Back from the Adelaide Genealogy Congress

I've just returned home from the 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry held in Adelaide. I thought that it was a great success.

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.

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.

Congratulations to the organizers of a great Congress, and I'm looking forward to the next one in Canberra in 2015.

The Adelaide Congress organizers

150th Anniversary of the Departure of the Boanerges

One hundred and fifty years ago today two young married couples and about 450 other emigrants left Southampton for Australia on the Boanerges.  The ship 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.

The two couples were sisters Eliza NAPPER and Fanny NAPPER and their new husbands, Robert DENMAN and Simeon IRELAND. 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.

I have written an article about this voyage which I am happy to send to anyone who is interested.

Apprenticeship Records Help to Find a Birthplace

Richard 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 UK Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 on Ancestry.co.uk. Images of the original Apprentice Books from The National Archives, UK series IR1 are now available online.

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.

English and Welsh Poor Law Union and Workhouse Records Online

The National Archives UK website has recently added a searchable index 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.

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.

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.

I'm sure there is lots more to be found.

Travelling on the Sophocles to Australia in 1923

My 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 Sophocles.

Here are some of the passengers on board the ship.

Passengers on the Sophocles

The Sophocles at sea

Irish Prison Registers help find my ancestor's birthplace

I've previously written about my Irish convict ancestor Eliza Nolan in Transported to Van Diemen's Land at fourteen years of age. 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  findmypast.ie to see if I could find her.

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.

According to findmypast.ie, 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.

Napper family wedding at Sale, Victoria

Seven 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.

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 photo and let me know if you can identify anyone.