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Wilson, Robert
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NameWilson, RobertConvictTransported 1837 'Norfolk' for housebreaking - LifeOccupationBlacksmith, Miller, Farmer, Storekeeper, AldermanPlace of ResidenceTullimbar, Shellharbour Village, Oak Flats.BiographyRobert Wilson was born about 1807 in Suffolk, England. He married Sarah Moon or Mary Moore (two names listed on certificates) in about 1826. The couple had two children, William and Emma Eliza.
In 1836, Edward Moss, Robert Wilson and John King were indicted for breaking into the house of Joseph Till, grocer of Butley, and stealing a quantity of gold and siler, a five pound note, two cheques and other articles. Wilson was a blacksmith at Snape. They were initially sentenced to death.
The case was reported in the Bury and Norwich Post Wed Aug 3, 1836. 'Robert Moss, Robert Wilson, and John King were charged with breaking into the home of Joseph Till, a grocer of Butley, and stealing gold and silver money, a £5 banknote, two cheques worth £9 16s and £7, and various other goods.
Moss and Wilson were both blacksmiths, one from Sudbourne and the other from Snape. King was a 20-year-old labourer.
The evidence showed that around midnight on 15 July, Joseph Till was awakened by a light in the house and by people demanding entry to his bedroom. He opened his window, and a large stone was thrown through it. He then opened the bedroom door, whereupon two men entered. They had crape covering their faces, carried sticks under their arms, and held candles in their hands.
The intruders demanded money. Till handed over his cash box and the keys. The men removed between £16 and £17 in gold and silver. During the robbery, one man dropped some silver coins, and the other exclaimed:
"Damn it, Moss!"
One of the robbers was short and the other tall. They then took a banknote and two cheques from Till's pocketbook before leaving the house.
They reassured Mrs Till, telling her to remain quiet and that they would not harm her.
Upon investigating afterwards, Till discovered that the burglars had entered the shop by breaking through the roof. They had broken the lock from the shop door and stolen:
20 pounds of tobacco
7 or 8 pairs of stockings
Silk handkerchiefs and other handkerchiefs
All the copper coins from the till
Outside the house, footprints of three men who had been walking barefoot were found. The maidservant, hearing the disturbance in her master's room, ran out and alerted neighbours. Together they followed the tracks for about four miles to Snape Bridge, as the sandy ground clearly showed the footprints. At part of the route, the men had put shoes back on.
King lived about a quarter of a mile from the bridge. A constable searched his house at approximately seven o'clock the following morning. King was there wearing wet trousers but dry shoes. Investigators found a pair of wet shoes with sand inside them. These shoes matched one set of the footprints.
King was immediately arrested.
Moss was arrested the following Monday at Lowestoft, about 25 miles away, after being identified from Till's description. He had £24 in his possession.
Wilson was arrested on the road between Bentley and Friston. His shoes were found to correspond with another set of footprints.
Further evidence was given regarding Moss's financial circumstances. The overseer of Friston testified that on 4 July, Moss had applied for parish relief and wanted assistance to pay a doctor's bill. The parish refused. On 10 July, the witness found Moss sleeping under a haystack. Moss stated that he dared not go home without money.
Another witness, William Milne, testified that about ten days before the robbery, Moss, who was his tenant, told him he had no money and intended to visit his father to obtain some. The day after the robbery, Moss returned by coach, paid him six shillings, and claimed to possess four or five pounds. Witnesses also stated that Moss made several purchases on 16 July and told one person that he intended to take over a shop.
The defence called several character witnesses. A neighbour and King's mother testified that King came home on the evening in question with wet clothing. His mother stated that she locked the door after he went to bed and that he was still in bed between seven and eight o'clock the next morning.
Despite this evidence, the jury found all three prisoners guilty.
The judge recorded a sentence of death against them.
The trial lasted seven hours.
In 1837, when he was 30 years old, Robert was transported to Australia for life aboard the 'Norfolk'. He was 5 foot tall, had brown hair and a pock-pitted complexion. He was assigned to the Illawarra and on obtaining his ticket-of-leave was allowed to remain in the area.
Robert's children William and Eliza, eventually joined him in the Illawarra, probably in the 1850's.
Robert married Sarah Stratford (nee Thornbury) in 1847 at Dapto. Sarah had arrived in Sydney with her daughter Jane Elizabeth Stratford c.1845. Jane's father William Stratford, was also a convict. He had died one year earlier.
