Entries for the Croker Prize for Biography in 2020 Theme: My Most Elusive Ancestor
2001 Elizabeth Donaldson by John Stanhope
2002 Alice: Tracing the Thread by Robert Wills
2003 Grandma was an Alien by Laurel Fisher
2004 The Unknown Soldier by Bob Wright
2005 Finding the Real Thomas Walsh by Rowan Morrison
2006 A Twist in the Tale by Coral Wynter
2007 The Riddle of the Sarahs by Clem Ditton
2008 A Master of Elusion: Thomas Gray by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy
2009 Down the Rabbit Hole by Sue Bulbrook
2010 James Connolly: A Self-Made Man by Barbara Reen
2011 The Tailor from Printing Office Street by Judith Neville
2012 Are the Clues in the Tattoos? by Marianne Young
2013 A Ninety Year Mystery Solved by Patricia Braden
2014 My Most Elusive Ancestor by Marilyn Long
2015 Just Plain Alice by Julie Webb
2016 Who Were You and Where Did You Go? by Diana Pecar
2017 My Most Elusive Ancestor by Douglas Claus
2018 Francis Cottrell – Artist by Peter Sinclair
2019 The 20 Year Search for James William Humphres by Genny Kang
2020 Mary, Mary Quite Contrary by Vanessa Bland
2021 May Day by John Callaghan
2022 Elusive Annie - Who was Annie Taylor? by Colin Kilduff
2023 The Sad Tale of Lieutenant Philip Connor by Bill Dudley – Winner 2020
2024 Hiding in Plain Sight by Fiona Lane
2025 "Edie" Exposed by Margaret Dalkin
2026 The Professor of Natural Philosophy by Natalie Lonsdale
2027 Elusive Eliza – Opening Pandora’s Box by Leonie Worrall
2028 Orphan Girl in Mourning Dress by Marianne Larkin
2029 Showdown at the Blue Bell Inn by Jim Flemming
2030 An Acadian Downunder by Elizabeth Crock
2031 The Elusive William Stockand by Gordon Hughes
2032 The Elusive Mr Jones by Holly Fitzgerald
2033 But Names Will Never Hurt You by Ray Parkins
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2001 Elizabeth Donaldson
by John Stanhope
Submitted by John Stanhope Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
ELIZABETH DONALDSON
My elusive ancestor was my father's maternal grandmother. Mysteries about Elizabeth Donaldson were (1) what happened to her after the birth of her seventh child? (2) what happened to her sixth and seventh children? (3) when and where did she die? My current knowledge of her was completed only recently by searching for her husband on Ancestry at SAG.
She was born on 12 January 1847 at Wappan Station near Mansfield, Victoriai. She was the sixth of seven children of Scots David Donaldson and Elizabeth Anderson. She was baptised by Free Presbyterian rites on 5 April 1847.
Her siblings were Christina 1836-1898, Alexander 1838-1889, David born and died in infancy in Scotland, Joan/Johanna born 1841 at sea, Robert born 1844 at Mount Battery Station, died in 1930, and Janet 1850-1928.
She married Otto Emil Ringk (1833-1909) on 17 April 1865ii. As she was under age, she had her parents’ consent. Her residence and the place of marriage was ‘Wattle Grove’, probably on or near her father’s farm near Merton. Then she lived Otto's farm at Glen Creek.
They had seven children (1) Mary Amelia, born 1866iii on 22 February 1884 at Hay NSWiv, died 1 November 1943 at Marrickville (2) Charles David, born 1867v, married Annie Hallett in Bathurst NSW on 31 May 1902vi, took up farming near Blayneyvii where he died on 24 July 1926viii, (3) David Emil, born 1870ix, died unmarried on 2 October 1907 in Hay NSWx, (4) Elizabeth Janet/Jennet, born 1872xi, married John Peter Johnston on 11 August 1890 in Hay NSWxii. After his death on 11 June 1907xiii she married Richard Edward Thorne at Darlington Point on 8 February 1911xiv. She died on 5 September 1924 at Darlington Point,xv. (5) Emily Christina, born 18 August 1874xvi, married George Grant Stanhope on 18 July 1894 at Narrandera, divorce absolute on 20 April 1815, married Arthur David Ashcroft on 6 September 1920 at Wesley Chapel, Sydney, died on 14 August 1867 at Newcastle NSW.
Until recently nothing was known of her from 1880 till Otto and the Narrandera police stated in his naturalisation papers in 1900 that he was a widower. With access to Ancestry at SAG, I recently entered his name hoping to get his baptism details from Lieberose, Prussia. What came up were confirmation of the births of the missing children and their surname change. They were (6) Alexander Henry, born 1877 in Victoria, raised with the surname O'Connell by Matthew O'Connell (7) Jessie Agnes, born 21 July 1880 in Victoria, raised with the surname O'Connell by Matthew O’Connell.
Some time between 1880 and 1884 she left her husband and cohabited with Matthew O'Connell. They had two sons born in Lismore (1) Daniel John O'Connell born in 1884(2) James O'Connell born in 1887.
Her death is not indexed in any state under ‘Ringk’, ‘Donaldson’, 'O'Connell' or any likely variant, including coroner's cases. Mr Joe Sartain (grandson of her brother Alexander) had never heard of her, although he knew about all her adult siblings and their families when I interviewed him in April 1993 in
Submitted by John Stanhope Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Mansfield. But I found in a journal at SAG a comment which led me to a significant articlexvii by Mrs Muriel Smith. She is a great granddaughter of Elizabeth's sister Christina. She sent me copies of photographs of Elizabeth and Otto.
Elizabeth was alive in 1887 and deceased by 22 October 1900. A grave in the name 'Mrs Ringk' is in the Methodist (formerly Wesleyan) section of Narrandera Cemetery. A municipal official told me that this meant she was the first person buried in the plot. Narrandera had a Wesleyan congregation from 1879xviii. The church was formally constituted in 1884xix, but no records survive from before 1889. The Wesleyan graveyard was commenced before the appointment in September 1889 of Rev John James Boyd, the first resident minister and record keeperxx.
Family graves are A26 (Dorothy Stanhope 1899-1900 my aunt) and A28 ('Mrs Ringk' and Otto Emil Ringk 1833-1909). Memorials of Dorothy and Otto of appeared in local newspapers, but not Elizabeth. Elizabeth was probably buried during 1887-1889. Why was she not in Lismore? Perhaps she wanted to meet her married daughters all living in the Riverina. Otto may have arranged for her burial, as he lived near Narrandera. Emily never discussed her mother with her children, including my father who was aged seven when Otto died.
REFERENCES
i Victoria Birth 1847.8153. ii Victoria Marriage 1865.1978. iii Victoria Birth 1866.3202. iv NSW Marriage 1884.3742. v Victoria Birth 1867.22880. vi NSW Marriage 1902.3505. vii The Canowindra Star 24 March 1922 page 8. viii Tombstone inscriptions observed by JMS in relevant cemeteries; also Riverina Cemetery Index in SAG collection. ix Victoria Birth 1870.3422. x NSW Death 1907.13933; also The Riverine Grazier death and bereavement notices, 4 October 1907, p.2. xi Victoria Birth 1872.10084. xii NSW Marriage 1890.4082. xiii NSW Death 1907.5124. xiv NSW Marriage 1911.1727. xv NSW Death 1924.14778. xvi Victoria Birth 1874.23873. xvii Smith, Muriel. The Donaldson Family in Dunfermline and Australia. Fife Family History Society Journal vol 24 page 13. xviii Wade, Raymond E. The Methodists of Wagga Wagga and district. WW Parish Council, Uniting Church in Australia, WW, 1980 pp.34, 61. xix Clancy EG. A guide to Methodist records in NSW (1815-1977) p.311. xx Wright D & Clancy EG. The Methodists: a history of Methodism in NSW. Allen & Unwin, St Leonards NSW, 1993, p.47.
Submitted by John Stanhope Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2002 Alice: Tracing the Thread
by Robert Wills
Submitted by Robert Wills Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Alice: Tracing the Thread
I have a convict ancestor, William Henry Lovett. Forget about him – another story – and focus on his wife, my 2x great grandmother. At marriage (7/12/1857, Singleton, NSW), and the births of two sons, she is Alice Sarah Gall.
As the informant for their registration, for son Henry (16/11/1858) she is 20 from Brandon, Suffolk; for son William (5/4/1861) she 21 from Norfolk.
The immigration lists for the “Fitzjames”, arrived Sydney 1/4/1857, record: “Single Woman, Alice Gall, 18, House Servant, from Norwich, Norfolk; C of E; Reads & Writes.” Perhaps. For her sons’ registrations she made “her X mark.” The diary of the Matron for the Single Women on the “Fitzjames” has eyebrow raising detail (“I am grieved to say theft, lying and slander prevail most shockingly”) but only says of Alice Gall: “Reads and Writes imperfectly.”
Some two years after husband William’s death (11/11/1861) widow Alice Sarah Lovett, 24, married Daniel Thomas Smith in Newcastle (he’s a butcher, she’s a servant, and both at the same address). Her parents are Richard Farrow and Maria Gall and she is from Thetford, Norfolk.
Four children follow: for Edward (1864) she is “Alice Sarah, formerly Farrer from Norfolk”; for Samuel (1867) she is “Sarah, formerly Gore from Essex.” Daniel Smith is the informant for these two.
For the next two children, she is the informant: for Mary Ann (1871) she is “Sarah Ann, formerly Farrow, from Norfolk”; for Florence (1874) she is “Sarah Ann, formerly Harrow, from Norfolk”.
The story so far ... my great great grandmother is Alice Sarah Gall, Alice Gall, Sarah Gall; she is Alice Sarah Farrow, Sarah Ann Farrow. She is from Brandon, Suffolk; she is from Norwich, Norfolk; she is from Thetford, Norfolk; she is from Essex. But ... her parents are Richard Farrow and Maria Gall.
A family bible surfaced. The Bible is formally inscribed: “Sarah Farrow, Thetford, Church Sunday School, REWARD, January 29th 1854.” Then comes a later entry: “Alalis Gall was married on the 7th Decr 1857 To William Lovett.” Further entries record the births of their two sons, then William Lovett’s “deth.”
The last entry in the bible is “Sarah Ann Smith Departed life 4 April 1878.”
There, in brief, is the life of my 2xgreat grandmother. But where did she come from? And why all the different names? Perhaps she was illegitimate, and so was known as Gall rather than Farrow?
The various leads I followed included a Sarah Alice Farrow born in 1839 in Blofield, not so far from Norwich. Then there was a promising family of Farrows, generations of them, spread among the villages of Great and Little Welnetham, only fifteen miles south of Thetford.
Submitted by Robert Wills Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Visiting England in 1990/1 I prowled churchyards. In the grounds of St Thomas a Beckett at Great Welnetham I found a weathered headstone:
“In Memory of Ann, the wife of Joseph Farrow who died Jan 11th 1823 Aged 59 years.” Then this verse:
“Our life hangs by a single thread Which soon is cut and we are dead.”
My notes state – “Next 2 lines illegible & too cold to try further” (3/1/1991).
My full write-up reads: “Very cold day. Grave digger at bottom of grave in deep brown soil. He didn’t know Farrows as he’s not from around here. He told me no plan, ancient or modern, of graveyard, which makes his job hard. Undertaker simply asks him to try to find ‘a clear spot.’ Found several modern Farrows. Church itself very ugly from outside – cement rendered. Couldn’t get in. Discovered later it’s very old. Found old Farrow grave underneath ancient spreading tree. Could only read half of 4 line verse. 19th century stones harder to read (blurred, overgrown) than some 18th century ones.”
My research at County Record Offices captured three pages of Farrows in the 1851 census for Brandon. They were living at: White Walk, Ferry Street, Thetford Road (Webb’s Cottages), Leach’s Square, White Lion St, London Road (Wood’s Cottages). They were: Gardener, Pauper, Ag Lab, Furcutter, Unemp, Flint Maker, but mostly Ag Lab. Interesting but, I thought, not what I wanted.
Like a good descendant of Ag Labs (over the centuries Ag Labs have richly fertilised my tree) I let things lie fallow. The 1990s were busy years in my working life. In 2000 I resumed the hunt and wrote to an English researcher specialising in Norfolk genealogy. I received a prompt reply from Ms Fitzpatric:
I am happy to say that in the 1851 Census I found Sarah Ann Farrow and her family living in Brandon, Suffolk. Although Sarah was born in Harlow, Essex. Either Jemima Farrow’s age is wrongly given or she is Richard’s 2nd wife.
The 1851 census for Brandon has at Thetford Rd (Webb’s Cottages): Richard Farrow, 42, Ag Lab, from Brandon; wife Jemima, 32, from Norfolk All Saints; and seven children. The ages of the eldest William, 19 and Edward, 18, make it clear Jemima, 32, is a second wife (as Ms Fitzpatric suggested). Sarah Ann Farrow, daughter, 11, scholar, is the fourth child, and the first four are all born in Harlow, Essex. It seems their mother, Maria Gall, died between 1840 and 1846, perhaps when giving birth to Sarah? Richard Farrow remarried, and the two youngest children, 5 and 2, are doubtless from this new union.
I had all this in my notes from 1990, but at the time was thrown off track by Richard’s wife being Jemima, not Maria.
Did Alice Sarah use her mother’s name Gall because she resented her father’s new marriage, kept her mother’s memory warm by taking her name? Or did Sarah Ann Farrow, born Harlow, Essex, and who later lived in Brandon, Suffolk, decide, when emigrating to Australia, to become a new person, to be Alice Sarah Gall? Possibly. Submitted by Robert Wills Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
And Google gave me several options for the last lines of the epitaph. I prefer:
“Then boast not, Reader, of thy might, Alive at noon, and dead at night.”
Submitted by Robert Wills Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2003 Grandma was an Alien
by Laurel Fisher
Submitted by Laurel Fisher Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Grandma was an Alien We knew Grandma as a German-speaking migrant who worked hard and enjoyed a good social life in East Perth. As a young woman, she was a registered 'alien' and along with many other migrants survived wartime and the depression era. When I was still at school, I wanted to know more about her, so started learning German. Grandma spoke excellent English with an accent of sorts yet I wanted to write to her in her own language. I treasure the faded hand- written reply to let me know that she came from the town of Neu Stettin in Pomerania [located to the east of modern Germany on the Baltic Sea]. Many years later, we found some truth in the family stories of Grandma's life and with decades of careful work on existing records filled in the rest of her story. At last we can make sense of these bits and pieces in formal documents. We can follow the many variations in the names she used to suggest some errors and others as omissions, alterations or diversions; no doubt Grandma had sound reasons. In this account, the details of Grandma's life are noted in date order. In reality, as with any family history, tracing her journey took many side paths with false leads and intriguing distractions. 'Grandma Mac' is for McGillivrary [not her birth-name]. Dad thought his mother's name was Neumann, Newman, perhaps Nimz or Nimitz. Yet birth registrations in the Province of Neustettin in Pommerania cover hundreds of Nimz and Neumann families. There are few left who knew her yet someone remembered her birthday as 12th of September. So it seems Grandma was ‘Marie Bertha Johanna Nimz’ born on 12 September 1889 to Johanna Louisa Henriette Neumann and Christian Carl Wilhelm Nimz, known as Carl Nimz, a railway worker, in the town of Neustettin in Neustettin province in Pomerania. Family stories suggest Marie travelled to London to live with an Uncle after her mother died and her father re-married. Of course, Pomerania has a long history of invasion and re- population, and few records remain after WWII. Yet we were stunned when officials at Neustettin Town Hall denied German-speaking people ever lived there. Fortunately, Greifswald Archive have some records. Recent online searches show Marie's mother, Johanna died on 18 Feb 1900 (aged 37) at Neustettin. Her father Carl Nimz re-married on 13 Jan 1901 to Auguste Dux and then on 7 Aug 1901, Carl Nimz died (aged 39). Marie was an orphan aged 11 and it is remains unclear what happened to her siblings. On 15 August 1903, a woman named ‘Marie Nanz’ was a passenger on the ship Silvia to London although noted age 21. In any case, later details partially support the story that Marie lived with an aunt and uncle no doubt among the many Nimz and Neuman families working as tailors in London. We trace Grandma through her daughter, my aunt Hetty. On 7 Aug 1906, Hetwig daughter of 'Louise Maria Nimz' was born at Shadwell London and on 25 August 1906, ‘Marie Louise Nimz’, tailoress (daughter of Carl Nimz, railway driver, decd) married Arthur Robert Pluhatsch at Stepney London. On 4 Nov 1907, a son Arthur was born who died in infancy and then her husband left. Marie was just 18. At some point, Marie was living with Grandpa, Ernst Kreibig. He was a German migrant of Bomemian descent who arrived in London on 9 May 1908. On 8 Oct 1910, Marie noted as 'Mary Kreibig' with daughter Hetty and Ernst Kreibig migrated to Australia on the ship Armadale to arrive in the heat of summer on 29 December 1910 at Fremantle. Documents of 1916 and 1927 show 'Mary Kreibig' a registered alien naturalized in WA who was born on 12 September 1889 in Neustattin Germany. Grandma and Grandpa raised the children Hetty, Hilda, Wilhelm, Connie, Marge, Mick and Clarrie at Waroona and Amphion
Submitted by Laurel Fisher Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
near Dwellingup in WA. The WA land records show on 23 March 1931, ‘Marie Luisa Anna Kreibig’ bought five acres at Amphion for a market garden. Then Marie and Ernst separated and family dispersed. Fortunately, we can follow Marie to Dwellingup where she ran a hat shop and then to Perth where she worked as a cook. The next record shows that on 3 January 1935, ‘Marie Newman aged 38 (sic)’ daughter of ‘Johanna Nimz and Charles Newman engine driver, dec’ married to Robert McGillivray in Perth. There is no way to know if mixing parental surnames was a clerical error or deliberate. Then Marie and Bob went to Reedy near Cue, Leonora and Bullfinch where he worked as a miner and Grandma ran a shop/post office and other work. Those who know the area can only admire the will to survive. By 1943, Marie and Bob separated; he later married again and Grandma Mac moved back to Perth as 'Marie Anna Louise McGillivray'. She lived with family in Bayswater, Flinders, Bassendean then East Perth. On 6 May 1971, the elusive ‘Marie Anna Louise McGillivrary’ died aged 81 in Perth WA. Once the official records noted Grandma as an 'alien' and the death records noted her parents as 'unknown'. It is rewarding that the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages recently accepted the correct details for her birth, the names of her parents and children.
Submitted by Laurel Fisher Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2004 The Unknown Soldier
by Bob Wright
Submitted by Bob Wright Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
The Unknown Soldier
Positively identifying an ancestor with a very common name in old records is a frustration we are all familiar with, and there are few names quite as common as John Wright. This has made my great great great grandfather my most elusive ancestor.
Ironically, I know quite a lot about John Wright. Born on 26 March 1790,1 he married Caroline Amos on 16 June 1812, in Olney, Buckinghamshire.2 John then served in India for six years as a soldier in the 1st Battalion of the 14th Regiment of Foot, where he took part in military manoeuvres in connection with the Nepal War (1814-1815),3 the siege of Hatras (1817),4 and the Pindari War (1817-1818),5 though there is no evidence he took part in any of the fighting.
In 1824, after his discharge, he was convicted of burglary in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and sentenced to transportation for life.6 He arrived in the colony of New South Wales as a convict aboard the Mangles the same year.7
In 1825 he petitioned the Governor to allow his wife to join him in the colony, and thereby grant him the ‘greatest blessing this world can afford’.8 Caroline arrived on the Borneo in 1828.9 They settled in the Castlereagh district and raised a family.
John gained his Ticket of Leave in 1833,10 and a Conditional Pardon in 1840.11 He worked as a sexton for the Reverend Henry Fulton at the Castlereagh Church and cemetery.12 He died in 1844.13
However John’s life before he married Caroline is a complete blank. His origins are a mystery, and the names of his parents unknown. His birth date is inscribed in an old family Bible, but no matching baptism entry has been located for him in any relevant Parish registers. His place of birth is also uncertain. There are only a few tantalising, but contradictory clues.
Although John’s military records have not survived, his name does appear in the monthly muster returns for the 14th Regiment. They reveal that he arrived in Calcutta in October 1813 to join his Battalion as a ‘recruit joined from England’.14
His date of enlistment is not recorded, but the minimum term of service was seven years. In October 1819 John was described in the muster return for that month as a ‘time expired man’.15 This would mean he probably enlisted in 1812.
In 1820 John got a passage home on an East India Company ship and returned to England.16 He was discharged from the British Army at Albany Barracks on the Isle of Wight in July.17 The muster return for that month records that he was a labourer, born in the Parish of Burnham in Buckinghamshire.18
However, to confuse the issue, when John later arrived in New South Wales as a convict his ‘native place’ was recorded as County Dublin in Ireland.19 So did he come from Dublin or Buckinghamshire? There is a clue which points to the latter.
In the 1940s John’s grandson bought a house in the Blue Mountains which he named Wendover. There is a village in Buckinghamshire called Wendover, which is not too far away from Burnham, lying just on the other side of the Chiltern Hills.20 Submitted by Bob Wright Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Could it be that a family memory was passed down that John came originally from Wendover? In the absence of a matching baptism entry, this cannot be proven. But if John wasn’t born there, perhaps his parents came from that village?
Intriguingly, the muster returns for the 14th Regiment reveal that another John Wright served in the 2nd Battalion, having joined as a volunteer from the Buckinghamshire Militia in 1809. This John is recorded as 41 years of age, and born in Wendover.21
Could he be my ancestor’s father? Might John have followed him into the 14th Regiment? If John’s father was also a soldier, then it strengthens the possibility that he was born in County Dublin. The Buckinghamshire Militia did serve in Ireland during the 1798 Rebellion,22 but it’s unclear whether it was there in 1790, the year of John’s birth.
If this man from Wendover was John’s father, perhaps John followed him into the Buckinghamshire Militia first, before also volunteering to join the 14th Regiment. This theory is supported by a discrepancy in the amount of time that John later claimed to have served in the military.
In his 1825 petition, John claimed that ‘he has been in His Majesty’s Service for 12 years that he served 8 years in the East Indies and was at the taking of the Napaul Country.’23 It is an exaggeration to say that he was at the taking of that country, since he seems to have gone no further than the border between India and Nepal, and to have taken no part in the fighting.
The muster returns too, show that John served only six years in India, not eight, and seven years in the 14th Regiment, not twelve. Did he also exaggerate his total length of military service?
Perhaps, but if John joined the Buckinghamshire Militia when it was reformed in 180824 (he would have been just old enough), and then transferred into the 14th Regiment in 1812, this would bring his total length of military service up to twelve years by the time he was discharged from the Army in 1820, exactly as he claimed.
Unfortunately, this cannot be proven either way, as records for the Buckinghamshire Militia during this period are not available. Any connection between the elder John from Wendover and the younger John is, in any event, speculative. They may, after all, be unrelated.
The burglary John was convicted for took place in Great Missenden,25 which lies in the Chiltern Hills, about half way between Burnham and Wendover, so he was obviously familiar with this area. However in the absence of any other records, it cannot be demonstrated with any certainty that his origins lie in either Buckinghamshire or Dublin. John Wright remains my most elusive ancestor – the unknown soldier.
1 Wright-Jones Family Bible. 2 Extract of marriage entry, Olney Parish Register, issued by Buckinghamshire CRO, County Hall, Aylesbury on 14 July 1993. 3 Muster Return, 24 January 1815, PRO, London, WO 12/3133; Muster Return, 24 February 1815, PRO, London, WO 12/3133; Muster Return, 24 March 1815, PRO, London, WO 12/3133. 4 Muster Return, 24 February 1817, PRO, London, WO 12/3135.
Submitted by Bob Wright Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
5 Muster Return, 24 November 1817, PRO, London, WO 12/3135; Muster Return, 24 December 1817, PRO, London, WO 12/3135; Muster Return, 24 January 1818, PRO, London, WO 12/3136. 6 SRNSW, Trials, Buckinghamshire, 1824, AJCP Reel 2769, 27. 7 SRNSW, Principal Superintendent of Convicts, Bound Indents 1823-1826, Mangles (3), [4/4009A] Fiche 654, 118. 8 SRNSW, NRS 906, Colonial Secretary, Applications for free passages for wives and families of convicts,1825,[4/1112.1A], Reel 697. 9 SRNSW, Assisted Immigrants Inwards to Sydney 1828-1842, Vol. 1A 1828-1832, [4/4823] Reel 1286. 10 SRNSW, Principal Superintendent of Convicts, Ticket of Leave Butts May-Oct. 1833, No. 33/625 [4/4088- 89]. 11 SRNSW, Registers of Convicts Recommended for Conditional Pardons 6 May 1826 – 30 June 1856, No. 41/147 [4/4478] Fiche 826. 12 SRNSW, Registers of Baptisms, Burials and Marriages 1787-1856, Reel 5003, Vol. 14 1830, No. 304. 13 Wright-Jones Family Bible. 14 Quarterly Muster Returns, 1st Battalion 14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot, 24 October 1813, PRO, London, WO 12/3131. 15 Muster Return, 24 October 1819, PRO, London, WO 12/3137. 16 Information provided from the records of the Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library, London on December 22, 1993. 17 Muster Return, 24 June 1820, PRO, London, WO 12/3138. 18 Muster Return, 24 July 1820, PRO, London, WO 25/341. 19 SRNSW, Principal Superintendent of Convicts, Bound Indents 1823-1826, Mangles (3), [4/4009A] Fiche 654, 118. 20 ‘Wendover’, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendover accessed on 26 January 2020. 21 Ancestry.com, Canada, British Regimental Registers of Service, 1756-1900 results for John Wright, (database on-line). 22 John Beckett, The Rise and Fall of the Grenvilles, Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos, 1710 to 1921, (Manchester University Press, 1994), p 88. 23 SRNSW, NRS 906, Colonial Secretary, Applications for free passages for wives and families of convicts,1825,[4/1112.1A], Reel 697. 24 Major-General J C Swann, The Citizen Soldiers of Buckinghamshire, 1795 to 1926, (Buckinghamshire Territorial Army Association, 1930), p 101. 25 SRNSW, Trials, Buckinghamshire, 1824, AJCP Reel 2769, 27.
Submitted by Bob Wright Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2005 Finding the Real Thomas Walsh
by Rowan Morrison
Submitted by Rowan Morrison Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Finding the Real Thomas Walsh
Although Thomas Walsh was my 3rd great-grandfather he was originally not a high priority in my research as I was fascinated by Briscoe ancestors in my paternal grandmother’s family. The Briscoes were property owners in Kilkennyi from the early 1700s, with roots further back to Cumberlandii.
My aunt Gladys had handed down her Briscoe research carried out from the late 1980s in pre- internet times. She had engaged professional genealogists in Ireland to look up vital records, newspapers, the Registry of Deeds and other sources, and even travelled to Kilkenny to meet distant relatives. She was following the ancestors of Henry Harrison Briscoeiii, who after serving in the British Armyiv, migrated to Australia. His father, also Henry Harrison Briscoe, was a Poor Laws Inspector in County Clarev during the Great Famine years and had married Eliza Thomasina Walsh in 1830. The Waterford Mail recorded:
“Married Henry Harrison Briscoe eldest son of Edward Briscoe of Cloncunny [Kilkenny] to Eliza Thomasina, only daughter of the late Col. Thomas Walsh, 56th Regiment.” vi
I also inherited Gladys’ unsubstantiated notes suggesting Eliza Thomasina’s father, Thomas Walsh was born in 1760 and married Barbara Meagher of Tipperary. This was proved to be incorrect.
The father of Henry Harrison senior was as Edward Briscoe (born about 1755)vii. The 95 year old widowed Edward was located in the 1851 census on the Isle of Man and with him a 39 year old ‘Eliza T’ and daughters Caroline and Thomasinaviii while husband Henry Harrison was working in Scotland. The census showed Eliza was born in “W. Indies (Brit Subject)” in about 1812. In the 1871 census Eliza, now a widowix was living with her daughter Caroline in Devonx confirming a Jamaica, West Indies birth in about 1811.
In 2010 while travelling in Ireland, I was able to locate Eliza’s quite impressive grave at Graigavine, Kilkenny, inscribed as follows:
“Sacred to the Memory of Elizabeth Thomasina Relict of the late Henry Harrison Briscoe Esq. Of Cloncunny Co. Kilkenny And daughter of the Late Lieut. Col. Walsh of H.M. 56th Regt. Died 13th February 1875 in her 66th Year.”xi
This further confirmation suggested Eliza’s birth date was around 1809. Based on these dates, Eliza’s Jamaican baptism record was discovered as 7 April 1808 for “Eliza Thomasina Walsh daughter of A. E. French”, and being born on 3 March 1808.xii
I also obtained a copy of the Thomas Walsh’s will, part of which pointed further to his ancestry. Extracts include bequests totalling £1200 to four brothers: Edward, Philip, Joseph and Francis, and £2500 ‘to my innocent child, Eliza Thomasina Walsh of Spanish Town, Jamaica.’xiii Submitted by Rowan Morrison Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Thomas’ army career then came into focus through the British Army Lists, starting in 1798 as an Ensign in the 5th Regiment of the Irish Brigadexiv (under commanding officer Col. Charles Viscount Walsh de Serrant), in 1801 in the 27th Regiment of Footxv during the Campaign in Egyptxvi under General Eyre Cootexvii and other postingsxviii including Jamaica between 1806 and 1808 in the 56th Regimentxix again with Eyre Coote.
Coote was also Irish and the two men developed a strong bond and friendship. This was evident upon Thomas’ early death in 1810xx when a gig in which he was riding overturned. He was buried at St. Andrew’s church at Farnhamxxi, Surrey where a memorial plaque was erected at the request of relatives. Details of these events are recorded in the Eyre Coote Papers which also identify some of Thomas’ relations, including Viscount Thomas Anthony Southwell, Viscount of Gormanston Jenico Preston as well as his brothers. These high connections led to the discovery of Thomas’ origins and proud Irish ancestry.
Thomas was born on 4 February 1777 in France into an Irish émigré family and baptised at St. Georges-sur-Loire as Francis Thomas David Joseph Walshxxii. His father was the second Earl Walsh, a title bestowed on the latter’s father Anthony Vincent Walsh by the King James IIIxxiii in recognition of his Jacobite service and his Irish noble heritagexxiv. Thomas’ uncle was also honoured as the Count de Serrant.
So, the real origins of our Thomas Walsh had been unearthed.
i Griffith’s Valuations for Parish of Clonmore, Kilkenny, 1848-1864, p7. ii Carrigan, William, History of the Diocese of Ossory Kilkenny, 1981. iii "Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5V7-VYN: 5 February 2020), Henry Harrison Briscoe, 1837. iv Indian Mutiny Medal Recipients, http://www.ozemail.com.au/~clday/misc.htm v Clare County Library - Ennistymon Union Minutes Books, http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/et_minutes/et_minutes_book8.htm vi Waterford Mail, 29th May 1830 vii "Isle of Man Parish Registers, 1598-2009," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZT8-J4C : 4 August 2017), Edward Briscoe, 31 Oct 1851, Burial; citing Onchan, Isle of Man, Manx National Heritage Library, Douglas. viii Record Transcription: 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census 3, Crescent Bayview, Conchan, Isle of Man ix ‘DEATH OF MR HENRY HARRISON BRISCOE’, Inverness Advertiser, 18 November 1864, Inverness Reference Library, Farraline Park, Inverness IV1 1NH x 1871 Census, Northam, Devonshire. xi Personally taken photograph “Inscription - Headstone of grave of Eliza Thomasina Briscoe”, 25 April 2010, jpeg xii FamilySearch for the Jamaica, [St. Catherine’s] Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 xiii Prerogative Court of Canterbury, digital version of will: “Thomas Walsh late Colonel in HM 56th Regiment of Foot of Farnham in the County of Surrey” xiv Army List 1798 WO 65 48 5th Regt Irish Brigade xv Army List 1801 WO 65 51 27th Regt xvi Walsh, Thomas, ‘Journal of the late campaign in Egypt: including descriptions of that country and of Gibraltar, Minorca, Malta, Marmorice, and Macri: with an appendix containing official papers and documents’ London: Printed by Luke Hansard, for T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies, 1803. xvii Eyre Coote Papers, 2006, University of Michigan, p.175, http://www.clements.umich.edu/eadadd/coote_calendar.pdf xviii Army List 1807 WO 65 57 Queens Rangers
Submitted by Rowan Morrison Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
xix Army List 1809 WO 65 59 56th Regiment xx Record Transcription: Surrey Burials https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=PRS%2FSURREY%2FBUR%2F0399708 xxi War Memorials Register Lieutenant Colonel T Walsh https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/23588 xxii Jack, TC & EC, ‘Jacobite Peerage Baronetage, Knightage and Grants of Honour’, Edinburgh, 1904, p180. xxiii Ibid, p 178 xxiv Brown W., A Royalist family Irish and French (1689-1789) and Prince Charles Edward. Edinburgh, 1904.
Submitted by Rowan Morrison Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2006 A Twist in the Tale
by Coral Wynter
Submitted by Coral Wynter Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
A Twist in the Tale
It was the early 1960s. My mother used to say to me, “I’m sure your father has convict blood.” This was after she had endured a bitter divorce, and I was 13 years old at the time. It was still the era when it wasn’t cool to have a convict ancestor, the mark of Cain. So after I finished university, I began to research my Dad’s family. I couldn’t ask anyone as my mother had cut off all relations with his family.
I quickly found my great, great grandfather, WIlliam George Chennell, born in Surrey, England, in 1814.1 He had married Sarah Hitchcock in 18442 in Byfleet, Surrey. She was the daughter of Solomon Hitchcock,3 born in 1794 in West Horsley, Surrey. Solomon Hitchcock had 8 children with Mary Tanner from Abinger, Surrey.4
Lo and behold I had found my convict. Solomon had been convicted twice at Surrey Assizes for stealing food for his large family. He was acquitted in 1819,5 but the second time, he was sentenced to life and transportation for stealing a side of lamb. He sailed on the Portland, arriving in Sydney in 1832.6 My mother was vindicated.
Spurred on by my success, I started on my grandmother Doris Adams. I found her mother, Frances Victoria Conneff, born 1864, 7 and her mother Mary Eliza Conneff, born 18418 to Irish Catholic immigrants in Sydney. The Conneff family had arrived on the ship Heber in 1839.9 The father, James Conneff, was a tailor and had a shop in Sussex Street East, Haymarket. Frances’ birth certificate had no father listed, but a clue was the middle name of Lions.7
Then began the great mystery. My great grandmother Frances was illegitimate. Who was my great, great grandfather? I searched all the Sands Sydney Directories, ship arrivals, the census and electoral data for a Lions, but drew a blank. There was no record of any Lions in the colony, but I always thought there was some exotic blood in our veins, besides convict. My grandmother Doris had beautiful red hair in tight, tiny curls, always cut short. I gave up the search for my mysterious Lions for 35 years.
In 2015, I attended a talk by the City of Sydney library on family research. I mentioned my problem and it was suggested that I should look at the original baptism certificate as the priest, on his own volition, often listed in the margins the real name of the father of the illegitimate child.
So I tracked down the microfiche of the original baptism certificate kept at SAG. It was a challenge to operate the microfiche viewer. I want to thank the volunteers at SAG for always being on hand, offering practical help and lots of advice. I found the entry, although the baptism date was 4 months later than the birth date. There it was, as clear as day. The name of the father had been wrongly transcribed. And it was actually Henry Zions, not Lions.10
Submitted by Coral Wynter Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
He was a Polish, Jewish tailor, who had owned a tailor’s shop at 415 George Street, close to my great, great, great grandfather, James Conneff.11 When I told my brother the solution to the mystery, he commented that Dad had told him there was a Polish Jew in the family! Thanks Bro!
