#52ANCESTORS WEEK 24 - FATHER'S DAY

Father's Day
We covered Mother's Day in May and now it's Dad's turn. Which forefather will you highlight this week?


Obviously here in Australia we don’t celebrate Father’s Day until September but I will still follow this prompt. So this week I am highlighting Fathers. Admittedly it is strictly not Family History yet, but it will be one day!

 I am very lucky to be married to a wonderful man who is also a wonderful father. He took to fatherhood like a duck to water, so the saying goes. It may sound corny but it is true. 

Together we have raised three sons and a daughter. He has always had my back during the difficult days and nights of parenting. He has always shared the ups and downs, the tears and laughter, the triumphs and disappointments. 

But most importantly he has always been there. 

He has walked many a floor trying to get babies to sleep, changed nappies, done the washing, cooked meals and whatever else was needed at any given time.  He has read stories, heard tables and spelling words.  

He coached soccer, basketball and cricket teams. He stood on the sidelines of Netball games. He drove endless kilometres to sporting games, with our children and picked up other children along the way for their games. 

He served on numerous school and sporting committees. He barbecued, sold raffle tickets, decorated halls, ran fundraising events.  

He sat through endless piano, violin, recorder, clarinet and guitar concerts. These would often be of a weekend when a favourite team was playing footie on the TV! But he chose to be there. 

We are now retired and have the privilege of watching our three sons on their journey through fatherhood and our daughter grow into a caring confidant woman. I see many of the qualities of their father in our children.  

I rejoice in watching our sons “father” their children. Our beautiful grandchildren. 

I know the old saying “learn by example” rings true in many areas of life, but especially in raising our strong and caring sons and daughter.

#52ANCESTORS WEEK 23 - GOING TO THE CHAPEL

Week 23: Going to the Chapel

Maybe "going to the chapel" makes you think of weddings. Perhaps you have a member of the clergy in your family tree. Is there a particular church that features prominently? Chapel or Church as a surname?



"Going the Chapel….and we’re….." 

My Great Grandparents, Alfred Ludwig Brandt and Louisa Barker were married at the Chalmers Manse of the Church of Scotland in Launceston on 10th January 1883.⁠[1] 

This church is still standing today although it is no longer used as a church. On a recent visit to Tasmania, I was able to view and take photos of it. It is sadly in need of restoration but the current owners are unable to finish it.

The Church as it was in 2017 ( my photo)

Current Owners 2017 (my photo)

I have written on this blog previously a creative non fiction story on Louisa. I still have much to research on this couple, but for now I will outline this particular couple’s “Going to the Chapel” story. 

Alfred and Louisa became parents to their first born Alfred Lewis Brandt in Tasmania in 1870.[⁠2] 

They migrated north in the next year to Gulgong where they had another three sons, Magnus, Peter and John in the next five years.⁠[3] 

They continued further north after this and settled in the town of Gunnedah, New South Wales. It was in this town that the rest of their children, two boys, George and William and a girl Ethel were born between the years of 1878-1882.⁠[4] 

So have you twigged to the “Elephant in the Room” yet? 

These seven children were all born out of wedlock! Look again. Alfred and Louisa were married in 1883, some thirteen years after their first born and about three months after their last child. 

My Great Grandparents did indeed “Go to the Chapal”. They did indeed “get married”! 

But why did they wait thirteen years? 

I doubt I will ever be able to answer this question with any degree of certainty!
_______

1 Marriage Record of Alfred Brandt and Louisa Barker, #RGD37/1/42no685, https://linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fNAME_INDEXES$002f0$002fNAME_INDEXES:894563/one

2 Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #44 Alfred L BRANDT [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, http://www.ancestry.com.au,  accessed 12 August 2015 

3 Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #135592 Magnus BRANDT, Index Reg #14877 Peter BRANDT; Index Reg #15707 John BRANDT; [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 http://www.ancestry.com.au accessed 12 August 2015 

4 Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #22850 George BRANDT; Index Reg #25169 William BRANDT; Index Reg #17610 Ethel BRANDT; [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 http://www.ancestry.com.au accessed 12 August 2015 

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 22 - SO FAR AWAY

So Far Away

We're changing things up a bit for Week 22 with the theme "So Far Away." It's a pretty vague theme, to be sure. You could write about an ancestor who is from someplace far away from where you live. You could explore an ancestor who migrated far during his or her lifetime. You could tell about a research experience in a distant library or archive. I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with!


The distance between my home town of Goulburn New South Wales and Launceston, Tasmania is approximately 1223 kilometres. Not really very far by standards of how far some of my ancestors travelled to new worlds. 

