Bassett William & Family

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Fast Facts
Type of person Individual
Date of birth 1800
Date of arrival 1840
Principal occupation Farmer
Date of death 8 Jan 1859
Place of death Bassett Town
Significant places Twentyfirst Street 13 Bassett House
Engine and Driver Hotel

There were three generations of William Bassett in Gawler (differentiated here as I, II & III). Patriarch William Bassett (I) and wife Elizabeth (nee Vosper) emigrated from Cornwall to South Australia on the notorious 1840 journey of the ship ‘Java’, which lost some 30-50 of the 426-500 passengers due to disease, malnutrition and starvation. Of the couples 4 children, William (8) and Elizabeth (5) survived, but infant son John died of whooping cough aboard the ship and Jane (3) died shortly after arrival. Her case is one mentioned in the Medical Board Enquiry that found the Captain and Medical Officer guilty of treating the people aboard very badly.

A series of reminiscences by William Bassett’s (I) son, William Bassett (II), were published in the Bunyip in 1896. He recalled that at the time of their arrival there was no wharf at Holdfast Bay (Glenelg), so the passengers and all their belongings had to be rowed ashore in the ships boats. From the shore, the family were taken to ‘Immigration Square’, (situated in what is now Adelaide’s western parklands), where they remained for a week while William (I) secured work in the city as a groom and coachman for James Chambers. In this role as coachman, William (I) had the honour of transporting Governor Gawler to the opening of Adelaide’s new port, Port Adelaide, in October 1840, an event that saw “the largest assembly of colonists ever congregated in South Australia, upwards of five thousand persons being present.” (The Sydney Herald 7 Nov 1840)

After five years in the city and the addition of two new children, the Bassett family moved to Gawler, arriving on the 29 March 1845. William Bassett (I) purchased from John McCallum, a 15 acre portion of Section 8 of the Gawler Special Survey, which included the site of the present Gawler Railway Station, and commenced cropping. His son William (II) recalled that “there was not a house between the Little Para [near Salisbury] and the hut on Mr. Bassett's, and woe betide the teamster who tried to cross this country in hot weather without his keg of water.” (there were two sheep runs just to the north, one the property of Reid and McBain, and the other the property of Grant and Butler)(Bunyip 6 Nov 1896). The Bassett family’s crops must have been successful, enabling the building of a more substantial cottage and in 1854, the purchasing of adjoining land to expand farming activities. The cottage still stands at the address now known as 13 Twentyfirst Street, it is the oldest house in the area that went on to become Bassett Town, and remained in the Bassett family until 1904 (Danvers, Pope & Jensen 1998), its early construction probably explains why it faces ‘sideways’ instead of towards what later became the street.

In 1857, the coming of the Gawler Railway Station, created demand for land in the area and an opportunity for the Bassett family; a portion of their farmland adjacent to the station, for which they paid £40, realising £3000, when subdivided to form the residential blocks of Bassett Town (Bunyip 6 Nov 1896).

The elder William Bassett (I) would have seen little if any of the development of his namesake town, passing in January 1859, in his 59th year. Whether random or targeted, his memorial stone in Gawler Town Cemetery was defaced in August the same year, his family offering a £5 reward for information (Adelaide Observer 13 Aug 1859), published details of the outcome have not been found. It is possible the stone was eventually relocated to St George’s Cemetery and placed on his son’s plot (G29), as that plot has a ‘slate’ memorial typical of those dating to the 1860s, and has William (I)’s details and then his sons, which appear to have been inscribed at a later time. By the time son William (II) died in 1909 memorials tended to be made of marble.

Five years after her husband’s death, Bassett family matriarch Elizabeth, took on the license for the newly renamed Criterion Hotel (formerly Engine and Driver), and to celebrate held a supper for her friends and the Railway employees of Gawler, but her time as proprietor was short lived, she succumbed to bronchitis just four months later in July 1864.

The Bassett family’s eldest son William (II), was a significant contributor to Gawler; in addition to farming and his involvement in the selling and subdivision of land for Bassett Town, he was the licensee of three hotels (Terminus Hotel in 1858, Engine and Driver in 1860-1861 and Wheatsheaf Inn 1867), a member of the Gawler South District Council and a warden for St George’s Church. Two of his sons, William John Horace Bassett (III) and Herbert Vosper Bassett, went on to serve as Gawler Councillors and eldest son Frederick William Britain Bassett, apprenticed to William Barnet of The Bunyip, before working at “The Advertiser” for a record 65 years (Bunyip 21 Oct 1949). At the time of his passing in 1909, William (II) had the honour of being Gawler’s oldest resident, he was just 76 years old!

