PIONEER FAMILIES OF AUSTRALIA
FAUNCE
Alured Tasker Faunce joined the Army as ensign in the Fourth (or King’s own)
Regiment on 16 December 1824, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 17 January 1828 and
arrived at Sydney with the Headquarters of the regiment on 27th August 1832. He was given a
captaincy on 18th July 1834. He retired from the Army and was appointed Police Magistrate at
Brisbane Water on 1st October 1836, and on 28th November 1837, at Queanbeyan, where he
remained until 31st December 1842, being then displaced when that and some other positions of
Police Magistrate were abolished. In the meantime he had obtained purchase grants of 810 acres at
“Queanbeyan near Limestsone Plains”, called “Dodsworth”, where he resided, and 1,012 acres at
Windellama, county of Argyle. In 1853, he was appointed Crown Lands Commissioner in the
Albert district, in the north-west of New South Wales, and in the following month at Wide Bay
district.
GENEALOGY
Thomas Faunce, of High Halston, and St Margaret’s, Rochester; m. Ann, dau. of Captain John
Daniell, R.N., of St. Mary’s Hall, Kent, and had, with a daughter, a son and heir,
Thomas, of St. Margaret’s and St. Mary’s Hall; m. Jane, dau. of Rev. Edmund Barrell, Prebendary
of Rochester, and had issue,
I.
Edmund (Rev.), of St Mary’s Hall; Vicar of Sutton-at-Hone and Horton Kirby, Kent; m. Anne
Eleanor, dau. of James Chapman, and had issue, with a dau., a son and heir,
I.
Edmund, of St. Mary’s Hall; lieut.-colonel in the Army; m. 1796, Brydges, dau. of Colonel
Nicholas Cox, Lieut.-Govenor of Gaspe, Lower Canada, and had issue, four sons and two
daughters, the eldest son being,
(I)
Edmund Barrell, of “Sharsted”, Doddington, Kent; m. Dec. 1840, Mary Dorothy, dau.
of Baldwin D. Duppa, of Hollingborne House, Kent, and d. 17 Dec. 1861, having by
her, who d. 1881, had issue, two sons and one daughter, the eldest son being,
a.
Chapman Delaune (Faunce-Delaune), of “Sharsted”; High Sheriff, 1886; m. Dec
1868, Ann, second dau. of George Stoddart, and d. 10 Nov. 1892, having by her,
who d. 11 Jan. 1892, had issue, three sons, the eldest being,
(a)
Alured (Faunce-Delaune), of “Sharsted”; Lord of the Manor; Hon. Col.
(ret.) late Royal East Kent Rifles; b. 14th June 1870; m. 1913, Margaret,
dau. Of Robert Jamieson, of The Wells, and has issue,
*
1a. Hubert Bonham Alured (Faunce-Delaune), b. 10 Dec. 1914; m. 1936,
Marianna Beran.
II.
Thomas, of whom presently.
The second son,
Thomas, ensign, 4th Regt.; wounded on Abraham’s Plains (Canada), 29 th Sept.1759; major in the
Army; Town Major of Quebec, 1783-1807; m. Bridget, dau. of E. Nugent, of Dublin, and had
issue,
I.
Thomas, lieutenant. R.N.; b. 26th June 1770; d. unm.
II.
John, b. 21 Aug. 1771; d. in infancy.
III.
William Nugent, b. 1772; d. in infancy.
IV.
James, b. 5 April 1774; d. in infancy.
V.
Alured Dodsworth, of whom presently.
VI.
Granville Carleton, b. 6 Sept. 1779, at Quebec.
I.
Jane, b. 5 Sept. 1777; m. J. Londale.
The fifth son,
Alured Dodsworth, entered the Army as ensign of the 4 th Regt., 2 Dec. 1795, at Quebec; extra
Aide-de-Camp to the King, with rank of colonel in the Army, 6 th May 1831; inspecting Field
Officer of the Bristol district, 17th Feb. 1832 to 23 Nov. 1841, when he was promoted to majorGeneral; War medal with clasps for Corunna, Badajoz and Fuentes d’Onor and the Gold Medal
for Salamanca; b. 28 Nov. 1778; m. 12 Oct. 1805, Anna Maria, dau. of G. Godard, and d. 1st
March 1850, at Clifton, Eng., having had issue,
I.
Alured Tasker (Pioneer), of whom presently.
II.
