tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075137076774784482023-11-16T04:54:54.374+11:00Finding my AncestorsI hope you enjoy my genealogy blog. My main family history webpages contain details of my ancestors and their descendants and can be accessed from the link below.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-1896976267007868622018-01-14T18:56:00.000+11:002019-07-26T09:45:34.801+10:00Joseph Ashmore – A Tragic Ending at SeaMy ancestor <a href="https://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p23.htm#i111">Joseph Ashmore</a> was born in Dover, Kent in 1761. He was a mariner and spent many years at sea. In 1805 he was 54, and had joined the Sea Fencibles. Originally formed in 1798, they were disbanded in 1802 then reformed in 1803 during the Napoleonic Wars the Sea Fencibles were recruited from volunteers in coastal areas. They were paid 1s per day when required for service, but the main incentive was immunity from service in both the militia and from the press gang. Unsurprisingly, there was no problem getting volunteers. Although they do not appear to have played a major role during the wars, they did take part in some minor skirmishes with the French, although their lack of larger ships limited their potential. Whenever there was an invasion scare, two lines of blockade were formed – one off the French coast, provided by the navy, and one off the British coast, mostly provided by the sea fencibles, using smaller gunboats. Sea Fencible volunteers were trained in the use of arms and were also required to man watch and signal towers as well as cannons along the coasts and ports. A member of the Sea Fencibles would spend one day a week training.<br />
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The Sea Fencibles fleet consisted of small vessels such as colliers and coasting vessels such as hoys adapted to serve as gunboats. A hoy was a small sloop-rigged coasting ship or a heavy barge used for freight, usually with a burthen of about 60 tons. English hoys plied a trade between London and the north Kent coast that enabled middle class Londoners to escape the city for the more rural air of Margate, for example. Others sailed between London and Southampton. These were known as Margate or Southampton hoys and one could hail them from the shore to pick up goods and passengers. Concern about a possible French invasion led the Royal Navy on 28 September 1804 to arm 16 hoys at Margate for the defense of the coast. The Navy manned each hoy with a captain and nine men from the Sea Fencibles.<br />
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In early 1806, Joseph Ashmore was working on a hoy named the Friends Good Will. He was possibly carrying out duties as a sea fencible when, on the evening of Sunday April 6, the Friends Good Will was anchored in The Downs, a stretch of sea off the coast of Deal in Kent. Joseph and another sailor were endeavouring to get up what is called a fender, a kind of safeguard usually placed at the side of a vessel to prevent damage from another lying alongside, when Joseph unfortunately fell overboard, and was drowned. According to a newspaper report: “Immediately the deceased fell into the water, a rope was handed him from the deck, which he did not perceive, being probably senseless, from a violent contusion on the forehead, which he received from the side of the vessel in his fall. A few minutes only elapsed, before one of the crew caught hold of him just as he was sinking, got him into a boat alive, and had recourse to the usual method of placing him upon a cask for the purpose of recovering him, but all endeavours proved unavailing, as he very soon expired.” Joseph was buried in Dover a few days later leaving his wife a widow and their four children without a father.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-87410308958817504982015-03-17T22:20:00.000+11:002015-03-22T16:58:39.937+11:00Changing Names - my DNA adventure<div class="MsoNormal">
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I had always thought that as my surname is <b>Evans</b> I must have Welsh ancestry. Besides,
Welsh men are renowned for their singing, and I LOVE singing! Oh dear, it’s
time to think again!<o:p></o:p></div>
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About three years ago I decided that it was about time to
have my DNA tested. I had heard about how some people had matched their DNA
with others of the same surname and had established common descent from
ancestors in specific areas. I hoped that I could do the same.</div>
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My problem was that I had traced my<b> Evans</b> line back to my great great grandfather, John <b>Evans</b>, who lived and married in
Manchester in the 1850’s. According to the information I had he was the son of another
John <b>Evans</b> and was born in about 1835
in Ireland. I speculated that being Protestant, he was possibly born in
Northern Ireland. Unfortunately my
research has revealed that there are untold numbers of men born in Ireland named
John <b>Evans</b> who could be my ancestor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I had thought that by testing my DNA I could hopefully
establish the area where my John came from by matching my DNA with other <b>Evans</b> descendants whose ancestors came
from the same area. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In December 2011 I submitted a sample to FamilyTreeDNA® for Y-DNA
testing requesting a 37 marker test. I waited patiently for matches, and
although there were several 12 marker and one 25 marker match, there were no 37
marker matches. After about two years, an email arrived from a man whose
surname is <b>Jourdan</b>. He had a 37
marker match with me. We speculated that one of us probably had an illegitimate
ancestor and that we both could have been descended from either <b>Evans</b> or <b>Jourdon/Jordan</b>; but then he told me he had a 37 marker match with an
American man whose surname is <b>Evins</b>.
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This really got me thinking, so I contacted Mr <b>Evins</b> to see how we might be related.
He had traced his great great grandfather, also John <b>Evins/Evans</b>, back to 1803, but found records showing that he had
changed his name from <b>Nevins</b> to <b>Evins</b>.
