Category Archives: geneameme

Trove Tuesday: Arrival of Francis and Sarah Tuckfield

05 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Birregurra, encounters with indigenous Australians, Gilbart, immigration, Methodist, St Erth, Trove Tuesday, Tuckfield

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One of my husband Greg’s fourth great aunts was a Cornishwoman, Sarah Tuckfield née Gilbart  (1808-1854).

Sarah and her twin sister Thomasine were born on 22 July 1808 at St Erth, a sand and clay mining town about 5 km from St Ives. They were the seventh and eighth children of John Gilbart (1761-1837) and Elizabeth Gilbart née Huthnance (1774-1847).

John Gilbart was manager of a copper rolling mill at St Erth. He had been a member of the first Copperhouse Methodist Society (Copperhouse was a foundry and its associated district in east Hayle), and in 1783 he had founded the St Erth Methodist Class, the local Wesleyan group meeting.

Francis Tuckfield (1808-1865) was a miner and fisherman, who at the age of 18 was convinced by the truths of  Methodist nonconformism. He became an active local preacher and in 1835, at the age of 27, was accepted as a candidate for the Ministry. He received two years training at the Wesleyan Theological Institution in Hoxton in London. On the completion of his studies Tuckfield was selected to be a missionary to the Aboriginals of the Port Phillip District (later became the colony of Victoria, Australia).

On 13 October 1837, less than a month before his departure, Sarah Gilbart and Francis Tuckfield were married at St Erth. They were then both 29 years old.

Seppings 1838 arrival Hobart Tuckfield

SHIP NEWS (1838, March 20). The Austral-Asiatic Review, Tasmanian and Australian Advertiser (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1837 – 1844), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232476273

In March 1838 after a long sea voyage Francis and Sarah Tuckfield landed in Hobart, Tasmania. In July the Tuckfields crossed Bass Strait to Melbourne on board the Adelaide. Sarah’s first child, a daughter, was born at Geelong on 12 August 1838.

Tuckfield made several exploratory trips about the Port Philip district looking for a suitable place to establish a mission station. (He is said to have employed William Buckley as a translator on these journeys. Buckley was an escaped convict who for a time had lived with Aboriginals. He had since been pardoned and given a job as a government interpreter.)

In 1839 he chose a site near Birregurra, 10 km east of Colac. Governor Gipps granted the mission 640 acres, a square mile.

The Birregurra experiment, however, was rapidly deemed a failure by the Victorian Government. In 1848 it was abandoned, and in 1850 the mission grazing licence was cancelled.

 

Geelong Advertiser 1848 07 01 pg 2

SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 1. (1848, July 1). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1847 – 1851), p. 2 (MORNING). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91457661

 

Francis Tuckfield was afterwards appointed to a succession of churches, first in Victoria and later in New South Wales. On 6 June 1854 Sarah died at the age of 45 in West Maitland, New South Wales. She and Francis had eight children.

 

Tuckfield Sarah death Maitalnd Mercury 1854 06 07 pg 3

Family Notices (1854, June 7). The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 – 1893), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article690022

 

In 1857 Francis remarried, to Mary Stevens (1823-1886). Eight years later, in 1865, he died at Portland, Victoria.

Portraits of Francis and Sarah Tuckfield are held by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

With only the bare facts of her life to draw on, it is very difficult to form an impression of Sarah Tuckfield the person. A history of the Birregurra mission portrays her as a dutiful daughter, devout Methodist, and devoted and capable wife and mother:

Sarah shared not only her father’s love of music and deep Christian conviction, but also his generous strength of character. She was a practical girl, who made an excellent teacher in the Sunday School, and was thoroughly trained in the housewifely arts by her mother. She also took an interest in the sick and incapacitated people in St Earth, who loved her for her kind ways and skills in nursing.

Le Griffon, Heather and Orton, Joseph Campfires at the cross : an account of the Bunting Dale Aboriginal Mission 1839-1951 at Birregurra, near Colac, Victoria : with a biography of Francis Tuckfield. Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne, Vic, 2006. page 18.

