South Australia

Murder, Suicide or Accident?

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This is the script of the above video which I made this week. There are still photos of the River Torrens and Torrens Lake in Adelaide, South Australia as well as video footage I took at the river as it is today.

Police report to the coroner 11 August 1900.
George Mathews reported to Constable Lucas that his nephew William Hollwell had seen something in the water while working near the weir at Torrens Lake. Mathews took his boat and went to the place and discovered what he thought was the body of a woman. Constable Lucas went with Mathews to the spot and discovered a body of a woman, name unknown, and removed the body. It was lying in about 2 1/2 feet of water about 200 yards from the weir. The body was taken to the morgue at West Tce.

The woman was Mary Hayward. She was 80 years old.

Mary’s daughter Catherine at the inquest said she had last seen her mother, who had been living with her for about 6 months, on Monday 6th August when she left home to get rations. She was not seen for five days. Neither Catherine nor any other members of the family reported Mary missing.

Catherine said she wasn’t anxious because her mother often went away for days at a time. The jury found that Mary died from drowning however there was no evidence to show how she got into the water.

Where was Mary for those 5 days she was missing?

It makes me wonder was there foul play? Did she slip and fall into the river? When did she die? How long had she been in the water for? The coroners reports for this period were pulped during World War 2 so these questions may remain unanswered.

In this day and age we would have so many more answers, my brain keeps asking these questions. What happened to her? Mary Hayward was my great, great grandmother.

Find Records For Government Childrens’ Homes in South Australia

Find Records For Government Childrens’ Homes in South Australia

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I recently found a listing of state government childrens’ homes in South Australia. Here are all the named homes. Searching Google for any of these names will help you find pictures and info about them. Below the list are links to help with finding records.

Bedford Park Boys Training Centre
Boys Reformatory Hulk, Fitzjames
Boys Reformatory, Magill
Brookway Park
Campbell House Farm School, Meningie
Central Depot
Destitute Asylum

Photograph Campbell House Farm School
Campbell House Farm School

Edwardstown Industrial School
Girls Reformatory, Edwardstown
Girls Reformatory, Magill
Glandore Industrial School/Children’s Home
Grace Darling Hotel
Ilfracombe, Boys Reformatory
Lochiel Park Boys Training Centre
Magill Industrial School
McNally Training Centre
Redruth Girls Reformatory
Seaforth Home
South Australian Youth Remand and Assessment Centre
South Australian Youth Training Centre
Struan Farm School, Naracoorte
Vaughan House
Windana Remand Home

Allambi Girls Hostel


Allambi Girls Hostel
Davenport House
Kumanka Boys Hostel
Luprina Hostel
Nindee Hostel
Stuart House Boys Hostel
Woorabinda Hostel (and Campsite)
Cottage Homes
Clark Cottage, Clarence Park
Colton Cottage, Thorngate
Dartmouth Family Home, Port Augusta
Family Home, Mount Gambier
Fullarton Cottage, Myrtle Bank
Glandore Family Home
Hay Cottage, Lockleys
Kandarik Cottage
Klemzig Family Home
Largs Bay Cottage Home
Malvern Cottage
Merrilama Cottage, Glenelg
Morada Cottage
Port Lincoln Family Home
Port Pirie Cottage/Family Home
Pybus Family Home, Port Augusta
Reception Cottage, Glandore/Somerton Park
Slade Cottage, Glandore/Somerton Park
Spence Cottage, Kensington Gardens
Stirling Cottage, St Peters
Tintoo Cottage
Unit Living, Marion

This document Government Institutions South Australia gives a description, the history and where to find records for each institution listed above. If you had an ancestor who spent time in one of these homes you may be able to find them in the records.

There is more information here at Care Leavers Australasia Network https://clan.org.au/

Find and Connect A resource for Forgotten Australians, Former Child Migrants and anyone interested in the history of child welfare in Australia.

Rescued From Drowning

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30 January 1924 Brighton Beach, Adelaide, South Australia, Meta and Edel Buring were swimming when they got into difficulties. Meta Caroline and Edelgarde Adele Buring are my first cousins 3x removed.

1924 ‘RESCUED LADIES’ GRATITUDE.’, The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 – 1929), 22 March, p. 8. , viewed 16 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64202773

1930 ‘BRAVE RESCUE REMEMBERED BY THOSE SAVED’, The Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide, SA : 1929 – 1931), 22 January, p. 5. , viewed 16 Aug 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54167266

James Wigley – 2017 Update

James Wigley – 2017 Update

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I’ve been doing some more research into James’ life and rather than do a whole new blog post with links to this one I thought it would be easier to understand if I put the updates in a different coloured font here.

