Eleanor Brown formerly Fleming
Born about 1780 in Massachusetts USA (uncertain)
Daughter of Joseph Fleming and Mary Ann (Lay) Jones
Sister of Henry Fleming, Margaret Fleming, Elizabeth Jones, John Boraston Jones, James Jones and     Benjamin Jones
Wife of David Brown — married December 31, 1800 (to February 10, 1826) in St. John's Parramatta, NSW
Mother of Ann Brown, Isabella (Brown) Bushell, Mary Ann (Brown) Waterford, Joseph Robert Brown, Ann Brown, David Brown, Eleanor (Brown) Chaseling, Elizabeth (Brown) Murray, Sarah (Brown) Smith, Henry Brown, William Brown and     John Brown
Died April 10, 1865 in Wilberforce, NSW

Biography

As far as we know Eleanor was born in the USA but nothing has been confirmed.


In 1800 he married Eleanor FLEMING and they had 11 children and adopted Eleanor's sister Margaret's daughter, a baby named Margaret after her Mother.

Eleanor rests in Wilberforce Cemetery, NSW, in the Brown vault right section, row 7 plot 21/22

Eleanor was possibly born in America, when her father (a soldier with the 29th Regiment of Foot), was stationed there. She came to Australia free aboard William & Ann in 1791 with her soldier father Joseph Fleming and mother Mary Ann (Lay) Fleming. At the end of the year 1800 she married David Brown at St John's Parramatta. Later Eleanor gave testimony at the inquest into the death of her servant, a woman (may have been aboriginal) named Nenny Cabbage, who was found dead near her doorstep.

Eleanor apparently had some marital problems, and it appears that she left home. A notice appeared in the Sydney Gazette in 1824, courtesy of David Brown, stating that she had left home 'without provocation' and that he will not be held responsible for any debts that she may incur. Eleanor's husband died in 1826, without having left a will. His eldest son inherited all of his possessions, according to the British law of the time. He gave his mother a generous portion of land for her own.

In 1826 after Eleanor's husband had died, a woman by the name of Catherine Johnston began to spread a rumour that Eleanor and a man named Stephen Dunstan, had plotted and poisoned David Brown. This woman apparently followed Eleanor and attempted to assault her. Eleanor took this woman to court at Windsor and consequently won the case.

Eleanor must have been a strong woman of great pioneering character, as she did not remarry and worked the family farm. The 1828 Census shows Eleanor as being a Widow Farmer. Her landholdings are listed as being 1,280 acres, and she had 3 horses and 120 cattle.

Sources

http://www.woodfamilytree.com.au/Frank%20Wood%20bios.htm