52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2021)
Week 1 | Beginnings
As an Australian of European descent, all the branches of my
family tree have their roots in faraway lands and were transplanted here with
the hope of new beginnings. The desire
to know who my immigrant ancestors were, where they came from, when and where
they arrived, and under what circumstances was the spark that ignited my family
history adventures several decades ago. This week’s theme has challenged me to collate
these details into one concise(ish) summary, something I’d not yet done. The end result is a group of 33 direct ancestor
immigrants; – from gr-grandparents to
4xgr-grandparents; the earliest in 1840, the most “recent” in 1886. Some who came as single young adults, some as
children with their parents, and some as older couples following their adult
children. From England, Scotland,
Ireland, France and Germany. To South
Australia, Victoria, Queensland and just one to Tasmania (and this one not by
choice).
The 'Rothesay Bay'
So, let’s kick off the new year by meeting these brave and resilient
folks who gave my family their beginnings in Australia.
In clockwise order around my Fan Chart (and, please note,
this is a very ‘names and dates only’ post – their stories will be the fodder
of future posts).
MATERNAL
 |
| Catherine Elizabeth Simpson and her sisters |
Louis Henry Dow (gr-gr-grandpa): Finding himself an orphan at the age of 19
years, Louis left Lockwood, Yorkshire and arrived in Maryborough (Queensland)
in 1879, where he married Catherine Elizabeth Simpson in 1881.
Margaret Ann Stewart (gr-gr-grandma),
an Irish servant girl from Co Antrim, Ireland who sailed alone to Australia in
1876, settling in Rockhampton (Queensland) where she married Scotsman John McKinlay in 1878. The couple and their four children moved
between homes in Rockhampton and Emu Park.
John McKinlay
(gr-gr-grandpa), of Ayrshire, Scotland arrived in Rockhampton in 1876 where he
had a long career as an engineer and raised his four children with Margaret Ann Stewart. Two of his brothers and one sister also
emigrated to Australia and a third brother to New Zealand.
Elizabeth Betts
(gr-grandma), one of eight children of Richard John DeVere and Tracey (nee
Goodgame) Betts of Oxfordshire, arrived in Australia in 1886, settling in
Queensland. She married Henry Davey in 1889.
Several of her siblings also emigrated to Australia.
Henry Davey
(gr-grandpa) purportedly born in Wedmore, Somerset, arrived in Queensland in
1884, settling in the Lutwyche (Brisbane) area where he forged a career as a
painter and decorator. He married Elizabeth Betts in 1889 and the couple
had two children.
PATERNAL
Ellen Boyne (3x
gr-grandma) was born circa 1835 in Scotland (most likely in Invernesshire). She
began her life in Australia in 1852 as a 27 year old domestic servant. A few
months after her arrival in Melbourne, she married former convict Charles Plant in Scots Church. Ellen featured in a blog post in March 2018.
Charles Plant (3
x gr-grandpa) is the only one of my ancestors whose ‘beginning =’ in Australia
was imposed upon him by the British courts, having been convicted in the
Cheshire Court of Petty Sessions in 1842 of stealing 7 pairs of stockings. He served time in Van Diemen’s land, making his way to
Melbourne following the issue of his Ticket of Leave. Ellen and Charles had
seven children, three of whom lived to adulthood, and lived a hard life in and
around the goldfields of central Victoria.
Wilhelmine Jackel (3x
gr-grandma) was born circa 1831 in Germany and married Johan Christian
Westendorf in 1856 at St George’s Church, Gawler, South Australia. Her
arrival in Australia is subject to further research but was possibly on the Adele
which arrived in Port Adelaide from
Hamburg on 14 September 1856. If this is
the correct shipping record, she was 24 years of age and travelled as a single
woman.
Joachim Heinrich
Westendorf (4x gr-grandpa) and Luise
Schonfeld (4 x gr-grandma) and their six children, including son Johan
Christian Westendorf (3 x gr-grandpa) arrived in South Australia aboard the
Suzanne in 1851. Within a few
years, they had moved to the Western district of Victoria.
Edward Jory (2x
gr-grandfather) was born in Cornwall in 1839 and arrived in Victoria as a 24 year old single man aboard the Result
in 1863. He travelled around the
goldfields working as a lay preacher before marrying Rosina Heal in 1870
and settling in Natimuk where the couple had a general store.
Robert and Jane (nee Moon) Lucas (4xgr-grandparents)
arrived in Adelaide from Wiltshire aboard the Fairfield in December 1840
along with a number of their children, including daughter Jane Lucas.
Charles Mathurin Leon DeLaine was born as Charles
Mathurin Leon Laine in Etretat, Le Havre, France on 7 February 1818. His arrival in Australia is cloaked in
folklore but the latest research indicates he walked off a whaling ship in New
Zealand in 1836. The details of his
arrival in South Australia are still to be determined. He married Jane Lucas
in 1843. (More of his story in blog post dated 8 February 2018)
David and Emma (nee Hill) Mills (3xgr-grandparents)
were born and married in Wiltshire and arrived in South Australia aboard the Sibella
in July 1848 along with several of their children, including son George Mills
(2xgr-grandfather).
Emma’s parents Thomas and Rachel Hill (4xgr-grandparents)
arrived in Australia the following year aboard the Ramilles along with several of their children.
David’s parents John and Mary (nee Ingram) Mills
(4xgr-grandparents) arrived aboard the Oriental in November 1855 with
their son Job and daughter MaryAnn.
Anthony Nicholson
(Ruddick) Teasdale (2xgr-grandfather) remains somewhat of a mystery man,
not the least of which is his change of last name from Ruddick to Teasdale. He was in South Australia by the time he
married Agnes Sprott Wilson (2xg-grandmother) in 1869.
Hugh and Margaret
(nee Grant) Wilson (3x gr-grandparents ) arrived from Scotland in South
Australia from Scotland in 1862 aboard the Castle Eden along with their
children, including daughter Agnes
Sprott Wilson (2x gr-grandmother).
