The Origins

From our research to date, most of the Garrads in Australia are descendants of John Garrard and Mary Cross. John Garrard and Mary Cross were both born in Wickham Skeith; John on 8 April 1763 and Mary in 1752.

St Andrew' Church in Wickham Skeith dates back to the 14th Century with many of our ancestors listed as baptised at this church.

Wickham Skeith is a small village in the county of Suffolk in south east England. It is an ancient village, mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. Traditionally an agricultural village, Wickham Skeith has declined in population in recent centuries. There were 613 residents of the parish in 1851, 564 in the 1870s, 415 in 1901, 321 in 2011and 305 in 2021.

The Convicts

Their two eldest sons, John (1785-1867) and Robert (1788-1871) were both transported to Australia as convicts, Robert arriving in Sydney in 1811 and John arriving in Sydney in 1814 and then transferred to Hobart, Tasmania. Their grandson, William Christie Garrard (son of William Garrard, born 1789) was also transported to Australia as a convict arriving in Perth in 1862, followed by his family in 1864 .

The Free Settlers

John Garrard,prior to his transportation to Australia, married Mary Ann Barrel, and their grandson George (1855-1940) emigrated to Queensland with his wife Maria Gold Clipperton, arriving in Cooktown on 29 June 1882, to begin the Garrad dynasty in Queensland.

Robert's nephew, James Garrad, son of Robert's younger brother, Samuel arrived in Adelaide as a free immigrant in 1850 to begin the South Australian Garrard/Garrad dynasty.

Our last identified direct descendant immigrant, Jane Durrant (1892-1981), together with her daughter, Kathleen Durrant Chambers, born in Hartismere, Suffolk England on 20 April 1918 as the 4th great grandaughter of John Garrard and Mary Cross. Kathleen married three times and died in Tallangatta, Victoria on 3 July 2020, aged 102 years..

The Baptismal Font at St Andrew's Church Wickham Skeith