But this – no doubt well-meant – encomium gets us no further. ‘Love of music’ to a Methodist meant hymn-singing; ‘deep Christian conviction’ covers everything from humble faith to pharisaical self-righteousness; ‘generous strength of character’ sounds suspiciously like stubbornness; ‘thoroughly trained in the housewifely arts’ might mean a drudge; and her kind ways with the sick and infirm makes her look like the village Lady Bountiful.

Sarah’s marriage at the age of 29 to a penniless Methodist preacher and her willingness to endure the hardships of missionary life on the far side of the world seem rather noble and self-sacrificing, but these were the usages of the times. She was getting no younger, and her prospects, probably never great, were shrinking. Wives followed their husbands, and she perhaps found some satisfaction in being able to help with his missionary endeavours.

Sometimes, of course, images delineate character better than words. The National Portrait Gallery painting of Sarah Tuckfield conveys a certain measure of self-assurance and sense of purpose, especially when her image is viewed with that of her husband. The artist has drawn them with much the same mouth, giving her an air of steadfastness and strength of will; he looks feminine and ineffectual. He looks coyly at the viewer; she stares beyond, into the future.

We’re left wondering. Could it be that it was Sarah who turned the Cornish miner into the Methodist preacher, urged him to attend the Hoxton Institution, encouraged him to emigrate, and supported him in his mission?

Sources

My Most Recent Unknown Ancestors

27 Sunday May 2018

Posted by in DNA, genealogical records, genealogy tools, geneameme, Liverpool, Young

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This week in his regular post ‘Saturday Night Genealogy Fun’ Randy Seaver asks “Who Is Your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor (MRUA)?”

The mission:
1) Who is your MRUA – your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name.

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don’t you scan it again just to see if there’s something you have missed?

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your MRUA?

The starting point for my ahnentafel list is my children, the list formed by combining my tree with that of my husband Greg.

I know all the names of our children’s 3rd great grandparents.

In the next generation, however, I don’t know the parents of George Young (c.1826-1890), Greg’s great great grandfather. George is number 32 on the index; I don’t know the names of his parents, numbers 64 and 65.

There’s no help from his death certificate; the informant does not name his parents. Other information about him is scanty. From his death certificate I know that he was born in Liverpool, and this corresponds with details that he provided on the birth certificates of his children, but I have not found his marriage certificate. The reason may be that he and his wife Caroline Clarke were married before compulsory civil registration was introduced in Victoria in 1855, or perhaps they never formally married. I have not found a shipping record for him, and I have no evidence that he had any near relations in Australia. Land records, and I have several that concern him, give no relevant information. George did not leave a will. Frustratingly, the name Young is too common to identify George from the many other births in Liverpool about the same time or from people with the same name listed on the United Kingdom 1841 census.

I feel my best hope in identifying George’s parents and finding out more about his life before he emigrated to Australia is through DNA. Several of Greg’s cousins descended from George have tested their DNA. I hope that DNA will lead me to one or more of the descendants of George Young’s siblings.  Their research might get me past the dead end I have come to with George himself.

Greg has a number of shared DNA matches (shown in green on the chart). I have not yet identified anybody descending from a brother or sister of George Young.

Young DNA tree

I do have some DNA matches from people with the surname Young who were born in Liverpool, descendants of Philip Young (1840-1910). I have not yet found the parents and grandparents of Philip to allow me to make the connection between our two trees, although we have several DNA matches. However, having an additional line to search, which appears to be connected by name, place and shared DNA, gives me a better chance of finding the family of George Young.

Sister Minnie Goldstein

15 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in Goldstein, medicine, New Guinea, Trove Tuesday, World War 2

≈ 6 Comments

Looking at some paintings by Nora Heysen recently, I was delighted to discover that one was of a relative of mine, my second cousin twice removed, Minnie Sutherland Goldstein (1908-1984). She was my grandfather’s second cousin, one of the children of Selwyn Goldstein (1873-1917) and Minnie Waters Goldstein née Sutherland (1883-1952).

Minnie’s father Selwyn was a mining engineer, manager of the Mount Cattlin Copper Mining Company near Ravensthorpe, a couple of hundred kilometres west of Esperance in Western Australia. Minnie was born there on 13 August 1908.

