[Index]
William LEE (1802 - 1880)
labourer, farmer
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Mary Jane LEE (1837 - 1905)
John George LEE (1840 - 1883)
Martha Elizabeth LEE (1843 - 1876)
William LEE (1802 - 1880)

+

Mary Ann SMITH ( - 1849)
William Obrey LEE











Catherine RIELLY












b. abt 1802 at Ireland
m. 1829 Mary Ann SMITH ( - 1849) at Bong Bong, New South Wales, Australia
d. 11 Oct 1880 at Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia aged 78
Near Relatives of William LEE (1802 - 1880)
Relationship Person Born Birth Place Died Death Place Age
Father William Obrey LEE
Mother Catherine RIELLY

Self William LEE abt 1802 Ireland 11 Oct 1880 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 78

Wife Mary Ann SMITH 07 Mar 1849 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Daughter Mary Jane LEE abt Mar 1837 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 23 Jan 1905 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 67
Son John George LEE 1840 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 17 Dec 1883 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 43
Daughter Martha Elizabeth LEE 1843 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 29 Nov 1876 Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia 33

Son in Law James GIBBS 1833 Bishopstone, Wiltshire, England 18 Feb 1902 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 69
Daughter in Law Mary Jane HARRIOTT 1843 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 18 May 1920 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 77
Son in Law James EAGAR 1835 Tralee, Co Kerry, Ireland

Granddaughter Mary Susan GIBBS 1855 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 17 Jan 1876 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 21
Granddaughter Adelaide Amelia Jane GIBBS 1857 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 09 Jun 1930 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 73
Grandson John William Solomon GIBBS 1858 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1887 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 29
Grandson Edward Thomas GIBBS 1860 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 20 Nov 1931 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 71
Grandson Australia James GIBBS 1862 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 20 Aug 1939 Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia 77
Grandson William Lee GIBBS 1864 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1868 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 4
Grandson Henry Albert GIBBS 1866 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1869 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 3
Granddaughter Evangeline GIBBS 1870 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 04 Aug 1924 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 54
Grandson Stephen Ernest GIBBS 1872 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 13 Sep 1931 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 59
Grandson Nathaniel Hart GIBBS 1875 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1940 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 65
Grandson William J LEE 1862 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 17 Jan 1935 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 73
Granddaughter Catherine LEE 1864 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 04 Apr 1899 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 35
Granddaughter Martha Grace LEE 1865 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 25 Jan 1942 Marrickville, Sydney, Australia 77
Grandson Hugh Harriott LEE 1867 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 11 Dec 1941 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 74
Granddaughter Mary Jane LEE 1870 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Grandson John James LEE 1872 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 02 Jun 1901 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 29
Granddaughter Rose Anne LEE 1873 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Grandson Charles George LEE 1875 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 20 Jun 1923 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 48
Granddaughter Elizabeth Sophia LEE 1877 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Grandson Edward Francis LEE 1879 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 15 Aug 1900 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 21
Grandson Arthur Obery Sydney LEE 1881 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1884 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 3
Granddaughter Audrey S LEE 1882 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 04 Jan 1884 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 2
Granddaughter Sarah Louise LEE 1883 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 06 Apr 1958 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 75
Grandson William John EAGAR 1872 Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia
Grandson James EAGAR 1874 Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia

Events in William LEE (1802 - 1880)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
abt 1802 William LEE was born Ireland 6
1829 27 Married Mary Ann SMITH Bong Bong, New South Wales, Australia V1829555 44B/1829
abt Mar 1837 35 Birth of daughter Mary Jane LEE Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia V18372274 30A/1837
1840 38 Birth of son John George LEE Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia V18401682 25A/1840
1843 41 Birth of daughter Martha Elizabeth LEE Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia V18432260 28/1843
07 Mar 1849 47 Death of wife Mary Ann SMITH Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 6
29 Nov 1876 74 Death of daughter Martha Elizabeth LEE (aged 33) Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia 5403/1876
11 Oct 1880 78 William LEE died Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 9804/1880
Personal Notes:
http://www.highlandsnsw.com.au/towns/bong.html
Unless you are aware of where you are, you won't even know you are passing the first village established in the Southern Highlands. Bong Bong exists today only as a name on the map.

