Identifiernot specifiedDateOctober 17 1908SurveyorChapman and FaviellAuctioneersCyrus HomershamLocationAsquithDescriptionJonas Fear (1826-1907) arrived in Sydney as an assisted immigrant from England in 1855. Jonas initially lived in Lane Cove and came to Hornsby with his two brothers (Jeremiah and Hugh) and sister early in 1863 having acquired two Crown Land Grants in December 1862. His larger property on the northern side of Peats Ferry Road consisted of 40 acres and his southern Peats Ferry Road property was 22 acres.
Jonas Fear established an orchard on his property and was praised for his fine apricots, oranges and lemons.
He died in 1907 aged 81 years.
The Jonas Fear Estate was subdivided into 37 lots ranging from a half to one acre with frontages of 1,000 ft. These lots were offered at auction at 3pm on Saturday October 17 1908. Attendance at the auction was low and only one lot out of the 37 was purchased. The remaining 36 lots were held for future private sale. Almost two years later, in June 1910, there were still lots that had not been sold.
One property with a residence and two acres of land sold in October 1911 for £350. A number of other lots were sold in 1911 to the Fowler Company which expressed an interest to establish a pottery works to mine the clay deposits. Hornsby Shire Council approved the plans and construction of a pottery works on 10 acres of the former Jonas Fear's estate in December 1911. Parts of Jonas' estate were still being sold four years after the first auction.
A History of Asquith NSW Volume 1/Robert Green p.17