On 13 October, with Minnie only two months old, the family moved to England, sailing on the Runic from Albany to Plymouth.

In 1909 the Goldsteins moved to Mexico where for two years Selwyn managed a large mine. They were forced to return to England, however, by the upheavals and danger of the Mexican Revolution.

On 9 November 1915 Selwyn Goldstein enlisted in the 173rd Company of the Royal Engineers. On 8 June 1917, during the Battle of Messines, where he had a part in blowing up the ridge the day before, he died of a gunshot wound, self-inflicted.

In 1922, Minnie’s mother and her four children – Minnie was then 13 – returned to Australia, where they settled in Perth.

Goldstein Minnie Western Mail 1927 03 17 pg 4

THE DAUGHTER OF MRS. M W. GOLDSTEIN, OF WEST PERTH, MISS MINNIE GOLDSTEIN. from 17 March 1927. Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 – 1954), p. 4  Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38002701

Digitised newspapers and other records held by the National Library give us glimpses of Minnie’s life. In November 1922 Minnie wrote to the Children’s Page of the Perth Daily News. In 1923 Minnie played lawn tennis for her school, but she lost the game. She was at school at St Mary’s Church of England Grammar in year V and won a prize for divinity; her sister Isobel was in the same year and won prizes for divinity and languages. In 1926 she was at many events including a party, a dance at the rowing club, the Children’s Hospital Ball.

By December 1926 Minnie was training as a nurse at the Perth Hospital. The social whirl seems to have continued, and Miss Minnie Goldstein was often mentioned in the society columns.

In 1930 Minnie became engaged to Jack Round-Turner. The marriage did not go ahead.

Minnie Goldstein enlisted in the Australian Army on 28 August 1942. In 1944 she was painted by the war artist Nora Heysen in Alexishafen, Papua New Guinea while working in the blood bank of 111 Australian Casualty Clearing Station.

Goldstein Minnie by Norah Heysen 1944

Sister Minnie Sutherland Goldstein, WX32605, of the Australian Army Nursing Service working in the blood bank of 111 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, Alexishafen, New Guinea. She is working on medical equipment relating to blood bank services such as blood transfusions. She was painted by Nora Heysen, official war artist in 1944. The painting is in the collection of the Australian War Memorial ART23921

Alexishafen map

Map showing Alexishafen, 23 kilometres north of Madang on the north coast of Papua New Guinea

AWM 3871745

South Alexishafen, New Guinea. 1944-08-08. Officers and members of the nursing service on the staff of the 111th Australian Casualty Clearing Station. Identified personnel include WFX32604 Sister M.S. Goldstein (8). From Australian War Memorial photograph 075085.

AWM 3987777

South Alexishafen, New Guinea. 1944-08-08. Walking patients find humour in another patients getting a blood transfusion at the 111th Casualty Clearing Station. Identified personnel include:- WFX32605 Sister M. Goldstein (1) Australian War Memorial photograph 075083

AWM 3871746

South Alexishafen, New Guinea. 1944-08-08. Sisters of the 111th Casualty Clearing Station enjoying a walk along the shores of the bay in the cool of the evening. Identified personnel include:- WFX32605 Sister M.S. GOLDSTEIN (7) Australian War memorial photograph 075087

AWM 3923873

South Alexishafen, New Guinea. 1944-08-08. Sisters of the 111th Casualty Clearing Station outside their quarters. Identified personnel include:- WFX32605 Sister M.S. GOLDSTEIN (7) Australian War Memorial photograph 075086

 

Sister Goldstein was discharged from the Australian Army on 17 February 1947 with the rank of Lieutenant. Her posting at discharge was 2/1 Australian General Hospital.

Minnie returned to work as a sister at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth.

In 1956 Minnie married Maxwell Percival Rose (1915-1973). Minnie died in Perth on 5 April 1984.

Related Posts

Sources

The wreck of the “Casino”

12 Saturday May 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Apollo Bay, cemetery, Hughes, shipwreck

≈ 2 Comments

My third great aunt Helena Gill was drowned in a shipwreck in 1932.

