Henry Edward Dodd (abt. 1748 - 1791)

Born about 1748 in Hodnet, Shropshire, England

Died 28 Jan 1791 at about age 43 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Henry Dodd was born in Shropshire, England.

Henry Dodd is Notable.

Henry Edward Dodd was a farm labourer working for Arthur Phillip. He accompanied Phillip on the First Fleet to Australia where he became superintendent of convicts at Parramatta.

Baptism ‘Edward’ Dodd 1 September 1748 at St. Luke’s Church, Hodnet in the county of Shropshire, parents Ralph and Sarah Dodd of Wollerton.^[1]

About 1763 Henry was working as a farm labourer at Arthur Phillip’s farm Vernals at Lyndhurst in Hampshire’s New Forest,.

Henry arrived on the Sirius with Arthur Phillip as his personal servant although he signed on as an ‘Ab’ (able bodied seaman)

When Dodd was discharged from Sirius on 1 February 1788 he was appointed as farm superintendent at Sydney Cove

In March 1789 he was supervising the convicts farming at Rose Hill (later called Parramatta). Governor Phillip described him as a ‘very industrious man who I brought from England,’

When Watkin Tench visited Rose Hill in November 1790, Dodd informed him that 200 acres (81 ha) had been cleared and cultivated.

Dodd however "had been ill for some time",^{[citation needed]} and on 14 January 1791 he had his will drawn up: "Henry Edward Dodd, "otherwise Edward Dodd", of "Rose Hill, county of Cumberland in the territory of New South Wales", beneficiaries and executrixes were his mother Sarah "widow of Ralph Dodd and now or late living at Hodnet", and "my loving sister Ann Dodd". Witnesses were Thomas Davey, Thomas Arndell and William Broughton.^[2]

Death 28 January 1791. He was buried 29 January 1791 at St John's Cemetery, Parramatta. The burial register of St Johns has Henry Edward Dodd, Superintendent.^[3][4]

Henry Dodd's memorial at St John's Anglican Church Cemetery, Parramatta, is the oldest European undisturbed grave with headstone in situ in Australia.^[5] The inscription on his grave is H E DODD 1791.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "1748, Sep. 1. Edward, s. of Ralph & Sarah Dodd, Wollerton." in transcripts of Hodnet registers, Mel Lockie website, accessed 13 April 2021
2. ↑ Probate Date: 20 June 1792: England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers 1789-1792, Piece 1219: Fountain, Quire Numbers 284-329 (1792) https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/5111/images/40611_310067-00699?pId=17289
3. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, St. John's Parramatta, Burials, 1790-1986 for Henry Edward Dodd Vol 01, Baptisms, 1790-1825; Marriages, 1789-1823; Burials, 1790-1825 https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60737/images/44132_1831101454_0699-00064?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=31355
4. ↑ New South Wales. Department of Justice and Attorney General. NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. [data-base on-line]: NSW BDM death of DODD, HENRY E, reg. no. 11/1791 V179111 148, and reg. no. 276/1791 V1791276 2A
5. ↑ As distinct from the oldest known European death or burial, or the oldest known European memorial or monument. The latter belongs to George Graves ( - 1788)
6. ↑ Dunn, Judith., and Parramatta District Historical Society. The Parramatta Cemeteries : St. John's. Parramatta and District Historical Society, 1991.

• Gillen, Mollie. The Founders of Australia : A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet ; with Appendices by Yvonne Browning, Michael Flynn, Mollie Gillen. Sydney: Library of Australian History, 1989.
• HENRY EDWARD DODD, Fellowship of First Fleeters http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au/henrydodd.htm
• St John's Cemetery Project: HENRY DODD (1748–1791)
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 December 2018), memorial page for Henry Edward Dodd (1748–28 Jan 1791), Find A Grave Memorial no. 75455025, citing St John's Cemetery, Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council, New South Wales, Australia ; Maintained by Ann Gordon (contributor 47486893). Find A Grave: Memorial #75455025
• A. J. Gray, 'Dodd, Henry Edward (?–1791)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dodd-henry-edward-1984/text2411, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 21 December 2018.