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Eliza was born in the village of Bishopstone,Wiltshire England in 1834
and was the second child of Abraham and Sarah Andrews.The family in
1838 decided to migrate to New South Wales for a better life for the
then three children.Eliza was three years old when the ship
“WOODBRIDGE” sailed from England arriving in New South Wales on the 15th September 1838. The family took up work and residence as farm servants at Chilcotts Plains via Singleton. Eliza did not have the
chance of a formal education and in fact was married in her 14th year
to George Shearer, a man 19 years her senior.The first child,
Charlotte was born when Eliza was only 14 years of age.There were a
further 12 children of which 11 reached adulthood and of these George
died at the age of 21 years. Most of the family did not stay in the
Singleton District and from our research moved into the north western
parts of New South Wales and in later years one branch of the family
moved to the far south coast of New South Wales,where the name
Shearer is well known. Eliza's husband,George was an industrious man
and was a farmer and had his own property “Glen Lomond” no doubt
called after his Scottish heritage. Eliza fully supported her husband
in his farming interests and bore his children. Eliza had a valvular
heart disease which eventually caused her early death at the age of 38
years,the youngest surviving child, Martha, being only two years and
five months old. Eliza was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery
at St. Clements Church Camberwell. Her husband George married
Annie Paul,10 months after her death in December 1873.
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