In 1856, he remarried Sarah (this time her name is listed as Thornbury). Robert may have discovered his first wife was still alive at the time of his marriage in 1847.
In the 1850’s, Robert Wilson and his wife Sarah operated the Tullimbar Store in the Macquarie Valley. The business was eventually taken over by his step-daughter Jane and her husband Joseph Dunster.
Robert and Sarah moved to Shellharbour Village where Robert opened his steam flourmill in 1857, built of local basalt stone and powered by a 10-horsepower steam engine.
The foreshore at the harbour was known as “The Driftway” and the Flour Mill stood on rising ground south of the boat store, approximately near the eastern entrance of the later named Wilson Street, where his home was built. The Mill was also used for Divine Services prior to the building of Churches in the Village.
The first hustings to form a Municipality of Shellharbour were held at the Mill in 1859. From 1859 to 1876 Robert Wilson was an Alderman of the Municipality of Shellharbour and Mayor in 1863.
In 1858, Robert Wilson advertised his 'Sea View Store' at Shellharbour. He operated this store for 10 years, before selling the business to Walter Allen, whose family continued to conduct the business in Addison Street for generations.
In the 1860's Robert leased a farm at Oak Flats, presumably this farm was 'Lake House', one of the original Peterborough Estate properties, farmed by Captain Addison and later Reddall's.
An advertisement in the 'Kiama Independent' 15 May 1873, reads 'To Let, To Let, To Let, Central Store, Shellharbour. The above store with comfortable dwelling house attached is newly erected on one of the most eligible business sites in the important township of Shellharbour, having a frontage to Wentworth and Addison Streets. This shop was built and fitted up with counters and shelves expressly for the purpose of a general store; and there being less competition than for years past, there is a fine opening for a business man. For terms and particulars apply to the proprietor, Robert Wilson.' This store is what is today known as the 'old corner store' on the corner of Addison and Wentworth Street, Shellharbour.
In 1875, Robert Wilson purchased the above site (part of Lot 1 on Section 3B) north east corner of Addison and Wentworth Street Village of Shellharbour from T.A.Reddall. He leased the store to Thomas Davis, and a bakery on an adjacent block, was leased to Shellharbour baker George Cubitt Arnold. (Researched copy of deeds Tongarra Heritage Society Inc.
By the 1860s, the local grown wheat was attacked with a rust disease, which brought about the abandonment of wheat growing in these coastal areas.
Robert carried on the business at the mill for ten years before advertising it for sale.
In 1921 the old stone mill fell into a dilapidated and dangerous condition. Alderman Burns of Shellharbour Council regrettably supported the move to demolish the Mill saying ‘he was sorry to realise it was necessary in the public safety to demolish an old historical land mark, in the first mill for grinding of wheat erected in the district. (Kiama Independent 23 April 1921).
The mill was demolished in 1922 and the Shellharbour Tennis Club used the site as a rotunda for their tennis courts. By 1986, the site became a picnic and recreation area.
In 1880, Robert Wilson was living at Oak Flats on his dairy farm, and advertised the sale of his whole splendid dairy herd.
When Robert died in 1881, his obituary in the Kiama Independent 19 July 1881, lamented his passing as, ‘one of the first pioneers of the district and for a number of years during the wheat-growing time kept the mill in Shellharbour, also carrying on business as a storekeeper which he relinquished a few years since on account of Mrs. Sarah Wilson’s health failing, and settling down on a farm in the Oak Flats, where his death took place. He leaves a widow, son and daughter’. His step-daughter Jane Dunster had died just a week before.
In 1884 Robert’s wife Sarah died, and her obituary was published in the Kiama Independent 8th September 1884 ‘an old and greatly esteemed resident of this township departed this life on Monday 25th August, namely Sarah, the wife of the late Robert Wilson of this Borough’.
Robert and Sarah were buried at the old foreshore sand cemetery Shellharbour.
Robert’s son William Wilson, lived at Shellharbour and became Harbour Master and Master Mariner. He married Emma Pike in 1864.
Robert's daughter Emma Eliza married William Crawford in 1860.
External LinkSea View Store 1858Sea View Store 1859Shellharbour Robert Wilson 1863Wedding - Wilson Pike 1864Lake Farm Auction 1865To Let Steam Flour Mill 1866Sea View Store Sale 1868Sea View Store Shellharbour 1868To Let Central Store 1873Obituary - Robert Wilson 1881Obituary - Sarah Wilson 1884Important Unreserved Sale Lake Farm 1864
In 1836, Edward Moss, Robert Wilson and John King were indicted for breaking into the house of Joseph Till, grocer of Butley, and stealing a quantity of gold and siler, a five pound note, two cheques and other articles. Wilson was a blacksmith at Snape. They were initially sentenced to death.
