Herman Theodore Augustus Alt (1734 - 1815)

Born 26 Aug 1734 in London, England

Ancestors

Died 9 Jan 1815 at age 80 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

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Augustus Alt was appointed in 1787 as the first surveyor for the Colony of New South Wales

Biography

Augustus Alt is Notable.

Augustus Alt was born in England.

Herman Theodore Augustus Alt was born in Hanover Square, London, England on the 26th August 1734 and baptized at St George, Hanover Square on the 16th September. He was the son of Jost Heinrich Alt and Jeannetta Preston. His parents' names were written in his baptismal record as "Just Harry & Jeanetta".^[1][2] He was more commonly known as "Augustus Alt".

Augustus spent his early years with his family in England and was one of at least seven children, with three brothers and three sisters.

Augustus began his working life in the British Army in 1755, with posts to Scotland and Switzerland.^[3] During this time, about 1770, Augustus met and married a lady by the name of Sophia or Sarah, with two daughters born of this union, Harmenia Thodora Augusta in 1771 and Caroline Sophia in 1776.

Augustus was appointed in 1787 as the first surveyor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia. He sailed to the colony on the Prince of Wales, part of the First Fleet. On his arrival in Australia, he was made a Justice of the Peace.^[3]

Augustus met Ann George, a First Fleet convict who arrived on the Lady Penryn, while in Australia, and, although it is said that they never married, two children were born of their union:

• Lucy b. 1790
• Henry George b.1799

Augustus's health was failing him by 1791 so he asked for relief, and was eventually invalided from service at half pay for life, in 1801.^[3]

In 1794, Augustus was granted 100 acres at what is now Petersham, known as Hermitage Farm, where the homestead burned down in 1798. He wrote that he was “doing his duty on a court of Vice-Admiralty held in the town of Sydney” when he had the “misfortune to have his house burnt to the ground and his effects wholly consumed by the natives”.^[4]

In 1802 this land was sold to John Palmer. By mid 1802 he was recorded with 100 acres of land at Bulanaming, with five acres of maize about to be sown. He received a further 280 acres near Ashfield by a grant dated 6 September 1809.^[3]

Augustus and Ann's daughter Lucy passed away in 1806 aged 16 years. His partner Ann George passed away in 1814.

Death: Augustus Alt passed away on 9 January 1815.^[5] and was laid to rest on 11 January in St John's Cemetery in Parramatta, his age recorded in the church register as 83.^[6]

At the time of his death he was legally insolvent and the Government paid his funeral expenses of £26.9.7 from the Police Fund.^[7]

Obituary, Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Saturday 14 January 1815, page 2:

DIED.— On Monday last at Parramatta, in his 83d year, Augustus Alt, Esq., formerly Surveyor General of this Colony; from which situation he retired in the year 1801, from the infirmities of age. He enjoyed a good state of health until attacked by the illness which terminated a life, during the whole course of which he was alike respected by all classes of Society.^[8]

His nephew, Matthew Bowles Alt (1765-1836) later had the monument built on his grave. The inscription on the lid of sandstone altar is also on a bronze plaque nearby:

Sacred to the memory of Augustus Theodore Henry Alt

Baron of Hesse Cassei, who died January 9, 1815, Aged 84 years

Late Surveyor General of New South Wales at the first settling of this colony which situation he held till superannuated.

He served as Lieut. in the Guards in George the Second's reign.

Was Aide de Camp to Prince Ferdinand at the Battle of Mindon and Captain in the Royal Manchester Volunteers at the Siege of Gibraltar under General Elliott, where he distinguished himself in a Mighty Gallant manner.

He died universally regretted by his friends, who lost in the Baron a most complete gentleman, and a man who never told an untruth to the injury of any man.

This monument is erected by his nephew Mathew Bowles Alt, Lieut. in His Majesty's Royal Navy, as a tribute of gratitude to his respected Uncle.^[9]

In October 1815 his son Henry George Alt advertised his intent to leave the colony on the Northampton.^[10]

Research Notes

• Mollie Gillen, in her book The Founders of Australia states that his son Henry George Alt left the colony for China, but there does not appear to be evidence for this.
• According to FamilySearch, Augustus is listed as buried in New Zealand. ^[11]Urquhart-93 20:58, 7 May 2019 (UTC)
• No marriage has been found yet.

