Captain William Colburn Mayne was born in Wicklow, Ireland on 22 July 1808 to John and Theodosia Colburn. He died 31 August 1902, aged 94, and is buried at Enfield Anglican Cemetery, Portion 14, Row 34.
William married Mary Ellen Turner. Their children included:
- John Thomas Colburn Mayne - born 1834? in Ireland?; married Charlotte Augusta Arabin in Molong in 1857; died 3 March 1924 in Ingleburn
- Charlotte Anne Colburn Mayne - b 1840; died 27-10-1939 in England
- Maria C C - born 1843;
- Emily C - born 1844;
- Dorothea C - born 1846;
- Ann Turner Colburn Mayne - born 1847; died 16-1-1924 Terrace Hastings (England)
- Horatio Ramsay - born 1850
He bought 1084 acres in the County of Bligh in 1841 (well before Gulgong existed by name). He was able to purchase land with the help of 150 pounds sterling that he received from (less than 15 years) service as a Captain in Her Majesty's 5th Regiment of Foot.
From 1840-1844 Captain Colburn was listed as a Commissioner of the Peace. He was living on a property called Llangollen at Cassilis.
NEWS ITEMS
1840 - [ADVERTISEMENT]
On the Morning of the 6th Instant, while camped near the Ford, at Jerry's Plains, a Dray belonging to Charles Boydell, Esq., was attacked by four armed men and robbed of various articles of Clothing. Supplies. Plate, &c., &c. my property. I hereby offer a Reward of Twenty Pounds for the Apprehension and Conviction of the Thieves, and the recovery of the things stolen.
Among them was a small Tin Box, containing private letters and papers, of no value to any one but myself, for the recovery of which I now offer a Reward of Five Pounds.
W. C. MAYNE.Llangollen, Cassilis.
Source: The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) Mon 17 Feb 1840 Page 3
1840 - [CONVICTS ABSCONDED]
Principal Superintendent of Convicts' Office, April 22, 1840.
THE undermentioned Prisoners having absconded from the individuals and employments set against their respective names, and some of them being at large with stolen Certificates and Tickets of Leave, all Constables and others are hereby required and commanded to use their utmost exertion in apprehending and lodging them in safe custody. Any person harbouring or employing any of the said Absentees, will be prosecuted as the law directs.
J. M'LEAN,Principal Superintendent of Convicts.
...Kircher John. Strathfieldsaye (2), 22, Yorkshire, sweep, 5 feet 1¾ inch, ruddy comp., brown hair, dark grey eyes, scar on right cheek, scar left side forehead, 2 scrofula marks under left ear, and one left collar bone, two blue scars left eyebrow, man's head and gun lower right arm, blue ring middle finger right hand, sun and five streaks inside lower left arm, balloon outside same, scar left elbow, from Captain Mayne, Llangollen, since April 3.
To the Editors of the Sydney Morning Herald.
GENTLEMEN, When the French ship the Eliza was here some eighteen months since, we sent on board two casks of beef, cured by Messrs. Beatie and Mayne, at Llangollen, and which we believe had been then three or four years in pickle, as a sample, and requested Commodore Berard to favour us with a report on it Commodore Berard having kindly done so, we now enclose it, in order to its insertion for the information of the settlers, and the slaughterers of cattle.
We are, Gentlemen,
Your obedient servants.
JOUBERT AND MURPHY.
Sydney, August 19, 1845." COMMODORE BERARD'S REPORT."We have made two experiments of Mr. Murphy's beef. The meat is in good order, and has a good flavour; but we do not consider it choice meat yet; there are too many small pieces, and too great a quantity of bone; this lessens the sailors' rations. If the process of curing that meat had been only used for the best parts of the animal, I have no doubt but it would be equal to the best Irish beef. The objections are only to the choice of pieces."
His Excellency the Governor has directed it to be notified, with reference to the notice from the Colonial Secretary's Office of the 9th instant, ... that William Colburn Mayne, Esq., has been appointed to succeed Mr. Wright, as Commissioner of Crown Lands in the district of Wellington.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Sat 28 Nov 1846 Page 31846 - [MAGISTRATE]
Government Gazette, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1846.
