Alexander Berry
By Zara
Alexander Berry
1781-1873
Alexander Berry was a Surgeon, Merchant and Settler who, in 1822, was given a land grant of 10,000 acres. This settlement became known as the Coolangatta Estate and later developed into the town of Berry. He was born on 30th November 1781 in Fifi, Scotland. He was educated at the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh where he studied medicine.
Settlement In New South Wales
Berry sailed to Sydney in 1819 with Edward Wollstonecraft. Berry sailed as supercargo aboard the 'Admiral Cockburn', leaving England in January 1819 and arriving in Sydney in July. They set up as Merchants in The Rocks area of Sydney. Berry then decided to start new business in England. He returned to England aboard the 'Admiral Cockburn' in February 1820. Wollstonecraft obtained a large land grant on Sydney's North Shore in Berry's absence.
Berry chartered the 'Royal George' and returned to Sydney in November 1821 with a lot of merchandise for sale at their George Street store. When Berry found out that Wollstonecraft got a land grant he began to seek out and negotiate for a larger land grant. Governor Brisbane gave them a larger land grant and they began to investigate the Shoalhaven area. They searched down the coast when they came across a large area now known as Berry. This estate grew to 32,000 acres in the early 1840s.
Elizabeth Wollstonecraft, the sister of Edward, migrated to New South Wales and was married to Alexander Berry on 21st September 1827. Edward Wollstonecraft died in 1832 with the entire Coolangatta estate passing onto Berry. Berry then shut down the George Street store and spent most of his time running the Coolangatta estate.
Bibliography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/berry-alexander-1773
By Zara Winterton 6Q