Individual Details
Thomas Buston PEARSE
(1808 - 1862)
Arrived in Melbourne aboard the Strathfieldsaye in 1841.
In 1839, Lieutenant John Airey took up a pastoral run between Pt Roadknight and the inlet - and the Anglohawk run in 1842. Aireys Inlet, and for many years, the Aireys River, were probably named after him. (His brother was also a Commissioner for Crown Lands in the Geelong district, 1839-44.) A former Geelong butcher, Thomas Pearse, purchased the Anglohawk run in 1853 and two bark huts and a homestead built on his property. One of the bark huts survived until the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 and has been rebuilt since. The Angahook-Lorne State Park that surrounds the town was named after the first cattle run.
1852 Thomas and Martha Pearse move to Angahook (640 acres). Leasehold purchased from Tom Carter. Robert McConachy comes to Aireys as stock master for Tom Pearse. Two huts erected (one replacing the original hut), and construction of Angahook homestead commenced.
1964 A Memorial Cairn with a bronze plaque was erected and unveiled over the grave of Thomas and Martha Pearse. The gravesite was originally protected by a picket fence which fell into disrepair. It’s pickets matched those of the lighthouse cottages.
FarmlandForest&Surf says: A number of pastoral runs were also established last century along the coastal areas of the Shire. John Moore Airey, R.N., after establishing the Happy Valley run near Point Roadknight in 1839, expanded his leasehold to Angahawk (also spelled Anglohawk or Angohawk) in 1843. Both runs were in the vicinity of Anglesea.37 Airey occupied these runs until 1853.38 Another 1840s pioneer pastoralist was Elias Harding, who occupied the Mount Pleasant run in 1840, which stretched from modern Torquay to Point Addis.39 John Herd took up the Aireys Inlet run, which stretched from Aireys to Lorne, in 1848.40 John Kiddle and Joseph Gundry occupied the Ironbark Forest (or Ranges or Bark) run near Jan Juc from 1844.41 The Bark Hut and the Pearse Cairn at Aireys Inlet are physical reminders of pastoral life there. Thomas Butson Pearse and his wife, Martha, were some of the earliest settlers in the area, taking up the Angahook Run in 1852.42
Post contact European settlement of Anglesea began as early as 1846 as part of the ‘Anglohawk’ run of Thomas Carter.389 In 1852-53 the lease was purchased by Thomas Butson Pearse and Robert McConachy.390 In the following year they applied for 530 acres of freehold land upon which they erected a slab house, two huts and stables.391
Aireys Inlet
The further west people travelled around the Shire’s coast, the harder access became. In the 1880s, it was said that, ‘contact with Lorne was by foot if the tide was out; if not, through the scrub over Big Hill’.402 Aireys Inlet (or Split Point or Angahook as it was also known) was more difficult to access than Anglesea.
The Aireys Inlet area was where Thomas Pearse held the pre-emptive right to the Angahook run in the 1850s. The historic Angahook homestead survived until 1985 when it was burned in the Ash Wednesday bushfires.403
Sales of land in the 1880s and 1890s marked the beginning of the settlement at Aireys Inlet. As at the other coastal townships of Torquay and Anglesea, a great number of purchasers were business and professional men, with a sprinkling of farmers,
tradesmen and labourers.404 There was an increase in population with the construction of the Split Point lighthouse in 1891. The head keeper and two assistants occupied the lighthouse cottages.
This, in turn, led to the opening of a school, No. 3195, in the detached dining room of William Hasty’s boarding house. Hasty ran Seaview House. A storekeeper and coach proprietor, Hasty also ran a coach service to Wensleydale and then to Anglesea, where he connected with the Cobb and Co. coach from Geelong. It took 12 hours to travel the 80 miles from Melbourne to Aireys Inlet.405
Today, the historic Split Point lighthouse and cottages survive at Aireys Inlet. The site of Angahook House in Sanctuary Road is also regarded as an important part of the district’s heritage.406
In 1839, Lieutenant John Airey took up a pastoral run between Pt Roadknight and the inlet - and the Anglohawk run in 1842. Aireys Inlet, and for many years, the Aireys River, were probably named after him. (His brother was also a Commissioner for Crown Lands in the Geelong district, 1839-44.) A former Geelong butcher, Thomas Pearse, purchased the Anglohawk run in 1853 and two bark huts and a homestead built on his property. One of the bark huts survived until the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 and has been rebuilt since. The Angahook-Lorne State Park that surrounds the town was named after the first cattle run.
