Recorded as Florence in IGI

MARRIED,
By special Licence, on Thursday, the
14th Instant, by the Rev. Richard Hill,  
Mr. Thomas Florence, Land Surveyor,
to Miss Elizabeth, Second Daughter of
Rev. Thomas Kendall, of Illawarra.  
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803-1842) Thursday 21 May 1829


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Biography

Engineer Thomas Florence served in the British Army in the War of 1812
Service started: 1814
Unit(s): Royal Engineers
Service ended: 1815
Thomas Florance is said to have been born in Chichester, England. [1] [2] [3] He was the son of Richard Florence and Sarah Florence (nee Abrahams).
He worked in Upper Canada as a surveyor and engineer in 1803-16 and served in the Royal Engineers in the war of 1812-1815 between the United States and the United Kingdom. [4]
He arrived in Sydney in the Duke of Wellington in November 1817 and sought from Governor Lachlan Macquarie a position as surveyor and applied for a grant of land. He was later allotted 110 acres (45 ha) at Clarence Plains, Van Diemen's Land. He reached Hobart Town on 16 May 1818 and in June, with G. W. Barnard, another free settler, applied for permission to erect a water saw-mill at Port Davey or Macquarie Harbour. After submitting their scheme to Macquarie, Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell refused the application, but on 24 October instructed Florance to make a survey of the west coast. Well qualified to do this, he sailed a week later in the Sophia, James Kelly, taking with him six experienced men, a government boat, other necessary equipment and gifts for Aboriginals. He was told to verify latitudes and longitudes, take bearings, measure distances and to report on varieties and stands of timber and the suitability of country for grazing. He was also advised to name principal points around the two harbours and the River Gordon for the purpose of identification. Although he submitted maps and reports on his return on 29 December, the place names he gave are not now known. In 1819 he was appointed a member of the Lieutenant-Governor's Court at Hobart. In August he was given the sole right for a limited period to ply a scow capable of carrying animals and vehicles from Hobart to Kangaroo Point. In March 1820, at Commissioner John Thomas Bigge's request, he gave him particulars of the west coast rivers and timber. A vessel he was building at Canadian Point in May 1822 was seized for debt, but on 16 December 1823, he was able to launch the Liberty, 40 tons, from his property.
In 1825 he was surveying near the South Esk River; surveyor Thomas Florance named the Chichester River in 1827. [5] [6]
In October 1825 Florance moved to Sydney. In December 1827 he was appointed assistant surveyor with a salary of £200 and allowances, and next year made surveys of the coast near Cape Jervis. On 14 May 1829 at Sydney he married Elizabeth, second daughter of Thomas Kendall. Soon afterwards he resigned and opened a private survey office in Sydney. It did not thrive and in 1830 he moved to the County of St Vincent, where he was granted 1280 acres (518 ha) and leased another 1920 acres (777 ha), naming his farm Curribie. He remained there and continued surveying in the district until May 1834 when he went to New Zealand.
Thomas Florance settled with his family at Whakapu in the Bay of Islands, his earlier known surveys in New Zealand are dated 1834. [7]
He later moved to Auckland. In 1840 he applied for a post in the Survey Department, but an unfavourable report from Governor Sir George Gipps led to his rejection. In 1840, he advertised a survey, both map and chart of the Bay of Islands to be paid for by subscription. [8]
Thomas Florance bought farm land at Riverhead, and in the Waikato.
He died at Auckland on 28 March 1867, aged 84. [9] His widow died in Sydney on 25 August 1870, aged 65.
Sources
1. ↑ Australian Dictionary of Biography : Florance, Thomas (1783–1867) biography by E. R. Pretyman
2. ↑ A birth date has been given as : Thomas Florance - birth: 29 May 1785 in Chichester, England Rootsweb RFN: 331846844
3. ↑ Christening record for East Grinstead 29 May 1785 (see comment below) "England, Sussex, Parish Registers, 1538-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QQ-3VPH : 11 March 2018), Thomas Florence, 1785.
4. ↑ Australian Dictionary o Biography : Florance, Thomas (1783–1867) by E. R. Pretyman
5. ↑ unsourced quotation in Dungog, New South Wales
6. ↑ Thomas Florance had in 1827 explored the upper reaches of the Williams River and named the Chichester River for his hometown in England. A History of Three Rivers : Dungog Shire Heritage Study Thematiuc History by Michael Williams
7. ↑ THE PIONEER LAND SURVEYORS OF NEW ZEALAND Part IV
8. ↑ New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette, New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette, Volume 1, Issue XI, 20 August 1840
9. ↑ New Zealand Herald, New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1054, 1 April 1867
• "New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1896," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24J-R9KJ : accessed 12 November 2016), Thomas Florance, 1867; citing Death, New Zealand, New Zealand, Wellington; registration number 1867/3796.
• E. R. Pretyman, 'Florance, Thomas (1783–1867)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/florance-thomas-2051/text2543, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 12 November 2016
• Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.



Jeffrey .v. Florance
Mr. George for plaintiff; Mr. Brookfield for defendant.
Claim, £7 4s., for use and occupation of a house by defendant's wife. The defence was that Mrs. Florance was living seperated from her husband, under a fixed allowance. Elizabeth Florance deposed that she had been forced to leave her husband for his cruelty. He allowed her 14s. a-week, which was not sufficient to support herself and family. Mr. Brookfield produced a document signed by Mrs. Florance, agreeing to take 14s. a week as full allowance from her husband. His Worship said that the law on the subject, as laid down, was that "the husband and wife cannot, by any contract or agreement by themselves, in anywise change their capacities or characters. When, therefore, by reason of matrimonial differences, the husband and wife wish to live separate, upon the terms that she shall be allowed an annuity, and the husband be discharged from all liability in respect of debts she may incur, it is necessary that a trustee should be appointed to contract with the husband with the purpose of carrying those objects into effect. Numerous decisions have established the validity of such contracts." For the defence Mr. Brookfield called Thomas Shove, butcher, who deposed that he was in the habit of receiving moneys from Mr. Florance on account of his wife, which he had paid over. At this point the case was adjourned, on his Worship's suggestion that Mr. Florance should increase the allowance, and should appoint a trustee. He would adjourn the case for a week, to enable an arrangement to be made.


Also See
• http://stgeorgesbasin.info/level2/florance.html
• https://sites.google.com/site/pre1839settlersinnz/home/more-details-3/thomas-florance
• http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/florance-thomas-2051
• http://www.fig.net/resources/proceedings/fig_proceedings/fig2007/papers/ts_2e/ts02e_03_coutts_1486.pdf
• MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS, VOLUME XLV, ISSUE 75, 30 MARCH 1911 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MEX19110330.2.11
• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMB9-L57 : 11 February 2018, Richard Florence in entry for Thomas Florence, 29 May 1785); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0919114-115, 0416752.