Henry Zions was born in Plock, Masovia, Poland in 1839.12 He emigrated first to New Zealand by an unknown route, and afterwards arrived in Sydney on the ship, the Breadalbane, in 1860.13 He gave no support to his illegitimate daughter Frances, but was forced to pay 10 shillings a week for 12 months after Mary Eliza summoned him to the Water Police Court in October 1864.14
Henry Zions travelled to London and married a young Jewish woman Clara Cohen in 1874.15 He went on to become one of the wealthiest Jewish men in Sydney, a leading light of the Jewish community.16 Henry Zions had 11 children to Clara,17 lived in Oxford Street, Paddington, and died in 1920.18 My great, great, grandmother Mary Eliza married in 1883,19 did not have any more children and died in Newington Asylum, Lidcombe, in 1915.20
However, life is serendipitous. In March 2020, I was reading the history of Jessie Street, one of Australia’s earliest feminists, who fought a valiant fight for women’s rights and equal wages. I was part of a team organising a feminist, historical walking tour of Sydney and a friend dropped off Street’s autobiography which had recently been reprinted.
Late one night, I was reading in her book, where Jessie Street described her meeting in 1930 with Nancy Astor, the first woman elected to the House of Commons. While in London, Street also attended a meeting on birth control, where a Doctor Norman Haire introduced himself as a fellow student at Sydney University. Street described him as a rotund, middle- aged man, very well off, with a large house in Harley Street and a birth control clinic.21
The clinic entrance was inside the house with an inscription above it in great gold letters: “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, she had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.” Jessie Street couldn't remember a Haire, but he said his name, as a student, had been Zions.
I nearly fell out of bed, as there could not be many families of Zions in Sydney. I quickly checked my ancestry file and one of Henry and Clara’s sons was Norman Zions, born in 1892 in Paddington.22
I’m very proud of Norman Haire/Zions as he tried to improve the lives of women, by helping them limit the number of children, when it was still considered a taboo subject. He must have thought of his own mother. So I am really glad I tracked down my most elusive ancestor, Henry Zions. ______Submitted by Coral Wynter Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
1. General Register Office, England, Birth Certificate of William George Chennell, Chertsey, Sept, 1847, Vol 4, page 87 2. General Register Office, England, Marriage Certificate of William Chennell and Sarah Hitchcock, Chertsey March 1844, Vol 4, page 31 3. Findmypast Solomon Hitchcock, born 1794, British Home Office: Convict Hulks, Convict Prisons and Criminal Lunatic Asylums: Quarterly Returns Of Prisoners, Series HO 8. Assessed 15 April, 2020. 4. Findmypast Baptism of Mary Tanner, 1797, Abinger, Surrey, Assessed 16 April, 2020. 5. Findmypast Solomon Hitchcock, Surrey Assizes 1819, Home Office: Convict Hulks, Convict Prisons And Criminal Lunatic Asylums: Quarterly Returns Of Prisoners, Series HO27 Assessed 16 April 2020. 6. Tickets of Leave 1824-1867, Solomon Hitchcock, arrived on the Portland, 1832, NSW, Australia. 7. NSW Registry of BDM, Birth Certificate of Fanny Lions Conneff, 26 August 1864, Balmain, Sydney, No 2619, Vol 1555 8. NSW Registry of BDM, Baptism of Mary Eliza Conneff, 15 January 1841 St Mary’s Cathedral., Sydney No 1427, Vol 133 9. List of passengers, Arrival of James Conniff on the ship Heber, 28 Feb, 1839, Vol 19 10. Baptisms of Frances Conneff, 18 December 1864 in Balmain, St Augustine, Roman Catholic Church, Microfiche SAG 11. NSW Police Gazette, 17 October, 1866, Stolen on the 12th instant, from the shop-door of Henry Zions, tailor No 415 George Street. 12. NSW State Archives, Naturalisation of Henry Zions from The New Zealand Gazette, 20 June 1860 Reel 130, page 87, Register 35 68/2090. 13. List of Passengers, Arrival of Henry Zions on the ship Breadalbane, from Auckland in 1860 states he was born in Poland, age 29 years, record number, 2090. 14. Sydney Morning Herald 22 October 1864, page 4 Water Police Court, Henry Zions appeared on summons to answer to informant Mary Eliza Connell, Trove. 15. Marriage Certificate of Henry Zions and Clara Cohen Nov 1874, Mile End, General Register Office, England, Middlesex. MXH 682785 16. The Daily Telegraph, A City Wedding Zions-Lazarus, 29 January 1915, page 3, Trove 17. NSW Registry of BDM, Death Certificate of Clara Zions 1929, 3665/1929 18. NSW Registry of BDM, Death Certificate of Henry Zions 1920, 3399/1920 19. NSW Registry of BDM, Marriage Certificate of Mary Eliza Connell and John Wharton 1883, Bathurst 1883/3720 20. NSW Registry of BDM, Death Certificate of Mary Wharton, 12 September 1915, Newington Asylum, Lidcombe 1915/11762 21. Jessie Street, A revised autobiography, Edited by Lenore Coltheart, Published by Federation Press, 2004, page 75. ISBN 1 86287 502 2 22. NSW Registry of BDM, Birth certificate of Norman Zions, 1892, Sydney 1892/27866
Submitted by Coral Wynter Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2007 The Riddle of the Sarahs
by Clem Ditton
Submitted by Clem Ditton Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
The Riddle of the Sarahs
When Sarah Jane Barron married 52-year-old Abraham in Mackay in 1891, she certified that she was 27, born in Townsville and her parents were Annie Laurie and James Barron, a sea captain.1 The closest matching record identified Anne and James Barron, whose daughter, Sarah Jane, was born around 1874 in North Queensland.2 The challenges with that match are, Sarah would have been just 17 on her wedding day, Anne’s maiden name was Farley and James was a carrier on the inland tracks.
These were the frontier days, when settlement often preceded government scribes. Sarah’s claim of being 27 and ‘the first white child born at Kissing Point’, would mean Sarah was there, just before Townsville officially existed.3 Were there two Sarahs, or just the one? It is not a unique name, as another Sarah Jane Barron4 arrived in Townsville from England in 1887.5
James Barron, the carrier, was born in Newfoundland6 and Anne Farley in Ireland.7 They married in Bowen in 18658 and had four children before Sarah and one after. All these siblings died young.9 Sarah’s birth was one of those not recorded, but she was mentioned as a one-year- old on the registration of her younger brother, who drew breath for just one day. Did this Sarah manage to cling to life, when none of her siblings could?10 James, the carrier also tried his luck on the goldfields at Cape River,11 Ravenswood12 and Charters Towers,13 but the Barron family were strangers to fortune. After several years of residence in Townsville,14 the family decamped to Cooktown, the supply base for the Palmer rush, described as ‘one of the wildest, most lawless and dangerous rushes the world has ever seen.’15
Searching over the years for James Barron, the sea captain, found some candidates,16 but nothing to link any of them to Queensland or even to an Annie. A granddaughter was told Sarah’s father drowned in India after falling drunk between two ships at dock.17 A more productive search for Annie turned up a death record for an Ann Barron of the right age in Cooktown. She had died from alcoholic poisoning,18 but an unrelated official19 provided unhelpful particulars, making it difficult to be certain of the link.20 The Cooktown episode was not going well for the Barrons as James had faced court for fowl stealing in March 1875.21 The absence of a related informant for Anne’s demise is probably explained by James being one of ‘six prisoners bought to Rockhampton by the Bunyip and in turn from the steamer Leichardt from up north’. He had been sentenced by the Cooktown Bench to two months' imprisonment for assault.22 The Leichardt left Cooktown on 3rd June 187623 and Anne had died the day before.24 James’ arrest and trial would have preceded her death. His arrest probably contributed to the circumstances leading to Anne’s death.
If Sarah was mistaken about her mother’s maiden name, then it may be because she lost her mother when she was just two years old. The evergreen Scottish ballad, Annie Laurie,25 has existed in writing since 1823 and that song may have filled the gap in Sarah’s young memory.
James the carrier, either went to sea or disappeared into the wild north,26 as no more records were found for him after he pleaded guilty to ‘furious riding’ in Rockhampton in late 1876.27 Sarah appears to be orphaned, but possibly retains some knowledge of her parents via whoever was looking after her. The family story about Abraham’s bride, had her living at an orphanage prior to her marriage,28 but that doesn’t fit with official records. The Mackay orphanage closed in 1885 with all children transferred to Rockhampton.29 Sarah’s name is not on the register of any of these institutions.30 The family realized that Sarah held the local Catholic priest in high Submitted by Clem Ditton Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
regard,31 when she welcomed him with home cooked roast chicken, a treat her eleven children rarely tasted. It was clear, she had known him from her early years.32
A few months prior to marrying Abraham, Sarah had given birth to my grandfather.33 He was the product of a liaison with an unmarried shop assistant from Mackay,34 but Sarah was left to face her predicament alone. Mother and child needed a roof over their heads. Abraham was a farmer who had recently become a widower.35 He went looking for a housekeeper, but his preference was to marry the woman who slept under his roof.36 Abraham had three sons still at home, aged 21, 18 and 13 and his only daughter, living in Townsville, was 27.37 Convincing these sons to treat Sarah as a stepmother rather than a peer or a prospect, would provide a motive to raise a younger age. These sons all moved on within a few years.38 Her own children affectionally remembered her as hard-working, capable and devout.
The lack of any clear records for the parallel family, the almost matching details and the plausible explanations, all supported the hypothesis that the luckless Barrons were my great great grandparents. DNA had identified the shop assistant and it offered hope in resolving this riddle as well. Messages were sent to relevant matches and their trees were scanned for clues nestling in the branches. A kindhearted American correspondent39 did some extra digging and unearthed the following gem from the Missing Friends section of an 1875 edition of the Boston Pilot.40
Of JAMES BARRON, son of William Barron and Mary Fleming, of county Kilkenny, who left Halifax, N.S., about 1865; when last heard from he was in Cape River Gold Field, Bowen, Port Denison, Queensland, South Australia.41 Information of him, dead or alive, will be received by his mother, Mrs. Mary Barron, 6 Houghton Street, Cambridgeport, Mass.
This added information about James Barron, the carrier and explained a relatively strong match with a Massachusetts resident42 claiming descent from Irish born, William and Mary Barron. Records from Ireland43 suggested the Barrons had fled the Great Famine.44 This link provided certainty, the two Sarahs were one.45
References 1 QLD Marriage Certificate 1891/1410 1168, Mackay, 3 Nov 1891, Abraham X & Sarah Barron 2 QLD Birth Certificate 1875/ 286 22, Cooktown, 24 Feb 1875, Patrick Barron 3 My great grandmother appears to celebrate her birthday in October, based on when her age changes on official records. E.g. Age 27 on 3rd November 1891 (& 26 in July 1891) suggests a birth in or before October 1864. Officially, Townsville did not have European residents until November 1864 and the first official European birth was in August 1865. Townsville Daily Bulletin, Sat 29 Dec 1951, page 3, Northern Development http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63397166 & rootsweb: William Townsville Boyes b. 25 Aug1865 – First European birth in Townsville. A note in her son, William’s papers, stated that Sarah was ‘the first white child born at Kissing Point’, a headland at the northern end of the Strand, a street that runs the length of Townsville’s seaside foreshore. 4 QLD Death Certificate 1968/97256 Brisbane, 16 May 1968, Sarah Jane Barron, born in Durham, UK 5 http://data.gov.au/storage/f/2013-05-12T195404/tmpsLxwENImmigration-1848-1912.txt 6 Most official records state St John’s, Newfoundland (British territory separate to Canada at time relevant to story) 7 One official record shows Maia, Ireland another shows Meath, Ireland, three state Westmeath, Ireland. 8 QLD Marriage Certificate 1865/372 81, St Mary’s (R.C.), Bowen, 3 Sep 1865, James Barron & Anne Farley The MC did not name the parents of either party. No immigration records have been found for relevant Barrons. 9 QLD Death Certificate 1866/32 135, Kennedy (Bowen), 20 Jun 1866, William Barron No BC for William has been found but the DC stated the birth occurred seven days earlier & QLD Birth Certificate 1867/73 305, Conway Station, 15 May 1867, Mary Anne Barron & QLD Death Certificate 1868/107 8, Cape River, 15 Nov 1868, Mary Anne Barron
Submitted by Clem Ditton Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
& QLD Birth Certificate 1870/3151 186, Townsville, 5 Jan 1870, Mary Jane Barron No DC for Mary Jane has been found but records and choice of name for the next child confirms she has died. & QLD Birth Certificate 1873/3891 474, Townsville, 2 May 1873, Mary Barron & QLD Death Certificate 1873/1498 306, Townsville, 19 May 1873, Mary Barron & QLD Birth Certificate 1875/ 286 22, Cooktown, 24 Feb 1875, Patrick Barron & QLD Death Certificate 1875/241 94, Cooktown, 25 Feb 1875, Patrick Barron Recorded causes of infant death were ‘convulsions’ in three cases and ‘debility from birth’ in the other. 10 No death record was found for Sarah Jane, but no death record was found for her sister, Mary Jane, either. 11 Implied from presence at Cape River for death of Mary Anne, and subsequent applications for gold licences. 12 QLD Miner’s Rights & Business Licences 1870-1884 applications on 23 Sep 1871 for Ravenswood 13 QLD Miner’s Rights & Business Licences 1870-1884 5 Oct 1872 for Charters Towers, Broughton & Cape River 14 The Queensland Post Office Directory of 1874, published by Bailliere, has James as a ‘carrier’ in Walker Street, Townsville. An undelivered letter for James was registered at Townsville in January 1874. 15 Quote from David Hill’s The Gold Rush, Random House 2010 – in the caption for JV Mulligan’s photograph. & backed by detail from River of Gold by Hector Holthouse Angus & Robertson (first published 1967 reprint 1994) & Missing Friends: the adventures of a Danish immigrant (1871-1880) by Thorvald Peter Ludwig Weitemeyer 16 Evening Post, Volume V, Issue 7, 17 Feb 1869. Loss of the ship St. Vincent & Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle Vol XXVIII, 21, Sat 13 Mar 1869, Wreck of the Ship St. Vincent & Lloyds Register, Sea Captains, State Library of NSW & Argus (Melbourne), Fri 27 Jul 1866, page 4, Deaths http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5768944 & Age (Melbourne), Fri 17 Dec 1858, page 4, Shipping http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154876953 & Argus (Melbourne), Tue 2 Jun 1863, page 4, Shipping Intelligence http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6486252 17 2016 Oral History: Delma Haack, daughter of Sarah’s son William (1905 – 1996) – name used with permission. 18 A report from Cooktown described the ‘poisonous alcohol vendered by unscrupulous shanty-keepers’ Northern Argus (Rockhampton) Thu 10 Dec 1874, Page 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214286267 19 The ‘informant’, William Hartley, was the Land Commissioner for Cooktown and also a prominent businessman. 20 QLD Death Certificate 1876/350 386, Cooktown, 2 Jun 1876, Ann Barron Name fits, Age 31, which fits. Attended by RC priest which fits. In the colonies 7 years, which is acceptably close to the more likely 11 years. Married which fits, but husband named as George - No matching George has been found. Two Georges found deemed unlikely. No parental detail. No children listed (so no Sarah). Place of Birth and marriage ‘Kulborough’; not located. 21 Cooktown Courier, 20 March 1875, as advised by The Cooktown Historical Society by email on 26 Jun 2013 22 Rockhampton Bulletin, Fri 9 Jun 1876, page 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51904408 23 Mackay Mercury and South Kennedy Advertiser, Sat 10 Jun 1876, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news- article169855611 24 QLD Death Certificate 1876/350 386, Cooktown, 2 Jun 1876, Ann Barron 25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Laurie 26 Some QLD Death Certificates have no names or only partial names. Many individuals disappeared without trace. 27 Rockhampton Bulletin, Tue 7 Nov 1876, page 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51906508 28 2016 Oral History from Delma Haack, daughter of Sarah’s son William (1905 – 1996) 29 https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/qld/QE00659 site giving history of St Joseph’s Orphanage, Mackay 30 QLD State Archives admission registers for Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton orphanages 31 Probably the widely admired French born, Father Pierre-Marie Bucas, who was at Mackay in Sarah’s time. He devoted his energies to those who were hard done by, including the aboriginals, the kanakas, escaped ex- convicts of New Caledonia, orphans and the poor. He was the priest who ran St Joseph’s orphanage, Mackay, before it was closed in 1885. Early Settlers of Mackay (1860-1885) Mackay Family History Society 2009. P 124-125 32 2016 Oral History from Delma Haack, daughter of Sarah’s son William (1905 – 1996). Sarah had ten children with Abraham from 1893 to 1913. Three died in childhood, one aged 7 years, one aged 2 years and the other a newborn. 33 QLD Birth Certificate 1891/8088 5204, Mackay, 25 Jul 1891, Arthur Barron
Submitted by Clem Ditton Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
34 DNA matching via Ancestry.com identified that the father had to be a son of Crescentia Bihlmaier (1833 – 1916) who migrated to Australia in 1864 and lived in the Mackay district. An analysis of the candidates based on their likely place of residence and traits that were shared, selected the third son as the outstanding candidate. 35 QLD Death Certificate 1891/2610 5701, Mackay, 29 Mar 1891, Marion X. 36 2016 Oral History from Delma Haack, daughter of Sarah’s son William (1905 – 1996) 37 QLD Death Certificate 1916/ 895 9852, Sandy Creek near Mackay, 18 Jan 1916, Abraham X & from the memoirs of Annie X (née Clay) wife of Archibald X, first son of Abraham (son of Abraham) 38 from the memoirs of Annie X (née Clay) wife of Archibald X, first son of Abraham (son of Abraham) 39 Barbara Rex, a librarian from Madison, Wisconsin – name used with permission 40 Boston Pilot, Thu 13 Feb 1875, page 471, Missing Friends - Ancestry Library edition database. 41 South Australia is an incorrect detail, as it was another colony, separate to the colony of Queensland. 42 Ancestry match (cM, segs) between ‘PHH’ (desc. of William J Barron - born 1849, New Brunswick – parents William & Mary Barron) and Delma (53,4) Cousin Bob (16,2) Author (9,1) 43 Irish Catholic records from Inistogue, Kilkenny identify a William Barron and Mary Fleming marrying on 6 Feb 1837. Four relevant baptism records followed, December 1837, one in 1840, another in 1843 and a final one in March 1846. There is no guarantee these records account for James’ family, but it is rated as a strong possibility. 44 Consistent with the last recorded baptism in early 1846, was the mass exodus to mostly Canada, in what were termed, coffin ships. The Irish Famine by Helen Litton, Wolfhound Press, second edition 2003 45 Barron brothers William J (born 1849, New Brunswick) & Patrick J (born 1856, Ontario) shared the same address in 1876. Two Mary Barrons were found in Cambridge in the 1880 census, one was the Irish born widow of William living with son, Patrick J & wife, the other was born in Prussia & married to Herman.
Submitted by Clem Ditton Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2008 A Master of Elusion: Thomas Gray
by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy
Submitted by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
A Master of Elusion – Thomas Nepean Gray
He was the stuff of legends in our family. My great grandfather Thomas Nepean Gray was all we children aspired to be when we listened to our grandfather’s stories. A father of nine, kindly and generous, he was a pioneer in the South Gippsland area of Victoria. His contribution to public life was diverse, spending time as Alberton Shire President and owner of the Ship Inn Hotel at Port Albert as well as being involved in sporting clubs, dramatic societies and education.1 “there was hardly anything that moved – in a social, commercial or political direction – that did not move all the better and look the brighter for the genial presence and encouraging assistance of T.N. Gray”2 When I became interested in family history in 1992 Thomas was one of the first ancestors that I chose to investigate. I visited my local bookstore and purchased Janet Reakes’ “A to Z of Genealogy” to use as a guide. On the back cover she said “If you like…. detective novels and the thrill of the chase you’ll love genealogy.” And how right she was. Thomas Nepean Gray has involved me in a twenty-five-year investigation of his past. Initially without a computer, research was very different from today. I ordered certificates for births, deaths and marriages and spent many hours in libraries scrolling microfilms and viewing fiches. I also contacted family members for help. One second cousin in Victoria had the original newspaper cutting of his obituary which added numerous details to his achievements. Another second cousin in England was invaluable in obtaining records, often visiting record offices in person as we continued to search for our elusive Thomas Nepean Gray. My husband and I travelled to regional historical societies both in Victoria and Yorkshire seeking to verify information about him and we became expert at finding graves as we followed Thomas’s trail. The first roadblock I met was finding his birth. Discrepancies were many on the Australian certificates relating to Thomas Nepean Gray3. His age varied, giving different years for his birth. He always gave his birthplace as Yorkshire and his father’s name as Thomas Gray, a farmer. Another constant was his mother, Jane Whitelock. There were no marriages of a Thomas Gray and Jane Whitelock in Yorkshire nor a birth for a Thomas Gray around 1834. My cousin and I suspected he must have changed his name. Finally, on a visit to North Yorkshire County Record Office in 1994 my cousin found the marriage we were seeking – Thomas Greathead of the parish of St Mary Lambeth County of Surrey and Jane Whitelock of Ellerton in this parish [Downholme] married on 6 April 1830.4 So now knowing that his name at birth was Thomas Greathead our investigation moved to London and a search of the Lambeth Archives found that our Thomas was baptised on 5 May 1831 at St Mary Lambeth and that his father was a cheesemonger.5 The question remained as to why T.N. Gray changed his name. What year did he come to Australia? The first mention of him in Australia is 1871 when he arrived in Stockyard Creek, Victoria as a result of the Gold rush.6 He was employed as a mining agent for Mr Emerson, a solicitor who specialised in mining cases.7 Unable to find his shipping records I enlisted Jan Worthington’s help and in 1996 she found that Thomas Greathead left London on the Essex, arriving in Melbourne on 10
Submitted by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
November 1869.8 He stepped off that ship as Thomas Nepean Gray. I wonder whether he chose the name Nepean as the Essex sailed into Port Phillip Bay past Point Nepean? Why did he come to Australia? For three generations the eldest son had been named Thomas Greathead. Was he escaping this heritage or was he hiding a secret? Had he been married before? He was 43 when he married 17-year-old Mary Ann McGlead in Foster on 13 September 1874.9 Numerous searches showed that he had not been married prior to this. Fortunately for my quest for the truth, the age of the computer and my acquisition of one made searching a whole lot easier and Thomas’s story began to reveal itself. T.N. Gray’s father Thomas Greathead received an early inheritance from his father10 and left a farming life in Swaledale,Yorkshire to try for a better livelihood as a cheesemonger in London. At the time of the census in 1851 Thomas Greathead [1796 – 1864]11 and his son Thomas Greathead [1831 – 1900] were cheesemonger and cheesemonger’s assistant in the shop of Greathead and Co. at 58 Mount Street Lambeth.12 The coming of the railway to London and changes in the marketing of cheese badly affected the business13 and Thomas senior declared himself bankrupt on 16 October 1855.14 In 1858 Thomas Greathead junior applied to join the civil service, looking for a new career for himself. He gave his date of birth as 7 April 1831 which appears to be the only time that he was ever truthful about his age.15 His father died in 186416 leaving Thomas alone in London. In July 1865 Thomas Greathead, a clerk at the War Office, was found guilty of forgery in the Central Criminal Court London.17 He was sentenced to five years penal servitude.18 Four years later on 28 June 1869, Thomas was released from prison with early release due to good behaviour.19 He made the decision to migrate to Australia, leaving the shame of his conviction behind him. Once in Australia he became a pillar of South Gippsland society and only used his skills with the pen to assist miners and the less privileged by writing letters to help them deal with the authorities and with legal matters.20 He has still left me a few unsolved puzzles to work on but that is part of the joy of genealogy. This master of elusion remains a family legend.
Submitted by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Figure 1: T.N. Gray [in frockcoat] outside Ship Inn 1887-1897. Original: Port Albert Maritime Museum
1 From these Beginnings - History of the Shire of Alberton [Victoria] by John Adams Gray Thomas N. pages 114,123,127.148 South Gippsland Shire Historical Society Biographical card no.50 Gray T.N. [Thomas Nepean] obtained 1996
2 In Memorium: The Late T.N. Gray – The Gippsland Standard. Undated original in possession of Margie Fitchett 1995 3 Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Melbourne, Victoria 94/6351 Port Albert 1900 Register Entry no. 184 Date of death: 8 September 1900 See endnote 9 for marriage certificate details 4 Parish of Downholme, page 12 of new register, entry no. 34 viewed at North Yorkshire County Record Office by Max Hadfield 1994 5 St Mary Lambeth Parish Register page 290 entry no. 2315 viewed at Minet Library London by Max Hadfield 1994 6 Wednesdays Closest to the Full Moon. A History of South Gippsland by Barry Collett. Chapter 5 A Gold Town Close to Fabulous Wealth pages 77 - 97 7 Wednesdays Closest to the Full Moon. A History of South Gippsland by Barry Collett page 78 and page 94 8 Jan Worthington – Worthington Clark Pty Ltd – Genealogy Research & Computer Services 1996 Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839 – 1923 Public Record Office, Victoria, page 213 0f 244 Accessed on www.ancestry.com 2020 9 Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Melbourne, Victoria 93/113913 Gippsland Register 1874. No. in register 33 10 Will Thomas Greathead [1768 – 1850] Proved 1 February 1851 Yorkshire England, Probate Records 1521 – 1858 reference no. RD/AP1/202/18/1. Accessed on www.ancestry.com 11 England, Births and Christenings 1538 – 1975 Salt Lake City, Utah FHL Film no. 207559 Familysearch.org Thomas Greathead baptised at Marske, Yorkshire 16 March 1796 No. MNZB-X31 For his death see endnote 16 12 U.K. Census 1851 HO107 Piece 1571 Folio 523 Page 1 – viewed at Minet Library, London by Max Hadfield 1994 13 The Cheesemongers of Teesdale. A talk given by Catherine Ryan to the Upper Dales Family History Group in May 2018 Blundels, Richard and Tregear, Angela [2006] From artisans to “factories”: the interpenetration of craft and industry in English cheese-making, c1650 – 1950. Enterprise & Society, 7[4] pp 705 - 739
Submitted by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
14 Perry’s Bankrupt & Insolvent Gazette October 27, 1855 page 808. British Library Newspapers accessed through Find My Past 2018 15 www.findmypast.com Civil service evidence of age entry 6856 009. Received from Jan Cooper of www.greathead.org on 24 July 2013. 16 General Register Office 1864/Q2 Lambeth Volume 1d Page 236. Certificate no. DXZ 413029 - 1997 Date of death: 12 April 1864 17 England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment 1770 – 1935 Transcription. The National Archives series HO8 Piece no. 180. Prisoner number 8410. Accessed through www.findmypast.com 2016 Sheffield Weekly Supplement to the Telegraph 15 July 1865. British Library Newspapers accessed through www.findmypast.com 2016 BL-0000250-18650715-045 18 England and Wales, Crime, Prisons and Punishment 1770 – 1935 [National Archives London] Pentonville Prison Registers Vol. 3 series HO24 piece no. 18 from www.findmypast.com 2016 19 England and Wales Crime, Prisons and Punishment 1770 – 1935 Prison Registers Series HO8 Piece no. 180 Accessed through www.findmypast.com 2016 20 In Memorium: The Late T.N. Gray – The Gippsland Standard. See endnote 2. Yarram and District Historical Society have a microfilm of The Gippsland Standard for this date. It is not available on Trove. I have approached the Society for a copy but they are not operating due to Coronavirus. I intend to get a dated copy for my records in the future.
I would like to thank all those who helped with my Thomas Nepean Gray journey of discovery, especially Max Hadfield, Margie Fitchett and Jan Cooper of www.greathead.org
Submitted by Jennifer Oswald-Sealy Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2009 Down the Rabbit Hole
by Sue Bulbrook
Submitted by Sue Bulbrook Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Down the Rabbit Hole
“Congratulations to you both! The first girl in the Bulbrook family for generations!” So said my parents-in-law when our first child, a daughter, was born in 1987. The first girl? Really? My own family has girls everywhere; who doesn’t breed girls? Surely there were other females in the family? “No!” was always the very confident response. The elusiveness of the female line was strongly reinforced by family folklore: the Bulbrook family only produced one child, and a boy at that. Now I was really perplexed. And so my search began. Quietly, sensitively, and surreptitiously, a question here, a gentle nudge there. More careful questioning about past family members, visitors, photos: “Who’s that?” But to no avail. I was beginning to feel like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, as she falls ‘Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end?’i Ignoring the ubiquitousness of single, male offspring, I furtively did what any sensible 35 year- old daughter-in-law would do and went to my own mother for help. And, sure enough, an Alice E. Bulbrook was discovered arriving in Australia, via the Ormuz, in October 1889ii. Well done Mum! The “Unassisted immigration to Victoria 1852-1923” report listed my illusory Alice quite clearly. She travelled with a Mr H. and Mrs E. Bulbrook. But who was this Alice and, furthermore, who was she to Herbert Edward Bulbrook, with whom the persistent male Bulbrook line began? Let me here put Herbert Edward in the picture. Herbert Edward “H.E.” Bulbrook was born in 1873iii, in Kennington, England to Edward Charles and Elizabeth Martha Bulbrook (formerly Dyer)iv. Herbert married Elizabeth Smith in 1900 in Surrey, Englandv and they bore Charles Edward Bulbrook (b 1904 in Wycombe, Englandvi). Herbert, Elizabeth and Charles Bulbrook immigrated from London to Sydney, via Melbourne, as passengers onboard the Otway, in 1909vii. Charles married Nona Tredice Monro—the antithesis to an elusive family as the Monros carry the noted Poynter name—at Neutral Bay, Sydney, in 1925viii. Charles and Nona’s child, Robert Charles, was born at Mosman, in March 1929ix. Robert Charles is my father-in-law and has recently celebrated his 91st birthday. Together, Herbert, Charles and Robert formed the “one child and a boy at that” family line. Folklore seemed to be correct; there were indeed three generations of single male children. Robert married Faye Miller in 1952x and they have two sons. Thus, the male tradition continued, albeit with two boys this time. Still searching to uncover the link between my elusive Alice and H.E. Bulbrook, I continued my fall down the rabbit hole via the NSW BDM Registry and found details of Alice Bulbrook’s marriage to Sydney Robert Jiggins in April 1893xi. But particularly striking here—and a vital clue in my quest—is the name of one of the marriage’s witnesses: Herbert Edward “H.E.” Bulbrook! ‘“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice.’xii I looked more closely. Alice Bulbrook’s marriage transcription lists her parents as Edward Charles Bulbrook and Elizabeth Martha Dyer—the very same parents as H.E. Bulbrook. So Herbert had a sister! And she was living in Sydney.
Submitted by Sue Bulbrook Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
At last, an elusive female Bulbrook born to the family. With a bump, I had reached the bottom of the rabbit hole and could finally place Alice in the family tree. But, just as in Wonderland, not everything made sense. I struggled to understand Alice’s absence from the Bulbrook family narrative. She was born, then not mentioned again by subsequent generations of Bulbrooks. She appeared in the historical record so wonderfully, so ready to be heard, yet silenced by family folklore. Further research through the NSW BDM revealed that Alice Elizabeth Jiggins (nee Bulbrook), gave birth to a daughter, Dorothy A. Jiggins, in 1894 at Mosman, Sydneyxiii. My obscure Alice Bulbrook had finally developed a sense of embodiment and legitimacy. A female Bulbrook had existed after all. Nonetheless, it remained true that my daughter, our eldest, was indeed “the first female born in the Bulbrook family for generations”. But why had my Alice never been mentioned? The answer to this mysterious question rests in my mind to this day. Our family has a beautiful, detailed history of H.E. Bulbrook— Alice’s brother— and his life and endeavours, but nothing recorded about Alice herself. Like Carroll’s Alice, who said to the mouse, ‘“You promised to tell me your history, you know… Please come back and finish your story!”’xiv A little more information came via a Family Notice in The Sydney Morning Herald from June 1935, mentioning the death of Elizabeth Martha Bulbrook at her granddaughter’s residence in Campsie. She is described as the “dearly beloved mother of Mrs A. E. Jiggins”—a passing reference to Alice here.xv. A beautiful final crack at the obstinate stonewalling came in the form of a photo (sometimes you just get lucky). Going through old snapshots of my father-in-law’s “passed down box of photos”, I found a photo of a ‘Dorothy Jiggins, 3yrs 11months, taken by The Swiss Studio, King Street, Sydney’. An ancestor had sensibly written this information on the back of the photograph and my father-in-law had no sense of who it showed or knowledge of its existence.
Alice Bulbrook’s daughter, Dorothy A Jiggins, photo dated c.1898 Submitted by Sue Bulbrook Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
And so, my elusive Alice was the eldest of two children born to Edward and Elizabeth Bulbrook. Her younger brother, Herbert Edward, is my father-in-law’s ancestor. But Alice is also his ancestor and now she sits beautifully on my family tree, along with her husband, Sydney, and her daughter Dorothy. There is unquestionably more to discover about Alice Bulbrook. But, for the moment at least, it is time to, ‘“Wake up, Alice dear…Why, what a long sleep you’ve had!”’xvi
i Carroll L. (1916) Alice in Wonderland. Ward, Lock & Co, Limited: London, Melbourne and Toronto. Chapter 1, p.27. ii PROV, Unassisted passenger lists (1852-1923), Record Series Number (VPRS):497, fiche 521, p.12. iii Herbert Edward Bulbrook, Certificate of Birth, No.166 in St Peter, Walworth, Surrey, true copy by Registrar, 8th January, 1896. iv 30 October, 1870, Lambeth, London, certified and true copy of marriage certificate for Edward and Elizabeth Bulbrook (nee Dyer), COL741873;MXC926369. v May 19th, 1900; from original marriage certificate held by author, No. 298, 1900, page 149, County of Surrey. vi Charles Edward, Certificate of Registry of Birth, Entry No. 419, William Gray, Registrar, 11th October 1904, Wycombe. vii 1909 Otway – item barcode 9255344 on Passengers’ Listing. viii Certificate of Marriage, 1925, Charles and Nona Bulbrook (nee Monro), No C201913, No 31 in Minister’s Register. ix Robert Charles, born Sydney, 12 March, 1929. Still living. x Marriage Certificate NSWBDM’s, 18561/1952, Chatswood, NSW. xi Marriage Transcription NSWBDM’s, Murrin 17 February 2007, Registration #07607/1893. xii Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. Chapter 2, p.44. xiii Dorothy Jiggins birth, NSWBDM’s #21927/1894, Mosman. xiv Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. Chapter 3, p.77 & 82. xv ‘Family Notices’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 22 June 1935, p.14,. Accessed 29 March 2020. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17202947 xvi Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. Chapter 12, p.329.
Additional References: Carroll L. (1916) Alice in Wonderland. Ward, Lock & Co, Limited: London, Melbourne and Toronto.
