Let's Start at the Beginning

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2021)
Week 1 | Beginnings

The 'Rothesay Bay'

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).

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

Catherine Elizabeth Simpson (2xgr-grandma) and her parents John and Ellen (nee Hodgson) Simpson (3x gr-grandparents) who came from Rawcliffe, Yorkshire in 1864 along with five of her ten siblings and settled in Maryborough (Queensland).

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.

Jesse and Harriet (nee Stone) Heal (3x gr-grandparents) (pictured at left) were born and married in Somerset, where Jesse worked as a gardener.  They arrived in Victoria in January 1857 aboard the William, along with three of their children, including daughter Rosina Heal (2 x gr-grandmother). A fourth child was born after their arrival and the family lived the Stawell 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).

The grandest of names

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Week 6 - Favourite Name

#52ancestors

Charles Leon Mathurin DeLaine

This week’s challenge is to write about a favourite name. I’m finding it a challenge to differentiate between a favourite name and a favourite ancestor and even then there are so many. So I’m going to write about the ancestor with what is possibly the grandest name in our tree – Charles Leon Mathurin DeLaine, my paternal 3 x great-grandfather. Charles also has the added attraction of purportedly being French which, in my daughter’s eyes, instantly elevates him above other ancestors. I’ll be honest and say I haven’t done a lot of research on this branch of the tree, largely because there is a published history of the DeLaine family in South Australia. However, in reviewing this publication to write this article, I find that there is plenty of scope for further research. But that’s for another day. For now, here’s a brief biography.

Charles Mathurin Leon DeLaine (Sr) is believed to have been born in LeHavre, France in 1818. He arrived in Australia some time before March 1843, when he married Jane Lucas in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Adelaide, South Australia. There are many stories about how he arrived in Australia, none of which have been able to be verified to date.

Jane Lucas

Charles (as he was known) and Jane lived for the first 30 years of their married life in Sturt Street, Adelaide. They bore 12 children (although Jane’s obituary states she had 13), 10 of whom lived into adulthood. The oldest child, daughter Caroline married George Mills – these were my gr-gr-grandparents. The fourth child, son Charles Mathurin Leon DeLaine Jr married George’s sister Julia.

From 1845 to 1869 Charles was employed in the Metropolitan Police Force. He subsequently returned to his prior trade as a butcher, operating from premises on Sultram Place, Adelaide, from the rear of the family home on Clarke Street, Norwood, and in a shop he had built in 1883 on The Parade, Norwood as an outlet for his growing smallgoods manufacturing business.

Charles died in 1886 of asthma and Jane in 1909 after a brief illness. Charles and Jane are buried together in West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide. At the time of Jane’s death in 1909, there were 50 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. By the time of the publishing of the history of this family, Charles and Jane’s descendants number 1382. I’d say that’s a grand effort befitting of a man with such a grand name.