But my take on the Weekly prompt “So Far Away” is about this distance. 

In December 2017 I was in Launceston Tasmania, for my Graduation in my Diploma of Family History. 

I have an ancestor Alfred Ludwig Brandt who was a miner in Tasmania in the late 1860’s. So a trip to the local library of Launceston saw me scrolling through a microfiche for the birth records of my ancestor’s son Alfred Lewis Brandt, who was born in 1870.⁠[1] 

I hoped that by finding the Baptismal record that was on the Tasmanian website LINC I would gain some information as to the whereabouts of his parents residence, at this time. 

Any Family Historian will tell you about the mind numbing experience of scrolling through page after page of microfiche. But I was rewarded for my patience and was able to take a photo of my find!

Photo of Microfiche 

This page has the residence as “Quadrant”. No house number, no street…. Just Quadrant !!! Very helpful…NOT. 

I quizzed the local librarian and he knew of an area down the road known as the Quadrant Mall. Obviously this could be the place. But it was not much to go on. 

Nether-the-less, my sister and I went for a walk around this Mall while in the area. One never knows, I might find more about this elusive family eventually in my search and I can then say I walked the ground where they lived. 

While in Tasmania my husband and I also did quite a few kilometres looking for mines that Alfred may have been involved in. Unluckily for us these mines are no longer in existence. But many kilometres and some very interesting scenery was enjoyed. Such is the life of a Family Historian. 

But for now this Alfred is a little “less far away”. Did I mention that he came from Sweden? Now that will be another story of “so far away”. I haven’t as yet proved his birth in Sweden or found out how he got to Australia, I think he either swam or came in a row boat. He just appears in Tasmania in the 1860's.

One day I will find out and that is the excitement of research. You never know what is around the corner, one day you may be "so far away' only to find the next you are "very close" to something exciting.

_________

1 http://www.ancestry.com.au Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #44 Alfred L BRANDT [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 accessed 12 August 2015

#52ANCESTOR CHALLENGE WEEK 21 - MILITARY

The Week 21 theme is "Military." Memorial Day is coming up in the US, so this makes a perfect time to write about someone in the family tree who served in the military. Another way to approach this would be to write about someone who didn't serve (but should have) or how a war affected an ancestor's life. 

As I am in Australia I am choosing to post this on the Anniversary of one of my Ancestors. 

Private Peter Brandt is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, along with 54,000 others with no known grave.⁠[1] 

Somewhere on the fields in Belgium, Peter and his fellow soldiers are together, as they fought! 

Peter is my Great Uncle who fought in World War 1.

He was “killed in action” on the 10th June 1917.⁠[2] 

I have written about Peter elsewhere in this blog (Utas Essays). So this post will be a pictorial, in memory of his sacrifice.

Memorial at AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA.

MEMORIAL AT MENIN GATE

ENTRANCE TO MENIN GATE

__________

1 Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Cemetery Details-Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery Accessed 20 March 2017

2 Service Record of Peter Brandt, B2455, p. 12, National Archives of Australia

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 20 - ANOTHER LANGUAGE

The Week 20 theme is "Another Language." You could write about an ancestor who spoke a different language than you do. You could highlight the first time that you had to work with a record in another language. Maybe there's an epitaph on an ancestor's tombstone that's written in a different language. Is there an ancestor who spoke more than one language?


I thought I would have the usual trouble with this prompt and have to ponder hard about what to write. 

But the prompt jumped out at me as soon as I saw it. 

Another Language for me is easy. For me DNA is another language. 

Deoxyribonucleic acid, nucleotides, Mutations, Chromosome, Haplogroup, mitochondrial DNA, autosomal DNA….The list goes on! 

IT IS A CROSSWORD PUZZLE OF A GREAT MAGNITUDE TO SOLVE.  

But it is one that I hope to master with practice. 

????????DNA Crossword??????????

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 19 - MOTHER'S DAY

Week 19: Mother's Day
Mother's Day was recently celebrated in the US and Australia in May. For this prompt It seemed like a good time to take a look at a mother in the family tree. After all, half of our ancestors were mothers! You could highlight your mother or one of the other mums in your family's history. 

Mother’s Day

Ruby Florence Briggs was born on 18 September 1917, the second daughter to Samuel Stanley and Florence May Briggs.⁠[1] 

Ruby was born in the suburb of Newtown, her eldest brother had died in a car accident two years previous. Her sister Vera was 6 years old and her brother Colin was 5 years old. 

