Draft:Thomas White Melville Winder

Thomas (“Tom” or “Thom”) White Melville Winder (1787(?)-1853) Thomas White Melville Winder was one of the very early settlers to Australia. He played a significant role in the development and expansion of Australia to the North, specifically the Hunter Region.

As a sea captain he traded in India but on his voyage to Australia in 1817, decided to stay in the colony and discontinued his sailing career. The historic homestead Windermere House (oldest homestead in the Hunter region) was the first to have grown grapes in the Hunter. William Charles Wentworth (son of D'Arcy Wentworth) became a business partner with Winder.

Winder was a coal-mine owner, flour miller, general merchant, pastoralist, ship owner, boiling-down works operator, tallow manufacturer, wheat farmer, cedar exporter, had a family and other interests. He was reportedly the first to plant grapes in the Hunter Valley, an area famous for wine production.

There are no pictures of Winder. While some of Winders business partners (including William Wentworth and Samuel Terry) and workers became rich and famous, Winder died relatively poor but with a reputation for being upright.

Family History and Parentage
Thomas (“Tom” or “Thom”) White Melville Winder (1787-1853) was born in England in 1787 (1789 per ), some details around his parentage and time of birth are unable to be confirmed. The lecture at the Newcastle University suggested that he was born in 1779 as the illegitimate son of the Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington and Lady Mary Melville. Other family traditions say he could have been his nephew.

A newspaper from England described Winder’s as “the beau ideal of an English gentleman of the old school. In features, strikingly like the old Duke of Wellington, but tall and elegant, always dressed in the best of broad cloth, and the finest of linen, upright in carriage and in conduct.

Although Lady Mary Melville records are scarce or non-existant, some traditions suggest his birth was c1787 and that he was raised in the Lake District, apparently by Quaker adherents. The lakes district has a part called Lake Windermere, the family tradition includes being raised by a Miss Whyte and that the surname Winder was from Lake Windermere.

Professions and Arrival to Australia
Winder was captain in the Merchant Navy. He later became a pastoralist, farmer, trader, mill owner, magistrate, business man and land owner.

Some sources say that Winder settled in Australia because of ill-health. Others say that it was because of the possibilities of business, trade and opportunistically or accidentally arriving in Sydney because of a court case.

Winder came to Sydney (NSW, Australia) in 20 November 1817 on the ship Frederick.

Prior to this, Winder had arrived in 1816 on the ship the Surry and returned back to England.

Although Winder was a merchant, he abandoned trading after a deal with a Captain Ritchie resulted in financial loss when Ritchie failed to bring promised cargo from Calcutta.

Winder established a water mill for grinding flour at Kensington with business partner Samuel Terry. Winder later sold his share in the mill in 1825 and later traded as Cooper and Levey.

First Land Grant (Sydney) and Business there
Winder’s first land grant was a parcel of land (allotment No 14 Sec 44) on the corner of Bligh and Hunter Streets in Sydney. Winder built a store house.

The business sold green tea and other items (per 1 May 1818 Sydney Gazette). By 1819 (16 January) the Sydney Gazette advertisement of a wider selection of goods including alcohols such as Jamaica and Bengal rum, gin, brandy, port, Madeira, porter, brown stout, pale ale, hams, cheese tea, sugar, soap and tobacco.

Winder sold a portion of his land during 1820 and also sold all the goods, house and furniture (perhaps a mortgagee foreclosure) of Japhet White.

August 1820 he opened Lachland Flour Mills on a grant of land of his business partnership of Samuel Terry (former convict from Botany Bay called the ‘Botany Bay Millionaire’) at today’s suburb of Kensington.

The and Thomas White Melville Winder was expanded into a board of six, William Hutchinson, Samuel Terry, Thomas White Melville Winder, George Williams, William Leverton and Daniel Cooper. The name of the mill was later changed to the Lachlan & Waterloo Flour Mills. The Mill was renamed the Lachlan and Waterloo Flour Mills. Winder being a quiet achiever and donator of funds, the partnership traded without his name being directly mentioned i.e. as “Hutchinson, Terry & Co”.

The Hunter Valley and Business Ventures
Winder became friends with the Governor Lachlan Macquarie. He was offered significant grants of land, but there is some evidence that he only accepted what he thought he really needed for his family, the community and for the growth of the area. He turned down land grants and also turned down being a political figure.

