George William (Gunyah) GREEN (1857

George William (Gunyah) GREEN (1857 - 1926)

timber artist, furniture maker

Children	Self + Spouses	Parents	Grandparents	Greatgrandparents
Ivy Louise GREEN (1881 - 1964) Olive Isabel GREEN (1883 - ) Nell May GREEN (1884 - ) George William GREEN (1888 - )	George William (Gunyah) GREEN (1857 - 1926) + Louisa Isabel DAVIE (1863 - 1942)	Henry Thomas GREEN (1834 - 1909)	George GREEN (1810 - )	Amaziah GREEN (1782 - )
				Mary Ann CHAPEL (1787 - )
			Maria BATES (1808 - )

		Esther Ann Matilda SUGDEN (1834 - 1894)	William SUGDEN (1809 - 1895)	William SUGDEN

			Matilda WHITMORE (1806 - 1834)

b. 14 Apr 1857 at St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia

m. 1880 Louisa Isabel DAVIE (1863 - 1942) at New Zealand

d. 26 Sep 1926 at Gosford, New South Wales, Australia aged 69

Near Relatives of George William (Gunyah) GREEN (1857 - 1926)
Relationship	Person	Born	Birth Place	Died	Death Place	Age
Grandfather	George GREEN	1810	Camberwell, London, England
Grandmother	Maria BATES	14 Dec 1808	Tasmania, Australia
Grandfather	William SUGDEN	18 May 1809	Idle near Bradford, Yorkshire, England	10 Aug 1895	North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	86
Grandmother	Matilda WHITMORE	1806		1834	England	28

Father in Law	George DAVIE
Mother in Law	Maria (DAVIE)

Father	Henry Thomas GREEN	14 Sep 1834	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	14 May 1909	Gosford, New South Wales, Australia	74
Mother	Esther Ann Matilda SUGDEN	14 Jun 1834	Southwark Christchurch, London, Surrey, England	1894	St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia	60

Self	George William (Gunyah) GREEN	14 Apr 1857	St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia	26 Sep 1926	Gosford, New South Wales, Australia	69

Wife	Louisa Isabel DAVIE	abt 1863	New Zealand	1942	Gosford, New South Wales, Australia	79

Daughter	Ivy Louise GREEN	1881	Dunedin, New Zealand	1964	St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia	83
Daughter	Olive Isabel GREEN	1883	Dunedin, New Zealand
Daughter	Nell May GREEN	1884	Dunedin, New Zealand
Son	George William GREEN	15 Apr 1888	Wellington, New Zealand

Brother	Henry Thomas GREEN	abt 1862	New South Wales, Australia		New Zealand

Son in Law	Henry Charles BLAXLAND	26 Jul 1875	Armidale, New South Wales, Australia	06 May 1938	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	62
Son in Law	Arthur W PALMER

Granddaughter	Doreen BLAXLAND	1908
Granddaughter	Belinda BLAXLAND	1910
Grandson	Gregory BLAXLAND	1912		1938		26
Granddaughter	Jean BLAXLAND	1915
Grandson	George BLAXLAND	1919

Aunt	Elizabeth SUGDEN	1830	Southwark Christchurch, London, Surrey, England	14 Mar 1912	Alexandra, Victoria, Australia	82
Uncle	Alfred Bower AINSWORTH	06 Nov 1827	Brussels, Belgium	28 May 1920	Murrumbeena, Victoria	92
Uncle	Thomas SUGDEN	1832	Southwark Christchurch, London, Surrey, England
Uncle	William James SUGDEN	1836	Southwark Christchurch, London, Surrey, England	1905	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	69
Aunt	Marion (Mary Ann) SUGDEN	18 Jun 1837	Southwark Christchurch, London, Surrey, England	24 Jan 1907	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	69
Uncle	Alfred William SIMMONDS			1867	Queensland, Australia
Uncle	George Gregory Townsend ELWORTHY	16 Aug 1837	Exeter, Devon, England	26 Dec 1905	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	68
Aunt	Rachel Edith SUGDEN	06 Apr 1839	Southwark Christchurch, London, Surrey, England	1894		55

