Chapter 3.1
Mosman Twins arrive Sydney 1828
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| Archibald and George Mosman (AM c. Mosman Library) |
Early days
Archibald and George Mosman, fraternal non identical twins, were the last born sons of a an important Scottish family. There were eight children and the firstborn Hugh had all the advantages of primogeniture. Archibald was the first to be born and was always the leader. George was a more passive follower but was also an achiever. While they had a privileged upbringing Hugh was always came first and was guaranteed to inherit the family estate at Auchyfardle.
To succeed in life the twins had to become independently successful and would have to leave the estate to make their own way in life. They were brought up knowing that agriculture provided the family’s wealth and were schooled in horsemanship, hunting and husbandry. The twins soon became aware that at that time in history to succeed they needed to become merchants. Also they could see that their best chance of success could lay overseas.
The twins moved to Liverpool to live and work with their Uncle Adam in Liverpool. The Port of Liverpool used to be the centre of the slave trade to Jamaica and the Carolinas. With the end of the slave trade and the start of the Industrial Revolution with its appetite for cotton, the port of Liverpool became the third largest port in England after London and Bristol. Adam’s main business had been importing Kelp (a source of salt) from Ireland but the trade was dying because of cheaper sea salt. Archibald helped Adam to diversify his business.
Jamaica
In their mid twenties the twins decided to follow the family motto “Better fortunes await me” and set out for Jamaica to try sugar planting and possibly tin mining. There are no records of their time there but they may have followed the path of many young Scots to become white overseers or “sojourners”, for absentee English sugar plantation owners. This would have introduced them to the harsh world of managing free slave labour which had some similarities to when they would use convict labour in Australia.
There are no specific records to be found of their visits to Jamaica or whether they were there separately at different times. There is however a record showing that one of them left something, or more correctly, someone behind them.
On 20 November 1825, records of the St Catherine parish in Jamaica show that an Archibald Mosman was born to a mother who was “A free person of colour”. The mother was not a slave and may have been the offspring of an earlier sojourner. Of course the birth was illegitimate as no father’s name was recorded.
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| Baptism of Archibald Mosman, Jamaica, 20 November 1825 |
The birth was discovered after another genealogist found probate packages from a Mr A Rudolf living in London asking if the wills of either twin named relatives in Jamaica. The Rudolf name has links back to Jamaica so there could be Mosman descendants living in Jamaica and England.
Liverpool
After experiencing Jamaica the twins decided that Australia was their destiny. Most histories show the twins going to Jamaica and then sailing on to Australia. This theory has problems. How could they charter a ship in Jamaica and obtain the cargo to start their trading lives in Australia? The answer is a straightforward one. The twins returned to Liverpool and chartered the 347 ton brig Civilian there and loaded a cargo of goods needed in Australia so easily available at one of the best ports in the world.
It appears that on 28 January 1828, with a spirit of adventure and in their late twenties the twins set off in the Civilian, under Captain Blair with their trusty clerk William Rankin. The ship was stocked with merchandise they planned to sell in Australia and appropriate bills of exchange and letters of introduction to the Governor to allow them to start trading promptly after arrival in Sydney.
First stop was Rio where they bought more stores, notably a quantity of Brazilian tobacco known to be in demand in Australia. Then in early June they left Rio and sailed the fastest clipper route to Australia around stormy and dangerous Cape Horn and west across the Pacific Ocean.
Sydney
The Civilian arrived in Sydney on 24 August 1828. By early 1829 they had purchased a warehouse and residence in George Street and were advertising a wide range of hardware, other essential goods and rum, wine and spirits in the recently established Sydney Morning Herald.
It was a time in Sydney and the expanding regions for the enterprising. While it was still basically a penal colony the opportunities for free settlers were huge, especially as free convict labour, and free or cheap land was available. The twins took advantage of both.
The twins’ partnership didn’t last long and was dissolved in 1829 (no known reason). Both twins took different paths. Initially Archibald went into whaling and George into farming and grazing.
Next Chapter - 4 ARCHIBALD MOSMAN 1799-1863