Lieut Royal Marines 1804-1815.

Emigrated to South Africa in 1820 on the Stentor with his brothers and sisters and then subsequently went to Tasmania in 1823 where he had a large family, some of whom moved to Victoria. Arrived on "William Penn" from C of G Hope

Memorial headstone in in St Lukes graveyard Richmond, Tasmasnia. Tasmanian Family History Society Inc. Hobart Branch

Made J.P. in 1835

Extract from The Story of Valentine Griffiths and his brothers A “precis of reports taken from various documents “ by Noel Griffith

The ship Stentor finally sailed on 13th January 1820, and arrived in Table Bay South Africa 19th April..

The Griffith family suffered every misfortune that a changeable climate could inflict on crops. Afrer 3 years Valentine and John decided to look elsewhere. Valentine decided on Van Diemen’s Land and Dr Granville John chose the Swan River area of Western Australia. It sems that Charles remained in South Africa.

Valentine arrived in Hobart Town aboard the ship William Penn -Captain Ogden Brown- on 12th July 1823. The William Penn had sailed from Cork with a full cargo of salt and stopped at the Cape on the way. Valentine had brought with him £1,080 in cash, goods and stock including 8 mares, 2 cows, 1 bull, and 20 merino sheep. (other animals died on the voyage . He was granted 800 acres of land in the Tea Tree Brush district. There he established the “Woodlands Estate” an estate of 1800 acres.

The stone built house was completed in 1843 and is still standing.

Valentine committed suicide on 16th November 1843 at Woodlands “by shooting himself with a pocket pistol loaded with a ball whle labouring under Insanity caused by the depressed state of his pecuniary affairs and a high sense of honorable feeling”-so it was found by the jury which sat here the next day.