Person:John Bassett (31)

Migrating to Australia

John Bassett first came out to Australia in 1861 as part of a larger family group on the SS Great Britain (Voyage 21) which arrived in Melbourne on the 23rd Dec 1861. He arrived with wife Martha, and daughters Ann Davey and Martha Rowe, their husbands and children and soon to be daughter-in-law Eleanor Symons. The passenger list shows that on Board were in the following groupings, the comments in the brackets were not on the passenger list but are my own musings (Group 1)

  1. John Bassett, aged 70
  2. Mrs M Bassett, aged 65
  3. Miss Samions, aged 27 9 (should read Symons, and soon to be wife of James Bassett)

(Group 2)

  4.  Mrs Ann Davey, aged 35 (formerly Bassett)
  5.  Elizebeth Davey, aged 16
  6.  Jane Davey, aged 18
  7.  John Davey, aged 12
  8.  Stephen Davey, aged 9

(Group 3)

   9.  James Rowe, aged 38
   10.  Mrs Rowe, aged 32 (formerly Martha Bassett)
   11.  Julia Rowe, aged 8
   12.  Martha Rowe, aged 5
   13.  Nanney Rowe, aged 1

Life in Australia

John Bassett arrived in Australia at the age of 71. He was a very active member of the local church Weslyan Church. The church was probably the California Gully Weslyean Church, where he was an active lay preacher. He performed the burial ceremony for a John Holman of Eaglehawk who died at the age of 18months on the 25/3/1866.

He was “known as Grandfather Bassett, was a much-beloved and esteemed local preacher and class-leader".   From this we can assume that John Bassett was one of the several ministers appointed in the circuit to preach itinerantly and to conduct church rites.

One of the "family stories" is that John Bassett (Snr) was wealthy and bought over a lot Cornish miners; perhaps the story should be that he went backwards and forwards between Australia and Cornwall bringing across different family members until the whole family (or most of it) migrated. It is possible that James Bassett came across with John Bassett even earlier than 1861.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Death Certificate John Bassett died 24 November 1868, in Death Certificate John Bassett
   8567, 1868.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Baptism of John Bassett in Madron Parish Church, Penzance, Cornwall England, Cornwall, in "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010," database with images
   Penzance Madron Cornwall Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1784-1810, 5 September 1890.

   FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12896-157190-89?cc=1769414 Accessed 14 April 2015 Image 19 of 100

3. ↑ Burial record for John Bassett buried November 25 1868 Eaglehawk Cemetery, in Remembrance Parks – Central Victoria (Bendigo Cemeteries Trust) website - deceased index
   http://rpcv.com.au/deceased-search/deceased/?id=44047, 12 June 2017.