Ruby was my mother, she died on 4th April, 1996.[⁠2] Mum lived with my family for many of her later years before moving into a small unit in the same town until her death.

My Mother was a very private woman. She rarely spoke to me of her past or family. She instilled in me a sense of family though. 

She always seemed to be making something. With four daughters she sewed clothes for us all. I remember overcoats that would have challenged a professional taylor! 

I remember dolls clothes that magically appeared at the mention of wanting a new outfit for one of them. 

Mum made all of her four daughters wedding dresses as well as the bridesmaid dresses of the accompanying sisters. When one of my bridesmaids married a couple of years after me and her wedding dressmaker let her down, Mum remade her wedding dress for her at the last minute. She looked beautiful and had a dress that actually fitted her on the day. 

I have fond memories of outfits being sewn for me to wear on special occasions. One in particular was made for a party where “Pajama” wear was required. As I was seventeen at the time, I wanted something pretty that I could also wear out in public. Mum produced the most beautiful flannelette “evening style” nightie. I remember it to this day, the flounces, the lace, but most of all the orange floral flannelette! I thought I was just the “bees knees”! 

A lot of our soft furnishings and furniture was either made or recovered or upholstered by Mum. She couldn’t leave a window un-curtained or a bed free of bedspread! To this day when I am at my sewing machine or with needle in hand I can feel her presence, guiding my stitches. Unfortunately she doesn't stop me making mistakes, because this is how we learn, but I know she feels my pain when I reach for the seam ripper to unpick a mistake!

Mum loved the act of giving. The more presents at Birthday and Christmas time the better. When in later years she no longer sewed I can remember every Christmas being encouraged to buy a new dress “her shout”! 

Like a lot of people I have many memories of my Mum and I am thankful for all of them.

________

1 Birth Certificate Transcription of Ruby Florence Briggs, 18 September 1917, NSW Birth Registration Transcription, #1917/27569

2 Personal Memory of Marcia Moon

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 18 - CLOSE UP

The prompt for Week 18 is "Close Up." 

Some possible ways to interpret the prompt:

an ancestor who lived closed to where you live now or where you grew up;

an ancestor that you have a portrait of;

an ancestor who you have more information about and you feel like you know them "close up."

Remember — there's no right or wrong way to approach any of the prompts!




I once again had to ponder hard and long for what to write for this prompt.

I have a couple of photos in my possession of Garvice Galvin Brandt, so I decided that I will pen a few words on him. Although there is a lot that I have found that I don’t know about him, as he is my father I have decided that I would indulge myself with a few personal memories of the man I called Dad.

Garvice was born on 16th April 1914 a son to George and Isabella and a brother to Valma and Lorna.⁠[1]

He was born into the WWI era of uncertainty, in a little town in New South Wales, called Gunnedah. His father was a ganger on the railway.

After the war I have found evidence of this little family in Wyong, New South Wales, in 1923. Why they moved there is uncertain. I found an article online through the wonderful Trove website, reporting on the activities of the children and their mother participating in the local Church fete.⁠[2]  I have posted previously elsewhere on this blog a short creative non-fiction story about this event.(St Cecelia's Bazaar - Flash Story)  

I then tracked my Dad’s family through Ancestry, via the Electoral Rolls, finding they eventually settled in Thornleigh New South Wales.[⁠3]  I presume that Garvice had a relatively uneventful childhood. But alas as was the custom of my family, my parents did not share stories about their life and so I have no stories of their early life. 

It has been passed down that Garvice succumbed to Tuberculosis in his early twenties and spent some time in a sanatorium called Bodington.⁠[4]  

Sometime around this time he met my mother Ruby Florence Briggs and they married in June 1941.[5] 

Four children were welcomed by my parents, my three elder sisters and myself.

I also remember my Dad being sick in my early childhood when I was about nine years of age. I can remember him in hospital in Manly for many months. I was not allowed to visit him, but I was taken to the window outside the hospital where I could wave to him. I remember this time vividly, with a sense of dread as I did not know what was really happening. It wasn’t until much later that I found out that he had been treated for TB again. When he came home he was frail and very thin. 

Dad was a Smallgoods Salesman. He sold smallgoods to various corner stores and butchers. It was through this trade that he acquired his lack of enthusiasm for cheaper cuts of meat! But he sold knobs of devon, strassberg etc. without any hesitation. But I remember there was always a big leg of ham at Christmas time! 

Dad was a man of faith. 

