Heavy Heart Traditional Cache

A companion cache to Kingsgrove Origin. By doing Kingsgrove Origin first you'll learn about the history of the area and when you travel to this one you'll get a sense of scale behind the story of Hannah Laycock and her "King's Grove".

Hannah Laycock Reserve is named after the wife of Thomas Laycock, Quartermaster of the NSW Corps. She was given a 500-acre grant in August 1804 and named it "King's Grove" after Governor Philip Gidley King. In time, the two words became the one word we know today. Hannah's farmhouse was located at the site of the Kingsgrove Origin cache and extened as far south as the park you stand in.

Together, Thomas and Hannah had six shildren but Thomas died in 1809 after losing the office of Quartermaster the previous year. By 1815 Hannah was having trouble maintaining this grant and the subsequant grants she was given and sold the farm in 1829. She died in 1831.

The cache is named after the You Am I song "Heavy Heart" as Hannah continued on at the farm even after her husband was found to have behaved indecently, lost his job and become mentally deranged leading to his death. She would have carried a very heavy burden!

Thanks to Canterbury Commons for the background info.