The Dearness Family

Sanday to Townsville

My name is Glen Hall and I was born and bred in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. I am the Great Great Grandson of John Dearness who emigrated to Australia from the Orkney Islands in 1888. 

I became interested in my family history in the late 1980's after attending a Dearness family reunion in 1987.  It opened my eyes and fostered a cherished hobby in trying to discover my roots.  It was quite ironic that one of the attendees at this reunion was one of my best friends at primary school and little did I know we were distant cousins!!!.  Since I commenced researching I have met many more family members who I would never have otherwise met and collected information, certificates and photographs that are cherished and can be preserved for future generations.

I have created this site to honour my ancestors and their families who had left a cold wet and windy place to start a new life in a country more than half a world away and in a climate which was quite the opposite of what they had experienced for all their life.

They came from a small Island of Sanday located in the group known as the Orkney Islands which are located to the north of Scotland in the United Kingdom.

Map of Great Britain showing location of the Orkney Islands north of the coast of Scotland	Map of the Orkney Islands	Map of Sanday showing Tresness the home of the  Family of John and Margaret Dearness prior to arriving in Australia in 1888.

Most Sanday residents were agricultural labourers on small plots of land which were not able to provide them with a quality of life in a climate which was cold and wet.

Three of the five children of William Dearness and Jane Drever (my Great Great Grandparents) decided to emigrate to Australia in the 1880's to start new lives.

Back L to R: Thomas Dearness (husband of Jane Swanson Dearness), John Dearness Front: Jane Swanson Dearness, Mary Tait Sinclair (nee Dearness), Margaret Dearness (wife of John Dearness) photograph taken circa 1910. (Glen Hall Collection)

Firstly Jane Swanson Dearness and her sister Mary Tait Sinclair (nee Dearness) left with their husbands and families and emigrated to Australia in 1883.  Their brother John Dearness (my Great Great Grandfather) and his family arrived in 1888.

The families all settled in the suburb of South Townsville also known as "Ross Island". Thomas Dearness and his brother-in-law James Sinclair operated a boat building business on the banks of Ross Creek. John Dearness worked with them when he arrived in 1888.

Location of the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia	Townsville Map c. 1965	Location Map of South Townsville c. 1970's

Very early on the Dearness families made their presence felt in the community of South Townsville. Being staunch Presbyterians they helped to maintain the religion in this northern outpost and the Dearness name is widely known in the Presbyterian Community of Townsville over many generations.

John Dearness had a cottage built in 1888 in Bell Street, South Townsville which stayed in the families hands until 1988 after the last resident his granddaughter Maggie Riddell passed on and the house was sold by her sons.  Other family members lived close by in Nelson and Tully Streets.  Most of the children attended the South Townsville State School.

The descendants of these families have spread out throughout Australia and many still live in the Townsville area.

If you have any enquiries or information on the above please email me

This page created by Glen Hall on 17 March 2003.

Visitors to this page since 17/3/2003