Jo Mason (nee Collins), Corryong Courier

This is the story of my great, great, great grandparents John and Sarah Collins and how the generosity of their descendants helped me to erect a headstone on their previously unmarked grave at the Auburn Cemetery in South Australia.

After visiting their grave, I was saddened to see no recognition of their final resting place.

This prompted me to start a fundraising effort within the extended Collins family, to raise money for the erection of the headstone on their grave.

I was overwhelmed by the support I received and I am now working towards erecting a headstone for their son, William Collins, who is buried in the Corryong Cemetery and for his wife, Mary Ann Collins (nee Gadsby), who is buried in the Albury Cemetery.

I sincerely thank those who generously donated and I’m appealing to other extended Collins family descendants to also donate, to enable the erection of the next two headstones.

Every donation counts and is appreciated, no matter how big or small. If you would like to donate, please contact me on 0400 022 009.

The Collins family has a significant place in local history, being the earliest settlers to still have family living in the Upper Murray today.

John Collins and his wife Sarah Luke came to Australia from Hampshire, England in 1839 on board the ship Susan, with their seven children.

Later in 1839 they moved to Glenken, now known as Ournie, where they lived in slab huts and farmed for H and C Walton on 10 sections of land (6400 acres), on the Hume River (Murray River).

In 1845 they took up the Bigarea Pastoral Lease, in the area now known as Biggara, where they farmed for the next five years.

In 1850 the family sold up and moved overland to Adelaide. John and Sarah took their family, possessions and drove their cattle hundreds of miles, on a long and arduous journey.

For the large part of the trek, they used the Murray River as their guide.

Late in 1850 they purchased land at Upper Wakefield, near Adelaide, where John Collins farmed until his death in 1875. His wife Sarah Collins (nee Luke) died two years later and was buried with her husband at the Auburn Cemetery.

Most of the descendants of John and Sarah, who live in the Upper Murray today, belong to the lineage of their second child and eldest son, William Collins.

He was aged 19 when he arrived in Australia with his parents and siblings and he farmed with his father at Glenken and Bigarea.

In 1852, William married Mary Ann Gadsby in Adelaide, who had emigrated to Australia from England in 1850 on board the ship William Stevenson.

The couple lived at Upper Wakefield for six years and their first three children were born there.

Late in 1858 William and his family moved back to the Upper Murray, following the goldfields at Ballarat and Yackandandah along the way.

By 1861 they selected land at Thowgla (now Cooper’s property), which they called Daisy Flat.

They lived there for more than twenty years, before selling to James Andrew Paton, the husband of their daughter Frances Collins.

Over a 28-year span, William and Mary Ann had sixteen children. William died in 1901 and is buried at the Corryong Cemetery.

His wife Mary Ann died in 1915 and is buried in the Albury Cemetery. Both graves are unmarked and in need of a headstone.

In closing, once again a heartfelt thank you to all those who have donated so far and I’m sure our ancestors would be appreciative of your generosity.

This article appeared in the Corryong Courier, 23 February 2023.