Wishful Linking Family History Blog

Walking in their footsteps Part 6: Bourke Hotels

2012-01-20T17:12:00.001-08:00

Central Australian Hotel

This hotel was originally built in 1884 but burnt down and was rebuilt in the 1930s. It still resembles the old photos to an extent.

During the 1890 flood

Carriers Arms Hotel

This hotel was built in 1879. When the hotel was almost 30 years old, one of my great uncles, Perc NORTHCOTE, worked at this hotel around 1906. I bet the colours it's painted now are a bit different from those used in its early days.

This was apparently the hotel where Henry Lawson wrote a few of his stories but he used to refer to the hotel as the Shearers Arms. His poem, When the 'Army' Prays for Watty, was supposedly to have been written about one hotel owners, Watty Braithwaite. The Cobb & Co Heritage Trail website suggests this story about the poem's origins:

"Apparently, the poem was inspired by a time when Lawson walked past the pub and noticed Watty lounging in an armchair on the verandah (his habitual position), oblivious to the sounds of the Salvation Army singing and praying nearby."

The Carrier's Arms was also one of the Cobb & Co agencies.

Port of Bourke Hotel

This hotel was next door to the bike shop that one of my uncles, Walter John NORTHCOTE, owned and ran in Bourke in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. He was trained as a wheelwright and worked with bikes and coaches around the areas of Bourke and Nyngan.

In one of its earlier times, it was known as the Royal Hotel and this name can still just be seen, like a ghost sign, on the side of the hotel.

In January 1899, my great uncle, Walter John NORTHCOTE, and some of his mates decided to ride their bicycles to Sydney. Even today, the trek from Sydney to Bourke is no mean feat, so riding bikes back in those days must have been seen as a pretty big trek indeed.

Unfortunately, just a few months after this great trek to Sydney and back, a massive fire broke out in the bike shop in 1899, which also damaged the hotel and the shop, Hacketts, next door to the bike shop.

Walking in their footsteps Part 7: Bourke Churches

Walking in their footsteps Part 5: Bourke

2012-01-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

For as long as I can remember, stories of Bourke have been discussed in our home, especially by my father's family members. Although it's taken me half a lifetime to reach the place, even though I was born and bred just a casual ten hour drive away from this NSW outback town, I loved being in Bourke. Here are a few pics of our short stay in Bourke.

Back O'Bourke Exhibition Centre

I just have to start this blog entry with a short explanation of this great new exhibition centre. It's well worth the $ they ask for entry to view all the displays which superb. They use contemporary techniques to illustrate Bourke's history; full of colour, loads of old photos of people and places in the area, lots of fun multimedia and a theme of cheekiness in some of the displays as well.

On entry to the centre, Henry Lawson's words greet you: "If you know Bourke, you know Australia". I'm not sure how true that is for everone but one thing's for sure ... for me, I do feel just a little bit more whole now that I've been to the back of Bourke and back again.

Great place to stay - Bourke Riverside Motel

If you like history, antiques, quirkiness, comfy king sized beds and friendly hotel staff, this is the place to stay. Every room is different. Lovely gardens, good restaurant, right near the river. The pictures speak for themselves.

Darling River, Bourke

The river was huge when we visited Bourke - at a depth of 12.9 metres. The gum trees looked like they were standing in water up to their necks. It was so wide when we visited that it wasn't possible to see the other side of the river bank.

Court House

With two of my great grandparents having sat in this court for bankruptcy in 1886 and 1890, a visit to the court house in Bourke was a must. Sitting inside this majestic old building, where my ancestors would have sat 120 years ago, helped me understand more fully what their lives were like. When I told one of the locals about my great-grandparents going bankrupt in Bourke in the late 1800s, he said, "Who didn't in those days?" Again, being in the place they lived brought some context and background to my ideas of what happened to them. It must have been a challenging place to survive and I think they had to take whatever job they could get their hands on to feed their tribe of nine sons. When her husband died at the age of 45, my great grandmother, Margaret NORTHCOTE (nee RILEY), was left with a big family to support. As far as we know, she worked as a boarding house keeper, a nurse and a midwife to get by.

Bourke Hospital

This is one of the places my great-grandmother worked in the 1880s-1890s, in the days when Dr Sides worked at the hospital. She is recorded as a nurse in the Australasian Medical Directory & Handbook of 1896.

This photo was taken around the time that my great-grandmother worked at the hospital. And below are photos that I took when I visited the hospital grounds. Although the old hospital building was renovated in 2001, it still resembled its earlier facade.

This blogpost is going to get too long if I inlcude all the places we visited in Bourke. So ...

Next blogpost ... Walking in their footsteps Part 6: More Bourke

Walking in their footsteps Part 4: Gillawarrina to Girilambone

2012-01-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

Gillawarrina, near Trangie

From old electoral rolls, I found out that my great-grandfather, William H NORTHCOTE, (and presumably his wife and family) was living in the district of Bogan in the police district of Dubbo, on the Macquarie River at a place called "Gillawarna" between 1881-1882, as cited on the electoral roll:

I couldn't find references to this place on the internet but found reference to a place called "Gillawarrina" in a book from our local library about the history of Warren, a town nearby. This led me to a map on the internet which led me to suspect that Gillawarrina was a property on the Macquarie River, just outside of Trangie.

Location of Gillawarrina (map)

So, while driving along a back road between Trangie and Warren, in the hope of finding this property, we came across a gate and a letterbox with the word "Gillawarrina" printed on them. This had to be the place where my ancestors lived and probably worked as farm hands.

We didn't disturb the owners of this place by driving through their gates but we could see an old homestead from the road that could possibly have been where my ancestors lived all those years ago.

This was a wonderful feeling, to stand on the roadside, near the entrance to this property, knowing that this was the place where my ancestors probably walked many times in and out of the gates.

Warren

We drove on through the Wambianna Road and reached the town of Warren. My ancestors lived here around 1871-1876.

My great-uncle, Percival Ernest NORTHCOTE, was born here in 1881:

Although I didn't know of any ancestors in the cemetery, I couldn't resist having a look anyway. One thing I have noticed about some western NSW towns is the wrought iron signage that seems to appear a lot in the cemeteries and towns. I suppose it lasts a lot longer in the heat and wind than other types of signs.

Nevertire

This was a tiny little railway town where my ancestors lived in the 1883-1884 period. They lived near the railway line. There were only a few houses near the railway line when we visited and a church, St Thomas'.

Nyngan

This town was much bigger than we expected. We travelled through it once on Sunday evening and once on Wednesday at lunch time when the place was quite busy. Great choice of places to eat with even gluten-free and vegetarian options in some cafes.

It seems that Nyngan was also a Cobb & Co coach stop in earlier years:

Girilambone

Yet another of my great uncles was born at along this trek from Sydney to Bourke. Arthur Francis NORTHCOTE was born in Girilambone in 1884.

The dirt is red and the grasses are soft green in this little place.

The old railway station is a shadow of its former self.

Next blogpost ... Bourke (Part 5)

Walking in their footsteps Part 3: Wellington to Trangie

2012-01-16T02:34:00.000-08:00

Wellington

My NORTHCOTE and NEWTON relatives lived in and around Wellington from 1871-1876, probably closer to or in Bodangora, just outside Wellington.

This little town of Wellington had a beautiful cemetery with both old and new graves. Lovely mountain ranges in the background.

Some graves were of people from varied nationalities who lived in the Wellington area in the early days of the town - reminding me that our early ancestors in Australia were not just from the UK. I couldn't read the date on this grave but it was in the early section of the cemetery, so I guess the person was buried in the mid to late 1800s.

As usual, with every cemetery visit, there is often one grave that stands out for some reason more than others. This grave was one of the graves that I couldn't walk past without wondering a thousand thoughts about the poor wife and the poor children who were left behind after their beloved husband and father died at the young age of 33 years.

Transcription from the headstone (with original spelling):

In memory of

Diederich Peterson

who departed this life

on 9th April 1877

Aged 33 years

A better husband never lived

A kinder father never died

This honest heart no man deceaved

His manly spirit knew no pride

His memory fondly in our hearts shall rest

Love while on earth, in heaven for ever blest

Further details of the grave are recorded at: http://austcemindex.com/inscription.php?id=7647048

The town of Wellington also had plenty of old buildings to wonder about. There was no shortage of history to check out. Shame I had so little time in this town. Will have to go back one day to explore further.