Thomas, ensign, 4th Regt., lieutenant, 12 Nov 1829, and then captain; major, St Helena Regt., 17 th
May 1850; lieut.-colonel in the Army, 17 July 1857; major, 13 th Foot, 1858; retired on full
pay, 11 Feb. 1859 on rank of lieut.-colonel; later honorary colonel; b. 1810; d. 6 Feb. 1890, at
Guernsey.
1
Elizabeth
2.
Anna
78
PIONEER FAMILIES OF AUSTRALIA
The elder son,
Alured Tasker (Pioneer), b. 1808; m. 27 Jan 1835, at Liverpool, N.S.W., Elizabeth, eldest dau. of
lieut.-colonel J.K. Mackenzie (Pioneer), and d. 26th April 1856, at Queanbeyan, having by her,
who d. 8 Dec. 1902, at Sydney, had issue,
1.1
Alured Dodsworth (Rev. Canon), b. 30 May 1840, at Queanbeyan; m. 30 Dec. 1863, Henrietta
Charlotte Maunsel, dau. of Hon. Isidore John Blake, M.L.C. (1858-59), M.L.A. (1860-61),
Judge of the District Court of N.S.W. (1861-65), and d. 14th July 1910, having by her, who d.
14th June 1925, had issue,
2.1
Alured Tasker, b. 14th April 1868; m. Bertha Everett, and d. 1926, having had issue,
3.1
Alured Delaune, b. 1906; m. Kathleen Smirl, and has issue,
4.1
Kay Delaune.
2.2
Isidore Blake, b. 23 April 1870; d. unm. 1916.
2.3
Henry Delaune, b. 5 Sept 1872
2.4
Robert Ritchie Alma, b. 31 Dec 1874; m. Ethel Saunders and has issue,
3.1
Alured Dodsworth, b. 24 Dec. 1900; m. 18th April 1923, Ivy Edna, dau. of F.P.
Crawford, and has issue,
4.1
Edmund Alured Delaune, b. 28 Feb. 1934.
4.1
Verena Audrey. 4.2
Miriam, d. in infancy.
3.2
Richard Alma, b. 23 Feb. 1902; m. Lily Mabel, dau. of J.H. Clow, and has issue,
4.1
Richard James, b. 19 Oct. 1930
4.1
Joan Marcia.
3.3
Harry Saunders, b. 31 May 1904; m. 17 Jan. 1925, Ellen Elizabeth, dau. of
George Abberfield, and has issue,
4.1
Harry Norman, b. 9 Nov. 1925
3.1
Ethel Marcelite, m. Lester Thomas Irwin and has issue, one son.
3.2
Stephanie Estelle, m. Archibald Pirie.
3.3
Maisie, m. Alvin Bailie.
2.5
Marcus Gordon, lieutenant, Light Horse, A.I.F., Great War; b. 28 Feb. 1885; m. 16
Oct. 1919, Kathleen Bessie, dau. of Robert Henry Smith, and has issue,
3.1
Blake Delaune, b. 22 Oct. 1920; d.19 Sept. 1927.
3.2
Marcus DeLaune, M.B., B.S. (Adel.); b. 5 Dec. 1922 and had issue
4.1
Thomas Alured DeLaune BA/LLB(Hons) BMed PhD (ANU); b 8 Aug
1958 and had issue
5.1 Blake Alured DeLaune b 25 Oct 2004
4.1
Marcus Bonham (“Ned”) b 1960
4.1
Charlotte DeLaune Faunce b 21 Apr 1965
2.1
Henrietta, m. 1883, Edward McCarthy Allman (son of George Allman, solicitor, of
Yass, and grandson of Captain Francis Allman, 48 th Regt.), and d. 9 Jan. 1931,
having by him, who d. 6 May 1945, had issue, three sons and two daughters.
1.2
Granville, b. 12 Sept. 1845, at Queanbeyan; accidentally killed, 26 th Dec,. 1859.
1.3
Thomas Tasker, b. 15 Feb. 1847; m. 7 May 1871, Lily Elizabeth Mary, second dau. of J.C.W.
Bowman of Brisbane, and d. 1930, having by her, who d. 1918, had issue,
2.1
Richard Charles, b. 8 March 1872; d. 27th July 1872, at Brisbane.
2.2
Cyril Tasker, b. 1 Aug. 1878; m. Lilian Shean, and d. 1932, having had issue,
3.1
Kenneth Tasker.
2.3
Thomas Bowman, b. 19 March 1883.