Cousin	Emily Harriet Sugden AINSWORTH	1852	At sea	31 Dec 1940	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	88
Cousin	Thomas Hargrave Alfred AINSWORTH	1853	Kensington, South Australia, Australia	1854	Victoria, Australia	1
Cousin	Thomas Hargrave AINSWORTH	1855	Lake Terang, Victoria, Australia	1935	Cue, Western Australia, Asutralia	80
Cousin	Alfred Edward St John AINSWORTH	14 Feb 1857	Lake Terang, Victoria, Australia	1943	Quairading, Western Australia, Australia	86
Cousin	Harry Schimmelpennik AINSWORTH	1860	Alexandra, Victoria, Australia	1909	Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia	49
Cousin	William AINSWORTH	1861	Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia	1861	Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia	0
Cousin	Helen AINSWORTH	1862	Wangoom, Victoria, Australia	1944	Subiaco, WA, Australia	82
Cousin	Mary May AINSWORTH	1867	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1946	Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia	79
Cousin	Herbert Annesley AINSWORTH	1868	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1948	Albany, Western Australia, Australia	80
Cousin	Chalres Roward AINSWORTH	1870	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1871	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1
Cousin	Ethel Alicia AINSWORTH	1872	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1952	Kew, Victoria, Australia	80
Cousin	Charles Frederick AINSWORTH	1874	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1956	Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia	82
Cousin	Harold Charles AINSWORTH	1876	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1938	Kalgoorlie, Western Australia	62
Cousin	Annette Elizabeth Hilda AINSWORTH	1877	Woods Point, Victoria, Australia	1967	St Kilda, Victoria, Australia	90
Cousin	Florence Louisa (Dolly) SIMMONDS	1861	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	01 Feb 1944	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	83
Cousin	Alfred William SIMMONDS	11 Jan 1864	Queensland, Australia	05 Mar 1897	Queensland, Australia	33
Cousin	Adelaide Elizabeth (Ada) ELWORTHY	03 May 1868	Calliope, Queensland, Australia	08 Aug 1933	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	65
Cousin	Ellen Augusta (Nellie) ELWORTHY	abt Oct 1869	Calliope, Queensland, Australia	06 Apr 1950	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	80
Cousin	George Gregory Townsend ELWORTHY	abt Oct 1869	Calliope, Queensland, Australia	04 Oct 1929	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	60
Cousin	Alice May Mary Maud ELWORTHY	23 Aug 1872	Gladstone, Queensland, Australia	09 Nov 1957	Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia	85
Cousin	Charles Henry (Charlie) ELWORTHY	18 Nov 1874	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	30 Aug 1953	Mackay, Queensland, Australia	78
Cousin	Olivia Marion ELWORTHY	16 Dec 1879	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	15 Aug 1958	Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia	78
Cousin	Henry St.John (Harry) Boucher ELWORTHY	26 May 1882	Mt Perry, Queensland, Australia	09 Oct 1969	Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia	87

Sister in Law	Andrina MOUAT

Events in George William (Gunyah) GREEN (1857 - 1926)'s life
Date	Age	Event	Place	Notes	Src
14 Apr 1857		George William (Gunyah) GREEN was born	St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia
1880	23	Married Louisa Isabel DAVIE (aged 17)	New Zealand	1880/537
1881	24	Birth of daughter Ivy Louise GREEN	Dunedin, New Zealand
1883	26	Birth of daughter Olive Isabel GREEN	Dunedin, New Zealand
1884	27	Birth of daughter Nell May GREEN	Dunedin, New Zealand
15 Apr 1888	31	Birth of son George William GREEN	Wellington, New Zealand
1894	37	Death of mother Esther Ann Matilda SUGDEN (aged 60)	St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia
14 May 1909	52	Death of father Henry Thomas GREEN (aged 74)	Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
04 Aug 1910	53	Patent Filed		Note 1
26 Sep 1926	69	George William (Gunyah) GREEN died	Gosford, New South Wales, Australia

Note 1: US 994457 A Variable-diameter brace-bit for boring wood
http://www.google.com/patents/US994457

Personal Notes:

Gunyah Green: An Australian Artist

Mr George William Green

Elands, Bulga Plateau, North Coast, New South Wales, Australia
Born about 1858 (he was 64 summers in 1922)
He was called “Gunyah” to differentiate between all the George Green’s in the area.

(The paper starts with Mr. J. W. Green) I have corrected the initials to read Mr. G. W. Green.

The Sydney Mail
Wednesday, March 29, 1922.

Gunyah Green : An Australian Artist

Mr. G. W. Green, of the Bulga Plateau, is an artist of no mean repute, executing his designs, not in paints and water-colours, but in Australian timbers.

The man is a master of the art none will gainsay, and proof of this may be found from the many letters of appreciation received by him from those qualified to judge. His neatness of work and attention to detail are probably inherited from his father, who, as a boat builder, was awarded a gold medal at Crystal Palace Exhibition (London) for a racing outrigger. The timber artist, sometimes call “Gunyah Green,” still finds ample scope for his artistic temperament, notwithstanding his 64 summers. People wonder why he settled on the lonely Plateau; but haven’t all such men sought the loneliness and solitude of the bush as the most congenial atmosphere whence to derive their inspiration? He also hoped to do something towards the preservation of those wonderful timbers which grow so plentifully in the district, and which were threatened with extermination by the woodman’s axe. Mr. Green contends that there is still sufficient timber on the Bulga to pay Australia’s war debt if there were proper facilities for getting it to market.