As I was seven years younger than my closest sister, it meant that I was the last one to leave home and I spent most of my teenage years with just my parents. Although we weren’t well off, I never remember wanting for anything or at least anything that I needed! Through all the times of sickness and uncertainty he still managed to provide for his family. How I am not sure, as he would not have had any savings or health insurance! 

I remember he and I leaving early in the mornings for the drive to his work and my school. As we moved regularly with rental accommodation, we often were not close to my school. We would set off in the smallgoods van and talk all the way. I missed these times when it was no longer possible for me to travel with him and I had to use public transport. 

I have fond memories of a teenage birthday sleepover, with about six girlfriends. We were going to the movies in the city in the afternoon. Once dressed in all our finery Dad loaded us into the back of the smallgoods van and drove us to George Street in the middle of Sydney. There were no seats or windows in the back of the van, we just stood up and held on! At least, being the weekend, it had been washed and we didn’t share the journey with knobs of meat, thank heaven! He drove back after the movie and picked us up. It must have been a funny sight for the busy metropolis crowd, to see us pile back into the van, that Saturday afternoon in the 1970’s! 

But I thought he was just wonderful and he was! 

He was my Dad!
______

1 Birth Certificate Transcription of Garvice Galvin Brandt, 16 April 1914, NSW Birth Registration Transcription, #1914/19533

2 Wyong (1923, September 6). Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), p. 19. Retrieved May 7, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116797727

3 Ancestry.com. Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.

4 http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=1170826, Bodington Hospital, accessed 4 June 2018.

5 Marriage Certificate Transcription of Garvice Galvin Brandt and Ruby Florence Briggs, 14 June 1941, NSW Marriage Registration Transcription, # 1941/14530

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 17 - CEMETERY

This week’s prompt is cemetery. Our Co-Ordinator wrote the following….going to a cemetery is one of my favourite things to do. Cemetery visiting has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was little, we would take a day trip to where different relatives were buried; sometimes, we'd even have a little picnic there. (It wasn't until I was older that I realised that not everyone did that!)

Do you have a favourite tombstone of one of your ancestors? Maybe you could share how you found where an ancestor is buried or a clue that you got from a tombstone or cemetery records.

Cemetery

I can’t ever remember visiting a cemetery when I was young.

I guess I was a deprived child! 

My experience of cemeteries when I grew up, were of places of sadness. I went there to bury a loved one. I didn’t realised until much later that there is a wealth of information to be found in them. 

My Family History journey began later in my life once I was retired. It was then that I felt this great need to know about my ancestors. 

It wasn’t until two years ago that I went on my first cemetery visit, without attending a funeral first. 

I was studying a Diploma of Family History with the Tasmanian University. My husband and I were going on a holiday to see sisters in a different state. I checked my research and low and behold… some of the towns we were travelling through had ancestors buried in them. 

So with my trusty list we stopped on the way and had our first Cemetery Discovery Experience. The first one proved to be a disappointment as the ancestor I was looking for, either never had a headstone or it was long gone.  

The next town cemetery took some finding. But we eventually succeeded and I took photos of four of the headstones we discovered. These were not of anyone I had as yet researched, but were collateral relatives in a line that is on my back burner for now. But when their time comes I will have photos of their graves, if nothing else! 

After the above trip I created a database of “Possible Cemeteries to visit.” As I research and find death certificates, I now add the burial place to my database. So now when travelling I can do a search by town and if I have someone buried there, we can have a Cemetery Experience.

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 16 - STORMS

This week’s prompt was Storms. We were asked if we have an ancestor who survived a storm (or didn't)? Did they fight a storm, literal or figurative? Is there one with a weather-related name?

My writing this week has a definite twist and very broad interpretation of the prompt. But it was just what I felt like doing at the time!

Elizabeth Selwyn’s Storm

     Sentenced for stealing


               Travelled far from home


                         O’er the seas


                                   Rowley provided her shelter


                                            Motherhood saved her


                                                      Stormy weather no more!

#52 ANCESTOR WEEK 15 - TAXES

Our prompt for this week’s Ancestor Challenge is Taxes.

It'sTax season in the U.S. There are many ways you could approach this theme: An ancestor you discovered using tax records, an ancestor who was a tax collector, or maybe an ancestor who kept running from the tax collector! You could explore an ancestor who has been taxing to research.

A taxing problem!

In my Family History research over the years (only about 8 years) I have found it very taxing at times at the lack of imagination that my ancestors used in naming their offspring.

Really! I wish someone had handed some of them a “Name Your Baby” book.

I am sure most of us long suffering Family Historian descendants would agree. There are just so many Thomas, John, Peter, Elizabeth, Mary and Fanny that one can handle in doing a search. 