Bodangora, near Wellington

Three of my great-uncles were born in Bodangora or Bodangora Creek, just outside of Wellington:

Walter John NORTHCOTE (born 16 May 1871)
William Montgomery NORTHCOTE (born 1875)
Alfred Joseph NORTHCOTE (born 15 September 1876 )

Walter John NORTHCOTE

William (Bill) Montgomery NORTHCOTE

Alfred Joseph NORTHCOTE

Here are a few of the scenes from around the tiny locality of Bodangora:

Dubbo

Another one of my great uncles was born here in 23 April 1879, Carew Aloysius Standish NORTHCOTE.

It's a town full of busy corners, old buildings and churches. Although you couldn't tell from the photos below, we hit the town at the 5pm peak hour and it took quite a while to drive a few blocks of Dubbo because of the traffic. This was the last town where we had anything close to mobile phone coverage (thanks Vodafone!).

Narromine

The cemetery at Narromine was our main focus when we visited this town.

One of my great-great uncles, William RILEY, was buried here in 1927. While visiting his niece, he fell ill and finally died in Nurse Tancred's private hospital.

William's sister, Fanny PEEK (nee RILEY), also lived in Narromine. She died here in 1916 and is buried with her husband, William PEEK.

Trangie

A small town where some of my RILEY and NEWTON ancestors lived. Some descendants of the RILEYs may still live here.

Next blogpost ... Gillawarrina to Girilambone (Part 4)

Walking in their footsteps Part 2: Lucknow to Orange

2012-01-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

Lucknow, Frederick's Valley and the Wentworth Mine

I've only just recently found out that my RILEY ancestors lived and worked at the Frederick's Valley, Wentworth Diggings, near Lucknow in the 1860s and 1870s. I found this out from a death certificate I ordered a few months ago of Edward RILEY, the second last child born to Thomas RILEY and Harriet LICET/LYSAGHT who were married in 1841. Based on information on his death certificate, Little Edward was born in February 1864 and died at the age of 5 months in June 1864. This death certificate alerted me to the family's whereabouts in Wentworth Diggings, Frederick's Valley, near Lucknow when Edward was born:

Some of Thomas and Harriet's children also had families in the area around Lucknow in later years. Lucknow was the location recorded on quite a few of the children's birth certificates. Lucknow is just outside of Orange, about 10km on the Sydney side. It's a small town with quite a few of the old Wentworth Gold Mine workings still on show. I'm not sure exactly where Frederick's Valley is in comparison to Lucknow, but it was nearby.

Wellwood, near Orange

In 1866, one of my great-grandmothers, Margaret RILEY (1843-1927) was working at a large home and property near Orange called Wellwood. Her second marriage to Thomas MacCabe, who also lived at Wellwood, in 1866 records her residence as Wellwood. Since they were both working as servants and living at Wellwood at the time, I have assumed that this is probably where they met.

Luckily for me, the Orange Regional Gallery had the original plans of Wellwood from 1842 on display in their foyer.

On the drive towards Orange on the Mitchell Highway, we came across the gates to this property. Although we didn't drive into the property as we hadn't previously contacted the current owners of this private estate, it was very exciting to see the gates and stand in the place where Margaret would have entered the property many times in the early stages of her life. Who knows what type of work she did here? By the time of her second marriage, she had already given birth to two children (who were just a few years old in 1866) and buried her first husband, Henry NEWTON, in 1864.

Orange

Quite a few of my ancestors were born, lived, worked and died in Orange. I loved walking around this historic, yet bustling town. It must be stunning in Autumn when the leaves change.

Although I couldn't find her grave during this visit to Orange, I did enjoy walking the streets of this lovely town, imagining what it was like to live here in the late 1800s. My grandfather, Leo NORTHCOTE, trained here as a tailor in the early 1900s, under the supervision of Charlie Curran in Byng Street. Here is a photo of him with his mother around 1905 in Orange.

The Duntryleague Guest House was an excellent place to stay - full of history.

I was hoping to find the grave of my great-great grandmother, wife of a convict, Harriet RILEY (nee LICET/ LYSAGHT), who died on 12 July 1868 in Orange.

Although I didn't find anyone that I was looking for in the General Cemetery at Orange, the Cemetery Clerk as very helpful and suggested that I follow up with the Orange Family History Group to ask for more assistance in finding the grave of my great-great grandmother, Harriet RILEY (nee LICET/ LYSAGHT) who died on 12 July 1868. I'll just have to keep looking for her.

Next blogpost ... Wellington to Trangie (Part 3)

Walking in their footsteps Part 1: Kelso, Bathurst, Orange

2012-01-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

After having returned from a 1500km trip across five days into the outback of western NSW, I can now say that I have walked in more than a few of my ancestors' footsteps. What a feeling it was!

Whiling away the hours in the car, singing the "I've been everywhere, man" song with inserts of all the places we travelled through, made us realise how quirky some of the town names in NSW are:

Cooranbong, Lapstone, Glenbrook, Blaxland, Warrimo, Valley Heights, Springwood, Faulconbridge, Linden, Woodford, Hazelbrook, Lawson, Bullaburra, Wentworth Falls, Leura, Katoomba, Medlow Bath, Blackheath, Mount Victoria, Little Hartley, Hartley, Old Bowenfels, Lithgow, Bathurst, Kelso, Clear Creek, Lucknow, Wellwood, Orange, Molong, Cundumbul, Neurea, Wellington, Bodangora, Geurie, Wongarbon, Dubbo, Narromine, Mungeribah, Trangie, Gin Gin, Nevertire, Gillawarrina, Warren, Mullengudgery, Warrigal, Nyngan, Girilambone, Coolabah, Byrock, Mulga Creek, Bourke, Collie, Gilgandra, Mendooran, Dunedoo, Uarbry, Cassilis, Borambil, Merriwa, Gungai, Sandy Hollow, Denman, Jerry’s Plains, Warkworth, Belford, Branxton, Cessnock, Mulbring, Freemans Waterhole

Here are some of the highlights of Part 1 of the journey which includes these locations: Kelso, Clear Creek, Bathurst, Lucknow and Orange

Cottage of Content Hotel, Kelso

It was moving to find the spot where I think the Cottage of Content pub was located at Kelso, near Bathurst, where my ex-convict Irish great-great grandfather was a publican in 1850-1851. Originally it was located in Stephen St, Kelso. The only current street sounded even close to this address was Stephen Lane in Kelso. Since the pub was described as being close to the river, across from the town of Bathurst, this spot in Stephens Lane, Kelso seemed as close as I was going to get to being sure about where this old hotel would have been located over 150 years ago.

Old home located at the bend in Stephens Lane, near the river, at Kelso, NSW

Holy Trinity Church Cemetery, Kelso

I was quite sad to stand at the grave of my great-great-uncle, John RILEY, in the Holy Trinity Church graveyard at Kelso. John RILEY born in 1844 or 1845 in Kelso. He was the second child born to parents, Thomas RILEY (the Cottage of Content publican, ex-convict) and Harriet LICET/ LYSAGHT. Sadly, he committed suicide at this very cemetery on 21 February in 1923 when he was about 78 years of age. I still don't know why he did this. What a sad place to die and what a sad way to die. He was buried on 22 February 1923. His wife, Sarah RILEY (nee BONHAM), is buried in the grave with him. She died some years later in 1955 at the age of 95 years old.

Clear Creek, near Kelso

I had always wanted to go to the town where my great-grandmother was born on 23 April 1843. It is a tiny little locality with a creek running through it, a few kilometres out of Kelso. She was the first child of Thomas RILEY and Harriet LICET/ LYSAGHT. Margaret's baptism records from St Michael's Catholic Church at Bathurst record her birth location as Clear Creek.

Clear Creek, near Kelso

St Michael's Catholic Church, Bathurst

Back in 1841, my great-great grandfather, Thomas RILEY, married Harriet LICET/ LYSAGHT on 27 November. Thomas was still an indentured convict at the time and didn't receive his certificate of freedom until the year after their marriage. Although the marriage was the beginning of a better life of soon-to-be-had freedom for Thomas, it was a different story for his wife, Harriet, who died in her mid forties after giving birth to at least eleven children and suffering the consequences of her husband's violent temper along the way.

More to come in later blogposts. Just had to share these snippets of my trip today.

New year and new goals for family history

2012-01-06T00:35:00.001-08:00

Well, now that the new year is well and truly upon us, I think it's high time I put my family history goals "out there" on this blog - especially as I hope it will be a way for me to remind myself later in the year what I plan to achieve for 2012.

