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On Board of Church of England School
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Land at Rothbury bounded on the west by the land of John Macdonald
Source:
The Maitland Daily Mercury
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John Cross was born in London in the year 1781, and after receiving a very liberal education, he spent some years of early manhood as a school teacher at Blackfriars, London. He married a young Welsh woman named Miss Ann Davis, and they had three children – a son and two daughters. Studying for the ministry, John Cross was ordained at Fulham, in 1818, by the Bishop of London, and a few months later he received his appointment as Chaplain to NSW Government. He arrived on the ship Baring in June 1819. On his arrival he was placed in charge of St. Matthew s Church at Windsor. After eight years service in Windsor, Parson Cross was appointed, in December 1827, to succeed the Rv. Thomas Hassal as chaplain at the convict settlement at Port Macquarie. There were some 680 convicts at the Port, most of whom had been transferred there from Newcastle. For 30 years Parson Cross administered to the spiritual needs of the surrounding district – he saw the advent of the settlers and opening up of the New England tableland, the days when the Port was a township of considerable importance in the colony. On August 7, 1858, at the age of 77 years, the Rev. John Cross passed away after having faithfully served his church for over 40 years. He was buried in the old cemetery among many of the old pioneers of early Port Macquarie
