the rent on his other properties, he must have had some significant expansion plans in mind. Following the trail of evidence, such as it is, suggests that William needed the money in part to negotiate for the lease and goodwill of the Masonic Hall Hotel in York Street. James Entwistle, who had been the licensee since at least 1842, put the ‘flourishing and well-conducted’ hotel up for auction or sale by private contract in mid-December.[28] It was described as a most lucrative concern, but the auctioneers also noted that Entwistle’s success ‘arose during the ordinary progress of the colony, in a period far different from the present state of affairs.’ Surely, they suggested, the ‘THOUSANDS of persons from all parts of the world’ who would be ‘flocking’ to the colony now that gold had been discovered ‘must increase the business of a first-rate Hotel like the Masonic Hall to an extend beyond all precedent.’ This was a temptation William could not resist. By the 1^stof February 1853 he was ensconced at the Masonic Hall Hotel, and the house and grounds of Erskine Ville were to let.[29]

Sadly, William did not live long enough to see the fulfilment of any dreams he had for his latest venture. He died at the Masonic Hall Hotel on 7 December 1853 at the age of 47.[30] Despite his commercial successes and the respectable life he had forged ‘during the ordinary progress of the colony’, his death was unremarked in the press, other than for the notices inserted by his family. The Toogood name did not disappear, Albert carried on in business and William’s children continued to benefit from his investments. 

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[1] Australasian, 3 February 1843, p. 3.

[2] Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), 4 May 1843, p. 3.

[3] For the arrival of the David Scott in Sydney see The Sydney Monitor, 5 November 1834, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32147553. For more detail on the reception of the David Scott see https://stjohnsonline.org/bio/mary-leeche/. 

[4] There is no trace of Samuel Webber until 1838 when he is advertising furnished lodgings in Prince Street, Sydney Gazette, 24 April 1838, p. 1. According to the Australian Cemeteries Index on-line data base Samuel Webber died 20 June 1838. Prince Street ran along the crown of the ridge to the west of Sydney Cove, from Church Hill.

[5] Birth of William Webber, Colonial Observer, 4 April 1844, p. 5; of Samuel Joseph, SMH, 12 August 1846, p. 3; Alfred Haworth born 1852, died 1864 see NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages on-line data base (NSWBDM) and SMH, 1 March 1864, p. 1; Amy Thirza, SMH, 28 March 1849, p. 1; Frances Elizabeth Annerley SMH, 29 May 1854, p. 8.

[6] This was not a transfer of license but an application for a new house. SMH, 7 May 1844, p. 72 

[7] For lease to Thomas Douglas see NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, Book 10, no. 544, lease dated 4 March 1846 effective from 1 July 1846 for seven years. William also negotiated a second seven-year lease with Thomas Spencer dated 30 June 1851, to run from 1 July 1853 (Book 1, no. 138). Announcing retirement see SMH, 20 June 1846, p. 4.

[8] SMH, 13 October 1846, p. 3.

[9] For Westmacott see https://www.daao.org.au/bio/captain-robert-marsh-westmacott/biography/.

[10] See SMH 25 August 1846, p. 3; 24 December 1846, p. 4; 21 January 1847, p. 2.

[11] See https://wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/explore-our-past/your-suburb/suburbs/kembla-grange and The Land, 4 March 1927, p. 19, Frank McCaffrey’s reminiscence of Haworth.

[12] For more specific biographical details see https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/member-details.aspx?pk=284.

[13] Haworth is listed as a resident of Wollongong in 1841 census of NSW. For Wollongong Leather Store, see The Sentinel, 12 November 1846, p. 1 and SMH, 14 January 1847, p. 1. Haworth advertised the tannery to let on account of his retirement in 1855, SMH, 30 June 1855. The shop in York Street continued in the hands of Thomas Wilton Eady.

[14] Alfred Haworth Toogood was born 1851/52. He dies in 1864, SMH, 1 March 1864, p. 1. Robert Haworth marries Thirza Tapp Webber on 7 October 1854, SMH, 9 October 1854, p. 8. Thirza died at her home in Summer Hill on 9 January 1912, SMH, 11 January 1912, p. 8. Robert Haworth was married previously and had children from that marriage but whether his first wife accompanied him to Australia and when she may have died is unknown. Robert Haworth amassed extensive property holdings in the township of Wollongong (see https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232441472/view), and at one time he owned and operated the Queen’s Hotel. In 1853 he purchased Kembla Grange from Dr. Gerard Gerard for the sum of £4500 (NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, Book 24, no. 943, conveyance dated 5 January 1853). He also represented the Illawarra in the NSW Legislative Assembly from 1860 to 1864.