2.4
Kenneth Fitzmaurice, b. 23 Feb. 1886; m. Galsie Harney, and has issue, one daughter.
2.5
Reginald Dodsworth, d. in infancy.
2.1
Ethel Marion, m. William Edward Halcro Southerden, and has issue, one son and two
daughters.
2.2
Bessie, d. in infancy, 23 March 1877, at Rockhampton, Q.
2.3
Eva Lily.
2.4
Maude Edith
2.5
Bertha Charlotte, d.
2.6
Lilian Ellen.
2.7
Ruby Elizabeth, m. Werner Henry Julius Ruthning, and has issue, one daughter.
2.8
Constance Marie.
1.4
Kenneth Mackenzie, b. 10 Feb. 1849, at Queanbeyan; d. unm., 1917.
1.5
Arthur Barrell, b. 18 Aug. 1851; d.
1.6
Richard Alma, b. 31 Dec 1855; d. 7 Aug. 1871, at Queanbeyan.
1.1
1.2
1.3
Charlotte, b. 30 April 1836, at “Glenfield Park,” near Liverpool, N.S.W.; m. 5 July 1860, Hon.
Alexander Ryrie, M.L.C., and d. 25th Feb. 1913, having by him, who d. 29 May 1909, had issue,
seven sons and two daughters (see Ryrie).
Ellen Eliza, b. 30 Nov. 1838, at “Canberry, Queanbeyan”; m. 8 Nov. 1865, David Ryrie, and d.
1902, having by him, who d. 13th July 1893, had issue, five sons and five daughters (see Ryrie).
Maria Elizabeth, b. 28 June 1844, at Queanbeyan; d. 30 June 1852.
79
(1)
The Faunces
By Dr Marcus DeLaune Faunce and Dr Thomas Alured Faunce
THOMAS FAUNCE who died at Cliffe-at-Hoo in Kent in 1609 seems too
have left France hurriedly, fleeing the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day in
August, 1572. He was aged 84 years on his death (according to the brass
rubbing from the effigy at Ciffe-at-Hoo). Dr Marcus Faunce obtained this
rubbing through Sir Hugh Ennor after Marcus and his wife Marjorie saw it in
the little church at Cliffe-at-Hoo in the North West Coast of Kent – not far
from Rochester where the family settled. The Gordon Hotel at Rochester still
stands, and it was probably built around 1600 in Thomas’ time (Rochester is
some 33 miles from London).
In the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, some 10,000 Protestant
French Huguenots were murdered and many of the survivors fled to England.
Thomas Faunce’s grandson was Bonham Faunce and he had become Major
of nearby Rochester at the time of his grandfather’s death in 1609. Bonham
died in 1652 and he too was buried at Cliffe-at-Hoo which is about five miles
north of Rochester and overlooks the Thames Marches. In the little Cliffe
church there are wall inscriptions mentioning them as the earliest benefactors
– apart from their brass effigies which are let into the Chancel floor not far
from the altar (under carpets).
Cliffe-at-Hoo was a pretty little village with only a few inhabitants in 1954
when Dr Marcus Faunce visited it. Nearby Rochester has always been a big
town – there is a cathedral, ruins of the Roman Fort, and a Norman Castle.
Rochester is the real seat of the Faunces and Bonham’s speedy rise to the
Mayoralty is fascinating and worthy of some study. It seems that old
grandfather Thomas was a fairly substantial citizen from the time he arrived
in England – bringing money, education and influence with him from France.
We are uncertain of the career of his son Thomas, and where he is buried.
There seems to have been quite a spate of Thomas’ in the family over the
years. The effigies on the chancel floor show father and grandson (each with
two wives) – and are particularly interesting as they show adults and children
in Stuart costume. It is uncertain whether Faunce is the original French name
of the family, as the Huguenots occasionally changed their names to protect
those members of the family staying behind in France.
(2)
So the Faunces became Kentish people based on Rochester. From this
beginning it is understandable that the later generations enthusiastically
fought the French in many parts of the world. Part of the Rochester family
later moved further into Kent, where begins the story of Sharsted Court,
which is an ancient house and property near the village of Doddington (which
itself is near the larger towns of Faversham and Sittingbourne). The Faunce
De Laune chapel of old Doddington Church has some interesting family
crests, plaques and insignia. A number of the family are buried in the
graveyard.