In the execution of his work Mr. Green has used every kind of timber known in New South Wales, from the bone wood, which grows only to the size of a sapling, the giant cedar with its twenty thousand feet of timber. Every Governor in New South Wales, with one exception, from Lord Jersey to Sir Walter Davidson, has honoured him with an order, and he prefers to make his own designs; in fact, if a would-be client wishes him to work from a given design, he tells this individual to make the article himself, as there is no art in the making but in the designing.

Lord Curzon, when Viceroy of India, commissioned Mr. Green to make £250 worth of furniture, which was inlaid with twenty-four different kinds of timber. For Judge Cheek, of Cheshire (England), he made a chair valued at £555. By direction of Sir George Dibbs, then Premier of New South Wales, he made a collection of Australian timbers consisting of eighty varieties, which were exhibited at one of the great American exhibitions. He was awarded a gold medal by the St. Louis exhibition for a table containing 27,000 pieces of timber, in which the Australian and American flags were seen enterwining (intertwining). Amongst the caskets presented to the Prince of Wales during his visit to Australia was one made by the Bulga artist. In referring to the same, an English paper has the following comment: - “The most expensive casket was one made in W.A., and inlaid with pure gold, but, we think, the one most beautifully done was made on the Bulga. Where Bulga is we don’t know.” Some little while ago Lady Davidson exhibited two trays made by Mr. Green at the Arts and Crafts exhibition in Sydney. The Governor’s wife, who has more than a novice’s knowledge of practical art, spoke in most praiseworthy terms of the workmanship.

That the art of designing is possessed in no small degree by the subject of our sketch may be gathered from the following facts. During the last few years he has made considerably over 200 fancy tea trays, exquisitely designed, and mostly differing from one another. He likes to execute his work in keeping with the calling of his clients. When he made a table for an American visitor, he inlaid a design which represented the Americans putting to flight the Red Indians, while broken arrows and falling horses, together with slain Indians, added to the intensity of the combat. For an Australian sportsman he made a table the top of which was laid out like a field o sport. There were horses, jockeys, whose hats were suspended in midair, cricket bats, tennis rackets, etc. If it is a tray for a butcher it is sure to be inlaid with a fat pig or a bullock. The ladies’ appreciation is usually merited by something in the nature of a butterfly, beautifully made in the natural colours of the wood, planting its feet on the stamen of a white flower. For a butterfly fancier Mr. Green has made no less than nine tea trays inlaid with nine different kinds of butterflies. One day, a visitor, who came in a most elaborate car, hailed the wood-worker in his little shop, thus: “Are you the little cabinet maker on the top.” He replied, “I am a cabinet maker” The man with the car went on to say that he had just sold the whole of his furniture, which was handsomely inlaid, and made by Japanese. There was only one piece which surpassed in beauty the designs of the Japanese, and that was present given him by a Sydney man. Imagine his surprise when informed that Mr. Green was the author. His work-manship has found its way into almost every English-speaking country, and people on the other side of the world speak with pride of this Australian timber artist. While he uses no fewer than 82 different kinds of timber, his favourites are cedar and coachwood, the latter being little know, yet growing prolifically on the Plateau.

This worker in wood has secured 130 Commonwealth patents. For a steel oar he received a large sum on money, and employment in England for twelve months at £10 per week to give exhibitions on the principal rivers. He has a patent bit that bores a square hole, also a dovetailing machine. He has patented articles which are for 6d. (six pence) and articles which are sold for £1200. His latest patent is a wooden roof, which is more economical than iron and just as serviceable.

There is no design, however intricate it may be, but what this man can do, and he is adept at working crests for titled families. His popularity may be gauged from the fact that he has booked orders for the next two years. There is no man in New South Wales better qualified to be a member of the Society of Artists, and one hopes that soon the restrictions that now confine membership to those who use the brush and paint will be removed so as to include those who display artistic temperament in arts and crafts.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1302&dat=19220329&id=wtBaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JJIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7087,3036364

Source References:

12. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Genes reunited, Title: Genes

- Reference = Peter Myler (Name, Notes)

18. Type: E-mail Message, Abbr: e-mails general pool, Title: e-mails general pool

- Reference = Heather 24 Oct 2011 (Name, Notes)

- Notes: In our family we have a sideboard, chest of drawers and another small box that was made by "Gunyah" Green. He used to live on Elands, about 15kms from my family home, north of Wingham (near Taree).

George William Green was known as "Gunyah" Green to differentiate between the other George Green's in the area Gunyah was a timber artist.

I have attached some interesting articles about Gunyah Green.

In one article it mentions a Music Cabinet made from different types of timber, and given to his daughter, Ivy,

"Made by George William Green in about 1919 for his daughter Ivy who was a pianist. Later given to her daughter Jean. The cabinet is said to have been exhibited in the Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London in 1924-1925."

It is mentioned that in "The Sydney Mail" dated 29 March, 1922 that he was 64 summers old. So that would make him born about 1858 (probably in England).

Created on a Mac™ using iFamily for Mac™ on 2 May 2025