The site of Bong Bong can be found about 7kms from Bowral on the Moss Vale Road, just before you pass over the bridge on the Wingecarribee River.

An "Historic Site" sign points the way: stop and have a look.

An obelisk commemorates the village. The Cecil Hoskins Reserve (road just next to it) takes you to the site.

Nothing is left above ground level. However, if you look around, you can get some idea of what it must have been like.
Moss Vale Road itself was part of the Old South Road - the main route over the mountains from Stonequarry (now Picton), to the Goulburn Plains. It enters the now main road further back towards Bowral at Eridge Park Road, then goes over the back of the Gib to Mittagong.

South, it continues onwards as the main street of Moss Vale, to Sutton Forest.

The Old South Road was built by Dr. Charles Throsby, one of the first settlers in the area. If you look across the river towards the church, you can see part of the original grant given to him by Governor Macquarie in (1819); Moss Vale stands on part of this land, which stretched all the way east to Fitzroy Falls.

There was apparently a settlement here from 1817. The official site for the village was chosen by Governor Macquarie on a visit in 1820; a police barracks and huts built soon after.

Some may have been for servants on Throsby Park nearby, or merchants or tradesmen - this being the first main settlement in the Highlands.


An extension to the settlement was surveyed in 1826, on which was built the first inn (The Argyle Inn). Although famous at the time, it closed some years later after Berrima was established (1832). The whole village faded away soon after due to government servants moving to Berrima, and the new road there bypassing it.

Even though the village was gone, there were still many residents in the area. The Old South Road still remained important, though not as busy as the new line of road through Berrima.

There are some remnants of the past still to be seen. Back up the hill towards Bowral is the Briars Inn (originally the Royal Oak Hotel), built 1845.

The front part (not the paintwork) is well preserved; you can almost see the carriages pulling up outside it today.

Across the river is Christ Church Bong Bong - first permanent church in the area, built by Charles Throsby himself in 1845, and consecrated by the first Anglican Bishop of Australia. (The white paint is not original).

Many pioneers of the Wingecarribee are buried in the churchyard: Joseph Wild (for whom Wildes Meadow is named), one of the earliest settlers; and generations of the Throsby family.

The church is still used today, and sadly, only open to the tourist during services. (See board outside for times.)

Throsby Park Further to the left, is the site of Throsby Park - one of the first permanent homesteads in the area. Apart from over a century of Throsby inhabitants, it has had a colourful history of tenants and visitors.

A Heritage estate, today it is owned by the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service. (For inspection times see Tourinfo.) Take Illawarra Highway on the left over the hill into Moss Vale.

To the casual visitor, Bong Bong doesn't seem to have much to offer; but then again, neither do many of the archaeological sites of Europe.

Modern day Berrima has the stone, bricks and mortar, and ambience which helps tourists capture the spirit of the past. But it is the ghosts of Bong Bong past which have more importance in Australian history.

At most just a temporary settlement, a way-post, its timber slab and bark huts gone a century ago - Bong Bong saw more important travellers and visitors, resting at the Inn, or entertained at the Throsby estate, on their way south to open up the inland of the continent than any other part of the Highlands.

The ghosts of these most famous Australians linger here in the air, among the vanished humble dwellings of Bong Bong.

It is perhaps fitting that they are commemorated today by a nature reserve, with swamplands, native birds, and animals. The bush returned - as it were - to what it was before they came.
Source References:
6. Type: Book, Abbr: Queanbeyan Register, Title: Biographical register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the district to the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1930, Auth: Peter Proctor, Publ: The Heraldry & Genealogical Society of Canberra, Date: 2001
- Reference = 180 (Birth)

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