His ancestors had originated in Scotland then moved to Northern Ireland in the
early 1600’s. He had also seen evidence of other <b>Nevins</b>’s who had changed their name to <b>Evans</b> or <b>Evins</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s easy to imagine how the surname could have changed if
an illiterate John <b>Nevins</b> spoke his
name to someone who wrote it down as John <b>Evans</b>
and I am convinced that this is very likely to have happened in the case of one
of my <b>Evans</b> ancestors. Further
research will hopefully provide some confirmation.</div>
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Oh well, so much for singing 'Men of Harlech'. Now I’ll have
to learn 'Scotland the Brave'!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-36769553726206095072013-04-28T16:33:00.000+10:002013-04-28T22:58:14.456+10:00Following my ancestor's footsteps to BallaratThis week I'll be travelling to Ballarat for the Eighth Victorian Family History State Conference: Under the Southern Cross – A goldfields experience. My ancestor, Henry Ashmore, was one of the first to travel to the Victorian goldfields after payable gold deposits were discovered there in 1851.<br />
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Henry wrote a wonderfully descriptive letter to his brother in England in September 1852 which I would like to share with you. He wrote:<br />
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"On the 20th of October, 1851, I proceeded with a party of five to Ballarat diggings, it is situated six miles from Boningyong, that being the name of a very high mountain. From hence through the ranges to the diggings it is covered with white quartz which at places looks as if it is snow. To show you the fearful state of the roads, we sent our things up by a bullock-dray, and it took a fortnight (with ten bullocks) to reach a distance of fifty six miles. We walked with our damper and mutton, which occupied us eight days; some part of the way having to wade knee deep through the mud: there were drays out of number bogged on the road. At night we made our mi mis (hut) of green boughs and branches, and when it rained we were generally wet through. When it rains here it is not like your April showers, but it comes down in torrents. On reaching Ballarat we set to work, and in three weeks we averaged £60 each man, or nearly 2lbs. in weight. My party then wished to return home. <br />
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We set out shortly afterwards with a horse and dray for Mount Alexander. On our arrival we commenced work, but were not so fortunate as many, owing to our having a lazy, obstinate Scotchman with us, which was a great drawback. We stayed at the Mount three months, each dividing £150 per man. I then purchased the horse and dray for £52 (the same is now worth £120) and proceeded with my son and son-in-law to Bendigo, twenty-eight miles farther north, there being then not more than 100 people at the place. We commenced surfacing and earthing it down to the creek full two miles to wash, and we averaged about six ounces per day. We could not stop long here, as the drinking water was so bad that it gave us all the dysentry, and the heat was very oppressive. We left a great deal of sickness at the place. On our return to Corio, we found hundreds wending their way to Bendigo. After a few weeks I proceeded to Wardi Yallack, prospecting about fifty miles more southerly, as water was one grand point as well as gold. The precious metal is found there, but not in large quantities. The rocks and mountains in this district are the most splendid I have ever seen. We afterwards returned with a party to Bendigo-creek, remaining there about three months, and dividing £200 each man, The gold is mostly obtained in holes of from 10 to 30 feet deep. It took us on this last occasion 16 days to reach Bendigo from Corio. Provisions were very high when I was last at Bendigo, and there could not be less than 50,000 persons in that district—they are scattered for miles. Flour was selling £18 per bag; oats, £2 15s. per bushel; sugar 1s. 6d. per lb.; tobacco, 12s. per lb., and everything equally dear. <br />
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If the weather permits, we are off again in a week; at present it is not promising. Ice fell the other day, Sept. 2nd, nearly as big as walnuts, and the rivers are much swollen. We shall start for the Eureka (Ballarat), for diggers generally are doing well. The highest price I have obtained for my gold was £3. 7s. 3d. per ounce, the highest that has been given in this colony; when I first went to the diggins, only £2 18s. was given for it. I have sent you and my other brothers some Melbourne newspapers ; they will give you some idea of the quantity of gold that has been got. A ship left Melbourne on Tuesday with 120,000 ounces, for London; and a ship has just arrived with 837 emigrants. I should not be surprised to hear of thousands leaving Britain for our shores. <br />
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To give you some idea of the working the ground—when we get to the bottom of a hole, we fall in with different coloured clay, which we put into a tub to puddle and reduce so thin that we can wash it off in a dish: dipping the dish continually in the water, the gravel and sand wash out from being the lightest, and the gold falls to the bottom of the dish; but it frequently happens that we wash nearly all the surface down, which is done by putting the earth into a sieve and working it in a cradle—one bales water all the time, and the gold falls down on the slide or back part of the cradle. I see by the papers the gold found here has astonished our good folks at home. I must say some of the yields are wonderful: last week a nugget of solid gold, weighing 102 ounces, was found at Ballarat. The largest piece I have found was 7 oz. 15 dwts., when we first went to Ballarat."<br />
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Henry was described in a newspaper article several years later as a 'denizen of the diggins'. In the early 1860's he travelled to New Zealand in search of gold but soon returned to Australia. He lived for many years in the goldfields town of Creswick in Victoria where he died in 1884.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-34964027017647963972013-02-21T15:49:00.001+11:002013-04-14T16:59:40.049+10:00New online prison records a "must" for convict researchI recently gave a talk on finding convicts online. I spoke about the useful details that can often be found in prison and hulk registers and gave an example of the wonderful information that I had found years ago about my ancestor, Charles Christmas, in the register of the <i>Cumberland</i> hulk.<br />
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The register of convicts in the hulk <i>Cumberland</i>, moored at Chatham, with gaoler's reports, 1830-1833 is at The National Archives UK, reference ADM6/418. The register had been filmed as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, but it took a long time to search and eventually find my ancestor. I was very lucky as this register gives details of place of birth and the address of parents which I had not been able to find in any other record.<br />
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Fortunately, this and many other prison and hulk records are now indexed and available online at <a href="http://findmypast.co.uk/">findmypast.co.uk</a> with more to come over the coming months.<br />