Helena Lucy Gill née Hughes (1866-1932 ), seventh of the eight children of my 3rd great grandparents Samuel Hughes (1827-1896) and Sally Hughes née Plaisted (1826-1900), was the younger sister, by twelve years, of my great great grandfather Edward Walter Hughes (1854-1922).

Recently I came across a transcription of her headstone (in the Ancestry.com series ‘Victoria, Australia, Cemetery Records and Headstone Transcriptions, 1844-1997’), which reads:

Name Helena Lucy Gill
Death Date 10 Jul 1932
Burial Place Victoria, Australia
Cemetery Melbourne
Section B
Religion Baptist
Transcription In loving memory of dear mother Helena Lucy GILL died heroically helping others in shipwreck of “Casino” at Apollo Bay, 10 Jul 1932, age 65 Duty nobly done.

Helena married Luther Albert Gill in 1892. They had two children:

  • Gwendoline Ruby Phyllis Gill (1893-1977) who married Henry Vincent Budge in 1910
  • Vera Ila Gill (1903-1986), known as Ila, who married Charles Dudley Care in 1926.

In 1909 Helena, then living in Maribyrnong Road, Moonee ponds, sued her husband in the Prahran Court for maintenance. His address was Chapel Street, Windsor. The court found in her favour.

From 1914 Helena appears on the electoral rolls as ‘stewardess’ with her address ‘SS Casino, Prince’s Wharf, S.M.’ On the 1913 roll her address was 68 Maribyrnong Road, Moonee Ponds, and her occupation home duties. It seems that when her daughter Ila turned 11, Helena went to work as a stewardess.

casino

The Belfast & Koroit S.N. Co’s S.S. “Casino” . Image from the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H92.302/23 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/195620

The SS Casino, 160 feet, was an rivetted-iron coastal steamer, based in Port Fairy on the south-west coast of Victoria, owned by the Belfast and Koroit Steam Navigation Company (Belfast was the early name for Port Fairy).  The company was formed in March 1882 and took delivery of the Casino the same year.

The ship, built in Dundee, Scotland and launched in February 1882, was intended to service the north coast of New South Wales and was named for the town of Casino, New South Wales. The owners of the new company successfully bid for her when she was travelling through Warrnambool, Victoria, and the Casino arrived in Port Fairy on 29 July 1882.

She carried cargo and 25 passengers between Melbourne and Portland, stopping at Apollo Bay, Warrnambool and Port Fairy, over the next five decades making around 2,500 voyages.

South west coast Victoria

South-west coast of Victoria from Google maps

Casino saloon

The saloon of the SS Casino with “swivel chairs that were bolted to the floor to allow passengers more comfort when the ship was moving through rough seas”. Image from the Port Fairy Historical Society retrieved from https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5555779e998fc21654210769

Early on the morning of 10 July 1932 the SS Casino sank in Apollo Bay while trying to secure a mooring. There was a south-easterly gale and a heavy swell. Coming alongside the jetty the Casino grounded on its anchor, fatally piercing the hull. The captain first tried to get an offing, but realising the vessel was sinking, turned to beach her. A few cables from the shore she was overwhelmed and sank in three or four fathoms.  Captain Middleton and nine other members of the crew were drowned, Helena one of them.

S Casino wrecked

S. CASINO WRECKED (1932, July 11). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203804052

Melbourne Herald 1932 07 11 page 1

(1932, July 11). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page26392479

Gill Helena Melbourne Herald 1932 07 11 page 1

Drowned Stewardess (1932, July 11). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242973343

Helena’s body, with the bodies of four other crew, was recovered. She was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery.

Gill Helena burial Herald 1932 07 13 pg 6

STEWARDESS OF CASINO BURIED (1932, July 13). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242978243

The wreck of the Casino, now a scuba diving site, lies in nine metres of water 400 metres from the shore. Her propeller and bell are part a memorial to the ship at King George Square in Port Fairy. The ship’s wheel is displayed in the Apollo Bay Hotel.

Postscript

The name “Franklin Gill” is transcribed with the dedication on Helena Gill’s gravestone. I do not know who he was or how he was related to Helena. I have since visited her grave at Melbourne Cemetery and there is no mention of Franklin Gill – apparently a transcription error. I have amended my copy of the transcription above.