Sharsted Court is one of the best known old mansions in this historical part of
Kent. It has complex origins going back to the time of the Norman Conquest,
but the Faunce connection is much later on in the eighteenth century. Dr
Marcus and Marjorie Faunce explored Sharsted when it was empty in 1949.
Alured Faunce De Laune died about that time, leaving it to a son who lived in
South Africa, and who declined it and its associated expenses. Some people
called Ratzer (no connection with our family) had bought it around 1950. Dr
Thomas Faunce visted Sharsted as a young law student in the winter of 197778 when he met and chatted with Canon Wade. Dr Thomas Faunce visited
again in 2003 with his wife Roza where they met the descendants of Canon
Wade who now run the estate.
Sharsted is a large rambling place which has seventeen staircases, valuable
family portraits (since sold), paintings by the old masters e.g. portrait of
Charles and Second by Sir Peter Lely, large portrait of Oliver Cromwell, and
Gideon de Laune, as well as Beauvios Flemish tapestries and other treasures.
Originally a Hall house, it has many parts of ancient origin. It was
extensively refronted in 1711. It has a magnificent garden, and in its heyday
was the centre of the local Hunt. There is a memorial plaque by a stone arch
in the garden for a Faunce who died in the Boer War. The Faunce family
crest is on many of the restored buildings and above the front gate.
The ancient Sharsted was in the hands of the de Sharsteds and de Bournes
and their descendants until Abraham de Laune bought it around 1625.
Colonel William de Laune turned the mediaeval Hall and Court into a Queen
Anne mansion in 1711.
With regard to spelling of the De Laune name, we have found various
spellings by members of the family, depending on their personal whims – e.g.
Delunes, De Launes or de Launes all have seemed acceptable over the
generations.
The original William De Laune was also a French Huguenot physician and
French minister, who fled with his family to England around 1582. He was
subsequently licensed to practice medicine by the Royal College of
Physicians of London, and published a book on
(3)
Calvinism. He was buried at St. Annes, Blackfriars (London) in 1610. Two
other De Launes became eminent Jacobean physicians and are noted in the
National Dictionary of Biography. Gideon de Laune, another member of the
family was a famous Royal Apothecary (1616) who with the co-operation of
Sir Theodore de Mayerne, the Court Physician, petitioned King James 1 for a
charter similar to that granted a century previously to the Royal College of
Physicians. Up to this point the Apothecaries (Grocer/Pharmacists) had only
the right to compound or supply and make up medicinal compounds, and
NOT to prescribe them. This Charter obtained from James 1 enabled them to
prescribe (and later to examine and charge a fee) making them the direct
forerunners of our general practitioners. All this activity put the
Apothecaries in great conflict with the Royal College of Physicians, and their
austere university graduated Fellows. The Apothecaries were of course, part
of the ancient city companies and guilds of London in medieval times, when
they were known as “Friendly Societies” who helped organise the skilled
trades and their members.
Since Elizabethan times the Grocer’s Company had imported spices and
drugs from Europe and the newly discovered countries in the Far East.
Medicines were compounded from these and were in great demand by rich
and poor alike. Those members of the Grocers’ Company who performed this
useful function were known as Apothecaries. As early as 1525 we hear of the
“Apothecarial Grocers” petitioning for a “corporation of their own”, as their
art was a separate one and not to be subordinated to fallible tradesmen like
ordinary grocers who “favoured only the mercenary part of their trade”. The
Physicians of London indignantly said “No Apothecary was to sell any
poyson, drugges or medicines” except on their prescription. All this was to
change after 1617 for after this the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of
London and their Wardens, teachers and apprentices entered and enriched the
medical world.
Through the influence of Gideon of Laune over the King James 1, the
Apothecaries had (finally) got their Charter. His bust survived the World
War II bombing of Apothecaries Hall at Blackfiars (Lower end of Fleet
Street) and is in a prominent place in the Main Hall. The Hall is very
beautiful and wedding receptions, as well as
(4)
medical lectures and examinations are held there. The society of
Apothecaries awards a registeracle medical diploma which is still used by
some general practitioners in England and abroad. (L.M.S.S.A. London –
Licence in Medicine and Surgery of the Society of Apothecaries).
Gideon remained as Apothecary to King James and to his Queen (Ann of
Denmark) during his professional life.
