1787-1860
Father
John Dunk
Mother
Sarah Blunden
Siblings
Thomas, John, Robert, William, Sarah, Elizabeth
Married
Charlotte Martha Sellen – mother of the children
Susanna Silvaris and Sarah Hilder (no Children)
Children
John, William Henry, Jesse, Sarah Ann, Martha, Thomas Benjamin, Elizabeth
Jesse’s Life
Jesse Dunk was born in Battle, Sussex in 1787
Jesse was a soldier, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars –
· Enlisted 2nd Battalion Muster May 1809, stationed Isle of Wight.
· August 1809 – Spain and Portugal.
· 25 December 1811 – transferred to the 1st battalion in Spain
· 1812 Deployed to Canada – fought the Americans
· September 1815 – Returned to Montmartre near Paris – engaged in battle against Napoleon
· 1848 – Received Military General Service Medal – bars listing Busaco, Albehera, Vittoria, Pyrenees and Toulouse – sent to Australia.
· Discharged 1839.
His commander in the Peninsular campaign was Arthur Wellesley – later known as The Duke of Wellington.
Jesse married Charlotte Martha Sellen (1803-1835), daughter of William and Sarah Sellen, agricultural labourers, in Mayfield, Sussex in 1818. They had seven children. Charlotte died in 1835 leaving a very young family.
Jesse then married Susanna Silvaris in 1836. In 1839, they immigrated to Australia on the Florist with his family.
Jesse listed his occupation as labourer and was employed by Mr JE Manning of Camden at “Vermont” – salary £20 pa then settled in Cawdor where he leased land at Elderslie.
His wife Susanna, died in 1853 and Jesse married Sarah Hilder in 1858, he was 71.
Jesse died in Mayfield House, Cawdor of influenza and is buried at St John’s in Camden.
Authored by Leah Burnheim