Gill Lucy headstone 20180606_134536

Headstone on the grave of Helena Lucy Gill at Melbourne General Cemetery Baptist section B grave 731.

Sources

 

The Advent Angel Orchestra

27 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Berlin, Boltz, Christmas, Manock

≈ 11 Comments

 

I asked my mother to write about the angels that she displays each Christmas.

The Advent Angel Orchestra

Beginning in late November or early December, the weeks before Christmas are the season of Advent. Though the major display is the tree at Christmas, it is traditional in Germany for candles to be placed on a wreath, with a new one lit on each of the four Sundays. They are accompanied by suitable decorations, and families gather for afternoon coffee and cake.

Images of angels are one form of decoration for Advent, and Wendt and Kuhn of the Erzgebirge in Saxony have been making models for just over a hundred years; their green wings, each with eleven white dots, are a special and unifying feature. When Christa was born in 1939 her family already had an orchestra of angels, and the musicians and their conductor were set out each year.

Advent 1937

Advent display ca.1937, probably at the house of Christa’s aunt Helene Manock

When Christa came to Australia with her parents Hans and Charlotte in 1950 they brought a small group of the angels with them – including three trumpeters and a triangle-player – and the family continued to celebrate Advent in the new country.

Original angels from 1937 in 2017

Members of the original Boltz orchestra, Christmas 2017

From 1989, however, with the reunification, Christa and Rafe have been able to travel more easily to the east – the old DDR [German Democratic Republic], and the orchestra has grown considerably. The originals, now eighty years old, still perform, but they have been joined by candle- and lantern-bearers, there are new stringed instruments – including harps and a lute – while the percussionists have gongs and a tambourine and the brass has a trombone, a French horn and a small tuba. There are also an accordion player and a guitarist, and a stronger cohort of singers – three of them supported by bluebirds.

Fuller angel orchestra 2017

The fuller orchestra, Christmas 2017

Recruitment continues.

Will of Thomas Champion de Crespigny made 1704 probated 1712

15 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Champion de Crespigny, probate, will

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Will of Thomas Champion de Crespigny 1704

Probate of estate of Thomas Champion de Crespigny

Forename Thomas Surname Champion Alternate Surname Champion Alias Champion De Crespigny Date of Probate July 1712 Date of Will 24th June 1704 Reference PROB11/527 Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) Wills, 1384-1858 [database online]. TheGenealogist.co.uk

Translated out of French
In the Name of God Amen
I give all my goods present and to come to my dear wife
Magdalen Champion whom I make Executrix of this my~
Will done at London this twenty fourth of June 1704..Tho:
Champion Witnesses I: Taunay W: Waxham P: Broton

Thomas Champion de Crespigny was my 7th great grandfather.
Thomas was born about 1664 in France. His family were Huguenot. He came to England in about 1676 and joined the army. He married Magdalen Granger (1664-1730), a fellow Huguenot, on 12 February 1695 at St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street, London. They had six children of whom two died young.

Thomas died in1712 leaving Magdalen with four children

  • William aged 14 (1698-1721)
  • Jeanne or Jane aged 12 (1700-1776)
  • Philip aged 7 (1704-1765)
  • Claude aged 6 (1706-1782)

In a document dated 20 September 1712, Sir Charles Hotham certified that Thomas Champion de Crespigny had served as Captain in his regiment, and added that:

he left a poor widdow [sic] and four Children in a very distressed Condition, so that she stands in great need of Her Majesty’s [Queen Anne‘s] most Gracious Bounty, and of the Pension commonly allowed to the Officers widdows.

The family still holds a copy of this document and the original apparently was held by the War Office.

Magdalen received a pension of £26 a year, being the regular rate for the widow of a captain.

On 15 June 1713, nine months after Thomas’ death, the government granted Magdalen stock in the South Sea Company valued at £333.18.9; the amount was due for Thomas’ clothing and other expenses during the period to 24 June 1712.

