#52 ANCESTORS
This week’s prompt is “INVITE TO DINNER”
If I had the ultimate privilege of inviting an Ancestor or Ancestors to dinner, the choice for me wouldn’t be hard! In a heartbeat I would invite my Great Grandparents Louisa and Alfred Brandt.
I have chosen Louisa and Alfred because there are so many aspects of their life that intrigue me.
My first sightings of Alfred and Louisa appear in Tasmania around 1870. Alfred appears in newspapers giving evidence in the Great Tasmanian Reef Case at Waterhouse, Tasmania, where he also stated that he had been a miner since 1849.[1]
During a recent trip to Tasmania I tried to find out more about this area. It no longer exists as a town but is now a conservation area.
I have also found their first son Alfred Lewis born in 1870 in Launceston.[2] The microfilm records at the Library in Launceston shows that they lived in an area “Quadrant”. I was able to walk around the Mall area that is now called the Quadrant while in Tasmania.
To date I have yet to find out how they arrived in Tasmania. It doesn’t appear that they were convicts, I can’t find them on any Passenger Lists or Immigration Records. Did they come by row boat, I wonder.
Questions over appertiffs and drinks
I have then found records of another six children being born from 1872 - 1882 in New South Wales. The first three of these six were born in Gulgong.[3] The next three were born in Gunnedah.[4]
It needs to be noted here that the distance from Launceston to Gulgong/Gunnedah is approximately 1400/1600 kilometres which included a water crossing of Bass Strait of approximately 450 Kilometres. No mean feat in 1871!
Questions with entrees
Alfred obtained his Publican’s Licence in 1882 and ran the Sugarloaf Inn, just outside of Gunnedah.[5] So it looks like he traded his mining boots for a Publican’s shoes.
In January 1883 Alfred and Louisa are recorded as being married in Launceston.[6] (yes they travelled back to Tasmania, 1600ks away)
In July 1883 Alfred is recorded as falling down a well to his death behind his Inn at Sugarloaf.[7] So obviously they made the return journey!
Questions with the Main Course
Louisa took over the Publican’s licence and ran the Inn after Alfred’s death. She remarried in 1886 and had another child in 1888.[8] She continued to run Inns or boarding houses until her death in 1915.[9]
Questions with Dessert
I still have so many questions to ask you, but for now I think I will just sit and enjoy whatever you have to tell me.
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1 The Great Tasmanian Reef Case, Thursday, June 9. (1870, June 11). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 3. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39675481
2 http://www.ancestry.com.au Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #44 Alfred L BRANDT
My first sightings of Alfred and Louisa appear in Tasmania around 1870. Alfred appears in newspapers giving evidence in the Great Tasmanian Reef Case at Waterhouse, Tasmania, where he also stated that he had been a miner since 1849.[1]
During a recent trip to Tasmania I tried to find out more about this area. It no longer exists as a town but is now a conservation area.
I have also found their first son Alfred Lewis born in 1870 in Launceston.[2] The microfilm records at the Library in Launceston shows that they lived in an area “Quadrant”. I was able to walk around the Mall area that is now called the Quadrant while in Tasmania.
To date I have yet to find out how they arrived in Tasmania. It doesn’t appear that they were convicts, I can’t find them on any Passenger Lists or Immigration Records. Did they come by row boat, I wonder.
Questions over appertiffs and drinks
- How and when did you get to Tasmania?
- Where did you two meet?
I have then found records of another six children being born from 1872 - 1882 in New South Wales. The first three of these six were born in Gulgong.[3] The next three were born in Gunnedah.[4]
It needs to be noted here that the distance from Launceston to Gulgong/Gunnedah is approximately 1400/1600 kilometres which included a water crossing of Bass Strait of approximately 450 Kilometres. No mean feat in 1871!
Questions with entrees
- Why did you leave Tasmania and head north?
- Did you continue with mining until you became a publican?
- How did you travel north?
Alfred obtained his Publican’s Licence in 1882 and ran the Sugarloaf Inn, just outside of Gunnedah.[5] So it looks like he traded his mining boots for a Publican’s shoes.
In January 1883 Alfred and Louisa are recorded as being married in Launceston.[6] (yes they travelled back to Tasmania, 1600ks away)
In July 1883 Alfred is recorded as falling down a well to his death behind his Inn at Sugarloaf.[7] So obviously they made the return journey!
Questions with the Main Course
- What the heck was happening here.....miner to publican?
- Had you been living as a married couple for twelve years?
- Was there a stigma attached to living out of wedlock that made the trip back to Tasmania to get married a necessity?
- Or was there another reason for going back to Tasmania?
- Did you travel to and from Tasmania for the wedding with all the children?
- Alfred, did you really fall down that well or were you pushed?
Louisa took over the Publican’s licence and ran the Inn after Alfred’s death. She remarried in 1886 and had another child in 1888.[8] She continued to run Inns or boarding houses until her death in 1915.[9]
Questions with Dessert
I still have so many questions to ask you, but for now I think I will just sit and enjoy whatever you have to tell me.
------------------------
1 The Great Tasmanian Reef Case, Thursday, June 9. (1870, June 11). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 3. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39675481
2 http://www.ancestry.com.au Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #44 Alfred L BRANDT
3 http://www.ancestry.com.au Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #135592 Magnus BRANDT; Index Reg #14877 Peter BRANDT; Index Reg #15707 John BRANDT;
4 http://www.ancestry.com.au Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #22850 George BRANDT; Index Reg #25169 William BRANDT; Index Reg #17610 Ethel BRANDT;
5 Publican’s Licence for Alfred BRANDT, Government Gazette Notices (1882, September 13). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW:1832 - 1900), p. 4739. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from http:// nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225829512
6 http://www.linc.tas.gov.au/archive-heritage, Names Index RGD 37/1/42#685, accessed 18 AUGUST 2015
7 http://www.ancestry.com.au Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, Index Reg#8157 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 18 August 2015
8 Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. http:// www.ancestry.com.au
8 Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. http:// www.ancestry.com.au
Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Frances Engstrom, [database on- line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. http:// www.ancestry.com.au
9 NSW Death Registration Transcription, Ref No 1915/15291, Louisa Engstrom, Ref No 879450 Printed 27 September 2016, http://nswtranscriptions.com.au
Dear Marcia !
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for your amazing blog !
Good luck for your future life !
All the best:
PG
Budapest, Hungary
Thanks for your assistance with my problems with my settings.
DeleteWhat a fascinating story! I really like the way you have set out the post too with the actual invitation and also the questions you would like to ask. So many questions always....
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline for your comments. Yes if only I had asked questions of my parents when they were around.
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