ABOUT
The Menzies of Maitland Street
In Sydney in the winter of 1848, little Jeanetta Smith whimpered while her mother, Jane talked with the rector of Christ Church St Laurence. After the disappearance of the little girl’s father it was obvious that the family was in trouble.
In the end Jane was persuaded to allow the rector to petition the Governor, Sir Charles Fitzroy, to admit 5 year old Jeanetta to the Female Orphan School at Parramatta. The petition succeeded but it was not long before Jane found her daughter very upset so she changed her mind and asked another clergyman to petition the Governor to allow Jeanetta to be returned to her. The austere Sir Charles scribbled in the margin of the letter that he thought it in the best interests of the child if she stayed in the school and there the matter rested for eight years.
During those years Jeanetta was taught to be a housemaid and in 1856 she ‘graduated’ with a bible, a prayer book and a sewing kit. Happily it was not the policy of the Orphan School to tip girls of 13 out onto the street and in Jeanetta’s case she was ‘apprenticed’ to the family of Captain Battye at Bathurst, the town where she had been born. Edward Battye was Commandant of the Mounted Police, newly formed to stamp out the rising tide of bushranging that was terrorizing the western districts.
When Battye was transferred to Goulburn to make way for Sir Henry Pottinger, Catherine Battye decided that she had had enough and moved back to Sydney taking her teenage family and her maid, Jeanetta, with her.
In January 1864 Jeanetta fell in love and married George Menzies, a seaman she had met in ‘The Rocks’ near Circular Quay. George, who had been born 30 years earlier in Garmouth, in the Scottish Highlands had come to Australia seeking a better life.
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This union of a colonial lass and a scot gave us a large family that played a significant part in the great upheavals that the young nation of Australia faced in the twentieth century.
This is their story.
The Female Orphan School by Joseph Lycett
Principal Researchers
John Brew
Geoff Brew
John is the great grandson of George and Jeanetta through their daughter Maggie Grace Menzies who married Captain Albert Brew. John is a civil engineer and artist. He retired from the civil service after terms as CEO of the State Transit Authority and later the State Rail Authority of NSW.
Geoff is also the great grandson of George and Jeanetta through their daughter Maggie Grace Menzies who married Captain Albert Brew. Geoff is John's brother. Geoff trained as an architect and is also an accomplished artist and dabbles too in sculpture. Geoff has worked in London and Singapore as well as Sydney and recently retired from his role as Senior Projects Manager of the Sydney City Council.
Steve Brew
Steve is John's 3rd son. Steve is an accomplished author of history whose first book told the story of his great-great uncle, Tom Carson. He is now the official historian of 41 Squadron RAF, with which unit his great uncle Bill Brew served during WWII. In this capacity, he has authored two large volumes on 41 Squadron during World War II, and his latest book, a biography of a Battle of Britain Ace, was released in summer 2016. He has lived and worked in Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.