I have the privilege of a few Thomas Rowleys. Father, son and grandson to name a few. 

Then I have the Elizabeth Rowley? Yes a few of them too. But fortunately they were also shortened to Eliza. The trend kept going here as well over a few generations.

I have a Henry Sparrow Briggs, thankfully the Sparrow is somewhat unique until you start searching and it is amazing how many Sparrows you will find! Close to 200,000 on an Ancestry search alone! Who names their child Sparrow?

Henry carried on the tradition of naming his son after himself, but at least he changed the middle name. But now I have a Henry Rowley Briggs to confuse search engines. There are also quite a few ancestors with the second name of Rowley.

Then we have a Nellie Rowley Briggs. In fact I have two, one an aunt and the other her niece. The original Nellie must have been a favourite sister of her brother Oswald(who by the way also named a son Oswald). This Nellie was a twin and her sister Lillie’s second name was Kingston, which was after her grandparents property. There are a couple of ancestors with Kingston as their second name too.

In this same branch of Briggs offspring there is my grandfather Samuel Stanley who married a Florence. He also had a sister Florence. Not helpful when you are searching Marriage / Death records for Florence Briggs and one of them was a spinster!

I have a Frederick Henderson Briggs and a Frederick Perigo Briggs. You guessed it Henderson and Perigo were former surnames.

I have an Alfred Louis Brandt and his son Alfred Lewis. At least they are a bit different.

Have I made my point? I think so.

Yes, names tax me on a daily basis. How about you?

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 14 - MAIDEN AUNT

This week’s prompt was Maiden Aunt. Technically, aunts are not ancestors as ”ancestors" are those we descend from. Everyone else is technically a collateral relative. But our ancestors (the ones we descend from) were certainly influenced by their siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Of course, researching those "other" people can yield great clues about our ancestors.

In Search of a Maiden Aunt 

A Maiden Aunt, how hard could it be? 

Oh, the places I have been and the rabbit holes I have gone down this week while searching for a Maiden Aunt. 

All my aunts(now dead) that I remember, were married. So I would have to go back another generation, to my Great Aunts. Okay, no problem, I thought. 

I have twin Great Aunts Nellie and Lillie Briggs, that I haven’t done a lot of research on, other than finding their births in 1883. ⁠[1] So a good place to start, one would think. 

I soon found a Newspaper wedding notice online for Lillie who was attended by her twin sister Nellie.⁠[2]  A great find as I now had a married name for Lillie for further research, but alas she was no longer in contention for a maiden aunt. 

So I moved onto Nellie. She was very elusive even with the unique maiden names of Nellie Rowley Briggs. 

I found a record of Nellie R Briggs marrying a John P Dooley in 1925.⁠[3] I am not sure why, but something niggled in my sub conscience about this record. 

So I looked further for her death records in her married name and was pleased when I found a death record on the New South Wales, Birth Death & Marriage Index, for Nellie Rowley Dooley in 1975.[4] But there was a problem,this record showed her parent”s names to be her brother and sister-in-law. 

A further search of her brother and sister-in-law’s  children  found that they named one of their daughters born in 1904, Nellie Rowley Briggs too.⁠[5]  (This is an all too common occurrence that Family Historians encounter, some ancestors seem to have very limited imaginations when it comes to naming their children) So this was a “red herring”: and definitely the wrong Nellie! 

So I resumed my search on Nellie Rowley Briggs, maybe she was a maiden aunt after all. 

I soon found another Newspaper record from 1951 online for Probate in the Will off Nellie Rowley Wylie.⁠[6]  A further search of the New South Wales BDM index verified this death.⁠[7]  

A further search turned up a marriage record in 1948.[⁠8]  There is no mention of a marriage in any Newspapers that I can find as yet, but there is evidence of a possible divorce of a Mr Wylie. This fact and Nellie being 65 years of age may have contributed to her keeping her nuptials low keyed. 

So another candidate for a Maiden Aunt was put to rest. 

My search continued on this branch of my tree though. There were six sisters in the eleven offspring. Surely my next pick would yield a maiden aunt! 

As I had started with the youngest twins, my next search centred around Florence Briggs. 

Bingo! Florence was indeed a maiden aunt. But it did take some proving! 

Florence Briggs was born in 1876.⁠[9] I found no supporting evidence of her having married. 