Back in 1990, when I started my family history research, I started with the goal of writing a book about my family's history. I now realise, 22 years later, that this goal was not all that achievable. Where does the family's history start? Where does it end? Which family should I include? How would I present it? What type of book? Who would want to read it? Too many unanswerable questions foiled the achievement of my original 1990 goal.

Instead, I now make slightly more achievable goals for myself. Achieving these goals is also more satisfying since it can often produce an item that I can share with others - such as a diary, a calendar, a picture book, a blog, a website or a story. The themes of my goals for 2012 are twofold:

place-based research; and
filling in the context gaps.

This year I am planning a few family history visits (details in later blog postings) to places in Australia and overseas, so I hope to not only do some more place-based research but I also hope that some of these visits will fill in part of the context that my collection of names, dates and placenames is currently missing. To be honest, the stories that link the names, dates and placenames together hold more thrills for me than just collecting facts and figures. It's the colour of my ancestors' lives, the dark and the light hues, that really hold fascination for me. Whether they lived on this or that side of the law, what they did at work and at play, why they did what they did ... these are the stories that I long for. I think they're also more interesting to share than just a list of names and dates.

On my recent Genies Down Under podcast episode (Episode 4: Planning stuff for genies), I made the commitment to get some answers to a few questions and to create some booklets about the KINGSBURY branch of my family.

In 2012, I want to make some headway in finding out possible answers to these questions:

Why did part of our Kingsbury family move from Dorset in England to Holywell in Wales in the 1860s?
What were the conditions in Holywell, Wales when the Kingsburys were working and living there in the 1860s-1890s?
What places can I visit in Wales and England if I have the chance to visit?

As well as looking for answers to these questions, I also plan to write two 10-20 page booklets about two of my KINSBURY ancestors:

James Walter KINGBSURY, my great-grandfather; and
Sarah (aka Sally) KINGSBURY, James' youngest sister.

Sarah KINGBSURY (1881-1967)

James Walter KINGSBURY (1867-1945)

My idea is to write these two books and publish them on Lulu.com so that I can give them for Christmas gifts to family members in 2012. From my experience of using Lulu, they are quick, reasonable in cost and excellent in quality.

Well, there we go. These are some of my goals about one part of my family history research for 2012. Now, I'm off to start achieving them ...

What are your research goals for 2012? Do you have any tips for how to achieve them?

Memories of a super dragster Christmas and a super Dad

2011-12-23T18:47:00.000-08:00

I've really enjoyed reading blogposts lately about different people's memories of Christmas days gone by. One of my own memories keeps coming to the surface and it makes me smile every time. Remember back in the 1970s (that long ago!), it was a very BIG THING to get a bike for Christmas. It was an even BIGGER THING to get a bike that was new from a shop, not a recycled and repainted hand-me-down.

I'm not sure exactly what year it was, but it was the early 70s. Us three kids all received a shiny new bike on Christmas morning - one each! My sister and I were lucky enough to get the most trendy bike of the day - yes, a dragstar with a politically innappropriately-named sissy bar and all! We were impressed. So was my brother ... he was impressed not to receive a dragster because they were seen as girls bikes back then. Even so, I'm sure he was impressed to be a member of a household that included two groovy dragsters.

However, the most impressive thing was still to come. You see, there were quite a few other kids in the neighbourhood who also received bikes that Christmas. We were all keen to try our new bikes in a bigger space besides the suburban streets outside our homes. Can you imagine? About 10 or so kids with new bikes itching to give them a spin, circling the parked cars and the street trees in the narrow streets of suburban Sydney. Instead of sitting around relaxing on Christmas day, our great Dad decided that he'd take us ALL down to the local oval which had some nearby flat ashphalt (a new bike owner's dream!) so that we could test out our new wheels. Yes, not just his three kids but the whole neighbourhood of bike-riding kids. It must have been a strange site, a forty-something year old man walking along at the front of a pack of kids on bikes. He was a king of the kids that day, and a king of the kids-on-bikes as well, not to mention a king especially in his own kids' eyes.

Our Dad did a lot of things like this that I'm only just appreciating now in later years. Picking us up from discos at all hours of the night, dropping us off at friends' places near and far with his voice echoing in our ears, "Remember love, no matter time it is, ring me and I'll pick you up." What a Dad he was.

Thanks Dad for the bike, for the trek to the oval on that Christmas Day way back in the 1970s and most of all for the memories. Wish you were still here with us, especially at Christmas time.

In loving memory of our dear old Dad,

Carew Joseph Trevor NORTHCOTE (1932-2002)

Ripped memories

2011-12-11T03:38:00.000-08:00

Quite a few family history researchers I've spoken to have come across torn or damaged photos in their family's collections. Why do these photos get partly destroyed? I suppose there are a few reasons - split marriages, convenience, wear and tear. I've included a few bits of photographs in this blog entry from my own family's collection of ripped memories. Do you have similar photo remnants and do you know why they are not in their full original state?

This is a photo of my father, Carew NORTHCOTE (Junior), when he was about 2 years old. It was taken at the back of the Royal Hotel (now the Ten Dollar Motel) at Gulgong NSW in about 1934. My father is being held by his uncle, Carew NORTHCOTE (Senior), who was the publican of the hotel at the time. My grandmother, Ellen NORTHCOTE (nee Keneally/ Kenelley), is standing next to Carew Senior. We think the woman whose face is partly cut off in the photograph may have been Carew Northcote's wife, Edie, or his daughter, Joyce. We're not sure why the photo has been torn across the bottom - perhaps it was folded at one stage and the bottom section just fell off and was discarded.

The younger of the two flowergirls in the wedding photograph below is my grandmother, Lily Anne (or Ann) KINGSBURY. We think the photo was taken around 1906 when Lily was about 4 years old. The other people in the photograph have yet to be identified. The photograph was more than likely taken in Sydney.

Of all the ripped and damaged photos we have collected so far in our family, this is the most mysterious ... whose feet are these, what period of history do the shoes appear to fit into, where is the upper section of the photograph, why was this torn photograph kept?

Seven colours of a cemetery rainbow

2011-12-08T21:24:00.001-08:00

On a trip to Tasmania last week, I was fortunate enough to find a few lovely, old cemeteries on my travels. The classic Tasmanian summer weather of regular sun showers mixed with bouts of sunshine turned out to be the perfect recipe for a good spot of cemetery visiting.

While driving towards Geeveston, a small town in southern Tasmania on the Huon River, I came across the Jackson's Point Historic Roman Catholic Cemetery just outside the small town of Franklin, about 45km south of Hobart.

Franklin

View Larger Map

Although I'm not related to any of the people buried here (well, not that I know of, anyway), I couldn't resist stopping along my journey to visit this little historic Catholic cemetery. The sun came out for a convenient 15 minute period - just in time for me to take a few snaps and appreciate the beauty of this hillside cemetery which looked over the Huon valley and river below.

Of course, sunshine in Tasmania is often followed by rain (I guess that's why it's so green on the island) and rain it did soon after my 15 minutes of cemetery traipsing. However, the rain came hand-in-hand with a beautiful rainbow that spanned the valley, it seemed to link the cemetery with the mountains across the valley. What a scene!

What was also interesting about this cemetery was the variety of crosses that marked the graves - all sorts of Celtic crosses on both new and old graves. Most of the crosses were carved from stone, quite grand most of them.

As with many of my cemetery visits, I often find their is one special grave among all the others that really highlights the sadness of losing someone. This tiny, simple wooden cross got to me ... it made me wonder whose grave it marked. Perhaps it was a recent grave, perhaps it was the grave of a child, or a loved partner, or an honoured parent or a cherished friend. It reminded me of the many unmarked graves that I've discovered in my own family's history.

Great-great signatures

2011-11-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

One of the aims in my family history research has always been to fill in the gaps between the names and dates of my ancestors. This context of my ancestors' lives is fascinating to me - probably because the details are so obscured by time. Anyway, I love finding out a little bit of info here and there about their personal lives, their personalities, their likes and dislikes, their happy times and not-so-happy times. For me, this process brings them to life and makes me feel a bit closer to them.

In recent years, I've been fortunate enough to get my hands on some original documents with some of my ancestors' signatures - that is, the ancestors of mine who could write, or at least the ones who could sign their name.