When Dr Marcus Faunce was in London for exams with the Royal College of
Physicians, he heard that the Faunce (Faunce Delaune) family had long
retained the ancient parchment Charter of the Society – at Sharsted Court –
much to the annoyance of the Society who wanted it in their own hands. We
believe it was finally returned to them after the death of Alured Faunce
Delaune around 1949. While Dr Marcus Faunce was there he also heard
about the inscribed silver, hunting dinner set, which had been presented to
Gideon by James I. He believed this too was now in the hands of the Society.
Gideon lived to 97 years, and apparently was very wealthy at his death. His
cousin Thomas de Laune described him as worth “many thousand poundes”.
At his death in 1659 he owned several properties in England including
Sharsted Court, which he bought for his son – Abraham de Laune. Sharsted
Court, either directly or through marriage, remained in the de Laune family
from the time of Abraham de Laune and the Faunce connection came in the
eighteenth century, as we will shortly describe.
The names of Thornicroft, Pincke, Faunce, Duppa and De Laune recur and
intertwine through the history – old neighbours in this part of Kent, who were
linked by marriage, Rochester and Sharsted Court. It seems that the house
and property passed fairly solidly through the de Launes until 1739 when
Colonel De Laune left Sharsted to Gideon Thornicroft his nephew. When the
latter died in 1742 it passed back to his mother who survived him only two
years. The estate then went to her two unmarried de Laune sisters who
carried on a joint ménage until 1759 when they too died. There fortunately
survived a third sister Dorcas, who first married Lord Abergavenny, and later
on his death, married Mr. Alured Pincke (Alured is an old version of Alfred)
who was a Kentish neighbour and by whom she had a son of the same name
– Alured Pincke.
It was on this great grandson of Sir William De Laune that Aunt Dorcas
Pincke entailed Sharsted Court.
(5)
Young Alured Pincke married Mary Faunce (of Rochester) daughter of
Thoams Faunce (descendant of the original Thomas Faunce of Cliffe-atHoo) of our Rochester family, which by this time was well established in that
city. A famous family immigrant was another Thomas Faunce (one of the
Elders of the Pilgrim Fathers – who did not travel on the “Mayflower”) to
whom there is a monument in New Plymouth (U.S.A.). In the early 1950’s
the “New Yorker” magazine published an article describing the argument that
is carried on locally as to where the Pilgrim Fathers actually landed. The
article said that the last word on the whereabouts of the landing place
depended on the word and records of the last surviving Pilgrim Elder Thomas
Faunce. There are other references to him in various American historical and
biographical works. One comes across the Faunce name in unexpected
places on the American scene. One of the better known Presidents of Brown
University (Rhode Island) was Wm.F.Faunce, D.D., L.L.D, who was a
prominent educator in the early part of this century. Years ago I also noted
Thomas Faunce of Hollywood had had some success against the famous
Donald Budge in a tennis tournament in California. As the name is unusual,
we would think these are descendants of Pilgrim, Thomas Faunce.
Anyway, Mary Faunce (Pincke) inherited their stamina for she lived to the
age of 100 years and died in 1839 (when our great grandfather Alured Tasker
Faunce was settling in Australia).
On Mary Pincke’s death, Sharsted Court went to her great nephew Captain
Edmund Barrell Faunce of the East India Company’s service. He in turn
lived to 1861. His son Chapman De laune Faunce, in 1861 confused the
whole thing by altering his name to Chapman De Laune Faunce De laune.
Apparently this was a condition in the inheritance of Sharsted laid down by
old Mrs. Mary Pincke (Faunce) who wished to perpetuate the De Laune name
and its connection with the house and property. This is the reason that you
will come across references to later members of the English branch with this
odd double barrelled or triple barrelled (pun) name of the Faunce de Laune or
Delaune Faunce De laune etc. While Dr Marcus Faunce was in England in
the early 1950’s I contact Boham de Laune Faunce, a retired Royal Navy
Commander (43 Marine Parade – Lee-on-Solent, Hants). He also met his
son, Alan de Laune Faunce, who had just come down from Oxford and had a
job with Moral Re-armament in London. He mentioned that his grandfather
(6)
(we think he had been a senior Army type and an ex Colonial Governor) was
still alive at 85 years. The last owner of Sharsted Court (Alured Faunce De
Laune) was this old man’s first cousin.
We think that by now you will have gathered that some of the Faunces have
moved (via Marry Faunce Pincke) from Rochester, to Sharsted Court in the
late 18th Century, but some of the family remained behind in Rochester.
