Clara Elizabeth Watson

Clara has become one of my "favourites".  There are lots of reasons for this, but mainly stem from the fact that she obviously loved photos and kept a beautiful Victorian Photo Album of her family.  Unfortunately she forgot to label anyone, but that's life!  She did keep a record of the birth dates of her five sisters and one brother - which also included the dates of death for a number. 

Clara was born on 13 October 1861 in Lowestoft, Suffolk.  She was the second child of Sarah Osborne and Alfred Watson (whose stories will be told another day!).  Clara grew up with her sisters in Lowestoft, mainly living in a house at 57 Raglan Street.  

Clara married George Furnsby in Lowestoft on 18 June 1884.  George was born on 15 February 1856 in Bethnal Green, London, the son of Ann Bunn and Richard Fernsby.  Both Ann and Richard had been married before – Richard was 51 years of age.  George was the only child of the couple to survive infancy.  The spelling of George’s surname varied in his early life.  All spellings of George’s name from 1881 are Furnsby, but on official records his father always spelt his name Fernsby.  George’s mother died when he was four and his father when he was 14.  His mother’s family was from Norfolk and this may have attracted him to Lowestoft.  George worked as a mariner.

Clara had her first child, Clara Elizabeth, on 9 February 1885 in Lowestoft.  George was absent.  He had arrived in Sydney, Australia three days earlier on board Rome.  He is listed on the crew as a lamp trimmer. This person is responsible for keeping the oil lamps of a ship burning brightly, especially the deck and navigation lamps.  Clara and her 23 month old daughter, Clara, followed George to Australia and arrived in Sydney on board the Port Victor on 23 January 1887.  This must have been a difficult move for Clara.  She was not moving with any other members of her family and she would have known that the likelihood of seeing her family again were relatively small.  So what does one pack when moving from England to Australia?  Clara brought her essentials – birth and marriage certificates, and her photo album.   These items were precious enough to Clara that she kept them for her whole life.  Fortunately they still survive.  Clara didn't see any of her family members again, but they did regularly correspond.

Clara and George had two more children born in Sydney; Alfred George, born in 1888 and Sarah, born in 1893.

In 1898 George Furnsby, then aged 42, was working on the wharves.  Family folklore says that he was crushed between a wharf and a boat.  He died at the family home, 25 Ewell St, Balmain, on 4 November 1898 as a result of the injuries received.

It is not known whether Clara contemplated returning to Lowestoft at this time.  Her children were then aged 13,10 and 5.  She may have felt that it would be disruptive to move them, or perhaps she had come to like her adopted country.  Another reason she may have decided to stay is that she did not have the funds to return to England.  This seems unlikely as Clara seems to have lived a comfortable life in Sydney.  NSW Probate records for George Furnsby existed but have been lost, so the value of his estate is not known.

Clara spent the next 13 years raising her children in Balmain, Sydney.

On 15 February 1905, Clara’s eldest daughter, Clara, married Robert Woolley, a butcher.  Clara became a grandmother on 10 December 1905 with the birth of Clara Margaret.  Clara and Robert had a further four children. 

Then in 1910, Alfred George married Annie Haynes daughter of Catherine Watt and Thomas William Haynes.  Alfred and Annie had three children.  They lived in the family home for the rest of their lives.

On 22 March 1911, Clara married for a second time.  The groom was widower George James Hardwick, the son of Mary Ann Dinhaur and George Wilshire Hardwick, born in 1851 in London.  Clara’s children were all very pleased with the marriage as everyone in the family liked ‘Hardie’.  George was a widower, but had no children of his own.  Certainly at the time of his death, his brother’s, wife and stepchildren acknowledged his death in the Newspaper.  Clara and George Hardwick moved to Gladesville, however, Alfred remained living in the Balmain house with his family.

Clara’s youngest child, Sarah, married William Walsh in 1912 and they had three children. 

All the children remained in Sydney.  

