The Cobb · Richards Line

Richard Cobb

Known in Australia as Charles Richards

Born 17 April 1861 · Linchmere, Sussex
Died 2 November 1913 · Broken Hill, NSW
Arrived Deserted the Morning Star · Melbourne · 1883
"He died far from where he was born, under a name that was not his own."
From the narrative chapter

This Family Line

The Story of Richard Cobb
and Charles Richards

A Sussex boy who went to sea at sixteen, deserted a ship in Melbourne in 1883, took a new name, and spent thirty years building a farm and a family on reclaimed swampland in Victoria. Not until DNA testing became available did his true origins come to light.

Chapter One

The Narrative

The full story — from the Linchmere woodland to the merchant navy, from desertion in Melbourne to a farm on the Great Swamp, and the mining accident at Broken Hill that ended it all. Includes palaeographic analysis of the signature sequence and the story of the documents that were burned.

● Available now Chapter Two

The Research Report

The GPS-standard proof argument establishing Richard Cobb and Charles Richards as the same individual. Source analysis, evidence correlation, and resolution of conflicting information across Merchant Navy records, Victorian Crown Land files, and the 1891 marriage certificate.

○ In preparation Chapter Three

DNA Analysis

Bayesian analysis using BanyanDNA software and standard deviation methodology. Twenty-plus tested descendants triangulating to the Cobb family line and nine to the Voller line. Includes the parallel case of Herbert Cobb / Arthur Taylor, and Emily Macauley's Bomford connection.

○ In preparation Chapter Four

Documents & Images

Key primary sources: the Merchant Navy indenture, Victorian deserters' register entry, Crown Land file VPRS 1606/110, Crown Grant, marriage certificate, coroner's inquest report, and the five-signature palaeographic comparison sequence.

○ In preparation
Vital Records
True nameRichard Cobb
Australian nameCharles Richards
Born17 April 1861, Linchmere, Sussex, England
Died2 November 1913, Broken Hill, New South Wales
FatherThomas Cobb, 1817–1898, Linchmere
MotherHarriett Voller, 1826–c.1872, Linchmere
MarriedEmily Macauley, 30 July 1891, West Melbourne
ChildrenNine (eight survived infancy)
Farm60 acres, Bunyip South (Iona), Vic · Crown Grant 1910
Ships servedFalcon · Bridesmaid · Kentish Tar · Morning Star
DesertedMorning Star, Melbourne, 18 January 1883
Research Status
DNA Validation · BanyanDNA
Bayesian Analysis
Standard Deviation Methodology
20+ tested descendants · Cobb family line
9 tested descendants · Voller line
All standard deviations within acceptable range
Parallel case: Herbert Cobb / Arthur Taylor confirmed
Key sourcePROV Crown Land file VPRS 1606/110, examined 26 Mar 2026
Proof standardGenealogical Proof Standard (GPS)
CitationsElizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, 3rd ed.
Open questionsCatholic conversion records, St Mary's Star of the Sea · BanyanDNA update pending

From the narrative chapter

A Sussex Boy Goes to Sea

The Cobb and Voller families had lived in and around Linchmere, in the western High Weald of Sussex, for generations. The men were predominantly agricultural labourers, their lives shaped by the Wealden countryside and its woodland trades. But by the time Richard and his younger brother Herbert were growing up in the 1860s and 1870s, that world was contracting.

The sons of woodland labourers in Linchmere were inheriting a way of life that was running out of future.

Read the full narrative →