The Gersbach's 1850s migration from the Rhine to New South Wales


Starting the first post for this blog has been a long time in the making!  Today, I "virtually" joined other members of the Society of Australian Genealogists.  The theme for the session was emigration.  You might the interested in reading about the emigration scheme that our many times great grandparents were part of.  This presentation builds on the story of Jane Feeney, my great great grandmother that you can read HERE.


Jane Feeney arrived in Sydney in April 1849 on board the Digby as one of over 4000 young woman who came to the colonies from Ireland as part of the “Earl Grey Famine Orphan Scheme”. 

Jane’s daughter, Margaret, married Francis Gersbach.  Frank was the son of Anton Gersbach and Margaretha Songen who’d arrived in Sydney in September 1855 and settled on the Macleay River in northern NSW near Kemspey. 


Anton and Margaret were born in the small towns of Eltville and Winkel on the banks of the Rhine about 50 kilometres from Frankfurt.  They’d married in February 1855 and departed from Hamburg three months later on board the Wilhelmsburg.


The story of the Gersbach’s arrival is one that I’ve known all my life not least because of Frank’s family bible.  My father and grandmother told us so much about Anton and Margaret’s life - why they’d left their homeland and the life they’d made here.  They’d travelled with Anton’s “kinsman” Joseph Gersbach and his wife Margaretha.  They’d been met in Sydney by Anton’s brother, John, who’d arrived six months earlier and settled at St Marys.  Anton moved to Kempsey and Joseph to Orange.  They all had large families.  I was told that if, I ever met a Gersbach, I’d be related to them and that’s the case! 

As I became involved in my family history and, in particular, genetic genealogy, I could see that the Gersbach's were part of a much larger network of families and friends who had come to the colonies. These entries in the family bible become more interesting as there are clues to the family left behind and possible connections to others in Australia.


Anton came as a “vinedresser” - a person who prunes, trains and cultivates vines.  As I looked at the record of Anton and Margaret’s arrival, all the males listed on the page were “vinedressers”. They usually travelled with their wife and children.  They were all from the same region on the Rhine. 


On that day in April 1849 when Jane Feeney had arrived in Sydney on the Digby, the Beulah had also arrived carrying 180 bounty immigrants from the Rhine district in the heart of Germany’s wine region.  The 47 families were the first group to arrive through a new bounty scheme initiated by German merchant, Wilhelm Kirchner.

In 1848, Germany erupted in revolution that almost swept away the kings and princes.  The liberals of the 1848 revolutions failed in the end and the “old regime” remained in power.  

Germany had little to offer for many of its people.   NSW on the other hand was desperate for labor and had plenty to offer.  Convict transportation had ended in 1840 and the discovery of gold in California led to fears of a serious labour shortage. 


Kirchner saw clearly what was needed.  He’d arrived in Sydney in 1839 and set up a merchant firm.

By 1846, he began to submit to the government, businessmen and pastoralists his suggestion for solving the colony’s labour shortage - subsided immigration for German families with an initial guaranteed income of 20 to 25 pounds for annum.  He was appointed immigration agent for NSW and left for Frankfurt in February 1848.  On the journey, he drafted the manuscript for a small but effective publication - Australia and it’s advantages for emigrants.  He painted a magnificent picture of NSW as a people’s paradise.  Kirchner and his agents had little difficulty in attracting migrants.  


The Beulah left London in December 1848 to be followed by 4 more ships during the following year.  By 1850, Kirchner had made arrangements with a Hamburg ship owner and, from then on, emigration traffic went through Hamburg.  The bulk of the first wave were from the south-western regions.


In 1850, Kirchner published a second edition of his book.  This time he added a selection of letters from people who’d signed up previously and were obviously not disappointed with their decision.

By 1853, about 2000 German has disembarked in Sydney.  The discovery of gold in Australia renewed the labour shortage and a new campaign began.  About 2000 further assisted German migrants arrived between 1854 and 1857.  Many continued to come from the south-west of German but there was also a large number from central and eastern parts of Prussia. 


Whole families came as assisted migrants.  They wanted settled rural lives rather than the goldfields.  Some went to the outskirts of Sydney where they worked as vine-dressers at the Macarthurs’ properties around Camden or the Cox family’s vineyards at Penrith.  Others worked as agricultural labourers.  On the completion of their contracts, they could afford to buy their own land at a reasonable price to continue in viticulture, orcharding or market gardening.  They took up work in many regions of NSW.  


About two-thirds went to the countryside.  Assisted migration petered out in NSW by the late 1850s as the problem of labour supply was not as pressing.   Assisted non-British migration shifted to Queensland when it became a self-governing colony in 1859.  Germans were again popular.  Kirchner continued in various roles in both Australia and German until his death in Wiesbaden in 1893.  

We don’t know who Anton worked for on the Macleay but within two years of his arrival, he’d purchased 35 acres of land by the river that reminded him of his hometown on the Rhine.  He named it Aldavilla.   An additional 35 acres were subsequently purchased. 


Margaret gave birth to their first child three months after their arrival.  They had 10 children but two died as infants.  Anton was naturalised in 1863.  He grew maize and raised pigs on his property and grew grapes and tobacco for his own use.  They were conscious of the need for education and never spoke German except when annoyed.  They built a school on their property and employed a teacher for their children and those on the neighbouring properties.  In 1871, Aldavilla School became part of the public school system. 

Anton’s brother John, his wife Clara and their five young children arrived in Sydney six months before Anton and Margaret.  They went on to have another five children but one died as a child.  

Joseph Gersbach was Anton and John’s half first cousin once removed.  He and his wife, Margaret, settled in Orange where their 10 children were born.  

As the number of people who take DNA tests increases, so does the number of DNA matches that I have with Gersbach cousins in Australia.  More exciting has been the discoveries from using details in Frank’s bible, historical records and genetic genealogy. I’ve “found” two 5th cousins here in NSW who descended from more distant family from Eltville who arrived in the 1850s.


I’m left to reflect on the parallels and contrast between the lives of Jane Feeney and Anton and Margaret Gersbach who are at rest just a few metres apart at West Kempsey Cemetery after their deaths in 1907, 1909 and 1911 respectively. 


Next I’ll show how my DNA matches with my Gersbach, Songen, Killion and Feeney cousins near and far has allowed me to understand my genetic makeup!  I’m hoping that it shows the power of DNA and inspires some to join our SAG DNA activities.