1852 Thomas and Martha Pearse move to Angahook (640 acres). Leasehold purchased from Tom Carter. Robert McConachy comes to Aireys as stock master for Tom Pearse. Two huts erected (one replacing the original hut), and construction of Angahook homestead commenced.
1964 A Memorial Cairn with a bronze plaque was erected and unveiled over the grave of Thomas and Martha Pearse. The gravesite was originally protected by a picket fence which fell into disrepair. It’s pickets matched those of the lighthouse cottages.
FarmlandForest&Surf says: A number of pastoral runs were also established last century along the coastal areas of the Shire. John Moore Airey, R.N., after establishing the Happy Valley run near Point Roadknight in 1839, expanded his leasehold to Angahawk (also spelled Anglohawk or Angohawk) in 1843. Both runs were in the vicinity of Anglesea.37 Airey occupied these runs until 1853.38 Another 1840s pioneer pastoralist was Elias Harding, who occupied the Mount Pleasant run in 1840, which stretched from modern Torquay to Point Addis.39 John Herd took up the Aireys Inlet run, which stretched from Aireys to Lorne, in 1848.40 John Kiddle and Joseph Gundry occupied the Ironbark Forest (or Ranges or Bark) run near Jan Juc from 1844.41 The Bark Hut and the Pearse Cairn at Aireys Inlet are physical reminders of pastoral life there. Thomas Butson Pearse and his wife, Martha, were some of the earliest settlers in the area, taking up the Angahook Run in 1852.42
Post contact European settlement of Anglesea began as early as 1846 as part of the ‘Anglohawk’ run of Thomas Carter.389 In 1852-53 the lease was purchased by Thomas Butson Pearse and Robert McConachy.390 In the following year they applied for 530 acres of freehold land upon which they erected a slab house, two huts and stables.391
Aireys Inlet
The further west people travelled around the Shire’s coast, the harder access became. In the 1880s, it was said that, ‘contact with Lorne was by foot if the tide was out; if not, through the scrub over Big Hill’.402 Aireys Inlet (or Split Point or Angahook as it was also known) was more difficult to access than Anglesea.
The Aireys Inlet area was where Thomas Pearse held the pre-emptive right to the Angahook run in the 1850s. The historic Angahook homestead survived until 1985 when it was burned in the Ash Wednesday bushfires.403
Sales of land in the 1880s and 1890s marked the beginning of the settlement at Aireys Inlet. As at the other coastal townships of Torquay and Anglesea, a great number of purchasers were business and professional men, with a sprinkling of farmers,
tradesmen and labourers.404 There was an increase in population with the construction of the Split Point lighthouse in 1891. The head keeper and two assistants occupied the lighthouse cottages.
This, in turn, led to the opening of a school, No. 3195, in the detached dining room of William Hasty’s boarding house. Hasty ran Seaview House. A storekeeper and coach proprietor, Hasty also ran a coach service to Wensleydale and then to Anglesea, where he connected with the Cobb and Co. coach from Geelong. It took 12 hours to travel the 80 miles from Melbourne to Aireys Inlet.405
Today, the historic Split Point lighthouse and cottages survive at Aireys Inlet. The site of Angahook House in Sanctuary Road is also regarded as an important part of the district’s heritage.406
Events
| Birth | 1808 | Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devonshire, England | |||
| Marriage | 1843 | St James, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Martha SPERRING | |||
| Death | 1862 | Hepatitis - Aireys Inlet, Victoria, Australia | |||
| Burial | 1862 | Aireys Inlet, Victoria, Australia |
Families
| Spouse | Martha SPERRING (1818 - 1870) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Sarah Taylor PEARSE (1846 - 1920) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Emma Martha PEARSE ( - ) |
| Child | Eliza Ellen PEARSE ( - ) |
| Child | Charles Robert PEARSE (1860 - ) |