John Leach
John Leach was a Missionary born in 1802, and a respectable local preacher in the Wesleyan connection, from Bradford. Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England, in the foothills of the Pennines, 8.6 miles (14 km) west of Leeds, and 16 miles (26 km) north-west of Wakefield.
John was 27 years old when he boarded the chartered sailing ship, the Tranby. The Tranby sailed from Hull on Wednesday, 9th September 1829. It was bound for the newly established Swan River Colony.
John Leach preached, on most Sundays, aboard the Tranby as it sailed down to Cape Town and then across the Southern Ocean to Fremantle.
John was 27 years old when he boarded the chartered sailing ship, the Tranby. The Tranby sailed from Hull on Wednesday, 9th September 1829. It was bound for the newly established Swan River Colony.
John Leach preached, on most Sundays, aboard the Tranby as it sailed down to Cape Town and then across the Southern Ocean to Fremantle.
After Arrival at Fremantle
The Tranby arrived in Gage's Road on 3 February 1830, and anchored in Cockburn Sound.
John Leach came ashore on the sandy beaches, with the rest of the Tranby folk at Fremantle. This was no more than a tent village. He was not impressed.
The conditions at the new Swan River Colony were so unfavourable that many of those that were able, decided to seek their fortunes elsewhere. John Leach was one that felt that way. He only lasted two months in the fledging Colony.
John Leach came ashore on the sandy beaches, with the rest of the Tranby folk at Fremantle. This was no more than a tent village. He was not impressed.
The conditions at the new Swan River Colony were so unfavourable that many of those that were able, decided to seek their fortunes elsewhere. John Leach was one that felt that way. He only lasted two months in the fledging Colony.
Departure for Van Diemens Land
Joseph Hardey's Diary records that missionary John Leach, plus the Tranby's Surgeon, Dr Thomas Coke Brownell (plus his wife, and their children) left Fremantle bound for Launceston, in Van Diemen's Land, on the 14th of April 1830.
Hobart Town, the capital Van Diemen's Land, was beautifully situated on undulating ground by the side of an estuary called the Derwent, from its resemblance to the lake of that name in Cumberland—In 1831, the number of its inhabitants was 8,360. After arrival in Tasmania: John worked as a journeyman cabinet maker three days in the week for his support and devoted the remainder of his time to religious purposes. There was no organised Wesleyan society in Launceston at this time. The ministers were allowed the use of the old Court House. Shortly after the visit of Governor Arthur to Launceston, the Govenor appointed John Leach as catechist to convicts in the 'Notman’s Road party', employed on the roads near Franklin Village. Leach, who then resided in town, commenced preaching at the house of Mr. Benjamin Rogers. The Hobart Town ministers frequently visited Launceston. |
John Leach became a hired local preacher, and, being a zealous Yorkshireman, it is reported: ' many of the vilest offenders turned, and found salvation under his preaching.'
John Leach and his wife, Julia Leach (unsure when he married), both left Van Diemen's Land in May 1835, on board the Governor Phillip (sailing north, via Sydney in June), bound for Norfolk Island. This was in consequence of the John's increased indisposition. He had consumptive symptoms for several years. General Bourke has appointed him to the office of Catechist, to the penal settlement, on Norfolk Island, in the hope, "that the mild climate may conduce to lengthen his life, and that he may be made serviceable to the prisoners there, as he has been, in an eminent degree, to those in Van Diemans Land."
(Consumption was not of frequent occurrence, among emigrants from Europe, but for children born in Australia, of European parents, sometimes died of this disease.)
Rev. John Leach died young, at only 34 years old, on the 14th of September 1835, of 'consumption', on the remote Norfolk Island having only resided there for only a few months.
His gravestone, organised by his wife Julia, in the historic Norfolk Island cemetery still directs the visitor to: Revelation 20: Verse 6 (New International Version) 6. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Following John's death, Julia returned to Sydney. Mrs. Julia Leach was appointed to the office of Matron in the Female Factory at Parramatta in July 1837 but resigned several months later. Julia married the Parramatta publican Ralph Mood in January 1839.
Julia Mood died in August 1895 aged 91 years. |
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