Granny Smith: The Name, The Fruit, The Legacy

The term "Granny Smith apple" is so familiar that many are surprised to learn it was named after a real person: Maria Ann Smith (née Sherwood). And yes, she really was a grandmother.

Maria - whose name was pronounced "Mar-EYE-a" - was baptised on 5 January 1800 in the rural parish of Peasmarsh, East Sussex. Her name appears in the baptism register of Saints Peter and Paul Church as Ann-Maria Sharewood. Her parents, John Sherwood and Hannah Wright, were married at St Laurence Church, Guestling, Sussex, on 9 November 1789 and settled in Peasmarsh during the 1790s. Maria likely experienced poverty during her early years in Peasmarsh. The Churchwardens accounts for the parish from 1800 to 1804 include multiple entries noting aid given to a "Mrs Sharwood", possibly Maria's mother. This assistance included firewood, coal, flour, clothing, and shoes for her children.

Maria had an older sister named Elizabeth, two younger sisters named Ann and Jane, and two brothers - both named John - who sadly died in infancy. It is also possible that there were other siblings not recorded.                                           

On 8 August 1819, Maria - then 19 or 20 years - married Thomas Smith (pictured right), an agricultural labourer from the nearby parish of Beckley, Sussex. Rather than marrying in their home parishes, the couple wed in the small church at Ebony, just across the county border in Kent. One of the witnesses was Thomas's older brother, Stephen. The choice of Ebony may have been influenced by its closeness to Snave, which was likely the birthplace of Maria's mother. Maria and Thomas remained in Beckley for the next nineteen years, where Thomas continued his work as a farm labourer. Between 1821 and 1837, they had eight children. Sadly, three of them died in early childhood: their eldest son Sidney passed away at just 11 weeks, their eldest daughter Elizabeth at age three, and their fifth son, Spencer, at 17 months. In 1838, the couple set sail for Australia, taking their five surviving children with them: Thomas aged 16, Stephen aged 13, Charles aged 8, Sarah aged 6 and Maria Ann aged 1.

The emigration of Maria, Thomas, and their five children was a result of the displacement of unskilled agricultural workers from small villages in eastern Sussex and western Kent. Like all so-called Bounty Immigrants, the Smith family was required to provide proof of good character, typically through testimonials from clergymen and other respected local figures. As the late Manning Clark put it, the goal of the bounty scheme was "to recruit a respectable working class to blot out the 'leprous curse' of convictism." The scheme also aimed to address the severe labour shortage in the Australian colonies.

Although much of the scheme's funding came from settlers in Australia - who would employ the immigrants upon arrival - assistance was sometimes also provided by the emigrants' home parishes in the United Kingdom. Parish records from Beckley show that in 1838, the year the Smiths emigrated, emigration expenses were covered by funds from the parish poor rates, supporting impoverished families willing to leave. The departure of such families typically lifted a potential, if not actual, financial burden from the parish authorities.

The Smith family, along with other emigrating families from Beckley, travelled to Gravesend, Kent, to board the Lady Nugent for their journey to Sydney. The ship departed on 23 July 1838. According to the ship's surgeon's journal, Maria suffered from a throat infection during the voyage, and her daughter Sarah was ill with synocha, a persistent fever. Fortunately, both recovered before reaching Sydney. The surgeon noted that many of the nursing mothers aboard experienced severe seasickness. Given that Maria had a 14-month-old infant at the time of departure, she was likely among them. To support their health, nursing mothers received daily rations of porter (beer) and soup made from preserved meat with barley or rice. Sickly children were given preserved milk daily. All passengers were also provided with lemon and lime juice, which effectively prevented any cases of scurvy - or the "scorbutic taint" - during the voyage.

The Lady Nugent reached Port Jackson (Sydney) on 27 November 1838, concluding a voyage of just over four months. On her Entitlement Certificate, Maria, then aged 38, is recorded as strong and healthy, with her occupation listed as farm service. Upon arrival, Thomas senior was employed by a wealthy Sydney auctioneer, Mr Thomas Smart of Kissing Point, New South Wales (now Ryde), at an annual wage of £25.

Maria (pictured left) and Thomas Smith settled permanently in the Ryde (Kissing Point) area, where they remained for the next seventeen years, though their precise residence within the district is unrecorded. Their youngest - and only Australian born - child, William, was born on 13 March 1842 and baptised at St Anne's, Ryde, on 8 May 1842, with the parish register noting that his parents resided in Hunter's Hill parish, which then encompassed most of the Ryde district.

In 1849, their eldest surviving daughter Sarah married Henry William Johnston (1831–1885) at St Anne's. Henry was the son and stepson, respectively, of Frances Spurway (formerly Johnson, née Pratt) and her husband George Spurway.

Nine years later, in 1858, their youngest daughter Maria Ann (named after her mother) wed James Spurway, also at St Anne's. James was the son of George and Frances Spurway, making him Henry Johnston's half‑brother. Maria Ann and James named their eldest daughter Maria, in honour of her grandmother and great-grandmother.