His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint William Colburn Mayne, Esquire, to be a magistrate of the territory and its dependencies.
1851 - [JUSTICE OF THE PEACE]
...William Colburn Mayne, of Wellington...
Source: New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900) Sat 25 Oct 1851 [Issue No.122 (SUPPLEMENT)] Page 1725
1900 - Captain W. C. Mayne. A PROMINENT COLONIST.
1902 - DEATH OF CAPTAIN W. C. MAYNE. - AN OLD COLONIST.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Tue 2 Sep 1902 Page 5
______________________________________________
1852 - [INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE]
...now, I, William Colburn Mayne, the Inspector-General of Police throughout the Colony of New South Wales, duly appointed under the before in part recited Act of Council, in pursuance of the power and authority so vested in me by the said Act, do hereby give notice that the Constabulary Force for the portions or districts of the said Colony hereinafter described...
Source: New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900) Fri 16 Apr 1852 [Issue No.39] Page 619
Captain W C Mayne
Source: Trove (see below)
1900 - Captain W. C. Mayne. A PROMINENT COLONIST.
A gentleman who has occupied many prominent positions in the public service of this colony is Captain William Colburn Mayne, who now, in his 93rd year, lives in quiet retirement at "Viewbank," Cheltenham-road, Burwood. Born on July 22, 1808, less than three years after Nelson's great victory at Trafalgar Bay, he was the youngest child (by his first marriage), of Captain John Mayne, of Lattin, County Monaghan, Ireland.
Having been educated at Feinaglian School, Dublin, and at Trinity College, Dublin, young Mayne was gazetted ensign in the 5th Northumberland Regiment, now known as the Northumberland Fusiliers. After a period as lieutenant on half pay (unattached) he subsequently became, by exchange, full-pay lieutenant in the Northumberland Fusiliers, in 1826. Later on, Lieutenant Mayne entered the senior department of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, passed through the regular course, obtaining a first-class certificate, and in 1833 was promoted to a captaincy in his old regiment, the Northumberland Fusiliers.
Five years later, in 1838, broken health caused him to retire from the service, and in November of that year he sailed for Sydney in the ship "Hero of Malown," which arrived in Port Jackson on April 1, 1839. Here, Captain Mayne turned his attention to the pastoral and agricultural pursuits of the colony, in which he continued for some years, notably at Llangollen (Cassilis), Melville Plains (Liverpool Plains), and St. Clair (Falbrook), as well as at Rosenthal, Darling Downs (in Queensland). Leaving St. Clair, he became tenant of Toongabbie (near Parramatta), from Major Wentworth. December 1, 1846, Captain Mayne was appointed Crown Lands Commissioner for the district of Wellington, an office which he held until he was appointed Inspector-General of Police for the colony (which then included Queensland), in 1852.
Before the establishment of responsible government in the colony, he was nominated as a member of what was then the Legislative Council, and under responsible government, which was instituted in 1856, he was appointed to the higher Chamber as representative, in that House, of the first Ministry. On the retirement of the Donaldson Ministry, in August, 1856, Captain Mayne resigned his seat in the Legislative Council. On September 18, in the same year, he was appointed Auditor-General for New South Wales, and he continued to discharge the duties of that office until, on November 10, 1864, he was appointed the first official Agent-General for the colony in London; the duties having previously been carried out by a member of the British Parliament. Two years later Captain Mayne was chosen to act as head of the commission for New South Wales at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. After fulfilling the duties of Agent-General for seven years, he was, at his own request, relieved from office and returned to Sydney. Subsequently, he re-visited England and the Continent, remaining away from Australia for about four years after which he again returned to Sydney. Since then he has resided constantly at "Viewbank," Burwood.
Captain Mayne has the experience of few men in having resided in New South Wales under the regime of no less than twelve Governors and the administration of twenty-nine Ministries.
Source: Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919) Sat 3 Nov 1900 Page 261902 - DEATH OF CAPTAIN W. C. MAYNE. - AN OLD COLONIST.
As announced briefly in our issue yesterday Captain William Colburn Mayne passed away at his residence, Viewbank, Cheltenham-road, Burwood, on Sunday morning. Captain Mayne had attained the
ripe old age of 95. He had lived in retirement for several years, and although he had filled many responsible positions in New South Wales was always one desirous of avoiding notoriety of any kind.