Clara and George Hardwick lived at Sunnyside Street, Gladesville for most of their married life.  Their home was named ‘Lowestoft’.  It was common for people to name their homes after their English birthplaces.  They were married for 16 years before Hardie died on 7 November 1927.  Clara went to live with her eldest daughter, Clara in Vaucluse.  She even met great-grandchildren.       

Clara died at 4 Peel Street, Vaucluse on 5 March 1941, aged 79.  Her grand-daughter, Lorna, said that she simply collapsed in the kitchen and died.  Clara is buried with George Hardwick in Waverley Cemetery, on the cliffs of the eastern suburbs of Sydney overlooking the ocean.  It’s not the same ocean of her youth but she couldn’t complain about the view!

Clara Furnsby nee Watson holding her daughter Clara in Lowestoft.

[Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great grandmother]

Frederick Edward Harry

Frederick Edward Harry was an absolutely amazing personality.  So amazing that I've decided to write a book about him.  I've put together a mass of information, and have a great idea of the life he led and the views he had, using newspaper articles, books, minutes of meetings, and personal letters.  It is really interesting to examine someone's life in depth and try to analyse it through looking at the social and political situation at the time.  I'm finding the research really good fun!  I'd originally thought it could be completed by June 2014 - which would mark the 150th anniversary of his birth! But there is so much information and so many things to do in preparation, that this timeframe was always going to be a pipe dream. Hopefully soon...

Relationship to SNR = Great-great-grandfather.

Zoe Dixson / Carson

Part of the reason I started this blog is so if someone happens to be desperately seeking a particular name, they might see one of my blog entries and a 'connection' can be made.  This is the case with Zoe F Craig Dixson.  Her name registered at her birth in 1889 was Zoe F Dixson (Zoe Fenella Dixson).  She was the third daughter born to Craig Dixson and Rachel Theresa Harvey who had married in Victoria in 1882.  Craig and Rachel's first child had died, so once their fourth daughter, Ray, was born, Zoe was the middle child!  Craig Dixson was a Doctor who died in 1894 when Zoe was 5.  The only other things I have found about Zoe is that:
(1) she studied Dentistry at Melbourne University - relatively uncommon action for a women in the 1910s
(2) at some stage she added in the name Craig - so she was known as Zoe Craig Dixson
(3) she married William Stanley Carson in 1923, and had one child, Anne / Annie!

In fact, it appears that she was the only of her sisters to have any children.  Evelyn Dorothy Irene Dixson married Thomas Greenaway in 1920 in Sydney and Ray E C H Dixson somehow became Mrs Mitchell and went to Kenya.

Rachel Theresa Dixson died on 8 March 1941 age 83.  She had been a widow for 47 years (she had three sisters that she remained close to.  So she had company!).

A few years ago I discovered that Craig Dixson's Medical Box was for sale on eBay!  I couldn't resist - so I bought it.  When I told the seller my interest, she advised that when she purchased the box it was full of odds and ends plus a lock of hair!  Say what!!!  Yep.  A lock of hair!  It was wrapped in a notice of dividend payment to Zoe C Carson.  On the outside, written in pencil, is the name Annie!   Annie would have been born sometime after 1923, so it's possible she's still alive (which means I'm breaking my rule about not putting anyone in this blog who has a child still alive), but I figure in this case, it might be OK.

[Relationship to SNR = cousin of great-great grandmother]

Charlotte Hibberd

Charlotte Hibberd was the first born child of Mary (nee Pavey) and Elijah Hibberd.  She was born in Love Lane, Salisbury, Wiltshire in November 1821 (Love Lane really does exist!) and was baptised in St Martin's Church on 21 November.
Her parents, Mary and Elijah, had only recently married - on 5 August 1821 at St Edmunds Church in Salisbury.  It's interesting to note that Mary had been baptised in St Edmunds, as had her father (that is, it was a 'family church').  But once Mary and Elijah married, the family Church became St Martin's.  Elijah had been Baptised in St Martin's and all of his and Mary's subsequent children were also baptised in St Martin's.  Of course, the two churches are only a kilometre apart in the Centre of Salisbury!

