| 4. | Captain Walter John Synnot, 1820 Settler was born on 29 Dec 1773 in Ballymoyer, County Armagh, Ireland; died on 31 Dec 1851 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Other Events and Attributes:
- 1820 Lineage: Yes
- Interest: (1820–1825), South Africa; had a flower "Synnotia villosa" named after him
- Settler ID: 3083
- Will: (18 Oct 1851–26 Dec 1851), Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
- Award: 11 Jun 1793, London, Middlesex, England; was appointed as an Ensign in the 66th Regiment of Foot, replacing Davidson,
- Award: Sep 1795; appointed as a Lieutenant in the 66th Regiment of Foot, replacing Lloyd,
- Award: 12 Dec 1797, London, Middlesex, England; was appointed Captain, by purchase, replacing Gordon who was promoted,
- Award: Feb 1803, London, Middlesex, England; exchanged with Captain William Henley Raikes of the 8th West India Regiment
- Settler: 12 Feb 1820, Cork, Co Cork, Ireland
- Emigration: 21 Apr 1836, London, Middlesex, England
- Immigration: 26 Aug 1836, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
- Occupation: 1846; Captain in the Army
Notes:
Notices in The London Gazette advise:
in Jun 1783, Walter was appointed as an Ensign in the 66th Regiment of Foot, replacing Davidson;
in Sep 1795, he was appointed as a Lieutenant in the 66th Regiment of Foot, replacing Lloyd;
in Dec 1797 Walter was appointed Captain, by purchase, replacing Gordon who was promoted.
There is also a notice in The London Gazette of 29 May 1798 advising that Ensign Edward Stokes, from the 51st Foot, was to be Lieutenant in the 66th Regiment of Foot, by purchase, replacing Synnot, promoted. This probably refers to Walter's promotion from Lieutenant to Captain 6 months previously.
From The London Gazette of 1 Feb 1803:
'Captain William Henley Raikes, from Half-Pay of the late 8th West India Regiment, to be Captain, vice Synnot, who exchanges, receiving the Difference.'
P. Hore Synnott Pedigree (1913), page 14:
'Walter of Ballintate Co Armagh = 1st. Cathe. dau of H Smith of Deabeg nr. Drogheda = 2nd. Eliz. dau of Geo. Houston. She died 1834
Capt 66. Regt.
= 3rd a dau of ... Mathers Esq. of Maytoun House, Co Armagh. No issue.'
The name "Maytone House" is known in Armagh, as is the location Maytown.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Synnot accessed 28 Jul 2014:
'Captain Walter Synnot, a prominent Australian Colonial, was a son of Sir Walter Synnot. In 1819 he settled in Cape Colony but returned to Britain.
While in the colony, he collected many flowers. Enid du Plessis in her book Cape Sandveld Flowers (1972), with illustrations by Hilda Mason, notes:
'5. Synnotia villosa (Burm. f.) N. E. Br.
Derivation: Named in honor of W. Synnot, who collected many plants at the Cape; villosus (Latin), hairy.
Distribution: South western Cape.
Leaves glabrous and not pleated. Bracts lacerated at the top. Perianth with a short or long tube; lobes unequal and not symmetrically arranged. The specific name is misleading because the leaves are not hairy. Flowers August-September.'
In 1835 he then settled first in Van Diemen's Land at his property Invermay, near Launceston, Tasmania. Walter spent the rest of his life in Tasmania and died at his home, "The Mansion" in Canning Street, Launceston, in 1851.[1] His numerous chldren included Julia, who married Henry Cole in Launceston, Monckton Synnot and George Synnot the well known squatters and wool brokers. His daughter Jane married into the Manifold family.
And from Mary Jane Macarthur (Capt. Walter Synnot's 3rd wife, died 1889), the Synnot and Macarthur family albums, ca. 1810-1914, now in a collection at the State Library of NSW received from their granddaughter:
'Captain Walter Synnot (1773-1851) from the 66th Regiment of Foot (Berkshire) served with the regiment in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Jamaica. Retired and migrated to South Africa in 1820, returned to Ireland in 1825. He arrived in Tasmania in 1826 with his third wife Mary Jane, nee Mather. Following his death Mary Jane married Charles Macarthur (son of Hannibal Macarthur and Anna Maria, the eldest daughter of Philip Gidley King).'
As a child, Capt. Walter features in the famous 18th-century painting "The Children of Walter Synnot Esq" by Joseph Wright of Derby.
Of the more famous of his descendants are Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot RAN and Sir Walter Synnot Manifold.
[1] Launceston Examiner'
____________________________________________________________________________
South Africa
Captain Walter's South African venture is set out at:
http://1820settlers.com/genealogy/settlershowparty.php?party=Synnot accessed 6 Sep 2014
The narrative is from The Settler Handbook by M. D. Nash.
