OLD PLYMOUTH . UK
www.oldplymouth.uk
 

WHO WAS WHO IN OLD PLYMOUTH

EDMUND LOCKYER (1784-1860)

Edmund Lockyer (1784-1860), third son of Mr Thomas Lockyer (1756-1806) and his wife, Ann, was born on January 21st 1784 and baptised at the Ancient Parish Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle on August 17th 1784. 

He began his military career in June 1803 as an Ensign in 19th Regiment.  His promotions were quick: to Lieutenant  and Captain in 1805 and Major in 1819. 

Edmund  Lockyer first married Mrs Dorothea Agatha Young, a widow, but she died in Ceylon on September 13th 1816.  His second wife was Miss Sarah Morris, whom he married on October 6th 1816.  She had been born in Ermington, Devon, on August 16th 1784. 

He joined the 57th Regiment in August 1824 and was sent to Sydney, Australia, where he arrived with his wife and ten children in April 1825.  His first task was to explore the upper reaches of the Brisbane River, where he discovered coal deposits in the riverbanks.  On January 21st 1827, his 43rd birthday, he formally claimed Western Australia for the British Crown by raising the Union Jack and the troops firing off a feu de joie.  He returned to Sydney, sold his commission and settled there, where he was appointed the Usher of the Black Rod at the New  South Wales Legislative Council and formed the Sydney Volunteer Rifle Corps. 

He married his third wife, Elizabeth Colston, on November 18th 1854. 

Edmund Lockyer died at his home "York House" in Bay Street, Woolloomooloo, of the effects of influenza on June 10th 1860 and was buried at Camperdown Cemetery, Sydney, Australia.