StJohnsAshfield ElizabethUnderwood Grave

Elizabeth Underwood (Harris, Lang) (1794 31 August 1858) in

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, was a pioneering Australian land owner who founded the village (now a suburb) of

Ashfield, New South Wales Ashfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ashfield is about eight kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. Ashfield's population is highly multicultural with the majority of the area's d ...

. She was the daughter of John Harris, an English-born ex-convict who had been sentenced to death for stealing eight silver spoons but was ultimately transported to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

. Her mother's identity isn't known for sure but she was probably also a convict. One biographer speculates her name was Mary Green and Elizabeth was actually born Elizabeth Green on 24 December. Neither parent played a significant part in her upbringing. Her father set sail for England in 1801 and left Elizabeth and her sister Hannah in the care of James Larra, a prominent Sydney merchant and ex-convict, and his wife Susannah. Elizabeth was later described as the niece of Larra and it may be that her mother was sister to either Larra or his wife. In 1812, she married wealthy Scottish merchant Walter Lang and they had two sons before Walter died in 1816. The second son John George Lang was the first published

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

born in Australia. In 1819, she married Joseph Underwood, a merchant and sealer whose wife had died the year before leaving him with a number of children to look after. Joseph and Elizabeth had a further six children of their own so it was fortunate that, just before his marriage to Elizabeth, he had bought a large house and property, Ashfield Park, from fellow merchant Robert Campbell. After Joseph's death in 1833, the family began to encounter financial difficulties and considered subdividing their large estate. Cannily, Elizabeth advertised the sale as the formation of the village of Ashfield and paid for the construction of the Anglican Church herself. Many streets in northern Ashfield bear the names of her children including Frederick, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Julia and Joseph. Prior to the subdivision, the area was commonly known as Underwood's Bush and Underwood's Creek (later Iron Cove Creek and now a stormwater drain) was a popular picnic spot along

Parramatta Road Parramatta Road is the major historical east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, connecting the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD with Parramatta. It is the easternmost part of the Great Western Highway. S ...

. Elizabeth died in 1858 and was buried by the rector Thomas Wilkinson in the graveyard of the church she built, St John's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Elizabeth 1858 deaths People from New South Wales 1790s births 19th-century Australian people 19th-century Australian women