User:Dicole

G'day from Sydney Australia, the most beautiful city in the world.

16 of my ancestors chose to come and live here from 1838 to 1914. I have been researching them for over 9 years now, since I first discovered the NSW BDMs indexes on-line.

The families I am researching come from all over England, Scotland and Ireland (although I am having trouble with the Irish). I think the stories of our families are more than just the bare facts and love finding out the whys and wherefores of everything. Like why did so many COLLIS children have the middle name BRENT ? Why was Thomas PAGE born in New York ? How did my ancestors from inland England cope with a four month voyage to the other side of the world (some of them would never have even seen an ocean or a wave before setting sail) ?

Paternal Families

Hurst, Berkshire - the COLLIS family, papermakers and blacksmiths- Thomas, George, Edmund, Henry and their wives - ELizabeth Mary CHAPLIN, Mary GILBERT, Grace DREW, Sarah NASH, and their good friend Thomas BRENT. Also interested in the related families ABEAR, SOUNDY, LEWIS, TOWNSEND, REYNOLDS and WINGFIELD. The COLLIS family also has branches and twigs in Basingstoke and Sherfield upon Loddon and Winchester in Hampshire, Wantage, Wargrave, Waltham St Lawrence and Reading in Berkshire.

Brighton Sussex - the families MARTIN and BISHOP - Benjamin BISHOP was a bricklayer/brickmaker and married Sophia LYNN. The elegantly named Susan Eliza Louisa (b1841) was the youngest of their tribe of children and married Robert MARTIN (B1840) in 1859. His father is claimed (on his marr cert.) to be William MARTIN carpenter, but I can only find his widowed mother Elizabeth in the 1851 census. All of them claim to be born in Brighton/Brighthelmstone.

Graffham Woolavington Sussex - Charles, Charlotte and Thomas TUPPER were all baptised on 1 Mar 1807, no ages or parents recorded in the register. But I am led to believe they are the children of Thomas TUPPER and Ann POAT (who may have been a widow, because that is the only way I can make sense of her name). Charles married Eliza HARWOOD of the Sutton HARWOODS who were blacksmiths in that part of Sussex.

Rotherhithe, Surrey - George DAWSON was a sail maker, ship chandler and beer house keeper in Rotherhithe, lived in Paradise St. He married Sophia BRAZILL who was born in Great Yarmouth, into another Marine family - father Thomas was a bargebuilder. Thomas BRAZILL and his wife Mary (nee SMITH) migrated to NSW in 1838, but Thomas died within a month. George and Sophia stayed in Rotherhithe, but three of their children - Samuel, William and Laura, came to NSW. I don't think any of their other children, who stayed in Surrey, had any children.

Birmingham and Corley, Warwickshire - Reuben PAGE was a builder and so were all his sons. Reuben married twice and spent some time in New York, USA. He was born in 1809 in Shrophshire and married Mary.... about 1833 - they had three children Sarah born in Warwickshire, Thomas born in New York and Joseph, born back in Corley Warwickshire. Mary died after the 1841 census and in 1847, Reuben married Elizabeth NIGHTINGALE of Corley, in Birmingham. Elizabeths parents were Richard NIGHTINGALE and Susannah CHESLIN. Reuben and Elizabeth also had three children - Harriet born in 1847 (married her cousin Edwin CARVER), Reuben Edward (b1860 at York Town in Surrey) and Albert Henry born in 1867. I would love to know why Reuben and Mary did not stay in New York - if they had, I would not be here !!!

Martock Somerset - James RODFORD and Jane WORNER brought their four daughters, Annie, MaryAnn, Sarah and Elizabeth to NSW in 1849, They settled in Morpeth in the Hunter Valley. Research has showed that James and Jane were actually second cousins once removed, as their grandmother and great-grandmother were sisters (20 years age difference). The WORNERS were a large family who moved all over England and Australia, seemingly the only family spelt WORNER who is not of German origin. Associated names - Feadon, Farmidge, Indoe, Squire, Glover.

Maternal Families

Bedford Bedfordshire and Marston Moretaine Northants- Benjamin HOUGHTON (b1805) was a non-conformist who married Rebecca ILIFFE, his second wife in 1845. Rebecca was born in Monks Kirby Warwickshire, but her father John moved his family to Northants while she was a child. In 1855, they joined her sister and brother-in-law in Koroit Victoria, but after 7 or 8 years moved on to Dunedin NZ. Their daughter Sarah married Andrew Kerr and moved to Sydney about 1883.