The case was reported in the Bury and Norwich Post Wed Aug 3, 1836. 'Robert Moss, Robert Wilson, and John King were charged with breaking into the home of Joseph Till, a grocer of Butley, and stealing gold and silver money, a £5 banknote, two cheques worth £9 16s and £7, and various other goods.
Moss and Wilson were both blacksmiths, one from Sudbourne and the other from Snape. King was a 20-year-old labourer.
The evidence showed that around midnight on 15 July, Joseph Till was awakened by a light in the house and by people demanding entry to his bedroom. He opened his window, and a large stone was thrown through it. He then opened the bedroom door, whereupon two men entered. They had crape covering their faces, carried sticks under their arms, and held candles in their hands.
The intruders demanded money. Till handed over his cash box and the keys. The men removed between £16 and £17 in gold and silver. During the robbery, one man dropped some silver coins, and the other exclaimed:
"Damn it, Moss!"
One of the robbers was short and the other tall. They then took a banknote and two cheques from Till's pocketbook before leaving the house.
They reassured Mrs Till, telling her to remain quiet and that they would not harm her.
Upon investigating afterwards, Till discovered that the burglars had entered the shop by breaking through the roof. They had broken the lock from the shop door and stolen:
20 pounds of tobacco
7 or 8 pairs of stockings
Silk handkerchiefs and other handkerchiefs
All the copper coins from the till
Outside the house, footprints of three men who had been walking barefoot were found. The maidservant, hearing the disturbance in her master's room, ran out and alerted neighbours. Together they followed the tracks for about four miles to Snape Bridge, as the sandy ground clearly showed the footprints. At part of the route, the men had put shoes back on.
King lived about a quarter of a mile from the bridge. A constable searched his house at approximately seven o'clock the following morning. King was there wearing wet trousers but dry shoes. Investigators found a pair of wet shoes with sand inside them. These shoes matched one set of the footprints.
King was immediately arrested.
Moss was arrested the following Monday at Lowestoft, about 25 miles away, after being identified from Till's description. He had £24 in his possession.
Wilson was arrested on the road between Bentley and Friston. His shoes were found to correspond with another set of footprints.
Further evidence was given regarding Moss's financial circumstances. The overseer of Friston testified that on 4 July, Moss had applied for parish relief and wanted assistance to pay a doctor's bill. The parish refused. On 10 July, the witness found Moss sleeping under a haystack. Moss stated that he dared not go home without money.
Another witness, William Milne, testified that about ten days before the robbery, Moss, who was his tenant, told him he had no money and intended to visit his father to obtain some. The day after the robbery, Moss returned by coach, paid him six shillings, and claimed to possess four or five pounds. Witnesses also stated that Moss made several purchases on 16 July and told one person that he intended to take over a shop.
The defence called several character witnesses. A neighbour and King's mother testified that King came home on the evening in question with wet clothing. His mother stated that she locked the door after he went to bed and that he was still in bed between seven and eight o'clock the next morning.
Despite this evidence, the jury found all three prisoners guilty.
The judge recorded a sentence of death against them.
The trial lasted seven hours.
In 1837, when he was 30 years old, Robert was transported to Australia for life aboard the 'Norfolk'. He was 5 foot tall, had brown hair and a pock-pitted complexion. He was assigned to the Illawarra and on obtaining his ticket-of-leave was allowed to remain in the area.
Robert's children William and Eliza, eventually joined him in the Illawarra, probably in the 1850's.
Robert married Sarah Stratford (nee Thornbury) in 1847 at Dapto. Sarah had arrived in Sydney with her daughter Jane Elizabeth Stratford c.1845. Jane's father William Stratford, was also a convict. He had died one year earlier.
In 1856, he remarried Sarah (this time her name is listed as Thornbury). Robert may have discovered his first wife was still alive at the time of his marriage in 1847.
In the 1850’s, Robert Wilson and his wife Sarah operated the Tullimbar Store in the Macquarie Valley. The business was eventually taken over by his step-daughter Jane and her husband Joseph Dunster.
Robert and Sarah moved to Shellharbour Village where Robert opened his steam flourmill in 1857, built of local basalt stone and powered by a 10-horsepower steam engine.