He received land in the Hunter Valley including in Lochinvar (1,600 ha (4,000 acres) in the mid 1820s).

Winder had purchased 130 ha (320 acres) from Luke Dillon and a grant of 810 ha (2,000 acres) was transferred to him by Henry Hawes. It was on these acres that the Windermere house was built in 1821.

In 1823 Winder accompanied Lieutenant William Hicks to the Hunter. The estate of the two men became close-by.

Interpersonal dealings with Aboriginal persons and Convicts
There is evidence that Winder was respectful of both the Aboriginal peoples and the convict workers.

Convicts were the source of workmanship and labour for the Windermere estate including the agricultural estate.

Government policy and recommendation at the time were for convicts to be kept away from “Sydney temptations” and learn useful skills in order to reform and settle in as community members. Private and merchant farmers were seen as targets that could provide this training in order to help these people learn skills and integrate into the community.

“Windermere” would have been a source of convict education. The idea of training and education was actively promoted by Charles William Wentworth Winder’s business partner. At a the Legislative Council meeting on September 6, 1849 Wentworth expounded the importance of instituting a university for the promotion of literature and science. October 3, 1849, Wentworth’s speech regarding starting the University of Sydney as a gift “to the child of every man, of every class, to become great and useful in the destinies of his country.” William Charles Wentworth fought for the rights of ex-convicts to be citizens, to vote and to be free of taxes other than those imposed by legislation and encouraged free migration. He also fought for proper processes for trials by a jury and appeals. Although Winder was not actively involved in politics, he did support community activities. Winder was described as “upright” in his conduct.

The convict workers were prepared to ‘go the extra mile’ and reportedly loved him. Winder never took any of his convict workers to “the Bench” or to court.

Politics
Winder was interested in community life but preferred to be quiet and not engage in politics. He was not indifferent however, signing petitions and supporting community concerns, while avoiding being a political activist.

Windermere
This historic house Windermere began to be built in 1821. The location was on a hill keeping it safe from floods was an advantage.

The position having waterfrotage on to the Hunter River encouraged trade, with the main trade route transportation pathways at the time being by boat.

Business Ventures
Winder was well known to Charles Wentworth including in business ventures which was of mutual benefit during the depression times.

Winder is credited with growing the first grapes in the Hunter Region on his arrival in 1820. He was not the first to grow commercial vineyard, but supplied convict workers with good rations including a pint of wine. He also supported the government policy at the time of encouraging the consumption of wine as opposed to spirits by planting a vineyard prior to 1840.

Winder opened up farming for wheat at the property of Windermere.

William Charles Wentworth became Winder's business partner. William Charles Wentworth purchased the Windermere Estate, leasing them back to Winder.

In the 1840's Winder was in partnership with Wiilam Charles Wentworth and Charles Nott. The boiling down works at Windermere were described in the Maitland Mercury of May 1844 as the most extensive and complete in the colony.

Marriage and Family
Winder married approximately in 1819, giving his address as Sydney and occupation as a settler. He churched his marriage to Ellen Johnstone on 26 December 1848.

They became parents to at least two sons and seven daughters.

Their eldest day there Jessie was born in 1819 married Wakefield Simpson, a talented violinist (who owned a Stradivarius, kept racehorses and ran the first hotel in Maitland opening the ‘White Swan’ on Campbells Hill in 1827).

Their second daughter Anne was born on 4 July 1822 and later married John Hungerford.

Mary was born in 1824 but did not survive infancy.

Agnes was born on 1 August 1825 address at the time being Sydney.

Fanny was born on 6 February 1827 and later married Major de Winton, returning to England.

Thomas junior was born in 1828 who married Emily Newell. They had seven daughters and five sons.

A Summary of Winder’s offspring is below ;

Death
He died on 30 September 1853, in Maitland, NSW at the age of 66 (?), and was buried in the Campbell Hill Cemetery at Telarah (a suburb of Maitland).

Cause of death was from choking on a piece of cayenne pepper at dinner with his daughter Anne and husband John Hungerford at Font Hill (South Maitland).

He died relatively poor and lived his life humbly, without “pretension”, was loved by his convict servants and was described as being “virtuous” and “upright” which was distinct from the reputation of some in the colony at the time including people he had dealings with.

Coal
Winder claimed to have received as part of a grant a 10 year monopoly over all coal won from the Newcastle Penal Settlement, apart from that required for government use. However it appears that he did not actually reap the benefits of the full amount originally promised.