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George Forsyth
1817 - 1887

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• Birth	1817	South Shields, County Durham, England
  Gender	Male
  Died	26 May 1887	Kempsey NSW
  Person ID	I1	George Forsyth Wagga Wagga
  Last Modified	6 Feb 2017

  
  

  Father	James Forsyth
  Relationship	Natural
  Mother	Isabella Williamson
  Relationship	Natural
  Married	10 Aug 1815	Tynemouth, Northumberland, England
  Family ID	F2	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	Margaret Anne Gordon,   d. 1890, Narrandarah Reg No 8668/1890
  Married	31 Dec 1851	Tarcuttah Creek. NSW Reg No V1852517 38C/1852
  Children	1. George Forsyth,   b. 12 Oct 1852, Garcuttah Creek ,   d. 17 Jan 1854, Tarcuttah Stores   2. Thomas J Forsyth,   b. 26 Aug 1854, NSW Reg No V18541399 52/1854   3. Isabella Forsyth,   b. 1860, Wagga Wagga Reg No 12945/1960   4. Margaret Anne Forsyth,   b. 1862, Wagga Wagga Reg No 14336/1862
  Family ID	F1	Group Sheet

  
  

• Notes

  Baptism Name: Geo. Forsyth Gender: Male Birth Date: 25 Feb 1818 Baptism Date: 15 Mar 1818 Baptism Place: Scotchchurch-NC,South Shields,Durham,England Father: James Forsyth Mother: Isabella Williamson FHL Film Number: 0583803 (RG4 2416) England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970 Name: Geo Forsyth Birth Date: 25 Feb 1818 Gender: Male Event Type: Baptism Father: James Forsyth Mother: Isaballa Williamson Baptism Date: 15 Mar 1818 Baptism Place: South Shields, Durham, England Denomination: Presbyterian Piece Title: Piece 1238: South Shields, Secession Church, East Street, (Presbyterian), 1803-1837 Marriage V1852517 38C/1852 FORSYTH GEORGE GORDON MARGARET A MI (MI Church of England Gundaroo, Gunning, Yass ) The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 9 January 1852 Page 1 MARRIED, By special license, at Tarcuttah Creek, by the Lord Bishop of Sydney, on Wednesday the 31st December last, Mr. George Forsyth, of that place, formerly of South Shields, Durham, England, to Miss Margaret Annie Gordon, sister of John Gordon, Esq., J. P., Barambulah, Wagga Wagga. Other Child???? The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893) Saturday 13 March 1880 p 4 BIRTHS. On the 7th instant at the Public School, Sugarloaf, the wife of George Forsyth of a daughter. Wagga’s first Post Office was established on January 1, 1849. Frederick Thompson was appointed Post Master. In 1858, George Forsyth, became Post Master at Wagga; a year and a half later, Patrick S. Murray took over. While Forsyth and Murray were in charge, the Post Office was in Forsyth’s store on the corner of Kincaid and Fitzmaurice Streets. On 15 March 1870, Wagga Wagga was incorporated as a municipality and George Forsyth was chosen as the first Mayor of Wagga Wagga (1870-1874). In the first Council meeting, held on 20 June 1870, George Forsyth was elected as Mayor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wagga's Wagga's first store was adjacent to Uneke, being part of a building erected in 1849 by Dr R Davison on two Crown lots fronting Fitzmaurice and Kincaid Streets. At that time, his Wagga store was the first in the emerging town and the only one on the Murrumbidgee River below Gundagai. In 1855, Davison sold his store to G Forsyth and Company - headed by George Forsyth, who was to go on to become Wagga?s first mayor when the town was declared a municipality in 1870. Forsyth owned a large tract of land in the Fitzmaurice-Kincaid Street area. The corner site was his grain and produce store, where he combined his Fitzmaurice Street business with a stock and station agency and he opened his Bond Store in Kincaid Street in 1868. In the 1920s, the area, which was to become known as the Crown Corner, housed the popular fresh fruit and confectionary store/refreshment rooms run by Italian immigrants, Samuel and Robert Picone. From the 1940s through to the 1960s-70s, it was the site of the Crown Corner Café, a popular eating place for the many stock and station agency workers in the area. In the 1990s, the