Above is a drawing of St Martin's Church, Salisbury by Joseph Mallord William Turner from 1800 (two years after Elijah had been baptised).

But I digress, this story is about Charlotte.  Her parents, the abovementioned Mary and Elijah, baptised another seven children in St Martin's - Henry, Jane, Fanny, Elijah, John, Frederick and Samuel - from 1823 to 1838.  Then in 1840 Elijah Hibberd died.  He was 41.  The following year Mary Hibberd (nee Pavey) died.  She was also 41.  Charlotte, age 20 is an orphan.  Not so bad, except for the fact that she was the eldest and Samuel, the youngest, was only 3!  But again, I sort of digress, because there no information available to show whether or not Charlotte took over the care of her siblings.  I can't find some of the family is the Census for 1841 and those that I can find appear to be scattered with other family members, but we don't really know what happened in the next ten years!  The next known fact about Charlotte is that, at age 30 (relatively old for the time, which makes me think that she DID look after her younger siblings), on 7 January 1851 she baptised a son named Benjamin James Hibberd at St Martin's.  Benjamin died soon after his baptism.  The following year - on 30 November 1852 - Charlotte again baptised a son in St Martin's, named Henry George Hibberd.  He also dies soon after birth.  The next event for Charlotte in St Martin's is her wedding to George Jerred on 28 March 1853.  The Minister, no doubt, said 'thank god'.  She and George were actually living in the same house in the 1851 Census.  She was the 'head' and he was a 'lodger'!  Oh, and she was also six years older than George!  So when they married, she was 32 and he was 26.  I can only presume that little Henry and Benjamin were offspring of George!  The parish record doesn't say that Charlotte was a 'whore' as it often did in the 1800s for children born of unmarried mothers.
In any case, her marriage meant that when Charlotte baptised Maria Susannah Jerred on Christmas Day in 1853, she was actually baptising a 'legitimate' child!  George Jerred was next to be baptised - on 24 March.  He lived longer than his brothers but died later in the year.   Charlotte and George named the next son George Jerred as well, and he was baptised on 22 November 1857.  Next was Ann Jerred, baptised on 22 May 1859, but, again, she died later that year.  In early 1860 Charlotte was pregnant again and her husband, George Jerred, died age 33.  Her seventh child, Eliza Jerred, was born on 11 June 1860 in Trinity Street, Salisbury and baptised on 22 June.  So widowed Charlotte has three children - Maria (age 7), George (age 3) and baby Eliza.  Eliza died age two in mid 1862.  Then Charlotte has another child on 22 March 1864 she names Eliza again.  This child was also baptised in St Martin's - only her mother's name is listed (seeing that her husband George has been dead for four years, this makes sense!).
Charlotte Jerred, age 42, died soon after Eliza's birth.  I'd like to think that "she lived her own life", but I suspect that life was incredibly difficult for her.  Having had so many children died young, as well as herself, potentially she had Syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease prevalent at the time - still prevalent now!).  We can only ponder.  But it's a tragic story!  Of her three children alive at her death only George survived childhood.  Baby Eliza died late in 1864 - without a mother to care for her, she was vulnerable - and Maria died in 1866 when she was 12.

It's probably worth noting that most of Charlotte's siblings do OK for themselves (I can't find details for Jane or John but the other five appear to live very normal lives - at least for that time - with the known occupations of her brothers being a butcher, an umbrella maker and a Baptist Minister).