 

References

  • Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) Wills, 1384-1858 Forename Thomas Surname Champion Alternate Surname Champion Alias Champion De Crespigny Date of Probate July 1712 Date of Will 24th June 1704 Reference PROB11/527 retrieved from TheGenealogist.co.uk
  • Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 29, 1714-1715, pages cxiii-cxlii: Declared Accounts: Army: Pensions to Officers’ Widows [Audit Office: Bundle 233, Roll 810 A.O. 1/233/810] 25 October 1714 to 24 December 1715, citing Crespigny and six others of Sir Charles Hotham’s Regiment.A later accounting, in Bundle 233, Roll 811, relating to 22 April 1723, identifies £26 per annum paid to Mary Crespigny, widow of a captain in Sir Charles Hotham’s Regiment; Mary is miswritten for Magdalen.
  • Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume XXVII Part 2, page 249. The authority for payment is issued by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford and Lord Treasurer, to John Howe the Paymaster General of Guards and Garrisons.
  • Champions from Normandy: An essay on the early history of the Champion de Crespigny family 1350-1800 AD by Rafe de Crespigny pages 124-5

Hannah Fish aged 5 died in 1879

06 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Fish, illness and disease, inquest, Lamplough, medicine, Trove Tuesday

≈ 2 Comments

Fish inquest Avoca Mail 3 Jun 1879

No title (1879, June 3). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202422612

On Friday 30 May 1879 a five-year-old girl called Hannah Fish died at Lamplough, a small gold-mining town near Avoca in central Victoria.

Her death was sudden and unexpected, and a coronial inquest was held the next day.

Hannah was the child of an unmarried daughter of William Fish, a miner, who deposed that the thumb of her left hand had become inflamed a couple of weeks previously, that her grandmother had bathed and poulticed it, that within a few days she was retching, and that he had given her four teaspoons of fluid magnesia (magnesium hydroxide in suspension, a laxative and antacid) to settle her stomach. He did not call a doctor or take her to see one: ‘I did not have any medical attendance for her, but would have brought her to the doctor yesterday afternoon had she lived’.

An Avoca doctor called William Selwyn Morris stated that he had seen the body. He believed that the cause of death was ‘inflammation of the absorbent vessels’: her lymphatic system had been overwhelmed by the infection.

A paragraph in the Avoca Mail on the following Tuesday reporting the inquest added the information that there appeared to be severe ‘gathering’ (accumulation of pus) on one of Hannah’s fingers. This rapidly extended to the arm, then to the chest.

Morris offered the opinion that the wound may have been caused by a venomous insect and that he had no reason to believe that ‘violence or [deliberate] injury’ had caused Hannah’s death.

Fish inquest grandfather 1

Deposition by William Fish, grandfather of Hannah Fish from Inquest into the death of Hannah Fish held on 31 May 1879 at Avoca. Page 1

Fish inquest grandfather 2

page 2 of grandfather’s deposition

Fish inquest doctor 1

page 1 of the deposition by Dr Morris

Fish inquest doctor 2

page 2 of the deposition by Dr Morris

Fluid Magnesia or Magnesium Hydroxide was first patented in 1818. In 1879 it was advertised in many newspapers including the Avoca Mail.

Fluid Magnesia

Advertising (1879, May 20). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202422481

 

Without knowing more about the circumstances it is impossible to say whether and to what extent Fish and his wife were responsible for the little girl’s death. Two teaspoons twice of a mild laxative seems a culpably inadequate treatment for a spreading suppurating wound, which would most certainly have produced a high fever and great agony. Even if she had been attended by a doctor, it was decades before antibiotic drugs were available and in common use, so the result may have been the same.

The blame for poor Hannah’s untimely death, if we can speak of blame, must be divided somehow between an indifferent universe, a cruel and incompetent God and, perhaps, her callous and careless family.

If William Fish did not do enough to save his dying granddaughter, it is satisfying to learn that in 1893, fourteen years later, a miner called William Fish from Lamplough was fossicking for gold in an old working, and

“… while below in a stooping position the earth above him
gave way and forced his head towards his feet, breaking his back and several of his ribs.”

It took him a day to die.

Hannah Fish chart

Hannah Fish (1874 – 1879) was the daughter of Hannah Fish (1856-1891) and was the niece of Alfred Fish (1860-1932), who later married Rachel Young (1865-1918) and also the niece of Alfred’s brother Thomas Fish (1872-1949) who married Rachel’s sister Alice Young (1859-1935).