building was a lighting retail shop and reverted to its café heritage with the opening of Uneke Lounge back in 2010. Forsyth, George (1817-1887) by K. J. Swan Life Summary [details] Birth 1817 South Shields, Durham, England Death 26 May 1887 Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia Cultural Heritage English Religious Influence Methodist, Presbyterian Occupation - local government councillor - local government head - retailer - shop/store owner - stock and station agent - wholesaler George Forsyth (1817-1887), store-keeper and stock and station agent, was born at South Shields, County Durham, England, son of James Forsyth, shoemaker, and his wife Isabella, née Williamson. He arrived in Sydney in the early 1840s and for some years superintended a station on the lower Murrumbidgee River. In 1850 Forsyth with his brother Thomas established a store where the Port Phillip road crossed Tarcutta Creek near its junction with the Murrumbidgee. There on 31 December 1851 he was married by Bishop William Grant Broughton to Margaret Anne, sister of John Gordon, a neighbouring pastoralist. In 1855 Forsyth bought a store in Wagga Wagga, then a thriving village of about 300 people. In the next twenty-one years the town's population grew to 3000 and the district prospered, and G. Forsyth & Co. developed a large wholesale and retail business. The firm was a 'universal provider' ever ready to diversify and in 1868 set up a bonded store for wholesale trading. In the gold rush G. Forsyth & Co. established a stock and station agency to capitalize on the thousands of stock passing southward through Wagga Wagga to the markets of Bendigo and Melbourne. In the Goulburn Herald, 1856, the firm advertised monthly sales because the travelling stockholders were often willing to sell on the hoof. In the late 1860s the firm of Wilkinson & Lavender emerged from G. Forsyth & Co. For over twenty years Forsyth was also a civic leader in Wagga Wagga. He was prominent in the establishment and management of the Mechanics' Institute, the hospital, the National school and the Presbyterian Church and was a founding director of the Wagga Wagga Bridge Co. which built the toll bridge across the Murrumbidgee in 1862. He was voted to the chair at many meetings and in 1870-74 he was first mayor of Wagga Wagga. In these faction-ridden years Forsyth was respected for his integrity. In 1876 when he decided to leave the town the Wagga Wagga Advertiser suggested that local residents plan 'a right royal parting testimony to the worth of our good King George'. In 1876 Forsyth retired to his property near Yarrangobilly and about 1880 moved to South West Rocks on the Macleay River. He died aged 70 in Kempsey on 26 May 1887 and was buried at Frederickton by a Wesleyan minister. He was survived by his widow and only daughter. Select Bibliography - K. Swan, A History of Wagga Wagga (Wagga Wagga, 1970) - Goulburn Herald, 19 July 1856 - Wagga Express, 27 Aug 1859 - Albury Banner, 3 Oct 1860, 29 May 1861 - Wagga Wagga Advertiser, 27 Apr 1870, 23 Feb 1876 - Wagga Wagga Bridge Co. report, 31 Dec 1875 (Wagga Wagga Historical Society Archives). Citation details K. J. Swan, 'Forsyth, George (1817-1887)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forsyth-george-3556/text5495, accessed 14 March 2013. This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, (MUP), 1972 GEORGE FORSYTH OF WAGGA WAGGA. Taken from “Tales Old and New of Forsyths in Australia” No. 2 by Les Forsyth. The following is an extract from the Australian Dictionary of Biographies which tells the story of George. Other records show that there were four children. George 1852, Thomas 1854, Isabella A. 1860 and Margaret A. 1862. “Forsyth, George ( 1817-1887), storekeeper and stock and station agent, was born at South Shields, County Durham, England, son of James Forsyth, shoemaker, and his wife Isabella, nee Williamson. He arrived in Sydney in the early 1840s and for some years superintended a station on the lower Murrumbidgee River. In 1850 Forsyth with his brother