Submitted by Sue Bulbrook Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020
2010 James Connolly: A Self-Made Man
by Barbara Reen
Submitted by Barbara Reen Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
James Connolly: A Self-made Man
James Connolly, my great grandfather was, according to his death certificate, born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England c. 1855-1857, to parents Martin Connolly and Mary Canavan.1 A record of his birth and information on the backgrounds of his parents remain elusive. Presumably Martin and Mary were both born in Ireland, but records of their arrival in England and of their marriage, also remain elusive. We first encounter James in the English Census of 1871. James, his mother, Mary, and a younger brother, Martin, were living at 9 Lumb, in the Parish of Tottington Higher End, Ecclesiastical District of Edenfield, Lancashire, England. Mary, the Head of the family, age given as 40, James Connolly married, and born in Ireland, was a ‘rag sorter at paper mill’. Her son Image used with Martin, age given as 14, born in Newcastle, was a paper catcher. Her son permission of James, age given as 15, born in Newcastle, was a labourer for a Christine Johnson blacksmith.2 By the English Census of 1881, only Mary, a widow, age given as 52, and Martin, a joiner, age given as 23, were recorded. Mary was still a rag sorter at the paper mill. Their address was now 110 Lumb in the Civil Parish of Tottington Higher End, Rural Sanitary District of Haslington, Ecclesiastical District of Edenfield.3 Martin later emigrated to America, where his marriage to Mary Donnelly was registered in 1897.4 After she died in 1910, Martin joined his brother James in Australia.5 When next we hear of James, he was living in Sydney, Australia. An obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald at the time of his death in 1927, reported that he had spent three years in New Zealand before moving to Australia, and that he had been here for forty-six years.6 So, possibly he arrived in Australia in 1881. How and when James travelled firstly to New Zealand and thence to Australia remains elusive. In Australia, James’s life was well documented in the State Records of New South Wales. He married Mary Feeley in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, in 1883.7 They lived first at 25 Wilson Street and subsequently at 5 (later 9) Bourke Street in the Woolloomooloo area.8 They had
1 Death Certificate of James Connolly, died 27 September 1927, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 13112/1927; Anon., James Connolly, photograph, screenshot from Ancestry Connolly Family Tree, original held by John Connolly, Jerabomberra, NSW. 2 1871 England Census, RG10/4139, p. 80, http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db, accessed 26 August 2015. 3 1881 England Census, RG11/4136, p. 20, http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db, accessed 26 August 2015. 4 Marriage Register of marriage between Martin Connolly and Mary C. Donnelly, 17 May 1897, 1966, p.110, https://familysearch.org, accessed 30 August 2015. 5 Death Certificate of Mary C Connelly, died 5 June 1910, Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 5335, p275, https://familysearch.org, accessed 30 August 2015. 6 Anon., Obituary - Mr J. Connolly, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 October 1927, p. 13. 7 Marriage Certificate of James Connolly and Mary Feeley, Married 19 April 1883, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 717/1883. 8 Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory for 1886, Part 2, p.123, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/search-our-collections/sands-directory/1880-1889, accessed 31 August 2015; Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory for 1889, Part 1’, p. 12, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/search-our-collections/sands-directory/1880-1889, accessed 31 August 2015. Submitted by Barbara Reen Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
eight children, five boys and three girls, of whom six, three boys and three girls, survived infancy. The first-born was James in 1884, followed by twins, Thomas Martin and Mary Ellen who were born in 1886. Thomas Martin died in 1887. Next born was Frances Barbara in 1888, followed by Leslie Joseph Valentine born in 1890. John Oscar (my grandfather) was born in 1891 and Margaretta Florence in 1893. Their last child, Edmund Jerome, was born in 1895 and died in 1896. 9 Mary died of a brain tumour in 1895, and in 1904, James married Margaret Hunter (nee Coles), a widow with two daughters who became James’s step- daughters.10 Their daughter, Margaret Eileen, was born in 1904 but died in 1905.11
In 1884 James set up a blacksmithing business, the Fitzroy Iron Works, at 60-62 Nicholson Street, Woolloomooloo.12 The business prospered and he was soon tendering for government contracts. Notable works undertaken included the gates outside the Sydney Town Hall (now to be found at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill), stairs and shelving at the Mitchell Library and at Fisher Library at the University of Sydney and the wrought iron railings surrounding Circular Quay. After James’s death, the business became a limited liability company, J. Connolly Ltd, and moved to Mountain Street, Broadway. Here the company specialised in the manufacture of metal window frames.13
The family moved up in the world, first to a large residence, Guylin at 128 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, and then to 5 Allen Street, Glebe..14 The Electoral Roll for 1922 shows James living at this address, along with his wife Margaret, his brother Martin, his three daughters and two step-daughters.15 James retained ownership of the house at 9 Bourke Street, and of the blacksmithing works premises in Nicholson Street. The former was rented out to a succession of tenants, while the latter was rented to Mosher Bros, motor mechanics, until the mid-1920s.16 By the time he died in 1927, aged 70, James had moved to 14 Toxteth Street,
9 Birth Certificate of James Connolly, Born 12 January 1884 (Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 543/1884; Birth Certificate of Thomas Martin Connolly, Born 27 February 1886, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 1073/1886; Birth Certificate of Mary Ellen Connolly, Born 27 February 1886, Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 1074/1886; Death Certificate of Thomas Martin Connolly, Died 25 January 1887, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 158/1887; Birth Certificate of Leslie Joseph Connolly, Born 15 May 1890, Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 1628/1890; Birth Certificate of John Oscar Connolly, Born 19 August 1891, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 2622/1891; Birth Certificate of Margaretta Florence Connolly, Born 01 September 1893, Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 2640/1893; Birth Certificate of Edmund Jerome Connolly, Born 09 July 1895, Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 19418/1895; Death Certificate of Mary Feeley, Died 12 November 1895, Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 11041/1895; Death Certificate of Edmund Jerome Connolly, Died 20 May 1896, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 5101/1896. 10 Marriage Certificate of James Connolly and Margaret Hunter (nee Coles), Married 06 January 1904, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 93/1904. 11 Birth Certificate of Margaret Eileen Connolly, Born 22 October1904, Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 29359/1904; Death Certificate of Margaret Ellen Connolly, Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 29 November 1905, 11566/19 05. 12 Anon., ‘Modern Specialist Company Founded by Blacksmith’, Daily Telegraph, Building Today, Sydney, 23 November 1959, p. 25. 13 Ibid. 14 ‘Sands Sydney, Suburban and Country Commercial Directory for 1913, Part 2’, p. 160, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/search-our-collections/sands-directory/1910-1919, accessed 31 August 2015. 15 ‘NSW Electoral Rolls’, West Sydney, Toxteth, http://www.ancestry.com.au/cs/us/au-electoral-records, accessed 31 August 2015. 16 ‘City of Sydney Assessment Books 1845-1948’, http://photosau.com.au/CosRates/scripts/home.asp, accessed 26 August 2015. Submitted by Barbara Reen Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists
Glebe, having rented out the Allen Street property. James left an estate valued at £29,770.4.6, with assets of £30,762.10.0, minus liabilities of £992.5.6. This was established by the executor of his will, the Perpetual Trustee Company (Limited), for the purposes of the Stamp Duties Act, 1920-1924. The estate consisted mainly of his property portfolio and shares in the family business.17 The family business had supported not only James’s large, blended family but it went on to support the families of his three sons, and four of his grandsons. So, from obscure and elusive beginnings, James Connolly, blacksmith, became a self-made man who: Under peculiar difficulties and without the ordinary helps of favoring circumstances, have attained knowledge, usefulness, power and position …18
Unlike his own father, James established and supported a large family. He must have gained his independence, his drive and his ambition by observing the harsh and unrewarding conditions experienced by unskilled labourers and factory workers like his parents.19 He transformed himself from a blacksmith into a structural engineer who developed a large, and successful engineering company. His contribution to the fabric of Sydney is significant both aesthetically and historically, and it is there for all to see.20
His legacy may be tangible, but his elusive origins remain as a continuing challenge for a family historian. After searching in vain for information about the deaths of James’s parents in the records of the United Kingdom, I have just discovered that Mary, James’s mother, travelled with his brother Martin to Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America in 1888.21 Here she died of pneumonia in 1890. Her parents were recorded as Lawrence and Margaret Kanavan.22 Each new piece of information opens up new lines of enquiry in the continuing pursuit of the elusive elements of family history.
17 Will of James Connolly, Died 27 September 1927; Affidavit under the Stamp Act, Deceased Estate File 4- 31383 James Connolly, Stamp Duties Office, State Records NSW, 20/5107. 18 Frederick Douglas, ‘Self-Made Men’, Http://Monadnock.Net/Douglass/Self-Made-Men.Html, 1872, accessed 01 April 2020. 19 Note. Martin Connolly is recorded as a labourer on both of James Connolly’s marriage certificates; he was not found recorded in the 1871 England Census but his wife Mary was recorded as the Head of the family in that Census. 20 Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, Cast Iron Railings, Palisade Fence and Gate Posts Statement of Significance, http://www.shfa.nsw.gov.au/sydney-About_us-Heritage_role- Heritage_and_Conservation_Register, accessed 02 April 2020. 21 National Archives and Records Administration National Archives and Records Administration, Massachusetts Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891, Ship Bothina, Mary Connolly, Massachusetts Index to Passenger Lists, 1848-1891, 1888, https://www.familysearch.org, accessed 14 April 2020; Massachusetts Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891, Ship Bothina, Martin Connolly, Massachusetts Index to Passenger Lists, 1848-1891, 1888, https://www.familysearch.org, accessed 14 April 2020 . 22 State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, ‘Death Notice of Mary Kanavan Connelly’, Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 2019 References 1871 England Census, http://search.ancestry.com.au, accessed 26 August 2015. 1881 England Census, http://search.ancestry.com.au, accessed 26 August 2015. Anon., James Connolly, photograph, screenshot from Ancestry Family Tree, original held by John Connolly, Jerabomberra, NSW, n.d. Anon., Modern Specialist Company Founded by Blacksmith, Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 23 November 1959, section Building Today, pp. 25 and 31. Anon., Obituary - Mr J. Connolly, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 October 1927, p. 13. Douglas, Frederick, Self-Made Men, Http://Monadnock.Net/Douglass/Self-Made-Men.Html, 1872, accessed 01 April 2020. Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915, Register of Marriage between Martin Connolly and Mary C. Donnelly, 1897, https://familysearch.org, accessed 30 August 2015. National Archives and Records Administration, Massachusetts Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891, Ship Bothina, 1888, https://www.familysearch.org, accessed 15 April 2020. NSW Electoral Rolls, http://www.ancestry.com.au/cs/us/au-electoral-records, accessed 31 August 2015. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 717/1883. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 543/1884. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 1073/1886. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 1074/1886. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 158/1887. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 1628/1890. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 2622/1891. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 2640/1893. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 19418/1895. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 11041/1895. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 5101/1896. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 93/1904. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 29359/1904. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 11566/1905. Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages NSW, 13112/1927. Sands Sydney, Suburban and Country Commercial Directory for 1913, Part 2, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au, accessed 31 August 2015. State Records NSW, 20/5107. Supreme Court NSW, Probate Division, Series 4, No. 149486. Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, Cast Iron Railings, Palisade Fence and Gate Posts Statement of Significance, http://www.shfa.nsw.gov.au, accessed 02 April 2020. Submitted by Barbara Reen Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2011 The Tailor from Printing Office Street by Judith Neville Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Tailor from Printing Office Street On 11 March 1859, George Plant stood in the dock of the courtroom of the York Assizes awaiting the verdict of the jury. After the presentation of the evidence from the witnesses and George’s own testimony, Justice Byles turned to the jury summing up the evidence remarking the life of the prisoner was in their hands, and if they found him guilty he would very likely be executed.i Five weeks earlier following a drunken affray, George had been charged with the wilful murder of William Wilson in Sheffield.i It took the jury only fifteen minutes to return a verdict guilty of manslaughter. The judge turned to George stating he sentenced him to remaining in penal servitude for the term of his natural life.i George was transported on the ship Palmerstonii sailing into Fremantle, Western Australia, in February 1861.iii As they disembarked from the ship, one guard arranged the convicts in two lines before marching them to Fremantle Prison.iii This imposing building shone brightly from the sun reflecting off the limestone walls, hence its nickname “Limestone Lodge”.iv Once inside the main courtyard of the prison, the convicts were paraded past a guard who recorded their details for the convict register. George Plant, convict number 5721v, stood in line until his turn arrived. When the guard examined George, he saw a stout man who stood only 5 foot 3 inches tall with dark brown hair, oval face, fair skin and deep blue eyes staring back at him. He noted pock marks dotted from the corner of his right eye towards his ear.v He also had slight tattoo marks on his right forearm.v George was allocated to the Mt Eliza Convict Depot which was located on the Swan River at the base of Mount Eliza.vi During his first few nights lying in a hot humid hut, George would think about home and what he left behind. He was born in October 1827 to Henry and Susanna Plant, third child of 15 children, of whom only two boys and one girl survived.vii He lived with his parents in Printing Office Street, Doncaster, working as a tailor viii until his wedding. George, aged 26, married Maria Kalishoek, aged 33, in April 1853 but they did not have any children.ix Following receiving his ticket of leave in 1864, George utilised his training as a tailor to work for himself.v During this time, George married Mary Ann Leonardx who arrived in the colony in August 1863 at the age of 19 as an assisted immigrant.xi Although not divorced from his first wife, it was very common for convicts to marry again as they would never be allowed to return to England after their conditional pardon. George registered on the marriage certificate he was a bachelor.x In the next few years, George was delighted with the birth of his daughter, Alice Annxii and son, George John.xiii Sadness came when their son died at two days old.xiv A few years later, George was transferred to the Convict Depot at Bunbury, 175 kilometres south, after being charged with “keeping a house of ill-fame”.v This probably involved Mary Ann as she was also in trouble with the law.xv He never saw his wife and daughter again. Despite a few charges of drunkenness,v George finally received his conditional pardon in April 1872.v With no relationship with his family, later that year he boarded a ship bound for New South Wales to start a new life.v Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Four years after arriving in Sydney, George married for a third time to Mabel Richardson, 19 years old, again registering as a bachelor.xvi As he grew older, his wives became younger each time he married. The next year they had their first child, Beatrice Josephine Hill,xvii and the second child, Albert Edward two years later.xviii The family lived in Nithsdale Street, off Goulburn Street,xviii and every morning, George would walk to his tailor shop in College Street,xix not too far away. He died from kidney disease in 1884 at the age of 58.xx Regrettably, both Beatrice and Albert, changed their namesxxi and created new names for their parentsxxii to hide their father’s background. I only discovered the most elusive George Plant by following leads from the earliest and only document where Albert revealed his mother’s true name.xxiii George Plant’s existence was hidden by the deception of his children. I can now acknowledge George Plant, the tailor from Printing Office Street, as my great grandfather. i Leeds Mercury, Saturday 12 March 1859 ii Portland Prison, Dorset: General Record of Prisoners, vol. 8, National Archives, PCOM 2/388. iii Journal of William Irwin, Religious Instructor - Palmerston 1861, 365 34IRW, Mitchell Library, CY Reel 1264. iv Fremantle prison – The Limestone Lodge, The Paranormal Guide, http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/fremantle-prison-the-limestone-lodge v Western Australia Convict Records 1846 -1930, Convict Department Registers, Reference Number ACC 1156/R3-R4. vi Royal Sappers and Miners in Western Australia https://sappers-minerswa.com/of-interest/convict-hiring-depots/mt-eliza-convict-depot/ vii Family History Report, Kerrywood Research, Judy Lester, 2013. viii 1851 England Census, Doncaster Borough, County Yorkshire Sub-registration district Doncaster, ED institution or vessel 12, Household schedule number 136, Piece 2347, Folio 23, Page number 35. ix England, Select Marriages, 1538 – 1973, Marriage Place Hull, York, England, 11 April 1853, FHL Film Number 1657087, Reference ID #1657087, P 42. x Western Australia Marriage Certificate Reference Number 1864/2218. xi Western Australia Passenger Lists of Assisted Passengers 1851 – 1930, Reel Number: 8309, Reference Number: ACC 115. xii Western Australia Birth Certificate Reference Number 1865/8297. xiii Western Australia Birth Certificate Reference Number 1866/9011. xiv Western Australia Death Certificate Reference Number 1866/3086. xv The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times (WA: 1864 – 1874), Friday 29 December 1871, page 2. xvi New South Wales Marriage Certificate Registration Number 1876/91. xvii New South Wales Birth Certificate Registration Number 1877/400. xviii New South Wales Birth Certificate Registration Number 1879/2311. xix Sydney and New South Wales, Sand Street Index, 1861 – 1930, 1879 &1880, Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com.au xx New South Wales Death Certificate Registration Number 1884/2324. xxi New South Wales Marriage Certificate Registration Number 1921/9822. xxii New South Wales Marriage Certificate Registration Number 1922/8977. xxiii Record of Service for Albert Neville, Rimington’s Corps of Guides, signed 20th October 1899. Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2012 Are the Clues in the Tattoos? by Marianne Young Submitted by Marianne Young Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Are the Clues in the Tattoos? Have you ever had that feeling that things are not always as they seem? For years my mother spoke with pride of her eminent family the “Oakleys” of Bendigo, after all, the name had been associated with “undertaking” there for over one hundred years.i But when I started researching my two times great grandfather Thomas, the founder of the esteemed Oakley Undertakers, things weren’t as I thought. Contrary to family anecdotes, Thomas Oakley arrived in Sydney, not as a free settler, but as a convicted felon. Thomas had in fact been tried in the Old Bailey not once but twice for stealing carpentry tools and what’s worse, using two Thomas Oakley different identities, John Masonii and Thomas Oakley.iii Thomas’ – or perhaps, 1809-1885 John’s – attempts to conceal his previous conviction with the use of an alias backfired when he was recognised by the constabulary. He took a risk and now transportation was inevitable. But was there a possibility that Thomas had used multiple names on multiple occasions? Just who was my great-great-grandfather? A comparative analysis of his two known crimes uncovered minor details of geographical proximity within the district of Chelsea, and stolen items, but provided nothing of his past. A brief search for trials of a similar nature proved fruitless – without his real name it was impossible. It was time to look for clues in his post trial history. Both UK and Australian records show that Thomas “Ockley”, most probably a simple spelling or transcription error from the court records, was taken from Newgate prison to the prison hulk “Retribution” moored in Woolwich,iv where he remained until he boarded the convict ship “John”.v Thomas arrived in Sydney Cove in June 1832 and the Convict indents of the “John” reveal some interesting facts. Aged 23, single, literate – implying some form of education – and a joiner and carpenter,vi Thomas was assigned to Dr Andrew Gibson of Goulburn.vii His occupation is a revelation because to claim a trade he would have had to complete an apprenticeship and it also explains the theft of tools. But, how do I search the apprenticeship records without a name? Thomas remained in the pastoral lands of New South Wales and was granted a Ticket of Leave (August 1842),viii and three years later his Certificate of Freedom,ix in the district of Yass where he settled. In April 1846, he married Jane Payne,x daughter of John and Annie, and began his life as a free man. Having had three of what was to be a total thirteen children he and his family left for the goldfields of Victoria in 1852. On arrival in Bendigo he noticed huge numbers of people succumbing to poor hygiene and disease and saw an opportunity for a good living to be made using his trade – making coffins. His business thrived. Thomas left his past behind and became an upstanding and respected member of the community. He served the people of Bendigo in their times of grief providing excellent funeral services. He became a founding member of the Sandhurst Volunteer Fire Brigade and an honorary member of the Ancient Order of Foresters,xi as well as many other societies, leaving his mark on history. Thomas died in December 1885 having suffered for years with chronic cystitis.xii The most intriguing aspect of Thomas’ death is his coffin – or should I say coffins – yes he had three! I have come to the conclusion that Thomas consciously ordered the three coffins to reflect his life. The first coffin made from plain deal (pine) represented his simple, perhaps sometimes difficult life in London. The second made of lead – yes you read correctly – represented his life as a convict, and the third made of “handsomely polished cedar”xiii represented the success he had made of his life in his adopted city of Bendigo. Submitted by Marianne Young Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists I had uncovered Thomas Oakley the convict and freeman of Australia but how could I uncover his real name and his roots? It was time to examine the evidence. Included in some of the convict documentation was information that just might reveal more about the man and his past than any single document – as well as list his physical features, the post arrival Indentures and his Certificate of Freedom, contained a clear description of his numerous tattoos. W H K S K on upper, mermaid, crucifix, sun, moon, seven stars and anchor on lower right arm, H W M W on upper, sloop, flag, woman and heart on lower left armxiv Did he bear these marks before leaving England or did he, as many convicts did, mark himself during the long journey with secret symbols to remember his past and the family left behind? Tattoos were often a way of recording personal history and sometimes reveal individual traits.xv Many of the tattoos that adorned Thomas’ arms were typical maritime symbols, while others were of romance. The sloop and maritime symbols imply a possible occupational connection. Was he perhaps a ship’s carpenter? The lettering proves the most interesting. From his death certificate the informant claims Thomas’ father was John and mother Sarah.xvi This latter fact is most probably true as Thomas named his first daughter Sarah. But the most significant aspect of the lettering is revealed when we examine the names of his sons. Thomas named his first son William Henry - why not John? His second, Augustine, was named after the Church in Yass. His third, John Joseph, was more likely to honour Jane’s father. None of his sons were named Thomas. Now I see a link between names and the tattoos. WHK was this Thomas’ father – a William Henry and the SK mother Sarah? Perhaps his real family name begins with the letter “K”? With all this new information perhaps it’s time to return to the scene of the crime, examine the history and populace of early 19th century Chelsea and try to uncover a Knight, King, Kemp, Kerridge, Kerr … i Bendigo Advertiser 17 Nov 1855 pg1 National Library of Australia www.trove.nla.gov.au ii Ref. t18310630-52 http:///www.oldbaileyonline.org iii Ref. t18310908-202 http:///www.oldbaileyonline.org iv National Archives Kew, England Ref: HO 9/7 Convict hulks moored at Sheerness: Retribution, Bellerophon: Register of prisoners 1802-1834. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4286831 v State Archives & Records Authority of New South Wales Bound manuscript indents, 1788–1842. NRS 12188, microfiche 682 vi Ibid. vii The National Archives of the UK Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania; Class: HO 10; Piece: 29 viii State Archives & Records Authority of New South Wales; New South Wales, Australia, Tickets of Leave, 1810-1869; Series: NRS 12202; Item: [4/4165] State Archives & Records Authority of New South Wales; Series NRS12210 Butts of certificates of freedom,1827-67 [4/4289-418] x New South Wales Registry of Birth Deaths & Marriages; Marriage Certificate Thomas Oakley Jane Mary Payne, 1846 No 600 Vol 94 xi Bendigo Advertiser 17 December 1885 Pg4 National Library of Australia, www.trove.nla.gov.au xii Victorian Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, Death Certificate Thomas Oakley; 1885; No 13911 xiiiBendigo Advertiser 17 December 1856 Pg2 National Library of Australia www.trove.nla.gov.au xiv State Archives NSW; Ships Indentures, Convict Certificate of Freedom Series: NRS 12189; Item: [X634]; Microfiche: 700 xv Robert Shoemaker, Zoe Alker; How tattoos became fashionable in Victorian England; 122487 https://theconversation.com xvi Victorian Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages Death Certificate Thomas Oakley; 1885; No 13911 Submitted by Marianne Young Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2013 A Ninety Year Mystery Solved by Patricia Braden Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists A Ninety Year Mystery Solved It was only after John Louis Edwards’ death in 1929 that his wife Dorothy, upon opening a locked box, was shocked, confused and distraught to discover that her late husband was not whom he had claimed to be. Although within this Pandora’s Box she was able to ascertain that his real surname was Price, it was virtually of no use. Despite writing to England and hiring private detectives during the 1930’s in order to find his family and ascertain the reason for his many lies - it was to no avail.i Seventy years later, having heard the oral story passed down from older family members, I became obsessed with the idea of finishing the task my Great Grandmother had failed to achieve all those years ago. I felt I needed to do it “for her”. John had told one of his sons that he was educated at “Harrow” but didn’t like wearing the hat, so when he was 12 years old he solved the problem by running away; stowing away; joining the Navy; and jumping ship. Hmmm … not a very feasible story, but somewhere for me to begin. My enquiries revealed that John Edward PRICE was born in Southwark, London on 2nd November, 1844.ii However there is no record of his attendance at Harrow school.iii Yet, he had certainly “joined the Navy” (albeit the Merchant Navy) as an Apprentice in 1859 and sailed the world on the Alchemist.iv Upon their return to England a couple of years later, John decided not to report for duty, was arrested and put into Bodmin Gaol, Cornwall on 26th August, 1861.v Forced back into service when released, he was attached to the Montmorency which sailed into Morton Bay (Brisbane) on 8th April, 1862.vi Now his story becomes a little bit of supposition, because although he told his son he had jumped ship, no definitive proof can be found. It transpires that although he re-boarded the Montmorency when it sailed from Brisbane, he was not on board when it docked in London a few months later!vii Apparently after his last attempt, 16 year old John had learned how to escape his still-to-be- served apprenticeship and this time he waited until the ship was away from a major port where his crime could not be reported. His tales of exploring Northern Queensland with Landsborough may not be quite true, but it seems he waited till the Montmorency called into Maryborough for supplies – and he was next heard of 10 years later under his now assumed name of John Louis Edwards. He had obviously dropped his surname and retained his middle name as his last. But where on earth did he get the new middle name of “Louis”? And, where did he actually go and what did he do during those ten years? Yet we find him marrying a young Prussian lass by the name of Wilhelmina Millar on 2nd August, 1873 in Maryborough.viii The following year ‘Mina gave birth to a baby daughter, but when the baby died twelve months later, our dear Great Grandfather disappeared again. Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists John Louis Edwards miraculously turns up in Berry, in the Shoalhaven area of NSW (far from the prying eyes of Queensland Jurisdiction). Here he marries his true love, Emily Walker, on 15th October, 1875.ix But what about ‘Mina? She hadn’t died. He hadn’t divorced her! His marriage to Emily is BIGAMOUS !! However that doesn’t deter John. He and Emily moved to Balmain where they went on to have four beautiful children over the next ten years, as well as rearing and giving a home to Emily’s own younger siblings. He confided to Emily about his family and she convinced him to write to his parents in London. Found in his locked box were a number of heart-rending letters back and forth between himself, his parents and his siblings.x But life now struck him a terrible blow. Having lost one of their children a few years earlier John was distraught when his beloved Emily now died after the birth of their last baby.xi What was he to do? How could he cope? Whatever he did, it wasn’t enough, as baby Ernest followed his mother to the grave just a few months later.xii In desperation he turned to Emily’s old friend Dorothy Maguire for support, and as he needed a mother for his remaining two boys, he asked her to marry him. A marriage of convenience! (Although again a bigamous one!) Thus my Great Grandparents John Louis Edwards and Dorothy Maguire made their marriage vows at St. James Church Sydney on 31st March, 1886.xiii Despite the initial reasons for their marriage, John and Dorothy settled down to what appears to be a good life, and another six children were born to this union. John had furniture importing businesses in Balmain and Leichhardt, and he also became a real estate entrepreneur whereby he purchased and sold a number of blocks of land.xiv I guess his gift of the gab and his many lies over the years made him a good salesman. But although he didn’t own a single piece of freehold at the end of his life, I believe he had given land to each of his children upon their respective marriages. When John died in 1929 and Dorothy opened his “Pandora’s Box” she found, along with his letters, a Medallion for Gallantry for saving lives off the wreck of the Admella in 1859 in South Australia. The medallion was awarded to William Booth. Who was WB and why did John treasure it? This is just another of the mysteries still to be solved about my Great Grandfather. Yet, for all John Price-Edwards’ (then unknown) faults and foibles, my mother dearly loved her grandfather and he became my own “backseat driver” as I delved into his history and (with DNA proof) I have finally found what Dorothy couldn’t achieve - his siblings’ descendants now living in Canada. Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists *********** Sources and References: Image: John Louis Edwards – c.1920 i Original letter from Day & Co, London (dated 17st June 1931) in the possession of John Edward’s Granddaughter (2005). (Scanned copy in my possession). ii Copy of Original Birth Certificate No. COL784352 – Register General’s Office, London - John Edward Price born 2nd November, 1844 – in my possession. iii Letter from “Harrow” School, Middlesex, (dated 30th March, 2004) – indicating no record of John Price, but noting there had been a fire which had destroyed many of their records – letter in my possession. iv UK Apprentices Indentured in Merchant Navy, 1824-1910 for J E Price - Accessed 6/6/2018 via Ancestry.com Original data: Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Index of Apprentices. BT 150/1-53. The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England. Accessed by myself on 20/4/2018. v Gaol Register 1861 – John Edward Price – Copy received from Bodmin Gaol 30/3/2018 – in my possession). vi Voyages to Queensland - booklet by Genealogy Society of Queensland - Montmorency – 1862 – Accessed at the NSW State Library 8/5/2018 – photocopy of relevant page in my possession. vii Voyages to Queensland - booklet by Genealogy Society of Queensland - Montmorency – 1862 – Accessed at the NSW State Library 8/5/2018 – photocopy of relevant page in my possession. viii Queensland Marriage Register - Maryborough – John Louis Edwards - 2nd August, 1873 – Via Ancestry.com - Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 – accessed 6/6/2018 - copy in my possession.- which thankfully shows the correct names of his parents in England. ix NSW Marriage Certificate No.1875/004063 – John Louis Edwards – 15th October, 1875 – Copy purchased 2004 and currently in my possession – which again gives his parents’ correct names. x Copy of some of these letters in my possession – proving his parents’ names, one of which is quite unique. xi NSW Death Certificate No. 1885/5853 – Emily Rhoda Edwards – 23rd July 1885 – Copy purchased in 1993 and currently in my possession. xii NSW Death Certificate - Transcript – Ernest John Edwards – 6th December, 1885 – Copy dated 25/1/2006 in my possession. xiii NSW Marriage Certificate No. 1886/00518 – John Louis Edwards & Dorothy Maguire – 31st March, 1886 – copy in my possession. xiv Trove – Various newspaper articles advertising the businesses, along with Lands Department records of the purchase of freehold allotments. Submitted by Patricia Braden Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2014 My Most Elusive Ancestor by Marilyn Long Submitted by Marilyn Long Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists My Most Elusive Ancestor Tristram Moore, convicted rebel, six-foot tall, stout made, with dark ruddy complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes(1) arrived in the Colony in 1802 on Atlas 2. He spent the rest of his life with Catherine Johnson of the First Fleet Prince of Wales. She died in 1838, and he a year to the day later. They are buried together at Wilberforce Cemetery. I am descended from their first daughter, Margaret Jane Moore. For too long this is all I knew about Tristram Moore together with some information from: Peter Mayberry’s site “Irish Convicts to NSW 1788-1849” which revealed he was 35 when transported, tried at Newtown (Limavady) in Co Londonderry his native place, DOB 1767 and he was a Rebel with a sentence of Life(2); NSW State Archives Colonial Secretary’s Correspondence 1788-1825 had four references for “Tristram Moore "Atlas", Oct 1802” including “1810 Feb 15 Apothecary to General Hospital Dispensary”(3). His Irish background pre-Colony was a mystery. Aged 35 he was transported after near half his life in County Derry. I needed to know more about my elusive ancestor’s life in Ireland – did he have a family, what was he like, what was his ancestry? The lack of Irish BD&M records is a difficulty so a researcher in Northern Ireland was engaged for a genealogical investigation(4). A Report was provided including information only accessible in person at PRONI in Belfast. It was left to me to interpret and calculate lineages. For two years I placed the information, and much more from my own research, into a date-ordered table with two columns - Carrowreagh and Carrowclare - to show who was where and when. These are the two townlands in County Derry, near Limavady, which were occupied largely by Moores over 200 years. The table was to see if a story emerged and indeed it did. I realised that land records would be the key when the Report included an exciting document - a 1700 Land Indenture for half the townland of Carrowreagh with the name Tristram Moore on it(5). Subsequent land and other documents expanded information about the Moores. And surveys from the late 1700s through the 1800s augmented the land records: “1796 Flax Growers List”(6); “Tithe Applotment Books 1823-1837” (1826 County Derry)(7) which listed the occupiers liable for the tithe on agricultural land; “Names of Householders listed in 1831 Census Returns for the County of Londonderry”(8) which only listed predominantly male heads of households - women are hidden in this story; “Names listed in the Printed Griffiths [Tenement] Valuation 1858-9 for County Londonderry”(9) which was the first survey of property ownership in Ireland, conducted by the Ireland Valuation Office between 1848 and 1864. The cross-referencing was crucial to devising the relationships of the Moores based on the lots they occupied by lease and the trail of succession through the seven lots of Valuation Revision Books of Griffiths 1858 up to 1933(10). The changing names and other details were crossed out and new information written adjoining in different colour inks. The succession on lots was complicated and non linear as many left Ireland for America and elsewhere, and leases often passed to siblings, nephews, cousins and others. I diligently tracked the Moores in the Revisions for the townlands. Identifying specific people and differentiating the ones with the same name(11) was aided by already having some Wills and more arrived with the Report. I could match names and relationships in Wills giving date of Submitted by Marilyn Long Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists death with the same names replaced in the Revisions in the same time frame. At one stage there were five Williams to clarify. From this process of listing records and analysing the data (all 109 pages) some probable lineages amongst these Moores emerged. Some were surprisingly different to those previously supposed. Now I have some understanding of Tristram’s Irish background. My Moores were plausibly in Londonderry City by mid 1600s and moved east into the townlands of Carrowreagh and Carrowclare to take up land after the 1641 Rebellion forced landholders to offer good terms to attract tenants(12). James Moore of the 1700 Land Indenture in Carrowreagh(13), already in occupation by then, was likely born of Edward in 1643 in Londonderry City(14). The three “lives” named included his eldest son Tristram(15). On the latter’s death he was replaced by his grandson Tristram on 3rd January 1768. A witness, Tristram Moore, on a 1769 document is likely the son between(16). Now I have five generations from pre-1643 as well as lines of uncles and cousins. The Moore family was extensive and occupied much of the two townlands. They seemed closely intertwined judging by land succession and families dwelling together. The two townlands in the Vale of Myroe have fertile land good for crops of all kinds. The Moores were primarily in agriculture and the weaving of linen(17). I don’t know whether Tristram had a wife and children in Ireland. I do have two pages from a letter identifiable as written by Tristram Moore(18). The letter can be dated to 1806 from mention of the river (Hawkesbury) flooding and destroying crops and creating a dire situation for the Colony(19), and the writer stating he has been in the Colony upward of four years. The writing matches a signature of Tristram as witness to a marriage in 1809(20). He states he is the only apothecary at Sydney Hospital. He is writing to his family asking why they haven’t replied to his letters and he sounds quite upset. It isn’t clear to whom he is writing – he addresses “either” – siblings, uncles, wife, children? He doesn’t know “for what his sentence was given as (he) had no form of trial”. The pathos in his own words reveals the person and I also now have some knowledge of his descent and how these Moores lived in Ireland from the late 1600s to the early 1900s. My ancestor Tristram Moore is no longer as elusive as he once was. Grave of Tristram Moore 1767-1839 and Catherine Johnson 1770- 1838, Wilberforce Cemetery, NSW. Submitted by Marilyn Long Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists FOOTNOTES 1: From an article by George Rude in Historical Studies, Vol 16 (16:62) p 17-35, Australia, 27 January 2009 – “Early Irish Rebels in Australia”. And NSW State Archives and Records: Convict Index 1791-1873 [4/4430; Reel 774, Page 106], dated 31st January, 1818. And “From Tents to Stone” compiled and written by Valerie J. Griffiths - about the first Sydney Hospital in the Colony of NSW, Australia, pp 26-7. 