The foreshore at the harbour was known as “The Driftway” and the Flour Mill stood on rising ground south of the boat store, approximately near the eastern entrance of the later named Wilson Street, where his home was built. The Mill was also used for Divine Services prior to the building of Churches in the Village.
The first hustings to form a Municipality of Shellharbour were held at the Mill in 1859. From 1859 to 1876 Robert Wilson was an Alderman of the Municipality of Shellharbour and Mayor in 1863.
In 1858, Robert Wilson advertised his 'Sea View Store' at Shellharbour. He operated this store for 10 years, before selling the business to Walter Allen, whose family continued to conduct the business in Addison Street for generations.
In the 1860's Robert leased a farm at Oak Flats, presumably this farm was 'Lake House', one of the original Peterborough Estate properties, farmed by Captain Addison and later Reddall's.
An advertisement in the 'Kiama Independent' 15 May 1873, reads 'To Let, To Let, To Let, Central Store, Shellharbour. The above store with comfortable dwelling house attached is newly erected on one of the most eligible business sites in the important township of Shellharbour, having a frontage to Wentworth and Addison Streets. This shop was built and fitted up with counters and shelves expressly for the purpose of a general store; and there being less competition than for years past, there is a fine opening for a business man. For terms and particulars apply to the proprietor, Robert Wilson.' This store is what is today known as the 'old corner store' on the corner of Addison and Wentworth Street, Shellharbour.
In 1875, Robert Wilson purchased the above site (part of Lot 1 on Section 3B) north east corner of Addison and Wentworth Street Village of Shellharbour from T.A.Reddall. He leased the store to Thomas Davis, and a bakery on an adjacent block, was leased to Shellharbour baker George Cubitt Arnold. (Researched copy of deeds Tongarra Heritage Society Inc.
By the 1860s, the local grown wheat was attacked with a rust disease, which brought about the abandonment of wheat growing in these coastal areas.
Robert carried on the business at the mill for ten years before advertising it for sale.
In 1921 the old stone mill fell into a dilapidated and dangerous condition. Alderman Burns of Shellharbour Council regrettably supported the move to demolish the Mill saying ‘he was sorry to realise it was necessary in the public safety to demolish an old historical land mark, in the first mill for grinding of wheat erected in the district. (Kiama Independent 23 April 1921).
The mill was demolished in 1922 and the Shellharbour Tennis Club used the site as a rotunda for their tennis courts. By 1986, the site became a picnic and recreation area.
In 1880, Robert Wilson was living at Oak Flats on his dairy farm, and advertised the sale of his whole splendid dairy herd.
When Robert died in 1881, his obituary in the Kiama Independent 19 July 1881, lamented his passing as, ‘one of the first pioneers of the district and for a number of years during the wheat-growing time kept the mill in Shellharbour, also carrying on business as a storekeeper which he relinquished a few years since on account of Mrs. Sarah Wilson’s health failing, and settling down on a farm in the Oak Flats, where his death took place. He leaves a widow, son and daughter’. His step-daughter Jane Dunster had died just a week before.
In 1884 Robert’s wife Sarah died, and her obituary was published in the Kiama Independent 8th September 1884 ‘an old and greatly esteemed resident of this township departed this life on Monday 25th August, namely Sarah, the wife of the late Robert Wilson of this Borough’.
Robert and Sarah were buried at the old foreshore sand cemetery Shellharbour.
Robert’s son William Wilson, lived at Shellharbour and became Harbour Master and Master Mariner. He married Emma Pike in 1864.
Robert's daughter Emma Eliza married William Crawford in 1860.
External LinkSea View Store 1858Sea View Store 1859Shellharbour Robert Wilson 1863Wedding - Wilson Pike 1864Lake Farm Auction 1865To Let Steam Flour Mill 1866Sea View Store Sale 1868Sea View Store Shellharbour 1868To Let Central Store 1873Obituary - Robert Wilson 1881Obituary - Sarah Wilson 1884Important Unreserved Sale Lake Farm 1864
CONNECTIONS
CollectionPeopleConvictsFamilyDunsterLocalityShellharbour VillageTullimbarOak FlatsOrganisationShellharbour City CouncilPersonWilson, Captain WilliamPlaceWilson's Flour MillAllen Bros Post Office & StoreCorner Store (Former)Lake HouseRelated ItemThomas Davis' store at Tullimbar
Wilson, Robert. Shellharbour City Council, accessed 23/10/2026, https://discover.shellharbour.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/1661