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Notes: Sarah Osborn: When the Bullets Were Whizzing Around Her

July 14, 2026

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In 1780 Sarah Osborn of Newport dictated a letter to her friend Joseph Fish that gives us a glimpse of life during the British Occupation. In describing how she fared during that turbulent time, Sarah depended on God to get her through.
“The strength and courage I mentioned, which God graciously granted me in times of danger; was not the result of any confident persuasion, that I should not be slain.  – No! When the bullets were whizzing around me, I realized the next might have a commission to reach me; ….I know every shot was directed by unerring wisdom and every heart of the enemy, as much at his control…thus I rested on God.”

Throughout her adult life, Sarah “rested on God.” She was in her 60s and plagued with infirmities when the British invaded Aquidneck Island in 1776. With the Occupation of the British came hardships for the residents of Newport. The British destroyed property, turned homes into barracks, confiscated the crops and livestock of the people, and impoverished the town because of their blockade of ships and the ruin of maritime jobs and commerce. Forty percent of the residents fled, but Sarah and the poor of Newport had nowhere to go.

Yet, it was reported by Sarah’s pastor Samuel Hopkins in his memoirs that: Sarah had a constant supply of the necessaries of life and she received no abuse from the British soldiers as most others said. “ by her and others, that they made less disturbance and noise, than they did elsewhere; and were particularly careful not to do anything on the Sabbath to disturb that good woman, as they called her. And they took care to avoid all profane words when near her.”

What was special about Sarah and why was she known as “that good woman?” Sarah’s maiden name was Haggar. She was born in England but came to America as a child. She married at seventeen to a sailor named Samuel Wheaten who died at sea leaving her as a young widow with a baby to support. Sarah supported herself as a teacher and she opened a day school and then a boarding school. She was influenced by the “Great Awakening” when revival spread through the preaching of George Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent in the 1730s and 1740s. This revival promoted the idea of personal relationships with God. Sarah was always praying for her loved ones and church friends to have that conversion experience to be saved.

Sarah’s life wasn’t an easy one. Sarah married a widower, Henry Osborn, who had three children to add to the household. She was always poor, but she considered her dependence on God as a good reason not to resent her poverty. She constantly wrote about her spiritual journey and was one of the few women who was published at that time. She started a woman’s ministry at the Congregational Church she attended. Sarah never took the role of a pastor, but she was a charismatic speaker who hosted up to 500 people at her meetings. She hosted separate meetings for women, for men, and for freed and enslaved African Americans. Sarah’s view of slavery was influenced by the opinions held at the time. Slavery was accepted by Sarah as the norm and even as biblically permitted. When her son Samuel died, Sarah’s friends gave her an enslaved boy infant to raise. Sarah maintained a good relationship with his mother until she contemplated selling him to pay her debts. Sarah did not sell him in the end. Perhaps the influence of her pastor Samuel Hopkins changed her mind about slavery. Hopkins published her Memoirs and some of her diaries so that we know about Sarah today.

As a British born woman, Sarah regularly prayed for the King, but with the experience of the Stamp Act, Coercive Acts and Boston Massacre, she and her church family rallied behind the Patriot cause. The minister, Samuel Hopkins, hosted close to 80 women spinning at the rectory to facilitate sewing homespun instead of fashionable clothes. Sarah would later call the English “the enemy” in a letter to a friend. With the destruction of their church building, Sarah’s humble quarters served as a center for activity.

Sarah rested in God and she was grateful for the provisions He made for her. Even the British soldiers could sense her goodness.

Sarah Osborn’s World by Catherine Brekus is a great source of information on Sarah.

House on Osborn Court associated with Sarah

Notes on Rhode Island Revolutionary Women: Jane Coggeshall – Freedom for Information

July 10, 2026

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Rowing twelve miles from Newport to Point Judith, Jane Coggeshall, Violet Pease and William Carpenter made their escape from slavery. Their escape was especially dangerous because it was in March of 1777 when Aquidneck Island was occupied by the British and their military forces had tight control of the island. When they landed on the shores of the West Bay, the three were were presented to the General Assembly that was meeting in South Kingstown. They were granted their freedom in exchange for information about the British troops on Aquidneck Island. They were given a pass to go wherever they could find work.

