Edward Wollstonecraft

Edward Wollstonecraft (1783-1832) was a successful businessman in early colonial Australia. He was the nephew of the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and cousin to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.

In 1812, while travelling from Lisbon to Cadiz he met Alexander Berry,^[1] with whom he later formed a trading partnership, intending to operate in the colony of New South Wales.

He shared lodgings with his sister Elizabeth and Berry in London from 1815 to 1819.^[2]

Wollstonecraft arrived in Sydney on board the ship Canada on 31 August 1819.^[3] He received a land grant from Governor Lachlan Macquarie for 2,000 acres (8 km²), 500 acres (2 km²) of which were located on the north shore of Port Jackson running from what is now St Leonards to the foreshore. A warehouse was erected in George Street, Sydney, under the name of "Berry and Wollstonecraft".

In 1822, Wollstonecraft and Berry were granted 10,000 acres (40 km²) of land on the Shoalhaven River on the condition that they took responsibility for a hundred convicts.^[4]

A canal was built on the property. This work was undertaken with the assistance of Hamilton Hume and a party of convicts. The 209 yard long canal was completed in 12 days, and was the first canal in Australia.

The crops farmed at Shoalhaven included native cedar and tobacco, which were sold at considerable profit both to the growing colony at Sydney and for export. The property at Shoalhaven grew to 40,000 acres (162 km²) under Berry's management, while Wollstonecraft looked after business in Sydney.

Edward Wollstonecraft was active in local affairs, and involved in a number of societies and organisations in the colony, such as the Philosophical Society of Australasia (now the Royal Society of New South Wales), of which he was a founding member, and the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales, which organisation he served in the capacity of Steward and Secretary during the 1820s. In 1822, he was appointed senior director of the Bank of New South Wales in and chairman of the first chamber of commerce.^[5][6] He was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1824.

Edward Wollstonecraft suffered ill health and died on 7 December 1832, aged 49.^[5] He was buried in the Sydney Burial Ground in Elizabeth St. His remains were later moved to a tomb constructed by Alexander Berry on the death of Berry's wife, and Wollstonecraft's sister Elizabeth near St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney. The tomb is still standing, and the graveyard of the church is now St Thomas' Rest Park.

The suburb of Wollstonecraft is named after him. He built a cottage on the north shore of Sydney Harbour in 1820 which he called Crows Nest. This later became the name of a larger house and estate on the same site. The suburb of Crows Nest is named after the house and estate.

References

External links

• Genealogical information
• Colonial Secretary Index, 1788-1825, containing records relating to Edward Wollstonecraft