ISBN 978-1-922452-65-8 PAPERBACK

They Came on Royal Saxon

The Ware Family Story

John Ware, with his wife, Maria, had four children in England. He decided that he would give himself and his young family a better life. In 1841, John and his eldest three young children, Jane, James and Mary emigrated to Australia.

THEY CAME ON, ROYAL SAXON.

This book, not only describes the life of the Ware family, but how the contributed to the development of Victoria and how Victorian history developed around them. In fact, the Wares arrived in Australia so early, that it was before Victoria was even known by that name.

Melbourne was then in its infancy, and the “country all around the wildest bush, the abode of the black fellow and kangaroo.” John Batman and John Fawkner had only arrived a few years before and they and other notable figures in the history of Victoria, make an appearance in this story.

The Wares soon moved to the Western Districts pastoral region. This was a dark period of time in Victorian history with numerous aboriginal incursions and massacres. The Wares lived in the middle of this terrifying time.

John and his second wife, Sarah Dede, were married as Melbourne was gripped by gold fever. They lived on at least three farms situated in prime positions between Melbourne and the Mount Alexander goldfields.

One son and six daughters of John’s reached adulthood. Each one of them has an interesting story full of joys and trials.

John and his family worked hard to prosper and the family expanded and settled in areas right across Australia. The many hundreds of Ware descendants owe a great debt of gratitude to this pioneering family.

The book is a tribute to John Ware and his family.

About the Author

Ken lives in the beautiful Mandurang valley, on the outskirts of Bendigo, with his wife, Barb. Their self-built house is mudbrick, on 1.5 hectares of land and is surrounded by trees and birds. Ken and Barb have two daughters who both have three children.

Ken commenced teaching in Broadmeadows in 1975. He is currently the senior mathematics teacher at Victory Christian College in Bendigo. When he was able to go part time a few years ago he commenced researching his family history. One day he decided that the best way to collate all of the various anecdotes and documents that he had collected was to write it in book form. Since then, documenting his and Barb’s family stories has become an obsession. As of 2021, however, he still teaches. He has tried to retire a number of times but finds that he also loves teaching, mathematics and students too much.