We find out more about Jane because she learned that her previous owners were searching for her to re-enslave her. In the years after her escape, Jane Coggeshall was vigilant about her freedom and she moved from town to town to secure work as a servant. In 1783, she learned that the descendants of her former enslaver, Captain Daniel Coggeshall, were attempting to re-enslave her. Jane believed that they hired kidnappers to take her away by force. She petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly to clarify her free status and she testified that she would rather “embrace death” than be re-enslaved. Her legal advisors asked that Jane receive the same consideration that Quaco Honeyman (another former enslaved person) received in 1782 for escaping and providing intelligence that led to the capture of British General Prescott.

The General Assembly responded:

“Whereas, Jane Coggeshall, of Providence, a negro woman preferred a petition and represented unto this Assembly, that she was a slave to Captain Daniel Coggeshall, of Newport; that in March, A.D. 1777, the enemy being then in possession of Rhode Island, she, together with others, at every risk, effected their escape to Point Judith; that they were carried before the General Assembly, then sitting in South Kingstown, who did thereupon give them their liberty, together with a pass to go to any part of the country to procure a livelihood; that she hath lived at Woodstock and at Providence ever since; that during the whole time she hath maintained herself decently and with reputation, and can appeal to the families wherein she hath lived with respect to her industry, sobriety of manners, and fidelity.”

In 1785 the General Assembly voted to declare Jane Coggeshall “entirely emancipated and made free.”

More information can be found on the Rhode Island Historical Society website: “Jane Coggeshall’s Self- Emancipation in Revolutionary Rhode Island.”

Revolutionary Era Row Boat (From 1978 Battle of Rhode Island Re-enactment)

Notes: Mary Gould Almy and Mary Wenwood – Spies?

July 8, 2026

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Christian McBurney’s book Spies in Revolutionary Rhode Island, presents some evidence that women might have played the roles of spies in Revolutionary Rhode Island.

Mary Gould Almy was very open about her Loyalist sympathies and in his book McBurney includes a document apparently written by a French officer on August 23, 1780. In the document the author writes that a group of people meet at a rooming house on Thames Street near a wharf. Mary’s rooming house might meet the description. The officer portrays the keeper of the rooming house being a “widow” (which Mary Almy was not) but if her husband was away she might seem to be alone with her children. In her journal Mary Almy states that she has a son in New York and in this document the officer describes a young man coming regularly from New York and spending a day or two before leaving. The British were in control of New York at that time. When the young man arrives a group of men meet in a guarded room upstairs in the house. These meetings occur regularly.

McBurney includes the story of Mary Wenwood who was secretly sending information to the British about the strength of the American forces and their supplies in Massachusetts in 1775. Mary Wenwood traveled from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Newport and asked her former husband Godfrey Wenwood to pass a letter to British Captain Wallace of the ship Rose. Mary thought her ex-husband was a Loyalist and that she could trust him, but he showed the coded letter to Ezra Stiles and others who allied themselves with the Patriots. Two months later Mary asked her former husband about the letter “to her sister” and why it hadn’t been delivered. He realized that the author of the letter had to be working for the British. The letter was passed on to Henry Ward the Rhode Island Secretary of State and then on to Nathanael Greene and ultimately George Washington. Washington sent for Mary and under duress she told him that Dr. Benjamin Church was the author. Church had fooled everyone. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty in Boston and worked closely with Washington, John and Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Church was arrested and found guilty of treasons. After his release made his way to the Carribean. The story is John Nagy’s book, Dr. Benjamin Church, Spy.

From Blaskowitz Map of Newport – area of Mary’s Rooming House near Pelham Street and Thames.

Notes on Loyalist Mary Gould Almy: Rhode Island Women in the Revolutionary Era

July 7, 2026

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There were divided loyalties on Aquidneck Island. Many in Newport were Loyalists while those in the countryside favored the Patriot side. Although her husband was fighting for the Americans, Mary Gould Almy was a vocal Loyalist. Ater the war the Mary and her husband Benjamin lived happily as a couple. John Hattendorf’s book on Mary Gould Almy’s Journal 1778 provides a wealth of information on the lady and her background.