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Here is a taste of what can be found, using Charles Christmas' entry in the <i>Cumberland</i> register of 1831 as an example:<br />
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Number: 1314<br />
Name: Charles Christmas<br />
Age: 22<br />
Offence: Uttering a forged order for goods<br />
Convicted<br />
When: 12 May 1831<br />
Where: Old Bailey<br />
Sentence: 14<br />
Character from Gaoler: Here before<br />
How Disposed of: VDL Lord Lyndoch 14 July 1831<br />
Where Born <br />
Town: Eagle Street, Holborn<br />
County: Middlesex<br />
Hair: Dark Brown<br />
Eyes: Light Grey<br />
Eyebrows & Lashes: Dark Brown<br />
Nose: Com.<br />
Mouth: Com.<br />
Compl: Dark<br />
Visage: Long<br />
Make: Mid<br />
Marrd. or Single Single<br />
Height<br />
Ft: 5<br />
Inches: 3<br />
Read or Write: Both<br />
Trade: Labourer<br />
Remarks: Lower part of the face very narrow. Pitted with the small pox scar on the left side of the forehead. Right arm C.O.M. B.K.S. Left arm CCMB. Rope and anchor.<br />
Address: Parents lives (<i>sic</i>) at No. 16 Berwick Street, Soho, London.<br />
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Good Hunting!Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-63333186236262020522013-01-30T21:39:00.000+11:002013-04-14T16:59:00.320+10:00John Wesley knew my Cornish ancestorsAfter researching my family history for about thirty years I have not found any ancestors who could be described as famous - although some are rather infamous! It was therefore pleasing to find that two of my Cornish ancestors knew a famous person, John Wesley, who, with his brother Charles and others, founded the Methodist movement.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EhIufIl61RY/UQpNYs_vxMI/AAAAAAAAF7g/Rfpv7HZTIdE/s1600/John+Wesley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EhIufIl61RY/UQpNYs_vxMI/AAAAAAAAF7g/Rfpv7HZTIdE/s400/John+Wesley.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Wesley</td></tr>
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My ancestors, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p2207.htm#i11035">John</a> and <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p2208.htm#i11036">Alice Daniel</a>, lived at the village of Rosemergy in the parish of Morvah in Cornwall. They leased a small farm and John also did some tin mining.<br />
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On Tuesday 9 September 1766 John Wesley recorded in his journal:<br />
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<i>In riding to St Ives I called on one with whom I used to lodge two or three and twenty years ago, Alice Daniel, at Rosemergy. Her sons are all gone from her, and she has but one daughter left, who is always ill. Her husband is dead; and she can no longer read her Bible, for she is stone-blind. Yet she murmurs at nothing, but cheerfully waits until her appointed time has come. How many of these jewels may lie hid, up and down, forgotten of men, but precious in the sight of God!</i><br />
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In a footnote in the published journal the transcriber adds: "<i>The room which Wesley occupied in her house was called 'Mr Wesley's room'. For a considerable period it was preserved intact, with the furniture as he left it.</i>"<br />
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Two years later, on Friday 2 September 1768, Wesley wrote:<br />
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<i>I preached at noon to an earnest company at Zennor, and in the evening to a far larger at St Just. Here being informed that one of our sisters in the next parish, Morvah, who entertained the preachers formerly, was now decrepit, and had not heard a sermon in many years, I went on Saturday the 3rd, at noon, to Alice Daniel's and preached near the house on 'They who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, are equal unto angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.' I have always thought that there is something venerable in persons worn out with age; especially when they retain their understanding and walk in the ways of God.</i><br />
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Alice Daniel died six months later, in March 1769. I'm sure John Wesley's words must have been a comfort to her as her life came to an end. Her husband, John, had died twenty years earlier.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-10375421283525581482012-07-17T22:17:00.000+10:002019-07-26T09:47:17.621+10:00My great grandfather's tragic death in ManchesterMy great grandfather, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p2.htm#i9">Ernest Evans</a>, died on this day ninety three years ago at the age of 54. He lived in Manchester where he was a stocktaker at a cotton warehouse owned by Horrocks Crewdson.<br />
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I had known that Ernest died in 1919 but had never bothered to get his death certificate. As most of his sons and grandsons had died from or suffered heart attacks I thought that this was most likely the cause of his death. However, having learnt from past experiences that assumptions should never be made when researching family history, I finally decided that I might as well obtain his death certificate.<br />
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When the death certificate arrived I opened the envelope thinking that it probably wouldn't be of much interest. I skimmed across the first few columns and then came to the "Cause of death". I was stunned. "Suicide by hanging in the dwelling house". There was also information that a certificate had been received from the Manchester coroner following an inquest on 18th July 1919.<br />
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I started searching for details of the inquest hoping that it might shed some light on why Ernest was driven to hang himself, but unfortunately the inquest records for Manchester at that time haven't survived. I also searched newspapers available online, including those in the British Newspaper Archive, but was unable to find any reports of his inquest.<br />
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Why did he commit suicide? Maybe the end of the First World War the year before he died had something to do with it. Many men were returning home looking for jobs, so older workers might have lost their jobs. The British cotton industry was in decline which would have made matters worse in places like Manchester.<br />
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I would be grateful for any help in finding out why my great grandfather died so tragically.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-71060973814560142482012-06-07T16:54:00.000+10:002013-04-14T17:01:27.847+10:00A First World War soldier who suffered years laterI recently wrote about my grandfather's time <a href="http://allevan.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/at-broadmeadows-army-training-camp-in.html">at the Broadmeadows Army Training Camp</a> in the First World War. One of his mates at the camp was Bill Liston. My grandfather was medically discharged and always regretted that he had been unable to serve his country abroad, however, after researching Bill Liston, I'm sure that my grandfather was lucky to have stayed at home.<br />