Thus Jane Barrell daughter of the Prependary (senior clergyman) of
Rochester had married another Thomas Faunce of Rochester, early in the
century, and we think that the Mrs. Barrell in a painting at the Ryrie
homestead at Micalago is probably her mother.
This Thomas Faunce (and his wife Jane) of Rochester had two sons, and we
are now moving towards our connection with the Kentish families because
the Australian direct connection is with this Rochester couple.
We will try and set out the results of this important Rochester marriage.
THOMAS FAUNCE married JANE BARRELL of Rochester. They had two
sons EDMUND and THOMAS.
1.
Edmund Faunce (clergyman) Vicar of Sutton-at-Hone (village 3 miles
from Dartford, Kent) and Horton Kirby (village 4 miles from Dartford, Kent).
Edmund’s grandson (Captain Edmund Barrell Faunce of the East India
Company) received Sharsted Court from old Mrs. Mary Pincke.
Edmund’s young brother was –
2.
Thomas (Major 4th Foot Regment). This younger son did not have the
good fortune to move his descendents into Sharsted Court. Instead he started
a military line of 4th Foot Regt. Faunces which lead to our own ancestor
Captain Alured Tasker Faunce of Queanbeyan.
It’s with the Rochester Faunce’s younger son Thomas (Major Thomas
Faunce, 4th Foot) that our own collection of family papers, pictures and
various odds and ends commences. He was the grandfather of Capt. Alured
Tasker Faunce of Queanbeyan. Thomas entered the 4th Rgt. as an Ensign. *
….line missing from bottom of page.*
(7)
..29th September, 1759. He was Town Major of Quebec 1783-1807. A
cousin Captain De Laune was also there and mentioned in various books for
distinguished service in the initial assault on the Heights of Abraham (De
Laune Scenic Drive in Ottawa is in his memory). We still have the letter
written by Thomas to his father in England a few days after the battle in
which he was wounded (he received a ball in the shoulder). We also have
several packets of his old letters, his Will, and the parchment Commission
appointing him Town Major of Quebec, signed by the Commander in Chief,
General Guy Carelton (on Wolfe’s death).
Major Thomas Faunce of Quebec married a Miss Bridget Nugent of Dublin,
and their fifth son was our Alured Tasker’s father, Major General Alured
Dodsworth Faunce, CB., born 28th Nov., 1778 in Quebec.
Alured Dodsworth Faunce was a fine old warrior and some of his old army
commissions are signed by George the Third. His wife was Anna Maria
Faunce (nee Goddard) and his daughters Ann and Elizabeth.
His military career spanned the Peninsula campaigns with the 4th Foot
(King’s Own Regt). He fought at Corunna, Badajos, Fuentes d’Onor and he
received the Gold Medal for bravery at Salamanca. He commanded the Light
Infantry Companies of the Brigade, at the storming and capture of Badajos on
6th April, 1812. There he commanded the assaulting parties carrying the
escalading ladders of General Walker’s Brigade and “on this occasion he
received a ball in the thigh”. He commanded the Light Infantry Companies
of the Brigade at the Battle of Salamanca. In July, 1812 he left the Peninsula
and returned to England with the 2nd Battn.
(8)
of the 4th Foot. He remained there until March, 1814, when he took
command of the 1st Batt. then investing Bayonne. Then to America with the
Army under General Ross and commanded the 4th Foot at the Battle of
Bladensburgh and capture of Washington on 24th August, where he had a
“horse shot from under him while engaged in the burning of the White
House,” and incident much recalled by latter-day members of the family. He
also commanded the Regt. in the battle near Baltimore. He was dangerously
wounded at the Battle of New Orleans on 8th January, 1815. He was
promoted Brevet Lieut. Col. on 29th September, 1814, and made Companion
of the Bath, January, 1815. He was Lt. Col. of the Regt. 24th January, 1822
and served in the West Indies until the return of the Regt. to England in 1826.
Promoted Full Colonel and extra Aide-de-Camp to the King in 1831.
Promoted Major General 23rd Nov., 1841 and Inspecting Field Officer Bristol
District.
On his promotion to General he had been employed constantly in the Army
for 46 years. He had received the War Medal with three claps for Corunna,
Badajos, and Fuentes d’Onor and the Gold Medal for Salamanca. Quite a
career! A valuable part of the family papers are the original handwritten
instructions for the operation of the Regiment at the Battle of Corunna.