James Wigley is my 4x great grandfather. There are some family stories about James and some mysteries so I’m researching these to ascertain fact from fiction.

James was born in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England to Obadiah and Mary Wigley (nee Wheatcroft) on 12 March 1807.

James’ first wife was either Jane Brock or Jane Carousa.  They were married in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.  On their son Charles Robert Wigley’s death record it lists his mother as Jane Brock but the only marriage of a James Wigley in Nottinghamshire at the right time is one to a Jane Carousa.  So I’ve emailed the Nottinghamshire archives and will be sending off for the parish register entry to see if this can shed any light on Jane’s surname.   If this doesn’t help then I’ll get a copy of the marriage license.  I got an email back from the Nottinghamshire Archives and as they don’t have a payment method I can use I’ve contacted a research agent instead.

I didn’t follow through with the research agent, at the time, however I was able to order documents via the Nottinghamshire Family History Society.  Jane was approximately 32 years old when she married James so I believe that she had been married previously hence the different surnames.  I will continue searching for Jane’s origins.  This is further complicated by that fact that she says on the 1841 census that she was born in Jamaica.

22 December 2017 update Samuel Barratt, who took part in the Pentrich Revolution with James’ father Obadiah, was a witness to James and Jane’s marriage. https://blog.kyliesgenes.com/2017/12/isaac-ludlam-executed-for-treason/

 

James and Jane had five children Mary, Grace, Charles, Eliza, Ellen.  In 1843 Jane and two of the children, Eliza and Grace, died in a house fire in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK.  I just recently found out that Mary didn’t die in the fire.  I will need to find death records to confirm if Eliza and Grace died then too.

In the 1841 census Jane was living in Nottinghamshire with Mary, Charles, Eliza and Ellen.  It appears that Grace died as an infant also James isn’t listed as being in the household either.  So far I haven’t been able to confirm or deny the story of the fire however, if it did happen, it would have only been Jane and Eliza who died in the fire as Mary, Ellen and Charles went on to marry and have families.  

I’ve been told that James stole the plans to a lace making machine and went to France and sold them there.  I don’t know that this story can ever be verified though.  It just may not be possible.

photo of James Wigley

James Wigley

When I think of James Wigley it always gets me thinking about this story of the lace making machine and taking the plans to France so I googled ‘English lace makers in France’ and came across an article from a genealogist right here in Adelaide, South Australia!!  Graham Jaunay writes about the Lacemakers of Calais in South Australia.  

The Calais Lacemakers were English men who designed, built and maintained the extremely complex lace-making machines that had been originally developed in Nottingham. Despite the best efforts by the British to keep the manufacturing process a secret, the techniques were leaked to France and the industry developed in the Calais region using British experience and skills. After the British got over the loss of their monopoly everything was fine until the 1848 Revolution that proved to be an economic disaster for the workers as their factories were closed and English owners returned to England. The workers were faced with destitution if they remained in France or returned to England. G. Jaunay

From there I found the Lacemakers of Calais website which says: 

With very low profits and high wages in England, around 1816 one Robert Webster, with an accomplice Samuel Clark, smuggled a machine into Calais. The machine was dismantled, packaged as old iron and shipped on numerous boats to Calais. Clarke reassembled it in a shop on quai du Commerce in the village of Saint-Pierre, outside the walls of Calais itself. 

James Wigley was only nine years old in 1816 so it is highly unlikely that he was involved with Robert Webster and Samuel Clark so that part of the family story may not be true however lacemaking in Calais went on for many more years and there are more tidbits which point to James perhaps being in France.  He wasn’t listed in the 1841 English census as being in the household in Nottingham with his wife and children and I haven’t been able to find him anywhere else in the UK.  Could he have been in France at this time?  I am currently going through the French census for 1841, for Calais, page by page as it isn’t indexed yet.  The lace makers who went to Calais were from Nottinghamshire where James lived.

James’ name isn’t on the Lacemakers of Calais website as one of those who left in 1848 and came to Australia however he does show up in Stepney, Middlesex, England where he marries Maria (as below) and then proceeds to South Australia in 1849.

Between 1841 and 1848 Charles Robert Wigley could have been in France with his father. (see below) 

In July 1848 James married Maria Lihou nee Bray and in 1849 he took the family to South Australia.  James and Maria, Maria’s daughter Sarah Lihou and Ellen and Charles.  There they lived in Burra for a time before moving to Victoria.

James’ son Charles Robert Wigley who I’ve mentioned above is said to have gone to boarding school in France and that he forgot how to speak English.  Apparently there was a sign on his house in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia which said, “French spoken here”.

I’ll keep adding updates as I find out more.