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After enlisting in June 1915 at the age of 24, William Ferrier Liston embarked for active service on 26 August 1915. He landed at Gallipoli on 25 October 1915. From there he was sent to Egypt where he served from January 1916 and was later sent to France. In October of that year he was admitted to hospital for deafness, but was sent back to his unit eight days later. On 25 February 1917 he was severely wounded with gunshot wounds to the face, neck and elbow. He was evacuated from France and admitted to hospital in England. He survived his physical wounds but was sent home to Australia arriving in February 1918, still suffering from nerve deafness. Bill settled in Murtoa, a town in north-west Victoria, where he became a produce merchant. <br />
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Whilst browsing the National Library of Australia's Trove website, I came across a story that brought home to me the terrible affects that war can bring many years afterwards. Twenty years after returning from the war, Bill Liston, a man who had served his country heroically like so many others, was on trial. He pleaded guilty to stealing, as an agent, 6100 bags of wheat worth £3000. It all started when, as Secretary of the Murtoa Wheat Growers' Association, he found a few bags of wheat missing and took it on himself to pay for the missing wheat; but to do this he began to speculate in wheat and potatoes and to bet on racehorses, paying for his speculation with the proceeds of wheat owned by other people. <br />
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In his defence, Bill Liston's lawyer said that " rigidly moral men had been so shattered nervously by war that they were unable to show that small amount of courage in an emergency which would have prevented them from lapsing into crime." The lawyer said that he "was in a bad nervous state. He had been seriously injured in the war and doctors were still picking pieces of shrapnel out of him. He had been unable to sleep for two years." The judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison.<br />
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Bill Liston died in 1982 aged 91.<br />
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Further information about Bill Liston, including an excellent article by Rod Martin, can be found on <a href="http://empirecall.pbworks.com/w/page/37704073/Liston%20W%20F%20%20%20%20Pte%20%20%201923">Lenore Frost's website</a>.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-27972348757830498852012-06-04T16:30:00.001+10:002019-07-26T09:50:10.011+10:00My biggest brick wall smashed: John SCOTT was really John CONACHERA surprise phone call from a relative a few weeks ago has helped me smash my biggest genealogical brick wall. She had found some old letters dating back to the 1850's from SCOTT relatives in Scotland. <br />
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For over 25 years I had been searching for my 2nd great grandfather, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p5.htm#i25">John SCOTT</a>, a baker at Creswick in Victoria, Australia during the 1850s who married <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p6.htm#i26">Susan ASHMORE</a> at Creswick in 1857. When he married, John gave the names of his parents as Alexander SCOTT and Margaret LAMB, his place of birth as Dunkeld, Scotland and his age as 30. John's brother, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p53.htm#i263">Alexander</a> also came to Victoria and married.<br />
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I had never been able to find John and Alexander's birth or baptism or the marriage or even existence of their parents. The records just weren't there. The newly found letters, however, provided details of brothers and sisters and importantly where they were living in Scotland from the 1850s to 1870s. A letter written in 1855 told of the death of a sister, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p2271.htm#i11353">Susan</a>.<br />
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I set to work checking ScotlandsPeople and other sites for the SCOTT family, but still no luck! Surely Susan's death would have been registered in 1855 and the family should have appeared in the various census records. I had another look at the letters and noticed that father Alexander's surname wasn't there. He signed his name Alexander at the bottom of one letter but the part where his surname would have been written was missing due to a tear - perhaps this was deliberately torn. Maybe the brothers had changed their name.<br />
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More searching for the first names of the family in the census indexes finally brought results. The family's surname was actually CONACHER. There was a family story that John and Alexander had left Scotland to get away from their father who was a strict Calvanist. Their mother was <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p10.htm#i49">Margaret SCOTT</a> who married <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p10.htm#i48">Alexander CONACHER</a> at Dunkeld in 1824, so the sons had adopted their mother's surname when they came to Australia. John had given his mother's surname as LAMB when he married, but LAMB was in fact the surname of his grandmother, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p2270.htm#i11346">Susan LAMB</a>, the mother of Margaret SCOTT.<br />
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Now onto the next brick wall!<br />
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<br />Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-2293645279615100132012-04-25T16:29:00.000+10:002019-07-26T09:52:03.643+10:00At the Broadmeadows Army Training Camp in the First World WarMy grandfather was a coachbuilder. He was keen to serve his country during the First World War so volunteered for service on 12 June 1915 at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne. He was assigned as a Private in the 8th Reinforcements, 22nd Infantry Battalion which he joined on 22 June. He was sent to the Broadmeadows army training camp, Melbourne, where this photo was taken.<br />
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My grandfather is second from left in the back row. I would love to know who the others were and I think I have found a clue to their identity in my grandfather's notebook which contains the following list of names: Gus Sterling, Bill Serties, Bill Liston, Frank Tribe, Malcolm, Norm, Harry.<br />
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I have confirmed that William Ferrier Liston joined the same battalion at about the same time as my grandfather, so suspect that he is the Bill Liston in the notebook. I have written about Bill Liston in<a href="http://allevan.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/first-world-war-soldier-who-suffered.html"> A First World War soldier who suffered years later.</a> I think that the list of names in the notebook is probably the list of the others in the photo.<br />
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Within a few weeks of enlisting an old knee injury was aggravated when my grandfather slipped in the mud and twisted his leg, and two days later caught his foot in some wire. He was sent to a Clearing hospital and then to the Base hospital on 31 July. He was found to have a displaced cartilage in his left knee. He was discharged from hospital on 4 August but was told that he would need to rest before having an operation on the knee in September.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, on 26 August, his Battalion embarked for overseas service. On 20 September he was re-admitted to hospital for a knee operation and was discharged two weeks later and sent on leave. He was bitterly disappointed that he had not been able to disembark with his battalion. The disappointment was heightened when he returned for a medical examination on 3 December. There was still some stiffness in his knee joint. He could walk fairly well, but the Medical Board considered that he could not march and he was discharged as permanently unfit for service.<br />
