Edward Davy Wedge (1777–1852), brother of John Helder Wedge, became a colonist in Van Diemen's Land and the Port Phillip District of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The Wedges imported sheep and a saw mill into the Van Diemen's Land colony. Mr Wedge obtained a 2,000 acre (8 km²) grant, which he called Forton, but at first he tried to establish the saw mill at Oyster Cove, just south of

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Town. The mill was not a success financially, and was eventually abandoned at a loss of £2,000. He then turned to agricultural pursuits, and established Forton with the assistance of convict labour. After the settlement of Port Phillip in 1835, he and his brother John established a squatters run at Werribee, near Melbourne, and in the 1840s Davy and his wife left Forton for the Werribee run. In May 1852 the Werribee River flooded and the Wedge house was engulfed. The family was forced onto the roof, which collapsed during the night, and the family was washed away. Davy and his wife Lucy both died, as did their eldest daughter, Lucy. Davy, his wife and daughter Lucy were all buried at the

Williamstown Cemetery Williamstown Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown North, Victoria, Australia. The main entrance is on Champion Road, Williamstown North. The Cemetery is managed by Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT). Williamsto ...

External links

*J. Uhl, 'The Men from East Anglia: the Wedge Family an early pioneering family in Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip', reprinted from the ''Victorian Historical Magazine'' Vol XXXVII No 1 (Melbourne 1966); {{DEFAULTSORT:Wedge, Edward Davy Wedge, Edward Davy Wedge, Edward Davy Settlers of Tasmania Wedge, Edward Davy Wedge, Edward Davy English emigrants to colonial Australia People from Cambridgeshire Burials in Victoria (state)