He moved into retirement at Clifton near Bristol and his house there was
named “Dodsworth” which probably accounts for the name of Alured Tasker
Faunce’s house and property at Queanbeyan. The Fourth King’s Own was
always his Regt. as it was his fathers, and his own two sons, Alured Tasker
Faunce and Thomas Faunce, who both came to Australia with the 4th Foot in
1832. Both Thomas and Alured joined their father’s Regt. as ensigns at the
age of sixteen years.
Thus to carry the story to Australia – Captain Alured Tasker Faunce (greatgrandfather) retired from the Army in Australia late in 1836. He and his
brother Lt. Thomas Faunce had arrived on the “Clyde” at Sydney on August
26th, 1832, after 119 days passage from Cork. The ship had embarked 200
convicts and landed 199, one having died. Alured Tasker retired from the
Army when he was Adjutant and Senior Captain of the 4th Foot on October
1st, 1836 – with the idea of settling in Australia. He married Elizabeth
Mackenzie
(9)
(daughter of Lt.Col. J.K.Mackenzie, commanding officer of 4th Foot and a
Peninsular Veteran who also resigned to live at “St. Omer” near Braidwood)
on 27th January, 1835 at Liverpool, N.S.W. Col. Mackenzie died on 27th
January, 1835 and is buried at the cemetery near Nowra. Alured’s brother
Thomas stayed with the Regt. when it moved on to India after four years
service in Australia. He retired on full pay in 1859 with the rank of Lt.
Colonel.
The story of Alured Tasker’s problems at Brisbane Water and his life, and
finally sudden death (playing cricket) at Queanbeyan on 26th April, 1856, are
related in letters, papers and old press clippings, and in the Australian
Dictionary of Biography. He was the first Police Magistrate of Queanbeyan,
Gundaroo and Monaro, in the County of Murray. While the Queanbeyan
house was being built he lived for some months in a house at Acton (where
Canberra now stands) and not far from the present Canberra Hospital. He
held his first court under a tree in Queanbeyan in November, 1837.
My grandfather (Rev. Canon Alured Dodsworth Faunce) was his eldest son,
who was born on 30th May, 1840 in Queanbeyan and went to King’s School,
Parramatta, until he was sixteen and his father died. Grandfather Alured
Dodsworth then went home to help his mother with the old flour mill, and
what was left of the property at Queanbeyan. He worked for a time with the
New South Wales Roads Department until he entered the Moore Theological
College in Sydney. He was ordained as an Anglican clergyman. There
followed parishes at Araluen, Bega and Yass which he visited on a horse
called “battleaxe.” He was a Canon of Goulburn Cathedral.
Canon Faunce married Henrietta Charlotte Maunsel Blake on 30th December,
1863. She was the daughter of Hon. Isidore John Blake, M.L.C. (1858-59)
M.L.A. (1860-61) who was a Judge of the District Court of New South Wales
(1861-65). Their youngest son was MARCUS GORDON FAUNCE who
was born 28th February, 1885 in the Rectory at Yass.
Marcus Gordon served with the Australian Light Horse at Gallipoli and took
part in the battles at Beersheeba and Romani (where he was commissioned in
the field). He captured a Turkish officer’s sword in an incident that is
recorded in the Official Australian war history. He was also shot through his
coat while drawing fire to locate Turkish positions. His only recorded
comment about the Gallipoli campaign is that it was “disgusting.”
Marcus Gordon had two sons. Blake died at the age of six from scarlet fever.
Marcus DeLaune Faunce studied medicine in Adelaide, joined the Australian
occupation forces as a medical officer in Japan after WWII. He became a
consultant physician in Canberra and received the Order of Australia for his
services as a Physician to the Royal Australian Air Force. He was a much
loved physician to numerous Australian Prime Minister’s and Governors
General.
Marcus DeLaune Faunce married Marjorie Morison, a reporter with the
Sydney Morning Herald. They had three children, Thomas Alured DeLaune
Faunce, Marcus Bonham Faunce and Charlotte DeLaune Faunce. Thomas
Alured DeLaune Faunce is an academic in the Law Faculty and Medical
School at the Australian National University. He married Roza Passos, a
medieval art historian and they have a son, Blake Alured DeLaune Faunce.
Two of the Canon’s sisters married into the Ryrie family – Thus Charlotte
(born 30/4/1836) married Hon. Alexander Ryrie, M.L.C., of “Micalago” and
Ellen (born 30/11/1838) married David Ryrie, M.L.A., of “Coolringdon”
Cooma.