My research of the Jenkins family lead to the following information being obtained from the web site of the Wollongong City Libraries. The link is: (
visit link)
Matilda Jemima Warren Jenkins was the granddaughter of Robert Jenkins (c1777 - 1822) & Jemima Forrest (c1786 - 1842) & the eldest daughter of William Warren Jenkins (1816-1884). She was born on 21 March 1842 & died on 16 April 1942.
The following is taken directly from Wollongong City Libraries web site:
"Robert Jenkins and Family
Robert Jenkins (c.1777-1822) was one of the first five land grantees in the Illawarra, receiving from Governor Lachlan Macquarie a holding of 1,000 acres on January 24, 1817. The holding can be identified on present day maps as portion 52, parish of Wollongong, fronting the north-east end of Lake Illawarra.
Jenkins called his grant Berkeley, after the historic estate of that name in his native Gloucestershire. Berkeley was used as a cattle run from 1817 to 1839.
Robert Jenkins arrived in New South Wales about 1808 and became a prominent auctioneer and shipping merchant. In 1813 he was appointed Auctioneer and Appraiser for the town of Sydney, and in 1819 served briefly as a director of the Bank of New South Wales.
In 1813 Jenkins married Jemima Forrest (c.1786-1842). Robert and Jemima had two children: Robert Pitt Jenkins (1814-1859) and William Warren Jenkins (1816-1884).
On September 24, 1834, Jemima Jenkins was allowed to purchase 2,000 acres adjacent to Berkeley, for 500 pounds. This area had been promised to the family by Governor Thomas Brisbane in 1825. Other areas purchased by Jemima increased the estate to 3,280 acres. The enlarged holding became known as the Berkeley Estate, part of which comprises modern-day Unanderra.
In 1839 William Warren Jenkins assumed management of the Berkeley Estate, engaging the architect Edmund Blacket to design the residence Berkeley House. This mansion was built from convict labour, and incorporated features such as a six metre-wide hallway and Italian marble tiles and fireplaces. Berkeley House was demolished in 1940.
About 1870, William Warren Jenkins built Nudjia House on the western boundary of the Estate for his eldest son, William James Robert Jenkins. Nudjia, the Aboriginal name for a safe and protected place, was built from red cedar mostly grown on the property, and at one time had its own racetrack. Nudjia opened as a museum in 1993, and is located at 83 Cummins Street, Unanderra.
The elaborate cast iron gates which once led to the Berkeley Estate can now be seen at the Berkeley Pioneer Cemetery, formally the Jenkins family’s private cemetery. (Dowd, B.T. 1960; Wollongong Advertiser; 20 April 1994, 19 October 1994 , 13 September 1995; Wood, Anne 1999)"
Although no mention is made of the life of Matilda one would conclude that she lived & died a spinster.
Looking at her life span the following significant events happened in Australian history:
1844 - 48: The great Australian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt explored north east to Port Essington before finally disappearing on his third expedition from the Condamine River.
1860 - 61: Robert Burke & William Wills. Expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria successful. All but one of the party died on the return journey.
1901: Federation. The inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia.
1914 - 18: The War to end all Wars.
1929 - 1939: The Great Depression.
1939 - til death: The Second World War.