#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 6 - FAVOURITE NAME

#52 ANCESTORS

The prompt for this week’s #52 Ancestor Challenge is Favourite Name. It could be a name of an ancestor that makes you smile. Perhaps it's an unusual name.

MY FAVOURITE NAME - Garvice Galvin 

 
This week I am writing about my father, Garvice Galvin Brandt. Although I adored my father and was spoilt by him as the youngest, I never really talked to him, not on a deeper level! He died when I was twenty one and I suppose I always thought I had plenty of time. 

You would think that this would have taught me a lesson, but alas it didn’t. 

My mother lived for a further 19 years and although I was close to her, I still never gave her the chance to tell her or Dad’s story. I was always too busy with my young family and my parent’s generation had to be asked to share their stories. I just wished I had asked!

It wasn't until later years when I found an interest in Family History that I realised the opportunities missed.

I often wonder how my Dad got his name.

Garvice Galvin BRANDT

Well I can speculate fairly confidently on the Galvin one. His mother’s maiden name was Galvin. Her middle name was Gertrude, so I like to think that there was a GG theme going on when she gave birth.

As to Garvice? It is anyone's guess, but I do have a theory.

My eldest sister thinks she can remember our Mum telling her once that Dad was named after an author of the time. I googled “Garvice authors” once, while researching. I wanted to write a story about his birth. Low and behold there was a Charles Garvice, a popular romance writer of over 150 books at the time of Dad’s birth.

So I now choose to think that this may have been the origin of his first name.

I do know that Garvice, wasn’t popular with my father. He regularly called himself “Jack” and filled many forms in under this name. He also recorded his middle name as Joseph, not Galvin.

So I tend to be fairly liberal in my search parameters when doing research on him.

The other thing is that most research engines and word programmes like to auto correct Garvice to garlic, when inputing information. This has caused a few smiles in my Family History adventures!

28 DAY WRITING CHALLENGE DAY 3 - THE GAOL (1791)

THE GAOL

Shivering uncontrollably, Elizabeth thought, will I ever be warm again? The walls of the cell dripped with moisture and the floors were awash with filth.

Elizabeth and Lizzy were taken quickly from the darkened street once the Nightwatchman arrived, to the County Gaol in the City of Glocester(Gloucester ) to await trial.

The days all seemed to run into one another. Stirring from a fitful sleep Elizabeth wondered how long have I been here? When will this nightmare end? Where have they put Lizzy?

Everyday morphed into another long day of agony. Packed in a small cell with one meal a day. At least I get a meal everyday, which is more than some days at ‘ome!

Drifting off to sleep, shivering once again she wondered could I get out of here another way. Death, seemed a kinder alternative. If only I had a choice.

Waking the next morning, she realised that she was still alive and no longer shivering.

What will happen to me? Will I ever seem Mam again?I guess I am destined to endure more of whatever I God has in store for me. I just wish I could see Mam and let her know what happened. I don’t even know if she knows where I am. I hope she knows that I was just trying to feed the young ‘uns.

The day was one long drudge. No room to move and the endless cold and damp. Suddenly her nostrils were struck with the stench wafting through the hall. The Gaoler was coming towards the cell.

“Right you be, me lovelies, just letting you know that you needs to be up bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning. Your trial will take place tomorrow and you will all be escorted to the Booth Hall for the Epiphany Sessions. It is snowing nicely outside so with any luck you will all have a lovely walk,” he snickered as he walked past all the cells.

So tomorrow I will learn my fate. Am I to have a death sentence or will I be transported o’er the seas? No matter what, I won’t see me family again! 

Curling up into a ball on the floor away from the incessant wet walls, she drifted off to sleep, hoping that her dreams would be kept at bay. 

What possibly could I dream of that won’t turn into a nightmare?

References

Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Gloucestershire Prison Collections; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814

28 DAY WRITING CHALLENGE DAY 2 - THE CRIME (1791)

THE CRIME

Glass splinters shattered overhead in a spray of tiny crystals all around her. The sound broke the eery silence, as she watched Lizzy emerged through the broken window.

“Why’d you do that,” Elizabeth whispered as she helped Lizzy scramble through the last of the broken shards left in the window frame.

“It was so dark in there I couldn’t find the way to the front door,” giggled Lizzy.

Shivering in the dark and drizziling rain, Elizabeth reflected that things with Lizzy were never straight forward. They had what they needed, now let’s get out of here! This haul is enough material to clothe the young ‘uns! The rest will fetch a pretty penny too, feeding both our families for a month.