People Present At William Chapman’s Funeral

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Update: Since writing this blog post back in June 2012 I have since found out that my maternal Auntie’s husband is descended from William Thomas Oke who was at William Chapman’s funeral, they may have even been friends.  If anyone else has any information to add please leave a comment here or send me a message.

There were many people listed as attending my 3x great grandfather’s funeral at West Tce cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia.  Here is the previous blog post about  William Chapman.   In that post I asked if anyone recognised any names or could provide more information.  Thanks to those who responded and a big thank you to Michelle S. for searching the Biographical Index of South Australia and coming up with the following information.  Not everyone listed here was at the funeral.

I love how this puzzle of family and social history fits together.  The more I research the more I find the inter-connections between people and events fascinating.  The who knew whom, and how they knew them, and why they worked together or how they met is intriguing to me.  There are themes which are repeated throughout history, couples who met at church or at work, parents’ friends who gave their children jobs, musicians who played together, those who were part of the same organisations and had similar interests it goes on and on.  We are made to be such relational beings!

 

GOODEN Jas Ed par: Gus and Ellen nee CANEY
b: 23.12.1845 Brentford SRY ENG d: 17.7.1913
bd: Payneham SA arr: 1848 THOMAS LOWRY
occ: Cricketer, Collector, Clerk res: Norwood
m: Mary Ann ch: 2 children, Rose Emma
(1877-1880)

OKE William Thomas par: Paul and Lavinia, b: 30.9.1855
SA occ: Coachbuilder res: Nth Adelaide, Malvern
m: c1879 SA Jacobina nee STIRTON ch: Paul, Joanna
Elder (c1885-), Kath Gardiner, Irene HENWOOD

CONIGRAVE Joseph b: 5.12.1841 SA d: 3.4.1905
Adelaide SA lid: WTC 0cc: Policeman, Postal
Employee res: Glenelg, Adelaide
m: (1/2) 30.5.1872 Jane nee MIDDLETON
par: Joseph and Eliz b: c1843 d: 3.8.1893 ch: Elsie
Joseihine McFEAT, Arthur Hedley (1879-1900),
Florence Evans STROUT (1877-1968), Harry Stanley b Feb 1882 d Dec 1968, (Harry survived 4 months at Gallipoli in WWI) Kate Muriel CROSS, Dudley Garfield (1887-1978)
a : (2/2) Mary

Update: New information from the family of Joseph CONIGRAVE.

SCHEDLICH Carl Gustav par: Carl Gottfried
b: 22.4.1821 Dresden, Germany d: 8.8.1901 Mannum
SA arr: 1847 occ: Farmer, District Clerk, Postal
Employee res: Bugle Ranges, Macclesfield, Adelaide
m: 20.10.1853 Bugle Ranges SA Ann Euphemia nee
LINN par: Matthew and Ann nee DICK b: 8.5.1834
Kirkliston SCT d: 1906 Ch: Matthew Carl (1854-),
Carl Gustav (1856-), Mgt Christina (1858-1866),
Christian Whme (1860), Ann Euphemia
(1862-1866), Caroline Whme (1864-), Jane (Jenny)
Latta GOLDRIN(1866-), Alfred Louis (1868-),
Ferdinand Fried (1870-1951), Henry Jas (1872-1936),
Marie Louis REID(1875-), Jas Henry (1878-1878)

VIRGO Ed Lewes par: Jas and Lucy nee LUXFORD
b: 6.10.1840 SA d: 3.7.1905 occ: Postal Worker
res: Adelaide
m: 31.1.1861 Nth Adelaide SA Sarah nee PARKER
par: Abraham b: c1837 Bristol GLS ENG
d: 12.11.1919

CONDON William b: c1830 d: 20.9.1916 bd: WTc
arr: by 1878 occ: Mail Guard res: Adelaide rel: RC
m: Bridget b: c1838 d: 24.7.1916 ch: Wm
(1861-1936), Jas( 1863-1916), Thos (1864-1936),
Nellie (1867-1907)

GURR Valentine par: Geo and Ann b: 6.3.1841 Ssx
ENG d: 28.9.1915 bd: WTC arr: 1850 SULTANA
0cc: Postal Employee res: Adelaide
m: Mary b: (1850 d: 6.4.1924

KIDMAN Saml Geo par: Saml John and Caroline
b: 6.7.1838 SA d: after 1885 occ: Letter Carrier
res: Adelaide rel: C/E

My note: If this is the right person then he must have died after 1897 otherwise he couldn’t have been at William’s funeral.