2: Peter Mayberry site – Irish Convicts to NSW 1788 to 1849 http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/cgi-bin/irish/irish.cgi?requestType=Search2&id=21612 3: Colonial Secretary Correspondence - http://colsec.records.nsw.gov.au/m/F39c_mo-08.htm#P3508_119781 Detail is also mentioned in “Unfinished Revolution” by Anne-Maree Whitaker (Sydney 1994) - Page 182 – “Tristram Moore (Atlas II) has spent most of the last 7 years as apothecary at the General Hospital dispensary”. I found no record of his having graduated as an Apothecary in the lists of the 1790s relating to the training in Dublin as was done then. Possibly a relative was an Apothecary and he picked up some skills which were of use in the Colony in the absence of any trained Apothecary being available. In a document post 1815 he was referred to as “doctor” and also served on 2 coroner juries. He was well considered in his community on the Hawkesbury and seems to have been looked on as a figure of authority. 4: Robert J Williams (www.ulsterancestry.com) with Pauline Loughran BA Hons MA (Irish History). 5: PRONI ref D/1550 (Doc 3 - 7 pgs) – Public Record Office of Northern Ireland https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni 6: Flax Growers 1796 List – extract from the Report p 44. It can be found by searching on the Failte Romhat site by John Hayes https://www.failteromhat.com/flax1796.php and https://www.failteromhat.com/flax1796.htm And also on the Bill MacAfee site http://www.billmacafee.com/1796flaxgrowerslist/1796flaxgrowersderry.pdf [T3419]. 7: Tithe Applotment Books for Derry - PRONI ref Fin/5/A/159 8: 1831 Householders Census Returns - I have used the excel and copies of the originals from the Macafee site as pages 5- 6 of the Report with PRONI ref CEN/5A/6 doesn’t match the original (some names transcribed wrongly). http://www.billmacafee.com/1831census.htm (There is a PRONI ref of PRONI MIC/5A/5-9B which I cannot locate) 9: Griffiths Valuation 1858 for County Derry http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ by name or http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=placeSearch by place (townland) 10: Valuation Revision Books - https://apps.proni.gov.uk/Val12B/ImageResult.aspx 11: Both an aid and a difficulty of family history research! 12: Bill Macafee site http://www.billmacafee.com/sperrins/backgroundpapers/coderryhistoricalbackground.pdf “County Londonderry, Historical Background Paper-the Plantation of Ulster & creation of the county of Londonderry” p 5. 13: PRONI ref D/1550 (Doc 3 - 7 pgs) - 1700 Land Indenture 04 April 1700. 14: There are 31 records for Moore in “The Register of Derry Cathedral 1642-1703” database on Find My Past, a mix of BD&M. I was also provided with a copy of film from the Family History Library for Templemore baptisms for Moore – total of 16 - which don’t exactly match the FMP records. 15: Lives on Land Indentures - these Indentures / Leases were made between the landowner / lessor and lessees in the form of three lives / persons named on the lease along with rents, fees and obligations. As a life/person died they were replaced by another for a fee, and generally by a relative. The life was often a child as this made for a longer lease connected to their name. The new life /person had to be added within three months of the death of the one they were replacing. 16: 01 Aug 1769 – on Find My Past “Crossle Genealogical Abstracts Parcel 1A 32-22 v. M. National Archives of Ireland – Derry Wills – Life Events BDM”. The document is for replacing a life on the 1700 Land Indenture. Crossle is an invaluable resource for Northern Ireland genealogy. 17: Refer to Note 4 for The Flax Growers List 1796. Submitted by Marilyn Long Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 18: With the Report - a collection with reference number D1550 at PRONI is named as MARTIN, KING, FRENCH & INGRAM Papers and the collection includes D1550/155 Papers relating to Moore families of Carrowclare, Carrowreagh and Crindle and includes PRONI D/1550/155/5 “Part of a letter from [un-named] transported for life to [?Australia] and working as apothecary, N.D. [late 18th or early 19th century”. NOTE: 2 pages exist from the middle of the letter and the Researcher noted “in Moore family Bible”. 19: The Hawkesbury flooded three times in 1806 in March, August and October. http://hawkesburyheritage.blogspot.com/2013/06/hawkesbury-river-floods.html 20: NSW BD&M Records – Marriage of Richard Ridge and Margaret Foster at St Phillips Sydney – Refs 8/1809/V1809 5 and 890/1809 V1809890. This was sighted on film at the Society of Australian Genealogists Submitted by Marilyn Long Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2015 Just Plain Alice by Julie Webb Submitted by Julie Webb Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Just Plain Alice Since 1788, Australia experienced waves of convict immigration from Great Britain. The emptying of overcrowded gaols had proved a success; however, from 1815 in an attempt to improve the moral character of society, the government promoted the migration of free settlers to the colony. By the mid-1830s opposition to transportation grew, not because of the inhumanity within the system but mainly the inflicted ‘stain’ on the free middle classes.1 It is within this field of conflict that Alice arrived on the Elizabeth IV from London in 1836.2 Documents state she was aged 30, could read and write, was of protestant faith and a widow. Two children, Ann and Alice accompanied her on the voyage, the youngest being only fifteen months old.3 Working as a dressmaker by trade in England was not sufficient to sustain her small family, embarking on an unsuccessful criminal lifestyle she was discovered receiving stolen goods. The majority of women convicts were convicted of petty crimes and Alice, a native of Liverpool, was brought before the Lancaster (Liverpool) Borough Session of Peace on the 26 October 1835.4 With no previous convictions, she was sentenced to seven years and transportation to the colonies.5 Her appearance was well documented; regrettably, Alice was physically challenged, standing only five feet and a half-inch. Her complexion was ruddy and freckled, with brown eyes and bright chestnut hair. If this wasn’t enough, she had lost upper front teeth and had a hairy mole on the left side of her chin.6 This vision of loveliness would not endear her to the opposite sex once arriving in the colony, she would need to do her best and work hard for a new life. One can only imagine her feelings as she walked from the ship with her two little girls7 not knowing their fate. On arrival, she would be sent to the Parramatta Female Factory,8 what this meant for her girls was unknown. Less than four weeks later in November 1836,9 her eldest daughter Ann would be removed and sent to the Orphan School. Alice must have been bereft when her child was ripped from her arms and taken away. Her youngest daughter Alice would stay with her during the ensuing years at the Female Factory. Enduring malnourishment, manual labour and cruelty, Alice worked through the classification levels and after three years became eligible to participate in the monthly Bride Fairs. One Sunday in June 1839, James Carmody travelled from Sydney to inspect the available ladies, scarcely ‘love at first sight’, the banns were read in St John’s Parramatta and they were married on July 27, 1839.10 James had obtained his Certificate of Freedom that year,11 having arrived on the Portland in 1833;12 his first attempt to marry had failed the year previous as both parties were under bond. Alice was married under the name of McShean,13 her widowed name, although other documents give multiple variations of MacShane, McShane, McSheen, and MacShean. It appears Alice’s surname was questionable and her age was also in doubt. She is documented as 35 when married,14 according to the ship’s indent she should have been 33,15 her death certificate places her at 34,16 this gives us a birth date ranging from 1804 to 1806 and still no maiden name to be found. Young baby James arrived one year after their marriage; he was to be their only child.17 Another year later we see an application to the Colonial Secretary, Edward Deas Thomson, in 1841 by James Carmody for the release of Alice’s daughter Ann from the Orphan School.18 Tragically, this request was denied because the Governor believed they only wanted Ann so Submitted by Julie Webb Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists ‘her services would be valuable to them’,19 rather than any strong sense of family. Alice did not become a free woman until November 1842.20 However, the denial of their application was so devastating for Alice, that in desperation she composed a letter to Lady Elizabeth Gipps the Governor’s wife in 1843,21 pleading for her consideration as a mother; all to no avail and no answer. Figure 1. First page and signature of a handwritten letter from Alice Carmody to Lady Elizabeth Gipps, wife of the Governor in 1843, Lieutenant- Colonel Sir George Gipps. Includes handwritten notation to the left of the letter by the Governor (G.G.) that Alice “ought not to have written to Lady Gipps”. Any compassion from the hierarchy was absent and the family had to wait for Ann’s release. Ann never came to live with her mother as the Orphan School had secured an apprenticeship when she reached thirteen. After years in servitude, Ann would marry John May when she was 21, interestingly Ann quoted her name as Ann McShean Carmody on her marriage certificate.22 Ann’s younger sister Alice had married a year earlier to John Donaldson,23 and it wasn’t until each daughter stated they were born in Cheshire,24 do we have a glimpse of their early life. Further evidence appears on the death certificates of both women including the occupation of their father as a teacher of music and musician. Andrew McShane and Alice Barlow are Submitted by Julie Webb Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists documented as Alice Donaldson’s parents, this information was given by her daughter Isabella,25 and Ann May’s death certificate confirms her parents as Thomas McShane and Alice Pickering, the informant being her husband John May.26 Alice Carmody’s death certificate gives us no information as to her parents or former husband.27 Alice spent her life as a homemaker, whilst her husband worked as a cooper and labourer, it is evident that the marriage soured in the 1850s as James placed several newspaper ads, distancing himself from her debts and claiming no responsibility.28 Despite extensive research, no birth entry can be confirmed regarding the parents of Alice Carmody nee Barlow or Pickering.29,30 Nor do we have any evidence of a marriage between her and Andrew or Thomas McShane or McShean.31 We can only assume that Alice Carmody lived a good life, despite the few misdemeanours along the way; she died aged 60 from Tuberculosis, and I am proud to call her family and my most elusive ancestor. Silent voices from the past give us clues to the origins of Alice, yet the mystery remains. Her name lives on in successive generations whilst her story is one of courage, determination, and sadness, but most of all resilience. 1 Lucy Hughes Turnbull, ‘The end of transportation’, Dictionary of Sydney, 2008, https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/the_end_of_transportation, accessed 20 April 2020. 2 Australia Convict Ship Muster Roll – Alice MacShane, New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA, Original data: New South Wales Government. Musters and other papers relating to convict ships. Series CGS 1155, Reels 2417-2428. State Records Authority of New South Wales. Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 22 April 2020. 3 Free Passengers and Crew on Convict Ships into Sydney 1830-40, State Library of NSW, Australian Reference- Special Collections Area (Q929.3944/28SET). 4 Lancaster Borough Sessions – Alice McShane, England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009, Class: HO 27; Piece: 49; Page: 572, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 22 April 2020. 5 Convict Transportation Register – Alice MacShane, Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA, Class: HO 11; Piece: 10, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 April 2020. 6 Convict Indent ‘Elizabeth IV’ – Alice MacShane, State Archives NSW; Series: NRS 12189; Item: [X639]; Microfiche: 720, New South Wales Government. Bound manuscript indents, 1788–1842. NRS 12188, microfiche 614–619,626–657, 660–695. State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 April 2020. 7 Free Passengers and Crew on Convict Ships into Sydney 1830-40, State Library of NSW, (Endnote 3). 8 Parramatta Female Factory – Alice McShean, New South Wales, Australia, Convict Applications for the Publication of Banns, 1828-1830, 1838-1839 [database on-line], New South Wales Government. Colonial Secretary. Returns of applications for the publication of banns, 1828–41. Main series of letters received, NRS 905. The State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 April 2020. 9 Admission to Orphan School - Ann McShean, 10 November 1836, NSW State Archives, Child Care and Protection Index 1817-1942, NRS:12266,[1]; COD 506, Page 39, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research, accessed 21 April 2020. 10 Marriage Certificate Transcript - James Carmody and Alice McShean, NSW BDM (Early Church Records), Ref No: Vol 23B No 223, 1839. Submitted by Julie Webb Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 11 Certificate of Freedom - James Carmody, 3 April 1839, NSW State Archives, Convicts Index 1791-1873, Entry No: 39/0506, Citation: 4/4347; Reel 1002, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and- research, accessed 21 April 2020. 12 Convict indent ’Portland’- James Carmody, New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788- 1842 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 22 April 2020. 13 Marriage Certificate Transcript - James Carmody and Alice McShean, (Endnote 10). 14 Marriage Certificate Transcript - James Carmody and Alice McShean, (Endnote 10). 15 Convict Indent ‘Elizabeth IV’ – Alice MacShane, State Archives NSW; Series: NRS 12189; Item: [X639]; Microfiche: 720, New South Wales Government. Bound manuscript indents, 1788–1842. NRS 12188, microfiche 614–619,626–657, 660–695. State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia, http://ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 April 2020. 16 Death Certificate Transcript - Alice Carmody, NSW BDM, Ref No: 1865/1537. 17 Baptism Transcript – James Carmody, NSW BDM (Early Church Records), Ref No: Vol 61 No 274, 1840. 18 Letter to Colonial Secretary Edward Thomson from James Carmody, 6 March 1841, 41/2801, NRS 922: Colonial Secretary, Indexes and Registers of letters received, 1826-1906, photocopy of original from collection of Beverley Johnson, Brisbane, 2004. 19 Notation by Governor George Gipps (G.G.) regarding an application by James Carmody, 18 March 1841, NRS 922: Colonial Secretary, Indexes and Registers of letters received, 1826-1906, photocopy of original from collection of Beverley Johnson, Brisbane, 2004. 20 Certificate of Freedom – Alice McShane, 9 November 1842, NSW State Archives, Convicts Index 1791- 1873, Entry No: 42/1936, Citation: 4/4378; Reel 1012, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections- and-research, accessed 21 April 2020. 21 Letter to Lady Elizabeth Gipps from Alice Carmody,18 July 1843, 41/2891, NRS 922: Colonial Secretary, Indexes and Registers of letters received, 1826-1906, photocopy of original from collection of Beverley Johnson, Brisbane, 2004. 22 Marriage Certificate Transcript - Ann McShean Carmody and John May, NSW BDM (Early Church Records), Ref No: Vol 80 No 700, 1852. 23 Marriage Certificate Transcript - Alice McShean and John Donaldson, NSW BDM (Early Church Records), Ref No: Vol 79 No 295, 1851. 24 Birth Certificate Transcript - Charles May, NSW BDM, Ref No: 1866/433. 25 Death Certificate Transcript - Alice Donaldson, NSW BDM, Ref No: 1907/1326. 26 Death Certificate Transcript – Ann May, NSW BDM, Ref No: 1866/964. 27 Death Certificate Transcript - Alice Carmody, (Endnote 16). 28 The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Tuesday 26 July 1853, p 4 Advertising, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/, accessed 26 April 2020. 29 Birth Record search – Alice Barlow, https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.givenName=alice&q.surname=barlow&q.birthLikePlace= liverpool&q.birthLikeDate.from=1804&q.birthLikeDate.to=1806, accessed 24 April 2020. 30 Birth Record search – Alice Pickering, https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.givenName=alice&q.surname=pickering&q.birthLikePlac e=liverpool&q.birthLikeDate.from=1804&q.birthLikeDate.to=1806, accessed 24 April 2020. 31 Marriage Record search – Alice Barlow/Pickering to Andrew/Thomas MacShane/McShean, https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.givenName=alice&q.surname=mcshane&q.birthLikePlac e=liverpool&q.birthLikeDate.from=1804&q.birthLikeDate.to=1806&q.marriageLikeDate.from=1820,eLikeD, accessed 24 April 2020. Submitted by Julie Webb Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2016 Who Were You and Where Did You Go? by Diana Pecar Submitted by Diana Pecar Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Who Were You and Where Did You Go? My mother-in-law always growled that her grandfather was a ‘real bastard’ because he had abandoned his young family and disappeared when he realised that he was not going to inherit anything from his father-in-law, George Kirby1. Of course, this piqued my interest so I asked the obvious question, “What do you actually know about him?” “He was Arthur McArthur, my grandfather [you can imagine my reaction to this wonderful, easy-tofind name!]. He up and left his family when he found out that he wouldn’t be getting anything from grandma’s father. Dad always said ‘my father walked the halls of Guys Hospital’ ”.2 That’s all she knew. So I got to work. But it wasn’t easy and there were still so many unanswered questions. So I wrote the following letter to Arthur. A letter written – never to be sent, never to be read … Dear Arthur I’ve been looking for you for about 9 years! Please help as I’m tired and frustrated from searching everywhere, all the databases in England and Australia, but I can’t find answers. Seriously though. I know a lot about you but I don’t actually know you. So really, it’s quite simple! Who were you and where did you go? What happened? Were you born Arthur McArthur in 1840 at 28 Robert Street, St Andrew, Holborn (above the Bars) in London and baptised on 18 May at St Andrew Western, Holborn?2 This is the only reference I can find for an Arthur McArthur who was born in London between 1835 and 1855. If this is you, then your parents were Sechibald McArthur and Martha Morris?34 Sechibald was a tailor and you all lived Above the Bars in Holborn, a Civil Parish in London5. Did he make suits and clothes for doctors at Guys Hospital because a family story says that ‘Arthur walked the halls of Guys Hospital’5. Were you delivering your father’s goods? If all this is wrong, then, Who were your parents? When did you come to Australia and why? 1 Last Will and Testament of George Kirby, Probate declared 17th May 1894 (copy held by the family) 2 Oral family histories. 3 General Register Office for England and Wales, Birth for Arthur McArthur, Holborn Vol. II Page 128; 4England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915, Birth for Arthur McArthur, June 1840, Holborn Vol II Page 128; London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917, Baptism for Archibald [sic] McArthur Camden Gray’s Inn Road Holy Trinity, Parish Register, baptized 8th October 1840 (born 18 May 1840) to Archibald (Tailor) & Martha McArthur of 28 Robert Street, Holborn, Middlesex. 5 England Census, Middlesex, St Andrew Holborn (above the Bars), St Andrew Western District 13 – 28 Robert Street; FamilySearch Wiki for Holborn, Middlesex Genealogy. Submitted by Diana Pecar Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists I can’t find a shipping record of when you arrived in Australia, or none that I’m absolutely certain is you.7 But I do know that you were on the Electoral Rolls for The Bogan 1877-78 to 1882-83, residing in Forbes7 You married Esther Kirby on 18th August 1877 at Esther’s residence in Forbes although your Marriage Certificate gives no other clues as to who you are8 You and Esther had three children: • Florence, born 1 December 1877 in Stokes Hill, Forbes.9 • George Kirby, born 28 January 1880 in Forbes.10 • Victoria Sylvia, born 3 March 1886 in O’Connell Street, Parramatta.11 When Florence was born, you were 39 years old and born in London which would give you a birth year of 1838. But when Victoria Sylvia was born 9 years later, you said you were 35!! For a bookkeeper, your figures leave a lot to be desired. There is also a family story that you abandoned your family after your father-in-law’s Will was read in mid 1894 as he left quite a bit of real estate to his daughter Esther, his son and his grandsons for their sole use12. Is this true? Did you leave your family because you were specifically mentioned that you were not to receive anything? You disappeared off the face of this Earth! Where did you go and what did you do? What were the circumstances of you leaving the family? Your living family would really like to get answers to all these questions. So please, come and sit on my shoulder and let’s have a chat! It’ll be quick, just a few questions, I promise. Maybe 4 to 5 hours!! That’s not much time to ask for. Thanks. The letter – answered!! Surprisingly, I did get a reply - from the other side. Yes, I know, it's a bit unreal isn’t it? I had the opportunity to see a clairvoyant and out of the blue, Arthur barged his way into my session indicating that I was looking at the family tree. So, with great hesitation, I asked him some questions ______6 Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists 1826-1922 both on Ancestry.com.au as well as NSW State Archives & Records; National Library of Australia, Trove online newspaper collections www.trove.nla.gov.au . 7 Electoral Rolls (NSW), The Bogan, Forbes 1877-78 and 1882-83, State Library of New South Wales. 8 New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage Certificate for Arthur McArthur and Esther Kirby (1877/002832). 9 New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth for Florence McArthur (1878/012234). 10 New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth for George Kirby McArthur (1880/13841). 11 New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth transcription for Victoria Sylvia McArthur (1886/18878). 12 Last Will and Testament of George Kirby. “I Give and Devise unto my daughter Esther McArthur wife of Arthur McArthur all my allotment of lands situate at Hornsby in the colony aforesaid (not far from the Railway terminus) Submitted by Diana Pecar Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists (through the clairvoyant of course) and here is the basis of what transpired and some of my thoughts on his answers. “What happened to you?” Arthur answered, “Madagascar and Madeline”. Although these names were said as a sort of word game and the letters could be jumbled, I have since established that a ship Madagascar did sail from London to Melbourne in mid 1853. Arthur would have been 13 years of age. As many 'children' worked on ships in those days it is not unrealistic to think that Arthur may have been on this ship. There is also a conundrum in that his parents cannot be found in the 1851 England Census although there was a cholera outbreak in London in the late 1840’s when over 10,000 Londoners died.13 He could have been an orphan. It is certainly possible that he may have sought work on the ships. This would mean that Arthur walked the halls of Guys Hospital as a 10-12 year old. Possible, but will we ever find out? Arthur then indicated a date of 1898. Well, it was around 1900 that I 'lost' Arthur, around the time of the death of his father-in-law who's Will stated categorically that Arthur was not to receive anything from his Estate. “Why did you leave?” Arthur answered, “To escape the tyranny of injustice”. He also said he feels remorse about leaving. “Can you give me some names?” Thinking that he would say Esther, his wife, he actually rattled off, “Adelaide. Josephine Montgomery, Bethany, Ann, Joseph. Unrequited love.” All this really didn’t help, it just created more questions. But it was quite exciting to be ‘talking’ to Arthur. Arthur McArthur still remains the mysterious and elusive ancestor and more work is needed. ______ 13 1851 England and Wales Census; Wikipedia 1846-1860 cholera pandemic www.en.wikipedia.org . Submitted by Diana Pecar Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2017 A Happy End to an American- Australian-European Search for an Elusive Ancestor by Douglas Claus Submitted by Douglas Claus Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists A Happy End to an American-Australian-European Search for an Elusive Ancestor He did not plan on being buried 10,000 miles from his birthplace, but Charles James Watson’s life did not exactly play out as anyone would have expected when he arrived into this world on November 24, 1866 in Roxbury, Vermonti. His family stayed in Roxbury for at least the first four years of his life, sharing the home with his 12-year older aunt, Euraine.ii According to family traditioniii Charles’ father, Josiah, joined the Mormons in Vermont leaving his family to follow them, returning after the birth of his daughter, Lydia Amelia in mid- 1872iv. When she died in January 1873v, he again left and never came back. Charles’ mother, Roselia (a.k.a. Rose) had her husband declared an "absconder" for having left his dependant wife and children. She moved to New Haven, Connecticutvi, put her children in an orphanage, got a job as matron in the orphanage. At the ripe old age of 26 and 29 Charles had two daughters with Florence Hill: Lillian in 1892 and Elizabeth in 1896. There is no record of a marriage, even though two family-trees in Ancestry.com each reference the same marriage in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894 between a couple of the same names. However, the referenced marriage certificate states that the husband was born in Germany and the wife in Ohio, so this is most certainly a different couple. Later US census reports continue to describe Florence Hill as “single”.vii Charles James left Florence, marrying Emma Beckstein in Manhattan in 1903viii. They moved to Emporia, Virginia where in 1907 they had a son, Charles Howard. Tragically, Emma died during childbirth. Three years later Charles Sr. took Charles Jr. and embarked on a trip to seek his fortune in Australia. He arrived in Sydney on Feb 10, 1911 via New Zealand on the ship Victoria.ix It seemed that Charles was planning on staying in Australia, because soon after the minimum two-year waiting period was up, on April 19, 1913 he applied for naturalization. There he is listed as “Widower with One Male Child.”x On April 28, 1913 he took the oath of Allegiance to King George V and became an English subject. Submitted by Douglas Claus Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Whilst he was working as a carpenter, he entrusted his son, “Charley”, to an American family in Kingaroy, James and Susie McDonald. Fate did not smile upon Charles Sr. as only two and a half years after becoming an English subject, he died on October 11, 1915 of pneumonia while out working in Jones Hill near Kingaroy. He is buried in grave 34 in the Presbyterian section of the Murgon Cemetery.xi A copy of a newspaper article as well as an accompanying letter dated March 7, 1916 from the McDonalds informing them of his untimely death was in my mother’s possession. This led me in 1993 to send out a “shot in the dark” to a random McDonald family in Kingaroy to see if he was in any way related to the McDonalds in my story. Hugh McDonald responded to me and told me that he had contacted the local courthouse as well as approached the local paper. They included the details of my letter in the South Burnett Times of July 6, 1993! The article states “The South Burnett pieces in a global jigsaw puzzle are starting to fall into place and pictured a Murgon Shire Council student environmental health officer examining the cast iron marker of Charles James Watson’s grave, which up until then had not been identified..”xii After nearly 20 years I reconnected with a 3rd cousin, who is an avid genealogist with whom my mother had been in contact. He is descended from Josiah Watson on the Florence Hill side and I from Charles James’ brother, Guy Maryon Watson, with whom the McDonalds were in contact after Charles Sr’s death. According to this cousin, “the McDonalds and Charles Jr. left Australia shortly after Charles Sr’s death. They applied for Charles’ estate from Virginia and later again from Toronto, Canadaxiii. Susan McDonald applied in December 1941 for a “Delayed Certificate of Birth” for Charles Howard, claiming “I raised this boy from the time of infancy until he was twenty-one years of age.” On the form she also claimed to be his aunt.xiv Preceding a trip to Australia earlier this year I reached out to said cousin once again and was pleasantly surprised to find out that he had found records of Charles Howard Watson in the US, including his first marriage to Mary Elizabeth Ingramxv in February 1942 (perhaps that is why he needed the birth certificate?!) This couple had four children (all still living). Later he married Maria Ines, with whom he shares a grave.xvi Sadly, after chasing him from three continents and over two centuries, Charles Howard Watson passed away in 1995. I have, though, been in contact with his son, Charles J. Watson in Los Angeles, the grandson of my great-great uncle, Charles James Watson, my most elusive ancestor! i State of Vermont. Vermont Vital Records, 1871–1908. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury, Washington Co, Vermont, "Vermont Vital Records 1720-1908," Book 1, p. 12, Charles James Watson; digital image. ii US Federal Census Year: 1870; Census Place: Roxbury, Washington, Vermont; Roll: M593_1626; Page: 257A; Family History Library Film: 553125. iii Family oral stories communicated by Marian (Jenks) Claus. iv State of Vermont. Vermont Vital Records 1720-1908. Granville, Vermont, p. 39; digital image. Submitted by Douglas Claus Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists v Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Lydia Amelia Watson (13 Jul 1872–27 Jan 1873), Find a Grave Memorial no. 107624090, citing Branch Cemetery, Hancock, Addison County, Vermont, USA ; Maintained by Joe Schenkman (contributor 48082354) . vi https://records.myheritagelibraryedition.com/research/record-10129-48501660/charles-j-watson-in-1880-united- states-federal-census vii US Federal Census Year: 1910; Census Place: Syracuse Ward 19, Onondaga, New York; Roll: T624_1057; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 0194; FHL microfilm: 1375070. viii New York and Vicinity, United Methodist Church Records, 1775-1949 [database on-line], Vol 335-339: NYC: Seventeenth St Church: Baptism, Marriage and Other Records, 1852-1920; p. 368. ix http://marinersandships.com.au/1911/02/052vic.htm x Commonwealth of Australia: Application for Certification of Naturalization, 19 April 1913. xi “Pieces Fall into Place.” South Burnett Times, 6 July 1993, p. 3. xii ibid. xiii Private e-mail from Jack Dempsey to the author; 3 August 2006. xiv Virginia, Birth Records, 1912-2015, Delayed Birth Records, 1721-1911 [database on-line]; Certificate Range: 00001-00348; Certificate-No. 1907000337. xv Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 179; Film Title: 63 Oakland 23210-26389; Film Description: Oakland (1941-1943); State File Number: 63 24193; County File Number: 237. xvi Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Maria Ines Watson (1925–9 May 2012), Find a Grave Memorial no. 160339504, citing Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by pboren (contributor 47316184) . Submitted by Douglas Claus Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2018 Francis Cottrell - Artist by Peter Sinclair Submitted by Peter Sinclair Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Francis Cottrell: Artist of Adelaide Sometime in the 1870s, from some port, on some ship, my great grandfather Francis Cottrell, an artist, sailed to Melbourne1. His first documented appearance was as a new father in a modest Victorian cottage in Garden Street, South Yarra with his partner Rebecca Abrahams. They lived beside the jam factory, then owned by the “Red Cross” Preserving Company, a bustling enterprise employing 230 people.2 On 20th June 1880, a baby boy arrived, also named Francis Cottrell.3 Although no number in Garden Street appears on the birth certificate, from later photographs,4 I see a worker’s cottage with a narrow verandah bordered with wrought- iron filigree. No Cottrell appeared in the Sands and McDougall directory for the street5, so the couple was boarding or renting. Rebecca Abrahams, formerly Levy, was recorded as aged 27 and born in Birmingham, UK, but her true history is uncertain. She was probably born in Worcestershire, England in 1849 to Nathan and Louisa Levy6,7, arrived in Melbourne with her family on the South Carolina in 18578, then married James Abrahams in October 18699,10. Francis, the father, was listed as aged 27, born in Amsterdam, Holland; however, I found no record of his birth there and his death certificate in 1886 shows his age as 38. He was possibly born in Birmingham in 184711,12 and later became a “native of London”24. Francis and Rebecca left no marriage record. The couple next appeared in Adelaide, its Victoria Square intersected by Grote and King William Streets into four quadrants with lawns and walking paths shaded by pine, oak and pepper trees. Horse-drawn carts and carriages rolled through following the square’s opening to traffic in 188313; the central statue of Queen Victoria appeared a decade later. On the western edge of the square in Grote street is Globe Chambers, little changed from its depiction in Ernest Gall’s 1896 photograph.14 Here was Francis’s studio, home to him, Rebecca and the baby. Alas, the next record is of Rebecca’s death on 28th February 1883 from puerperal septicaemia.15 Fifteen years later, a curious item appeared in the Hebrew Standard16 enquiring after Rebecca’s history and explicitly mentioning Francis Cottrell. After Rebecca’s death, baby Francis Cottrell, born in South Yarra, was raised and cared for by a kindly lady, Mary Anne Smith17,18. When he later became a Francis Cottrell, Artist. Scanned from family photo, most likely successful delicatessen owner and property in Adelaide 1880-85. investor in Glenelg, “Grandma Mary Anne”, now widowed, lived with the Cottrell family until the end of her days.19 Within a year or two, Francis married Kezia Francis of Glenelg20. They had a daughter named Kezia in September 1885 who died of pneumonia after ten weeks21,22. By then, Francis’s artistic career was blossoming, as was his notoriety. In February 1885 he was a witness in an Submitted by Peter Sinclair Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists arson case in the Supreme Court, reported in five thousand words of scrupulous detail in the Express and Telegraph newspaper23. Francis confirmed the movements of the accused, Frederick Staer, whom he had known for two years. He, Staer and another man, Sykes, had been drinking in the International Hotel in Rundle Street until an hour and a half past the eleven o’clock closing time. They then made their way to the Marquis of Lorne Hotel in Pirie Street to try and get another drink but were unsuccessful. The party eventually broke up when Sykes’ wife saw him at 12:45 am and called him home! Francis’s studio mirrored his artistic personality; the Advertiser in January 1886 said it was, “the abode of one whose art oozes out at every point for his room is covered with designs for wall decorations done in oil … also many studies in red chalk of the undraped figure”.24 In 1885 Francis and Kezia were living at Glenelg, as their infant daughter was born and died there. However, his late-night, city carousing may have seen him living partly at his studio. In March 1886, a Francis Horace Cottrell of Glenelg, artist, was declared bankrupt25; was this the same person? The Parliament of South Australia had launched a competition for a portrait of Sir Robert Richard Torrens, famed for his work on the Real Property Act and the system of Torrens land titles. Entries were judged in 1885, the year after Torrens’ death, with the first prize of £150 not awarded but the second, of £75, given to a Mr MacCormac. A bustle of letters to newspaper editors ensued as Adelaide’s art community pronounced on the quality of the winning entry and the conduct of the competition. Francis entered without success, evident from the rejected portrait of Sir R R Torrens in his studio24, so he too wrote to the South Australian Register accusing MacCormac of changing his picture after other entries were publicly displayed26. Francis was a talented and accomplished artist with many works in progress; he had studied four years with the Belgian master Jean-François Portaels at the Brussels Academy24, most likely starting in 1874 when Portaels returned to Belgium from his travels27. Many of Francis’s paintings have disappeared, but those which remain are from the last two years of his life. His studio held a portrait of Mr J H Symon’s children and Kezia retained at least five of Francis’s works after his death. The Musicians was painted in 1886 and donated to the Art Gallery of South Australia by Deane Miller20; three men cluster in the corner of a room playing violin, flute and clarinet, two of them sitting at a table with a large tankard and a small glass of spirits in easy reach. In June 1886, Francis finished a large portrait of Sir Josiah Symon, later hung in Old Parliament House in Canberra, earning him 100 guineas28. Tragically, Francis’s artistic output accompanied a lifestyle that ruined his health; he died on 7th September 1886 of cirrhosis of the liver and dropsy29. Here was a life talented, notorious yet elusive. 1 From Unassisted passenger lists (1852-1923) Record Series Number (VPRS): 947 there are two Mr Cottrells and two Mrs Cottrells arriving in Melbourne before 1880; the other 18 have first names not Francis. The Mr and Mrs Cottrell arriving on the Tanjore in February 1877 are a couple and Francis is most likely travelling alone, following his training in Brussels. There are no records specifically for a Francis Cottrell or an F Cottrell. 2 Stephens, T. and Dale-Hallett, L. (2008), “Jam Factory - Factory & Companies Timeline in Museums Victoria Collections”, https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/articles/2686, Accessed 07 April 2020. 3 Birth Certificate for Francis Cottrell, 20 Jun 1880, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, 163, Births in the District of South Yarra, Colony of Victoria. 4 “Children in Garden Street, South Yarra”, c 1951. 