Pulling her shawl closer around her shoulders, Elizabeth hurried Lizzy along, through the dark street, awash now with the household sludge and mud from the constant rain throughout the night.

Fear gripped her when she heard the familiar cry of “Stop, thief.”

Elizabeth knew that they would have to outrun whoever chose to join the chase. Surely there can’t be many about at this time of night, she thought, grabbing Lizzy’s hand and taking off around the corner.

Where the bloomin’ hell did they come from? Running into a mob of revellers on their way home from a night of merriment.

“Well me lassies, I guess we will keep you company while our coachman goes for the nightwatchman,” leered one of the men gripping her by the arm and the others surrounding Lizzy at the same time.

Elizabeth’s panic rose by the minute as she waited in fear for the Nightwatchman to arrive. What are we going to do now? How do we explain the gowns and fabric and the broken glass glistening in Lizzy’s hair?

All to soon she found herself and Lizzy hauled off to the lockup, to await the Magistrate’s pleasure.


References

Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Gloucestershire Prison Collections; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814

Wikipedia, Bow Street Runners, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Street_Runners

28 DAY WRITING CHALLENGE 2018 - DAY 1 Introducing Elizabeth Selwyn

Today is the first day of my 28 Day Family History Challenge.  

It has been suggested by our Co-Ordinator to ask myself what my story is really about? How is the story I plan on writing going to touch a nerve in the busy lives of my family.

I am asked to write it down and keep it in front of me as I write over the next 28 days, letting it be my guide.

As I prepared to write my first draft of my story in the Writing Challenge, I had decided to write about my paternal Grandfather.

But I soon realised that I was under prepared with my research to do him justice. So I have decided that I will put him on hold for another time (maybe next year’s challenge).

I have now decided to write about my maternal Great great great grandmother Elizabeth Selwyn. I have done a fair bit of research on her but there is still so much to find. So I will be doing research along with writing, but one of the things I learnt from last year’s Challenge is to seperate my writing time and my research time. 

So when I am setting out to write I will just write and not research. The research can be done at another time and I can make quick notes to come back to in my drafts. I now know that It is important to me just to write and see where it leads me.

What is my story of Elizabeth Selwyn really about? 

I would say in a nutshell…. Strong Women. Yes, corny I hear you say! 

But I hope to bring Elizabeth to life for my family and myself, as obviously I never met her.

I hope over the next 28 days I can breathe life into my Elizabeth and it turns out an enjoyable read. 

So here goes….. another in the series of Strong Women in my Family Tree.

Please watch this space and hopefully the first instalment won’t be far away.

But for now I will just put a very basic timeline up, as the first instalment and my story will start in ernest on Day 2, which by the way has been and gone along with Day 3!  But I will catch up.

#52ANCESTORS WEEK 5 - IN THE CENSUS

#52 Ancestors

This week's prompt for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "In the Census." What intriguing find have you made in a census? What has a series of census records shown you? Do you have an ancestor who constantly ages only 7 years between censuses? (Those are fun!)

Someone suggested that maybe in Australia we could look at early musters or electoral rolls as our censuses don't have as much info as an English or American census.

In the Census 

I really haven’t had much success with censuses. I haven't found anything intriguing! Yet!

Why? I'm not really sure. But in Australia I find that there isn’t much information on them in regard to my ancestors. Usually when I do find one, it is only to open it up and find a surname with how many inhabitants are in the house! Of course I want to know who those other inhabitants are, don't I?

Whereas Electoral Rolls seem to give me more information.

In the Electoral Rolls I have found, they usually have the eligible voters of a household listed. This has in a lot of cases confirmed siblings, spouses, occupations and residences. I have plotted the where abouts of many ancestors through Electoral Rolls, thus confirming things on their timeline. It has given me insight to the movement of a few of them! Of course there is no mention of non-voting children. But in my case "Beggars can't be choosers"!

I am in awe of some of the information on other country's Censuses. I will no doubt get to use some of them eventually, but for the time being I am stuck looking through the “less than informative” Australian records. I am still trying to confirm the birth and parent's names of some of my early ancestors before I can move out of this country.

I have used Electoral Rolls in conjunction with the Australian Sands Directory on many occasions.[1] These two databases have given me firm footings for placing many of my ancestors at different places and times.

I am still learning in many areas in regards to my research, but I am truely thankful of the many resources that are now available online for today's researchers.