The Bassett family’s two surviving daughters, English born Elizabeth and Australian born Ann both married Gawler Railway Station Masters. Elizabeth married Gawler’s newly appointed, first Railway Station Master Edward Cherry in December 1857 at St George’s Church. Their daughter Amy Cherry was born a year later at the Railway Station House, but lived only 9 days and was buried at Gawler Town Cemetery (Pioneer Park), her memorial stone was one of the stones relocated to the entranceway of the Willaston Cemetery. Edward Cherry was reappointed to Port Adelaide Railway Station in December 1859, and subsequent Gawler Railway Station Master, Thomas Percival, went on to marry Elizabeth’s sister, Ann Bassett, in May 1861. Within less than a decade, both sisters were widowed. Ann remarried in 1871; her husband Alfred Frank Pitman, became licensee of the Criterion Hotel, but two years later he died as a result of “disease of the brain”. His estate including all the effects of the Criterion Hotel were listed for sale in February 1874, but perhaps the sale did not go ahead as Ann took on the license for the Criterion in March 1874 and ran it through until June 1878.

Youngest Bassett family son, George Vosper Bassett, who was born during the family’s time in Adelaide, was an infant when the family moved to Gawler. He married Susan Jane Orchard at St George’s Church in 1867. His roles included Constable for the District Council of Munno Para West, Clerk of the Course for Gawler and Willaston horse races and operating as a Carrier, carrying goods to and from the Gawler Railway Station prior to the tramline, including most of the goods for the Albion Mill (Bunyip 19 Sep 1938) In 1869 during his time as a carrier, a tragic incident occurred when G V Bassett’s team of horses, which were waiting outside the Albion Mill, bolted and Mr James Mold was accidentally killed when he attempted to stop them (South Australian Register 11 Dec 1869). George’s final role was as a hotelkeeper, when in June 1885 he became the fourth member of the Bassett family to run the Criterion Hotel, but like his mother and brother-in-law, his time there was short. He passed away from paralysis of the brain in 1887. His widow continued to run the Criterion for 24 years after his death (as Susan Jane Bassett and with subsequent married names McPharlin and Gundry).

In 1934 when third generation William J H Bassett (III)’s wife died, her obituary suggested that her passing ‘closes the name of Bassett in Gawler’ (Bunyip 2 Nov 1934).


Click here for photos relating to the Bassett family


Bassett Family Birth, Death & Marriage Information

BASSETT, William (I)

b. Abt. 1800, Cornwall, England

m. 13 Oct 1829 VOSPER, Elizabeth, Cornwall, England

  • b. 1833 BASSETT, William (II), Cornwall, England
  • b. 1835 BASSETT, Elizabeth (CHERRY), Cornwall, England
  • b. 1837 BASSETT, Jane (d. 12 Feb 1840, after arrival)
  • b. 1839 BASSETT, John (d. Abt. 1840, aboard ship)

Arrived SA 6 Feb 1840 (with wife & 4 children)

  • b. 24 Aug 1841 BASSETT, Ann (PERCIVAL)(PITMAN)(WHITE), SA (South Australia Pre-Civil Registration Births via http://keithbassett.id.au/p2395)
  • b. 1844 BASSETT, George Vospar, SA (Reg. Adelaide 1/86)

Arrived Gawler 29 Mar 1845 (Coombe 1910)

d. 8 Jan 1859, Bassett Town, SA, 59th year (Reg. Port Gawler 10/118)

Buried 9 Jan 1859, Gawler Town Cemetery (Name is on memorial stone located at St George's Cemetery, on son William (II)’s plot)(G_29 Flickr 25087054072)


VOSPER, Elizabeth (BASSETT)

b. Abt. 1798

d. 13 Jul 1864 ‘BASEET [sic], Elizabeth’, aged 66, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 19/53, William BASSET (DH))[Death index & Family notices, aged 66]

Buried 14 Jul 1864, Gawler Town Cemetery, aged 58 [Burial record & Pioneer Park Plaque, aged 58](Flickr 14684634526)


Surviving Children of William Bassett (I) & Elizabeth Vosper

BASSETT, William (II)

b. 11 Mar 1833 North Hill, Cornwall, England (Coombe 1910)

Arrived SA 6 Feb 1840 (with parents)(Coombe 1910)

Arrived Gawler 29 Mar 1845 (with parents)(Coombe 1910)

m. 4 Sep 1861 ‘KLAUCKE, Johanne Louise Emilie’ (Reg. Barossa 47/108)(d. 1916, ‘Emilie Bassett’, Reg. Adelaide 403/526, William BASSETT [DH], buried 16 Aug 1916, aged 84, St George’s G30 alongside husband – no memorial)