<br />
He tried again to enlist in October 1916 , but once again was found to be unfit. He always carried his Medical Certificate of Unfitness together with the photo at the Broadmeadows training camp with him in his wallet until he died in 1962.<br />
<br />
Further information about Bill Liston, including an excellent article by Rod Martin, can be found on <a href="http://empirecall.pbworks.com/w/page/37704073/Liston%20W%20F%20%20%20%20Pte%20%20%201923">Lenore Frost's website</a>. Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-38266873725903585032012-04-14T15:54:00.000+10:002019-07-26T09:55:55.717+10:00Irish convicts nearly burned alive on Norfolk IslandI came across this interesting story whilst researching the voyage of the East India Company fleet from England to China in 1804. <br />
<br />
<i>HMS Athenienne</i>, a 64 gun warship under the command of Captain Francis Fayerman, left England with nine ships of the East India Company bound for China in June 1804. A homeward bound fleet from China had been attacked by the French Admiral Linois as the fleet entered the Straits of Malacca earlier in the year. It was therefore decided that instead of sailing via the shortest route across the Indian Ocean this fleet would sail via the southern coast of Australia then via the Pacific Ocean to China to avoid confrontation with the French.<br />
<br />
In a heavy fog whilst crossing the Southern Atlantic Ocean three of the ships separated from the remainder of the fleet. Two of missing ships rejoined the fleet a month later, but one ship, the <i>Taunton Castle</i>, remained missing. Captain Fayerman decided to make an unscheduled visit to Norfolk Island to ask whether the <i>Taunton Castle</i> had been sighted. <br />
<br />
In 1804 Norfolk Island was a penal colony. Many of the convicts on the island were Irish who, it was thought, could be sympathetic to the French if the island was attacked by a French force.<br />
<br />
The <i>Athenienne</i> and the accompanying ships arrived off Norfolk Island at 3.30 pm on 9th November. On seeing the fleet of ships approaching the island, the commandant, Captain Piper, reported that he was ‘very much alarmed’. Fearing that they were French ships, he had the Irish convicts locked in the gaol and mustered his forces ready for an invasion. According to one of the convicts, wood was stacked around the gaol (apparently without the knowledge of the commandant) with the intention of setting it alight and burning all of the Irish convicts alive if the ships turned out to be French. <br />
<br />
Captain Fayerman sent a boat with Lieutenant Little on shore to inform the commandant who they were and to enquire about the <i>Taunton Castle</i>. The relieved commandant said that the missing ship had not been seen. <br />
<br />
The <i>Taunton Castle</i> called in at the island three days later after the remainder of the convoy had departed. She arrived at Harlem Bay, China on 5th January 1805 after having been separated from the rest of the convoy for nearly four months.<br />
<br />
My ancestor, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p17.htm#i81">Joseph Ashmore</a>, was a midshipman on <i>HMS Athenienne</i>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-31925996109740421232012-04-12T17:12:00.001+10:002013-04-14T17:05:48.189+10:00Agricultural labourers found in old newspapers<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrdhTVq4GXs/T4Z-heq4elI/AAAAAAAAF28/AlEt30CsGNk/s1600/aglab.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrdhTVq4GXs/T4Z-heq4elI/AAAAAAAAF28/AlEt30CsGNk/s320/aglab.png" width="156" /></a>There were nearly 1.5 million agricultural labourers, farm servants and shepherds listed in the 1851 English census - the most common occupation group. Agricultural labourers were often described as "Ag Labs" in the census. I had always pictured my agricultural labourers from Somerset as wearing smocks and floppy hats, drinking cider and working for the local Squire.<br />
<br />
I was searching in the online British Newspaper Archive and decided to try looking for my Napper family from the South Petherton area of Somerset. I had previously searched without success in other British online newspaper sites. Much to my surprise I found some of my Napper relations in the <i>Western Flying Post, Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury</i>.<br />
<br />
In the edition of October 20 1849, for example, there is a report of the annual meeting of the Chard, Crewekerne and Ilminster Labourers Friend Society at which awards were presented to "deserving labourers". According to the report:<br />
<br />
"<i>One of the prizemen was deserving of particular notice, his name was Charles Napper of Lopen, he had brought up twelve children without parochial relief, for which on a former occasion he received a prize from the Society: he now received a prize for long service. His wages averaged about eight or nine shillings a week</i>."<br />
<br />
In another article in the November 10 1849 edition of the same newspaper there is a report of the annual meeting of the South Petherton Agricultural Society. In this report over twenty labourers who won prizes are listed together with the names of their employees.<br />
<br />
My ancestor <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p148.htm#i736">James Napper</a>, who was described as an agricultural labourer in the 1851 census, was found in an advertisement for a land auction at South Petherton in the September 3 1850 edition of the <i>Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury</i>. Details were given of four pieces of land that he was leasing at Watergore.<br />
<br />
I've found the British Newspaper Archive to be a great resource and I'm sure that there are many more "Ag Labs" waiting to be found.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-12234218308924975222012-04-02T21:31:00.001+10:002013-06-06T17:10:37.432+10:00Back from the Adelaide Genealogy CongressI've just returned home from the 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry held in Adelaide. I thought that it was a great success.<br />
<br />
This was my sixth Australasian Congress, the first being the Sydney Congress in in 1988. Back then personal computers were just starting to become popular and the internet had not become accessible to the public. Now virtually all presenters use computers of some description, frequently connected to the internet. Many of those attending talks use notebooks, tablets and smart phones to take notes, check websites and tweet the latest words of wisdom and their thoughts about the talks on Twitter. I even tweeted a few times myself.<br />
<br />
As usual, the Congress provided the chance to make new connections with other family historians, enjoy some time with old friends and visit the exhibitors stands.<br />
<br />
