Parson Tom’s sister Catherine married William Lane. But William Lane was also the brother of Parson Tom’s wife.

The William Lanes arrived in Sydney in 1823 aboard the Jupiter, the same ship the Toms transferred to after their near-shipwreck in Storm Bay. Did they all set out together or by chance were they brought together on the Jupiter?

William Lane (1792-1855) was a pioneer settler at Orton Park, Bathurst, and one of the first land owners in the Orange district. He purchased land at Frederick’s Valley Creek in 1836, 1837, and 1838. Seems to have done very well for himself. [JC 2003]

University of Newcastle website says:


William Lane, a former Wesleyan minister from Devonshire, and his wife Catherine (née Tom), arrived in NSW in 1823 as free settlers on the Jupiter. In 1824 Lane was overseeing the interests of the Hassall family at O’Connell Plains, during a time of violent conflict between Aborigines and settlers. Lane was the leader of a posse that killed three Aboriginal women near Rainville, in revenge for the wounding of a stockman in an attack on Mrs Hassall’s station. Five of the stockmen involved were trialed in Sydney. The Lanes had their own property on the Fish River, south of Bathurst, at Tarranah Farm. Their children, whom Rev J.C.S. Handt described as clean and healthy, and … well behaved included Mary and John Tom Lane, twelve and ten years of age, and the infants James Barrett, born at Bathurst in 1830, and Nicholas Oliver, six months old when the missionaries visit Tarranah farm. The Lane family were later pioneers of Blackman’s Swamp (Orange) where they built Clifton Grove House. They are one of the most prominent families in the history of the Orange District, and Clifton Grove House remains in the hands of William and Catherine’s descendants.

University of Newcastle also says:


Hannah Davey, came free per Jupiter 1823. She is listed in the 1825 Muster as being employed by William Lane at Bathurst.

[Link now broken.]