NameCouch, James SnrOccupationFarmerPlace of ResidenceLake Illawarra (Berkley)BiographyJames Couch was born c.1790 in Suffolk. He was tried at Essex Assizes 5 December 1827 and transported for life for sheep stealing. James arrived in NSW on board the 'Phoenix' in 1828 and was described as being 5’21/4, brown hair, ruddy face, fair complexion, light hazel eyes, scar on left eyebrow and on top of forehead at right side, smaller scar on right loin.
James was assigned to George Allen in Sydney, Mr. Wilson at Windsor (1828-1836) and then to Mr. Jenkins at Berkeley from 1836-1846. He was issued a Ticket of Leave 16 August 1836 that stated he could remain in the district of Wollongong.
According to the 1841 census, James and his wife Mary (Wheatley) who he married at Sydney in 1835, lived at Illawarra Lake (Jenkins Estate).
James and Mary had ten children;
Mary Ann 1836 (married John Harper, died 1904, Redfern)
Elizabeth 1837 (married James Martin, died 1891, Wollongong)
Edward 1840 (married Anne Smith, died 1920, Bankstown)
Louisa 1842 twin (married Edward Jamieson, died 1874, Bega)
George 1842 twin (married Annie Collins & Catherine Connolly, died 1923, Mangerton)
Eliza 1846 (married William Fryer, died 1931, Chatswood)
James 1850 (married Euphemia Chisholm, died 1922, Unanderra)
William 1852 (married Mary Jane Henry, died 1914, Waverley)
Susannah 1854 (died 1855)
Emily 1856 (married Christian Fraugott Finger, died 1922, Victoria)
James Couch Jnr. was a dairy farmer at ‘The Meadows’ (Boles Farm) Albion Park. 'The Meadows' was part of an early land grant to Lieut. George Johnston, originally named ‘Macquarie Gift’. James Jnr. won first prize at the Sydney Royal Agricultural Show in 1916 with his prize shorthorn bull, ‘Laddie’.
George Couch was also a successful dairy farmer and race horse breeder, who lived at Shellharbour, Albion Park and Dunmore, before moving to Mangerton. George married Annie Elizabeth Collins in 1872 and Catherine Connolly in 1877. While living in Dunmore, George managed the Fuller Estate for George Laurence Fuller and was second Chairman of the Illawarra Cooperative Central Dairy Company. He was also an Alderman on Shellharbour Municipal Council 1896-1899.
Edward Couch was also a prominent dairy farmer in the area. Edward was on the Board of Directors of the Illawarra Cooperative Central Dairy Company along with his brother George. The Couch family over many generations has made a large contribution to the dairying industry in Shellharbour.