She is listed on the Electoral Rolls from 1913 as a Milliner until 1937.⁠[10] 

Not only did she appear to have a career, she is also listed as trading under the names of Marshall and Briggs, Milliners, Royal Arcade Sydney. This information was obtained from another online Newspaper record in 1930 where it appears sadly, that she and her partner had claimed Bankruptcy.[⁠11]  Florence would have been 54 years old at this time. 

In the 1954 Electoral Roll Florence’s occupation is listed as Home Duties.⁠[12]  She would have been 78 at this time so after her failed business she may have chosen to retire. 

On the New South Wales Birth, Death & Marriage index I found Florence Briggs with her correct parents listed as having died in 1959.⁠[13]  

I don’t know a lot about my Great Aunt Florence, but at least after this challenge I have found a maiden aunt and possibly a few more as well. I will leave revealing them to another challenge. 

I have had fun exploring these lines of Collateral Relatives. It has been an interesting couple of days, that will in time no doubt add to the colourful stories that I wish to share. 

I have now added a lot more names to my “Wish List of Certificates” that I want and need to order! 

__________ 

1 New South Wales, Australia, St Peters Cooks River Select Births, Marriages and Burials, 1839-1963, www.Ancestry.com

2 WEDDING. (1913, February 15). Singleton Argus (NSW : 1880 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article80070242

3 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Marriage Record for Nellie R Briggs & John P Dooley, #12427/1925

4 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Death Record for Nellie Rowley Dooley, #9610/1975.

5 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Birth Record for Nellie R Briggs, #6776/1904.

6 Advertising (1951, August 16). Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 - 1962), p. 4. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117920416

7 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Death Record for Nellie Rowley Wylie, #14480/1951.

8 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Marriage Record for Nellie Rowley Briggs & Robert Leslie Wylie, #20287/1948.

9 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Birth Record for Florence Briggs, #4490/1876

10 Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, www. Ancestry.com

11 Advertising (1930, June 24). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16701704

12 Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, www. Ancestry.com

13 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales, Death Record for Florence Briggs #10570/1959

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 13 - THE OLD HOMESTEAD

This week's prompt for the 52 Week Ancestor Writing Challenge is "The Old Homestead". As usual the prompt can be interrupted in any way that we choose.

My Old Homestead is where I have lived for the last 40 years. My husband and I bought our very modest house in 1978 just three years into our marriage after living in two rental places only. 

I came from an upbringing of rental houses as my parents never owned a home of their own.  But they were  always very homely places. My mother was a homemaker, which is a phrase not heard much these days. But wherever we lived, I can always remember curtains on the windows and handmade furnishings, knickknacks on sideboards, pot plants at the door, the sound of the sewing machine humming, working on some project. 

We moved regularly. By the time I was twenty I had lived in six houses in six different towns. This is not much by today’s standards, but in my youth it was something I felt keenly as I did not have a “place to call home” once I married that I could go back to. This was felt keenly by me when we travelled back to my husband’s family home and town for visits. 

Our Family home welcomed four children over the years. It was here that our family grew and put down roots. 

Although I occasionally hankered after a more modern or bigger house, I found myself content with just providing a family home. 

I remember thinking as our children grew up in our little house sharing bedrooms and growing up with only one small living room and no entertainment area, that at least they would always have a place to come home to.

We have welcomed three daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren into our family and home. My husband and I are growing old together in our “Old Homestead”. We no longer have nowhere to entertain. We have opened up areas and we have what seems like sooooo much space. We have grown into our little home. 

But most importantly we have memories. I can hear laughter, singing, music, arguing, tears and much more as I walk into old bedrooms that are now sewing rooms and guest rooms. There is always a cot and beds made up for whenever someone comes home or a “Grandie” comes for a sleepover. 

There is still an abundance of toys at the ready (some that were our childrens). The bookcase still has many Golden Books on the shelf. There is still the same old sandpit in the backyard, although our cheeky dog gets the most pleasure from it these days! My sewing machine can be heard to hum on many occasions, just like the one I remember hearing in my childhood.

Most importantly this Old Homestead still buzzes at different times of the year, mainly Christmas time with the sound of family. It is here that belonging, acceptance, talking, laughter, tears and generally just being rowdy are the things that make a home. 

But although it probably isn’t classed as a typical “Old Homestead”, it is in my mind the only “old Homestead” that I have had the privilege to love and cherish.

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 12 - MISFORTUNE

This week’s prompt is Misfortune.

There is no family tree that has not had some misfortune. This week, we have been encouraged to explore some of it. It doesn't have to be a heart-wrenching tragedy. It could be a set-back in business or a missed opportunity. We are asked to write about something that didn't go the way our ancestor would have wanted or had planned.

