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THE HASSALL FAMILY

Arriving in Australia in 1798 must have been a great relief to Rowland and Elizabeth
Hassall even though the early settlement was still undeveloped and quite alien compare with
the England from which they had come. The relief must have been felt very strongly after all
they had endured on the way. When the Hassalls left England their destination was not Australia.
They had been inspired to travel far beyond English shores to distant Pacific islands where they
imagined that untutored native people would be ready to receive the benefits of Christian
teaching which they felt they could impart. Things did not turn out quite as they planned and
after only two years in Tahiti the family, with other missionaries, fled to the nearest refuge,
Sydney. There they stayed and although there were no natives in the same sense as the Hassalls
thought they would find in Tahiti, nevertheless they found plenty of opportunity to preach and
spread their version of the Word in the new colony. Rowland Hassall, incidentally, also found
that he had certain entrepreneurial skills and took to farming in a very successful way, becoming
quite comfortably off in the new country and achieving much more highly than he would have
had he remained a silk weaver in England. He and his wife thus provided great opportunities for
their children and generations of Hassalls have contributed significantly to the land reached so
dramatically and unexpectedly.

There are several ways in which Rowland Hassall is remembered. Hassall Street,
Parramatta is named after him as is the school which is on that street. There are Hassall Streets
in Smithfield, New South Wales and Corinda, Brisbane. There is a suburb called Hassall Grove
in New South Wales. In the suburb of Ainslie in the National Capital, Canberra, there is a street
named after him as one of the first herdsmen and callte managers in the colony. An attempt to
put together some details of his life and that of his descendants follows.

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