5 “Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1880”, Sands and McDougall, Melbourne, 1880, p 184. Submitted by Peter Sinclair Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 6 MyHeritage Family Trees: Rebecca Abrahams (born Levy) Birth: Circa 1849 - Worcestershire, England Parents: Nathan Levy, Louisa Levy Husband: James Abrahams Children: Nathaniel Louis Abrahams, Nathaniel Louis Abrahams, Abraham Abrahams, Henry Alfred Abrahams, Julius Abrahams, https://records.myheritagelibraryedition.com/research/record-1-471628681-2- 972/rebecca-abrahams-born-levy-in-myheritage-family-trees. 7 This Rebecca Levy, who married James Abrahams in 1869, is the closest match found to the Rebecca who appears on my grandfather’s birth certificate3 , although the link is not conclusive. Between 1870 and 1876 they had five sons, two of whom died as infants and two who reached their eighties. It is possible they separated, and Rebecca met Francis Cottrell in the late 1870s when he arrived in Melbourne. 8 “Rebecca Levy arrival Melbourne,” Nov 1857, Melbourne, Vic, Inwards Unassisted Passengers to Victoria 1852-1923, https://records.myheritagelibraryedition.com/research/record-10858-213572/rebecca-levy-in- inwards-unassisted-passengers-to-victoria. 9 “Marriage of James Abrahams and Rebecca Levy,” 6 Oct 8169, Melbourne, Vic, 04658, Australia Victoria BMD historical index: Marriages 1836-1920, https://archive.org/details/AustraliaVictoriaBmdHistoricalIndex_104, Accessed 24 Jan 2020. 10 “Marriages Abrahams - Levy,” The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Melbourne, Vic, 7 Oct 1869, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244907415, Accessed 24 Jan 2020. 11 If the age on Francis’s death certificate is more reliable than on his son’s birth certificate, he was born in 1847-8 and the only UK match is one in Birmingham12. 12 “Birth of Francis Robert Cottrell,” 11 Oct 1847, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Vol 16, p 285, England & Wales Births 1837-2006, https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BMD%2FB%2F1847%2F4%2FAH%2F000659%2F011. 13 “Opening of Victoria Square”, Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912), Saturday 1 December 1883, page 6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198385833, Accessed 7 April 2020. 14 Gall, Ernest, “Victoria Square, Adelaide”, c 1896, State Library of South Australia, PRG 631/2/141, https://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au:443/record=b2060495~S1. 15 Death Certificate for Rebecca Levy, 28 Feb 1883, Adelaide, 8185, Register Births, Deaths and Marriages, SA. 16 Hebrew Standard of Australasia (Sydney, NSW: 1895 - 1953), Friday 2 December 1898, page 8, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/121637591. The short piece said, “Information is desired respecting the early history of one Rebecca Levy, who married a Mr. Cottrell, and also the names of her parents.” 17 Mary Anne and her husband, Charles, a carpenter, returned to Adelaide in 1882 after some years in the country. They lived first in Angas Street near Victoria Square, where they likely met Francis, then in Drayton Street, Bowden not far from the Hindmarsh Church of Christ Chapel, which Mary Anne attended. 18 “90 Years Old Today, Still Sews for the Poor”, The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Adelaide, SA, 25 April 1934, p 11, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47553528, Accessed 18 Jan 2020. 19 Len Wilksch, et. al., “Wilhelm Wilksch Family History 1805 ~ 1973”, The Wilksch Family Reunion Committee, Lutheran Publishing House, Adelaide, 1973, p 66. Francis Cottrell, the artist’s son, married Ida Mathilda Wilksch in Adelaide in 1909, lived for eight years in Broken Hill, where my mother Elsa and uncle Frank were born, then moved to Glenelg. Francis owned a ham and beef shop (delicatessen) in Jetty Road and invested in several properties which he leased to tenants. He bought a home in Malcolm Street in a new subdivision, Dunleath, and the family lived there until the mid 1960s; Francis died in 1945. Mary Anne was widowed in 1902 and lived in Malcolm Street, close to and later with the Cottrells at no 21, where I grew up. She died on 23rd December 1937, aged 93. 20 Graeme Deane Miller, “The Musicians,” 24 Jun 2002, Art Gallery of South Australia. This is a note accompanying the donation of this painting by the late Deane Miller to the Art Gallery of South Australia and provided to me by the Gallery: “Painted in Adelaide in 1886 by FRANCIS COTTRELL died September 7th 1886, Adelaide aged 38 years. The date and place of his birth are uncertain, but according to the St. Catherine’s register, a Francis Cottrell was born in 1847, and baptised in St. Phillip’s Church, Birmingham 08.11.1847. His parents were Francis and Esther. There is no record on ship’s passenger lists of him arriving in South Australia. He married Kezia Francis of Glenelg. They had a daughter, Kezia, born at Glenelg and who died of pneumonia 1.12.1885. Francis and Kezia lived in Victoria Square, Adelaide, and he died there on 7th September 1886, and was buried at West Submitted by Peter Sinclair Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Terrace Cemetery the following day. In 1887 Kezia married Robert Clark, they were my Grandparents. The painting has always been held by the family and was given to me in June 1972 by my Aunt, Dorcas Roberta Innes Clark, she being the last surviving child of Kezia and Robert. There were 5 pictures by Cottrell in my Grandparents house. A still life of similar size and frame hung with The Musicians in the dining room. Two watercolours, of which I have one, hung in a bedroom and a portrait of Kezia as a young woman, in oils, was not hung. We do not know where these other pictures are. They seemed to disappear when my Aunt moved into a nursing home.” 21 “Birth of Kezia Cottrell,” 8 Sep 1885, New Glenelg, SA, 360/423, Registration Certificates for Births, Deaths and Marriages, District of Adelaide. 22 “Death of Kezia Cottrell,” 26 Nov 1885, New Glenelg, SA, 150/353, Registration Certificates for Births, Deaths and Marriages, District of Adelaide. 23 “Supreme Court—Criminal Sittings: Staer’s Case”, Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA: 1867 - 1922), Adelaide, SA, 2 Mar 1885, 4, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208343405, Accessed 3 Apr 2020. The public was concerned by many recent fires in the city, suspected to be the work of “incendiarists”. In this case Staer was convicted and sentenced to fourteen years hard labour. 24 “The Artists and Studios of Adelaide,” South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1858 - 1889), Adelaide, SA, 1 Jan 1886, p 6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36320208, Accessed 10 May 2019. 25 “Insolvency Court,” South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA: 1839 - 1900), Adelaide, SA, 31 Mar 1886, p 7, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50187713, Accessed 3 Apr 2020. The occupation, location of Glenelg and 1882 arrival in Adelaide are suggestive, but the name Horace appears nowhere else in relation to my great grandfather. 26 “To the Editor,” South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA: 1839 - 1900), Adelaide, SA, 12 Sep 1885, p 7, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44945380. 27 Wikipedia, “Jean-François Portaels”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-François_Portaels, Accessed 8 April 2020. 28 “Portrait of Mr. J. H. Symon, M.P.,” South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Adelaide, SA, 25 Jun 1886, 5, Accessed 3 Apr 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44567590/4047041. 29 “Francis Cottrell Death,” 07 Sep 1886, Adelaide, SA, 157/316, South Australia Deaths 1842-1972. Submitted by Peter Sinclair Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2019 The 20-Year Search for James William Humphreys by Genny Kang Submitted by Genny Kang Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Twenty-Year Search for James William Humphreys “You look like a Humphreys” I was always told as a child. I had the same dark curly hair as my grandmother Ada Hughes Humphreys, but where did her ancestors come from? It took more than twenty years to discover the answer and to realise why the search had been so difficult. The first of my grandmother’s family to come to Australia was her grand-father, James William Humphreys who arrived in Adelaide as a purser on the William Stewart on 14 July 18531. A few weeks later, he married Margaret Hughes, a 17-year-old servant girl he had met on board ship2. Not long after his arrival, he set up a business as a saddler in Port Adelaide before moving to Kadina and then to Wallaroo. After Margaret died in 1880, he married twice more, outliving all three wives. When James William Humphreys died in Largs on 10 September 1917, his son-in-law, Alexander Wald reported in all good faith that he had been born in Woolwich in England and was 91 years old when he died3. Based on this seemingly reliable information, fruitless hours were spent combing through parish records in Kent. Three of his grandchildren were in their nineties when I started my research and they did their best to help. My great uncle Jim Humphreys thought the family may have come from Scotland. My great aunt, Dorothea Humphreys, remembered her grandfather as a rather vain little man who went down to the wharves to watch the ships come in when he stayed with them in Port Wakefield. In the latter years of his life, James William Humphreys lived with his daughter Esther Wald in Largs. He used to sit in the sun in the garden with his granddaughter, Dorothea Wald. He told her stories of his childhood, of his father who had owned slaves, of visiting his wealthy grandmother in a house with enormous rooms and that he had run away to sea because he didn’t get on with his stepmother. None of this fitted in with a likely background for a saddler from England. All my father knew of him was that that he had a reputation in the family as a teller of tall stories and I dismissed the stories as fantasy. Twenty years later, the small band of dedicated Humphreys researchers had long since given up. We weren’t even sure of his name let alone where he came from. When he was married in Adelaide in 1853, he signed as John William Humphreys but on his third marriage in Wallaroo in 1891, he signed his name as James William Walter Humphreys.4 We wondered if he had assumed an alias. Trove came to the rescue with an article in the Adelaide Advertiser in 1910 titled “A Veteran Volunteer, Some Reminiscences” 5In an interview, James William Humphreys told the Advertiser he had joined a commercial vessel in the Bahamas. After it was shipwrecked, he 1 A Veteran Volunteer. Some Reminiscences, The Advertiser 1 February 1910 2 Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1949, http://www.Ancestry.com.au 3 Australia Death Index, 1787-1985, http://www.Ancestry.com.au 4 Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1949, http://www.Ancestry.com.au 5 A Veteran Volunteer. Some Reminiscences, The Advertiser 1 February 1910 Submitted by Genny Kang Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists enlisted in the British navy. Despite the passage of sixty years, he was able to list the ships he had served on and their captains. We now had enough information to locate his naval records. The naval records solved the mystery of his origins. When he joined the navy in 1841, it was as a “Boy, First Class.” His birthplace was recorded as Barbados and he was described as coloured.6 He was stationed in Malta with the HMS Volage when he married Calcedonia Cuschieri, a minor, on 18 January 1849 in an Anglican church. Records show he claimed to have been “born at sea but registered at Woolwich, Kent.” He never again acknowledged Barbados as his birthplace. 7 The marriage made sense of another family legend, of a groom who was married in Malta but whose bride ran away after the wedding. The Catholic church in Malta regarded marriages in the Anglican church as invalid and sinful. However, in the eyes of the Anglican church, he was still legally married, a possible reason for using a different name when he was first married in South Australia. The story quickly developed. We found that his father, James Pilgrim Umphrey, was descended from plantation owners who had settled in Barbados by 1640. He had indeed owned slaves and in 1836, received £62 2s 10d in compensation for the emancipation of six slaves8. His grandmother owned a large property. We now had evidence to support the stories he had told his granddaughter. It was not unusual for men in Barbados to maintain a second family as well as a legitimate wife. While his stepmother may have resented him, he was regarded as a member of the family, taught to read and write and acknowledged by his grandmother. He was apprenticed to a saddler before going to sea. We still don’t know when he was born, other than it was sometime between 1819 and 1826. He may not even have known himself. In 1825, his father emancipated a young slave, James with his mother Mary Ann. This James was baptised in the same ceremony as two of James Pilgrim Umphrey’s legitimate children in 1829.9 If, as we suspect, this is James William Humphreys and his mother was a slave, he would have born a slave himself, regardless of his father’s status. We now understand why he eluded not just us but hid his origins from his children and grandchildren. Four generations later, I know where my curly hair comes from and DNA has confirmed ancestry from West Africa. What truly shocked the current generation was not finding that we are descended from slaves, but that we are descended from 200 years of slave owners. 6 Transcripts of naval records made by John Humphreys from https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ 7 Records copied from Malta Family History Society in 2010, source no longer online 8 Legacies of British Slave-ownership https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/project/details/ 9 Barbados Church Records, 1637-1887, https://www.familysearch.org/en/ Submitted by Genny Kang Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2020 Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary by Vanessa Bland Submitted by Vanessa Bland Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary Mary Sheehan: my great-great grandmother, my white whale, my most elusive ancestor. Born in Co. Galway, Ireland in 1861, Mary was the first of 11 children. Her parents Martin and Bridget emigrated to Massachusetts, USA in the 1880s along with all of Mary’s siblings. Mary however, travelled to South Australia, arriving alone in Port Adelaide in 1880 aboard the ship ‘Devon’. She settled in Steelton a small rural town where she lived and worked on the property of William Murphy. My research into Mary’s early life led me to relatives in the US. The Sheehan descendants shared a family story that Mary had been sent to Australia to help an older relative with their farm. I delved deeper into the Murphy family and found that William Murphy’s wife’s maiden name was Mary Sheehan! Unfortunately, this trail soon went cold as I could not connect the two Mary Sheehan’s, though it seems strongly likely that they were related in some way. There may have been another relative in the Australian colony though, as I then discovered in a tiny newspaper advertisement: “Any tidings of Martin Stack, last heard of in Mr J. Poonan’s employment, Gulnare South, November 1877. Any information respecting his whereabouts will be thankfully received by his Cousin, Miss Mary Sheehan, care of Mrs Murphy, Steelton.”1 This lead proved to be yet another frustrating dead end for my research as I could not find any link between Martin Stack and the Sheehan family. I did learn that 22-year-old Martin Stack died in Adelaide Hospital in October 1880 of Phthisis2. In 1883, Mary married my great-great grandfather Thomas Doyle at ‘Star of the Sea’ church in Port Adelaide. Thomas who was born in Dublin, Ireland, worked as a mariner and waterside worker on the Adelaide ports. The couple had three children: my great grandfather Michael (1884), as well as Thomas (1886), and William (1888) who died as an infant. Then Mary disappeared from the records. In 1908, Thomas married his second wife Mary Butler, with the marriage certificate listing him as a widow. Also in 1908, my great-grandfather Michael got married in Sydney, NSW and his marriage certificate listed his mother as deceased. Yet no matter how much I looked for a death record, an obituary, or burial information I came up with nothing. I assumed her death to be between 1888 and 1908, but I was uneasy with the lack of evidence. It was over a year before I found my next clue, an 1892 admission to the Destitute Asylum in Adelaide. Mary was 29 and pregnant. Her admission record states that “she is a widow, her late husband Thomas Doyle having died five years ago”. She gave birth in the asylum in April 1892 to Frederick William Doyle. There was a note on the record that the “Putative Father” was “Frederick Koop, a farm labourer from Horsham, Victoria”3. More notes in her file describe her situation “Has not seen him [Koop] for five months she states he knows her Condition and promised marriage she has not the slightest proof against him, she gave Koop ten pounds toward making a home for her, she received a letter from him four weeks ago, (which she stated) in which he stated that it was no good for her to depend upon him, as he was out of work and had no money.4” 1 South Australian Weekly Chronicle, Saturday 18 June 1881 2 “Mortuary Return” The South Australian Advertiser, Fri 4 Feb 1881. P273. It is unclear whether Mary ever learned of her cousin’s death. 3 Register of Admissions to the Destitute Asylum 4 ibid Submitted by Vanessa Bland Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Poor Mary! What a dire situation she had found herself in. She left the asylum in late 18925, narrowing the window for her death to sometime between 1892 and 1908, yet I could still find nothing. I also couldn’t trace the child Frederick and supposed that he may have been adopted and had his name changed. Mary’s sons, Michael and Thomas moved to Sydney, NSW once they were old enough, believing their mother to be dead. I widened my search for Mary Doyle to other states, but still no luck. I was once again left with no evidence, just a window. I decided to revisit Frederick Koop, the man who had deserted Mary while she was pregnant. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t considered him earlier, I’d taken Mary’s words at face value, assuming him to be unreliable and absent. It turned out however that he came back into Mary’s life. In 1895, Mary married Friedrich6 Koop at The Lutheran Parsonage, Horsham, Victoria. Why hadn’t I found her remarriage before now? Mary had concealed her past. Her 1895 marriage describes her as Mary Sheehan, Spinster. Mary Doyle had indeed disappeared, as she had started her life over as Mary Sheehan. It is doubtful that Friedrich even knew of her former family. The couple raised their son as Fred Koop, which explained the child Frederick Doyle’s disappearance from the records. They had four more children: Bernard 1894, Darcy 1900, Berly 1902 and Percival 1906. Mary established herself in Horsham, remaining there until her death in 1939. Her obituary reveals some of the inconsistencies in her life story: “a native of County Galway, Ireland, the deceased was 76 years old, came to Australia with her parents and arrived in South Australia where the family lived for five years”. Mary did not arrive with her parents, nor reside with them for five years in South Australia, but apparently the informant did not know that. Although many of the questions surrounding Mary’s life have now been answered, she remains my most elusive ancestor. Why did she move to Australia while the rest of her family went to the United States? Did she choose Australia for another reason? Did she want to follow Martin Stack? And what happened with her first marriage? Was Thomas a bad husband? And if so, why didn’t she take the children with her? Or return for them later? Was she ‘flighty’ by nature? And why did she never tell her second family about her former life? Will I ever have the answers to these questions? Probably not, but I’ll continue to search… 5 The last note on her record, dated 9 Nov 1892, said “mother and child to Mrs Murphy Commercial Hotel Jamestown. Child to Mrs [?] Cromwell Street.” Don’t get excited now reader, I could find no connection between the Mrs Murphy who ran the Commercial Hotel and the Murphy relatives that Mary had lived with in Steelton. In any case, it is likely that Mary worked at the hotel as a domestic servant to support herself. 6 Friedrich Koop was of German ancestry, his name in the records is sometimes ‘Frederick’, an anglicised version of his name. Submitted by Vanessa Bland Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2021 May Day by John Callaghan Submitted by John Callaghan Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists May Day This is my grandmother, Edna Dorney, clutching my father, Jack. By the time Jack was 8 years old he was a resident at the St Joseph’s Home for Boys, an orphanage at Kincumber on the central coast of New South Wales. I grew up knowing nothing about my grandmother beyond her name, and that she was from Redfern or Waterloo in Sydney. In 1997, my family gathered around my father’s bed to say farewell. I listened intently as his younger brother told stories about growing up in the Boys’ Home. They were heartbreaking and distressing stories. Edna abandoned her boys at the home, only ever visiting them once. Their father visited them and took them on outings – but neither took them home. It was a revelation. Until that day I thought my dad was an orphan and clearly, he wasn’t. What followed was more than 20 years of obsessively seeking the truth about Edna and her ancestry, wanting to know if we share genetic traits. Submitted by John Callaghan Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists A search for Edna’s birth record yielded nothing. Edna Dorney was not born anywhere in Australia in the period of time twenty years before or ten years after her estimated birth year - 1910. In her marriage record I found clues to Edna’s birth.1 Her name was recorded as Edna May Willcock, known as Edna May Dorney. Edna’s mother was recorded as May Willcock, deceased. It was back to the birth register, where patiently waiting was Edna May Willock, mother May Willock, born 31 August 1909 at Crown Street hospital.2 In the hospital admission record I learned that May Willock was admitted to Crown Street Hospital on 28 August 1909, aged 23, her occupation was waitress and her address was the Fitzroy Hotel in Cooper Street Waterloo.3 The Fitzroy Hotel was on a corner and for that reason, its address was sometimes described as number 3 Cooper Street and sometimes as Byrne’s Lane.4 The proprietor of the Fitzroy Hotel in 1909 was Mrs Lucy McFarlane, who happened to be the mother of Mrs Lucy Dorney - who happened to be Edna’s adoptive mother.5 When May Willock registered Edna’s birth in September 1909, she gave her age as 22; a year younger than when she had arrived at the hospital a few weeks earlier. She gave her address as ‘Burnses’ Lane in Waterloo and her birth place as Wellington NSW.6 May Willock then vanished into a mysterious, elusive, puff of smoke. There was no Australian birth, marriage or death record for a person named May Willock at the right time or in the right place. Was May Willock a real name, or a fictitious name invented by an unmarried mother? My desire to solve the May Willock mystery led me to take an ancestry DNA test. Through careful scrutiny of DNA matches I quickly learned that I was indeed connected by DNA to people named Willock. I constructed a family tree for every Willock family living near Wellington in the 1800s, working out how they connected to each other. Then I studied every Willock lady who would have been about the right age at about the right time to be May Willock. I narrowed it down to two Willock sisters. Mabel and Miriam Willock. In 1910 in Lismore in northern New South Wales, Mabel Willock gave birth to an illegitimate baby boy named Henry.7 In 1912 Mabel then gave birth to an illegitimate baby boy in Sydney, named Frank.8 In 1914, Mabel gave birth to an illegitimate baby girl in Lithgow, named 1 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage record 008466/1931. 2 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 21828/1909. 3 Royal Hospital for Women, Admission record, May Willock, Crown Street Women’s Hospital, 28 August 1909. 4 Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858–1933. W. & F. Pascoe Pty, Ltd. Balgowlah, Australia. 5 1907 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 - 1954), 17 April, p. 8.; Ancestry.com. Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, Sands Street Index, 1861-1930, 1910 Waterloo. 6 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 21828/1909. 7 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 16191/1910. 8 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 24731/1912. Submitted by John Callaghan Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Phyllis.9 Sydney newspapers tell me that Mabel lived a hard life on the edge of Sydney’s criminal underworld in the 1920s.10 Could Mabel Willock have been May Willock? She was about the right age at about the right time. She had a number of illegitimate babies. Edna could have been the first of them. Except that Edna was born on 31 August 1909 and Mabel's son Henry was born on 11 April 1910, just over 7 months later - which means she can't have been Edna's mother. What about Miriam Willock? On 16 September 1911, Miriam Willock gave birth to an illegitimate baby boy named Albert in Katoomba New South Wales.11 Albert’s birth record says Miriam was 23, a spinster, from Wellington in New South Wales. Then on 13 November 1913, Miriam Willock gave birth to another illegitimate baby boy. His name was Jack Willock and he was born at the Crown Street Women's Hospital in Sydney... the same place that Edna was born.12 On 27 June 1915 a baby named John Willock was baptized in the Parish of St Stephen in Newtown, Sydney, by his foster parents.13 The baptism record shows that baby John was born in November 1913, and his mother was May Willock. Between 1910 and 1915 there wasn't a John and a Jack Willock born in New South Wales. There was only Jack Willock, born to Miriam Willock in 1913. Is baby John Willock actually baby Jack Willock and is it possible that Miriam Willock and May Willock are one and the same? In March 1914, Miriam Willock got married in Queensland, where she lived until her death in 1929. Looking for answers, I accessed Miriam's Queensland records. And that's when I struck genealogical gold. The marriage record says her name was Miriam May Willock, aged 25, born in Wellington New South Wales.14 She signed it... May Willock. And the icing on the genealogical cake? May Willock’s death record says there were four babies from the Queensland marriage, and my ancestry DNA results say I share substantial DNA with one of those children.15 It took 23 years to solve the Edna mystery and then find the elusive May Willock. I learned that the abandonment of children was common to both women, overcome by one but not the other. Thankfully that trait stopped with Edna. Without an ancestry DNA test, the truth would never have been known. My next task? Find Edna’s elusive father! 9 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 19201/1914. 10 National Library of Australia, TROVE, 1922 '"IN THE TOILS".', Truth (Sydney, NSW: 1894 - 1954), 28 May, p. 9.; 1922 'CONCERNING CHEQUES', Truth (Sydney, NSW: 1894 - 1954), 3 December, p. 5. 11 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 41233/1911. 12 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Birth record 39978/1913. 13 Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1818-2011. 14 QLD Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage Record 14737/1914. 15 QLD Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Death Record 9379/1929. Submitted by John Callaghan Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2022 Elusive Annie – Who was Annie Taylor? by Colin Kilduff Submitted by Colin Kilduff Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Who Was Annie Taylor? I have gone through a phase, almost an obsession, of desiring to know who my ancestors were. I started off with my father’s side, and was suitably rewarded by finding tracking them back to their country and county of origin. By the end of my research I had the satisfaction of knowing that on my father’s side I had a claim to Australian “royalty.” Six of my ancestors were convicts. Of my father’s ancestors who came of their own will, all were of Irish ancestry, which was almost as bad, or good. All of these were Catholic, which in the nineteenth century was a by-word for disreputable, dirty and uncouth. For my mother’s side of the family line, perhaps I thought, “how hard can it be?” I knew my grandmother Gladys, although I was not quite thirteen when she died. I knew her maiden name, because it is my sister’s middle name. She was born in Sydney. The Registry record of my grandmother’s birth1 tells me that her father was William Jay, born in England (Warminster, Wiltshire). The certificate tells me that her mother was Annie Taylor, born about 1865 in Grafton (NSW). The information came from William, who would be expected to know, at least in so far as Annie knew. Going back a step further, William and Annie had married at the lovely old St Barnabas’s Church on Broadway, then more prosaically named George Street. The Registry record of the marriage certificate gives Annie’s birth place only as New South Wales and does not give the age of the couple, but these details were on their daughter’s birth record, as mentioned. According to the marriage record, Annie’s parents were William Taylor and Emma. Annie apparently did not know her mother’s maiden name.2 This is where my search hit a brick wall. In order to find Annie’s birth, the simple approach was unsuccessful. Various permutations of wild cards were tried, in case of a particularly illiterate registry officer or later transcriber. I also tried variants on Emma as her mother’s name. Not only was there no birth record for Annie Taylor in Grafton or anywhere else in NSW, nor in Queensland, but there was no plausible marriage for William and Emma in either colony.3 Thinking even more broadly, how about for example England? No help at all. In the records accessible through freebmd.org4 there are multiple marriages in most quarters across England of William Taylor to an Emma, and freebmd.org does not include Scotland or Ireland. This opens up many possibilities for speculation. Had Annie been born in NSW but for some reason the birth remained unregistered? For the period, it seemed unlikely, although in earlier times a few parish baptisms seemed to slip out of the indexes. Had Annie or her mother invented a father for the child? This was not unknown. At the other end of my great-grandmother’s life, she died in 1930. The death record was not greatly helpful.5 She was by then a widow, and although she had lived with her daughter in western Victoria for a period, she had returned to NSW, where she died, in hospital. The informant for the death record was that daughter, Gladys, who knew only what she had been told. Whether Gladys had returned to Sydney temporarily around the time of her mother’s last illness is unclear. It was a very long journey for a woman who was about five months pregnant with her second child. Annie’s parents were not named on the certificate. In addition to my grandmother, Annie and William had another, younger daughter, who became disabled following an accident in childhood. Although she lived independently at one stage of her life, Submitted by Colin Kilduff Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists she had been an inmate of the Stockton hospital, with epilepsy. She survived her mother by only a few weeks, which is probably coincidence rather than cause and effect.6 One point of interest for me was that William Jay, Annie and Mabel are, and although the two women are unnamed on the headstone that all three were buried in the same grave has been confirmed.7 Further progress seemed unlikely, but DNA was thought to be a possibility. Annie’s granddaughter Lynette8 was interested in genealogy, and wanted to get a DNA test. She also wanted her son tested, because he may have had Aboriginal ancestry on his father’s side.9 Because mitochondrial DNA is transmitted exclusively through the mother’s line, I thought that it would be a guide. However, Lyn was not interested in this angle, probably due to the influence of ancestry.com advertising. Her sister, my mother, died years ago but I realised that although I am male, I carry her mitochondrial DNA. Family Tree DNA suggested that my matriarchal line was associated with Ireland, but I have had no close matches. So, the question remains. Who was Annie Taylor? 1 Birth Certificate Gladys Jay, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages reference 1895/32542 2 Marriage Certificate William Walter Jay and Annie Taylor, RBDM reference 1894/0203 3 Queensland records at https://www.familyhistory.bdm.qld.gov.au/. 4 At https://www.freebmd.org.uk/search. The index covers only England and Wales. 5 Death Certificate for Annie Jay, RBDM reference 1930/6947, transcribed by Marilyn Rowan 6 Death Certificate for Mabel Jay, RBDM reference 1930/8037 (Marilyn Rowan) 7 The cemetery is now administered through Macquarie Park Cemetery; verbal advice from the Anglican office on site 8 Lynette died in 2018, about a year after her DNA test 9 At the time Ancestry’s database was too small to specify Aboriginal. The term Melanesian was used, not quite accurately Submitted by Colin Kilduff Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2023 The Sad Tale of Lieutenant Philip Connor by Bill Dudley Submitted by Bill Dudley Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Sad Tale of Lieutenant Philip Connor In the early 1800s, there was a brief time in the fledgling colony of Sydney, when the name Lieutenant Philip Connor evoked strong emotions. Until recently, I was blissfully unaware of my ancestor's existence and notoriety, but I uncovered his story after finally breaking through the most stubborn brick wall in my family tree. My path to Philip Connor was through his elusive granddaughter, Elizabeth Jane Carr, my great grandmother. I had struggled for years trying to make sense of the misinformation I had about her origins. She was said to have been born in England in the early 1830s, the daughter of a soldier named William Carr, and his wife Elizabeth. I finally tracked down her true origins with the aid of DNA test results. Elizabeth Jane Carr was in fact born in Sydney1, to William Carr, an Irish convict, and his Sydney-born wife Elizabeth, maiden name Connor. Shared DNA then led me to Elizabeth Jane Carr's grandparents – Eleanor Holland and Philip Connor. Eleanor and Philip arrived in Sydney on 16 February 18132 – both of them on the Archduke Charles convict transport, but on opposite sides of the ledger, as it were. The Archduke Charles carried a mixture of male and female convicts from Cork, Ireland, on a journey of 277 days – much longer than average for the time3. Amongst the female convicts was Eleanor Holland, tried at the City of Cork in August 1810, and sentenced to 7 years transportation4. Also aboard was Lieutenant Philip Connor of the 1st Battalion, 73rd Regiment, and a detachment of 30 non- commissioned officers and privates5. We don't know how well Eleanor and Philip knew each other on the Archduke Charles, but once they were ashore it seems that romance blossomed between the convict and the soldier. Just over 9 months after arriving in Sydney, on 9 December 1813, Eleanor Holland gave birth to a baby girl. Her name was Elizabeth Conner - baptised by the Reverend Samuel Marsden at St John's Church of England, Parramatta, on 16 January 1814 – parents recorded as Philip Connor and Eleanor Holland6. However, Eleanor's relationship with Connor was destined to not last. Some four months after his arrival in Sydney, Philip Connor was involved in an unfortunate incident which led to the death of a man in Pitt Street, Sydney7. On the evening of Wednesday 30 June 1813, at around 7 pm, Lieutenants Philip Connor and Archibald McNaughton, were walking in Pitt Street, apparently intoxicated, and in plain clothes. They took an unwelcome interest in a young lady who sought refuge in the home of her employer. The situation escalated and an altercation ensued, resulting in the owner of the home, Mr William Holness, lying dead on the footpath as a result of blows inflicted. A coroner's inquest was held the next morning and McNaughton and Connor were committed for trial8. The trial was a high-profile affair and brought to a head some simmering tensions between Governor Macquarie and soldiers of the 73rd regiment. McNaughton and Connor were found guilty of manslaughter (but not murder) by a panel made up largely of military men. They were given what was considered to be a light sentence – six months imprisonment in the gaol at Parramatta, and a one shilling fine. Details of the incident and the trial were reported at length in the press9. The account included eye-witness testimony that, immediately following the incident, Connor was heard to exclaim "What have I done!". Submitted by Bill Dudley Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists On the day following the trial, Macquarie made his displeasure known through a harshly worded General Order which was published in the Sydney Gazette10, and which was to be read out to all of the 73rd Regiment, and not once, but twice. The order addressed the death of Holness and referred to the Governor's "indignation at an occurrence so disgraceful to the Military Character". The incident prompted Macquarie to write to Lord Bathurst in London to recommend the removal of the 73rd Regiment from NSW, suggesting that in future no regiment should remain for more than three years11. Connor and McNaughton must have barely served their prison sentences before they were removed from the colony of NSW. They were shipped off in mid-January 181412 with many of their fellow soldiers of the 73rd Regiment to begin a tour of duty in Ceylon13. Perhaps before Connor left Sydney he was able to see Eleanor Holland and their new-born baby girl. Connor and McNaughton were both court-marshalled from the 73rd Regiment in August 181414. In April 1816 Philip Connor returned to Sydney "for the purpose of carrying into effect a marriage engagement", but on instructions from Macquarie he was "refused permission to stay in (the) Colony having committed a 'foul and infamous' crime in (the) Colony previously"15. Indeed, Macquarie forbade Connor to even leave the ship on which he had arrived. Supreme Court Justice Jeffery Bent wrote to Macquarie to plead Connor's case, and to point out the illegality of refusing a British subject entry to the Colony16. However, Macquarie would not be moved, and Connor was once again banished from the colony, apparently never to return. According to Justice Bent, Connor was "forcibly compelled to quit the Colony … under circumstances of considerable hardship"17. Later that year, in December 1816, Philip Connor died "on the coast of France"18. Six years later, in County Kerry, Ireland, his mother, Ann Connor, signed a paper in the administration of her son's estate, declaring that Philip Connor died a bachelor, and that she was his next of kin19. It seems that the memory of Lieutenant Philip Conner's time in Australia, and the daughter he left behind, were soon consigned to history and, for me, he became an elusive ancestor. 1 NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (NSW BDM), Birth records: V1823/2116 125; V1828/2063 127; V1832/2056 128 (3 records all for the same baptism). See also: St Mary's Cathedral Sydney, Roman Catholic Baptisms, images from original registers, on SAG reel 0006, page 393, (entry 2116) and SAG reel 0007, page 189, (entry 2063). 2 Ancestry. New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842, Bound Indentures 1801-1814. Ship Archduke Charles; arrival of Ellinor Holland, and, Sydney Gazette, Sat 20 Feb 1813 p2 – arrival of Lieutenant Connor. 3 The Convict Ships 1787-1868, Charles Bateson, Library of Australian History, Sydney 2004, pp.340-341. (Note: Bateson lists the length of the journey as 227 days, but this should read 277 days, based on the dates of departure and arrival.) 4 Ancestry. New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834, Female; 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819 and 1820 (same information in each record): Ellen Holland, Feb 1813, A.D. Charles, Jeffries, Cork, Aug 1810, 7 (years). See also: Ancestry. New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842, Bound Indentures 1801-1814. Ship Archduke Charles; Jeffries, Master; Pawson, Surgeon; Sailed from Ireland; Arrived at Sydney, 16th February, 1813. Ellinor Holland, tried at City of Cork, 1811, sentence 7 years. Submitted by Bill Dudley Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 5 The story of the Archduke Charles is reported in various sources, including a brief account of the journey in The Sydney Gazette, Sat 20 Feb 1813, p.2. 6 Ancestry. New South Wales, Australia, St. John’s Parramatta, Baptisms, 1790-1916; Vol 01, Baptisms, 1790- 1825. 7 Historical Records of Australia. Series I. Governors' despatches to and from England. Volume VIII, July, 1813—December, 1815, edited by Frederick Watson, published by Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916, Sydney, pp.2-26. See: http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/9/0/2/public/B13858427S1V8Frontcover,%20prelim&pages1-232.pdf. Accessed 28 May 2020. 