My writing this week is a Creative Non Fiction Story on my Paternal Great Grandfather Alfred Brandt.

ALFRED'S  MISFORTUNE

It is going to be a long night, those punters at the end of the bar look like they are settled in for the night. 

“Time gentlemen, please,” Alfred heard his wife Louisa call from the doorway. It’s all very well to call time my love, but when they are only just starting their pints, they aren’t about to get out of here anytime soon!

She looks tired, little Ethel must have given her a hard time again last night. I don’t remember her getting up to the babe, but then I don’t usually hear anything once I start snoring, smiling sheepishly wiping ale glasses, Alfred noticed that they were out of water again. 

“Alfred we are out of water, how am I supposed to keep up the hot water over the fire if the buckets aren’t kept full in the kitchen?”

Just as I thought, another trip out in the cold to the well. I wish it wasn’t so slippery out there. Grabbing a bucket and the lantern, Alfred headed outside in the bleak July winter, stopping to give his wife a quick peck on the cheek on the way. 

Once outside he noticed the punters from the end of the bar had followed him, deciding it was a good time to relieve themselves as well. It’s going to be hard getting them to go home now that their bladders are empty!

The ice had formed on the ground covering it with a thick layer of frost. Phew, it’s cold out here. Blast, there goes me light, where did that gust of wind come from?

“Where’d you go Bert… what happened to the lantern… how’s a man supposed to p..s in the dark?” he heard them carousing, while he gingerly picked his way over the crunchy ground underfoot. It was hard work in only the shadow of the early moonlight. 

He pulled his coat closer to ward off the bitter wind. Now where is that infernal rope? Ahh there it is, bending to retrieve the rope to pull up the bucket, he panicked realising his foot was slipping, much too close to the edge.

“Herregud!”⁠[1] he yelled with arms flaying as he tumbled down the inky dark hole for what seemed to last forever. He hit the bottom of the well with a force that shook every bone in his body, realising he had landed on one of the outcrops that stuck out of the wall of the well.

Herregud, am I to die here in this darkness and cold?

All too soon Alfred breathed a slow rasping sound, drifting into eternal unconsciousness, the cold and dark creeping into his soul…

“Louisa…”
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Back Story

Alfred Ludwig Brandt died falling down a well in 1883.⁠[2]

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954)

How does a man in 1883 fall down a well? I imagine that Occupational Health and Safety Practises weren’t in place at this time. 

Was it just an accident? Could he have been pushed? The coroner's report claims that it was an accident.⁠[3]

Falling down a well is certainly a misfortune. I have written about this event on other occasions, especially from the viewpoint of Louisa.

But this time I felt that Alfred deserved a story of his own!

________________

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_profanity

2 GUNNEDAH. (1883, August 2). Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135952127

3 State Archives NSW; Series: 2924; Item: 4/6618; Roll: 343, Ancestry.com. New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Coroners' Inquests, 1821-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 11 - LUCKY

This week’s prompt is “lucky”. We were asked…

Do you have an ancestor who was lucky at something? Lucky to be alive? Lucky at cards? Lucky in love? Maybe you have an ancestor with a name that reminds you of luck or fortune. There's always "luck of the Irish." Maybe you have a story of how luck played a role in finding an ancestor. Write about that this week.


Once again I was struggling about what to write. I was trying to sort out all the things on one ancestor that I could pursue as lucky and I was having trouble with working out a story. 

Then it hit me! Just write about one thing!!!! Of course, now the words can flow without cluttering too much, into it. 

Bath Newspaper- Report of Elizabeth Selwyn's Trial 

Sentence to seven years transportation over the seas for stealing some apparel. 

Lucky? Maybe!

Elizabeth Selwyn was convicted of her crime in 14 December 1790 and promptly locked up.⁠[1] Her court case wasn’t until 3 May 1791.[⁠2] 

Where she was housed from the time of her conviction is yet to be conclusively established. But she would have probably spent this time in an over crowded English Prison, with little luxury or hope.

Elizabeth may have viewed the prospect of getting out of a stinking English prison as lucky. After nearly seven months she was probably keen to start a new life no matter what the conditions.

Elizabeth sailed on the Pitt in July 1791, arriving in Australia on 14 February 1792 and was assigned as a housekeeper to Lieutenant Thomas Rowley.⁠[3] 

Although this narrative may seem dismal, it was indeed a story of hope and opportunity. One which Elizabeth appears to have grabbed with both hands and turned her “Rags” story to a “Riches” story.


