1.0. Nathaniel BURGESS (1809-1871) & Mary BARRATT (1809-1886)

2.0. Thomas BURGESS (1812-1876) & Rachel EVANS (1811-1888)

2.2. Nathaniel Robert BURGESS (1836-1926) & Annie Eliza BURGESS (1841-1921)

2.3. Thomas BURGESS (1839-1906) & Jessie BRUNTON (1846-1922)

Capt. Thomas BURGESS (abt 1775-..?..) & Anne SPRIGGS (1788-1863)

Thomas "Captain" BURGESS b. circa 1780, New York, USA? After 1812, At Sea ?, Master Mariner, residence, London, ENG (1807-1812+) married 13 May 1807 Saint Botolph, Aldgate, MDX, ENG to Anne SPRIGGS b. 4 Mar 1788 London, ENG, christened 6 Apr 1788, St Giles, Cripplegate, London, ENG, d. 22 Jan 1863, Digby, Vic, AUS, buried Jan 1863, Digby Cemetery, Vic, AUS.

Oral history reported that Thomas BURGESS was "taken by pirates, a ranson was paid, not seen again" and "the family was cheated out of money by a lawyer."

Ann BURGESS (nee SPRIGGS) widow of Thomas, emigrated her son Thomas and family from Plymouth to Portland on the "Severn" in 1856. Her other son Nathaniel and wife Mary had already emigrated from London to Melbourne in 1841 to Portland and to Digby by 1847.

Anne SPRIGGS parents were John SPRIGGS (1747-1791) and Charity ? and her SPRIGGS family line can be traced back in Leicestershire for hundreds of years.

Thomas BURGESS and Anne SPRIGGS had the following two children who were responsible for beginning the two BURGESS family groups in Digby:

1. Nathaniel BURGESS b. 4 Jul 1809, London, England, m. Mary BARRATT.

2. Thomas BURGESS b. 19 Aug 1812, London, England, m. Rachel EVANS

1. Nathaniel BURGESS (1809-1871) & Mary BARRATT (1809-1886)

Nathaniel BURGESS was born London in 1809, the eldest son of Captain Thomas BURGESS and Anne SPRIGGS. He along with his wife Mary BARRATT and their children were the first of the BURGESS families to arrive in the settlement of Digby in 1846. Nathaniel and Mary arrived in 1841 at Melbourne on the "Fergusson" and shortly after, their first child, Annie Eliza was born. They moved to Portland and later to Digby where Nathanial setup his Blacksmith shop and his daughter Mary Ann was said to be the first white child to be born and survive in Digby. His family details:

Nathaniel BURGESS, the eldest son of Captain Thomas BURGESS and Ann SPRIGGS b. 4 Jul 1809 London, ENG and christened 29 Aug 1813 St Botolph, Aldgate, London, ENG. He died 11 Jun 1871, Digby, Vic, AUS and was burial: 14 Jun 1871 in the Digby Cemetery, Vic AUS. Nathaniel was a Blacksmith who emigrated from ENG To Port Philip, AUS on the "FERGUSSON" in 1841. He married 2 Sep 1838, Limehouse, Middlesex, ENG to Mary BARRATT b. circa 1809 London, ENG, christened: 4 Apr 1809, Stepney, St Dunstan, LND, ENG daughter of Thomas and Mary BARRATT (1780-?) butcher of Limehouse. They had the following children:

1. Annie Eliza BURGESS b. 10 Feb 1841, Melbourne, Vic, AUS d. 11 Jul 1921 Place: Digby, Vic, AUS married Nathaniel Robert BURGESS (her cousin) on 3 May 1859 at Digby, Vic, AUS
2. Emma Rachel BURGESS b. 25 Dec 1843 Place: Wattle Hill, Portland, Vic, AUS d. 17 Feb 1916, Digby, Vic, AUS.
3. Nathaniel Thomas BURGESS b. 10 Mar 1846 Place: Wattle Hill, Portland, Vic, AUS d. 1920, Cheltenham, Vic, Nathaniel was a Carrier(1878), Labourer, Farmer and married Mary TROY 14 Aug 1877, Digby, Vic, AUS
4. Mary Ann "Polly" BURGESS b. 11 Nov 1848, Portland, Vic, AUS, d. 13 Aug 1915 married Matthew Richard MABBITT 23 Sep 1867 Place: Digby, Vic.
5. Lydia Jane BURGESS b. 5 Jan 1851 Place: Digby, Vic, AUS d. 20 Mar 1911, buried Dartmoor, Vic, married Thomas SMITH in 1873.
   1. Emma Bridget SMITH, b. 1874, Digby, Vic;
   2. Percy George SMITH, b. 1876, Digby, Vic;
   3. Lydia Helen SMITH, b. 1879, Digby, Vic;
   4. Ethel Mary SMITH, b. 1881, Digby, Vic;
   5. Annie Margaret SMITH, b. 1884, Digby, Vic;
   6. Edward Thomas SMITH, b. 1886, Digby, Vic, d. 1967
      • Victoria Police Force
      • WW1 1st AIF, 4th Light Horse Regt. & 8th Battalion
      • Egypt & France
      • Digby Avenue of Honour Tree No 99
      • mar. Margaret HOSKINS
   7. Sydney SMITH, b. 1889, Mumbannar, Vic. d. 1915, ANZAC Cove
      • Victoria Police Force
      • WW1 1st AIF, Pte 862, 6th Battalion
      • KIA 25 Apr 1915, Plugge's Plateau, ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli
      • Grvae A 6, Plugge's Plateau Cemetery, ANZAC Cove
      • Digby Avenue of Honour Tree No 91

2. Thomas BURGESS (1812-1876) & Rachel EVANS (1811-1888)

Thomas BURGESS the second son of Captain Thomas BURGESS and Anne SPRIGGS arrived in Digby in 1856 along with his two sons Thomas and Nathaniel and his widowed mother Anne (SPRIGGS). Anne was one of the early burials in the Digby Cemetery when she died in 1863. Thomas BURGESS established a Saw Mill in partnership with Robert HAWORTH in 1868.