[Relationship to SNR = sister of great-great-great grandfather]

Elizabeth Ellen White

Many years ago. Many, many years ago, my grandparents were visited by a distant relative who left with them a family history.  When I expressed interest in family history, the document was given to me.  It was put together by Lorely Morling - and it was the history of the White side of my family.  When I contacted her, Lorely sent me a number of documents that she'd put together and one of them was about Elizabeth Ellen White.  Her story is sad, tragic even.  The story is beautifully told in the newspaper of the day.  Thank you to the National Library of Australia Newspaper collection!

Elizabeth Ellen White was born on 31 July 1875 in Stalybridge, Lancashire, England.  She was the first born child of Mary Jane (nee Robinson) and Robert White (They were first cousins, but their story is for another day!).  Three years later, on 17 June 1878, her younger brother, John, was born and soon after the family migrated to Sydney, Australia accompanied by Robert's sister Ann.  The family settled into Australian life!  Ann married and Mary fell pregnant with her third child.

Then on 30 July 1880, Mary took the two children into the city with Ann.  It was the day before Elizabeth's 6th birthday.  The four were walking along George Street and needed to cross the street.  Mary was holding John and Ann was with Elizabeth.  Elizabeth saw her mother crossing the street ahead and ran towards her.  A horse drawn omnibus was coming down George Street and was unable to stop in time. Elizabeth was trampled by one of the horses and died.  I think there were expectations 130 years ago that not all children would survive - and just like today, the roads can be dangerous.  Poor little Lizzy!

(Relationship to SNR = Great-great grandfather's sister)

Edith Lucy King

I have a number of photographs of close friends of family members.  In many cases they aren't labelled, which is very unfortunate.  However, the photo of E. L. King is labelled and Ruth Joyce told me that Miss King was a close friend of her parents, Gwenyth and Wilfrid Crofts and their families.  (And I'll scan the photo as soon as I can find the safe spot that I have put it!)  I was quite interested in Edith's story given that she was a missionary in India over 15 years before Gwenyth and Wilfred commenced their service in India.

Edith Lucy King was born in Victoria, Australia in 1881, the daughter of Ada Louise and Charles Edward King.  She had two brothers and a sister.   In about 1898, when she was 17, her family moved to Perth, Western Australia.

Early in 1904, 23 year old Edith applied to the foreign mission committee of the Baptist Union of Western Australia  as a Zenana missionary in the WA district in India.

Zenana is a persian word meaning 'pertaining to women'.  In Hindu and Muslim societies at that time, women remained in the 'zenana' (the women's part of the house).  The Baptist Zenana Mission - full title being 'Ladies' Association for the Support of Zenana Work and Biblewomen in India in connection with the Baptist Mission Society' - was formed in 1867.  It enabled female missionaries to work in India to educate Indian women in the 'zenana' who would not otherwise have received any education.  Other denominations also had Zenana missions and these missions were supported by the Indian government.  The work of the Zenana missions expanded quickly to include schooling and shelters for Indian children.  The Zenana Missions later merged into general mission work (the Baptist Zenana Mission became part of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1914, but retained separate committee and funds until 1925).  The Zenana missionaries from Australia identified themselves as being separate from the English organisation, but there were strong connections.

Anyway, the application from Edith King was accepted and on 15 November 1904 she delivered a farewell address in the Museum street Baptist Church, Perth.   She was described as a cheerful and determined person. 

The late 1800s / early 1900s was an era of growth of single women missionaries.  Indeed, most of the initial Baptist missionaries sent from Australia were women!  They were highly educated for the time and had pretty strong convictions - you had to!!! - and Edith's determination would have been useful!  However, it was not an easy life.  Travel and communication in India was difficult.  The health of the missionaries suffered, particularly from the effects of the climate and illnesses such as malaria and cholera.    

Edith returned on furrlough to Australia on 5 August 1913 and was able to attend the funeral of her father which took place on 6 October.  She also spoke (preached?) about missionary life in a number of churches in Perth.  She returned to India during 1914.