To read further posts on Elizabeth's story, please see sidebar to the right.
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1 Ancestry.com. Gloucestershire, England, Prison Records, 1728-1914 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814

2 Ancestry.com. Gloucestershire, England, Prison Records, 1728-1914 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814

3 STARR, MARION, Unhappy Exiles Convicts of the Pitt and Kitty 1792, Australia 2016

#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 9 - WHERE THERE'S A WILL

With the Prompt for this week's writing challenge being Where there's a Will.... the choice as usual was to use it however we were inspired to. Maybe we had come across an interesting Will. Explain it to a non-genealogist. What story does it reveal? We could write about an ancestor who was determined to do something. (Or maybe you have an ancestor named Will!)

_______

I knew from the moment I saw this prompt many weeks ago, what I would write about.

Captain Thomas Rowley died on 27th May 1806.⁠[1]  He left named in his Will, his pardoned convict partner Elizabeth Selwyn and five children.⁠[2]

Thomas arrived in Australia on 14 February 1792 after a perilous journey lasting just over 6 months. On the same ship convict Elizabeth Selwyn who had been transported for 7 years also disembarked. She is listed being assigned to Lieutenant Rowley as a housekeeper.⁠[3]

Nine months and five days later Elizabeth gave birth to their first child. Another four children were to be born to this pair in the next eleven years.

Thomas and Elizabeth never married. Elizabeth received an Absolute Pardon in 1794.[⁠4]

The Will is a very long hand written document and can be viewed on Ancestry in full.⁠[5]

The next two paragraphs below, transcribed from Thomas’ Will have always sparked my interest.

“There is special trust for the benefit of my five natural children begotten on the body of Elizabeth Selwyn namely Isabella Rowley, Thomas Rowley, John Rowley, Mary Rowley and Eliza Rowley and also for the benefit conjunctively and proportionally of the said Elizabeth Selwyn their mother upon these restrictions and conditions herein after mentioned and expressed. And it is my will that my said five natural children above named shall be entitled to and enjoy…”

In another section of the Will it states

“And it is my wish and desire that so long as this said Elizabeth Selwyn shall continue sole and unmarried and does not live in a state of cohabitation with any man that she be entitled to and receive one sixth share of the rents, produce and interest of my said Estates and Effects from year to year, the same being into six equal shares arranged and proportioned for her maintenance and support from any said executors in common with the survivors which will of course determine the number of shares or proportions to make them equal amongst all…”

There are so many questions that this Will invokes.

Does the fact that Thomas openly acknowledged his relationship with Elizabeth, show a deeper feeling for her?

I would like to think that it does. He died at his property and Elizabeth was still with him at his death.

Why did he never marry her?

Although there are reports of officers marrying convicts, it probably wasn’t widely acceptable. Whereas living in a de facto relationship doesn’t seem to have raised many eyebrows!

But the fact does remain that he didn’t marry her after her pardon either?

But she stayed with him.

Did she have a choice? I doubt it? It would not have been easy to bring up children as a single mother. There is also the possibility that she loved him or was just simply content with her lot.

Why did he put the stipulation that she not co-habitate with anyone? Was it because he was jealous of her living with anyone else? Or did he just not want another man having access to his wealth and property after his death?

What I do know is that Elizabeth was still unmarried at the time of her death in 1843.[⁠6]  She was living with her daughter and son-in-law in 1828 and listed herself on a census as Betsey Rowley and a widow.⁠[7]  Did she feel she had earned the title of Mrs Rowley after so many years?

I haven’t found any evidence of another partner for her, after Thomas died. Either way she remained unattached for 37 years before her death. But if she did indeed find another man, she was careful about acknowledging him!

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1 Ancestry.com. Australia and New Zealand, Find A Grave Index, 1800s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. 

2 Ancestry.com. London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507-1858 [database on-line].Provo,UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 2011. www.ancestry.com.au/interactive/1704/31787 A037132-00202 

3 Ancestry.com. New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806- 1849 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication HO10, Pieces 5, 19-20, 32-51); The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Retrieved May 20 2016 

4 Ancestry.com. New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Original data:

5 Ancestry.com. London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data: London, England, Wills and Probate. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives. Retrieved June 10 2016.

6 Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Compiled from publicly available sources. Retrieved June 1 2016.

7 Ancestry.com. 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: New South Wales Government. 1828 Census: Householders’ returns [Population and Statistics, Musters and Census Records, Census, Colonial Secretary] . Series 1273, Reels 2551-2552, 2506-2507. State Records Authority of New South Wales. Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia. Retrieved June 10 2016.