This is my response to Pauleen’s Australia Day Challenge;
CLIMBING YOUR FAMILY’S GUM TREE
My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was: George James Hayward who arrived in South Australia in 1843. He’s probably also the person I know least about.
I have Australian Royalty (tell us who, how many and which Fleet they arrived with): I don’t have any Australian Royalty in my family.
I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from: Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, England, Prussia
Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam? Yes some did but I haven’t recorded how many.
How many ancestors came as singles? Three ancestors came to Australia single, George James Hayward, Captain James Welsh, and Thomas William Tyrrell.
Captain James Welsh
How many came as couples? I don’t think there are any couples who came to Australia on their own.
How many came as family groups? There were eight family groups who came to Australia.
Charles and Eleanor Wigley and Family
Did one person lead the way and others follow? I haven’t found anywhere where this happened with my ancestors.
Did anyone make a two-step emigration via another place? No there weren’t any two step emigrations.
In which state or colony did your ancestors arrive? South Australia
Did they settle and remain in one state/colony? All but two families stayed in South Australia.
Did they stay in one town or move around? Some stayed put and some moved around to find more work in mining.
Do you have any First Australians in your tree? No
Were any self-employed? Yes
What occupations or industries did your earliest ancestors work in? Agriculture, Postal Service, Brass Founding, Ship’s Captain, Copper and Gold Mining.
Does anyone in the family still follow that occupation? Yes there are still farmers in my family.
Did any of your ancestors leave Australia and go “home”? Yes only one family returned to England but their daughter remained here.
NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
What’s your State of Origin? South Australia
Do you still live there? Yes
Where was your favourite Aussie holiday place as a child? Yankalilla, South Australia
Any special place you like to holiday now? Bendigo, Victoria for the history and all the research opportunities.
Share your favourite spot in Oz: It’s hard to pick one favourite, along the Murray River in South Australia, the Darling River in New South Wales and the River Torrens near where I live now in Adelaide and yes I do love rivers.
River Torrens
Any great Aussie adventure you’ve had? When I left high school at 17 I worked as a Governess on sheep and cattle stations in outback South Australia and New South Wales for a year and a half.
What’s on your Australian holiday bucket list? All the states I haven’t been to yet – Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.
How do you celebrate Australia Day? When my children were younger we would go to the Australia Day BBQ Brekky (barbecue breakfast) which also had races and other activities for the children and then the official ceremonies. Now I’m more likely to have a quiet day at home.
Thanks for joining in Kylie. I wonder what part of your ancestry inspires your love of rivers…it’s interesting how some places just call to us, isn’t it.
I imagine being a governess would have been an interesting experience with lots of “fun and games”. Why not write a post about it sometime…
Also interesting that one family went back to England…did they stay here long? Or just hear the call as they got older?
Pauleen
I’ve often wondered if my love of rivers is just from my Dad or if it comes from further back. Dad used to take us river fishing all the time. If I write about my time as a Governess I’ll have to make up false names for everyone although some people will still know who is who because I don’t write under a pseudonym. I might need to keep those stories just for my family. The Chamberlain family went back to England but I don’t know under what circumstances. They did have a tragedy occur on their trip home though, their daughter Eliza Isabella was killed in an awful accident which I wrote about here; https://blog.kyliesgenes.com/2010/12/shipwreck-survivor-ellen-mary-chamberlain-an-incredible-woman-part-one/
Thanks for creating the challenge and reading my post Pauleen.
Did your George James Hayward come from Wiltshire perhaps?
I have an Elizabeth Hayward (b Southwick, Wiltshire, 1841 d Minlaton, SA 1894) who married a very distant cousin of mine, Raynolt Swincer in Woodforde, Adelaide in 1862. She was the first of his 3 wives. Her father was James Hayward, mother Ann Rogers, I believe. They died in SA as well.
Hi Jenni
Thanks for leaving me a comment. No my George James Hayward was from Ireland, sorry I should have put that in my post.
Kind regards, Kylie
That is a lovely photo. I hope that you have written down your memories about your time as an Outback Governess? An Australian Mary Poppins Novel?
Thanks Sharon, I have all the letters my Mum wrote to me and she gave me all the ones I wrote to her which were a lot as one of the conditions of her letting me go was that I wrote to her each week. I took quite a few photos too which jog my memories.
It is so good that your Mum kept all your letters, Kylie… I hate seeing letters discarded, as they are the repository of so many memories in most cases…… An interesting response, would love to hear more about your time as a governess, but I understand the need to keep that among the family.
Thanks Chris, I might have a go at writing about my time as a governess seeing as how so many people are interested.
Hi Kylie – I enjoyed your post
Happy Australia Day
Thanks Anne and to you too 🙂