On 21 September 1824, five months after the pie-loving John Payne dumped his much younger fiance Sarah Cox to quickly marry a wealthy widow, 19-year old Sarah brought a breach of promise case against him in the New South Wales courts.

But the same time that the court was debating Sarah’s reputation and how it affected her prospects of finding another suitor, Sarah was pregnant — to her barrister, William Charles Wentworth.

In 1822, John Payne was a ship’s captain sailing and trading between Sydney and Tasmania. He may have met Sarah at Mrs Foster’s shop when he collected letters to be delivered to Tasmania. She caught his eye, and pretty soon he was ‘in the habit of going backwards and forwards to the house.’

I can't imagine that back in the 1800s, Sydney residents and Fanny Morton and Francis Cox ever sat down with their daughter Sarah Cox (later Sarah Wentworth of Vaucluse House) to have a full and frank discussion of their crimes and punishments.

Having ploughed through two biographies of William Charles Wentworth and his father D’Arcy Wentworth, I’m now moving on to new books and background material, to get more perspective, background and colour for Sarah’s story.

I’m diving headfirst into researching my historical novel about Sarah Wentworth, starting with some biographies of William Charles, her boisterous husband.

Follow along with my 2024 writing project, ‘The House’ telling the story of Sarah Wentworth of Vaucluse House.