References

 

Jacobites in skirts

05 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Johnstone, Kinnaird, prison, prisoner of war, Scotland

≈ 1 Comment

Toad as washerwoman

Illustration by Arthur Rackham of Mr Toad escaping prison dressed as a washerwoman from Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

In The Wind in the Willows the irrepressible Mr Toad escapes from gaol by dressing as a washerwoman. My 7th great aunt Margaret Lady Ogilvy is said to have escaped from Edinburgh Castle, where she had been confined after the failure of the ’45, in much the same way, disguised as a washerwoman.

It happened like this.

Margaret (1724-1757) was one of 14 children of my seventh great grandparents Sir James Johnstone (1697-1772) and his wife Barbara née Murray (1703-1773). In 1745 Margaret married David, Lord Ogilvy (1725-1803), who had raised a regiment in support of the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart. Margaret accompanied her husband during the rebellion.

Ogilvy’s clansmen were cut to shreds at Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746, and in the aftermath Margaret Lady Ogilvy was captured and kept at Edinburgh Castle. In November 1746 she escaped, “disguised as a washerwoman”.

Margaret Ogilvy made her way to France where she was reunited with her husband, who had survived Culloden and fled to Paris. He later became a general in the forces of the French king.

Lady Ogilvy

Margaret, Lady Ogilvy from “Illustrations of people and events relating to the Jacobite Rebellions in Scottish history (1715 and 1745-46)” in the collection of the National Library of Scotland

So the story goes, but it is suspiciously similar to a tale told about David Ogilvy. He too had been captured after the failure of Culloden and is said to have escaped St Andrews Castle dressed as a woman, in his sister’s clothes.

My sixth great grandfather, Charles Kinnaird (1723-1767), brother-in-law of Margaret Ogilvy née Johnstone was also imprisoned during the rebellion. In November 1745 Kinnaird was committed to prison by the solicitor of His Majesty George II for holding treasonable correspondence with the Highlanders at Carlisle, but was released a few weeks later on 19 December 1745. He is described in family stories as having “eaten his commission in prison”, destroying in this way the documents and correspondence he was carrying. Kinnaird was imprisoned with Walter Scott, a  servant of his future father-in-law, Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, Dumfries.

In 1748 Charles Kinnaird married Barbara Johnstone (1723-1765), Margaret’s sister. I am descended from Charles and Barbara Kinnaird through Charlotte Dana (1820-1904), my third great grandmother.

References

Related posts

the name Charlotte

02 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Dana, Manock, Wilkins, Young, Young Charlotte

≈ 2 Comments

There are 42 people in my tree named Charlotte including my daughter.  She was named after my grandmother Charlotte Hedwig Boltz née Manock (1912-1988)

Charlotte Manock

In naming Charlotte we also remembered her fourth great grandmother Charlotte de Crespigny née Dana (1820-1904) and her great great grand aunt Charlotte Wilkins née Young (1861-1925). Charlotte Wilkins brought up Jack and Cecil Young, my Charlotte’s great grandfather, after their mother had died at the time of Cecil’s birth.

 

The dates of birth of the Charlottes in my tree are as follows

  • 1700-1749 : 2
  • 1750-1799 : 9
  • 1800-1849 : 18
  • 1850-1899 : 8
  • 1900-1949 : 4
  • 1950-1999 : 1

Of the 5,579 people whose birth year is recorded in my family tree, 13% were born before 1800, 56% were born in the nineteenth century, and 53% were born in the twentieth century. The name Charlotte is disproportionately popular in my family in the nineteenth century.

The name Charlotte dates at least  from the fourteenth century and is the feminine form of Charles. Two notable Charlottes were:

The United Kingdom Office for National Statistics has an interactive graphic of trends in popular baby names since 1904 at https://visual.ons.gov.uk/baby-names-since-1904-how-has-yours-performed/

Charlotte was one of the top 100 names in the early part of the twentieth century but from 1915 was not on the list until 1975.

