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25.01.2022 An Unusual Family Heirloom An article that was published in Australian Family Tree Connections some years ago.

24.01.2022 Birth, death, and marriage certificates may not always be correct because the information on them is only as good as the person supplying the information. I have attached transcripts of two death certificates as examples. 1. Ann Whitelum died 2 November 1889 because of a stomach ulcer. The informant was her husband George Whitelum. He did not know her parents names, but maybe she didn't either. There is no information about her marriage to George, date, place, or age at the t...ime, even though he is described as her husband in the informant section. Nor are their any children listed, and there were a number of them. So if George could not remember his marriage date and his children's' names can the rest of the information on the certificate be considered reliable. Some, definitely. Doctors details etc and burial details, she was buried in Broken Hill, where she died. Irish, yes, but the length of time in New South Wales, questionable, as I know they were married in Willunga, South Australia on 24 January 1853 and all of their nine children were born in South Australia, the last in 1870. So whilst she may have arrived in New South Wales, she obviously spent many years in South Australia? More research hopefully will sort the missing information eventually. 2. George Whitelum died 31 December 1905 at Blende Street, Broken Hill, and was buried in the Anglican section of Broken Hill Cemetery. George died of cardiac failure and senility. The informant for George's death is J. Whitelum, nephew, of Broken Hill. George's youngest son was John Whitelum, could this be his son and not his nephew. I think the informant may be George's youngest son, John. There is far more detail on George's death certificate than on that of his wife, Ann. The only possible mistake is that George was born in Lancashire. George's shipping record says he was a native of Lincolnshire in England. I have not found a baptism in Lincolnshire so it is possible that Lancashire is correct. The certificate also lists the names and ages of seven of the nine children with two daughters having predeceased their father. The amount of time spent in South Australia and New South Wales does not match his arrival in Adelaide which was early 1850, nor does his age quite match, but that is not unusual. There is always a margin of error. So whilst birth, death, and marriage certificates can give you a lot of information it may not always be reliable.

24.01.2022 Shephardstown School, near Adelong, New South Wales probably during the years of World War 1. Shephardstown no longer exists but the photographic memories do. My grandmother who was born in 1908 and some of her siblings went to this school, whilst their father earned a living as a gold miner in the Gibraltar goldmine.

23.01.2022 Starlands Joseph James Cooper pages 13-14... More to come at a later date.

23.01.2022 In 1817 my convict ancestor John Thorn, born in Lustleigh, Devon, England, petitioned Governor Lachlan Macquarie to be released from servitude as a convict. John Thorn was a stonemason on the Government stone mason's gang and was needed to build Macquarie's Sydney. There is a family story that he was one of the stonemasons who built the original lighthouse on South Head, Sydney. I wonder how many other buildings he worked on, Hyde Park Barracks, St James Church. In 1814 he wa...s working in Windsor, what did he help build there? John Thorn married the widow of a Drummer from the 73rd Regiment who died in Sydney in 1814. Hannah, as she was known but actually, Henriet Mansfield nee Tyre was baptized in a small village in Elgin, Scotland called Dyke, and had married William Mansfield in 1803. William and Henriet had five children, so when John and Henriet had their first child, Thomas, in December 1815, John was supporting six children as a convict. The result of his 1817 petition was that his wife and children were put on the Government Store, so they were being fed and clothed by the government. John Thorn's second petition was more successful and he received a ticket of leave. John and Henriet/Harriet/Hannah Thorn, had four children together and lived until the early 1870s. Henriet was six years older than John and she died in August 1873 at the age of 94. John died the following year on Christmas Day 1874. They almost certainly would never have met if New South Wales had not been turned into a penal colony. I am descended from Thomas Thorn.

22.01.2022 Please feel free to share any of the information I publish on my page.

21.01.2022 Some interesting headstones from St Cuthbert's in Edinburgh. A fascinating place to visit.

20.01.2022 Old maps are a source of information that is often overlooked. I have attached 3 maps of the town of Cootamundra, 1924, 1930 and 1964. The original town plan is shown in the 1930 map whilst the 1964 map shows extensions to the town that were done over time. Some of the streets do not exist and perhaps never did and some have different names to what can be seen on the maps. To view these maps properly you will need to zoom in on them. You may have to save the photos and open them in a photo program that allows this.