Mary was born on December 16, 1735 in Newport, Rhode Island. She was raised as a Quaker by her parents, James Gould and Mary Rathbun Gould, but she was baptized at Trinity Church when she was 18. One of her sisters was married to the Stamp Master during the Stamp Act Riots. She married privateer Captain Benjamin Almy in 1762 and the two had eight children together. Almy was questioned for his loyalty because of his wife’s Loyalist stand, but that concern was dismissed as unfounded. He had been detained at Lancaster Castle in England, but he made it back to Rhode Island in 1778 to volunteer for the Rhode Island militia to support the Continental Army in the Rhode Island Campaign.

Mary Gould Almy portrait by Malbone

Mary was a boarding house keeper at the Jaheel Brenton Townhouse facing Thames Street in Newport. At the time of her diary writing she had six of her eight children with her. She also rented a “safe” place at Benjamin Church’s house south of the city. She would send her mother and children there for security once the French arrived.

As Mary writes her journal with her husband as her intended audience, she lets him know that she will write “with Spirit” because of her dislike for the “Nation that you call your friends.” She foresees that this Campaign will end badly for the Americans. She comments that as the French Navy arrives at Brenton Neck, they wait for the Americans. The British were manning the old batteries and throwing up new ones. The noise made it difficult for her children to sleep. The morning came with a thick fog until they saw that the British had set fire to their own ships. “All the fleet in motion. Everything in Consternation – the inhabitants much distress, the batteries all spirited all warlike Preparations the streets filled with carts and ordinance.”

As the Siege progresses, Mary comments that an order has been given to burn any building within 3 miles of the Town so they will not be used as barracks by an invading army. She sees “a Scene of Wretchedness before this once happy and Flourishing Island.” On August 11 she writes of “a Violent Storm come on before day and continue – thundering, Lightenings most terrible – all the day the wind blew a perfect hurricane..” The storm continues on Tuesday with “much violence.” She writes that the storm was still going. She writes to her husband – “Mr. Almy I am not like the driver I mentioned yesterday who if he could but be quiet cared not who govern. I am for English Government and a English fleet.” She noted the American siege works going up close to the town. “Our people beholding it every morning with wonder and astonishment and really Mr. Almy my Curiosity was so great as to which to behold-the entrenchment that I suppose you was behind.”

Mary describes the retreat of the Americans (Battle of Rhode Island) and that the Hessians had overtaken an American party at Mr. Redwood’s house. “Leaving the roads strewn with dead bodies from East road was a scene of Blood and Slaughter from Cozen Almy’s Down the foot of Quaker Hill…” Cartloads of solders came into town. “Fine youths with their arms taken of in a moment in short its too far beyond my description the horrors of that day will never be quite out of my rememberance – I quited company and hid myself to mourn in silence for the wickedness of my Country (the Americans).

Mary Gould Almy was a Loyalist, but after the war she had some Patriots staying at her boarding house – George Washington and Thomas Jefferson! Thomas Jefferson was a guest at Almy’s in June 1784. Her most famous guest was George Washington, who stayed a night there on August 17, 1790, during his trip to Rhode Island. Almy saved the silk bed covering from the bed where Washington slept.

A Smith College project on Voices of the American Revolution has an interesting point to make. “Mary’s letters demonstrate the unique position of women during the American Revolution. Legally, women were dependents of their husbands. As a result, while Mary held ultra-Loyalist views, she faced no repercussions for her beliefs from Rhode Island Patriots. Her husband’s position in the rebellion secured her safety and status. Additionally, Mary’s letters convey an equal sense of commitment to her political ideals and her husband’s safety—demonstrating how precisely the American Revolution divided colonies, towns, and even married couples.”

Rhode Island Women in the Revolutionary Era: Notes

July 6, 2026

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I am collecting stories about Rhode Island women in Revolutionary times – Protests, Occupation, Battle, French Era to war’s end. The new RIDE Social Studies standards for grade four requires students to: “Explain the roles Rhode Island women fulfilled during the American Revolution.” So I am collecting stories of Rhode Island women during that time period and reflecting on the roles of women. I will try to write their stories for a fourth grade audience as a resource for teachers.

I am starting with a host of stories I have already researched:

Loyalist and spy Mary Gould Almy

Women who pitched in to run their farms and businesses while their husband fought.

Christian Bannister enduring the Occupation and trying to remain neutral.

Daughters of Liberty who spun their protests before the war

Elizabeth Heffernan whose householdings were destroyed by the British Occupation

Catherine Littlefield Greene who followed husband Nathanael Greene to the camps.

