Fyans, Foster

Foster Fyans, 1790-1870

Contents:Profile Biography Research Notes
Roles (R): = Government Office (Paid),   = Government Duties (Unpaid),   = On leave,   = To be determined,   = Squatter/Grazier,   = Private enterprise,   = Parliament/Council,
= British Army,   = Royal Marines,   = British Militia,   = State Militia,   = East India Company Army,   = Royal Navy,   = Other Maritime,
= Education,   = Army Education,   = Navy Education,   = Immigration,   = Emigration,   = Other voyage.
Abbreviations: BB = Blue Book,  CL = Commissioner of Crown Lands,  CP = Chinese Protector,  CPS = Clerk of Petty Sessions,  GC = Gold Commissioner,  GR = Gold Receiver,
GW = Warden of the Gold Fields,  JP = Justice of the Peace (Magistrate),  PM = Police Magistrate,
FN = Footnotes,  PSL = Public Service List  S/S1/S2 = Source,  TBC/TBD = To be confirmed/determined.
Appointments: = Appointed,   = Reappointed (under new legislation),   = Promoted,   = Demoted,   = Redesignated,   = Succeeded,   = Transferred,   = Replaced.
= Position made permanent,   = Paid as (role).
Sources (S): = Blue Book,   = Blue Book derived,   = Government Gazette,   = Government Gazette derived,   = Public Service List,   = Public Service List derived,
= Report,   = Birth/Baptism/Marriage/Death document,   = Birth/Baptism/Marriage/Death extract,   = Cemetery,   = Census,   = Legal,
= Newspaper family notice,   = Newspaper article,   = Book/Magazine,   = Other,   = Unconfirmed,   = Military service record,   = Internet.
Dates:Dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format,  "Ongoing" = Continues into next calendar year,  New date,  Date changed in source,  Date died,  Date to be confirmed.
"Original" is the date the person commenced the role. For example, when first appointed a Police Magistrate, regardless of later re-appointments and re-assignments.
Other Symbols: = External link,   = Army promotion by purchase of commission,   = By exchange.
Unconfirmed:All text in magenta is unconfirmed information.
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Life Events

Born:19 September 1791Newport Swords, County Dublin, Ireland [01] [02].
Arrived:20 January 1833Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, on the ship Sovereign. Departed Mauritius, 12 December 1832 [03] [04].
Married:14 January 1843The Parsonage, Geelong, Port Phillip District, Colony of NSW, to Elizabeth Alice Cane [1816-1858] [05] [06].
Died:23 May 1870Balyang, Chilwell, Geelong, Colony of Victoria [residence], aged 78 years [07] [08].
Buried:25 May 1870Geelong Eastern Cemetery, Geelong, Colony of Victoria [Grave: Church of England, Old Section A, No 453] [09] [10].

Golden Colony Roles

Port Phillip:Police Magistrate:18311832183318341835183618371838183918401841184218431844184518461847184818491850
1851
Crown Lands:1831183218331834183518361837183818391840184118421843184418451846184718481849
Victoria:Police Magistrate:18511852

Foster Fyans [11]

Career

OriginalGazettedFromToAgeRTitleStateDepartmentDistrictSCommentsFN
1811-02-261811-02-211814-08-3120Ensign, 67th Regiment of FootBritish Army Lieutenant.
1814-09-011814-09-011826-05-0524Lieutenant, 67th Regiment of FootBritish Army Brevet Captain.
1826-02-011826-05-0535Brevet Captain, 67th Regiment of FootBritish Army Captain.
1826-05-061826-05-061827-04-0435Captain, 67th Regiment of Foot British Army
1827-04-051827-04-051831-12-0136Captain, 20th Regiment of Foot British Army
1831-12-021831-12-021837-12-1541Captain, 4th Regiment of Foot British ArmyRetired by sale of Commission.
1833Arrived in SydneyBritish Army
Captain of the GuardNSWNorfolk Island
1834-02-221834-04-16Commandant (Acting), Penal SettlementNSWConvict EstablishmentNorfolk Island
1834-04-171835-11-06TBD
1835-11-071837-07-21Commandant, Penal SettlementNSWConvict EstablishmentMoreton Bay

References

Notes

Notes
01⇑ National Archives UK - WO 25/788/159 - Returns of Officers' Services, 16-20 Foot [ 19 January 2024].
02⇑ An 1870 obituary states that he was born in England (incorrect) in September 1790. Brown (see Further Reading) says that he was baptised in Clontarf, Ireland, on 5 September 1790, and that reference has been used by subsequent authors. I have not found this baptism record. The British Army "Returns of Officers' Services" of Fyans' military service to the end of 1829 was prepared by Fyans and authorised by his unit's commanding officer, paymaster, and adjutant. His birth is given as 19 September 1791, Newport Swords, County Dublin (though the National Archives has indexed it as 19 April 1791). Swords is several kilometres north of Clontarf and both are now suburbs of Dublin. It is certainly possible that he was born in Swords and baptised in Clontarf.
03⇑ Shipping Intelligence - Arrivals; The Sydney Herald, 21 January 1833, p 2 [Trove, 21 April 2023].
04⇑ Ian Hawkins Nicholson; Shipping Arrivals and Departures, Sydney, Volume 2 1826-1840; Roebuck Society, Canberra, 1977; p 93.
05⇑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria Marriage Index M1843-000741.
06⇑ Married - Fyans-Cane; The Geelong Advertiser, 16 January 1843, p 3 [Trove, 20 January 2024].
07⇑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria Death Index D1870-004270.
08⇑ Deaths - Fyans; The Herald (Melbourne), 23 May 1870, p 2 [Trove, 18 April 2023].
09⇑ Geelong Cemeteries Trust Deceased Search [ 20 January 2024]. Summary page has the burial date. There is also a record of the burial of a Foster Fyans at Colac Cemetery on 27 May 1870.
10⇑ Funeral Notices - Fyans; The Herald (Melbourne), 24 May 1870, p 8 [Trove, 20 January 2024].
11⇑ Foster Fyans, Wikipedia [ 22 October 2024]. Wikipedia credits the State Library of New South Wales.

Further Reading

Memoirs:Foster Fyans; Memoirs Recorded at Geelong, Victoria, Australia by Captain Foster Fyans; The Geelong Advertiser, Geelong, 1986.
Biography:John Cary; Frontier Magistrate: The Enigmatic Foster Fyans; Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne, 2023.
Biography:Philip Lawrence Brown; Fyans, Foster (1790-1870); Australian Dictionary of Biography [ 23 February 2024].
Profile:Fyans, Foster (1790-1870); in: Joan Kerr (Editor); The Dictionary of Australian Artists: Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870; Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992; p 283.
Profile:Foster Fyans; Wikipedia [ 23 October 2024].

Updates

2024-10-13Page formatting revised.
2024-01-21Life Events updated and references added.