Below are a few signatures of my great-great grandparents. What do they really tell us about the person behind the signature? Possibly a lot, possibly not much. Even so, I love looking at these signatures because they were created by the great-greats in our family. In some ways, I think their essence is somehow still visible in these signatures. What do you think?

~ ~ ~ ~

The signature of my great-grandmother, Margaret REILY (also spelled RILEY, REILLY, RIELY), on her marriage certificate in 1866.

~ ~ ~ ~

The signature of Margaret REILY in 1890, as Margaret NORTHCOTE, on bankruptcy records.

~ ~ ~ ~

The signature of Margaret's husband, William Walter NORTHCOTE, also on bankruptcy records in 1886.
At this point in time, he was going by the name, Walter Stafford NORTHCOTE.

~ ~ ~ ~

The signature of one of my great-great grandparents, George KINGSBURY, on his marriage certificate in 1865.

~ ~ ~ ~

The signature of George KINGSBURY's wife, Mary HOLLOWAY, one of my great-great grandmothers, on her marriage certificate in 1865.

~ ~ ~ ~

Mary KINGSBURY's (nee HOLLOWAY) signature on the 1911 UK Census.

~ ~ ~ ~

Any handwriting experts out there?

Digging into the records and finding gold diggings

2011-11-25T00:24:00.000-08:00

In the convict chapter of my family history, I've been trying to track down where my great-great grandfather, Thomas Riley, and his wife, Harriet Lycett, lived after they were married at St Michel's Catholic Church in Bathurst on 27 November 1841.

By examining records like birth, death and marriage certificates, church baptism records, newspaper articles and convict records, I've managed to work out that they lived in Kelso, Bathurst and Orange. Thomas worked as a publican and a shoemaker over the years, so the family tended to live within the more populated towns of western NSW rather than living on far-reaching properties.

1835 Bathurst (Thomas’ convict records)

1841 Bathurst (Marriage certificate, Thomas and Harriet)

1843 Clear Creek, near Kelso (Daughter, Margaret’s baptism records)

1849 Kelso (Daughter, Fanny’s baptism records)

1849 Kelso (Daughter, Anne Jane’s baptism records)

1850 Kelso (Newspaper articles in the Bathurst Free Press)

1851 Kelso (Source: Newspaper articles in the Bathurst Free Press)

1851 Kelso (Source: Son, Thomas’ baptism records)

1853 Kelso (Source: Son, William’s baptism records)

1856 Kelso (Source: Son, Patrick James’ baptism records)

1859 Kelso, Roxburgh (Source: Son, Joseph’s birth certificate)

1859 Kelso (Source: Son, Joseph’s baptism records)

1861 Kelso, Roxburgh (Source: Daughter, Mary’s birth certificate)

1861 Kelso (Source: Daughter, Mary’s baptism records)

June 1864 Rankin St, Bathurst (Son, Edward’s death certificate)

1867 Lucknow, Orange (Source: Source: Daughter, Catherine's birth certificate)

1868 Orange (Source: Harriet’s death certificate)

However, it wasn't until I recently purchased their son's (Edward Riley's) death certificate from 1864 that I realised the Rileys lived for a time at the Wentworth Diggins, Frederick’s Valley where their son, Edward was born (Source: Son, Edward’s death certificate). Here is the excerpt from Edward's death certificate. Until now, this fact of their location in early 1864 had been hidden, especially since Edward's birth certificate has not yet been found.

Although most of the activity around the Wentworth Diggings in Frederick's Valley, near Lucknown, near Orange NSW occurrred in the 1850s, the following article on page 5 of the Sydney Morning Herald on 18 April 1863 suggests that there was still gold being found there in April 1863, just a few months before Edward was born.

Wentworth Diggings from the Central NSW Museums site:

Dear photograph - Dear me!

2011-11-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

I was recently listening to Lisa Louise Cooke's podcast, Genealogy Gems, and she mentioned this nifty idea called "Dear Photograph". If you're interested in the past, change, families or photographs, you've got to have a look at this site. It's a very low tech way of mixing the past and the present in one easy click of your camera. All you need is:

an old photograph
a camera
a place (get yourself to the place where the original photograph was taken)

If it sounds a bit weird, the best way to understand this technique is to see a few examples. Here is one example of my own Dear Photograph attempts. Here are my grandparents on a day out, taken at Central Station Sydney in the 1930s or 1940s, against a background of a recently snapped Central Station in 2011:

(Notice the stylish coats - you're looking at a tailor and a tailoress walking arm-in-arm.)

Here are a couple of my favourites from the Dear Photograph site:

http://dearphotograph.com/post/11243748545/dear-photograph-i-miss-those-days-of-running-free

and

http://dearphotograph.com/post/8311735731/dear-photograph-if-i-could-turn-the-corner-in

and

http://dearphotograph.com/post/8928430180/dear-photograph-those-were-the-days-when-mom

I love this technique and think it would be a great way to get children to think about the real link between the past and present. It's also a great way to link the history of your family with the present. Happy snapping ...

Memorial poetry about a much-missed mother

2011-11-17T03:25:00.000-08:00

Margaret Ann NORTHCOTE (nee RILEY)

Margaret Northcote, nee Riley, had nine sons who were born between 1860 and 1887 in the NSW towns of Orange, Bodangora (near Wellington), Dubbo, Warren, Girilambone and Bourke.

Margaret lived to the good age of 84 years old. Here is a photo of her shortly before her death with two of her sons (Alf and Leo) at the front of the home she was living in at Five Dock.

All of her sons adored their mother and were very distraught when she died on 10 May 1927 at the home of her youngest son, Leo, in Five Dock (a suburb of Sydney). Her sons were known to regularly visit and tend her grave after her death. Here is Leo, her youngest son, near his mother's grave soon after her death in 1927. A year or so later, Leo met his future wife at this spot - at the foot of his mother’s grave while visiting the Field of Mars Cemetery one weekend. See the story: Love in the graveyard.

Soon after her death, some of her sons published lamenting poems in memory of their dear mother for three years on the anniversary of her death in 1928, 1929 and 1930.

The first memorial poems were published on page 10 of the Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 10 May 1928:

In silent prayer and aching heart

I watched you day by day,

Although I loved you dearly, mother,

I could not make you stay.

The silent grief that’s in my heart

No human eye can trace,

For many a broken heart

Lies hidden beneath a smiling face

Inserted by her loving and lonely son, Leo

~ ~ . ~ ~

My heart just aches with sadness

For the face I cannot see.

God alone knows how I miss you,

Oh, why, why must it be.

Inserted by her loving son, Alf

~ ~ . ~ ~

Dearer to memory than words can tell,

Thoughts of a mother we loved so well.

Inserted by her loving son and daughter-in-law, Percy, Mary and grandchildren

~ ~ . ~ ~

Love’s last gift – remembrance.

Inserted by her loving son and daughter-in-law, Carew, Edie and Joyce

~ ~ . ~ ~

A beautiful memory left behind

Of a mother ever so gentle and kind.

We have lost, heaven has gained

The dearest mother God ever gave.

Inserted by her son, daughter-in-law and grandson, Will, Mary and William Northcote

~ ~ . ~ ~

Two years after Margaret's death, her sons were still publishing memorial poems about their mother. These poems appeared on page 10 of the Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 10 May 1929:

In tears I saw you sinking, mother,

And watched you fade away.

It’s God alone knows how I miss you

As it dawns two years today

Inserted by her loving son, Leo

~ ~ . ~ ~

Time may pass and bring its changes,

Fresh with every coming year.

But your loving memory I will cherish, mother.

Is the heart that loved you dear.

Inserted by her loving son, Alf.

~ ~ . ~ ~

One of the best that God could send,

A loving mother right to the end.

Inserted by her loving son, daughter and grandson, W. Northcote

~ ~ . ~ ~

For all of us she did her best,

May God grant her eternal rest.

Inserted by her loving son and daughter-in-law, Carew, Edie and Joyce

~ ~ . ~ ~

Even three years after her death, memorial poetry by three of her sons were still being published in the newspaper. The following three poems were published on page 13 of the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday 10 May 1930.

Till memory fades and life departs,

You will live forever in our hearts.

Inserted by her loving sons, Alf and Leo

~ ~ . ~ ~

Sweetest memories are all that are left,

Of my dear mother, who has gone to rest.

Inserted by her loving son, Will, and family

~ ~ . ~ ~

Ancestors in the movies?