I am encountering a few who are new to me like the Holmes women of Middletown who fought to protect their property and runaway servant to served as a spy. I would appreciate hearing any stories of Rhode Island women that would help us understand all the roles they played in wartime.

Some general thoughts from Gladys Bolhouse’s article on “Women and the Battle for Rhode Island.”

  1. With the Occupation, women on Aquidneck Island were cut off from the rest of the state and even each other on the island.
  2. For safety sake many families had to move away from everything they had here. Those who had no resources to relocate had to to remain under the control of the enemy.

Bolhouse goes on to relate passages from Mary Gould Almy’s diary of the Siege – and I will work through that with the next blog.

Catherine Littlefield Greene Miller

Howland Ferry Timeline

May 29, 2026

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Portsmouth to Tiverton: Howland’s Ferry.

Also called Pocasset Ferry, Sanford’s Ferry and Wanton’s Ferry
First ferry established in Rhode Island

1640 Thomas Gorton chosen ferryman

June of 1647. John Sanford took over ferry. Thomas Gorton sold to John Sanford “all that my neck of Land.” This ferry site is at end of Almy’s Point.
Site changed to more of where Stone Bridge remains today.

1653 When Sanford died he left the house and ferry to his son John. He was still operating the ferry in June of 1666 when it is called Sanford’s ferry.

Town records show that the general assembly placed a cannon at Ferry Neck during King Philip’s war.

1687 – end of Sanford management. The property was deeded to William Wanton.

1703-4 : Wanton may have had others man the ferry, but the property was sold to Daniel Howland of Tiverton in January of 1703-4. At this point the ferry operated out of Tiverton. Daniel Howland, Jr. did seem to live in Portsmouth. in 1714.

1717 this ferry was called Pocasset Ferry.

1748 ferry land was sold to Peleg Slocum of Dartmouth along with Hen and Spectacle Islands. 1758 it was sold to Holder Slocum.
1771 Holder’s wife Rebecca left the property to her daughter Mary Tucker. They were living in Dartmouth so they must have leased the ferry out.

Mary Tucker sold the property to the Rhode Island Bridge Company.

October of 1795 a wooden bridge built on piles opened but was carried away by the tide, January of 1796.

It was rebuilt in November of 1796 but the piles were eaten by worms and it washed away in autumn of 1797.

Next bridge built of stone but was breached in the September Gale of 1815.

Bridge re-opemed in autumn of 1817. A September gale breached this bridge in 1869.

Ferry “West Side” took care of crossing until the new bridge was opened in August of 1907.

Ferry West Side

Source: Augusta, Anna and Chapin, Charles V., “A History of Rhode Island Ferries, 1640-1923” (1925).

Gideon Manchester: a Notable Character

May 25, 2026

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Newspaper accounts provide the curious story of Gideon Manchester’s life. “Gid,” as he was known, was the tender for the drawbridge for the Stone Bridge which united Tiverton and Portsmouth.

“Mysterious Affair”. Rutland County Herald, August 1,1844

“A man named Gideon Manchester, belonging to Tiverton, was committed to the jail, in this town, last week under very suspicious circumstances. It appears this man about eighteen months since married a young widow with two children, that after living with her two months he had taken her to her mother’s house where he left her under the plea that he was unable to support her, some time in the month of August last, and directed her to come through the woods and meet him early the next morning at a certain place in the road, where he promised to meet her with a horse and wagon and take her to New Bedford.”

She accordingly left her home for that purpose, and since no trace of her can be discovedred. Manchester the same day arrived in New Bedford without any baggage and shipped immediately for a voyage to sea. Previous to his sailing he presented to a female relative an old fashioned gold ring,which has been identified as having been worn by his wife at the time of her leaving home. “

Manchester returned from sea and was charged and had a trail, but nothing came of it. Many years later another newspaper account raises new questions about Manchester.

“Buried in the Sands” – the mysterious case of the coffin Dug up on Shore near Island Park.