Long-standing family lore suggests that Thomas Smith Sr. served as an overseer on Major Edward Darvall's Ryedale estate, though this claim cannot be verified as no mention of his employment appears in the estate's surviving account books. However, a firm connection between the Smith and Darvall families is well documented. In 1844, Thomas Smith Jr. was employed as a cook for Frederick Orme Darvall at South Creek, establishing a clear link to the Darvall's. Further evidence of personal closeness between Thomas Sr. and Major Darvall is found in a draft of Thomas's will ; written in the Majors own handwriting while Maria Smith was still alive. In 1933, that document was reportedly retained by Edward Darvall, the Major's grandson, at North Springwood, New South Wales.

Maria and Thomas Smith eventually acquired their own farm in what is now Eastwood, on Sydney's north-western outskirts. In 1855 and 1856, Thomas Smith Sr. paid £605 to purchase Lots 12 and 13 - two adjoining blocks totalling about 24 acres (approximately 9.7 ha) on the fringes of the Field of Mars Common. This land lay between present- day North Road and Abuklea Road in Eastwood, with its northern boundary roughly mid-way between today's Irene Crescent and Longview Street, and extended south past Threlfall Street.

Their home once stood near North Road, and their orchard - which supported vegetable beds and poultry - sloped southeast toward a creek, forming the backdrop for the birth of the Granny Smith apple.

A visual interpretation of the cottage as it may have appeared at the time can be seen in the photograph of a painting seen on the right.

Maria made the weekly trek from her home to Ryde Wharf every Monday, catching the ferry into Sydney, and she didn't return home until Friday. In her absence, she spent her days at the city markets, where she was well known as Granny Smith. The exact origins of the apple that now bears her name have sparked much debate. The earliest recorded account appears in the Farmer and Settler issue of 25 June 1924, in an article by orchardist and local historian Herbert Rumsey.

Rumsey interviewed two Dundas fruit-growers - Edwin Small and Harry Johnson - both familiar with Granny Smith in person. Harry was actually Maria's grandson. Edwin recalled that in 1868, when he was about twelve years old, he and his father Thomas (a former owner of the Smith land) accompanied Maria to inspect a young apple tree growing by the creek on her property. Both father and son were struck by the apple's flavour. Maria explained that she'd brought home some rotten French crab apples from Tasmania and discarded them by the creek; the resulting seedling was the tree they were examining. Rumsey thought that the apple's waxy skin and remarkable keeping properties aligned with Maria's claim of a French crab origin. An article in the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales dated 1 October 1924 entitled "The Origin of the Granny Smith Apple" echoed Rumsey's findings. 

Family tradition holds that Maria propagated the new apple variety near her home, planting seedlings from the creek‑side tree. She also grafted branches and distributed cuttings to neighbouring orchardists. 

Maria passed away on 9 March 1870 and was laid to rest in St Anne’s Cemetery, Ryde. Today, the Granny Smith Memorial Park - located on Threlfall Street in Eastwood -marks part of the southern boundary of her former orchard. A commemorative plaque was placed there in 1988 by the Australian Bicentennial Authority.

Following the death of her husband Thomas in 1876, their property passed to their sons, Thomas Jr. and Charles. In 1880, Thomas Jr. sold Lot 12 to Edward Gallard, and in 1892, Charles sold his share to Gustave Hippolyte Duchateau.

Although Maria never saw the apple become commercially viable, its cultivation continued through local growers, particularly Edward Gallard. Gallard, who had purchased part of the Smith farm, planted a substantial number of trees and marketed a crop annually until his death in 1914. 

The cultivar made its first public appearance as “Smith’s seedling” at the Castle Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show in April 1890 and had became known as “Granny Smith’s seedling” by 1891, when it won the cooking‑apple prize at the same show. In 1895, Albert H. Benson, fruit expert for the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, deemed the variety suitable for export and initiated its large‑scale cultivation at the Government Experimental Station in Bathurst. That year, it was officially added to the Department’s list of export‑worthy fruits, marking the beginning of its enduring commercial success.

Whether the apple came about by chance or design, recognition of Granny Smith and her apple came fifty years later when there was discussion of how to honour that achievement: a plaque? a drinking fountain? something else? 

Nearly 90 years after her death, the idea of a festival was acted upon when, in 1957, 5000 onlookers watched the first ever Granny Smith festival parade make its way along Rowe Street at Eastwood. Now the annual festival attracts over 100,000 people.

What's her greatest legacy? Her descendants? The juicy green apple? Or the fact that she represents the many hundreds of thousands of emigrants who came to these shores in search of a better life. Probably all three ...

Sources

Notes and research provided by the descendants of Granny Smith

"Granny Smith and her apple", leaflet written by John Spurway, great-great grandson of Granny Smith and Megan Martin, Local Studies Librarian (Ryde Library)

Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W., 1 October 1924, p.758, "The origin of the Granny Smith apple"

Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W., Vol.6 1895, p.899-900, "New England Fruit"

Farmers and Fruit-growers Guide, Sydney: Dept. of Mines and Agriculture, 1897, p.331

Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W., vol.15, 2 September 1904, p.910-911, "Coloured plate"

Farmer and settler, 25 June 1924, p.20, "Granny Smith" by H.J . Brumsey

Australian Dictionary of Biography adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smith-maria-ann-13199