Thomas Amies

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The immigrant ship Artemisia, The Illustrated London News, 12 August 1848, State Library of Queensland

Background

Thomas Amies, the brother of John Amies, emigrated on the vessel the Artemisia. He was amongst the first free settlers to Moreton Bay, Queensland in 1848.[1]

Thomas Isaac Amies was born to John Amies (1795-1869) and Mary Ann Amies/CHILDS (1797-1857) on 12 March 1824 at Ditton Priors, Shropshire Unitary Authority, Shropshire, England. He had two older brothers James (1820-1840) and Jeremiah (1821-1856). His younger brother was John Amies.

Goldfields Involvement, 1854

A younger brother of Thomas, John Amies, born 1826, married Emma Walker/Williams/Amies/D’Arcy on 30 December 1851 at Stanton Lacy, Shropshire, England, after which they sailed to Point Henry (near Geelong) on the Success arriving on 31 May 1852. Both John and Emma were described as Episcopalian and could both read and write.

John was employed as a carpenter by John Highett of Barrabool Hills, Victoria, Australia. Emma Amies was employed too, as a servant. After working for Highett for some time near Geelong they made their way to Ballarat, one of the richest gold diggings the world has ever known. Here they witnessed the uprising known as the Eureka Affair. John Amies and his family lived in a tent inside the Eureka Stockade. Shots were fired at the tent when a candle was lit during a curfew. Sandbags were packed against the walls of the tent to protect their baby, Elizabeth Amies.

John Amies died in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia on 9 August 1858. [2]

John died of Tuberculosis on the 7 August 1858 after contracting it two years earlier. Prior to his death he was a hotelier. After John died Emma remarried. They were both buried in Ballarat.[3]

Post 1854 Experiences

Thomas Amies, a blacksmith, and his wife Phoebe and family, moved to Warwick, Queensland in 1849 establishing a farrier business there. They were amongst the earliest settlers in the district. Thomas was involved in the first Wesleyan Church in Warwick. [4]

Thomas Amies was also of note in 1860 when Queensland’s First Governor paid his first official visit to Warwick. Instead of a gun salute to welcome the Governor, Messrs Amies and Craig ‘who had charge of all arrangements in connection with the salute, had organised an anvil battery in lieu of cannons. The anvils were all charged with gunpowder, the wads being pegs of wood driven home by sledge hammers, and weighed down by heavy weights. As the imposing cavalcade came into the town the salute was fired in perfect time, with excellent effect, amidst the wildest excitement’. [5]

Thomas Isaac Amies was involved with the opening of the early Wesleyan Church at Warwick and one of those who distributed tickets for the Public Tea and Meeting in 1858.

Moreton Bay Courier, 28 August 1858 OPENING OF THE NEW WESLEYAN CHAPEL, WARWICK DARLING DOWNS. THE above will he OPENED for Divine Service on SUNDAY, September 5. The Rev. SAMUEL WILKINSON, of Brisbane, will Preach in the morning at 11, and in the evening at 7. Collections will be made. On MONDAY, 6th, (following), a PUBLIC TEA and MEETING will be held, when statements of expenditure will be given, and Addresses delivered by several Ministers and gentlemen. Tea|at 5-30 p.m. ; Chair to be taken at 7. Tickets 2s. 6d. each, to be had of Messrs Jonathan Harris, Geo. Walker, Thomas Amies. The proceeds applied to the Building Fund. N.B.-On the afternoon of Sunday, the 5th, at 3, an Address will be delivered to the Children of the Sabbath School, their parents, and friends, by tho Bev. WILLIAM FIDLER, at which there will be no collection.

He was described in his obituary as a ‘familiar figure’ in the streets and ‘a man of the kindliest nature’, ‘a tradesman who took a pride in his work’, a ‘generous friend and loyal citizen’ who ‘earned the esteem of all with whom he came in contact’ with. [6]

Thomas was active in municipal matters and saw the rise and progress of Warwick. He worked hard until a month or two before his death in his 73rd year. He died from complications and heart trouble on 30 November 1895, at Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. [7]

See also

Ships

Artemisia

Further Reading

Corfield, J.,Wickham, D., & Gervasoni, C. The Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.

Dorothy Wickham, Women of the Diggings: Ballarat 1854, BHS Publishing, 2009.

References

  1. Dr Dorothy Wickham, Artemisia research
  2. Dorothy Wickham, Women of the Diggings: Ballarat 1854, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2009.
  3. Notes from Peter Berlyn
  4. Moreton Bay Courier, 28 August 1858
  5. Warwick District and Pioneers, p. 93.
  6. Reference: Warwick Argus, 3 December 1895
  7. Researched by Dr Dorothy Wickham Feb 2022 from Ancestry.com Public Member Trees, Rae Ryan, Warwick, Qld.

External links