CharlotteONS graph 1904 2015

Charlotte : the popularity of the name Charlotte as ranked in the top 100 names for girls in the United Kingdom graphed for every ten years between 1904 and 1994 and for each year from 1996 onwards from https://visual.ons.gov.uk/baby-names-since-1904-how-has-yours-performed/

Currently Charlotte is an extremely popular baby name in Australia being the most popular name for girls in 2016.

Heaton Champion de Crespigny in 1841

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, census, Champion de Crespigny, Oxfordshire

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In 1841 Heaton Champion de Crespigny (1796-1858) was living at Pyrton, 13 miles south-east of Oxford, with his son Augustus and a 15 year old servant Jane Lovegrove. His occupation was recorded on the census as clergyman.

 

1841 census Heaton CdeC

1841 England census retrieved through ancestry.com Class: HO107; Piece 884; Book: 3; Civil Parish: Pirton; County: Oxfordshire; Enumeration District: 1; Folio: 9; Page: 9; Line: 12; GSU roll: 474574.

Shaun Ferguson [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Church of England parish church of St Mary, Pyrton, Oxfordshire and graveyard

The census was taken on Sunday 6 June 1841. It was the first of the modern censuses in the United Kingdom and the first to record information about every member of the household. Each householder was required to complete a census schedule which contained the household address and the names, ages, sexes, occupations and places of birth of each individual living at the address. These schedules were then copied by the enumerator in the official books, which were known as the ‘Census Enumerator’s books’. As the original census schedules have been destroyed, it is the census enumerator’s books that researchers can see.

The census is a snapshot of the family in June 1841 and to understand it you need to look at the events leading up to that time.

Heaton Champion de Crespigny had married Caroline Bathurst (1797-1861) in 1820. She was the daughter of the Bishop of Norwich. Thanks to the efforts of his father-in-law Heaton was ordained shortly before his marriage despite not completing his degree at Oxford University. Heaton was appointed the Vicar of Neatishead, Norfolk and the Rector of Stoke Doyle, Northamptonshire in April 1822.

Heaton and Caroline had five sons:

  • Eyre Nicholas (1821-1895)
  • William (1822-1839)
  • Albert Henry (1824-1873)
  • Claude Augustus (1830-1884)
  • Augustus Charles (1836-1905)

In 1828 Heaton fought a pistol duel with Mr William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley, who had defamed Heaton’s father. The matter later went to court, which found against Long Wellesley. Heaton’s role in the affair was not to his credit.

Later in 1828 Heaton attempted to blackmail his cousin the Earl of Plymouth. He was imprisoned but was bailed by friends and committed to a lunatic asylum.

In 1833 Heaton was declared insolvent. Shortly afterwards he resigned as rector of Stoke Doyle.

In 1839 Heaton and Caroline’s son William died at Great Hasely, Oxfordshire (close to Pyrton), aged 16 years six months of a “diseased heart”, possibly cardiomyopathy. The informant was Eleanor Smith who was present at the death.

In 1841 Claude, aged 11, was at school in London at Christ’s Hospital, the Bluecoat School. Heaton, as mentioned above was living in Pyrton, Oxfordshire with a young son. Caroline and the other children are not recorded on the census. I assume they were then living in Germany. It has been suggested that Caroline met the author Thomas Medwin at Heidelberg in 1841. In 1842 at the age of 21 Eyre graduated from Heidelberg University with a medical degree.

Heaton travelled to Australia in the early 1850s and tried gold mining. He was also briefly appointed as a magistrate on the goldfields. Augustus accompanied his father to Australia. Heaton died at Ballarat on 15 November 1858 of apoplexy. He is buried in an unmarked grave. On Heaton’s death certificate in 1858, Augustus is the informant.

Augustus returned to England where he is on the 1881 census. He later migrated to Texas, United States of America where he appears on the 1900 census. Augustus died in Texas in 1905.

Jane Lovegrove, the fifteen year old servant who was living with Heaton and Augustus in 1841, became pregnant and had an illegitimate child, William Augustus DeCrespigny Lovegrove, who was born in late 1842. William Lovegrove named his father as Heaton on both his marriage certificates.

Heaton is my second cousin five times removed.

References

 

Related posts concerning Heaton and his sons