2011-11-12T17:27:00.001-08:00

Whether or not you have any ancestors who had links to the movies, you may be interested in Thomas MacEntee's Geneabloggers podcast/radio special being broadcast live next Friday night (18 Nov 2011, Chicago time or 11am, 19 Nov NSW time) about ancestors and their connections to movies.

Most of my ancestors weren't that famous. Some were infamous but that's another story ...

Even so, this topic has got me thinking. You see, my mother's family lived for many years in Beverly Hills, a suburb of Sydney. This suburb was known for its movie theatre. It was especially popular for its Saturday lunchtime movie sessions.

Beverly Hills was originally called Dumbleton, not a particularly attractive sounding name in my opinion. The local residents were of the same opinion and they lobbied to have the name changed to Beverly Hills around 1940. Beverly Hills was known as a suburb in Sydney that boasted one of the first movie theatres. Hence, those who grew up in the suburb during the 1940s and 1950s were frequent movie goers. My mother's family, the WALTERS family, built their home at Beverly Hills in Sydney in 1940:

So, that's one slight connection my ancestors have with the movies.

Here is how downtown Beverly Hills in NSW looks today.

The mystery of Henry NEWTON's death date ... solving one mystery reveals other mysteries

2011-11-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

One of my great uncle's was Henry NEWTON. He was one of my great-grandmother's (Margaret Ann RILEY) nine sons. What I know of Henry has been passed down to me through oral family history traditions and the rare bits of information he left behind in a scant document trail that I've tracked down through my family history research over the years.

Born in about 1861 in Orange, NSW, Henry's parents were Henry (aka Harry) NEWTON and Margaret Ann RILEY. Henry Snr and Margaret had two children, Henry and Thomas. Margaret later married William Walter NORTHCOTE and had seven more sons.

Coming from a family of grave visitors, I was accustom to visiting Henry's grave, along with other ancestors' graves, from a very early age. Henry had died even before my father was born, so the only knowledge we had of Henry was from my grandfather, Henry's step-brother. The absolute date of his death wasn't a hot topic of conversation so this oral knowledge about Henry's death was lost to the ages when my grandfather died in 1970.

So, when did Henry die? Well, let's consider the "facts":

His gravestone records his death as 21 May 1936:

His funeral notice on page 9 of The Sydney Morning Herald on 22 May 1930, records his death as 21 May 1930:

So, was he born in 1930 or 1936. I suppose at this stage of solving the mystery, I was tending towards thinking he died in 1930 - it's difficult for a newspaper to predict his death in 1936 but it's not so uncommon to have a mistake on a gravestone through transcription errors.

Another piece of information was tracked down ... the cemetery office records. Despite the date on his gravestone, the cemetery office records (accessed online through the Deceased Search: http://www.catholiccemeteries.org.au/) definitely show his date of death as 21 May 1930.

So, by comparing more than one source of information, the mystery of Henry's death date was solved, long after his close relatives had passed away. As far as we know, Henry didn't have any children so there were only nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews who remained to put the record straight about Henry's death. So, it was triangulation to the rescue. Without it, I would have remained unsure about his death date. Although his grave stone remains incorrectly marked, there are enough records that have survived to show evidence that he died in 1930, not 1936.

Why did this error occur? I can't say for sure but I guess that stonemason may have made the error when interring other family members in Henry's grave, after Henry's death in 1930. The funny thing is that there are two other family members buried with Henry and knowing their death dates puts forward more questions ...

Henry is buried in the same grave as one of his nephews, Leo Percival NORTHCOTE (known as "Little Leo") who died in a tragic car accident at a very young age of 11 on 17 November 1935. So, if Henry NEWTON's gravestone was reconstructed at the time of the death of Little Leo in 1935, how could the year of 1936 be added to the gravestone when this date was in the future. Surely, someone from a family known for being regular grave visitors would have noticed this error.

Another question has also surfaced in the process of solving the mystery of Henry's death date. The cemetery records indicate that one of Henry's step-brothers, Percival Ernest NORTHCOTE (also Little Leo's grandfather) is buried in this grave. However, Perc died in 1958, years after Henry and Little Leo died (in 1930 and 1935, respectively) yet Perc's details are not recorded on the gravestone. The grave must have been opened to bury Perc and then the gravestone must have been replaced, although Perc's details were not added. Why?

So many questions ... so many dead ancestors who've taken the answers with them.

Australian genealogy podcast launched - Genies Down Under

2011-09-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

Readers of this blog may have noticed that there is definitely an Australian theme to most of the articles and pictures that are included. I'm an Australian genealogist who's really interested in Australian genealogy so that's why I've just launched the Genies Down Under podcast for people researching their family history with Australian connections. Here's why ...

I'm also one of those bloggers who love listening to podcasts. Since 2006 when I got my hands on my first iPod, I've been hooked. Listening to podcasts about family history is one of my favourite past times - Lisa Louise Cooke (Genealogy Gems podcast), Michael O'Laughlin (Irish Roots Cafe), Drew and George (the Genealogy Guys podcast), Thomas MacEntee (Geneabloggers podcast), Myrt (Dear Myrtle podcast) and Jon Kay (Artisan Ancestors podcast). These are all podcasts that come out of the US. They're fantastic. Despite the fact they they are produced off the shores of Australia, I've found them to be wonderfully inspiring with loads of practical advice. I wait eagerly for each episode to show up on my iTunes list.

Although I LOVE these podcasts and they've become part of my walking life (literally - I mainly listen to them when I'm walking), I kept wondering when someone was going to produce a podcast that was specifically designed for genealogists with a connection to Australian family history. There are definitely some podcasts related to Australian genealogy, like the National Archives podcast, Ian Kath's Create Your Lifestory podcast and the ABC's Hindsight podcast, but I really wanted a podcast that included lots of practical tips and ideas for Australian family history researchers that were a little more specific to genealogy. Perhaps there is such a podcast and I've not been able to find it. If you know of one, please email me at mariaseddon@gmail.com.

Anyway, after six years of wondering about this and searching high and low for an Australian genealogy podcast, I decided to get off my bottom and create one myself - it's called Genies Down Under. It's is a podcast about genealogy - with an Australian twist - full of tips, tricks, tools and traps to avoid for family history researchers. My aim is to help people find out more about their ancestors than just names and dates. The podcast is full of stories, lots of stories.

Listen to a one minute promo about the podcast:

How to access the podcast ...

Click here to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and check out the website for Genies Down Under.

So, I’d like to offer you a big warm Aussie invitation to join me for the very first episode of Genies Down Under.

But for now, I’ll say seeya from Maria, a genie down under.

Probates are great, mate

2011-07-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I went along to the Kingswood Western Sydney Records Centre (http://www.records.nsw.gov.au) to check out a few probate records of some of my ancestors. The online index helps to locate the existence and numbers of these records (http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/indexes-online/indexes-online#p).

I can thoroughly recommend other NSW researchers to make a visit to this centre if possible. The staff are very helpful to people who haven't visited the centre before. I heard many visitors saying things like "I have no idea what I am doing" and "Can you help me? I don't know where to start." One of the most valuable aspects of the visit was the opportunity to see and touch (with gloves on) some original records.

Back to the probate records ... I was overwhelmed by the detail in these records or "packets" as they are known (see the diagram below for an example).

I accessed about 6 or 7 of these records and was very pleased when I opened each one up. One probate packet even contained a full death certificate. Another visitor I spoke to at the centre told me that she had recently accessed a probate packet that contained 10 various birth, death and marriage certificates. While some probate records were quite short (4 pages long), others contained up to 50 pages. While some of these pages were often repetitive, many pages outlined valuable information about the family's interests and correspondence. Many probate packets contained handwritten information.

While you can take photographs (without the flash) of the records you access at this centre, it is quite difficult to take photographs of the papers found in probate packets because they have been folded three of four times. This can make the papers difficult to flatten out on a table. In these cases, I'd recommend that you request photocopies (45c per sheet).

If you'd like to prepare for your visit to the centre, you can make an online request of up to four probate packets before you get to the centre. See the online forms for pre-ordering records (http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/use-the-archives/getting-started/visit-us/visit-us#pre-order-records).

Three generations visit family tribute mural

2011-07-16T03:49:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, three generations of our family visited the mural created by Joanne Saad at Fred Kelly Place at Five Dock. My parents and grandparents are featured at the centre of the mural (black and white photo, sitting on a lounge) and their home is also included in this mural.