1820 Settler Party : Synnot
Party Synnot
Leader Captain Walter Synnot
Number in the Party 25
Area Party originated from Newtown Hamilton, County Armagh, Ireland
Area allocated to the party Clanwilliam
Ship Fanny
Surnames in party Caliston, Cowser, Houston, Kennedy, McDonald, Quin, Scannell, Short, Spiers, Synnot, Thompson, Unknown, Young,
Other Information A party of 25 from Newtown Hamilton, County Armagh, led by Captain Walter Synnot. 89th Regiment, sailed in "Fanny".
Settler Handbook Content: No. 56 on the Colonial Department list, led by Captain Walter Synnot of Ballywalter, Newtown Hamilton, county Armagh in northern Ireland, an officer of the 89th Regiment on half-pay. Synnot was the second son of a baronet, and was described by Sir Rufane Donkin, the Acting Governor of the Cape, as 'one of the most respectable of all the settlers'. He had first enquired about the possibility of emigrating to the Cape in May 1818, and when the emigration scheme was advertised a year later, he applied at once to take out a proprietary party of 10 labouring families from Armagh, 'all members of the Church of Scotland'. By late October, however, half his party had dropped out, and Synnot was given official permission to replace them with others so long as the number remained the same. Synnot's own family group comprised his 12-year-old son by his first marriage, his second wife and their two small sons (a third, Marcus, was born during the voyage), and Frances Houston, aged 15, a sister (or niece) of Mrs Synnot.
Arrangements were made for all four Irish settler parties, under Butler, Ingram, Parker and Synnot, to sail from Passage West, Cork. After travelling almost the length of the country by road, Synnot's party, the only one from nothern Ireland, had to wait for permission from London before boarding the Fanny, because of the late payment of its deposit money.
Deposits were finally paid for 11 men, and the Fanny and her consort, the East Indian, sailed from the Cove of Cork on 12 February 1820, anchoring in Simon's Bay on 1 May. It was official policy that the Irish settlers should be located separately from the main body of emigrants, and in mid-May they sailed on to Saldanha Bay where they were disembarked. Synnot's party was located in the Groot Seekoei Valley in the Clanwilliam district, at the junction of the Jan Dissels and Olifants Rivers. When the Irish settlers were subsequently given the option of relocation in Albany, Synnot chose to remain in Clanwilliam. He was appointed a Special Heemraad (Justice of the Peace) for the district soon after his arrival, and became Deputy Landdrost of the sub-drostdy of Tulbagh in 1821. By 1825, Cowser and Kennedy were the only other men of the party still living in Clanwilliam. In that year Synnot decided to return to Ireland, and some years later he emigrated to Tasmania.
LIST OF SYNNOT'S PARTY
CALISTON, William 28. Carpenter.
COWSER, Robert 20. Labourer.
HOUSTON, Frances 15 (in the care of W Synnot).
KENNEDY, James 25. Labourer.
McDONALD, Patrick 25. Labourer.
QUIN, Joseph 21. Labourer. w Mary 19.
SCANNELL, John 21. Blacksmith. w Johanna 21.
SHORT, Robert 18. Labourer.
SPIERS, William 30. Linen weaver. w Sarah 28. c George 10, James 8, Mary 6, Margaret 4, Sarah 2, Elizabeth.
SYNNOT, Walter 45. Capt, 89th Regt (half-pay). w Elizabeth 20. c Anne 16, Walter 12, Robert 2, George 1, Marcus (born at sea).
THOMPSON, Robert 26. Labourer.
YOUNG, Robert 28. Labourer. w Margaret 20. c Samuel 8.
Main sources for party list
Lists of settlers under the direction of Capt Walter Synnot (Cape Archives CO 6137/2,55 and Public Record Office, London, CO 48/47,185). Although the Agent of Transports' Returns for the other settler parties in the Fanny are available in the Cape Archives, the return for Synnot's party as it arrived at Simon's Bay could not be traced. However, the presence of all 11 men of the party at the Cape has been confirmed from colonial records.
'Anne Synnot', aged 16, has been identified by GB Dickason in Irish Settlers to the Cape as a maidservant named Ann Clerk.
Further reading
GB Dickason, Irish Settlers to the Cape (Cape Town, AA Balkema, 1973);
The Reminiscences of John Montgomery, ed A Giffard (Cape Town, AA Balkema, 1981).
Montgomery was a member of Butler's party on board the Fanny.
from THE SETTLER HANDBOOK by MD Nash page 126
Last Name, Given Name(s) Ship Party Parents Born/Christened Spouse's Name Person ID
Last Name, Given Ship Party Parents Born/Chr Spouse ID
Synnot, Anne Fanny Synnot Walter Synnot b. 1803 3084
Synnot, George Fanny Synnot Walter Synnot and Elizabeth b. 1818 3087
Synnot, Marcus Fanny Synnot Walter Synnot and Elizabeth b. 1820 born at sea 3088
Synnot, Robert Fanny Synnot Walter Synnot and Elizabeth b. 1817 3086
Synnot, Walter Fanny Synnot b. 1775 Elizabeth 3083
Synnot, Walter Fanny Synnot Walter Synnot b. 1807 3085
Another of the settler parties to South Africa was led by William Parker - this is possibly where Parker and Parker George Synnot got their name.