Each year the Baptist Churches in Western Australia would collect gifts that were then sent to the Mission that Edith was working at.  The West Australian, a Perth newspaper on Thursday 29 September 1910 wrote: "The four missionaries themselves, Mr and Mrs White, Miss King and Miss Brown, all of whom went out to the field of labour from this city, have not been forgotten, and gifts of hams, dried fruits, james and so forth are accompanying the toys and clothing intended for their young charges." And on Thursday 23 September 1915 the paper wrote about the Christmas gifts: "nothing had been forgotten which could bring joy to the little people at the Rajbari Mission Station, where the two Western Australian missionaries, the Misses E.L. King and G.E. Brown, have laboured devotedly for years.")

Owing to failing health, Edith came back to Australia in September 1919.  It was her intention to return to India, but she did not.  She spent 1920 speaking and preaching to churches in Western Australia.  Her mother died on 28 November 1920.  

Edith Lucy King died on 19 May 1921 and was buried in Karrakatta, Perth.  She was 40 years old.

(Relationship to SNR = Friend of Great-grandparents)

William Frederick Joyce

On 5 July 1878, in Stanley Street, Collingwood, Melbourne, Ellen (nee Carne) gave birth to her first son.  She and her husband, Albert Samuel Joyce, already had two daughters.  They named their son William Frederick Joyce.

William was the name of Ellen's father and also the name of her brother closest in age to her who had tragically died in the Merri Creek when Ellen was 11 years old.

Albert Samuel Joyce was a plumber.  He had developed a type of milk bucket, which had become very popular due to it's effective lid - you still can pick up "Joyce Milk Buckets" - they make good letterboxes!  Albert and Ellen had a very comfortable life!  Following William, they had a further three girls (two of whom died young), then finished with two boys.

William was a committed Christian, and was very active in the George Street Baptist Church, Fitzroy.   Then one day he fell heavily - tripping on the footpath in Smith Street, Collingwood.  Probably now, 114 years later, he'd be taken to a hospital, with x-rays or an MRI to determine what was happening and whether his injury could be treated.  But they didn't have those options available.  So William's injury was left and it appeared that he had recovered.  Unfortunately he hadn't recovered!  I don't understand the science of his injury, but in the last five months of his life he suffered from extreme pain.  Through it all he remained cheerful and peaceful, living from day to day - very eager to talk to others about his faith.  He died on 16 November 1898, age 20, surrounded by his family and close friends.

We wouldn't know anything about his story, except that some time after his death a small booklet was written by Rev Edward Isaac, called "A Young Man's Dying Testimony".  And for the price of one penny, one could read the story of this admirable young man.  The language is flowery to the point of being a little "over the top", but it is a story from the heart written by someone who obviously liked William very much.  Fortunately one of William's younger brothers kept the booklet and I found it in his papers.  Without it, William Frederick Joyce's life would simply have read: born 5/7/1878 Collingwood; died 16/11/1898 Collingwood; no children...

(Relationship to SNR = Great-grandfather's brother)

Sarah Edwards

I inherited the "family history" gene from my father.  When I was growing up, I knew that Sarah Edwards was one of the people that fascinated Dad the most.  I used to tease him about it - but just a little.  Once I became interested in my family history, I could totally understand how easy it is to get interested in a particular person, and more specifically, interested in Sarah Edwards.  It's the mystery of actions...

Sarah Edwards was born in 1849 in Winchester. Her parents were John and Eliza.  John was a butcher.  She was the eldest of four children.  For some unexplained reason, she came to Australia on the Burlington in 1867 when she was 18.  I guess people were expected to be a lot "more mature" back then, but still.  Why??  Had she been naughty?  Disgraced the family?  She was educated and she kept in touch with her family (which was good for my dad because he obtained some early photos of Sarah through a family member in Winchester).  One of her prized possessions was a glass photograph of her family in Winchester - she kept it with her all her life (note that her younger brother had not yet been born).

