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Rows I and M
The Quin/Pritchard family are connected through the marriage of Matilda Quin and William Pritchard in 1891. Edward Quinn (c. 1820-1876) was born and married in 1844 in County Monaghan, Ireland; his wife was Anne Vance (c. 1820-1893). They came to New South Wales in 1859 as assisted migrants, with their children Eliza, Margaret, Ellen, John and William, with Matilda and Agnes born/registered in Campbelltown.
They then moved to Picton, and Edward farmed part of Jarvisfield. When Edward died, the farm lease was taken over by his son William and Anne, in 1879, bought land in Picton, on the corner of Argyle and Downing Streets, and had a house built for herself and her daughters. This weatherboard house, then known as Hillside (it looks across to Vault Hill), is at 51 Argyle Street.
After her death the house was valued at £400 by John Warters, carpenter and builder – he was “well acquainted” with the house – perhaps he built it. In the same estate papers, another builder, William Pritchard, had just built a 3 room addition to the house, and hadn’t been paid before Mrs. Quin’s death.
By this time William was married to Matilda Pritchard, nee Vance(1861-1895). They were married in 1891 and three children were born: Cecil in 1892, Elsie Anne (1893-1895) and Fred, born in June 1895. Elsie died in January, of gastroenteritis, and Matilda in July. The surviving children were probably cared for by Agnes Quinn, Matilda’s younger sister, until father William Pritchard married his second wife, Amy Edith Mann, and two more children were born, Willie born 1900 and Leslie in 1903. They seem to have continued living in the Quin house.
William Pritchard (1857-1913) was a stonemason and builder, born in Wales who arrived in Sydney in 1880 and soon moved to Picton, working at first with a John Thomas, who left in 1884. William became a well respected builder in the district, building Stratford House in Tahmoor, and the old Commercial Bank, corner of Menangle and Argyle Streets, Picton. Interestingly, he also built three brick-and- slate houses surrounding the weatherboard house of the Quins – Nos. 49, 53 and 55 Argyle Street, in the early 1890s. These were built for a retired farmer, William Apps, who lived in No. 53, which later took on the name Hillside; No 55 became Macquarie Cottage, associated with use by doctors until quite recently.
William decided to return to Wales in 1904, so is not buried in the St. Mark’s graveyard, but his name appears on many of the headstone. During his working life he owned land from close to Argyle Street, and along Menangle Street West – a stone mason needed a big yard, and it was quite handy to St. Mark’s.
