Washed up near Luna Park
In 1923 a relative of mine, William Elbeshausen, 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...
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Bird's Botanic Essence
Why am I writing about a treatment for horses in a genealogy blog?This advertisment was found in a book given to me by my great uncle, Aubrey Cuthbert Reader. The book, titled Veterinary Counter...
View ArticleThe Sad Story of Emma Noad
Emma Amelia Noad (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...
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William and Ann Napper - South Australian Pioneers
William Napper 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...
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New Nursing Service Records online
Thanks to The National Archives, UK (TNA) I have been able to find out much more than I previously knew about my great aunt, Ida JOHNS. TNA has just published the service records of over 15,000 nurses...
View ArticleRed Cross records tell the story of two cousins who died on the battlefields...
It's Remembrance Day, so I 'm penning this story about two of my NAPPER relations.Frederick Roy NAPPER (known as Roy) was born in Sydney in 1897. In 1915 he enlisted in the13th Battalion Australian...
View ArticleA Nineteenth Century Hoon: Charles Elbeshausen
The colourful Elbeshausen brothers were my grandmother's cousins. I've previously written about William whose body was washed up near Luna Park in Melbourne.William's brother Charles was born in 1872....
View ArticleNapper 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,...
View ArticleIrish 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...
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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...
View ArticleEnglish 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...
View ArticleApprenticeship 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...
View Article150th 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 shipsailed on the evening of Tuesday March 18th 1862....
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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...
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Agricultural labourers found in old newspapers
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...
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Irish convicts nearly burned alive on Norfolk Island
I came across this interesting story whilst researching the voyage of the East India Company fleet from England to China in 1804. HMS Athenienne, a 64 gun warship under the command of Captain Francis...
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At the Broadmeadows Army Training Camp in the First World War
My 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...
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My biggest brick wall smashed: John SCOTT was really John CONACHER
A 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....
View ArticleA First World War soldier who suffered years later
I recently wrote about my grandfather's time at the Broadmeadows Army Training Camp in the First World War. One of his mates at the camp was Bill Liston. My grandfather was medically discharged and...
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My great grandfather's tragic death in Manchester
My great grandfather, Ernest Evans, 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.Ernest...
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John Wesley knew my Cornish ancestors
After 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...
View ArticleNew online prison records a "must" for convict research
I 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...
View ArticleFollowing my ancestor's footsteps to Ballarat
This 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...
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Changing Names - my DNA adventure
I had always thought that as my surname is Evans 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!About three years...
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Joseph Ashmore – A Tragic Ending at Sea
My ancestor Joseph Ashmore 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...
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