8 Sydney Gazette, 3 July 1813, p.3. 9 Sydney Gazette, pp.2-4, COURT of CRIMINAL JURISDICTION. 10 Sydney Gazette, 17 July 1813, p.4. 11 M.H. Ellis, Lachlan Macquarie, His Life, Adventures and Times, Dymocks Book Arcade, Sydney, 1947, p.296. 12 Sydney Gazette, 22 January 1814, p.2 – three companies of the 73rd Regiment boarded the Earl Spencer; Sydney Gazette, 5 February 1814, p.2 – Earl Spencer sailed for Ceylon. 13 Commissioned Officers of the 73rd Regiment Who Served in Ceylon 1814-1821, https://www.mq.edu.au/macquarie-archive/under/research/officers73rd.html. Accessed 28 May 2020. 14 Ibid. 15Ancestry. New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1856. 27 April 1816, Reel 6004; 4/3494 p.472. 16 Historical records of Australia. Series IV. Legal papers. Section A, Volume I, 1786-1827, edited by Frederick Watson, published by Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916, Sydney, pages 205-208. http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/6/0/7/public/B13858427S4V1Frontcover,prelim,pages1-218.pdf. Accessed 28 May 2020. 17 Ibid. 18 Ancestry, All London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507-1858; Probate Date:14 Nov 1822; see page 3 of 7- page document. 19 Ibid. Submitted by Bill Dudley Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2024 Hiding in Plain Sight by Fiona Lane Submitted by Fiona Lane Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Hiding in Plain Sight In 1848, William Thomas Hall was baptised as a seven year old in Clerkenwell, a parish within Middlesex, London. The following year he travelled to Australia with his mother and older sisters arriving in Adelaide, South Australia to begin a new life. And then he just disappeared. No school records, no marriage, no listing in electoral rolls, no mentions in newspapers, no burial record, and no death. Nothing. Nothing that was, until his mother died intestate in 1898 and he signed documents stating that he was a draper, living in Ballarat. So where had he been hiding for the preceding fifty years? In December 1848, William Thomas Hall and his older sister Charlotte Esther Hall were baptised at Clerkenwell, St James, Islington.1 William was the youngest of five siblings. Ellen, Amelia, Charlotte, Archibald Albert, and William. The children had all been born and raised in Clerkenwell.2 Eight year old Amelia died in 18453 and the children’s father, Thomas Hall, died at the end of December 1847, sadly following an attempted suicide, after having been admitted to the Coppice Row workhouse.4 Now his mother was taking William and his siblings to the other side of the world, presumably to start over. They sailed on the Marion, arriving in Adelaide, South Australia in February 1849.5 For reasons unknown William’s brother, Archibald, did not travel with the rest of the family but did arrive in the colony at roughly the same time.6 Only two months after their arrival, William became part of a much larger family when his mother married widower, William Drayton.7 1 Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917 for Archibald Albert Hall [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p76/js1/019. Accessed 11 May 2020 2 Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census for Thomas and Charlotte Hall and children Ellen, Amelia, Charlotte, and Archibald [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Class: HO107; Piece: 660; Book: 2; Civil Parish: St James Clerkenwell; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 3; Folio: 40; Page: 26; Line: 9; GSU roll: 438777. Accessed 11 May 2020 3 FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 for Amelia Hall [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Accessed 11 May 2020 4 Death Certificate for Thomas Hall. Registration District St James Clerkenwell, County of Middlesex. Number (unreadable). Date of death 13 December 1847. Cause of Death – “Congestion of the brain following influenza caused by insanity and an attempt of suicide”. 5 https://archives.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/documentstore/passengerlists/1849/GRG35_48_1_49-4_Marion.pdf. Charlotte Hall 34, Ellen 13, Charlotte 9, William Thomas 7. 6 Victoria Deaths 1836-1985. Archibald Albert Hall died 25 March 1927. Registration Number 237/1927. Death Certificate number 9997 - “How long in the Australian States, stating which – 76 years in Victoria”. 7 South Australia Marriages 1842-1937. Charlotte Hall and William Drayton at the Congregational Chapel Adelaide. 10 April 1849. Registration Number 12/118 Submitted by Fiona Lane Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists William Drayton’s wife had passed away five months before and Charlotte became stepmother to the three youngest Drayton children.8 The Drayton’s and Hall’s took up residence in Bowden and lived what seems to have been a marriage of convenience for both parties.9 The years passed and William’s older siblings married. Ellen to Wootten Lansell10, brother of “Australia’s Quartz King”, George Lansell. 11 Charlotte married Conrad Bode 12 , a German immigrant and Archibald married Eliza Franklin,13 the youngest daughter of an English family who had arrived in 1853 and made their home in Geelong, Victoria.14 Both of William’s sisters relocated to Bendigo, as did his Mother and stepfather William Drayton.15 8 South Australia Deaths 1842-1972. Rachel Drayton at Bowden. 2 November 1848. Registration Number 1/134. The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 3268 – Noah Drayton; Piece Number: 1564 Job Drayton; Source Citation Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\st.u.ham/2/1/4 Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. George Drayton 9 1853 'POLICE COURT.', Adelaide Times (SA : 1848 - 1858), 28 December, p. 3. , viewed 11 May 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207122180. “CONNUBIAL BLISS – William Drayton was charged with violently assaulting Charlotte Drayton, his wife. From the statement of the complainant, rather a young woman, (Charlotte Drayton was 35 years old) it appeared that her husband, who was considerably on the wrong side of life (William Drayton was 61) “The defendant said his wife…withheld the soft endearments of her sex from him, and used him shamefully, but he had no objection to try her again. Complainant said she would shake hands and make it up if he would promise to keep the peace towards her.” 10 South Australia Marriages 1837-1942. Ellen Hall and Wootten Lansell at the Trinity Church, Adelaide. 27 September 1854. Registration Number 21/170 11 Suzanne G. Mellor, 'Lansell, George (1823–1906)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lansell-george-3992/text6313, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 11 May 2020. 12 The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia, Marriage Records 1836-1942. Conrad Bode and Charlotte Esther Hall. 22 May 1858. Registration Number 1559/1858. 13 The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia, Marriage Records 1836-1942. Archibald Albert Hall and Eliza Franklin.13 July 1868. Registration Number 3262/1868. 14 Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2009. Series: VPRS 14; Series Title: Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kingdom (refer to microform copy, VPRS 3502). “Confiance”, arrived Geelong, Victoria, 12 April 1853. Joseph and Caroline Franklin and children Joseph, Caroline, Elizabeth, Emily, Albert, and Eliza. 15 Victoria Coastal Passenger Lists 1852-1924. Public Record Office of Victoria PROV VPRS 944 Inward Passenger Lists (Australian Ports) on FindmyPast. Accessed 15 May 2020. Submitted by Fiona Lane Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists William’s brother Archibald followed the extended families to Bendigo, setting himself up as a draper16 and then following his marriage in 1868, lived in Ararat and Beaufort before eventually moving to Ballarat.17 William’s stepfather died in Bendigo in 187118 after which event his mother moved in with his sister Charlotte Bode and her growing family. Charlotte and Conrad Bode registered the birth of thirteen children over a twenty three year period19, having her mother on hand would have been of enormous assistance. Ellen and Wootten Lansell had seven children20 and Archibald and Eliza Hall became parents to thirteen21, including raising their twin grand-daughters whom they adopted.22 William’s mother, Charlotte Drayton died in 1898.23 She was eighty four years old. She had outlived both of her husbands, travelled half-way around the world be give her children a better life and was a grandmother to twenty three surviving grandchildren. Charlotte Drayton did not leave a will. Letters of administration were granted to her eldest daughter, Ellen Lansell.24 The law required Ellen to “well and truly collect and administer according to law the estate of the said Charlotte Drayton deceased” and provide a “true and first account of her administration of the said estate within fifteen months”.25 16 Fairfax Media; Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia. Ancestry.com. Australia, Newspaper Vital Notices, 1831- 2001 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. “HALL – FRANKLIN – On the 13th inst by special licence…Archibald Albert Hall, draper, Sandhurst (Bendigo) to Eliza Franklin, daughter of Mr Franklin Geelong”. 17 Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Alan Tillidge Hall born in Ararat. Registration Number 12967/1878. William Lansell Hall born in Beaufort. Registration Number 20409/1880. Reuben Archibald Hall born in Ballarat. Registration Number 21277/1883. 18 The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia, Death Records. William Drayton Registration Number 7230/1871 19 Death Certificate of Charlotte Esther Bode 31 December 1920 Registered in the District of Caulfield in the state of Victoria. Registration number 664. “Issue in order of Birth, the Names and Ages – Ellen Bertha 59, Albert Ernest dead, Edwin 55, Albert 51, Ernest dead, Charlotte Tillidge dead, Amelia Baker 45, Esther May dead, Victor Leslie 38, Esther Eva Annie 36”. Charlotte also gave birth to three stillborn, unnamed children between 1870 and 1880. They are buried together in Bendigo Cemetery grave number 3683. 20 Death Certificate of Ellen Lansell 11 February 1918 Registered in the District of Bendigo in the state of Victoria. Registration number 4089. “Issue in order of Birth, the Names and Ages – Ellen dead, Charlotte dead, Elizabeth dead, Thomas George William 55, Eva Agnes 52, Edith Ellen 49, Phoebe Jane 44”. 21 Death Certificate of Eliza Hall (Wife of Archibald Albert Hall) 19 June 1917 Registered in the District of Ballarat in the state of Victoria. “Issue in order of Birth, the Names and Ages – Arthur Franklin 48, Albert Franklin dead, Charles Philip 44, Minnie Drayton 41, Alan Tillidge 38, William Lansell 36, Rueben Archibald 33, Charlotte Ruby 30, Eva Stanley 27, Harold Percy dead, Leonard Wootton 22”. 22 Email from Tracey Jane Lambert (Great Granddaughter of one of the twins) 2001. Printed copy in author’s possession. “Amy and her twin Kate were brought up by their grandparents Archibald and Eliza and believed them to be their parents until much later in life.” 23 Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Charlotte Drayton. Registration Number 10907/1898. 24 Probate and Administration Files for Charlotte Drayton. Public Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria; Victorian Wills, Probate and Administration Records 1841-1925; Series: VPRS 7591. Accessed 27 May 2020 25 Ibid Submitted by Fiona Lane Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists This account was eventually provided by Ellen in 1906. The delay was due to the purchase of land from Charlotte Drayton prior to her death. The land had been purchased jointly by her children, but at the time of her death, no money had been paid to her. In the account, William Thomas Hall was described as a draper and living at 1 Adair Street Ballarat.26 This is not supported by the electoral rolls of 1903 to 1925 in which William’s brother, Archibald Albert Hall, draper, is living with his wife Eliza at 1 Adair Street Ballarat.27 The Letter of Administration stated in part “That the said deceased left her surviving children Charlotte Bode wife of Conrad Bode of Brougham Street Bendigo William Thomas Hall of Adair Street Ballarat Draper and me this deponent who are only surviving next of kin…”28 There was no mention of their brother Archibald Albert Hall. This was unexpected, as Archibald did not die until 192729 and was not estranged from his family.30 Image 1: Siblings, Ellen Lansell, Archibald Albert Hall and Charlotte Esther Bode. C1910. Collection of Rhonda Lane. 26 Ibid 27 Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Ancestry.com. Archibald Albert Hall Adair Street Draper. Accessed 27 May 2020. 28 Probate and Administration Files for Charlotte Drayton. Public Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria; Victorian Wills, Probate and Administration Records 1841-1925; Series: VPRS 7591. Accessed 27 May 2020 29 Victoria Deaths 1836-1985. Archibald Albert Hall died 25 March 1927. Registration Number 237/1927. Death Certificate number 9997 30 Image 1: Siblings Ellen Lansell, Archibald Albert Hall and Charlotte Esther Bode Submitted by Fiona Lane Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Charlotte Drayton’s death certificate states that her children were Ellen, Amelia (dead), Charlotte Esther and Archibald Albert.31 The informant was the husband of one of her granddaughters. So, where was William? William Thomas Hall had not been missing at all. He had been there, hiding in plain sight all along. There is no birth certificate for William Thomas Hall. Archibald Albert Hall was born 1840. William Thomas was baptised 1848. There is no baptismal record for Archibald Albert. William Thomas is on the passenger list on the Marion. Archibald Albert is not on any passenger list to Australia. There is no marriage record for William. Archibald married Eliza Franklin in Victoria in 1868. William is never mentioned in an electoral roll. Archibald is a draper, living at 1 Adair Street, Ballarat in the 1903 to 1925 rolls. William does not have a death or burial record. Archibald died in 1927 and is buried at the Ballarat New Cemetery with his wife Eliza. William Thomas is not a random name. I believe that it was selected by Charlotte to name her son after both her father, William and husband, Thomas, who were deceased by the beginning of 1848. I do not have an elusive ancestor by the name of William Thomas Hall. William Thomas Hall was the baptismal name given to my Great Great Grandfather, Archibald Albert Hall. 31 Death certificate of Charlotte Drayton. Registered in the District of Bendigo in the Colony of Victoria. Date of death 12 August 1898. Number 10907 “Signature, description and Residence of Informant – F J Cunningham, authorised agent, Hargreaves St Bendigo” Submitted by Fiona Lane Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2025 “Edie” Exposed by Margaret Dalkin Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists “Edie” Exposed When a second cousin offered this family history sleuth a transcript of an unpublished, undated autobiography, the first challenge was to discover the identity of the author Edie Farrar. Who was Edie Farrar? All I had was the manuscript itself. The autobiography was written circa 1900, the author was a schoolteacher, lived in New South Wales, was married to Claude, had five sons, and travelled overseas in retirement.1 Edie wrote that her prospective brother-in-law, “Mr Wilson” was headmaster of Fort Street National School. Fort Street’s history is well documented, but there was no such headmaster. Was she writing fiction or was she writing in code? The latter thought was my ‘aha!’ moment. The headmaster of Fort Street in the relevant period (the 1850s) was William Wilkins who married Harriett Bartlett on 21 May 1852.2 3 Could I find a sister for Harriet who married a man whose surname began with “F”? I did! Her name was not Edie Farrar. I found Eliza Bartlett who married Charles Friend,4 and the key to Edie’s code was revealed. She used pseudonyms but always with the correct initials of the real person.5 I had discovered the code, but why write an autobiography and disguise the people? Did Eliza have something to hide? Eliza Bartlett was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England on 2 August 1837. 6 She was seven when she arrived in Sydney with her family on the Parrock Hall on 5 November 1844.7 8 Eliza was a clever, musical girl.9 At 14 she passed the entrance exam for Pupil Teachers and was appointed to Fort Street National School where William Wilkins was headmaster.10 11 Eliza did well, and at 18 became headmistress of the Girls Department at William Street School (Sydney), then headmistress at Fort Street at 19. as I had passed highest in the competitive exam a year before, I was appointed to the position vacated, and so became Mistress of the Model School, being the first lady teacher trained in the colony that attained to that position…. I remained only eight months.12 Eliza’s young love was Walter William Friend13 to whom she was unofficially engaged and whose sister was her best friend. However, she did not marry Walter. In 1857 Eliza married Walter’s cousin Charles Friend. 14 After the ceremony, Eliza was told that Charles had a serious drinking problem.15 She was devastated. The newly-weds travelled by steamer to Morpeth and tandem cart from Maitland to live with Charles’ family at Bongeabong station on Marthaguy Creek near Gilgandra.16 After two years, Charles and Eliza moved to a new run, New Marthaguy, about six miles away.17 18 Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists When Eliza wrote about this period some 45 years later, she painted a vivid picture of rural life in colonial Australia. There were bushrangers, snakes, accidents and massive floods, but also picnics, travelling musicians and country hospitality.19 Typical of the time, she spent most of her early married life pregnant. Between 1858 and 1867, she gave birth to five sons. Eliza also wrote about Indigenous Australians, though she saw them with a European frame of reference: How well I remember seeing the King of the Castlereagh, his wife, mother, Queen Dowager Charlotte, and the children …………a princess of the Castlereagh, I afterwards trained to be useful in household matters.20 Circa 1885 L-R Arthur William Friend (1862-1921), Robert Harry Friend (1859-1938), Edgar Charles Friend (1867-1956), Charles Wilkins (Eliza Friend’s nephew, son of her sister Harriet), Eliza Friend née Bartlett (1837-1908), Richard Owen Friend (1865-1931 )21 Eliza also recorded Charles’ alcohol abuse. On one occasion she, a son, and ‘Bobby’, an Aboriginal stockman, rode 500 kilometres to Booligal to fetch her drunken husband home.22 23 In 1869 at Bongeabong, Charles was involved in a drunken brawl with his step-brother Leonard Cheetham.24 He was arrested, tried, and committed to Parramatta Lunatic Asylum. He spent his remaining 43 years in mental hospitals, dying at Parramatta in May 1914.25 26 Eliza’s visits were discouraged early in his admission and it is not clear when she stopped visiting. 27 Did Eliza want to protect her family from the stigma of mental illness? Is this why she wrote in code? Eliza’s narrative reveals a deeply religious woman whose faith assisted her to cope with the physical and mental challenges she faced throughout her life. Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists To support her family 35-year-old Eliza returned to Sydney and resumed teaching in 1873,28 fulfilling her early aptitude. By January 1874, she was Infants Mistress at Cleveland Street (Girls) School, receiving pay rises in 1877 and 1880.29 In 1879 Eliza planned to visit friends on the South Coast of NSW. When the steamer Monaro hit rocks north of Moruya Heads she and son Richard were shipwrecked. Fortunately, all passengers were saved.30 Eliza retired in December 1884 due to failing health.31 Travel and family were the focus of her remaining years. During her teaching career she was able to purchase several lots of land on which she built cottages. Despite the colony suffering a major depression, the rental income from the cottages helped finance a Thomas Cook tour with Richard in 1890-91 to England, Europe, the USA, Canada and New Zealand. Eliza ‘s last recorded family visits were to sons Robert at Bingara, and Edgar near Scone in 1898.32 Eliza died on 14 April 1908 at her home Holwood in Livingstone Road, Marrickville and is buried in Rookwood Cemetery.33 34 Even after her death, mysteries remain. When providing details for her death certificate, son Robert noted she had a daughter who died.35 Was this death too painful for her to record? Or was she responding to this all too-common event with private grief and public reticence? Another posthumous mystery is why did she leave £10 to ‘my little friend Stephanie Barton, daughter of Sir Edmund Barton’? Is it possible that Eliza taught the future first Prime Minister of Australia when he spent two years at Fort Street’s Infants School?36 Eliza’s story leaves us with more research challenges.37 120 years later we have a new eyewitness to colonial history from the perspective of a talented, resilient and inspirational woman. Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 1 A 160 A4 page typed transcript was provided to this author in 2016 by second-cousin Douglas Friend in Brisbane. This author digitised the document in 2018. The original autobiography was viewed at the home of the transcriber, the late Geoff Thompson in 2016 at Bowral. 2 Turney, Cliff, “Wilkins, William (1827-1892)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu/biography/wilkins-william-4853/text8105, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 18 April 2016. 3 Turney, ibid, William Wilkins married his second wife Harriett Bartlett on 21 May 1852. 4 NSW Marriage, 781/1857, Charles Friend and Eliza Bartlett. 5 From his father’s estate, my cousin Douglas Walter Friend, Brisbane was custodian of the autobiography of his paternal second-great-grandmother Eliza Friend but did not recognise her identity because of the use of pseudonyms. Since the discovery, photograph albums, family notes and oral testimony from an elderly uncle have shed more light on this branch of Friend family history. This author is not related to Eliza Friend. Information shared with this author in 2018. Verified by records from BDM NSW. The identities of the five sons were then confirmed. 1. Charles James Wilkins Friend (1858-1941) (Claude J. W.) 2. Robert Harry aka Henry Friend (1859-1938) (Robert Horace) 3. Arthur William Friend (1862-1921) (Albert Weston) 4. Richard Owen Friend (1865-1931) (R. Oswy) 5. Edgar Charles Friend (1867-1956) (Eric Clarence) 6 Family notes written by Eliza’s great-grandson Trevor Friend. “Eliza was born on 2nd August 1837 in the Parish of St Mary Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England”. This author has searched for a registered birth (including variants) without success and no parish record for her baptism has been identified in England. The family were Wesleyan Methodists and no non-conformist record has been identified to date. The manuscript advises Eliza was three or four when she arrived in the colony. This is not correct her seventh birthday was celebrated on board ship. 7 The Weekly Register of Political Facts & General Literature, Saturday 9 Nov 1844, p.234, Shipping. The barque Parrock Hall sailed from London on the 15th, and Portsmouth on the 22nd July 1844. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/228135984/22336719 accessed 21 May 2020. 8 In the 1841 England Census the family were living in Keppel Mews South, St George Bloomsbury, Middlesex. John Bartlett 38 (a coach owner) wife Susan 38, George Robert 11, Harriet 7 and Eliza 4. John Bartlett was also known as Robert. Class: HO107; Piece: 672; Book:6; Civil Parish: St George Bloomsbury; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District:7; Folio:57; Page:38; Line:8; GSU roll:438787. Ancestry.com.1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Accessed on 19 May 2020. On Eliza’s death transcription it advises her father was Robert. 9.Empire, Saturday 4 Sept 1852, p.1. Eliza sang Haydn’s “Creation” with the St Mary’s Choral Society in 1852. Her brother-in-law William Wilkins was conductor. Eliza was also a proficient pianist. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60135908?searchTerm=oratorio%20st%20marys%20choral%20society% 20sydney&searchLimits=l-state=New+South+Wales|||sortby=dateAsc accessed 21 May 2020. 10 NSW Death, 547/1852 V1852547 ,110, Eliza’s father John Bartlett died in January 1852 when she was 14. Eliza had been a Pupil Teacher for three months. 11 NSWSL, Wilkins Family Correspondence, 24 January 1847-23 March 1882, Microfilm CY1630, frames 1-195. 12 Connolly, George, “Catherine Heydon, 1858 to 1868: from Subiaco to Carcoar”, [online].Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, Vol. 25, 2004: 32-46. Availability: https://search-informit-com- au.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/documentSummary;dn=200411912,res=IELPA. ISSN: 0084-7259. [cited 22 May 20]. No supporting reference for Eliza’s claim has been discovered but Connolly advised on page 33 that in 1859 when Catherine became principal teacher at Fort Street Model School “There had been no headmistress for two years because there had been no-one with sufficient talent”. As Eliza left to be married in 1857, this timeframe coincides with Eliza’s claim for her departure as Mistress in that year. 13 Autobiography pseudonym, “Wilmot Farrar.” For Walter William Friend (1836-1895). This family were prominent hardware merchants in York St, Sydney. Walter’s mother was Ann ne’e Bunker, the sister of Charles Friend’s mother Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s deceased husband Robert was Ann’s husband’s brother. Two sisters had married two brothers. Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 14 NSW Marriage, 781/1857 ibid, Charles Friend and Eliza Bartlett were married at the home of Charles’ sister Elizabeth Brownlow. Autobiography pseudonym, “Bessie Birtley”. 15 Elizabeth Brownlow Charles’ sister informed Eliza about Charles drinking problem. 16 James Leonard Cheetham (“Mr Castles”) a former convict, his son Leonard (“Donald Castles”), and Charles’ widowed mother Elizabeth Ann Cheetham (formerly Friend ne’e Bunker), were settlers at Bongeabong. Station (“Billarr Station”) on Marthaguy Creek in western N.S.W near where it flows into the Castlereagh River. Charles had been raised at Bongeabong. 17 Autobiography pseudonym,“Marsden”. 18 https://www.rahs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Book1_Section-5-The-Squatters-Act.pdf An Act for Regulating the Waste Lands In the Australian Colonies was enacted in 1846 and came into effect on 1 May 1847. Known as The Squatters Act, James Leonard Cheetham was granted 5 square miles of land bordering Martigay (sic) Creek in Bligh Pastoral District No.4. Gazetted in 1849, the run was known as Bongegalong (sic) or Bongeabong. In 1851 James Cheetham also occupied Mobala Run between Merri Merri and Marthaguy Creeks and New Marthaguy was acquired later. 19 Autobiography, p. 24, “we were thrown into great consternation one day by a report that we received to the effect that the Bushrangers, then such a terror to that and the surrounding districts, were near and might pay us a visit any time”, “a huge brown snake came up from underneath and was most vicious”. p.57, son Richard sustained a serious leg fracture when he fell from a horse. p.21, the Buckingham family a group of seven travelling musicians were in the area in 1858. Eliza used the correct name for these entertainers. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/64375618?searchTerm=&searchLimits=l- publictag=Buckingham+Family 20 Autobiography quote and Marion Dormer and Joan Starr, Settlers on the Marthaguy in Western New South Wales, Macquarie Publications, Dubbo, NSW, 1979, p.11. The indigenous people of the Marthaguy are the Kawambarai people. 21 Photograph provided to this author by Douglas Walter Friend, Brisbane. Published with permission. The subjects were named on the back of the photograph. 22 Autobiography, p. 30, “Not long after the second drought had taken place my husband made up his mind to buy some cattle from neighbouring Stations & collect as many of his own as possible, and take them overland to dispose of them at Deniliquin where there was a good market.” 23 “Bobby” had tied the rope of the tarpaulin between two trees where he told her bushranger Ben Hall had been shot. He told her the noise they heard in the night was Ben Hall’s ghost. It is not known if “Bobby” was a pseudonym. 24 The Manaro Mercury and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser, Fri 26 March 1869, p.7 “Shooting with Intent”, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/113958726?searchTerm=%22Charles%20Friend%22&searchLimits= last accessed 16 May 2020 . The event took place on 3 March 1869 when Eliza was on a visit to Sydney. 25 Charles Friend is buried at Rookwood Cemetery with his mother Elizabeth Cheetham who died on 24 October 1873. Charles was buried on 30th May 1914. The gravesite is Plot C, Zone B/#/202, Rookwood Cemetery, Rookwood NSW. https://www.google.com/maps/place/33%C2%B052'03.9%22S+151%C2%B003'07.0%22E/@- 33.8692513,151.0533889,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d-33.8677547!4d151.0519298, accessed on 23 May 2020. 26 NSWSAR, Archives Office of the NSW Heath Commission, Parramatta Hospital Medical Case Book, 4 February 1865 to 25 July 1870, 4/8257, reviewed by this author in April 2017. Charles Friend was admitted on 19th May 1869 as a criminal lunatic. On 14 July 1870 he was transferred to The Hospital for Insane at Gladesville by order of the Colonial Secretary. As he had been found not guilty, he had incorrectly been classified as criminally insane. Over the years Charles was moved between the institutions. 27 Authorities advised her to reduce her visits to quarterly. Sometimes she refers to “my poor husband” but does not indicate he was still living. 28 NSWSAR, School Teachers’ Rolls 1869-1908, NRS 4073, Reel No. 1991, for Eliza Friend. Married women were not permitted to work in the Government Service at that time, but as her husband was institutionalised and, (possibly) her connection with William Wilkins, leniency was shown. 29 NSWSAR, School Teachers’ Rolls 1869-1908, ibid. The pseudonym used for Cleveland Street School was “Charlton”. Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 30 Autobiography pseudonym, “Monatto”. “Mrs Friend and son” were named as passengers on the Monaro, Eliza described “one woman who was screaming dreadfully” while the report mentions the calmness of the women and only a child cried. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/135687286?searchTerm=wreck%20monaro&searchLimits=l- state=New+South+Wales accessed on 15 May 2020. 31 NSWSAR, School Teachers’ Rolls 1869-1908, ibid, P.350, reveal Eliza Friend was awarded a retiring allowance of £492/7/6 on 23 December 1884. 32 The chronology at the end of the autobiography does not always correspond with research findings. NSWSAR, The School Teachers’ Rolls 1869-1908, Roll 5, pp 0901 & 671, Reel 1994, reveal Edgar Charles Friend was at “Kaynga” School (autobiography pseudonym, “Kingston” near Scone) from 30 May 1893 to 29 June 1894. The school was likely at Kayunga near Muswellbrook. In 1898 when Eliza made her last documented country trip, Edgar Friend was a teacher at West Marrickville School (19 July 1897-7 July 1899). She wrote that she left the train at Scone where “Eric” was waiting on the platform to take her to his home. He was then at West Marrickville School so Eliza’s country trip was earlier than she documented. 33 NSW Death, 06111, Transcription Agent Joy Murrin, Eliza Friend aged 70 years 8 months, born Wisbeach (sic) Cambridgeshire England, father Robert (sic) Bartlett, mother Susan Russell, Congregationalist, about 63 years in the colony, five sons (named) and one female deceased. Informant, her son Robert Harry Friend, “Coberg”, Calvert Street Marrickville. 34 Eliza’s headstone reads; “Sacred to the memory of Eliza Friend. Died 14th April 1908. Aged 70 years. At Rest” The grave with headstone is in Section B, Row 24 Methodist Section, Rookwood Cemetery, Rookwood NSW. Photographed by this author on 28 September 2016. https://www.google.com/maps/place/33%C2%B052'38.7%22S+151%C2%B003'15.9%22E/@- 33.8771316,151.053612,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d-33.8774058!4d151.0544172 accessed on 23 May 2020 35 NSW Death, 06111, ibid. 36 Martha Rutledge, “Barton, Sir Edmund (Toby) 1849-1920”, ADB, Vol 7 (MUP), 1979, accessed on 24 May 2020. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barton-sir-edmund-toby-71 Edmund Barton was seven when he enrolled at Fort Street Model School in 1856. Eliza Bartlett was Mistress of the Infant’s Department for eight months. 37 This author is preparing Eliza Friend’s Autobiography for publication to incorporate additional research findings. Submitted by Margaret Dalkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2026 The Professor of Natural Philosophy by Natalie Lonsdale Submitted by Natalie Lonsdale Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Professor of Natural Philosophy An “Incorrigible Son” cried the headline in Bell’s Life London and Sporting Chronicle.1 “George Sampson, a youth of about twenty years of age, was charged with robbing his father, Mr. George Bentley Sampson, professor of natural philosophy, of Chelsea. Mr Sampson regretted that it fell to his lot to press a charge of felony against his own son.” My 4x great-grandfather George Bentley Sampson had been called out of London for a few days. While away, his eldest son George, angry that his father would not set him up in business, had stripped the family home of all valuables, including pawning two of his sister Henrietta’s dresses.2 Of most distress to my great-grandfather was the theft of his most precious library, “...containing valuable works on philosophical subjects; these were all gone...”3 What fascinating insight into the life of one of my most elusive ancestors, Optician, Professor and Gentleman, George Bentley Sampson.4 George was born in the village of Stoke-on- Trent, Staffordshire, in 1789.5 He married twice and fathered five children. His first wife, my 4x great-grandmother Henrietta Grey, is just as elusive. I can find no records for Henrietta other than her marriage certificate from St Luke’s Church in Kensington, and her death certificate, recording her death from an infection at her home in Chelsea in 1826.6 Unfortunately, Henrietta died before the English census began recording the names and birth details of all household members. Henrietta left behind five children, the youngest of whom was three-year-old Henry Martin, my 3x great-grandfather. Henry emigrated to Australia in 1852, to search for his fortune on the Victorian goldfields.7 Of particular interest is the couple’s youngest daughter Margaret Sampson. Margaret married into the aristocratic Barton 1 ‘Police Intelligence’, Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 30 May 1830, n.p. 2 ‘Sunday and Tuesday’s Posts’, Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 3 June 1830, n.p. 3 ‘Police’, London Evening Standard, 26 May 1830, n.p. 4 Death certificate for Henry Martin Sampson, died 8 August 1896, ‘Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 26 April 2020. 5 Census record for George Bentley Sampson, aged 62, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, 1851 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 2069; Folio: 317; Page: 19; GSU roll: 87333, ‘1851 England Census’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 3 April 2020. 6 Death certificate for Henrietta Sampson, died 26 October 1826, ‘London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 29 March 2020. 7 Passenger List for Henry Martin Sampson arrived Port Phillip Bay, February 1852, per Duke of Bedford, ‘Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923’, Series: VPRS 7666; Series Title: Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (British Ports), Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. Submitted by Natalie Lonsdale Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists family of Ireland.8 Margaret’s son Daniel Fitzgerald Pakenham Barton would rise to become the H. B. M. Consul-General in Geneva Switzerland.9 He married one of Queen Victoria’s goddaughters,10 Victoria Alexandrina Julia Peel, granddaughter of Sir Robert Peel, who twice served as Prime Minister of England.11 Victoria’s lineage was filled with Lords, Ladies, Earls, Dukes and Duchesses, going all the way back to King Henry III of England and Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. Daniel, a great music lover, was responsible for designing the beautiful Victoria Concert Hall in Geneva and gifting it to the people of Switzerland in honour of Queen Victoria.12 George Bentley Sampson specialised in the physics of electromagnetism. I have found a number of newspaper articles about his tours around England lecturing on electricity. A night of experimental lectures on electricity, galvanism and electromagnetism in Wales, in 1841, received a glowing report in the local paper. After giving a brief history on the science involved, George proceeded to use “...a variety of beautiful experiments...who for neatness and success in manipulation has rarely found an equal. The phenomena of electrical attraction and repulsion were very pleasingly and satisfactorily exemplified.” The reporter was also impressed by the number of women in attendance, writing; “Sweets to the sweet,” as the poet says; descriptions and the natural history of the sweetest gems of the field must, it is needless to say, be congenial to those who are themselves “Nature’s fairest flowers.” The assemblage of female attraction on the above occasion speaks highly for the borough of Leominster.”13 George ended his days lecturing on natural philosophy at Rugby College in Warwickshire. He resided at a boarding house while away teaching.14 Hannah, his second wife15 remained in 8 Marriage record for Margaret Sampson and Daniel Barton, married 30 April 1846, London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: dro/140/a/03/004, ‘London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 26 May 2020. 9 Death record for Daniel Fitzgerald Pakenham Barton, died 8 April 1907, The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Consulate, Geneva, Switzerland: Register of Correspondence, Births and Deaths and Various Papers; Class: FO 778; Piece: 15, ‘UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths From British Consulates, 1810-1968’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 29 May 2020. 10 ‘Fashionable Marriages’, Illustrated London News, 19 November 1887, p.2. 11 Encyclopedia Britannica, ‘Robert Peel’, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Peel, Accessed 3 April 2020. 12 Concert Media, ‘Victoria Hall’, http://concert-media.com/fr/venue/vhall, Accessed 7 May 2020. 13 ‘Leominster Mechanics Institute’, Silurian, Cardiff, Merthyr, and Brecon Mercury, and South Wales General Advertiser, 22 May 1841, p.3. 14 Census record for George Bentley Sampson, aged 62. 15 Marriage record for Hannah Dodd, married 3 January 1831, ‘England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. Submitted by Natalie Lonsdale Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists the family home at Wandsworth in London, only a short walk from the River Thames. George died there in 1855.16 Hannah continued to reside in the home with her two widowed siblings John and Mary until her death in 1863.17,18 George Bentley Sampson was educated, and his family appear to have had connections, but his origins remain a mystery. I can find no trace of his past or parentage other than the record of his birth in Stoke-on-Trent in the 1851 English census records.19 The closest I can come, is to a Joseph Simpson and his wife Tominson, who baptised their son George Simpson, in the village of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent in 1789.20 Many questions remain. How did a man, if born into humble circumstances in eighteenth century England, rise to become an educated gentleman? What is the likelihood of his daughter marrying into gentry? If, however, George Bentley Sampson was of a more noble birth, why is there no documentation of his life prior to his marriage to Henrietta Grey in 1808?21 Since commencing this biography, I have uncovered even more intriguing facts about George Bentley Sampson’s family. Such as the identity of a mysterious child, recorded as a ‘visitor’ in the Sampson household in the 1851 English census.22 The young five-year-old Margaret Hannah Sarah Wadman, was in fact, the illegitimate daughter of George’s eldest daughter Henrietta Mary.23,24 Margaret had been born in Bristol, Somerset in 1845.25 Three years later, 16 Death register entry for George Bentley Sampson, died Q3 1855, ‘England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. 17 Census record for Hannah Sampson, aged 76, St John Hill Road, Wandsworth, London, 1861 England Census, Class: RG 9; Piece: 371; Folio: 37; Page: 29; GSU roll: 542625, ‘1861 England Census’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. 