I look forward to reading about other's exciting finds, but for now I am off to trawl through Trove! [2] 

____________

1 Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858-1933
Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, Sands Street Index, 1861-1930 https://search.ancestry.com.au/search cardcatalog.aspx#ccat=hc=25&dbSort=1&sbo=1&title=&keyword=SANDS%20DIRECTORY& 

2 National Library of Australia, Online database, https://trove.nla.gov.au

#52ANCESTORS WEEK 4 - INVITE TO DINNER

#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

• 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 

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

LOUISA - Chapters Nineteen and Twenty

CHAPTER NINETEEN 

MRS ENGSTRTOM ©

On the 1st  June 1884 Louisa received her first Publican’s Licence for the Sugarloaf Inn, Gunnedah.12 She was now officially the head of this establishment, legally in her own name. She was delighted.

The years flowed into each other. The Inn continued to prosper and the children continued to grow.

Then one dusty hot summers day in February 1886 a tall blond sunburnt man entered the bar.

“What can I get you Sir,” asked Louisa, observing his handsome face. “An ale, Madam, please.”

“You look like you could do with a drink, where is your journey taking you?”

“I am heading to Queensland looking for work. I disembarked from my ship in Sydney last year from Sweden, but I have decided that the seafaring life is no longer for me.”

Louisa caught her breath, Sweden, the place where Alfred had been born. She sat down and soon found herself very comfortable with this young man. She learnt so many things that day, he was nearly eight years her junior. He played with the children and ended up staying for tea. She was slightly embarrassed when she served up their usual light evening meal of bread, cheese and jam. He didn’t seem to mind.

“Can you tell me where I can get accommodation for a time,” he asked.
For the first time in nearly three years, Louisa was sorry that she no longer offered lodgings.

“It is about seven miles down the road to Gunnedah, you should be able to get a room at the Bank Hotel, but I would suggest you leave soon before it gets dark.” 

He didn’t make it to Queensland after, but settled in Gunnedah, and ran cattle after purchasing a lease on a property near by.

On the 31st  August 1886,Louisa found herself walking hand in hand from the Wesleyan Parsonage, Tamworth after a simple service, with her new husband August Thomas Engstrom.13

They were greeted outside by her seven children all running at her and talking at once, “Can we go on a holiday now Mumma, Mam, can we, can we?”

She smiled at her husband, thinking as she did so, she had thought she would never be able to call someone that again.

“Well Mrs Engstrom are you ready to take this tribe to see the sea?” he asked.

“Yes my dear, let’s go,” she replied, “I can’t wait.”

12 Government Gazette Notices (1884, August 29). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), p. 5884. Retrieved May 26, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225588522

13 Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. http://www.ancestry.com.au

CHAPTER TWENTY 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ©

Louisa rolled over and watched her husband while he slept. She no longer shared her room with Ethel, since her marriage last year.

Instead of opening the lodging part of the Inn, August had suggested that they turn the rooms into bedrooms for the children. It made sense and now that there was to be another little person joining their family in a couple of months, they would need the extra space in their bedroom.

Louisa’s thoughts turned to her first marriage. Alfred had been a wonderful husband and father, but their time together had been all work. With August or Thomas as some people insisted on calling him, she had time for laughter and play. 

But it was mainly because of Alfred’s work that they were in the position of comfort that they now lived in. August’s property and cattle run was prospering too. But soon he would need to hire a Overseer and take over the running of the bar. She had been told by the doctor that she needed to rest for the upcoming birth of her eighth child and August’s first.

“What are you thinking Mrs Engstrom?” her thoughts were interrupted by August who had woken and was looking at her with love.

“I have just been thinking how lucky I am and how much I am looking forward to this new little life making an appearance.”

“Whoa, not so fast, we need him or her to stay put for a couple of months yet, my love,” he urged, “don’t go wishing for it too soon.”

As they headed downstairs to meet the children for breakfast, Louisa was concerned about the cough August had and suggested that she make some lemon and honey water for him. He brushed her concerns away as they both smelled the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.

Alfred and Magnus who were now seventeen and fifteen, had become quite the cooks over the years. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the hallway.
“What is going on in here,” Louisa asked as she came through the doorway with August close behind her.

“Happy Anniversary,” chimed all the children with excited beaming smiles on their faces.

Louisa covered her mouth with her hand, looking at August sheepishly. “I completely forgot,” she exclaimed with remorse in her voice.

“No need to worry, my love you have more than enough to think about,” August chimed in, pulling something out of his pocket, “just as well I remembered, hey?” as he handed her a small packet tied with a violet bow.

Opening the little packet she found a brooch in shape of a half moon, embedded with seeded pearls. It was the most beautiful gift she had ever received.

Turning to kiss her husband, she was aware of a chorus of giggles behind her.