Congratulations to the organizers of a great Congress, and I'm looking forward to the next one in Canberra in 2015.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ibCZugEUBbs/T3qfDZqOIiI/AAAAAAAAF20/_b6xqPbF23s/s1600/20120331_162215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ibCZugEUBbs/T3qfDZqOIiI/AAAAAAAAF20/_b6xqPbF23s/s1600/20120331_162215.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Adelaide Congress organizers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-54256086932994331962012-03-18T14:41:00.001+11:002013-04-14T17:06:42.534+10:00150th Anniversary of the Departure of the BoanergesOne hundred and fifty years ago today two young married couples and about 450 other emigrants left Southampton for Australia on the <i>Boanerges</i>. The ship<i> </i>sailed on the evening of Tuesday March 18th 1862. The temperature was about 40°F, and an east to northeasterly wind was blowing. By the next morning a mist had set in, however, there was no rain. The emigrants started their voyage on a relatively calm sea. <br />
<br />
The two couples were sisters<a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p58.htm#i286"> Eliza NAPPER</a> and <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p6.htm#i28">Fanny NAPPER</a> and their new husbands, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p59.htm#i294">Robert DENMAN</a> and <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p6.htm#i27">Simeon IRELAND</a>. Both couples had married a week earlier at South Petherton, Somerset. Eliza and Fanny had visited a studio with their mother to have their photograph taken shortly before departure. They never saw their mother or father again. Simeon and Fanny IRELAND were my great great grandparents.<br />
<br />
I have written an <a href="http://www.allevan.com/voyages/boanerges-1862.html" target="">article about this voyage</a> which I am happy to send to anyone who is interested.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-26223491454438514662012-02-15T15:51:00.000+11:002013-06-06T17:12:05.907+10:00Apprenticeship Records Help to Find a BirthplaceRichard Purnell was a cordwainer in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He married Ann Powell in Monmouthshire in 1744, but his birthplace was a mystery. There were very few Purnells living in or near Abergavenny and none appeared to be related to Richard. There were a couple of potential candidates for his baptism but I had not been able to confirm which was the Richard of Abergavenny - until I checked the<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851"> UK Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811</a> on Ancestry.co.uk. Images of the original Apprentice Books from The National Archives, UK series IR1 are now available online.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I found that Richard son of Elianor Purnell had been apprenticed to John Everett of Dursley, Gloucestershire, cordwainer, on 28 April 1730. This tied in nicely with the baptism of Richard Purnell, son of Thomas and Elinor, in the neighbouring parish of North Nibley on 20 January 1716/17. Together with other information gathered since, I have now confirmed that this is the Richard who later moved to Abergavenny. </span>Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-75345902453557385012012-02-09T16:02:00.001+11:002013-06-06T17:16:18.000+10:00English and Welsh Poor Law Union and Workhouse Records OnlineThe National Archives UK website has recently added a <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3y98mm">searchable index</a> of records of 23 Poor Law Unions in England and Wales. Images of the original records can be downloaded free. The records start in 1834 and extend to 1871 in some cases.<br />
<br />
The records don't just include the names of the poor, for example, the Truro Poor Law Union has a "Statement of Medical Officers' and Schoolmaster's and Schoolmistresses's Salaries" for the Quarter ended Christmas 1848.<br />
<br />
I've already found a petition from several residents of St Agnes in Cornwall (including one of my Boundy family members) requesting that the parish should not be moved to the Camborne Union.<br />
<br />
I'm sure there is lots more to be found.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-83948507886409310222011-12-28T14:58:00.001+11:002013-06-06T17:17:26.240+10:00Travelling on the Sophocles to Australia in 1923My grandparents emigrated to Australia from England in 1923 with
their two young sons. They had great hopes of creating a new life for
themselves on a farm in Victoria. They sailed from England on 12
September 1923 on the <i>Sophocles</i>.<br />
<br />
Here are some of the passengers on board the ship. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S-_YDzzempI/AAAAAAAAFSc/pRqgx1G0UEc/s1600/Sophocles+passengers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S-_YDzzempI/AAAAAAAAFSc/pRqgx1G0UEc/s320/Sophocles+passengers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passengers on the <i>Sophocles</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S-_YtW45l1I/AAAAAAAAFSg/MSAK8zJJijE/s1600/Sophocles.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S-_YtW45l1I/AAAAAAAAFSg/MSAK8zJJijE/s320/Sophocles.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Sophocles</i> at sea</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-43038883135131735792011-12-06T16:55:00.001+11:002013-06-06T17:13:35.800+10:00Irish Prison Registers help find my ancestor's birthplaceI've previously written about my Irish convict ancestor <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p6.htm#i30">Eliza Nolan</a> in <a href="http://allevan.blogspot.com/2011/10/transported-to-van-diemens-land-at.html">Transported to Van Diemen's Land at fourteen years of age</a>. I knew from her convict records that she had been imprisoned for another offence of stealing a bib prior to her transportation sentence, so I checked the Irish Prison Registers collection on <a href="http://findmypast.ie/">findmypast.ie</a> to see if I could find her.<br />
<br />
The online records include the Grangegorman female prison in Dublin covering the years 1831 to 1897. I was able to find the entry for Eliza's committal to the prison in 1841 for three months, her offence being "Felony Child's Bib". The records include details of the place of birth and for Eliza this is recorded as Arless, Queens County. Her convict records had given her place of birth as Queens County, but later she said that she had been born in 'Dublin' when she married her second husband in Australia. This is the first time I have found the name of a specific place within the County. As she was baptised in Dublin I suspect that her family moved there shortly after she was born.<br />
<br />
According to <a href="http://findmypast.ie/">findmypast.ie</a>, the Irish Prison Registers collection covers the period 1790 to 1924 and comprises most surviving records for prisons in the Republic of Ireland. I think this is well worth checking and could be of particular value if trying to find the birthplace of people who came to Dublin from other areas.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-80218182674678831082011-12-04T21:29:00.001+11:002013-06-06T17:14:47.469+10:00Napper family wedding at Sale, VictoriaSeven of the children of James and Elizabeth Napper of Seavington and
South Petherton in Somerset, England emigrated to Australia as adults
to start a new life. They were Charles, Enos, Edmund, George, William,
Fanny (my great great grandmother) and Eliza. James Napper's brother,
John, also emigrated to Australia with his family eventually settling in
Sale, Victoria.<br />
<br />
The Nappers liked to keep in touch,
and when the marriage of one of the Sale Napper family took place in the
early 1890s, two of Eliza's children, Lizzy and Gilbert Denman
attended. I have a photo of people at this wedding. It includes Lizzy
and Gilbert, but I don't know the identity of anyone else - they would
include relatives of the bride and groom but could also include friends.