It was wonderful to see how our family's history featured in this mural which honoured the history of Five Dock. Although my father, Carew Northcote, and his parents, Leo and Nellie Northcote, have now passed away, their contribution to the history of Five Dock lives on in this mural.

Who is she?

2011-06-10T05:21:00.001-07:00

Many people have photographs of ancestors that they can't identify.

This woman's photo is in my mother's collection and we believe it to be someone from the Carrick family who migrated from England (previously Ireland) to Sydney, Australia in 1880. The family lived around the Balmain area of Sydney. This photo was taken at Tasma Studio, 176 King St, Newtown (as noted on the back of the photograph) so I think it was taken around 1896 when this studio is thought to have operated, according to the website Tasmania in Photographs.

Does anyone out there recognise her? If you do, please email me at mariaseddon@gmail.com

"I Remember" Five Dock

2011-05-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

A few months back, I had an email message out of the blue from Joanne Saad, a mural artist. Joanne had been commissioned by the Council of Canada Bay to create a mural of old Five Dock in Fred Kelly Place, just off Great North Rd, Five Dock. As a result of seeing this blog and some of my posts about my family's history of living in Five Dock, Joanne requested a few photos from me about this time. The end product is absolutely fantastic. Joanne has created a wonderful mural depicting many, many scenes and memories from old Five Dock days, including an image of my family (parents and grandparents) sitting on a lounge at their home in Five Dock in about 1957. My mother, Margaret Northcote, went along to the launch last Thursday and, as one of the guests of honour being depicted in the mural, was interviewed and photographed with the mural (see photo above). Thank you, Joanne, for honouring our family in this way; my parents, Carew and Margaret Northcote, and my grandparents, Leo and Nellie Northcote.

Lastly, read about the launch in these online news articles:
Mural embraces community and livens Fred Kelly Place

Mural, 'I remember' by Joanne Saad

Fred Kelly Place Mural, Five Dock

More photos of the mural

Oh, Carole! Thanks for bringing this ghost to life

2011-03-22T05:07:00.000-07:00

After 21 years of searching for information about my elusive great-grandfather, who used at least ten different first names, the researcher, Carole Riley, has finally shone extra light on some of the previously missing parts of his life. In a way she has brought his ghost to life by providing more evidence of his existence to add to my previous clues. Despite his use of many first names (George Bede, Henry, Walter Stafford and Harry), I have come to think of him as William Walter NORTHCOTE or Walter William NORTHCOTE.

Carole found his arrival in Australia on the unassisted immigration records that listed passengers arriving in Melbourne in 1864. Because all of the records and stories I had heard about him referred to his life in NSW, I hadn’t considered that he may have arrived in Melbourne. It took Carole’s unique view to consider research avenues that I hadn’t.

Carole also did some searching through rural NSW electoral rolls and found him listed on three of these rolls. These records match up with other records I have about the births of his seven sons throughout the midwest of NSW. He certainly covered some ground in his time: being born in Exeter in Devon, England, he died way out in western NSW in the town of Bourke. In his short life of 46 years or so, he lived and worked in Orange, Warren, Dubbo, Bingara, Bodangara, Wellington, Girilambone and Nevertire. He certainly seemed never to tire of travelling around!

As well as the information mentioned in this blog, Carole has also suggested a number of other leads and resources for me to follow up. Her experience and research skills certainly helped me break through a bit of this 21 year old brick wall. Oh, Carole! Thanks for bringing this ghost to life.

I’d happily recommend Carole’s services, here are her contact details:

Email: carole@heritagegenealogy.com.au
Website: www.heritagegenealogy.com.au
Blog: www.nswgenealogy.com.au/blog

Claims of aristocracy ... hidden by an early death

2011-03-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that many families have stories about earlier links to aristocracy. While some of these are more than likely made up of storylines that have been stretched and enhanced by the years, I'm sure that some of these stories contain a small kernel of truth. Whether or not the following story is one of these or not, I still can't tell.

My great-grandfather, my father's father's father, was known by various names throughout his life of 45 years. He was born in 1843, supposedly in Exeter, Devon in the south west of England. Some of the first names he used between 1843 and 1888, when he died, included:

Walter
Walter William
Walter Henry
William
William Walter
William Walter John
Walter John
Walter Stafford

Despite his creativity when it came to his first name, Walter William, as I have come to refer to him in my research, always kept his surname consistent: Northcote.

According to my father and my grandfather, and other family stories, Walter William Northcote always claimed links to the Earls of Iddlesleigh in Devon. He promised that he would reveal a big secret about his family in England before he died. He even joked with friends and family during his life that his wife in Australia should be known as "Lady Northcote". Unfortunately for both his family at the time and for his descendants today, Walter William died in 1888 before he could reveal this so-called secret. He died in the far west NSW town of Bourke. He left a wife, Margaret Northcote (nee Riley) and nine sons, seven from Walter William and two from Margaret's previous marriage.

As you can imagine, many family stories have been considered as explanations for his arrival in Australia in about 1866. Many believe he was a remittance man, being sent to Australia to save his family's reputation from some deed he had committed in his homeland of England. Although much supposition exists about his life and his background, one thing is for sure, the way in which he named his seven sons certainly suggests links, or at least knowledge of, the Northcotes in the UK. Here are his sons' names:

Walter John Northcote (1871 – 1954)
William Montgomery Northcote (1875 – 1933)
Alfred Joseph Northcote (1876 – 1961)
Aloysius Carew Standish Northcote (1879 – 1937)
Percival Ernest Phil Northcote (1881 – 1958)
Arthur Francis Northcote (1884 – 1960)
Leo Bertie Bede or George Bede Northcote (1887-1970)

We have a photograph that is thought to be him. He is dressed in a bandmaster's uniform and some members of the family believe the photograph was taken in Bourke or another western NSW town where his sons where born (either Dubbo, Bondangora, Warren or Girilambone).

So, whether or not Walter William Northcote descended from the English aristocracy is still a mystery. One thing is for sure, he certainly was creative with his use of first names throughout his life. I really don't mind if our family is related to an aristocratic family or not but what I would dearly love to find out is which Northcote family Walter William descended from in England. This link to the UK has yet to be established, despite much research since 1990 conducted by me and many other family members. His death certificate records his father's name as William Northcote, a bookkeeper, but is mother was stated as "unknown". That is about the extent of our knowledge of Walter William's link to his family in England.

If any of these names or any part of this story sounds familiar to you, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at maria.seddon@gmail.com.

What were they really like?

2011-03-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

Are you like me ... wondering what your ancestors were really like? I love the experience of collecting dates, photos of old houses, names of people, names of places and old wrinkly papers and photos. All of these facts, figures and photos are fascinating. However, I can't help but wonder and imagine what the lives of my ancestors were like between and beyond the records they have left. Were they happy? Were they generous? Were they kind to their neighbours? What were their worries? What were their regrets and their joys? What did they like to do if they ever had spare time? What did their voices sound like? What did they laugh about?

From my experience of researching my wonderful family's history, I often get the most exciting information from unexpected places. Recently, my Mum and I were searching random phrases and old addresses on the internet. "Type in 13 York St, Forest Lodge," said Mum, remembering the address her first home as a child in Sydney. Her first few years of life were spent in this small terrace house in inner Sydney with her parents and her paternal grandparents, the Walters family. Apparently, her grandmother, Margaret Walters (nee Fleming) was known to spend most of her pension money on my Mum, her only grand-daughter at the time. This old lady would spend hours and hours looking after her small grand-daughter on the tiny front verandah of this terrace house.

Photo of the house in 2010

After typing in the old address where the Walters family lived from the late 1930s, we found a little snippet of information - it may not sound much to others but to us it was very touching. It was a notice on page 1 of the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 30 December 1932. Obviously the family had been shopping at the David Jones store a few days before, probably in the city. They had found a purse in the store and took the trouble to put an advertisement in the paper in an attempt to reunite the purse with its owner.

Mum and I both smiled when we found this tiny treasure in the form of a newspaper clipping. "So, they were honest!" It's funny how a small discovery like this can extend your understanding of people who are long gone. Their deeds live on in many ways. Of course, we'll never know if the owners ever contacted the Walters family to claim their lost purse but what we do know is that the Walters family took the trouble to attempt to find the owners.

Margaret (nee Fleming) and John Walters lived at 13 Forest Lodge from about 1909 until the late 1930s. Margaret was known to walk to the tram station to meet her husband on his way home from work and they would walk back home, hand-in-hand, to 13 York St, Forest Lodge, like a couple of sweethearts. They were my mother's father's parents, my great-grandparents.

