William Nowland (September 1804 – April 28, 1884) was the son of Second Fleet

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

Michael Nowland and Elizabeth Richards. Born in Castlehill in September 1804. He had received 160 acres of land in the Singleton area. He helped established in village of

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

in the 1860s. He established a 1500-acre property called Rosedale which he purchased allotments to build shops, Falbrook public school and the Queen Victoria Hotel. He also owned the property 'Waratah' until the A.A Company took it in 1832. The discoverer of Nowlands Gap, the "gateway" to the

Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia. These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...

and first road into the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

. He died on April 28, 1884 and was buried at St Clements church ground. His body laid to rest near

Singleton, New South Wales Singleton is a town on the banks of the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. Singleton is 197 km (89 mi) north-north-west of Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city ...

. His headstone is huge and reads; "Earth to earth, Dust to Dust. Calmly now the words we say. Leaving him to sleep in trust. Till the Resurrection-day. Father, in thy gracious keeping, leave we now thy servant sleeping."

References

1804 births 1884 deaths {{Explorer-stub