Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/24

xiv itself in his natural intelligence and his personal demeanour. He grew up a tall and handsome youth, with the features and commanding mien of his grandfather, who had been much loved and regretted. While still living in obscurity as a shepherd, he gained such a knowledge of astronomy as made him a wonder to many in later years, and his gentle manners so shone through rustic attire that he secured the affection of a lady of rank, well known at that time as the "nut-brown maid"—the daughter of Sir John St. John; her he married. When the "Wars of the Roses" were ended by the accession of Henry VII., and peace was again come, the young Lord Clifford, now 32 years of age, asserted his right to the Londesborough estates, and, on petition to the King, was restored to his title and his lands. The men of the time called him the "Shepherd Earl." In addition to Londesborough, the place of his birth, he was owner of Brougham and Skipton, but he usually resided near Bolton, and there, after many years, he died, and was buried in the choir of the Abbey. His son was created Earl of Cumberland; and a grandson was a naval commander in Elizabeth's reign. In 1742 the heiress of the Cliffords married an ancestor of the present Duke of Devonshire, and with her the estates in Yorkshire passed over to that family.

This incident has only a remote connection with the Threlkeld family, but I have given it here as an interesting glimpse into the private history of noble families in those troublous times.

Our author was born in 1788 at the village of Hatherleigh, and, while still a boy, he experienced deep religious convictions under the ministry of the vicar of the parish. This ultimately led to his offering himself to the London Missionary Society for work in the foreign field, and so, after several years of instruction and training at Gosport under Mr. Bogue, he was ordained, along with Mr. Ellis, on the 8th November, 1815, and appointed to labour at Raî-atéa, in the 'Society' group of the South Seas. Towards the end of that month he embarked in a government vessel, the "Atlas," which was about to proceed to Sydney. At Rio de Janeiro, his wife fell ill, and for nearly a year he had to remain there, all the while acting as the first Protestant minister whom the English residents at Rio ever had. On 22nd January, 1817, he sailed again, along with Messrs. John Williams, Darling, Bourne, and Platt, all bound for missionary work in the islands of the South Seas.

After a short stay at Hobart, they reached Sydney on the 11th May, 1817, and Mr. Threlkeld proceeded to Raiatea soon after. The death of his wife led him to return to Sydney in 1824. Next year, the London Missionary Society established a mission to our native blacks at Lake Macquarie under the care of Threlkeld, and there, with assistance subsequently from the