A summary of the family details of Thomas BURGESS shows that he was b. 19 Aug 1812, London, England and christened Oct 1813, St John Wapping, London, England and he died 1 Jul 1876 Digby, Victoria, Australia. His occupation was listed as Blacksmith and probably emigrated to Australia in the 1850's although he is not listed on the "Severn" in 1856 which brought his wife, mother and one son to Portland. Thomas was the second son of Captain Thomas BURGESS and Anne SPRIGGS and he married 7 Sep 1833, Saint Botolph, Bishopgate, London to Rachel EVANS, b. 1811, London, d. 15 Jan 1888, Digby, Vic, Aus the daughter of Robert EVANS and Rachel RUSH (1780-?). Thomas and Rachel BURGESS had the following family:

1. Mary Ann BURGESS, b. 3 Aug 1834 London, ENG d. London as a child.
2. Nathaniel Robert BURGESS b. 25 Nov 1836, Wapping, London, ENG, d. 21 Jan 1926, Digby, Vic, AUS. He married Annie Eliza BURGESS (his cousin) 3 May 1859 Digby, Vic, AUS.
3. Thomas BURGESS b. 4 May 1839, London, ENG d. 23 Apr 1906 Place: Digby, Vic, AUS. His occupation was Sawmiller and he emigrated from Plymouth to Portland on the "Severn" in 1856. He married Jessie BRUNTON 10 Oct 1867 at the Parsonnage on Wannon, VIC, AUS.
4. Rachel BURGESS b. 1843 London, LND, d. London, as an infant.
5. Robert Joshua BURGESS, b. 1846 Place: London, LND, ENG d. <1855 London?, ENG.

2.2. Nathaniel Robert BURGESS (1836-1926) & Ann Eliza BURGESS (1841-1921)

Nathaniel Robert BURGESS was b. 1837, London, son of Thomas bURGESS and Rachel EVANS and in 1859 he was married at Digby, Victoria to his cousin Ann Eliza BURGESS b. 1841 Melbourne, dau of Nathaniel BURGESS & Mary BARRATT.

Nathaniel & Annie BURGESS had the following children:

1. Ann Eliza BURGESS b. 1860 Digby, m. Donald GRANT;
2. Mary Rachel BURGESS b. 1862 Digby, d. 1882;
3. Kate Elizabeth BURGESS b. 1864 Digby, d. 1894;
4. Robert Joshua BURGESS b. 1867 Digby, m. Eliza Alice SIMKIN;
5. Lydia Jane BURGESS b. 1869 Merino, d. 1895;
6. Louisa Emma BURGESS b. 1871 Digby, d. 1959;
7. Nathaniel John BURGESS b. 1874 Digby, m. Julia GUTHRIDGE;
8. William Thomas BURGESS b. 1877 Digby, d. 1896;
9. Ethel Henrietta BURGESS b. 1880 Digby, m. Alexander Bruce MALCOLM;
10. Edward Thomas BURGESS b. 1882 Digby, m. Mary HEALEY;
11. Thomas John Henry BURGESS b. 1885 Digby, m. Flora McPHEE.

Link to photograph: Nathaniel & Annie BURGESS's Diamond Wedding, 1919.

2.3. Thomas BURGESS (1839-1906) & Jessie BRUNTON (1846-1922)

Thomas BURGESS b. 4 May 1839, London, ENG d. 23 Apr 1906 Place: Digby, Vic, AUS. His occupation was Sawmiller and he emigrated from Plymouth to Portland on the "Severn" in 1856. Thomas married Jessie BRUNTON 10 Oct 1867 at the Parsonnage on Wannon, VIC, AUS. and their children were:

1. Rachel Annie BURGESS, b. 1868, Digby, Vic, m. Thomas Joseph POVEY;
2. Thomas Nathaniel BURGESS, b. 1870, Digby, Vic, m. Lilian May CLARKE;
3. George James BURGESS, b. 1872, Digby, Vic, m. Alice Beatrice FARLEY;
4. Emma Lucy BURGESS, b. 1875, Digby, Vic, m. George Henry GUTHRIDGE;
5. Jessie Louisa BURGESS, b. 1877, Digby, Vic, m. Patrick MURPHY;
6. Arthur Robert BURGESS, b. 1880, Digby, Vic, m. Annie Cecilia HEAZLEWOOD;
7. Frederick Charles BURGESS, b. 1883, Digby, Vic, m. May Elizabeth Isabel SIMKIN;
   • WW1 1st AIF 46th Battalion
   • Digby Avenue of Honour Tree No 42
   • Glenorchy Estate Soldier Settler
8. Emily Mary BURGESS, b. 1885, Digby, Vic m. William Stephen CLARKE.

Link to photograph: Thomas BURGESS's Sawmill at Digby.

Link to: Old BURGESS Family photographs. Unidentified. Can you assist? .

1863 - N. R. BURGESS listed as Chief Ranger for Court Perseverance No 3319, Ancient Order of Foresters at Digby.

1865 - T. BURGESS listed as Chief Ranger for Court Perseverance No 3319, Ancient Order of Foresters at Digby.

N., A.R., G. J., T. N., R. T. BURGESS were listed as buyers on the list of sales for the first Digby town allotments.

1892 - R. J. BURGESS listed as Chief Ranger for Court Perseverance No 3319, Ancient Order of Foresters at Digby.