19.01.2022 Twyford The register for St Mary's Willesden, Middlesex. Marriage of Henry Twyford to Mary Johnson 28 January 1744. Henry was a farmer.... Willesden is now a part of Greater London but the church is still there and so is a sizeable cemetery. There would be a few Twyfords buried there as the family can be traced back to the mid-1500s being baptized and buried at this church. Also attached is the marriage record for John Twyford to Barbara Burnett on 8 September 1767 at St Mary's Willesden. There will be more to come on this family and their lives in New South Wales.

18.01.2022 Land Titles can be a fascinating source of information. My ancestor Patrick Joseph Geoghegan owned land in the Bankstown area, I have attached a photo of the first page of the Title Deeds to show some of the information that can be found. This is a Torren's Title and is dated 14 August 1907.

18.01.2022 The Duchess of Teck and her daughter Princess "May" who became Queen Mary of England wife of George V. These newspaper clippings were amongst my grandmother, Ruth Sheldon's collection. They can't have been hers originally because they date from 4 March 1893 and she was not born until 1908. Her mother, Ruth Bradley was around 19 years old in 1893 so perhaps she was the one to have clipped them from the newspaper. The other alternative is Ruth Sheldon's mother-in-law. Ottil Sheldon nee Roos, known as Tilly, who was the daughter of German immigrants and perhaps was very interested in Princess May as she was of German descent. I will never know but it is interesting that it was kept for over 100 years and still in her collection today.

16.01.2022 Starlands Joseph James Cooper pages 11-12

16.01.2022 Starlands Chapter 6 - Joseph James Cooper Pages 6-10

12.01.2022 The photo of the headstone placed on Joseph James Cooper's unmarked grave in 2001. He was the first Mayor or Bankstown Municipality.

12.01.2022 James Pascall Merry is my adopted ancestor. He raised my gg-grandmother, Lucy Ruth Hayward - Merry. He was a convict transported to Tasmania when he was 16-17 years old and he was not a cooperative teenager. He ended up in a lot of trouble, absconding countless times and committing other crimes and finally sentenced to another 10 years and sent to Norfolk Island, unfortunately, he did not arrive at his destination because the other convicts seized the ship "Lady Franklin". T...hey were eventually caught near Fiji and returned to Sydney and then Tasmania. James was sentenced to death but it was commuted to six months at Port Arthur in solitary confinement in the Silent Prison. After that he was assigned to Judge Horn the judge who sentenced him to death. James received his ticket of leave in 1856 and then in 1858 he received a conditional pardon. More to come. See more

11.01.2022 1926, Sydney. A young American sailor that my grandmother met. Her comment is written on the back of the photo. Interesting that he carried photos of himself taken in California to hand out to young women. Maybe he was planning to get into the "moving pictures", he certainly has the looks. I would love to know the full story but she would not divulge any information, except that he was a "perfect gentleman".

11.01.2022 John Saunders We all have our brick walls and John Saunders is one of mine. The article attached was published in "Australian Family Tree Connections" in 2014. This magazine is no longer being published.... I have, since I wrote the article, found Elizabeth Harris' death. She died on 16 November 1912 in Harrow Road, Auburn, Sydney. A number of her children lived in the Auburn area and she was probably living with one them. Unfortunately, John Saunders still remains a mystery.

10.01.2022 My great aunt Sarah Bradley Chalker on her wedding day the 10 April 1912 at Shephardstown, NSW. Her husband was Richard Edward Martin Lane, known as Dick Martin. Both of them had been born out of wedlock, he, in 1887 and she, in 1893. The bridesmaid was a Miss Treeweeke, Sarah's best friend, not sure who the best man was. They had five children. Sarah and Dick remained married until 1970 when Dick died of Leukemia. I remember him as a gentle giant.

08.01.2022 Michael Joseph Tierney Another of my published articles 2015 February - Australian Family Tree Connections

06.01.2022 My grandmother Ruth Caroline Thelma Chalker certainly seems to have known her Theory of Music. She was 13 years old when she did the examination. Honours with 91/100.

04.01.2022 1977 November, Land R: Ivy McDonald nee Andrew Cooney and Ruth Caroline Thelma Sheldon nee Chalker. My grandmothers. At the time this photo was taken they were both 69 years old. I am now nearly as old as they were at the time of my 21st birthday. Also photos of Ivy Andrew Cooney born 24 July 1908 and Ruth Caroline Thelma Chalker born 7 August 1908. Two weeks apart in age, worlds apart in attitude.

03.01.2022 Something I found recently that I thought might be of interest to some. 1815 March 31 An Inquisition On the body of Frederic Morris, Private in the 46th Regiment - Verdict "Felo De Se" - Took his own life.... An interesting read.