Sophia ROLFE ²

  General Notes:

Sophia came to Australia with her family on the "Amelia Thompson" in 1839 with:

Her father William Rolfe, his brother and sister-in-law, Jeremia and Sarah Rolfe.
Her mother, Elizabeth Rolfe (nee Royce), brothers William and Richard, who died with Typhus at sea, and her 5yr old brother, John, who survived the voyage.
Her eldest sister, Maryann died of burns before family left England.

Sophia and her surviving family first worked for Sir James Jamieson on his farm at Prospect. Then they had to drive some of the cattle to Victoria, to "Taureaus Lake" north of Deniliquin. They then opened a butcher shop at Bendigo. Jeremiah and William then bought a pub at Swan Hill called "The Lower Murray River Inn" where they were both licensees. William died at Swan Hill so Jeremiah then got the licence issued in his own name. At some stage Sophia married Edward Murphy in 1845/46, they had a son John (who later married a Sarah Ann Boyle - John died near Gulgong). Sophia then returned to Sydney because she married George Cowley leaving from Sir James Jamieson's house in Macquarie St Sydney to marry at the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

She became a midwife in Gulgong.

Sophia had 3 marriages, and had her 15th child at the age of 48. Her headstone inscription reads: "Our dear Mother"

This interesting item concerning the Rindfleish family appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 5th January 1939:

"Mr Alf Rindfleish of Dunedoo, has a press clipping, taken from the Sydney "Sunday Sun" of Oct 23rd 1919, referring to his mother, the late Mrs S Rindfleish, who claimed to have come to Australia in 1828, 110 years ago.

The Gulgong correspondent to the "Sun" in 1919 described the late Mrs Rindfleish as one of the most remarkable identities in the Gulgong district. Her exact age was not known - is still unknown to this day - though her son, Alf, considers it could be between 91 or 94. Her relatives had been trying to find out her age for years past.

One person, an Englishman, spent three years in writing to England for the information, but he met with no success, and beyond the fact that the old lady was born in Sussex (England) nothing was known regarding her.

The late Mrs Rindfleish claimed to have come to Australia 110 years ago, about the time when the Darling Downs and the Condamine River (Queensland) were discovered by Allan Cunningham, and when the colony (New South Wales) first became self-supporting.

Despite her apparent great age, whatever it might have been, Mrs Rindfleish, before her decease, was possessed of good health.

She was a splendid conversationalist; possessed a remarkable memory, and was able to recount many of the incidents of the early days, a fact which seemed to uphold her claim that she had been in this country so many years.

Another interesting fact in connection with her life is that she was the first white woman to settle on the Murrumbidgee." ³

Sophia married John Edward MURPHY in 1845/1846. (John Edward MURPHY was born about 1825 and died about 1846.)

Sophia next married George COULEY on 5 Jan 1847. (George COULEY was born on 9 Mar 1811 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England ⁵ and was christened on 4 Aug 1811 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England ⁵.)

Sophia next married Charles John RINDFLEISH on 20 Mar 1862 in Wesleyan Church, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.¹ (Charles John RINDFLEISH was born in 1836 in Stettin, Prussia,³ died on 9 Sep 1879 in Benbullen, New South Wales, Australia ³ and was buried in Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia ³.)