Hi - I hope I am using this correctly - just joined so I could answer your queries and information about the Matson clan here in the Antipodes. This is my family too - I was from NZ and now live in Tasmania. Matsons in NZ - Henry's line , his cousin Henry Matson from 58th Foot Regiment & New Zealand Wars, and !! Capt Tom Matson who was the Captain of the Barque "Margaret " that took the settlers to Waipu from Novia Scotia - there is an obelisk with his name on in Waipu.
I posted some info on our Henry (1814 Delce Farm) on B-G Forums last night.
HENRY MATSON b. 1814 Wingham, Kent.
Son of Robert Matson m.Elizabeth Moon 11 Aug 1808
Matson/Manifold Family Tree byJohn Thomas Matson, son of Henry Matson and Alice (Manifold).
This dates from Robert (no birth date) and Elizabeth Moon b.Jan 9 1788.
Robert Matson May 22, 1809
James Moon July 26, 1810
John Matson May26, 1812
Henry Matson June 17, 1814
George Matson Dec 5, 1817
In ‘Matson of St Albans’ (Christchurch NZ 1952)
The story of Henry Matson of Delce Farm is well presented.
Henry Matson was the Chief Officer on ‘George III’ he was cleared of any misconduct in the shooting of convicts.
The incident is well covered in ‘An Imperial Disaster’ by Michael Roe
Pub: Blubber Press, Tasmania 2006 ISBM 0 908528 329
I now live in Tasmania (b.New Zealand) and wrote an article about Henry Matson for The Examiner newspaper in 2006.
Henry, 1st mate Geo III, Harbour Master at George Town, Van Diemen’s Land married Alice, the daughter of William and Mary Manifold(Barnes) of Kelso (n.b. George Town - 2 words, and Tasmania was Van Diemen’s Land if researching.)
Henry crossed Goodwin, the editor of The Cornwall Chronicle a paranoid, slighted Henry and Matthew Curling Friend in the newspaper. Henry was refused a pay rise and felt there had been a ‘slur cast on his character’.
3 of the sons of Robert Matson here in Tasmania at some time through the 1800’s - Henry Matson - Harbour Master at George Town; George Matson, who worked for the Bank of Australasia (not Australia) in Hobart; and James Moon Matson.
The oral history I knew as I grew up, was that Henry and John came from England together, both as ship’s officers, pioneering myth?
George Matson? a banker with the Bank of Australasia in Hobart. Index for the Launceston Examiner 1852 - 1859, he was formerly of H.M. 7th Royal Fusiliers, and dropped the first ball of shot from the shot tower in Hobart.
Henry’s brother James Moon Matson worked the Bacchus March quarries with Henry in Victoria. During this time Alice stayed at Purrembete with her brothers’ families, as was often the case in Colonial Australia. This was harsh country, harsh times - recession period, gold rush, bush rangers, snakes and fires- a difficult place for a woman away from the comfort of her family. Some of this is written up in The Bostock diaries.
James Moon Matson. The first reference I have found for him here in Tasmania is as the chief officer on ‘Charles Kerr’ bound for Java. Visited Launceston 21 December 1835. As Harbour Master, Henry Matson in 1835, also acted as Customs Officer according to notes from John Thomas Matson. The two brothers would have been together briefly then.
James is in 'The Tregurtha Log’ in 1836. In Feb 1837, Tregurtha took up land with brothers Henry and James Matson in the Western Districts of Victoria.’ He(James) went with the first settlers to Victoria and was a passenger on the ‘Henry’ 3 March 1837 from Launceston(VDL) to Port Phillip (Victoria). In note 282 of ‘The Tregurtha Log’ … ‘James Moon Matson. His brother Henry was Harbour Master at George Town in 1838.……….James was involved in various pastoral activities. Apparently he never married.’
Robert? I have no record of him in the Antipodes. I presume he stayed home to take over the farm.
There are three(3) Henry Matsons.
1 - our Henry. Born 1814 Wingham, Kent.
2 - his cousin Major Henry Matson m. Isabella de Thierry, 58th Foot Regiment - New Zealand Wars. Settled in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand. Correspondence in NZ archives has a letter to his cousin Henry (our Henry Matson).
3. Henry Manifold Matson . Henry and Alice’s son who stayed in Victoria at Purrumbete when the remainder of the family went to New Zealand in 1862 - and became the property manager.