[15] Marriage Alfred Toogood to Rachel Sarah Webber, SMH, 2 April 1853, p. 5. Marriage Thomas Wilton Eady to Susannah Webber, SMH, 26 April 1859, p. 1. Thomas Eady and his first wife, Anne, named their eldest son after Robert Haworth. Thomas Wilton Eady was an executor of Alfred Toogood’s will. The executors of Robert Haworth’s will were his wife Thirza and Samuel Joseph Toogood, William’s oldest surviving son, SMH, 31 December 1875, p. 6. 

[16] Land transactions can be traced through NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, for example Book 24, no. 454 (1852), Book 19, no. 544 (1850).

[17] License for Rose and Crown, SMH, 15 December 1847, p. 2. Transfer of license to Roche, SMH, 8 December 1847, p. 3. Lease to Roche NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, Book 13, no. 683, lease dated 1 November 1847. Alfred Toogood and family depart for England, Shipping News, 22 January 1848, p. 18.

[18] SMH, 16 February 1848, p. 2; 19 February 1848, p. 3; 23 March 1848, p. 1.

[19] SMH, 26 March 1849, p. 2; 28 March 1849, p. 1.

[20] William was an office bearer and active member of the Australian Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, see Australian, 28 September 1842, p. 3; Australian, 7 October 1842, p. 3. In 1848 William is ‘Grand Master of Ceremonies’, Sydney Daily Advertiser, 7 September 1848, p. 4.

[21] SMH, 17 January 1851, p. 1. In March 1851 the license of the Golden Fleece transferred to Robert Rowland, SMH, 15 March 1851, p. 2.

[22] For details of auction held on 22 January, see SMH, 14 January 1851, p. 4. For transaction and plan of holdings see NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, Book 21, no. 80.

[23] SMH, 26 July 1851, p. 4; 12 November 1851, p. 2.

[24] For departure see Empire, 24 November 1851, p. 2. For return see SMH, 4 February 1852, p. 2.

[25] SMH, 19 May 1852, p. 3.

[26] SMH, 31 March 1852, p. 4; Empire, 10 April 1852, p. 4.

[27] For mortgage details see NSW Land’s Registry Service, HLRV, Book 24, no. 947, dated 31 December 1852.

[28] SMH, 17 December 1852, p. 1.

[29] SMH, 1 February 1853, p. 2. Formal transfer of license from Entwistle to Toogood SMH, 2 March 1853, p. 2.

[30] SMH, 8 December 1853, p. 5.

A Tale of Two Toogoods. Part 1: William and Alfred.

William Toogood and his brother Alfred became well known in the Sydney during the middle years of the nineteenth century as publicans and wine and spirit merchants. 

William Toogood was an eighteen-year-old ribbon weaver when he was sentenced to transportation for life in 1822. He arrived in Sydney in March 1823, but little is known of his early years in the colony. Initially assigned briefly to Dr. William Cowper, in 1831 he was listed as one of a group of theatrical performers who were still at Emu Plains (the Government farm) awaiting reassignment. [1] In the event William was granted a ticket of leave in October 1831 and was thus able to work for himself in Sydney.[2] In 1832 he married Ellen O’Brien.[3]

The next encounter with William is at the Rose and Crown at the corner of King and Castlereagh Streets. In May 1835 he announces that he has opened ‘the large room adjoining Mr. Sandwell’s hotel’ as a ‘Saloon for dinners and refreshments, tea, coffee, etc’ where patrons can enjoy ‘soups and curries of every description, together with all kinds of Indian preparations in the best style and on the shortest notice’.[4] What William knew about providing dinners and refreshments is questionable. Perhaps he had worked for Sandwell, perhaps Ellen O’Brien provided some expertise, but there is nothing to suggest that William had any appropriate experience. All the more surprising then that in 1838 he should declare himself a restaurateur and open his own restaurant on the opposite corner to the Rose and Crown.[5] Here, at what subsequently became known as the Rainbow Tavern, William was assisted by both his wife and his brother, Alfred.[6]

 Alfred, ten years younger than William, had also been a ribbon weaver in Coventry. In March 1832, aged only 17, he stood trial with six others for ‘unlawfully and riotously assembling, and destroying the house of Josiah Beck’. He had been part of the ‘tumultuous mob’ opposed to the mechanisation of weaving who destroyed the machinery and steam engine which Beck had installed. The judge found him guilty but in consideration of Alfred having been led on by others, he recommended leniency and the final sentence was transportation for life.[7]

 Alfred was sent to Tasmania on board the Georgiana. Details of his assignment there are not known, but by 1837 he was in the service of Mr John Raine and was one of the survivors of the wreck of Raine’s schooner the Schah in December 1837. The ship left Hobart and foundered off what is now known as Shipwreck Beach near Malacoota, in Victoria. It was Alfred who travelled overland to bring the news of its fate and the fortunes of its passengers to Sydney in January 1838.[8]

Was this the first time William had had contact with his brother since 1822? Alfred was a boy of seven when William left Coventry – they must have had much to talk about, but the record is maddeningly silent on such matters.

