The Binstead's
William Alfred Binstead
Birth date: 30 DEC 1821
Birth place: Sussex, England
Date of death: 24 JUL 1903
Place of Death: Coomera, , Queensland, Australia
The Binstead and Donald families are recorded as the first settlers in the Upper Coomera District.
William Binstead was the son of Arthur Binstead , who came from Bosham in West Sussex, England. He was convicted for machine breaking (a political crime) and transported to Australia in November 1830 for 14 years for their participation in the Swing Riots. The Binsteads were sawyers who lived in the town yet lent support to the struggles of the agricultural labourers and this largely accounted for the severity of their sentences. He was granted a free pardon in 1837 but conditions attached to the pardons did not provide for free passage back to England. Money was collected in England and Arthur's wife Maria and her three youngest children (one being William Binstead) to join them in Australia. Despite the pardon, the Binstead family never revealed their secret shame of a convict background. Arthur and Maria selected a property in Coomera called 'Woodlands' in 1867.
William Binstead obtained a licence to cut timber around Coomera in 1860. By 1868 William had prospered enough to bring his wife, Mary (Donald) and his family to a spot on the Coomera River where they ran an accommodation house and the first post office in Coomera. The first mail horse passed by the Binstead house as this was the point near a good ford in the river where the Coomera River could be safely crossed except during floods. This route was used by the first horse mailrun between Brisbane and Nerang. In 1874 the two storey Binstead home was the centre of community celebrations.
During the 1870's the Binstead home was used as a place to hold Mass for the Catholic Church in Coomera.
William Binstead donated the land for the Bakers Creek School which was eventually built in 1878 and his son
Charles Binstead built the Maudsland School in 1879.
According to records William and Mary Binstead had 10 children.
http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/Upper_Coomera-Gold_Coast/index.php
A copy of an early school register for Coomera State School from 1885 to the early 1890's show a number of William and Mary's
grandchildren in attendance. The school records indicate that their father's occupation at the time was a butcher and timber carrier.
http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/Upper_Coomera-Gold_Coast/index.php
A copy of an early school register for Coomera State School from 1885 to the early 1890's show a number of William and Mary's
grandchildren in attendance. The school records indicate that their father's occupation at the time was a butcher and timber carrier.
Binstead way Oxenford/Pacific Pines is named after the Binstead family.