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UNDERDOWN

EXCERPT FROM THE 'DEVONSHIRE UNDERDOWNS'

Emanuel, as an "agricutural labourer", and his family travelled to Australia under a government assisted passage scheme applied for from the town of Arundel in Sussex.

Why the family was in Arundel is not known. Possibly work was found there, and it seems from Devon Land Tax records, that Underdown fortunes were slipping downhill.

Emanuel's three children were born in the Colyton district, and it is believed the John Underdown was born at Hamberhayne Farm near Colyton.
 

As it appears that the family was not poor, it is assumed that, like many others, they managed to present themselves as labourers, and obtain free passage to South Australia to start a new life on the land.
On the other hand, Mary's money may have been used up in trying to prop up the family fortunes in Devon! We will never know the answer to that one.
 

The earliest records found so far in 1850, show Emanuel, then 49, as a farmer at Reed Beds, an area fairly close to Adelaide. By 1853 he had a farm which was called "Widworthy" after the village in Devon, where he was born. The farm was located at Peachy Belt in the district of Gawler.

Emanuel Underdown, age 62, was buried "in his own ground", presumably at Widworthy Farm, and when his widow, Mary died some 7 years later, Emanuel was dis-interred and buried with Mary at St. John's Church of England in Salisbury. His death notice extracted from the SA Register Personal Notices Vol. 2 (1860 - 1863) states: "Death - 17 April 1863. At his residence, Widworthy Farm, Peachy Belt, of bronchitis, in his 63rd year, Mr. Emanuel Underdown, an old and respected colonist, formerly of Devonshire, England".

The church and graveyard are still at 9 Mary Street Salisbury, but regrettably, the church is a ruin as it was badly burnt in 1990.

The Underdown headstones are in quite good condition.