____________________________________________________________________________
Tasmania
Capt Walter emigrated to Van Diemans Land (Tasmania) in 1836. It appears that he and his wife arrived on the 'Red Rover' which left London 21 Apr 1836 and arrived in Launceston 26 Aug 1836. In a shipping notice in 'he True Colonist' (Hobart) on 2 Sep 1936 there are 2 passengers named only Mr and Mrs Synott and there are no children listed. The Synnots are not in any of the other London-Tasmania passenger lists that were searched, the most likely being the Amelia Thompson, a female emigrant ship, which arrived at Launceston on 20 Aug 1836 with 309 passengers - the vast majority being young single women. Passenger lists that were found indicate that Capt Walter was not among the few other passengers, and it is hard to imagine that he would have chosen such travelling companions.
The timing of the journey is interesting - Walter and Elizabeth married 8 Apr 1836 in County Armagh, the Red Rover left London 21 Apr 1836. It seems that there was not much of a honeymoon. The departure date is a reasonable match with Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) which says that Walter sailed to Van Diemen's Land from London 28 April 1836, and settled in Launceston.
A death notice in the Belfast News-Letter (Belfast, Ireland), Wed, 2 Jun 1852 read:
'At his home, Captain Walter Synnot, late of the 66th Regiment, youngest son of the late Sir Walter Synnot, Ballymoyer House, Armagh.'
Captain Walter's will, written 18 Oct 1851 sand a codicil added 26 Dec 1851, is interesting for what it contains, and also for what it does not.
According to the will, Walter had already provided for his eldest son Walter Synnot the younger (from his first marriage) by a document of abt 2 Nov 1840, and had also at various times provided for his sons Robert, George, Marcus, Albert and Monckton and also for his daughter Jane Manifold.
He left his interest in the Hartsford estate in County Down, Ireland to his son Robert also his property in a house in Dawson Street Dublin, on Robert paying to his brother Marcus the sum of two hundred pounds sterling.
Hartsford was the estate of Walter's former father-in-law George (or James) Houston, so Walter's 2nd wife Elizabeth must have inherited at least a part-share in it.
The Dawson St, Dublin property needs further investigation, but it is interesting that Walter retained interests in Ireland even after a long absence overseas.
He had also retained an interest in an estate at Clan William, which he passed to his wife, sons George and Marcus, and son-in-law Montague Williams.
As Walter's son Nugent was still a minor when the will was written, his share was to be held in trust until he turned 21, though the trustees could use the trust fund for Nugent's benefit.
The codicil appears to provide for any of the 500 pounds willed to his wife, as her own money, but not spent in her lifetime, to go to the children of Walter as his wife chose.
There are some significant omissions:
1. There is no mention of Walter's possible daughter Anne from his first marriage. She may have predeceased him. But there is an Anne Synnot (age 16 in 1820) on the list of Synnot's party which went to South Africa, it is possible that she was a servant, Anne Clerk. It appears that this Anne married Thomas Farrar Sadler, another settler who was a son of the captain of the "Fanny" on which the Synnots emigrated. In any event, the birth of Anne 'Synnot' in 1803/04 predates Walter's first marriage (1806), which adds further doubt. Anne Synnot's existence remains questionable.
2. There is no mention of a Mary - further evidence that the Mary who married Joseph Quinn then John Foster in South Africa was not a daughter of Capt. Walter.
3. There is no mention of Julia, supposedly the youngest child of Capt. Walter. As Julia was born abt 1835/36 (her mother died in Aug 1834) it seems very unlikely that she was a daughter of Capt Walter. In any event, Nugent and his twin William were born just 2 months before their mother died, so Julia could not have been a younger sister. Nothing has been found to link Julia to Walter except family trees on the internet, which are all copies of each other.
There is also convincing evidence on the linc Tasmania website https://linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/ indicating that Julia was not Walter's child:
a. on 20 Dec 1858 Julia Sinat married Henry Cole according to the rites of Independents. The Synnots were Church of England, and also Julia signed her name as informant with an 'x', i.e. she was illiterate.
b.Four of Julia and Henry's 10 children were born before they married in 1858.
c. Her name on birth entries for her children is variable, from Sinet to Synnott.
d. Julia was the informant for the birth of her son George Cole in 1864, and signed her name with an 'x'
It is unlikely that a daughter of Capt Walter Synnot would be illiterate.
Award:
Award:
Award:
Settler:
Synnot's Party on the Fanny
Died:
Walter married Elizabeth Houston, 1820 Settler on 17 Apr 1816 in Armagh, Armagh, Ireland. Elizabeth (daughter of George Houston and Mary Ann Ferguson) was born on 31 Jul 1799 in Hartsford, County Down, Ireland; died on 26 Aug 1834 in Ballymoyer, County Armagh, Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
|
1846 - 1874 (28 years)