HAMLYN Arthur par: Arthur and Honor Gudge nee
GARNAUT b: 20.3.1870 Pt Adelaide SA d: 25.1.1922
bd: Cheltenham SA 0cc: Letter Sorter res: Pt Adelaide
rel: Bapt
m: 5.7.1899 Alberton SA Thursza Cath nee BASS
b: 12.11.1872 d: 8.8.1935 ch: Arthur Henry
(1900-1972), Mabel HUGHE(S1 901-1959)

MADDERN John par: John b: 1860 Adelaide SA
d: 1912 occ: Postal Clerk res: Adelaide
m: Lydia nee POMERY par: Jas Rowe and Mary
Ann nee BOASE b: 1857 SA d: 1905 ch: Florence East
(1886-), John Carrington (1887-1941), Norman
Pomery (1890-1967), Edith Grace MASON (-1970),
Cecil Boase (1894-1957), Hilda Vera MOAR (1896-),
Stella Beatrice POTTER (1897-), Evelyn d(8), Fred
d. inf

MALEY William b: 9.9.1829 DUB IRL d: 1920
bd: WTc arr: 1854 occ: Postal Clerk, Postman
res: Adelaide rel: Meth
m: 1854 unknown d: 1909

HOWELLS Philip Arthur par: Philip and Janetta
b: 29.11.1853 SRY ENG d: 24.8.1921 Adelaide SA
an: 1855 COROMANDEL occ: Music Seller res: Nth
Adelaide, Prospect, Adelaide rel: Cong
m: 28.11.1878 Nth Adelaide SA Harriet Maria nee
NEWMAN par: Geo Gough b: 3.11.1855 SA
d: 3.10.1939 ch: Edith Emily ANNELLS (1880-1963),
Alice Ruby STAFFORD (1883-1965), Clarence Newman
(1884-1885), Hilda Marian DALL (1885-), Dora
SLOMAN (1887-1968), Arthur Victor (1889-1890)

FRAY John Hill art: 1884 GARONNE occ: Professor
of Music res: Adelaide rel: C/E
m: Alice Emily nee SMITH ch: John Leslie Hill
1896-)

GRIGG Thomas b: 28.8.1859 Teignmouth DEV ENG
occ: Music Teacher res: Adelaide rel: C/E
m: 7.7.1879 SA Rachel Ellen nee WORTHLEY ch: 5
dau

CAWTHORNE Charles W. par: Wm Anderson and
Mary Ann Georgiana nee MOWER b: 1855
d: 26.6.1925 bd: Nth Rd SA arr: by 1870 occ: Music
Warehouse
m: Amanda Dorothea b: c1864 d: 18.9.1923
ch: Augustus Eckersley (1886-1937)

PYBUS Wm Richd par: Wm b: 9.10.1848 Adelaide
SA d: 11.11.1917 bd: Nth Rd SA 0cc: Music Professor
res: Adelaide
m: 27.9.1880 Annie Emma nee SWEET par: Capt
b: c1857 d: 30.5.1950 ch: Gladys Marguerite
(1886-1956), Doris Marjorie CUMING (1892-1972), dau

BASSE Frederick b: c1852 Dusseldorf, Germany
d: 7.4.1913 SA 0cc: Jeweller, Gold and Silversmith
res: College Pk, Norwood rel: He
m: 4.1.1883 Adelaide SA Annie nee UHLMANN
par: H. C. ch: Elise Elsa (1886-1886)

TODD Sir Charles b: 7.7.1826 Islington LND ENG
d: 29.1.1910 lid: Nth Rd SA arc: 1855 IRENE
occ: Postmaster General, Government Astronomer
res: Adelaide rel: C/E
m: c1854 Allice nee GILLAM b: 7.8.1836 d: 9.8.1898
ch: Eliz SQUIRES(1856-1937), Chas Ed (1858-1917),
Hedley Lawrence (1860-1907), Maude (1866-1929),
Gwendoline BRAGG(1870-1929), Lorna Gillam
(1877-1963)

 

I hope this list can help someone piece together a bit more of their family history!!

Mary Plunkett – Read Carefully

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I recently started working on my own family tree again instead of just working on other peoples’.  I’ve set aside Tuesday nights for this purpose when I attend a local family history group.

I hadn’t got anywhere with researching Mary Plunkett, my 2x great grandmother, for a number of years.  I knew that she married George James Hayward in Adelaide, South Australia on 4 Sep 1849 but little else.

I looked at www.familyhistorysa.info, which I had checked before, but this time noticed in the list of children, of Thomas Plunkett, the letters M y.

Click the picture to see a larger version.

My is listed, on the site, as an abbreviation for Mary.  I had looked at this many times without seeing it.  I now have so much more to check to see if this is my Mary.  A pertinent reminder to myself to read everything carefully.