Hamilton Collins Sempell (1794-1852) arrived in Sydney in May 1830 aboard the Warrior with his wife Susannah and John and Agnes Dow, the brother and sister of his wife. They also brought two servants, Sarah Jones and John Mitchell.
Sempill managed Thomas Macqueen's estate, Segenhoe, until Macqueen arrived in the colony in August 1834 and took up his residence there. Sempill took up a grant of 2560 acres in 1831 naming the property Belltrees. By December 1837 he had 61 assigned convicts.
Financial difficulties resulting from the 1840s depression saw Sempill return to Scotland in 1842 with his family. One of his intentions was to procure shepherds from the Highlands of that country. On learning of the continued decline in the pastoral industry, he decided to dispose of all his interests in New South Wales.
His properties, as advertised for sale in the Sydney Morning Herald, in March 1844, consisted of his station in New England, called Walca (Walcha) and Dungowan Creek, with the stock thereon, also the stock running at Ellerston, Beltrees, Aberfoyle, Long-flat, and Hornsdale.
Belltrees was acquired by William Charles Wentworth.
'Sempill, Hamilton Collins (1794–1852)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/sempill-hamilton-collins-32210/text39828, accessed 10 December 2024.
2 October,
1794
Renfrewshire,
Scotland
11 July,
1852
(aged 57)
Gibraltar
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.