The Locals 2 - James McCarthy, Samuel and Rosetta Terry

The suburbs of Cranebrook and Mount Pleasant bare the names of two large farms that were located in the area. They illustrate how clever and/or industrious men could become very successful after arriving as convicts.

James McCarthy (1772-1851) was granted "ticket-of-leave" and 100 acres from Governor King. When he died he had expanded his farm to 470 acres. He was a devout Catholic, who secretly held Mass with Father Harold in his home. In the early colonial period Catholics were not permitted to practice their religion by the authorities.
When his daughter died in 1806 she was buried on the property and later other Irish Catholics had their burials on his property. This is considered the first Catholic burial ground in Australia.

McCarthy's Cemetery

Samuel Terry (1776-1838) came to Sydney as a convict in 1800, but within twenty years he was the richest man in the colony. After his sentence ended he acquired inns and ran them successfully. In 1810 he married the widow Rosetta Marsh who also ran successful businesses. The two then bought many more hotels, houses and land. They ran milling, brewing and shipping businesses.
Their most valuable farm became "Mount Pleasant" on the hill here, where they built a large house in 1820 with an outlook to the river. The farm stretched more than 1000 acres from Llandilo to the Nepean River.

Portrait of Samuel Terry

The importance of the two men is recognised not only in the suburbs, but both have a school named after them. Samuel Terry Public School is at Cranebrook, while McCarthy Catholic College is at Emu Plains.