18 Death record for Hannah Sampson, died September 1863, London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DW/T/0532, ‘London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 28 May 2020. 19 Census record for George Bentley Sampson, aged 62. 20 Baptism record for George Simpson, baptised 28 June 1789, ‘Staffordshire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1839’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 22 May 2020. 21 Marriage record for Henrietta Grey and George Bentley Sampson, married 27 September 1808, London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p74/luk/202, ‘London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 26 May 2020. 22 Census record for Margaret Hannah Sarah Wadman, aged 5, St John Hill Road, Battersea, London, 1851 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 1577; Folio: 130; Page: 18; GSU roll: 174813, ‘1851 England Census’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 26 May 2020. 23 Death certificate for Margaret Hannah Sarah Le Gould died 14 January 1890, ‘Australia, Death Index, 1787- 1985’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. 24 Death certificate for Henrietta Mary Anne Taylor, died 27 September 1891, ‘Australia, Death Index, 1787- 1985’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. 25 Death certificate for Margaret Hannah Sarah Le Gould. Submitted by Natalie Lonsdale Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists her mother Henrietta Mary, married Scottish architect Thomas Taylor.26 The couple had two children together, and then to my great surprise in 1852, the family, along with the now seven-year-old Margaret, emigrated to Australia. The family spent a number of years in New South Wales and Queensland before migrating to Victoria.27 In 1868 Margaret married Civil Engineer Louis Le Gould in Sydney,28 the couple had seven children. Margaret died in St Kilda, in 1890.29 Her death certificate records her as a Lady. There are few clues as to the identity of her biological father, and as to whether she was a Lady of monetary means or a titled Lady, that too remains a mystery. Another family history brick wall waiting to be cracked. 26 Marriage record for Henrietta Mary Ann Sampson and Thomas Taylor, married 11 November 1848, London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p89/mry1/220, ‘London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 26 May 2020. 27 Death certificate for Henrietta Mary Anne Taylor. 28 Marriage certificate for Margaret Wadman and Louis Le Gould, married 8 February 1868, ‘Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 29 May 2020. 29 Death certificate for Margaret Hannah Sarah Le Gould Submitted by Natalie Lonsdale Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Bibliography ‘Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. ‘Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 29 May 2020. Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle. Concert Media, ‘Victoria Hall’, http://concert-media.com/fr/venue/vhall, Accessed 7 May 2020. ‘1851 England Census’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 3 April 2020. ‘1861 England Census’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. ‘England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. ‘England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. Encyclopedia Britannica, ‘Robert Peel’, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Peel, Accessed 3 April 2020. Illustrated London News. ‘London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 29 March 2020. ‘London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 26 May 2020. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, Ancestry.com, Accessed 28 May 2020. London Evening Standard. Silurian, Cardiff, Merthyr, and Brecon Mercury, and South Wales General Advertiser. Staffordshire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1839’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 22 May 2020. ‘UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths from British Consulates, 1810-1968’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 29 May 2020. ‘Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 21 May 2020. Submitted by Natalie Lonsdale Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2027 Elusive Eliza - Opening Pandora’s Box by Leonie Worrall Submitted by Leonie Worrall Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Elusive Eliza - Opening Pandora’s Box Dear young Eliza, We have been searching for you so very long - my cousins Sue and Jenni, and I. You were the lastborn of the six children of our great, great grandparents, Samuel and Eliza. For 20 years you existed in the records.i And then, you seemed to disappear without a trace. For the first five children we could document a name, a beginning and not always a happy ending - you alone had no conclusion. With each baptism and census, we three had tracked your growing family, as Samuel dragged them through the rapidly industrialising landscape of Greater Manchester, from one failed enterprise to another.ii Two young lives lost along the way: Lydiaiii in 1841 and Elizabeth Ann,iv the firstborn, in 1844. It seems you were the last nail in the coffin, when you emerged into that dysfunctional family in unfamiliar territory at Castleton Mills, Leeds, in December 1851v. Here your father Samuel was making a final, futile foray into the fly and spindle making business. Then he abandoned you all and, as far as we know, never saw you again. Afterwards, we searched back in the grit and grime of Lancashire’s industrial wastelands and found four of you remainingvi. Your pious mother, too proud to surrender her brood to the greedy cotton factories or coal mines,vii ensured you all had religion and education through the Swedenborgians in Kearsley. Your oldest brother John was to assist her as a landscape painter, and your youngest brother Thomas as a newsvendor. Not for you the mills or the mines! However, fate had other ideas. Overwhelmed by poverty, your mother’s once genteel world was fast disintegrating. In desperation she consigned poor undernourished Samuel to Bolton Union Workhouse, where, described as of “weak mind”, he died in 1857 scarcely 13 years old.viii Certainly she hadn’t counted on the rebellion of underage son, John, and the imposition of his hasty new wife! ix “Repenting at leisure”, John simply disappeared - he deserted that unhappy family and the older wife, and didn’t resurface until he reached Australia. Young Eliza, by the last time your name ever appeared in the Census, in Farnworth, in1871,x you were labouring in the cotton mill. Next, with a new family to feedxi, Thomas descended deep into the coalmines, dashing the last of your mother’s ambitions. Mother and daughter now left to fend for themselves. Eliza, by 1881xii it seemed you had completely eluded us - and perhaps it would have been better if we had left you there amongst the machines. However you were never meant to be forgotten. Every year you were there in the Christmas Box from Lancashire sent to John’s faraway family. Sue, direct descendant of John, inherited those three treasured photographs: our great aunt, evolving from bewildered adolescent to demure young lady to solemn spinster, peering wistfully down through the generations, accompanied by the echo of your mother’s bitterness: “Eliza W… forsaken by her father but not by the father of the fatherless”… Where did you go? Submitted by Leonie Worrall Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The earliest photo of Eliza, location Greater Manchester area Doggedly Sue pursued you. After exhausting all other leads, and following up on a hunch, she unearthed this in the 1881 Census: “E.W. unmarried, 30, milliner, born… Leeds …, Lunatic” - Lancaster County Lunatic Asylum.xiii We had found you at last! Slowly but inexorably your life had begun to unravel from the day your mother committed you to the local workhouse at Ormskirk,xiv just as she’d disposed of young Samuel. Then she surrendered you to the Asylum – forlornly concluding the Admission Questionnaire: Shall be thankful to hear how she is.xv Thus you were forsaken by your mother, too. On May 29th, 1880, you were transported, kicking and screaming, and resisting with all your might, to the Lunatic Asylum at Lancaster. … extremely excited … hardest case officer ever brought [in] noted the Admission Register … recent marks or injuries: Bruise above right knee, marks (probably of restraint) on calves both legs- bruises on both arms … above nape & under left ear reddened (by restraint?)…Height 5ft weight 112lb condition fair … Mental condition: acute mania … Mother and daughter … in very reduced circumstances …mother constantly brooding over money … they have been wronged… Submitted by Leonie Worrall Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Your mother’s views regarding the main causes of your “insanity” - Obstruction and scantiness of her monthly discharge … and a sudden check when in flow. Also grief and fear she was going to lose one she loved, the only one she ever did love… being under a promise to join her eldest brother in Australia - may all have been part of the problem but, following Victorian-era medical thinking which insistently linked madness to menstruation, it was the amenorrhoea on which the doctors focussed. They confined you to a padded room, they strapped you to the “cheval” and the bed; they gave you hot showers, cold baths, mustard baths; they pumped into your stomach compounds of iron and strychnine, phosphorous and bitter purgatives; they shaved off your long black tresses, they dimmed your dark blue eyes. Poor Eliza, they battered your body into submission – did they succeed? On 29 April, 1882: …for first time …Profuse flow. [But] No mental improvement yet.xvi They lost interest. You lingered there neglected and desolate, on through the following year, when, like ships passing in the night, your mother Eliza passed away,xvii and your brother Thomas sailed off to Australia. xviii Completely alone now. Two interminable years elapsed with just five brief entries. Finally, for 1886: Jan 26 As last [year]… Aug 23 Very ill with high temperature … & great restlessness turning & twisting & throwing legs & arms about constantly. Aug 24 Became unconscious last night & died this day. Cause of death: meningitis & pneumonia. xix Dear Eliza, though you were left forsaken in a distant time and place, you and your precious memory live on in the hearts of the many descendants of John and Thomas in Australia. Yes, we opened Pandora’s box and finally you escaped. Now in sorrow and in shame we put you to rest. Endnotes i Ancestry.com: UK Census 1861 and 1871 ii Ancestry.com: UK Census 1841 to 1881 iii GRO UK Death Certificate COL843019 DISTRICT OF PRESTON, County of Lancaster 24.11.1841 Lydia W 3 weeks daughter of Samuel W. shopkeeper cause of death: a cold; residence Upper Walker St iv GRO UK Death Certificate 4974940-1 BOLTON UNION Eastern Bilton, County of Lancaster 13.12.1844 Elizabeth Ann W. 7 years & 6 months, daughter of Samuel W. spindle maker cause of death: inflammation of the brain & water in the head; residence Bank St Great Bolton Submitted by Leonie Worrall Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists v GRO UK BIRTH Certificate COL803399 HUNSLET, Wortley County of York 28.11.1851, Castleton Buildings Armley, Eliza father Samuel W., spindle maker, mother Eliza W. formerly Hodson, residence Castleton Buildings vi Ancestry.com 1861 UK Census: Manchester Road Kearsley, Lancashire Ellen (sic) W. 45 head mar Artist, landscape painter b. Lanc Manchester John W. 21 son mar Artist, landscape painter b. LAnc Rochdale Caroline W. 24 d-in-law mar cotton winder/factory worker b. Yorkshire Ripon Thomas W. 14 son unm scholar b. LAnc Bolton Eliza W. 9 dau unm scholar b. Yorkshire Leeds vii Worrall’s Directory of Bury and Bolton 1871 Lancashire: W., Eliza, artist, 111 Albert road W., Thomas, newsagent,111 Albert road viii GRO UK Death certificate COL635058 Registration District BOLTON/ Eastern Bolton, Co of Lancaster 18.2.1857 Union Workhouse Samuel W. 10 years cause: diarrhoea 8 weeks, x the mark of Thomas Crompton, present at the death Union Workhouse Great Bolton ix Ancestry.com (image): Marriage 6 Mar 1860, Parish church of St George Bloomsbury London: John W. minor, Assistant, father Samuel W. spindle manufacturer and Caroline Spence, of full age father Richard Spence, farmer x Ancestry.com 1871 UK Census:111 Albert Road Farnworth, Lancashire Eliza W 55 head marr/Not known husband left her in 1862 artist, painter b. Manchester Thomas 24 son unm newsvendor b. Bolton Eliza 19 dau unm cotton hank winder born Wortley, Leeds Yorks xi www. lan-opc.org.uk/Farnworth Baptisms: 25.8.1872 Annie W. child of Thomas H W & Charlotte, abode Farnworth, occup. Stationer 3. 5.1874 Alice W. child of Thomas H W & Charlotte, abode Little Hulton, occup. Collier 30.1.1876 Richard W. child of Thomas H W & Charlotte, abode Little Hulton, occup. Collier 8.9..1878 James L W. child of Thomas H W & Charlotte, abode Kearsley, occup. Collier xii Ancestry.com 1881 UK Census: 45 Percy St, North Meols, Southport, Lancashire Eliza W. 66 lodger wid landscape artist &c b. Manchester Lanc Abraham Dickinson 50 head mar shoemaker Plus Dickinson Wife and children xiii Ancestry.com 1881 Census : Lancaster Lunatic Asylum Lancaster xiv Ormskirk Union Workhouse – no records extant xv Lancaster County Lunatic Asylum Admission Questionnaire, obtained from Manchester Records Office xvi Lancaster County Lunatic Asylum Admission Register and Case Notes, obtained from Manchester Records Office xvii Manchester Evening News, 3rd September 1883: “Sudden Death at Southport – On Saturday night an old woman named Eliza W. died very suddenly at the residence of her son, Thomas W., 203, Milton-street Southport. …W. and his wife…found the deceased …She was quite dead and cold. Dr Hawksley … gave it as his opinion that death had resulted from heart disease.” GRO UK Death certificate Registration District SOUTHPORT/North Meols, County Lancaster 1.9.1883 Eliza W 69 years widow of Samuel W. spindle manufacturer, death from natural causes, heart disease. Inquest held 3rd Sep 1883 Submitted by Leonie Worrall Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists xviii Qld State Records: Immigration Ships’ Arrivals, Series 1D p. 485: Nuddea dep Glasgow 20.9.1883, arr Moreton Bay 15.11.1883. Passenger List: Thomas W. age 37 Mrs W age 33 Joseph inf, John 2, Richard 7, James 5 xix TNA Lunatic Asylum Register - no. 61044 W., Eliza female pauper Adm 29 May 1880, Asylum Lancaster, date of death 24.8.1886 GRO UK Death certificate 6408611-1 Registration District LANCASTER Eliza W. Death 25.8.1886 at Lancaster Asylum 35 years formerly a milliner of Southport, cause meningitis P.M…. Submitted by Leonie Worrall Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2028 Orphan Girl in Mourning Dress by Marianne Larkin Submitted by Marianne Larkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Orphan Girl in “Mourning Dress” On 26 February, 1868, Detective Constable Vickers, found a young girl in “mourning dress” walking aimlessly through the streets of Hobart. She was apprehended and charged with “wandering and not having a proper home or guardianship”.1 Addressing the Stipendiary Magistrate and Alderman the following day, D. C. Vickers stated: “the father of the girl was dead; that the mother was a common prostitute wandering from public-house to public-house; (and) that the girl had been kept by someone out of charity lately.” In response to a question put by Alderman, Henry Cook, the girl, Mary Jane Boucher, said she would like to have a “settled home” where she would be “properly brought up”. The Bench ordered the girl be sent to Trinity Hill Industrial School for a period of two and a half years under the Industrial Schools Act of 1867.2 Mary Jane’s father, John Charles Boucher, had died suddenly two weeks earlier on Elizabeth Street in Hobart. He was 45 years of age. For Mary Jane, this was the latest in a series of tragedies which had befallen her. Three years earlier in 1865, a fire in their Harrington Street home claimed the life of her young sister, Eliza. Mary Jane, along with her siblings, Frederick and Eliza, were reportedly playing marbles inside their house, when a candle was accidently knocked over causing the younger girl’s clothing to catch alight. She died of her burns in hospital the following day.3 Figure 1: (from left) portraits of Mr. and Mrs. George Salier from Tasmanian Archives + Heritage; Melbourne Lodge by Samuel Clifford from Library of NSW PXB199; Victorian girl in mourning dress from https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/death-parent-young-girl-holds-single-294087446. For Mary Jane, the loss of her father must have been particularly devastating as he was their sole carer and provider. The former convict, from Paddington, England, was trying to make a life for himself and his young family taking whatever work he could find. While his conduct record stated he Submitted by Marianne Larkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists was a plasterer and modeler by trade, John Boucher was variously recorded in Hobart as a: brass finisher, foreman, and timber dealer.4 Soon after receiving his Certificate of Freedom, John married Irishwoman, Catherine Whelan, who had recently arrived on the Martin Luther with a sentence of 7 years for larceny.5 First born to the couple was a son, Frederick Alfred, on 24 March, 1854. Mary Jane appears to be their second child. The birth is registered as 7 February, 1856 with “given name not recorded”. In addition to Mary and Frederick a third child was born on 7 July, 1858. She was Eliza.6 Catherine doesn’t appear to have stayed with the family for long. She was regularly in trouble with the police and first came to notice in early December, 1860. Charged with “disturbing the peace” and “assaulting” a constable, Catherine was fined 5s for the first offence and £1 for the second, or in default, one month’s imprisonment. She thereafter accumulated a “crowded record of offences”.7 Unlike her mother, Mary Jane Boucher’s name is not reported in the local press again. At the start of January, 1870, Mary Jane was discharged from the Industrial School and “sent to a situation”. That situation was to Mrs. George Salier, Secretary of the Management Committee of the Industrial School.8 The Salier family lived at Melbourne Lodge, Elizabeth Street, Hobart. George Salier was a successful merchant and politician. It was a busy household when Mary Jane joined it. There were seven children under 15, one daughter, Kate, the same age as Mary, 16, and several older children. Life must have been quite different working and living with the Salier family for the now, teenage, orphan girl.9 In the meantime, her brother Frederick, had begun a successful maritime career. He married Mary Ann Leary in 1876, fathered six children and became a well-respected member of the Hobart sea- faring community.10 On Thursday, 10 April, 1879 an advertisement appeared in a Hobart newspaper seeking a “respectable young woman as General Servant” for the Salier family. Does this suggest Mary Jane had left their employ? She would be in her mid-twenties at that time and possibly seeking to marry and start her own family. There are, however, no records of any marriage or births for Mary Jane Boucher in Van Diemen’s land.11 Some expatriates who had migrated to New Zealand were trying to lure local cooks and servants across the Tasman Sea. “If some of the many Tasmanian girls, ready and willing to work, came here, I feel sure they would meet with speedy engagements.” Perhaps she was enticed by the prospect of moving there.12 Or was she beguiled by a trickster? A few years earlier there was speculation that many servant girls were being “induced to give up their comfortable situations in Tasmania” on “provision for life” promises only to be shipped to Brisbane and Adelaide and “shut up for life, where they are not known, and perhaps may never be heard of again”. 13 A note in one of the newspaper notices issued by Fredrick’s family on the death of son, Charles Herbert, is suggestive of family members living abroad and interstate. It read: “Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand papers please copy.” Was Mary Jane at one of those locations?14 Submitted by Marianne Larkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists An exhaustive search of births, deaths and marriage records throughout the Australian states and New Zealand has yielded nothing. An extensive search of passenger lists has also failed to provide any leads as to where she may have gone. Many servant girls at risk of destitution, or who found themselves in trouble were sent to The Magdalen Home in Hobart. The Good Shepherd Archives have no record of Mary Jane Boucher at any of their institutions.15 While efforts thus far have failed to find any trace of the elusive Mary Jane Boucher, perhaps one day, someone or something will unveil her story. Bibliography Births, Deaths and Marriages Historical Records New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages Queensland Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria Births, Deaths and Marriages Western Australia Genealogy South Australia Hobart Mercury http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography, accessed 18 April, 2020 https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history, accessed 18 April, 2020 https://www.wikitree.com, accessed 18 April, 2020 https://www.worthpoint.com, accessed 29 May, 2020 Library of NSW Public Records Office Victoria Special Collections, UTAS Tasmanian Archives + Heritage Tasmanian Morning Herald Tasmanian Times Tasmanian Tribune Weekly Examiner 1 Tasmanian Times, “The Industrial School Act,” 27 February, 1868, p2; TROVE. 2 Ibid; https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/N/Neglected%20children.htm. 3 Eliza Boucher Inquest SC195/1/49 Inquest 5932, Tasmanian Archives + Heritage. 4 Charles Boucher Conduct Record CON33-1-66 image 35; Tasmanian Archives + Heritage. 5 Charles Boucher Conduct Record ibid; Boucher Whelan Marriage Record RGD37/1/12 no 717; Catherine Whelan Conduct Record CON41-1-35 image 217, Tasmanian Archives + Heritage. 6 Eliza Boucher Birth Record RGD33/1/7 no 1701; Frederick Alfred Boucher Birth Record RGD33/1/5 no 825, Given Name Not Recorded Boucher Birth Record RGD33/1/6 no 1065; Tasmanian Archives + Heritage. 7 Hobart Mercury, 10 December, 1860, p2; Tasmanian Morning Herald, 28 April, 1866, p2, TROVE. 8 Record of Minutes, Trinity Hill Industrial School Committee, 14 January, 1870, Special Collections, UTAS. 9 http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/salier-george-4531; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Salier-3. 10 Marriage record Frederick Boucher and Mary Ann Leary RGD37/1/35 no 293, Birth Record Frederick Alfred Boucher RGD33/1/12 no 797; Birth Record Charles Herbert Boucher RGD33/1/12 no 1680; Birth Record Annie Gladys Isobel Boucher RGD33/1/13 no 256; Birth Record Grace Eva Lemaistre Boucher RGD33/1/13 no 2260; Birth Record Arthur Morris Boucher RGD33/1/11 no 2942; Birth Record Clyde Tennyson Boucher RGD33/1/20 no 20; Tasmanian Archives + Heritage. 11 Hobart Mercury, 10 April, 1879, p1, TROVE. 12 Tasmanian Tribune, “Our Wellington Letter,” 17 April, 1876, p3. 13 Weekly Examiner, 25 July, 1874, p8, TROVE. 14 Charles Herbert Boucher Death Notice, Hobart Mercury, 5 November, 1929, p1, TROVE. 15 Email correspondence between author and Ingrid Camilleri, Heritage Support Worker, Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, 19 February, 2020. Submitted by Marianne Larkin Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2029 Showdown at the Bluebell Inn by Jim Fleming Submitted by Jim Fleming Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Showdown at the Blue Bell Inn John Poulton’s controlling manner was affecting their marriage so badly that Elizabeth Clarkson had decided to secretly leave him. She later told a Sydney court that he "had been a regular tyrant to her" and that "she would have left him years ago if she could have got money enough to have paid her travelling expenses and that of her child."1 On Thursday 16 December 1869, 35-year-old Elizabeth arose at 5 am and made breakfast for her lodger (Samuel Oliver) before he left her Penrith house at his usual time. After her husband arose at 5:30 she surreptitiously advanced the clock by 30 minutes, so that he left for work earlier than normal. This allowed Elizabeth and her daughter Alice time to board the train for Sydney just before it departed at 7:45 am. Samuel met them on board, having already loaded her trunk (meticulously packed the day before with a tent, bedding, clothing and jewellery). After observing her husband’s behaviour for many months, he was assisting her escape. Their next step was to immediately board the steamer Dandenong that sailed from Sydney for Melbourne every Thursday. To fund her journey, Samuel had paid his back rent to her (rather than to John). On arrival at work, John noticed Samuel’s absence and became suspicious. Returning home, he found both the house and his wife’s wardrobe empty. After making enquiries, he boarded a Sydney train at 4:20pm. He was now in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, the well-made plan began to go awry. Elizabeth and Samuel had arrived at the wharf only to find that the ship was delayed by a day. They were forced to book into the nearby Blue Bell Inn, registering as Mr and Mrs Watson. John was lucky. On his very first reconnoitre of the wharves he spied Samuel sitting outside the Blue Bell Inn! He soon discovered Elizabeth and Alice inside and realised what was afoot. Thinking quickly, he called a constable and had Samuel arrested for larceny, accusing him over unpaid rent and possession of Elizabeth’s trunk. He coerced Elizabeth and Alice to accompany him to Redfern where they stayed the night with Hannah Ashworth, his sister. Next morning, he compelled them to return with him to Penrith. Elizabeth Clarkson was born in the Lancashire hamlet of Fulwood Row in 1834, the third of nine children to Robert Clarkson and Alice Singleton2. Elizabeth was (like her father) working as a cotton handloom weaver3 when her mother died in 18504. While mechanised looms had long dominated the industry and reduced weavers’ incomes, handloom operators were hanging on grimly by specialising in higher quality products. Her family’s rural location also provided seasonal work on nearby farms to supplement this meagre income. Submitted by Jim Fleming Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists A year later, her father married Ann Poulton5, a spinster whose family had lived next door for many years6. Both the Poulton and Clarkson families had originated in the nearby hamlet of Fernyhalgh7. Elizabeth was already friendly with Ann’s younger sister, Hannah, who married John Ashworth (a painter from Habergham Eaves8) in November 18509. Four years later, twenty-year-old Elizabeth married 10 John Poulton (an agricultural labourer11) who was a younger brother of both her stepmother (Ann) and her married friend (Hannah). Their son Thomas was born12 and died13 in 1856; while a second son John was born in 185814. Incomes for handloom weavers and agricultural labourers were ever-decreasing. So, when John was offered better-paid work in Australia, they decided to emigrate. Isabella Tattersall paid 21 guineas for the families of both Hannah Ashworth and her brother John Poulton to emigrate to NSW so that the men could work for her husband (James) on railway construction projects15. John Ashworth had previously worked with Isabella’s father (James Watson), a painting contractor 16 . Both families sailed on the Fitzjames in 185914. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's infant son John died at sea. Each family settled in the Sydney suburb of Redfern where Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter (Alice Clarkson Poulton) on 23 March 186017. Soon afterwards, the NSW government decided to extend the railway line from Penrith westward across the Blue Mountains. In 1863 railway construction contractor William Watkins started to build piers for a railway bridge across the Nepean River and also the zig-zag trackway that would raise the rail line from the bridge up the steep Lapstone Hill on the other side18. Watkin’s construction manager, James Tattersall19, employed John Poulton on his team for these contracts20. The Poulton family therefore moved to a small block of land at Penrith. They could now supplement John's wages by raising animals and by taking in lodgers. However, this constant workload stressed John and affected his behaviour. For example, he became very assertive in protecting his land from wandering stock, impounding stray horses and cattle and prosecuting his property rights21. Far from the boy next door that she had married, he had become overbearing, resulting in the breakdown of their marriage. Two months after the showdown at the Blue Bell Inn, Samuel went on trial. Against John’s wishes, Elizabeth gave evidence that Samuel had paid his rent to her; and that she had directed him to take charge of her trunk. The jury could not agree a verdict, so Samuel was discharged1. Elizabeth eventually succeeded in leaving but was unable to take her daughter. Alice and her father later moved west to Coonamble. She married there in 187822 and founded a large dynasty in western NSW23. John died at Coonamble in 188724. But what happened to Elizabeth? Where did she go? What name did she use? How did she make her living? When and where did she die? Unfortunately, the answers remain hidden 150 years later. Submitted by Jim Fleming Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Elizabeth Clarkson was born into a poor family living in an obscure hamlet. She spent years struggling to gain control over her life. Having finally succeeded, she covered her tracks so well that, frustratingly, they continue to elude us to this day. 1 Larceny, Law Gazette column Metropolitan Quarter Sessions, Sydney Mail, 5 February 1870, p. 14. 2 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Class: HO107; Piece: 554; Book: 2; Civil Parish: Lancaster; County: Lancashire; Enumeration District: 8; Folio: 5; Page: 2; Line: 13; GSU roll: 306936. 3 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Class: HO107; Piece: 2268; Folio: 592; Page: 6; GSU roll: 87293-87294. 4 Death Certificate, Alice Clarkson aged 36 of Broughton, Preston District Vol. 21 p. 369, Lancashire BMD. 5 Marriage Certificate, Robert Clarkson and Ann Poulton, Preston District Vol. 21 p. 621, Lancashire BMD. 6 Both families are recorded at Fulwood Row on both the 1841 and 1851 census – see endnotes 2 and 3. 7 A total of 34 Clarksons and 20 Poultons were baptised in St Mary’s church at Fernyhalgh between 1775 and 1833, including Elizabeth’s: • husband - "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPLN-TQW), Joannes Poulton, 1830; • older sister - Ibid (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWDB-L8T), Anna Clarkson, 1833; • father - Ibid. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPLN-1MQ) Robertus Clarkson, 1809; • grandfather - Ibid. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPLN-YBW), Thomas Clarkson, 1786; and • father-in-law – Ibid. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPLN-T8N), Joannes Robertus Poulton, 1785. 8 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Class: HO107; Piece: 2252; Folio: 224; Page: 15; GSU roll: 87275. 9 Marriage Certificate, John Ashworth and Hannah Poulton, Burnley District Vol. 21 p. 228, Lancashire BMD. 10 Marriage Certificate, John Poulton and Elizabeth Clarkson, Preston District Vol. 8e p. 567, Lancashire BMD. 11 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Class: HO107; Piece: 2268; Folio: 382; Page: 6; GSU roll: 87293-87294. 12 Birth Certificate, General Register Office, UK, September Quarter 1856 in Preston, Vol. 8e, p. 463. 13 Death Certificate, General Register Office, UK, December Quarter 1856 in Preston, Vol. 8e, p. 317. 14 Passenger List, Fitzjames. Persons on bounty ships to Sydney, Newcastle, and Moreton Bay (Board’s Immigrant Lists). Series 5317, Reel 2480. State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, NSW. 15 Immigration Deposit Journal, State Records Authority of New South Wales; Series: 5264; Reel: 2669; Number: 2824. 16 Tattersall – Watson Marriage Record, 18 Nov 1850, Holy Trinity Parish, Habergham Eaves, Lancashire sourced from Ancestry.com. Lancashire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754- 1936 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives. 17 Birth Certificate, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages, Sydney, 1860/3058. 18 The Story of the New South Wales Railways, EC Rowland, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Part V, Vol. XL, 1954. 19 “Five pound reward”, Advertising column, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Mar 1869, p1, accessed through Trove - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13192860 20 John Poulton worked on the construction of the zig zag railway - Oral history from his daughter Alice Clarkson Poulton through her grand-daughter, Ena Ruby Murphy, recorded in 1990. Submitted by Jim Fleming Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 21 Various newspaper Notices, including Sydney Morning Herald, 12 April 1866, p. 1; NSW Government Gazette (15 October 1867; 27 December 1867); and Sydney Mail, 8 February 1868, p. 1. 22 Marriage Certificate, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages, Sydney, 1878/2830. 23 Death Certificate, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages, Sydney, 1927/022759. 24 Death Certificate, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages, Sydney, 1887/11006. Submitted by Jim Fleming Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2030 An Acadian Downunder by Elizabeth Crock Submitted by Elizabeth Crock Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists An Acadian Downunder The Royal Mail Ship The Earl of Sefton1 sailed from Liverpool on November 21st, 1855. Along with the usual mails, it carried ‘one of the most valuable cargoes which ever left the Mersey in one vessel […], being composed almost entirely of fine goods’2. It arrived in Melbourne in record time on April 6th, 18563. Along with its fine cargo, it carried my most elusive ancestor, a young man named Henry Crock. Henry was listed as 23 years old, British and a ‘mechanic’ 4. We knew he spoke French and had sailed directly from Saint John, New Brunswick to Liverpool on the Themis5 in November 1855. He travelled to the Antipodes with other young adventurers6. Henry went to Beechworth – a journey of eight days7, we assume for the Gold Rush8. There he married Charlotte Grimshaw in 18589, and the couple had eight children10, one stillborn11. Henry spent 30 years in Wangaratta, working as a farmer, sawyer, carpenter, inn-keeper, and a bridge-builder. 12,13. He was frequently in debt, bankrupt twice14. The family moved to Western Australia in 1879 where Henry managed the Jarrahdale sawmill15. Henry also constructed the first bird-proof vineyard in Western Australia16. The mystery was: who were Henry’s parents? Why did he sail alone to Australia, never to see his family again? One year, serendipitously, I went to Louisiana. I read about the ‘Cajuns’, descendants of ‘Acadians’, who had settled in North America in the 1600s. I noticed they came from New Brunswick. I wondered if Henry was Acadian, a community of whom I knew nothing. A Y-DNA test of a direct descendent proved Cyr was the original, and indeed, Acadian surname. Henry descended from the Cyr branch that used Crock as a ‘dit’ name, a nickname. A captivating, tragic story emerged as I pursued my most elusive ancestor. Acadia spanned from Nova Scotia to Maine, its boundaries disputed. Acadians were Catholic French settlers who refused to swear allegiance to the Crown after Britain took possession. From 1755-1764, the British expelled more than 11,000 Acadians to the colonies and Europe in an event known as La Grande Derangement – The Great Upheaval17. Thousands died en route. Many eventually returned to North America, settling in Louisiana (the ‘Cajuns’) and other colonies18. Acadian Cyrs descend from Pierre Cyr19,20. In 1750, Pierre’s grandson Jean-Baptiste helped defend Fort Beauséjour against the English21. He was nicknamed ‘croc’ - he said he would ‘croquer ses adversaires’ (crunch his enemies)22. Jean-Baptiste Cyr and family were established along the Saint John River when Loyalists came, the sixth time the family sought refuge23. As he farewelled their land, Jean-Baptiste said ‘My God, is it true that there will never be a place on earth for the Cayens (Acadians)?’24. Jean-Baptiste had eleven children, who in turn had many children25. It was daunting trying to identify Henry’s grandparents, then parents. The only record of Henry’s parents’ names was on his marriage certificate: ‘Henry Synge Crock’ and ‘Mary, maiden name unknown’26. I travelled to New Brunswick, consulted archivists, met DNA ‘cousins’27 and Cyr family members with a passion for finding every lost Acadian28. At a Cyr reunion, people flocked to help. I returned home with many leads, yet no answer: the search continued. Submitted by Elizabeth Crock Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Henry’s birth year varied by ten years in Australian sources - seven indicating 1833-183629, two indicating 1826-2730. Most documents recorded he was from New Brunswick 3132 Researchers identified Honoré Cyr born in 1827 in Carleton, Baie des Chaleurs, son of Bonaventure Cyr dit Crock33 and Vénérande Jeanson34. Honoré was anglicised to Henry. Honoré disappears from Canadian records after 184635. Finally, I unearthed two striking clues. • On Henry’s first child’s Australian birth certificate36: Father’s birthplace: Beachlow, Lower Canada. • On the births of the next children, Father’s birthplace: Saint Johns, or British North America37. Then came then another odd entry: Pachels, North America38. I consulted with my Canadian collaborators. Beachlow and Pachels were evidently written based on what Henry pronounced. He had obviously said ‘Baie des Chaleurs’. Further, ‘Lower Canada’ means Québec. Only two Cyr dit Crock sons settled in Québec, Antoine and Bonaventure. To the Acadian researchers, this is sufficient evidence that our Henry Crock was indeed Honoré Cyr, son of Bonaventure Cyr and Vénérande Jeanson. Of course, some questions remain: • Where was Honoré Cyr from 1846-1855? Henry Crock is reported as building the first bridge over the Ovens River in 1855, months before his documented arrival39. This begs the question - did he come twice to Australia, like some compatriots40? Christopher Dockendorff came on the brig Australia41, and again in 1860 on the Oriental42. He sailed to Western Australia with Henry in 187943,44. Incidentally, Dockendorff employed Ned Kelly, as mentioned in the Jerilderie letter45. In family lore, Henry is said to have worked with Ned. • Why did he say his father’s name was Henry, not Bonaventure? What of the ‘Synge Crock’ on Henry’s marriage certificate? Acadian researchers said Acadians commonly disguised their French names when dealing with the English. The ‘Synge Crock’ on the marriage certificate meant ‘Cyr dit Crock’. • Why did his age vary widely? Perhaps he didn’t know his age. Henry was 31 when he married, his wife 17. He may have tried to minimise the difference. On his last child’s birth certificate, and on his own death certificate, his age corresponds with that of Honoré Cyr dit Crock from Carleton, Québec. I haven’t quite got to the bottom of Henry’s story. I have learned of the tragic saga of the Acadian expulsion whose ripples reached Australia’s shores with Henry’s arrival. I have experienced the richness of the surviving Acadian culture and people. These ancestral memories had been lost to Henry’s descendants. I am grateful to my elusive ancestor’s determination to seek a better life Downunder. Henry found his own place on earth, his own ‘Acadie’ in glorious Western Australia. Submitted by Elizabeth Crock Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 1 Lloyd’s Register of Shipping for 1856 lists The Earl of Sefton as built under Special Survey at Saint John (New Brunswick) in 1854. Built of Tamarac Pine and sheathed with Yellow Metal and part Felt, it was a vessel of 1082 tons. It was owned by Moore and Co and its home port was registered as Liverpool. Its Master was Captain John Noble. 2 The Express (London) Friday Evening, 21 December 1855, p. 4 3 London Standard, 21 December 1855 4 Public Record Office of Victoria. Index to Inward Passenger Lists, Victoria, Fiche 107, page 003. Earl of Sefton Passenger List. 5 New Brunswick Courier January 26 1856 Saint John Letter from passengers on the Themis. Daniel F. Johnson Newspaper Archives. Volume 15 Number 3021. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. 6 The Daily Sun, July 29 1890 Saint John New Brunswick, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Daniel F. Johnson Newspaper Archives. Vol 78:Number 103. 7 Duyker, E (ed). 1995. A Woman on the Goldfields: recollections of Emily Skinner 1854-1878.Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. 8 McMahon, HD and Wild, CG (2008) American fever, Australian gold [electronic resource] : American & Canadian involvement in Australia's gold rush. CD ROM. Middle Park, Queensland, Australia. 9 Marriage Registration, Beechworth Victoria, No. 1252/1858 10 Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 9 Feb 1859 Mary Anne Crock. Cert no. 159. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 25 April 1861 Louisa Crock. Cert no 2951861. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 22 October 1879 Cert no 109 George Edward Crock Cert no 155. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 12 Feb 1873 Hester Newton Crock. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A Sep 13 1865 Henry Crock junior 1865 cert no. 711. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 26 July 1863 Ellen Crock Cert No 499. William Crock no birth cert and one child still born 1874. Birth certificate 25 April 1861 Schedule A Births in the City of Wangaratta. Louisa Crock. 11 Public Record Office of Victoria. Proceedings of Inquest held upon the body of a male child at Killawarra, 21st December 1874, number 1137. 12 Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 1860. Publicans’ Licences. August 22nd. 13 Country cities and towns: their rise and development. No. 24. History of Wangaratta. The Weekly Times (Melbourne) Sat 9 March 1929. 14 The Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 10 February 1860. New insolvents. The Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 24 October 1874, New insolvents. 15 W.A. Almanac, 1884, District Directory, p. xxxviii. 16 ‘Some settlers from the Eastern states and their work’. Western Mail, 3rd June 1905 page 39 17 The Acadians. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. http://www.biographi.ca/en/theme_essays.html?p=27 18 Mahaffie, C.D Junior. 1995. A land of discord always : Acadia from its beginnings to the expulsion of its people, 1604-1755. Camden, Maine: Down East Books 19 Cochrane, D Pierre Cyr and His Family, Part 1. Nova Scotia Genealogical Society Vol XXV11/1, pp. 13-18. 20 Tremblay, J, Couturier, R-M, Vincent, M, Couturier, R, Bérubé, B, Tremblay, N. 2019. From Sirre to Cyr : Early generations of an Acadian Family. Cyr Family Reunion publication, Memramcook. 21 Cochrane, D Pierre Cyr and His Family, Part 1. Nova Scotia Genealogical Society Vol XXV11/1, pp. 13-18. 22 LaPointe, Jacques F. 1989. Grand-Riviére: une page d’histoire acadienne. Monographie de la ville de Saint- Léonard, N.-B. 1789-1989. Moncton :éditions d’acadie., page 25 23 Tremblay, J, Couturier, R-M, Vincent, M, Couturier, R, Bérubé, B, Tremblay, N. 2019. From Sirre to Cyr : Early generations of an Acadian Family. Cyr Family Reunion publication, Memramcook. 24 LaPointe, Jacques F. 1989. Grand-Riviére: une page d’histoire acadienne. Monographie de la ville de Saint- Léonard, N.-B. 1789-1989. Moncton :éditions d’acadie., page 25 25 Tremblay, J, Couturier, R-M, Vincent, M, Couturier, R, Bérubé, B, Tremblay, N. 2019. From Sirre to Cyr : Early generations of an Acadian Family. Cyr Family Reunion publication, Memramcook. 26 Henry Crock and Charlotte Grimshaw. Marriage Registration, Beechworth Victoria, No. 1252/1858 27 Mandine Le Blanc, Gilles Essiambre, Rose-Marie and Rita Couturier, Marguerite Cyr. 28 Professor Emeritus Dr Stephen White, University of Moncton; Mr Robert Gilmore, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton. Professor Emeritus Dr. Jean-Guy Poitras, Université de Moncton, campus d’Edmundston, Michel Lussier, Allen Doiron, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Roger Guitard, Fidèle Thériault. Submitted by Elizabeth Crock Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 29 Public Record Office of Victoria. Index to Inward Passenger Lists, Victoria, Fiche 107, page 003. Earl of Sefton Henry Crock is listed as aged 23, therefore would have been born in 23 1833. Henry Crock and Charlotte Grimshaw. Marriage Registration, Beechworth Victoria, No. 1252/1858. Henry is noted as being 22 years of age, therefore born in 1836. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 9 Feb 1859 Mary Anne Crock. Cert no. 159. Henry noted as age 23 therefore born in 1836. Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 25 April 1861 Louisa Crock. Cert no 2951861 Henry is noted as 26 years so born in 1835 ; Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 22 October 1879 Cert no 109 George Edward Henry noted as 36 years so born 1834; Cert no 155 12 Feb 1873 Hester Newton , Henry noted as 45 years so born in 1828; Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A Sep 13 1865 Henry Crock junior 1865 cert no. 711, Henry noted as age 30 so born 1835; 26 July 1863 Ellen Crock Cert No 499 Henry noted as 28 so born 1835; William Crock no birth cert and one child still born 1874. Western Australia Death certificate Henry Crock 28 May 1910. Registration number 3400006V/1910 Henry is noted as 84 therefore born in 1826. 30 Death cert 1910 aged 84 so born in 1826; Western Australia Death certificate Henry Crock 28 May 1910. Registration number 3400006V/1910. 31 Public Record Office of Victoria. Index to Inward Passenger Lists, Victoria, Fiche 107, page 003. Earl of Sefton Passenger List. 32 Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 25 April 1861 Louisa Crock. Cert no 2951861. 12 Feb 1873 Hester Newton Cert no. 155. Sep 13 1865 Henry Crock junior 1865 Cert no. 711. 33 Son of Jean Baptiste Cyr dit Crock 11 born 1747, died 1822, son of Jean Baptiste Cyr dit Crock 1 born 1710, died 1785. 34 Guitard, R and Thériault, F 2019. Who was the Canadian Henry Crock who settled in Australia in 1856? Who were his Canadian parents? A genealogical report. Unpublished report, October. 35 Honoré Cyr was present as godfather at the baptism of his half-brother Aimé Cyr. Baptism Aimé Cyr 1846, Van Buren Saint Bruno Parish Register, Madawaska, U.S.A. 36 Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Schedule A Victoria 9 Feb 1859 Mary Anne Crock Cert no. 159 – Henry is listed as being born in Beachlow, Lower Canada. 37 Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 25 April 1861 Louisa Crock. Cert no 2951861. 12 Feb 1873 Hester Newton Cert no. 155. Sep 13 1865 Henry Crock junior 1865 Cert no. 711. 38 Births in the district of Wangaratta in the colony of Victoria Schedule A 22 October 1879 Cert no 109 George Edward Crock. 39 Country cities and towns: their rise and development. No. 24. History of Wangaratta. The Weekly Times (Melbourne) Sat 9 March 1929. Henry Crock is listed along with Christopher Dockendorff and others as building the first bridge over the Ovens River at Wangaratta which was completed in 1855. I have not found the original list of contractors yet. 40 The Daily Sun, July 29 1890 Saint John New Brunswick, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Daniel F. Johnson Newspaper Archives. Vol 78:Number 103. 41 Public Record Office of Victoria, Unassisted passenger List. Brig Australia, 1852. 42 Public Record Office of Victoria, Australia. Unassisted passenger lists. The Oriental New York 12th January 1860. 43 Shipping. Cleared out. November 29 1879. The Weekly Times (Melbourne) Sat 6 December, page 21. 44 By Electric Telegraph. Albany, Dec 6 1879. The West Australian.Tuesday 9 December, page 2. 45 National Museum of Australia. Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie letter. https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/ned- kelly-jerilderie-letter/transcription Submitted by Elizabeth Crock Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2031 The Elusive Mr Stockand by Gordon Hughes Submitted by Gordon Hughes Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Elusive William Stockand William Stockand emerges from the mists of mid - 19th century Orkney to marry Isabella Firth1 in 18502. He fades into anonymity. Isabella gives birth to a daughter in 18533. I have been on the trail of William Stockand. Stockan4, with various interchangeable phonetic spellings, may be a single origin surname from the farm of Stockan in the parish of Sandwick on the main island of Orkney5. This group of islands is off the north coast of Scotland and much of their heritage and dialect derives from the Viking settlers who started arriving in the 9th century. There are baptismal records of seven William Stockans born between 1800 and 18336. Death records revealed an eighth potential William7. I started the process of elimination. By the 1841 Scottish census there were three possible Williams, all in Orkney. Of these one came to Australia8 9; one went to The United States 10 11 and the other is the candidate for marrying Isabella Firth. Born on the 24th August 1828 in Sandwick, the son of Peter and Jannet Stockan 12, he is a 15-year-old agricultural labourer in 184113, lodging in a bothy close to Skaill House, Sandwick, where the principle landowner of the parish lived14. His parents and seven siblings are on the nearby farm of Unigar15. Many young Orcadians signed up with the Hudson’s Bay Company in search of employment and adventure. Established in 1670 it traded fur, timber and coal from the Canadian North West. They recruited men who sought to escape the poverty and overcrowding of small tenant farms in Orkney. Orcadians were used to harsh weather and hard work. William Stockand, 16in return for his outward passage and a cash advance, signed a five-year contract with the company through their agent in Stromness, Edward Clouston, probably in September 185017. I looked at William’s timeline and contrasted it with Isabella Firth’s. An interwoven pattern began to take shape. On the 27th September 1850 Isabella Firth marries William Stockand at her family farm of Wasdale in the parish of Firth18. The celebrations would have taken place at one of the low stone and thatch barns19 which were once typical of the islands. Wasdale served this area with a quarterly cattle market and associated informal ale house20. This market also provided an opportunity for socializing and courting21 by more than just those who came to sell and buy cattle. This may be how William and Isabella met. Their time together was short. Three weeks after the wedding, on October 15th, William Stockand, aged 21, together with other recruits, sails from Kirkwall on board the Queen for Gravesend22, a port on the Thames, downstream from London. He leaves Gravesend for Vancouver Island on The Tory23. He shares a crowded steerage cabin with five other young Orkney men, four of whom are also called William. Nicknames or last names must have been the rule, except perhaps for Christopher Finlay, at 17 the youngest occupant of cabin six24. In the 1851 Scottish census there is no record of William; Isabella is living back home at Wasdale25. William Stockand arrives in Vancouver in May 185126. Part of the time he works as a labourer. Records indicate he may have been a crew member of the brig Una when it was driven ashore at Neah Bay in Washington State on Christmas day 185127. Submitted by Gordon Hughes Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists In the New Year William is on the move again. He manages to get himself transferred onto the crew of the Norman Morison and leaves on the 21st January 1852 for Gravesend. The ship arrives on the 12th June, 185228. Sometime in July 1852 Isabella becomes pregnant. William leaves London on the Norman Morison on the 20th August 1852, but this time he is recorded as a passenger29, possibly because he jumps ship to travel to Orkney and breaks his contract. He arrives back in Vancouver in January 1853 and he is last recorded by the Hudson’s Bay Company receiving 1854-1855 wages as a non-contracted labourer30. After this he disappears from company records. Had William returned to Orkney in 1852 to fetch his wife and, if so, why did she not go? Did she think that he had not established himself adequately and wanted to wait a bit longer, or had she decided life in the harsh conditions of North West Canada was not for her? Perhaps she awaited his return, or a summons that never came. Did he lose touch with his wife and was he drawn into the unruly world of mid-19th century North America? He may simply have died, undiscovered or unrecorded. On the 19th April 1853 Isabella gives birth to her only child Margaret Garson Stockand31. By 1861 Isabella and her daughter are lodging with her elderly aunt in the small cottage of Cadis, high on the hillside a half hour’s walk east of Wasdale32. She stays there for the rest of her life and records herself as married until at least 187133. In 1881 she is a widow34. Isabella Stockan, dies in 189835 and is buried in the local kirkyard in an unmarked grave overlooking the shore36. Of her husband no further record has yet been found, in British or North American archives. I know that William was born to Peter and Jannet Stockan in August 1828. I also know that William Stockand married Isabella Firth in 1850, and that William Stockand sailed from Orkney to Vancouver in 1850. Finally, I know that Isabella had only one child and died a widow. Although there is no irrefutable proof that this is one and the same William Stockand, the circumstantial evidence is strong and my hunt for genealogical proof and his fate continues. Submitted by Gordon Hughes Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 1 Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 21 October 1826. Firth, Isabella 2 Marriages (OPR) Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 27 September 1850. William Stockand and Isabella Firth. 3 Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney19 April 1853 Margaret Garson Stockand. 4 The spelling of Stockan/Stockand does vary in official documents for the individuals named in this essay. Spelling is used as recorded and therefore is not be consistent 5 Lamb, Gregor. (1981) Orkney Surnames. Edinburgh, Paul Harris Publishing. P. 58. 6 Births and Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Sandwick, Stromness, Birsay. Orkney. 7 boys by the name of William Stockan, 1800-1833. The nearest recorded birth prior to 1800 in the OPR of a William Stockan is 1768 7 Deaths (SR) Scotland. Parish of Sandwick, Orkney. 24 June 1872. William Stockan aged 74. 030/33 8 Census Records. Scotland. Stromness, Orkney. 06 June 1841. William Stockan [son] ED9, property 50. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 9 Queensland Early Pioneers. Travel & Migration, Migration. William Stockan 1859. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=ANZ%2FQFHS_QSLNDEARLYPIONEERS1824- 1859%2F135854 10 Census Records. Scotland. Harray, Orkney. 06 June 1841. William Stockan [son] ED6, property 16. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 11 USA Census 1870. Washington State. Chambers Prairie, Thurston. William Stockan. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=USC%2F1870%2F004268772%2F00445%2F017 12 Births (OPR) Scotland. Sandwick, Orkney. 24 August 1828. Stockan, William 13 Census Records. Scotland. Sandwick, Orkney. 06 June 1841. William Stockan ED3, property 23. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 14 Census Records. Scotland. Sandwick, Orkney. 06 June 1841. William Watt [head] ED3, property 25. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 15Census Records. Scotland. Sandwick, Orkney. 06 June 1841. Peter Stockan [head] ED3, property 28. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 16 Possibly of Unigar. The Hudson Bay records of Edward Clouston have not yet been located 17 Beattie, Judith Hudson, and Bass, Helen M. eds. (2003) Undelivered Letters to Hudson’s Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57. Vancouver, UBC Press. P. 465. At least two Orcadians who sailed with William Stockan signed on in Stromness on 1 September 1850 18 Marriages (OPR) Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 27 September 1850. William Stockand and Isabella Firth 19 Firth, John. (1920) Reminiscences of An Orkney Parish. Stromness, W. R. Rendall. P.57 20 Firth, John. (1920) Reminiscences of An Orkney Parish. Stromness, W. R. Rendall. P. 119 21 Gray, Jock. Farmer, Wasdale, Firth. Orkney. September 1968 and September 1969. Conversations 22 Beattie, Judith Hudson, and Bass, Helen M. eds. (2003) Undelivered Letters to Hudson’s Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57. Vancouver, UBC Press. P. 465 23 Beattie, Judith Hudson, and Bass, Helen M. eds. (2003) Undelivered Letters to Hudson’s Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57. Vancouver, UBC Press. P. 414 24 Beattie, Judith Hudson, and Bass, Helen M. eds. (2003) Undelivered Letters to Hudson’s Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57. Vancouver, UBC Press. P.391 25 Census Records. Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 30 March 1851. FIRTH, Isabella (daughter). ED2, property 41. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 26 Beattie, Judith Hudson, and Bass, Helen M. eds. (2003) Undelivered Letters to Hudson’s Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57. Vancouver, UBC Press. P. 414 27 Watson, Bruce M. (2003) Orcadians (and some Shetlanders) who worked west of the Rockies in the fur trade up to 1858. Unpublished document. 49/M [1939] P.74. Accessed online at Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/docs/resourcedocs/38/HBayCo%201828-58.pdf 28 Ibid 29 Ibid 30 Ibid 31 Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 19 April 1853. Stockand, Margaret Garson Submitted by Gordon Hughes Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 32 Census Records. Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 07 April 1861. FIRTH, Isabella (lodger) ED3, property 5. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 33 Census Records. Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 02 April 1871. FIRTH, Isabella (head) ED3, property 29. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 34 Census Records. Scotland. Firth and Stenness, Orkney. 03 April 1881. FIRTH, Isabella (head) ED3, property 7. Orkney Family History Society https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/census/census.php 35 Deaths (SR) Scotland. Parish of Firth, Orkney. 10 December 1898 Isabella Stockan 017/1 11 https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/view-image/nrs_stat_deaths/5066100?return_row=0, 36 Scotland. Orkney Family History Society. BMDs, Strays etc. Events-Burials. Firth Burial Register 1887- 1942. Isabella Stockan, 13 December 1898. This entry shows Cadis, or Cadiz, as her usual residence. https://orkneyfhs.co.uk/docs/resourcedocs/1/Firth_Burials_Register_1887-1942.pdf Submitted by Gordon Hughes Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2032 The Elusive Mr Jones by Holly Fitzgerald Submitted by Holly Fitzgerald Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Elusive Mr Jones “Gertie’s father died on a ferry in the harbour” was about all my mother could tell me about her Great Grandfather, William Jones. We understood he was a merchant in Athlone, Ireland, so the unproven folklore about him drowning in Sydney Harbour sounded odd. While there are always two sides to every story, we knew he had left his family home. He was rarely discussed.1 Gertrude Jones was my lively Irish Great Grandmother with strong opinions and a head full of knowledge that placed her ahead of her time. Whether it was by design or because no-one asked, Gertie provided few leads about her family. With the everyday garden variety name of ‘William Jones’ on Gertie’s death certificate, no knowledge of her siblings with the exception of two brothers – ‘Louis’ and ‘James’, and no known descendants, it was never going to be an easy task to identify ‘our’ William in the days before online genealogical resources. The Australian National Maritime Museum2 provided three shipping disaster leads.3 Researching shipping fatalities was a grim task undertaken at the State Library of NSW. William’s name materialised on a 1927 list of the Greycliffe victims.4 5 A death certificate purchased in 20006 confirmed it was him. With the publication of Greycliffe: Stolen Lives in 2003, emerged the countries in which William’s adult children lived in 1928.7 My research expanded to Mexico, England, India and the USA, and the elusive William and his family (very) slowly took shape. New connections through word of mouth, an Ancestry tree and later, DNA connections, suggested not much was known about what happened to William. Gulielmus (William) Jones was born on 22 July 1855 in Dublin to Jacobi (James) Jones and Elizabeth Todd.8 9 Based on information passed down, there is a belief among some family members that William was related to the Jones family business once located in St Stephen’s Green, Dublin.10 No documentation has yet been identified. Baptised Church of Ireland on 9 August 185511, information from family suggests William was a man of faith and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, with an interest in becoming a vicar.12 Advice from the College was there had been ‘a William’ around the right age who had attended but had left the College before qualifying.13 Aged 19, William arrived in Connaught Street, Athlone in 1874 and a drapery, fancy warehouse store and egg exporting business established .14 15 On his wedding day (10 June 1879) aged 24 years’, William was baptised16 in the Roman Catholic Chapel, Ballymurry, when he married a farmer’s daughter, Anne Geraghty, or ‘Nannie’.17 Together William and Nannie had 12 children.18 While dual baptisms were not unique, William’s response to the 1901 and 1911 Census of Ireland seem in contrast to his initial vocational plan. When asked to confirm his religion in 1901, he refused to provide details.19 In 1911 he is recorded with the Walshe family in Dublin on census day and like them, notes his religion as a ‘Freethinker’.20 Submitted by Holly Fitzgerald Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists The Jones entrepreneurial flair was evident in the store’s quirky newspaper advertisements and the farthing token discount enlisted to attract repeat customers at W. Jones and Co.21 Nannie was running the store by 1903 which perhaps flagged that things with William were moving in a different direction. In 1909 William and Nannie’s son John Jones22 23, 3 weeks shy of his 24th birthday, was murdered24 25 in Butte, Montana, USA. The Anaconda Standard reported excerpts of a letter found with John written by his mother. It mentioned how “his leaving broke her heart” and “…the hard time the family has had to get along since he left and speaks of the father’s sprained ankle.”26 William left the family fold around 1912-1915 to explore life in Australia.27 28 He did not return to live in Athlone. Running the business had become too much for Nannie by 1919.29 Son James and daughter Rebecca travelled from the USA30 31 to attend sister Annie’s wedding32 to Edwin John Robinson, and to discuss the future of the family business with other siblings.33 William’s trail goes decidedly cold until 1920 when, having never visited America, he makes the trek from Sydney to San Francisco for a 6-month visit with daughter Rebecca and her husband Lewis Oliver, in Santa Monica.34 In 1924 Gertie moved from England to Australia with her family, due to her husband’s employment. 35 They moved to Rose Bay and its surrounds in Sydney, a stone’s throw from where William lived. However, it was not a close father-daughter relationship.36 In the late 1920s, William was employed as a gardener in one of the most picturesque areas of Sydney at 39 Coolong Road, Vaucluse near Watson’s Bay.37 38 William’s employer, Oscar Hall O’Brien39 40, was a wealthy philanthropist41 42, merchant and owner of O.H.O’Brien Electrical. Oscar had purchased the land following the resubdivision of “The Huts Property” owned by Fitzwilliam Wentworth.43 With stunning ocean views and dappled sunlight on the rocks at the water’s edge, the property is nestled next to Nielsen Park and only steps away from Shark Beach.44 William lived onsite at the property with fellow Irishman and long-term Caretaker employee of Oscar’s, Alfred Meeke.45 46 47 The end of William’s life was brutal and unexpected. On a ferry trip from Circular Quay to Watson’s Bay, his life was taken by force to the bottom of the ocean when the ‘SS Tahiti’ and the ‘Greycliffe’ collided on 3 November 1927.48 William’s body remained underwater for eight days.49 Alfred, like so many other locals who waited for news after the accident, soon found himself trying to identify William’s body.50 Gertie’s husband, William Withers, apparently undertook a similar task but later could not talk about the experience.51 William’s ashes were scattered at Rookwood Cemetery on 11 November 1927 with no headstone.52 Nannie died in Ireland on 19 September 1947.53 The full story of William’s life, for now, remains elusive with some answers likely to have been taken to the ocean’s depths with him. Somehow, I doubt this is the end of the story. Submitted by Holly Fitzgerald Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 1 Personal interviews by author with family members 2000-2020. Notes held by author. 2 Australian National Maritime Museum, 2000, [Unpublished] Letter received from G Simpson, Librarian. Letter held by author. An estimated window of time was provided to the ANMM by the author with a request for advice/assistance. 3 Graeme Andrews, Ferries of Sydney, (Sydney, Oxford University Press, Sydney, 1994) 154-163. 4 James Jervis, The History of Woollahra, (Sydney, The Municipal Council of Woollahra, C1960-1965), 19. 5 “Harbour Disaster - Reported Missing”, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 November 1927, 17. 6 New South Wales Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Death Certificate of William Jones (1927:17494). 7 Steve Brew, Greycliffe: Stolen Lives, 2003 (ACT, Navarine Publishing), 102-103. 8 Ireland, Superintendent Registrars District of Roscommon, Certified copies of entries of marriages. No.80/1879 Marriage Certificate of William Jones and Nannie Geraghty, 10 June 1879, Kilmain. 9 Ancestry.com. Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Catholic Parish Registers, National Library of Ireland, Ireland. Record of Baptism of William Jones, 10 June 1879. 10 There are directory listings and other information on Jones family groups associated with St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. A historical reference image also exists of the Jones store. Other researchers have undertaken research on other family tree groups. While it is possible that William is related, to date no clear link as to how William might be connected has been identified by the author. 11 Irish Genealogy.IE Church Records, Baptism record for William Jones 9 August 1855. 12 Email correspondence received by author from a UK family member, 6 November 2012. Stored by author. 13 Email correspondence received by author from a UK family member, 6 November 2012. Stored by author. 14 Oisin, ‘Athlone Miscellany: Connaught Street in Fact and Fiction’ – Part VI, 6 September 2002 – publication name and organisation unknown. Article supplied to author. James Green reported his finding of an old Athlone farthing while renovating in the late 1990s. The token was marked W. Jones and Co. and was designed to attract repeat business by way of a discount for return customers. 15 Email to author from a Jones family member, 22 November 2012. Memories of his mother pointing out the Jones building in St Stephen’s Green in connection to William. 16 Ancestry.com Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Catholic Parish Registers, National Library of Ireland, Ireland. Record of Baptism of William Jones, 10 June 1879. 17 Ireland, Superintendent Registrars District of Roscommon, Certified Copies of Entries of Marriages. No.80/1879 Marriage Certificate of William Jones and Nannie Geraghty, 10 June 1879, Kilmain. 18 New South Wales Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Death Certificate of William Jones (1927:17494). Two children did not reach adulthood. That is William and Nannie’s first child, Maria Josephine Jones who died in 1896 aged 16 years’ of Bright’s Disease. Their youngest, Bernard Jones, died from bronchitis in 1900 at 6- months of age. HSE Civil Registration Services Death Certificates held on file by the author. 19 The National Archives of Ireland, Census of Ireland 1901, Entry for William Jones, resident of 15 Connaught Street, Athlone. 20 The National Archives of Ireland, Census of Ireland 1911, Entry for William Jones, former egg exporter and visitor at 18 Terenure Road Upper, Dublin. 21 Oisin, ‘Athlone Miscellany: Connaught Street in fact and fiction’ – Part VI, 6 September 2002 – publication name and organisation unknown. Article copy supplied to the author. 22 State of Montana Bureau of Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, Registered 532, John Jones, 3 July 1909. Various articles provided by the Butte, Montana Historical Society. 23 “Deep Mystery Surrounds the Man of Many Aliases”, The Butte Daily Post (Butte, Montana), 6 July 1909, 1. 24 “Manner in Which Jones Met Death More Apparent As Inquest Proceeds”, The Butte Miner (Butte Montana), 11 July 1909, 8. 25 Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives. Multiple articles supplied to the author, 19 November 2012. 26 “Gruesome Find of Boys at Play”, The Anaconda Standard, (Anaconda, Montana), 6 July 1909, 2. 27 Email correspondence received by author from UK family member, 6 November 2012. Stored by author. Estimated date. 28 New South Wales Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Death Certificate of William Jones (1927:17494). William’s death certificate suggests he was in Australia for 12 years. Submitted by Holly Fitzgerald Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists 29 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 906; Volume #: Roll 0906 - Certificates: 115250-115499, 11 Sep 1919-11 Sep 1919. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795- 1925 [database on-line]. Application for James William Jones. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Selected Passports. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Supporting document suggests the reason for travel is related to his mother who is unable to manage the business due to advancing years’. 30 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 906; Volume #: Roll 0906 - Certificates: 115250-115499, 11 Sep 1919-11 Sep 1919. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795- 1925 [database on-line]. Application for James William Jones in 1919. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Selected Passports. National Archives, Washington, D.C. 31 Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26, 1,472 pieces. Rebecca and Lewis Oliver travelling from the USA to visit Connaught Street Athlone in 1919. 32 HSE Civil Registration Service, Ireland, Marriage Certificate of Anne Jones and Edwin John Robinson (16 October 1919, Vol 2, Page number 715). General Register Office, Republic of Ireland. "Quarterly Returns of Marriages in Ireland with Index to Marriages." 33 Sons William, Richard Aloysius and daughter Annie had taken on at various times more responsibilities which enabled the business to continue. With Annie’s marriage in 1919 came her departure to Canada. William (Jnr) would also leave the business in 1928 for the USA. The business was taken on by Richard Aloysius who oversaw the relocation of the Jones store from Connaught Street to Mardyke Street around 1935, and the closure of the business in the later 1930s. 34 Ancestry.com. California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Selected Passenger and Crew Lists and Manifests. National Archives, Washington, D.C. View all sources. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California; NAI Number: 4498993; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85. William Jones passenger record travelling on board “Sonoma”. 35 National Archives of Australia, Incoming Passenger List to Fremantle, “Moldavia”, 4 September 1924, K269, 12279667. Gertrude Withers (nee Jones) travelling with family to Australia. 36 Conversations with relative of Gertrude Jones, varied dates. 37 Woollahra Library, Local History Librarian, [Unpublished] letter sent to author 10 January 2001. Held by author. 38 Steve Brew, Greycliffe: Stolen Lives, 2003 (ACT, Navarine Publishing, 2003) 102. 39 "Oscar Hall O’Brien" Smith's Weekly (Sydney, NSW: 1919-1950) 25 September 1948: 11. 40 "Big Estate to Aid Charity" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) 22 January 1954: 10. 41 "Charities Benefit From Big Estate" Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW: 1915-1954) 22 January 1954: 3. 42 "Sydney Merchant Leaves £511,949" The Newcastle Sun (NSW: 1918-1954) 21 January 1954, 2. 43 Woollahra Library, Local History Librarian, [Unpublished] letter sent to author 10 January 2001. Held by author. 44 Site visit by the author to the area in 2012. 45 "Family Notices" - death of Alfred Meeke, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954) 7 May 1941,12. 46 "New Style On Old Frontage" The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931-1954) 9 March 1937: 8. 47 Ancestry.com. Ancestry Family Trees. Meeke Family Tree, Owner Kyra Meeke. Q.v. Alfred Wray Meeke (1864-1941). 48 National Library of Australia. Trove. Multiple digitised newspaper articles including “A Shocking Disaster” (1927, November 6). Sunday Times (Perth, WA: 1902 - 1954), 1. 49 “Greycliffe: More Bodies Recovered” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954) 12 November 1927,17. 50 Steve Brew, Greycliffe: Stolen Lives, 2003 (ACT, Navarine Publishing, 2003),103. 51 Interview with author’s mother, [Unpublished], Sydney, 21 May 2020. Notes stored by author. 52 New South Wales Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Death Certificate of William Jones (1927:17494). 53 HSE Civil Registration Service, Ireland, Death Certificate of Anne Jones (1947/204). Submitted by Holly Fitzgerald Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists CROKER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2020 2033 But Names Will Never Hurt You by Ray Parkins Submitted by Ray Parkins Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists But Names Will Never Hurt You What? Names will never hurt you? Well, what about that tragic double-suicide of Romeo and Juliet, then? That whole sorry affair was all about names and the problems they can create. And, sometimes, names can create problems for us genealogists, too, as we seek out our elusive ancestors. They can make the difference between us having a pleasant ferry cruise across the harbour, or a perilous voyage through the uncharted, and sometimes- turbulent, waters of the Sea of Consanguinity. My sister had started some Family Tree research and believed our 2x greatgrandmother to be one Elizabeth Jane Dustan, born in 1 823 at "Uny Le Lant, Cornwall." I This particular Elizabeth Jane had married Benjamin Parkins at Menheniot, on Christmas Day, 1847. 2 Then, at some unknown time after that, the couple left Cornwall to start a new life in faraway Australia. I had a pair of names, two Cornish villages, and a couple of dates; not a lot to go on, true, but a good start, nevertheless. Time, now, to set sail on my very own voyage of discovery. My first port of call was Lelant, to check the Baptismal Records of St Uny's church. They showed that two Dunstone daughters were baptised there on October, 19th, 1823. They were registered as Emma and Jane. 3 What? Just, Jane? Why not Elizabeth Jane? Or, even just Elizabeth? "Jane's" and Emma's parents were Elizabeth and James, and her father was listed as a tinman (probably a tin smelter, or tinsmith). The spelling of the surname was different, too, but that commonly occurs. So far, a couple of niggles- but, no real problems. I decided, next, to research their emigration to Australia, then go back to verify the couple's wedding information. One Ships' Passenger List I consulted showed that Benjamin Parkins, aged 32, and his 24-year old wife, Jane, arrived in Port Jackson, aboard the 'Walmer Castle', on December 30th, 1848. 4 A second shipping record revealed that they were two of 301 Government Emigrants who'd left Plymouth on September 1 2th, that same year.5 As such, they would have travelled crammed up in Steerage, where, "Hygiene was poor at the best of times. in conditions that were ideal for the spread of disease. "6 The first List contained both a pleasant surprise, and a terrible shock. The surprise? A daughter had been "born on board",4 if, indeed, you could call giving birth at sea, in Steerage, pleasant. The real shock, however, was finding that "Jane's" birthplace was listed as Gwennap! 4 This meant that any information obtained from Lelant was now invalid and irrelevant. And, to make matters worse, I had now found two "Janes" but still hadn't come across even one Elizabeth Jane. Perhaps she'd appear in the Menheniot wedding records, or when I reached my new destination of Gmi i nap. On first inspection, the wedding information looked correct. They were, indeed, married at St Lalluwy's Church. At least I was in the right place this time! There was a simple, hand- written "X" on one line of the Certificate, around which were the words: "The mark of Jane Dunstan. "2 They'd been placed there by Richard Martin, the officiating Vicar. 2 This annotation confirmed information from the first Arrivals List, namely that "Jane" could read, but not write. 4 Worryingly, though, there was no still sign of Elizabeth Jane; only a third sighting of you know who! And, just when I thought things couldn't get worse, they did. I hit a submerged rock that shook my ship to its core, sending Elizabeth Jane and her tinman father flying overboard. The Certificate showed that James Dunstan, the proud Father of the Bride, was actually a blacksmith! 2 Submitted by Ray Parkins Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists Still seaworthy, only just, I limped off towards Gwennap. Perhaps, there, I would find a blacksmith, named James Dunstan, who'd fathered a daughter, called Jane, around 1 823. Or, was this asking too much? Gwennap was in an area once-rich in copper, and part of "the richest square mile on Earth. "7 My lengthy search through the 1841 Census records for the district8 definitely reflected this. There were hundreds of copper miners, but very few blacksmiths. I found less than a dozen in all, and two were from the same family. Since blacksmithing was, "a craft that was often a family tradition, with the skills passing from father to son, "9 this certainly made sense. The two blacksmiths in question were recorded on the Census at the Wheal Squire Copper Mine, and they even had the same namesJames Dunstone. One was the father; the other, his son. Also listed in the household were wife; Elizabeth, and daughters; Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, and Louisa- 8 I decided to cross-check this information with that from local Baptismal records. Those from Holy Trinity church, in nearby St Day, showed that Jane Dunstone, aged 2 years and 1 1 months, 10 was baptised on Christmas Day, 1 826, along with her infant sister, Marye ll This quite specific information meant that she had been born in late 1 823: a match. Her parents' first names: another match. And her father's occupation was consistent with the Census data: bingo! Had I just discovered our Cornish 2x great-grandmother? Yes- but, yet again, she was not my sister's Elizabeth Jane. So, just where was she? Back in Lelant? Or, still treading water at that submerged rock? No, not at all, and it wasn't long before I did actually find her. Twice; once in Surry Hills i2 then, again, in Bathurst. 12 My surprise discovery was not the 2x great-grandmother I'd set out to find at the beginning of my voyage. She was, in fact, the infant daughter "born at sea", aboard the 'Walmer Castle'.4 Time, now, to drop anchor and raise a glass to my most elusive ancestor: my consanguineous great-grandaunt, 13 Elizabeth Jane Parkins. And, after that? Why, I'll have to break the good news to my sister. References 1) Cornwall Online Census Project—1 841 (Book 10, Folio 17, Pgl) 2) Cornwall, England, Parish Registers, 1 538-2010; Cornwall, Menheniot, Marriages, 1837-1 906 3) Baptisms at St Uny's Church, Lelant, in surname order 1779-1792, 1796, 1 799, 1805-1840 Baptismal Records St Uny's church. elant.info > unybaptismsname 4) Ships' Passenger Lists of Arrivals in New South Wales, 1 828-1844, 1 848-1 849, New South Wales, State Archives (Transcribed by Julia Mitchell) 5) Mariners and ships in Australian Waters- https://marinersandships.conmau/1 848/12/037wal.htm 6) Journeys to Australia https://museumsvictoria.com.au/longform/journeys-to-australia/ 7) Cornish Mines: Gwennap to the Tamar, by Barry Gamble, (Published by Alison Hodge, Penzance, Cornwall, 2011) 8) Enumeration Districts for Redruth/Gwennap & Stithians for the 1 841 Census, Enumeration District 13, Book 9 Folio 40 Page 6 HOI 07/1 37 (LDS Film number 241 260) 9) Witheridge, "The Centuries in Words and Pictures"- (The Village Blacksmith, www.witheridgehistorical- archive.com/blacksmith.htm 10) Cornwall Online Census Project (Certificate Transcriber: Sue Mutton), "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010," database with images, found on FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ ark:/61 :QJHB-62KK: Record 3614872, Jane) 11) Cornwall Online Census Project (Certificate Transcriber: Sue Mutton), "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010," database with images, found on FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ ark:/61 903/1 :QJHB-62KK: Record 361 4873, Mary) 12) Australian Birth Index, 1 788-1 922, VI 8431470 56 (Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia); & also VI 8481 47() 55 (Bathurst, Hill End, New South Wales, Australia) 13) Relationship Chart: www.devonfhs.org.uk>pdfs>eichorn-rlationship-chart (by Betty Eichorn) Submitted by Ray Parkins Croker Prize for Biography 2020 - Society of Australian Genealogists