Please have a look at this <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/img00002.htm">photo</a> and let me know if you can identify anyone.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-20788800585794713872011-11-28T21:38:00.001+11:002011-11-29T17:20:14.773+11:00A Nineteenth Century Hoon: Charles ElbeshausenThe colourful Elbeshausen brothers were my grandmother's cousins. I've previously written about William whose body was <a href="http://allevan.blogspot.com/2011/11/washed-up-near-luna-park.html">washed up near Luna Park</a> in Melbourne.<br />
<br />
William's brother Charles was born in 1872. When he was 19 he was brought before the Monday sessions of the Essendon Police Court charged with furious driving. According to a newspaper report, a well dressed <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p106.htm#i528">Charles Elbeshausen</a> drove a horse and buggy through the Flemington Racecourse gates at a very violent pace without paying the usual charge of half a crown for admission. Later, Charles and another man, Frederick Pearce, drove their vehicles through the gates of the Governor's drive almost running over the man in charge of the gates.<br />
<br />
As the two young men had been in the lock-up since Saturday afternoon they were let off with a fine of 20 shillings.<br />
<br />
Charles' behaviour might have had something to do with his apparent estrangement from the rest of his family. He left for Western Australia. When William died in 1923, the family death notice listed all of William's siblings, except for Charles. Charles and his wife inserted their own death notice ending with : "Some day we'll understand".Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-64625851611442898902011-11-11T17:45:00.001+11:002011-11-15T11:33:10.757+11:00Red Cross records tell the story of two cousins who died on the battlefields of FranceIt's Remembrance Day, so I 'm penning this story about two of my NAPPER relations.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p169.htm#i843">Frederick Roy NAPPER</a> (known as Roy) was born in Sydney in 1897. In 1915 he enlisted in the13th Battalion Australian Infantry and was sent to the Middle East and France. Meanwhile, his second cousin, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p184.htm#i920">Alfred NAPPER</a> (Alf), who was born in Sale, Victoria in 1887 enlisted in the 2nd Battalion Australian Machine Gun Corps. Roy had probably lived all his life in Sydney and Alf in Sale. They had possibly not met until in 1916 they found themselves at the British Expeditionary Force's depot and transit camp at Etaples in France. The two cousins spent the evening together before moving on.<br />
<br />
On the night of August 29, Roy and his comrades left their trenches to charge the nearby German trenches near Mouquet Farm in the Somme. The attack was unsuccessful - the Germans shot and bombed the attackers. Roy was killed near the German trenches. <br />
<br />
Two years later, on 6 October 1918, Alf was wounded near St Quentin, eight kilometers east of the main Hindenberg Line. He died of his wounds .<br />
<br />
The two cousins are now at rest in France. Alf is buried at the Tincourt New British Cemetery and Roy at the Ovillers Military Cemetery.<br />
<br />
The Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry and Bureau Files for the First World War provided much information about the two Napper cousins and many other Australian personnel. They are available from the <a href="http://www.awm.gov.au/">Australian War Memorial</a> website.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-50951667926671671962011-11-05T14:51:00.000+11:002011-11-08T14:44:00.102+11:00New Nursing Service Records onlineThanks to The National Archives, UK (TNA) I have been able to find out much more than I previously knew about my great aunt, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p81.htm#i405">Ida JOHNS</a>. TNA has just published the service records of over 15,000 nurses covering from 1902 to 1922. They are indexed and are available for download from <a href="http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/nursing.asp">DocumentsOnline</a>.<br />
<br />
When my grandmother left England for Australia in the 1920s she left behind her brother and sisters, including Ida. She never saw them again, however, she spoke fondly of Ida and was proud that she had been a nurse during the First World War. Ida never married and I knew little else about her, but have now downloaded her 46 page nursing service file from TNA and have been delighted to find many new details of her life.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LDQPV8FBtg0/TrSx2STea0I/AAAAAAAAF18/ejc-Bkadwi4/s1600/p0055a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LDQPV8FBtg0/TrSx2STea0I/AAAAAAAAF18/ejc-Bkadwi4/s320/p0055a.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ida Mary JOHNS</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-1212932486733662162011-11-03T22:10:00.001+11:002012-04-14T11:47:51.852+10:00William and Ann Napper - South Australian Pioneers<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p56.htm#i280">William Napper</a>
and his first wife, Ann (Buckland), emigrated to South Australia in
1855 and settled at Lake Bonney. He operated the Lake Bonney Hotel
(later known as Napper's Accommodation House) for many years, and was
proprietor of the Overland Corner Corner Hotel for a few years.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">William is thought to have</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">been the first person to
irrigate from the Murray River in South Australia. In about 1889, he used a
steam engine</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">and
pump on the creek to water his vines and fruit trees which were growing on dry
sandy soil. About two acres</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">of land was irrigated. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LDBY8XxCfyA/TrJzs2pnqlI/AAAAAAAAF10/jA2Dbqzfmuw/s1600/005_51.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LDBY8XxCfyA/TrJzs2pnqlI/AAAAAAAAF10/jA2Dbqzfmuw/s1600/005_51.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Ann