Sources

^{[1] [5]}

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} FindMyPast - England Westminster Baptisms.>2019. Findmypast.Com.Au. Accessed November 8 2019. Herman Theodore Augustus Alt. Birth: 26 Aug 1734; Baptism: 16 Sep 1734; Place: St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex, England; Gender: Male; Name: Herman Theodore Augustus Alt; Father: Just Harry Alt; Mother: Jeannetta; Ref: Page 229.
2. ↑ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812 for Herman Theodore Augustus Alt, St George, Hanover Square 1725-1737 https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/61865/images/61865_314054001181_17912-00242?pId=737959
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, (Sydney: Library of Australian History, 1989), p.7.
4. ↑ HRNSW, vol. 4, p.347, “Surveyor-General Alt’s memorial to his Grace the Duke of Portland 27th April 1801”, cited in Stephen Gapps, The Sydney Wars : Conflict in the Early Colony 1788-1817. Sydney, NSW, New South Publishing. 2018, p.137.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} FindMyPast - Aust NSW Deaths, 1788-1945.>2019. Findmypast.Com.Au. Accessed November 8 2019. Augustus Alt. Birth Year: 1732; Death Year 1815; Age: 83 years; Place: Parramatta, St John's, NSW; Gender: Male; Name: Augustus Alt; Ref: V18153325 2B.
6. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, St. John's Parramatta, Burials, 1790-1986 for Augustus Alt, Vol 01, Baptisms, 1790-1825; Marriages, 1789-1823; Burials, 1790-1825 https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60737/images/44132_1831101454_0699-00583?pId=30506
7. ↑ GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL ORDERS. (1815, August 5). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/629161?searchTerm=augustus%20alt# Retrieved November 21, 2022.
8. ↑ 1815 'EUROPEAN POLITICS', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 14 January, p. 2. , viewed 21 Nov 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article629039
9. ↑ Judith Dunn, and Parramatta District Historical Society. The Parramatta Cemeteries : St. John's. Parramatta N.S.W., Parramatta and District Historical Society, 1991, p.63.
10. ↑ 1815 'Classified Advertising', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 21 October, p. 2. , viewed 21 Nov 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article629209
11. ↑ "New Zealand, Cemetery Transcriptions, 1840-1981," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK2-Z5JS : 28 June 2018), Augustus Theodore Henry Alt, 9 Jan 1815; citing Death, New Zealand, New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Auckland.

See Also:

• Find A Grave, database and images  : accessed 08 November 2019), memorial page for Augustus Theodore Alt (26 Aug 1734–9 Jan 1815), Find A Grave: Memorial #151054280, citing St John's Cemetery, Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council, New South Wales, Australia ; Maintained by Find A Grave (contributor 8) .
• ADB, Augustus Alt
• Dictonary of Sydney, Augustus Alt
• St John's Cemetery Project, Augustus Alt
• Plaque detailing the life of First Fleeter Augustus Alt: Australia's first land surveyor. - Picture of St. John's Cemetery, Parramatta - TripAdvisor > "Plaque Detailing The Life Of First Fleeter Augustus Alt: Australia's First Land Surveyor. - Picture Of St. John's Cemetery, Parramatta - Tripadvisor". 2019. Tripadvisor.Com.Au. Accessed November 8 2019. Alt Plaque
• First Fleeters, Augustus Alt
• Oz Burials
• Myraspace Headstones
• Historical Towns, Parramatta
• Augustus Alt, wikipedia
• Lady Penrhyn, wikipedia
• Find A Grave, database and images  : accessed 08 November 2019), memorial page for Just H M Alt (1834–18 Apr 1911), Find A Grave: Memorial #188160680, citing Southampton Old Cemetery, Southampton, Southampton Unitary Authority, Hampshire, England ; Maintained by Katiekins57 (contributor 49337508) .
• Wood Lloyd Alt Tree
• Trove
• David Morgan, “Augustus Alt: The Baron,” St. John’s Cemetery Project (2016) https://stjohnscemeteryproject.org/bio/augustus-alt/, accessed 9 Dec 2019.