Newspaper accounts in March of 1902 tell of a skeleton found in a pine box below the tidal waters of Island Park. The box was dug out by two boys laying a fishing net in an area where the currents had changed. The box was handmade as were the nails that held it together. Inside the box was the skeleton of a woman who had been in the water for many years. Speculation arose that it was the remains of Mrs. Manchester who had disappeared 50 years before. At the time of her disappearance, her husband, Gideon Manchester, claimed his wife had go out to meet him in New Bedford and gone missing. All that was found was her shoes and stockings that were found in a local swamp. Her rings were in the possession of a young girl who claimed a man had given them to her. The keeper of the toll gate at Stone Bridge testified that at midnight of the day Mrs. Manchester had gone missing, a “lone man with a big and mysterious box crossed the bridge in the direction of Island Park.”

Fall River Daily Herald – March 28, 1902.

Manchester’s obituary in the Fall River Herald (May 22, 1906). presents another side of Gideon Manchester. Gideon had been in charge of the bridge for twenty-five years. The author of the article noted that during Gideon’s tenure, the bridge had undergone transformations. One bridge was replaced by a more modern bridge put down by the railway company. It was suppose to run by electricity, but Manchester was still needed. At some stage the bridge was so damaged by weather than yet another version of the bridge was required.

Manchester had remarried and at the time of his death (in 1906 at age 90+) resided with daughter Hattie in his Portsmouth home. He had a son as well – Otis. Other articles at the time talk about his saving a woman from committing suicede and jumping into the river to rescue swimmers. The newspaper accounts call him a “notable character” and he was that.

The Town Farm and the “Portsmouth Cripple”

May 23, 2026

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“The town of Portsmouth, a few years since, purchased a farm obtaining about 60 acres of land, as an Asylum for the Poor.  It is most delightfully located, an every necessary comfort is furnished the inmates, which their condition requires.”   This brief description was included by Edward Peterson’s 1853 book The History of Rhode Island and Newport. The farm’s location is on the north side of Lawton’s Valley and is Raytheon property today.  While the “Town Farm” is “Lost to Time,” the Asylum Cemetery is left as a reminder of those who lived and worked there.

Whether the Asylum furnished all the needs of the inmates is debatable.  The Asylum operated from 1833 to 1929.  It’s aim was to be a home for the homeless, the disabled and the mentally ill.  It was an “almshouse” that required residents to work if they were able.  

Thomas Hazard of Portsmouth worked hard to improve the lot of the “poor and insane” in Rhode Island.   He reported on all the asylums in the state and he visited the Town Farm often.  One of those he visited and helped was William Fales who called himself the “Portsmouth Cripple” in his published memoir.  Fales had been diagnosed with “inflammatory rheumatism” at the age of six. It was thought to be the result of a dip into cold water.  Doctors tried the remedies of the day such as bleeding, but the pain never left him.  By sixteen he could no longer stand.  At age twenty-five he came to the Portsmouth Town Farm.  When Hazard met him he could barely move and was in constant pain, but he didn’t feel sorry for himself.  He thought of his suffering as bringing him closer to God.  In 1848 his devotion to faith attracted pious visitors from Philadelphia and elsewhere.  We know William’s story because they published his memoirs and letters to them.  

In one of the published letters from December 5, 1849,  he describes Hazard visiting and mentions his suffering.

“I had a visit from my kind friend T. R. H., who brought me a number of tracts to read, and then I am to distribute them among my comrades, and to those who may visit the house. Much of the time we have religious meetings once in two weeks, at which time I generally present a few tracts to those of the neighbors who attend. For some days past I have not felt so well as common ; my appetite is poor, and I have disagreeable, dull feelings through my head, especially across my forehead. A piece of my jaw-bone has protruded through the gum, yet it firmly adheres to the main portion; perhaps after a while it will work loose, and come out.“

Hazard ultimately frees Fales from the conditions at the Asylum.  

“Surely the 28th of last month was an eventful day to me, for on that day I was removed from the Asylum, and though I felt loth to accept the kind offer, on account of my entire un-worthiness, yet I plainly saw the hand of Providence in it, and thought it would he wrong to refuse so desirable a change. My friend T. R. H. told me that you had desired him to procure a place for me in a private family, where I might have things that were convenient, and receive proper attention. Accordingly, I was removed on the 28th, and bore the ride much better than I had expected. Surely, my friend, this is “the Lord’s doing, and marvellous in my eyes.”  Hazard had located him with a family whose property was very close to his own farm.  Fales enjoyed the change, but died unexpectedly just before his thirtieth birthday.