Napper died in about 1860, reputedly the first white woman to die in the
district. A memorial cairn was erected in her memory. It is located
near a picturesque lagoon on the road between Cobdogla and
Kingston.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S9vGxyk7mFI/AAAAAAAAFSI/MWV1gDkmPAk/s1600/005_5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-58730005204005930152011-11-03T11:19:00.001+11:002011-11-03T17:30:27.960+11:00The Sad Story of Emma Noad<a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p38.htm#i190">Emma Amelia <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Noad</span></a> (sometimes
recorded as "Knowles") was my great great aunt. She was born in
Melbourne in 1853, and when she was about 10 her parents separated. Her
mother married William Flynn a few years later.<br />
<br />
I came
across an entry in the Children's Registers of State Wards in the Colony
of Victoria in 1867. Emma was then aged 13. She had been sentenced to
two hours in gaol and two years at a reformatory. She was admitted to
the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Abbotsford</span> Girls'
reformatory on the same day. According to the Admissions Register, she
was found in a brothel. Of course, I wondered why Emma had ended up in
these circumstances.<br />
<br />
Some answers were provided through the wonderful <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/" style="color: #3d85c6;">National Library of Australia Trove site</a>. An article in the Melbourne Argus reported that:<br />
<br />
"Margaret
Reilly, seventeen years of age, and Emma Knowles, thirteen years of
age, were accused of vagrancy. The former, a girl of prepossessing
appearance, has only been in Melbourne about six months, but during the
greater portion of that time she has been cohabiting with a <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Chinaman</span> in Little Bourke Street. The little girl, Knowles, has been seen visiting this <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Chinaman's</span>
place several times recently, notwithstanding her mother's command that
she was not to do so. She was ordered to be kept in the reformatory for
two years; but Margaret Reilly was discharged, and is once more free to
continue her abandoned course." <br />
<br />
In another great resource - the index of <span class="FC4">Patients in Melbourne<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2080058246"> </a>Hospital 1856-1905 </span>produced by the <a href="http://www.gsv.org.au/" style="color: #3d85c6;">Genealogical Society of Victoria</a>,
I found a reference to Emma's step-father, William Flynn. The hospital
ward books recorded that William was a blind man and an alcoholic.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-19217592141816138332011-11-03T11:14:00.002+11:002012-09-07T22:26:32.335+10:00Bird's Botanic EssenceWhy am I writing about a treatment for horses in a genealogy blog?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S_UYNLlkqII/AAAAAAAAFSk/esj2hNQK_m0/s1600/Bird%27s-Botanic-Essence.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3YSb3PBPdr0/S_UYNLlkqII/AAAAAAAAFSk/esj2hNQK_m0/s320/Bird%27s-Botanic-Essence.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
This advertisment was found in a book given to me by my great uncle, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p84.htm#i420">Aubrey Cuthbert Reader</a>. The book, titled <i>Veterinary Counter Practice</i>,
was published in 1891. Aub Reader was a chemist at McKinnon in
Melbourne, as was his father,<a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p2053.htm#i10262"> Felix Maximillian Franz Reader</a> who lived
in Dimboola then Warracknabeal in Victoria. This book originally
belonged to Felix. The book was written for chemists, providing advice
on dispensing treatments for animal diseases. In the foreword, it is
emphasised that it is not intended that chemists compete with veterinary
surgeons.<br />
<br />
No doubt chemists in more remote regions of
Australia diagnosed illnesses as well as dispensing treatments for both
animals and people - But perhaps Felix took this a bit too far!<br />
<br />
The
Melbourne Argus of 14 June 1901 reported on the outcome of an inquiry
into the cause of death of a woman named Flora Burns as follows:<br />
<br />
"The
jury, after an hour's retirement, brought in a verdict to the effect
that the deceased had died of blood poisoning, as the result of an
illegal operation performed by F. M. Reader. Reader was committed for
trial at the Supreme Court, Horsham, on the 10th September."<br />
<br />
The prosecutor, however, decided not to proceed with the case, and Felix continued his work as a chemist.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207513707677478448.post-79926164243336501322011-11-02T19:51:00.001+11:002011-11-02T19:51:14.982+11:00Washed up near Luna ParkIn 1923 a relative of mine, <a href="http://www.allevan.com/myfamilytree-o/p106.htm#i527">William Elbeshausen</a>, owned the Red Lion
Hotel in Windsor, a suburb of Melbourne. He lived there with his two
unmarried sisters, Lydia and Maud. He was a bachelor and was engaged to
marry a Miss Burgess.<br />
<br />
Each morning he went to the
butcher about 8am to buy a piece of steak for his breakfast. He then
returned to the hotel where he had his breakfast. He was sometimes away
for quite a while, however, on a cold bleak morning in May he didn't
return from his morning walk.<br />
<br />
Just before 4pm, a fully
clothed body was found in the water near Luna Park in St Kilda - It was
William. An inquest was held and it concluded that 'on the 22nd day of
May 1923 at St Kilda, William Edward Elbeshausen was found drowned in
the sea, having been in the water several hours. There is not sufficient
evidence to determine how or by what means he got into the water.'<br />
<br />
What
happened to William? Did he fall into the water? Was he attacked? Did
he intend to take his own life? I guess we will never know.Allen Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210918845814546948noreply@blogger.com0