On 26 February 1870 she married Augustus John Hollebone in Orange (of all places!).  She had nine children plus adopted the son of her daughter  (Her last child was born after this son - I like to think that she didn't want Ernest to feel left out or suspect anything, but he was born only two years after her daughter!!).  She was involved in a "performing group" - which involved acting and singing (on one occasion a duet with her husband called 'Gypsy Countess').  At the end of her life she lived with her youngest daughter.  Sarah gave the photo to one of her granddaughters before her death.  She died on 17 July 1915, age 66.   One daughter had died age 4, but the remaining children, with the possible exception of one, died after her.  Later two of her sons, including Ernest, died as a result of illness sustained through the Great War...

(Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great-grandmother)

Mary Tonkin Harry

I don't know a lot about Mary, but I feel that she has a story worth telling!

In the September quarter of 1861, the birth of Mary Tonkin Williams was registered in Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales.  She was born in the town of Llangynwyd, to be precise!  You have to love Welsh names.  I don't know much about her parents, except their names were Joseph and Emma.  She appears to be the youngest of seven children, all born in Llangynwyd - although her father was Welsh, her mother was born in Redruth, Cornwall.

In the June quarter of 1893, in the district of Gower, Glamorgan, at the ripe old age of 32, Mary married a 31 year old man named Thomas William Harry.  Thomas wasn't 'exactly' a Welshman, as he was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, but both his parents were Welsh, they lived in a Welsh enclave in Swindon and there's evidence that the family spent lots of time in Wales - specifically in Llangywyd, where Thomas's father had died.  Thomas was the eldest of eight children and he worked on the Great Western Railway as an Engine Fitter.  One interesting fact about this marriage was that it was the third generation of this Harry family where the eldest son had married a woman name Mary Williams.  I can't find a connection between these women, but it's certainly a strange coincidence.  That being said, there were many, many, many registered births for babies called Mary Williams!

After their marriage, they lived in Swindon - presumably because that's where Thomas worked.  In 1895 they welcomed Cyril Arthur Harry into the world.  I need to point out that it doesn't appear that Cyril or Arthur are "family" names, so I'm not sure why the name was chosen - they must have liked it! (It's not my favourite!).

Unfortunately on 2 February 1897, Thomas died, aged 34.  I'm not sure if Mary had family nearby to help, but hopefully Thomas's family helped out.  Thomas's Mother lived in Swindon as did his sister and two brothers (one married with a child the same age as Cyril).  The other four siblings of Thomas had left Swindon for Australia - one of them even put a death notice in the Sydney papers.

This is where the story gets interesting.  One of the brothers in Australia, Henry - or Harry Harry - came back from Australia and at the 1901 Census he was actually living with Mary and Cyril in Swindon.  I hope he was being helpful!  He was working "At Home" as an employer doing something that I can't read on the original Census sheet, but has 'merchant' and 'manufacturer' in the description.   It's impossible to know whether this was a 'permanent' arrangement or how long they cohabited, but in 1909, in Cardiff, 47 year old Mary Tonkin Harry married Harry Harry - he was 39 and it was his first marriage.  Good on you, Mary!!!  I suspect she didn't label herself as a 'Cougar', but that's effectively what she was.

At some stage, Mary, Cyril and Harry Harry (I just love writing that name!) immigrated to Australia.  Harry Harry died on 17 June 1927.  Mary Tonkin Harry nee Williams died on 1 July 1936.  Her death notice was very simple:

Harry - July 1, 1936, at Strathfield, Mary Tonkin, dear mother of Cyril Harry, aged 74 years. Privately interred, July 2.

(Relationship to SNR = Great-great-grandfather's brothers' wife)

To start off...

I really like family history.  I treat it like a giant puzzle that is impossible to solve.  But my focus has become much more centred on the people I discover, not the dates that they were born, married and died.  So I've created this blog to put down some of the stories that I find.  My aim is to not write about anyone who may still have a child alive, not because I'll be nasty but because it's just easier!