Ward’s Map of Aquidneck Island 1850

Competition at the Newport County Fair

May 12, 2026

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The Newport County Fair in September was a highlight of the year for Portsmouth farmers and residents. The fairgrounds were across from where St. Barnabas Church is today. Since a 1907 article from the Newport Mercury names that year’s fair as the 10th annual, it probably started in 1897. I have found newspaper articles mentioning the fair in the 1930s, but I don’t have a definite ending date. The fair was sponsored by the Newport County Agricultural Society.

Ribbons in the Glen Barns

What was the fair like? Newspaper account give us some clues.

The 1904 article in the Newport Mercury raves about the dinner and supper served in the large dining hall. There was a “cosey corner” available for fair goers to take a rest and sit down. This was called “Home Rest” and was organized by Mrs. Eldredge of the Social Studio at Bristol Ferry. The Rhode Island Rug Works featured an exhibit of rugs made from old carpets. Outside on the grounds there were activities for girls and boys that would test their strength. There was even a tent with a rattlesnake!

A 1907 account tells us that the vegetable exhibits were “a great surprise to the farmers themselves since this had been a very hard year for crops. Oakland Farm’s exhibits of fruits and vegetables outdid the displays by the other farms. Glen Farm had a special exhibit instead of entering the usual classes of competitions.

The 1914 Fair featured a long distance telephone on the grounds. There was a “baby health” contest judged by a doctor. Prizes included five dollar gold pieces, silver spoons and bronze medals. There was a baby beauty contest open to Rhode Island babies over six months and under three years old. That contest would be judged by “women living outside the state and unknown to the contestants.”

The fair had more than farm produce. There were displays of gramophones and musical instruments. The embroidery department featured eyelets, pretty hats, and shirtwaist dresses. The artists had their work on display. Bessie Cram showed her hand painted china and Sarah Eddy and Sophia Mitchell displayed their paintings. Kitchen cabinets, dining room furniture and kitchen ranges were featured.

The children’s department (which probably featured works by children from the Social Studio, included burnt wood cork, hammered brass and pencil drawings.

Winning medals at the fair assured bragging rights for the lucky contestants. The competition between the Gentlemen’s Farms was especially fierce.

Ghosts in the Gardens of Vaucluse

May 9, 2026

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Samuel Elam, one of the owners of Vaucluse, dressed as a Quaker yet lived in opulent style. He was a banker who traveled between his Portsmouth farm and his Newport home. He had been rejected by Miss Redwood, and he turned to Petrarch’s poetry to soothe him. The name “Vaucluse “comes from the “Fontaine de Vaucluse” in Provence, France where Petrarch retreated after the death of the woman he loved. Elam also adopted the melancholy mood of Petrarch. In 1793 Elam had a miniature Roman temple built on the precipice of the ravine that led to the river. His garden was a boxwood maze. By1803 Elam was building a grand mansion with classical temple columns.

After Elam’s death Vaucluse was purchased by Charles de Wolfe, but when he went bankrupt Vaucluse was purchase in 1838 by Thomas Robinson Hazard and Frances Minturn his wife. The Hazards were from the West Bay of Rhode Island, but at age 40 he moved to Portsmouth to devote himself to sheep farming. He was known as “Shepherd Tom” Hazard. Hazard revived the mansion and grounds. He busied himself with tending to his farm and advocating for abolition and compassionate care of the insane. He visited “poor farms” across the state and worked with Dorothea Dix to advocate for the needs of the poor and mentally ill.

For a while Hazard and his wife had a blissful existence at Vaucluse. In 1854, however, Frances died suddenly. At that time the Hazards had five children under twelve. Shepherd Tom was wracked with grief. He invited guests like Julia Ward Howe and her children to come and enjoy the grounds. After his tea-parties the adults would gather on the porch to talk about Spiritualism which was popular at the time.

Tragedy again haunted them when daughter Anna died of consumption at age twenty-two. Daughter Fanny also died of consumption at age thirty five. Her twin sister Gertrude drowned herself in a pool on the grounds. At this point Shepherd Tom immersed himself in Spiritualism. He believed that the spirits of his wife and daughters visited him for hours at Vaucluse. He brought in mediums for seances. Although his wife had been dead for over twenty-five years, he could feel her spirit in the gardens.

Shepherd Tom died in 1886 and the property was left to Barclay, his only son. Barclay abandoned Vaucluse to the ruins of time. It was left vacant and untended.

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