Hassall Family History Association

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The Association commenced as the Hassall Family History Group, established in 1993 to plan for the 1998 bicentenary. In addition to organizing that event, which attracted 700 participants; the Group produced ten Newsletters between 1993 and 2000; published the book The Hassall family: celebrating 200 years in Australia 1798–1998 written by David J. Hassall and Jean Stewart; supported activities of the Thomas Hassall School; donated papers to the Hassall Family Collection at the State Library of New South Wales; contributed funds to the library to promote the collection’s development; and produced an additional 33 newsletters between 2002 and 2011.

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In 2013 Ross Whelan, Principal at Thomas Hassall Anglican College, offered the School’s support for the Group’s continuation. Research meetings were held at the NSW State Library in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and the newsletter re-established. The New South Wales State Library added the Hassall Family Papers to its transcription projects. In 2019 the Group registered as an Association in New South Wales and published Jean Stewart’s book Rowland and Elizabeth Hassall: The History of their family in Australia 1798 to earl 1900s was published. Coordinators were identified for eight “family-lines” to bring together descendants of Rowland and Elizbeth’s eight children.

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In 2023 the Association comprises members from across Australia and internationally, and has projects focused on Hassall heritage, transcription, genealogy, and research and publication.

Another Hassall family reunion took place place 25 years after the bicentenary event of 1998, which marked two-hundred years since the arrival of Rowland and Elizabeth Hassall in New South Wales in May 1798.

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