Getting my hands on original records

2011-01-08T18:47:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday, I made the effort to get out to the Western Sydney Records Centre where so many original family history records from NSW are stored. I had been meaning to get there for many years. Of course, I didn't leave enough time to see all the records I had hoped to access on my wishlist, but I did get to see quite a few. After applying for a "reader's ticket", the staff at the centre described the process I needed to follow to access the records. It felt like I was in an old-fashioned government office with so many forms to fill in with pencils but the staff were all very helpful and knowledgeable.

The highlight of my visit was touching (with gloves on) the original bankruptcy records that documented the financial problems that my great grandfather (1886) and my great grandmother (1890) experienced in Bourke, NSW.

My great grandfather used several names during his life in Australia but he chose to use the name Walter Stafford Northcote for his bankruptcy records. He was also known as Walter William Northcote, William Walter Northcote and George Bede Northcote at various stages of his adult life. The online index entry of his bankruptcy records led me to finding these original records at Kingswood.

The bankruptcy records record how he owed sums of money to various people. He claimed:

"I attribute my insolvency to the following reasons:

(a) Pressure of creditors

(b) Inability to obtain permanent employment"

Sadly, his only property of any value was listed as "wearing apparel" valued at £2. At the time of his bankruptcy, he was responsible for his wife, Margaret, his 7 sons and 2 step-sons. It must have been a desperate measure to file for bankruptcy, especially as he lived in such a small town in western NSW where, I imagine, it would be difficult to hide such financial problems.

Seeing and touching these records brought his plight to life for me. I could see the records, touch them and experience their musty, dusty smells. I was touching and seeing the papers that my ancestors touched and saw. Also, I was able to see his handwriting and his signature:

For some reason, I was pleased to see the flourish at the end of his signature. Somehow I was able to interpret this flourish as a bit of self-esteem at a difficult time. However, I could be wrong!

Two years later, poor Walter died in 1888, leaving his wife to care for 9 sons, one of which was my grandfather, Leo Bertie Bede Northcote, who had only just been born the year before in 1887. As you can imagine, Margaret Northcote, nee Riley, experienced very difficult times.

In 1890, Margaret herself claimed bankruptcy and the original records of this bankruptcy were also available to look at, touch and smell at the Western Records Centre at Kingswood. I found the index to Margaret's bankruptcy online but seeing the original records at Kingswood was a much richer experience that seeing the plain old index entry.

Again, it was very sad to read about Margaret's financial difficulties. This is how she explained the cause of her bankruptcy:

"I am a widow with 9 nine children. It is my housekeeping expenses that has caused my bankruptcy."

She signed her name a few times throughout the document.

Seeing her original signature was both touching and useful. I could then match her signature on this document with other documents I have, such as an early marriage church record from 1866 when she was living in Orange, NSW and known by her maiden name, Margaret Riely.

Seeing and reading through these bankruptcy records highlights how difficult times in the past were for some of our ancestors. No doubt the severe depression that Australia experienced in the 1890s made this time even more difficult financially. I can only guess that such a depression was felt strongly in rural NSW.

The round-trip from home to Kingswood for me took about 4 hours. Despite the distance, I'd recommend visiting this centre to other family historians. The two hour trip to get there was well spent, anticipating all the records I was able to find. The two hour trip to get home was also well spent, contemplating the records I had just seen. It's worth the effort.

Lost at sea and lost in the records

2010-04-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

John and Mary Butler (nee Fitzpatrick) were married in 1851 in Rathdowney, County Clare, Ireland. They had eight children: Michael born in 1851, Margaret Anne born about 1855, Thomas Butler born in 1861, Maria born in 1862, Mary born in 1863, John born in 1864, Patrick James born in 1864 and Ellen Josephine born in 1868.

Although we don't know a lot about the Butler family's life in Ireland, we do know that something caused six of John and Mary Butler's eight children to immigrate to Australia in the 1870s and 1880s. Michael was the first of the family to move to Australia in 1878. He arrived in Sydney on the Earl Dalhousie in 1878 and married Catherine Crawford, another passenger on the same ship, one year later in Sydney in 1879. Michael then sponsored his sister, Margaret Anne, to immigrate two years later. Margaret arrived in Sydney on the Norval in 1880.

Michael's passenger records show that Michael could not read or write when he arrived in Sydney but Margaret's records show that she was literate. Somehow, Michael and Margaret must have communicated with their family remaining in County Clare. As a result, more of Michael and Margaret's brothers and sisters decided to migrate to Australia.

Maria arrived a couple of years after Margaret on the Forfarshire in 1882, and Patrick and Thomas arrived together, soon after, on the Selkirkshire in 1884. Ellen Josephine was thought to have arrived in Townsville on the Merkara in 1885.

Although we don't yet have any official records, many people in the family were told that Mary Butler (nee Fitzpatrick), the mother of the eight Butler children, also travelled to Australia around about the time that one of her younger daughters left Ireland. However, when she arrived here, she didn't like Australia and decided to sail to the US to live with other Butler relatives who had recently imigrated from Ireland. It is believed that the ship she was travelling on never reached the US and that she was lost at sea. This story has been passed down through a number of the family branches but we are still searching for records of her arrival in and her departure from Australia.

Mary Fitzpatrick, photo courtesy of Keith Perry

Where's the titanic?

2010-04-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Years ago, one of my great-uncles was known for taking off from home and staying away for weeks or months at a time. While he was away, he would often run up gambling debts and the loan sharks would visit his wife, Lizzie, who was waiting at home for her husband to return.

Lizzie got sick of these men visiting her, asking for money to repay her husband's loans. On one occasion, yet another debt collector visited her home, again asking for money and asking to know the whereabouts of her missing husband. Lizzie responded with a classic response that has lasted in the family memory long after her death. In exasperation, she told him, "He's up a shark's arse, looking for the titanic!"

Shakiest branch on the family tree - Walter William Northcote

2010-04-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

More mystery than fact is associated with the records that remain of the life of Walter William Northcote. He is fondly called “the mystery man” in our family and one of the leaves on the “shakiest branch” of our family tree, as my father used to describe him. Although he used various first names (Walter, William, John, Henry, Montgomery, George Bede), his surname was always recorded the same, as “Northcote”. Although I’m not totally sure that this is his name, I will call him Walter William Northcote for now.

Birth and migration to Australia

Walter William Northcote was my paternal grandfather’s father, my great-grandfather. He was born in Exeter, Devonshire, England, around 1841-1843 and came to Australia around 1866. However, no records have yet been found of him entering the country. Perhaps, as he was in the custom of doing, he used a different first name. According to his death certificate, Walter was the son of William Northcote, a bookkeeper, but his mother was listed as “unknown”.

Wife, children and occupations

Walter met his wife, Margaret Ann Riley, around the late 1870s possibly in Bathurst, where Margaret was born, or Orange where her family lived for some time. Margaret was the eldest daughter of Thomas, an ex-convict from New Ross Ireland, and Harriet Riley, an Irish immigrant from Limerick in Ireland.

Margaret Ann Riley

Throughout their life together, Walter and Margaret moved around frequently with their family, seeming to follow the construction of the railway line between Bathurst, Orange and Bourke during the middle 1870s to the late 1880s. They were known to have lived in many western NSW towns including Orange, Dubbo, Ravensworth, Girilambone, Wellington, Bondangara and Bourke.

Many of their children grew up or were born on the fettlers’ camps near railway towns in NSW. Walter was believed to have worked at times as a school teacher or a tutor to the railway camp workers’ children. Going by his sons’ birth certificates, he also worked as a farmer, a stockman, a storekeeper, a labourer and he was a draper at the time of his death in 1888. His wife, Margaret, was believed to have been a midwife to the many women who gave birth during the construction of this rail line.

In all, Walter William and Margaret had seven sons in various areas of western NSW from 1872 through to 1887, when my grandfather, Leo Bertie Bede Northcote was born:

1871 Walter John was born in Bondangara
1875 William Montgomery was born in Bondangara
1876 Alfred Joseph was born in Bondangara
1879 Aloysius “Carew” Standish was born in Warren
1881 Percival Phil Ernest was born in Dubbo
1884 Arthur Francis was born in Girilambone
1887 Leo Bertie Bede (George) was born in Tudor St, Bourke

Five of their seven sons were registered but each time their children’s births were officially documented, Walter William recorded the location and year of his marriage differently. As such, no official record of their marriage has yet been found.