  • BASSETT, Frederick William Britain
  • b. 29 Jul 1862, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 25/575)
  • m. 22 Jun 1886, ‘REID, Jessie’, Adelaide (Reg. Adelaide 147/948)
  • d. 1949, SA (‘Bassett, Frederick William Britain’, Reg. Adelaide 746/5252)
  • BASSETT, William John Horace (III)
  • b. 1 Jul 1863, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 29/427)
  • m. 22 Aug 1888 ‘DOWN, Charlotte Emily’, Res of Jas Down, Edwardstown, SA (Reg. Adelaide 156/599)
  • d. 9 Oct 1927, SA, aged 64 (Reg. Barossa 498/442)
  • Buried St George’s Cemetery (H42 & H43 with wife Charlotte Emily)(Flickr 34140875340)
  • BASSETT, Albert Victor
  • b. 15 Apr 1866, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 46/487)
  • d. 25 Dec 1866, aged 8 months, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 25/495)
  • (Burial record not found Gawler Town Cemetery or St George)
  • BASSETT, Herbert Vosper
  • b. 29 Apr 1868, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 62/546)
  • m. 9 Oct. 1895, ‘Florence Ethlinda AMES’, Res of William Bassett, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 185/215)
  • d. 26 Oct 1918, SA (Reg. Barossa 423/291)
  • Buried St George’s Cemetery (H16 – No photograph of this plot in ‘*Burial Register and Headstones [1861 + ] St Georges Anglican Cemetery Gawler’) or on Find a Grave, suggesting there is no remaining monument)
  • BASSETT, Rupert George
  • b. 15 Sep 1871, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 100/219)
  • m. 11 Oct 1893 ‘SCHOLZ, Emma Antonia’, Nuriootpa, SA (Reg. Barossa 177/144)
  • d. 13 Mar 1924 (Reg. Adelaide 469/17)
  • Buried West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, SA

d. 12 Apr 1909, aged 76 Buried 13 Apr 1909, St George’s Cemetery (G29, father’s name first on memorial, wife ‘Emilie’ buried G30 – no memorial)(Flickr G29 & G30 34139834630)


BASSETT, Elizabeth (CHERRY)

b. Abt 1835, Cornwall, England

m. 17 Dec 1857 CHERRY, Edward (Reg. Barossa 32/31)(d. 27 Jul 1866, Reg. Adelaide 24/392)

  • CHERRY, Amy Elizabeth
  • b. 10 Dec 1858 (Reg. Port Gawler 14/429)
  • d. 19 Dec 1858 (Reg. Port Gawler 8/126)
  • Buried 20 Dec 1858 Gawler Town Cemetery, aged 1 wk [Memorial moved to Willaston Cemetery – photo saved]
  • CHERRY, Florence Isabell Ann (GRAHAM)
  • b. 1860 (Reg. Adelaide 15/300)
  • m. 1880 GRAHAM, Albert William (Reg. Barossa 122/1059)
  • d. 1954 (‘Florence Anne Graham’, Reg. Port Adelaide 807/849, Arthur Graham [DH])
  • CHERRY, William Herbert
  • b. 1861 (Reg. Adelaide 20/72)
  • m. 1915 FREEMAN, Arabella Mary (Reg. Norwood 262/712)
  • d. 1941 (Reg. Adelaide 639/3651)
  • CHERRY, Edward Spower
  • b. 1865 (Reg. Adelaide 33/317)
  • d. 1866 (Reg. Adelaide 23/3, Edward CHERRY (F))
  • Buried 12 Mar 1865 Gawler Town Cemetery, aged 9 mths, Port Adelaide (Flickr 14684634526)

d. 9 Feb 1879, Trebartha Lodge, Gawler (‘Elizabeth Cherry’, Reg. Port Gawler 93/101)

Buried 14 Feb 1879, St George’s Cemetery, aged 44 years, dropsy (F14)(Flickr 34524908325)


BASSETT, Ann (PERCIVAL, PITMAN, WHITE)

b. Abt 1841, SA

m. 1861 PERCIVAL, Thomas (Reg. Barossa 46/39)(d. 27 Jun 1868 Reg. Port Gawler 32/400)(D10 St George)

m. 26 Aug 1871 PITMAN, Alfred Frank (‘PERCIVAL, Ann’, Reg. Barossa 88/465)(d. 1873, Reg. Port Gawler 55/109)

m. 17 Sep 1875 WHITE, George Alfred (‘Ann Pitman’, Reg. Adelaide 104/771)

  • b. 16 Jul 1878 WHITE, son – stillborn, Semaphore, SA
  • b. 3 Aug 1879 WHITE, Annie Percival, Bassett Town, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 225/368, mother Annie (fmly) PITMAN (nee) BASSETT)(d. 5 Jun 1936, SA)

d. 11 Mar 1921, Glenelg, SA (‘WHITE, Ann’, Reg. Adelaide 444/520, George Alfred WHITE [DH]) Burial 12 Mar 1921, West Terrace Cemetery, SA


BASSETT, George Vosper

b. 1844, Adelaide (‘George Vospar’[sic], Reg. Adelaide 1/86, father William Bassett & mother Elizabeth Vospar[sic])

m. 3 Oct 1867 ORCHARD, Susan Jane, St George’s Church, Gawler (‘George Vosper Bassett’, Reg. Barossa 72/143)

  • b. 1872 BASSETT, George Vosper (Reg. Port Gawler 109/157)
  • b. 1878 BASSETT, Elsie Gertrude (LINES)(Reg. Port Gawler 206/105)

d. 7 Sep 1887, aged 44 (Express & Telegraph 8 Sep 1887)

Buried 8 Sept 1887, St George’s Cemetery, aged 44, Criterion Hotel, Bassett Town, Paralysis brain (F12 – no memorial)



References



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