Naturally retiring in disposition he shrank rather from the public gaze, although on occasions he would entertain his many old friends with reminiscences of the old regime. Born on July 22, 1808, he was the son of Captain John Mayne, of Lattin, county Monaghan, Ireland, by his first marriage. He received a good education at Feinaglam School, Dublin, and, exhibiting considerable mental gifts, entered Trinity College, Dublin, where his early education was considerably advanced. Exhibiting a desire for military life young Mayne was gazetted ensign in the 5th Northumberland Regiment, subsequently called the Northumberland Fusiliers. He became a lieutenant (unattached) on half-pay, and afterwards exchanged into the fusiliers in 1826 on full pay. Lieutenant Mayne, after a course in the senior department of the Sandhurst Royal Military College, obtained a first-class certificate and received a captaincy in his old regiment. In 1838 Captain Mayne's health necessitated his retirement from military service, and in November, 1838, he left the old country in the ship Hero of Malown, the voyage occupying nearly six months. Arrived in New South Wales, Captain Mayne engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and remained on the soil for several years, rapidly acquiring colonial experience, which his natural intelligence and vigour enabled him to tum to advantage. He spent some time at Llangollen (Cassilis), Melville Plains (Liverpool Plains), and St. Clair (Falbrook), in this State, and at Rosenthal on the Darling Downs, which was then part of the mother colony. He rented Tongabbie estate, near Parramatta, from Major Wentworth, and watched the growth of Sydney from this quiet place. Captain Mayne's first public appointment was as Crown Lands Commissioner for the district of Wellington in December, 1846. He held that position for about six years, and was then appointed Inspector-General of Police for the colony.
Captain Mayne's next notable advancement was as a member of the Legislative Council, and when responsible government was instituted in 1856 he became the representative of the first Ministry in the Upper House. When the Donaldson Ministry vacated office the Hon. Captain Mayne resigned his seat in
the Upper House, but his absence from public prominence was but short, for on September 18, 1856, he
received the appointment of Auditor-General for the colony. He retained this position till November 10,
1864, when he was appointed the first Agent-General for New South Wales in London. Captain Mayne's fitness for the position, which he filled with credit, was often tested during the early days, and he acquitted himself honourably and well. In 1867 Captain Mayne went to France as chief of the New South Wales Commission for the Paris Exhibition.
His period of office as Agent-General having terminated at his own request in 1871, Captain Mayne returned to the colony. In later years he again paid a visit to England and the Continent, spending four years away from his adopted home, for the last 20 years his life had been spent in quiet walks. He had been a witness of the marvellously steady progress of the colony, and had taken no inconsiderable part in guiding and aiding that progress. The venerable gentlemen went to live at Burwood, then a quiet country place, several years ago, and there his wife died, leaving a large family. Viewbank, where he died, was his Burwood residence. During his long und useful career Captain Mayne saw the arrival and departure of 13 Governors and the political rise and fall of many colonial notables. He was in the State or connected with it while 30 different Administrations were in power, but latterly he shrank from the turmoil and hurly-burly of politics. Almost to the end he retained his mental faculties. The teaching he had received in his early school and college days remained with him, and his wonderful memory was a constant theme for surprised and delighted comment among his numerous friends. He was proud of New South Wales and proud of the great men who had predeceased him, and who in their lives had helped to mould the future of the colony.
Captain Mayne leaves two surviving sons—John Thomas Colburn Mayne and Horatio Ramsey Mayne—and several daughters and relatives. The funeral is to take place to-day at Enfield Church at 3.30 p.m.
Grave of Captain William Colburn Mayne
Source: Austcemindex
John Mayne*, a miner, married Annie O'Driscoll in Gulgong in 1872 (NSW BDM 2760/1872).
It is said that the renaming of Queen Street to Mayne Street is related to this man. Further research required.
Charles Arabin Colburn Mayne - died 12-05-1910 at Berry (occupation farmer)
Walter Herbert Colburn Mayne - died 14-11-1933 Queensland (oocupation grazier)