Although still a convict, Alfred remained in Sydney. He had been assigned to Raine, who drowned in the wreck of the Schah, in Tasmania and did not receive a ticket of leave until 1841.[9] William was granted a conditional pardon in 1838 but this would not normally allow him to have his brother assigned to him.[10] Nonetheless, Alfred was ‘regularly transferred’ to his brother and continued to work with him.[11]

 In May 1840 rumours were circulating that William was intending to ‘build for himself a spacious Hotel in Castlereagh Street’ to the cost of some £4000.[12] In the event William announced at the end of 1840 that he was retiring from his business in the city and the license of the Rainbow Tavern was transferred to James Cunningham. Throughout 1841 William operated a hotel on the Parramatta Road, on the city side of Annandale, while towards, the end of the year, Alfred worked as an assistant to Mr. Cunningham.[13]

 The following year, 1842, was a momentous one for the Toogoods. In March William, at the solicitations of his former patrons, transferred his publicans license from the hotel on Parramatta Road to the ‘new spacious and commodious premises’ erected at the corner of Pitt and King Streets, an establishment he also christened the Rainbow Tavern where he established ‘a restaurant upon his old established principle’ assuring patrons they could enjoy ‘ a very superior and choice assortment of wines and spirits, imported from first rate mercantile houses.’[14] The Australian praised ‘the splendid manner’ in which William had fitted out and decorated his ‘new house’ calling it ‘a pledge of the spirit and zeal with which he means to cater for the good folks in Sydney Town’:

The situation Is excellent, and as far as appearance goes, it reminds us more of a London Tavern or Club-house, than anything yet attempted in the Colony.[15]

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser was similarly full of praise. Whether the building had in fact cost £4000, it was clear that Toogood had spared no expense, the bar they enthused was ‘fitted up in the first rate style’ with a gin palace fountain and gas fittings, all of local manufacture, and surely William would receive the patronage he deserved.[16] Obviously he was making a financial success of his business ventures. To cap off the year William was granted an absolute pardon in October and was finally free of any obligation for the crime he had committed in his youth.[17]

 It was a busy year for Alfred too. He married Ann Collins, received a conditional pardon and, presumably capitalising on his brother’s good name and using the experience he had gained working for William and James Cunningham, announced he was opening a ‘Chop and Coffee House’ in Pitt Street at the Shakespeare Tavern, Toogood’s Shakespeare Eating House.[18]This venture was short lived. After an initial flurry of advertising in July 1842 the newspapers are silent on its fate. In August 1843, the same month notice of his conditional pardon appeared in the Government Gazette, Alfred was announcing that he was now at the Rainbow Tavern. Here he hoped ‘to continue to receive a share of the public patronage’ thanks to ‘his long standing in society, and his great outlay in taking possession of his present extensive premises, and increasing and improving his stock-in-trade from the first London and Colonial houses’. [19]

 Following all the ins and outs of the Toogood’s fortunes is not easy. While they were consolidating their hotel business William was also using the proceeds to accumulate a property portfolio. As early as 1839 he had purchased a cottage in Kent Street.[20] In 1841 he purchased parcels of land in Dungog and Raymond Terrace.[21] Ploughing profits back into the business, through upgrades and refurbishment, and buying up land would continue to be the modus operandi in the coming years. After twenty and ten years respectively, William and Alfred must have established a web of friendships and associations, but neither arrived in the colony with skills which would automatically guarantee them success, there was little call for ribbon weaving in Sydney town.[22] Whatever education they had received as children they were quick to adapt, well attuned to the opportunities offered in the colonial setting and eager to exploit them. 

To trace what happens next it is simpler to follow each of the brothers individually.

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[1] Assigned to William Cowper, Museums of History NSW State Archives (MHNSW-St.Ac.) NRS 12194 [4/4521, p. 086], reel 586; Fiche 747–748, 5 July 1823 (listed as Togood); William came before the magistrates at Parramatta charged with robbery, sentenced to 25 lashes and returned to the government in October 1824. See MHNSW-St.Ac., Index to Col. Sec. Papers 1788­1825, [4/6671], p. 57, reel no 6023, 26 October 1824 (listed as Twogood). MHNSW-St.Ac., NRS-905-1- [4/2102] Index to Colonial Secretary Letters Received, 4/2102 letter number 31/2362, 1 April 1831, William Toogood on list of theatrical performers remaining on the establishment at Emu Plains, John Maxwell to Colonial Secretary. William had been there for four years, see The Australian, 10 February 1827, p. 3. ‘New South Wales No. IV’.

[2] MHNSW-St.Ac., Convicts Index 1791–1873, 4/4081, reel 916, entry no. 31/873. See also Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (hereafter Sydney Gazette), 15 October 1831, p. 3.

[3] MHNSW-St.Ac.. Convicts Application to Marry, NRS 12212 [4/4512 p. 062], reel 714, Fiche 791–794. 7 September 1832.

[4] Sydney Gazette, 23 May 1835, p. 3. Edward Sandwell ‘late of the most respected tavern in Hollowell [sic] Street, London “The Dog Tavern”’ took over the Rose and Crown from Arthur Hill in 1829 (Sydney Monitor, 30 May 1829, p. 7).

[5] Sydney Monitor, 23 July 1838, p. 2; 8 August 1838, p. 3; 24 September 1838, p. 2. 

[6] See Sydney Monitor, 24 September 1838, p. 2 for Mrs Toogood and Alfred at the restaurant. Also Commercial Journal and Advertiser, 17 October 1838, p. 4. William was granted a license for the Rainbow Tavern in 1839, Sydney Gazette, 30 April 1839, p. 2.

[7] Birmingham Gazette, 26 March 1832, p. 3; Morning Chronicle (London), 27 March 1832, p. 4; Leamington Spa Courier, 27 March 1832, p. 4.

[8] See The Sydney Herald, 15 January 1838, p. 2; Sydney Monitor, 15 January 1838, p. 2. For more on the Schah see http://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=6594. For John Raine see https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/raine-john-2569.

[9] See MHNSW-St.Ac., Convicts Index 1791-1873, [4/4150; reel 940] entry no. 41/946. Also, Sydney Herald, 26 April 1841, p. 2.

[10] William was granted a Conditional Pardon in February 1838. MHNSW-St.Ac., Convicts Index, 1791-1873, 4/4437, reel 777 p. 075, entry no. 39/288. See also NSW Government Gazette, 23 January 1839, p. 103. 

[11] Sydney Herald, 8 May 1840, p. 2, reporting on Alfred having been taken into custody on suspicion of being illegally on his brother’s premises.

[12] The Colonist, 16 May 1840, p. 2 and Australasian Chronicle, 19 May 1840, p. 2.

[13] MHNSW-St.Ac., Index to 1841 Census NSW; Monitor, 9 April 1841, p. 1. Sydney Gazette, 28 June 1841, has license for Rainbow Tavern in Parramatta Road; Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) 10 September 1841, Cunningham announces Alfred is now engaged by him.

[14] The Australian, 26 February 1842, p. 3 (describes Toogood as ‘well known as a first rate restaurateur’); transfer of license The Australian, 5 March 1842, p. 2; Sydney Herald, 8 April 1842, p. 2 (quote).

[15] The Australian, 9 April 1842, p. 2.

[16] Sydney Gazette, 12 April 1842, p. 2.

[17] MHNSW-St.Ac., 4/4488, reel 800, p. 022., dated 1 October 1842; also 4/4488 reel 800, p. 349–350, entry 43/037, 11 December 1843; NSW Government Gazette, 12 December 1843, p. 1632.

[18] For marriage see NSW Registry of Birth Deaths and Marriages (NSWBDM) index; MHNSW-St.Ac., Conditional Pardon [4/4442; reel 780, p. 275] no. 43/282, 1 July 1842, Government Gazette, 11 August 18443, p. 1022; Shakespeare Tavern Sydney Herald, 6 July 1842, p. 1.

[19] SMH, 26 August p. 1.

[20] The Colonist, 23 November 1839, p. 3.

[21] Sydney Herald, 2 January 1841, p. 4.

[22] William was an office bearer and active member of the Australian Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, see Australian, 28 September 1842, p. 3; Australian, 7 October 1842, p. 3. In 1848 William is ‘Grand Master of Ceremonies’, Sydney Daily Advertiser, 7 September 1848, p. 4.