Leadhills, and Castlehill, Scotland - Andrew KERR was born to James and Janet (LAURIE) KERR in 1837. James had been made manager of the Shotts Mine there and presided over a period of prosperity. Quite a bit of research has been done on the KERR ancestry by a cousin of my mother. When I told my mother about her g-grandfather coming from Leadhills, she was astonished as they had made a detour off the main road due to roadworks, and ended up having morning tea in Leadhills in 1992.

Little Thetford and Stretham Cambridgeshire - Richard and Sarah CREEK,and their son John, endured a six-month voyage to NSW aboard the ship Java and settled in the Hunter Valley. We think Richard helped with building the railway through the Hunter Valley as they progressively moved north-west as more children were born. They spent time in Gulgong, before settling in Sydney. Richard's parents were long lived (John 1798-1883 and Jemima 1808-1897) but Sarah's GOODENOUGH parents died much earlier (Thomas 1787-1843, Sarah 1792-1834).

Manchester Lancashire - much mystery still surrounds the circumstances under which James (Jim) ECCLES brought his four children to NSW in 1914. His wife Hannah (Edith Hannah BEAVER) stayed behind with their eldest son Christopher (b1896). Jim's family lived in Manchester from the early 1800s and Christopher runs strongly through the generations. I would love to know if Christopher ECCLES who married Martha Ackers in 1827 was born in Darwen, but have no way of finding out at present. The BEEVERS were a long-time Manchester family, and so were Edith's mothers family the FEATHERSTONES. Further back there are OLLERENSHAWS from Cheshire. Mingled into these families are the Irish immigrants James ARNOLD, Mary FITZPATRICK, and Elizabeth TAYLOR and Catherine CLARKE, whose origins are no more specific than "Ireland" in the census records.

I am also researching my husbands family for him and my children - 23 of them came to the colonies as free settlers from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Husband's Paternal Families

Harrow Middlesex and Oakham Rutland Guy COLE was born in Oakham Rutland and married in Scotland in 1803. Before 1810, he and his wife Elizabeth and children Guy and Frances moved to Harrow/Sudbury Middlesex where Thomas Cornelius COLE was born. Elizabeth died in 1813 and Guy maried Martha GEARING (b1786 ? Oxfordshire) - they had Robert, Charlotte, Martha Elizabeth, George, Richard Charles and William Henry. In 1842, Thomas C and his family, George, Charlotte and Martha migrated to Melbourne, Victoria where they met up with John COLE (b 1814 Oakham). In 1849, Guy (now 76 years), Martha, Robert and his family and William also moved across the world to Melbourne, leavning behind Frances, now married to William BAILEY. From family accounts Guy junior died in Madras India in 1842.

Monmouthshire - the big mystery in the COLE family is Emma Lewis LEAK(E) who married George COLE in 1847 in Melbourne. When she died in 1866, George told the registrar he did not know where she was born or her parents names. She did not record them in her Family Bible, but she did write all her childrens birthdates. The nearest I can get is an Emma LEAK in the 1841 census, in Bristol with an Alice LEAKE, boarding house keeper.

Derby - George MOORLEY b 1820. George MOORLEY came to NSW as a seaman. He married Margaret Ann KETHEL, whose brother was also a seaman. Both men eventually settled for land-based jobs. The KETHELS and the MOORLEYS lived in Manly NSW. Margaret KETHEL was born in Perth Scotland and lived with her WATSON grandparents in 1851, after her parents deaths.

Wokingham Berkshire - The LANGLEY and DEANE families lived in Wokingham and Easthampstead for many generations, and probably knew MY Collis family - although there were no direct links until we got married in 1979. William LANGLEY married Mary Esther FARROW and brought their small family to NSW in 1853. Mary Esther's father, William Berry FARROW was born in Bungay Suffolk and joined the Army in 1803, after 14 years service, he settled in Homerton Middlesex and married Catherine ALBIN. They had five daughters - Mary Esther, Rebecca, Dinah, Catherine and Lydia. William had been married previously, and so may have other children. Would love to know if Bilby FARROW in the Hackney workhouse in 1851/61 was any relation.

Husband's Maternal Families

Shepton Mallet, Somerset and Bristol - Francis Izant PARSONS and Ursula BURR married in 1828 and had 5 children before he suddenly died in 1844. His sons Francis Izant and Robert Burr migrated to Melbourne in 1855. Francis died young also, in 1864, leaving his widow Rebecca BENNETT to bring her three young children to Sydney and she remarried Richard SKELTON in 1866.Rebecca BENNETT was baptised in Frome Somerset to Daniel and Mary (HAWKINS) BENNETT. The BENNETTS were from Whitelackington Somerset.

I will get around to putting in some photos, but in the meantime, please contact me if you think you are related to any of my families.

Diane --Dicole 20:47, 1 January 2008 (UTC)