Thomas established a store where the Port Phillip Road crossed Tarcutta Creek near its junction with the Murrumbidgee. There on 31 December 1851 he was married by Bishop Broughton (q.v.) to Margaret Anne, sister of John Gordon, a neighbouring pastoralist. In 1855 Forsyth bought a store in Wagga Wagga, then a thriving village of about 300 people. In the next twenty-one years the town’s population grew to 3000 and the district prospered, and G. Forsyth & Co established a stock and station agency to capitalize on the thousands of stock passing southward through Wagga Wagga to the markets of Bendigo and Melbourne. In the Goulburn Herald, 1856, the firm advertised monthly sales because the travelling stockholders were often willing to sell on the hoof. In the late 1860s the firm of Wilkinson & Lavender emerged from G. Forsyth & Co. For over twenty years Forsyth was also a civic leader in Wagga Wagga. He was prominent in the establishment and management of the Mechanics’ Institute, the hospital, the National School and the Presbyterian Church and was a founding director of the Wagga Wagga Bridge Co. Which built the toll bridge across the Murrumbidgee in 1862. He was voted to the chair at many meetings and in 1870-1874 he was the first mayor of Wagga Wagga. In these faction-ridden years Forsyth was respected for his integrity. In 1876 when he decided to leave the town the Wagga Wagga Advertiser suggested that local residents plan “a right royal parting testimony to the worth of our good King George”. In 1876 Forsyth retired to his property near Yarrangobilly and about 1880 moved to South West Rocks on the Macleay River. He died aged 70 in Kempsey on 26 May 1887 and was buried at Frederickton by a Wesleyanb minister. He was survived by his widow and only daughter.” Only one addition to the biography is thought necessary and it comes from K. Swan’s “History of Wagga Wagga”. “For about twelve months before the election of the first Council he was away from the town ill; in fact, he must have been nominated in his absence for an alderman. And when he returned to the town on 25 April, 1870 he made a triumphal entry described in this way: On Monday Mr. George Forsyth after an absence of more than twelve months returned to Wagga. Notwithstanding the heavy rain, a large number of persons, including most of the leading residents, went several miles out to meet him and escort him into town. As the procession consisting of about a dozen buggies and several horsemen passed up Baylis Street, the balconies, verandahs, etc, were crowded and waving handkerchiefs and hearty cheers testified to the general delight at Mr. Forsyth’s restoration to health and to Wagga. That was the way it was done in 1870. Monday 17 July 1933. “Wagga Sunday - When Mr. George Forsyth was elected first Mayor of Wagga, in February, 1871, he held the office for four years, and was presented with a silver service, manufactured in Melbourne, and costing two hundred pounds. Recently this service was offered for sale by the descendants of Mr. Forsyth. Experts describe the four pieces as representing a high standard of the silversmith’s art. The moulds were destroyed when the service was made to prevent copies”. “ Mr. George Forsyth, formerly of Wagga Wagga a Justice of the Peace and member of the land board, died suddenly at the Star Hotel, Kempsey, today. Deceased arrived in Kempsey yesterday. While seated at dinner he became sick, and was removed to the sofa. Death ensued almost immediately. Dr. Casement certified that death was the result of syncope of the heart” Friday, 27th May, 1887. Trove was full of him, but, some of the items could not be opened and had the notation “coming soon”. Australian Town and Country Journal Saturday 11 June 1887 Page 16 SUDDEN DEATH -Mr. George Forsyth, J.P., and a member of the local land board, died suddenly from heart disease in the Star Hotel, Kempsey, on Thursday, May 26, and was buried in the cemetery, in Frederickton, on the following day. The deceased has left a widow and one married daughter.