Sons and brothers

Following are some photos of their sons over the years. Photos are included of all of the sons, except Arthur Francis, as I don’t yet have a photo of him. Although the seven brothers all lived in different places, including Sydney and country towns in NSW, they all seemed to keep in contact with each other, often having photos taken together of their visits to each others’ homes and towns.

Sons?

Another small mystery surrounds the list of sons recorded by his wife under the “Children of marriage” column on his death certificate. Some of his seven sons born to him and Margaret were recorded, another was added and one was missing. Margaret had recorded “none died” at the end of the list, as follows:

"Children of marriage” column on death certificate transcribed, with explanations:

Thomas – Thomas is thought to have been one of Margaret’s two sons (Thomas and Henry) that she had with a previous husband or partner, Thomas or Henry Newton. I’m not sure why he would be listed as one of Walter William’s sons
Walter – their son, born in 1871
William – their son, born in 1875
Alfred A W C – Alfred born in 1876. His full name was Alfred Joseph, so I think the AWC might be a reference to the next son
[Aloysius Carew Standish was born in 1879 – the AWC may be a reference to him?]
Percy E – their son, born in 1881
Arthur F – their son born in 1884
George – their son, known as Leo, born in 1887
None died

Leader of the band

Although very few records have been found about Walter William’s life, the following photo is thought to be him, dressed in a military type band leader’s uniform in the 1870s or 1880s.

Walter William Northcote

Mystery of his name

Although his surname always seemed to remain constant, his first name was recorded quite differently throughout his life - as noted on various birth and death certificates that I've collected:

1876 William (on his son's birth cert)
1879 Walter Henry (on his son's birth cert)
1881 Walter Henry (on his son's birth cert)
1884 Walter (on his son's birth cert)
1887 George Bede (on his son's birth cert)
1888 William Walter (on his his death cert)
1927 William Walter John (on his wife's death cert)
1954 Walter John (on his son's death cert)
1970 William Walter (on his son's death cert)

As a result of these records, this man has at times been known as Walter William John Henry George Bede Montgomery Northcote.

A family secret never shared

Family verbal history reports claim that Walter William Northcote always promised that a secret would one day emerge about the family name and about his wealthy relatives in England. However, he died relatively early, not living long enough to tell anyone about this secret information, if in fact it ever existed. He apparently claimed descent from the Northcotes, the Earls of Iddlesleigh, from Exeter, Devon in England, and “Dukes and Earls in the old country”.

Remittance man?

Some people in the family believe that he was a "remittance man", having been sent out to Australia from England and paid to keep away, for some reason. Perhaps Walter had been in some form of trouble in England which the family was worried would become public. Perhaps he was purposely trying to hide his identity and did so by using so many different first names. Perhaps he was an illegitimate son. Perhaps this story about him being a remittance man wasn’t true at all.

Death and burial

Walter William Northcote died when he was 45 years of age on 10 February 1888 in Tudor St, Bourke where he and his family were living at the time. He had been sick for one week and died of “inflammation of the bowels” (NSW BDM Death Certificate no. 7339). His death was reported by his wife, Margaret Northcote (nee Riley) on 12 February 1888 in Bourke.

Although his wife was known to be a Roman Catholic, Walter William’s funeral was officiated by a Church of England minister, Reverend F. Clarke. He was buried on the day after his death, 11 February 1888, in the old section of the Bourke cemetery (grave no 1672) in the Church of England section. His grave has since been washed away by a flood but the records still remain at the cemetery.

After his death

After Walter died, his wife, Margaret, was left alone in Bourke with seven sons from her union with Walter, and two sons from her previous union with Newton. Her youngest son, Leo, had not even turned one at the time. By 1890, Margaret moved back to Orange with some of her children, leaving some of the older children behind living in the family home in Tudor Street Bourke.

In later years, according to one of Walter William’s grand-daughters (Irene), old Mrs Northcote (nee, Margaret Riley) “always had money” because the Northcotes in England had been sending Walter William Northcote money to keep him quiet for many years since he had arrived in Australia around 1866. The story goes that Margaret Riley continued collecting the remittance money after Walter William’s death in 1888, choosing not to tell Walter’s relatives in England that he had died. Other relatives explained that, despite having so many mouths to feed, “She had money until the day she died,” which was in 1927. However, these stories are unsubstantiated, and based only on the family’s verbal stories.

One of Walter’s great-grandchildren, Greta Sculthorpe, has collected information about him and recorded it in a book called Bathurst pioneers: A register of pioneer families of Bathurst NSW and district before 1900, published in 2007:

So much of Walter William’s life seems to be surrounded by hearsay. I would connect with anyone researching this family so that we may swap ideas and research in order to construct a clearer picture of the man.

- Written by Maria Northcote, with many of the words of Carew Northcote, her father (1932-2002)

She wears her ring

2010-04-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

Margaret Anne Butler was born in 1855 or 1856 in Kilmihil County Clare Ireland, the second of eight children born to John Butler and Mary Fitzpatrick.

Margaret Anne Butler, about 1880

William Joseph Keneally was born in 1860 in Killea County Tipperary Ireland, one of the youngest children of William Keneally and Ellen Maher.

William Keneally, about 1880-1890

Margaret immigrated to Australia in 1880 and William immigrated in the 1880s. I'm not sure how they met but it could have been through Margaret's brother, Michael, who worked at Cockatoo Island. Margaret’s future husband, William Keneally, was also an employee of Cockatoo Island.

Margaret Butler and William Keneally married on 19 November 1890 at St Augustine’s Catholic Church in Balmain in Sydney. Both were living at Balmain at the time of the marriage. They had two children: Ellen Maria born on 5 April 1893 and James Joseph born 20 April 1895.

St Augustine's Catholic Church, Balmain

Margaret wore an 18ct rose gold wedding band from the day of her marriage until her death in 1946. As a tribute to my great grandmother, I began wearing her wedding ring on the day of my wedding in 2005.

Margaret Butler's wedding ring

Love in the graveyard

2010-04-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm lucky to be able to stand exactly where my paternal grandparents met - Ellen Maria Keneally (1893-1985) and Leo Bertie Bede Northcote (1887-1970). My father's grandparents met at the Field of Mars cemetery (just near the baby graves) at North Ryde in Sydney.

Ellen Maria Keneally's father, William Joseph Keneally, died on 20 September 1926 in Drummoyne, Sydney. Ellen, or Nell as she was known, was 33 years old. Leo Bertie Bede Northcote's mother, Margaret Ann Riley, had also recently died on 10 May 1927 at Five Dock, Sydney. Leo was 40 years old at the time.

William Keneally's grave in 1926

Both Nell and Leo had both been very close to their respective father and mother. Similarly, both were incredibly distraught about their parents' deaths and frequently visited their graves. The graves of their parents were practically opposite one another with just a few steps in between.

Leo Northcote at his mother's grave in 1927

Memorial placed in the Sydney Morning Herald by Leo, about his mother's death, two years later, in 1929

One rainy day, in the late 1920s, when Nell and Leo were again visiting their father and mother's graves, Leo offered Nell the use of his umbrella. A strict courtship followed. Ellen's mother, Margaret Anne Butler, would sit up very straight in her chair at her home at Renwick St, Drummoyne, when Leo would pay Nell visits after their cemetery meeting.

Leo and Nell married at St Mark’s Catholic Church at Drummoyne on 16 September 1930. Leo was 43 years old at the time of the wedding and Ellen was 37. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of the wedding. Although Leo and Ellen hired a photographer for their wedding, the photographer apparently disappeared with all of the film and they never received any of their wedding photographs.

Leo and Nell Northcote at their home in Five Dock

They made their home at 11A Murralong Ave, Five Dock. Their first son, Carew Joseph Trevor, was born on 1 May 1932 in one of the front bedrooms of this home. Three years later their second and last child, Gregory William "Barry" was born on 12 October 1935.

Barry, Leo, Nell and Carew Northcote at Circular Quay, Sydney, about 1940

Family history introduction

2010-04-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is Maria Northcote's family history blog. I'll use this blog as a place to record some of the stories associated with my family history. They may not be in order. I hope you enjoy reading them and if you think you would like to communicate with me about any of the history connected with these families, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at mariaseddon@gmail.com

Now, I'd like to introduce you to some of my family: