... His [John Rea's] brother, Matthew Rea, financed the arrangements for the voyage, on the Prince of Wales to sail in 1765 from Belfast to Charles Towne with passengers, thence to Savannah. The ship sailed in February. Matthew Rea was a land promoter for America, and lived in the Village of Drumbo in County Down, and was either a small landowner or farmer. He had the means to undertake two tours of the surrounding countryside in furtherance of his emigration plans, acting as middleman in the emigration trade, and agent, working with his brother, John Rea, in Georgia to obtain emigrants to the Colony. As far as this land business was concerned, John Rea was described as a scoundrel in a letter published in 1770 describing Georgia as "a woeful place...a poor hole...a cursed place...inhabited by a few Irish and some run-aways from all parts of America...that John Rea was more concerned with erecting a hedge between himself and the Indians than with promoting the happiness of his
settlers". As the ship "Waddell" sailed in November of 1773, Mathew's activities on behalf of Georgia and his brother came to an end. John Rae was a resident of Georgia in August of 1741, where he was appointed Conservator of the Peace ten years later. In 1752, he petitioned the Georgia Trustees for 300 acres on Argyle Island on the Savannah River and 100 acres on Pipemaker's Creek. In 1755, he was elected Representative to sit in the Assembly for Georgia at Augusta, and a lot was granted to him at Hardwick, in Chatham Co. ...
