"Glancing backwards" from the grave

Our ancestors who immigrated to Australia must have missed their homelands. While their move to Australia was the start of a new part of their lives, the places they left mustn't have been far from their daily thoughts. Yesterday, at the Running Waters of History Conference at Wyong, historian Dr Richard Reid described how the wording on our ancestors' gravestones were examples of "glancing backwards" to their homelands.

Here are a few examples of how my ancestors' graves showed how their families wanted their origins to be remembered, even in death.

One of my great-great-grandmothers was Ellen TORPY (c. 1833-1906). She was from a small place known as Ballyfliugh, outside the town of Windgap in County Kilkenny. She became Ellen FLEMING when she married Patrick FLEMING in 1853. Ellen is buried in a grave on the edge of Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.

Ellen's Irish origins are recorded in the wording on her headstone:

ELLEN FLEMING

Native of the Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

Died 25 July 1906

Aged 73 years

Ellen FLEMING’s grave details: Rookwood Cemetery, Section Graves, Mortuary 1, Area N, grave no. 226. Registration no. 2236332.

Baby John Richard LENNON

 Last week I had a short holiday in Perth, my home away from home, to catch up with some friends from the time I lived there.

While in Perth, I spent a few days in Fremantle. Fremantle is also the place where one of my ancestors lived in the last years of her life in the early 1900s, my great grand aunt, Anne Jane RILEY (1849-1920). Anne was one of the younger sisters of my great-grandmother, Margaret Ann RILEY (1843-1927).  Anne and Margaret were two of the eleven children whose parents were Thomas RILEY (convict from Ireland) and Harriet LICET (also from Ireland).

Anne started life as Anne Jane RILEY and became, through her two marriages, Ann Jane MALONEY, and then, finally, Annie Jane LENNON. So, while in Fremantle, I did a bit of research about Anne's life. This blogpost is about Anne's last child, John Richard LENNON, who was born in 1898 in NSW and died in 1898 in Western Australia.

Today is the 125th anniversary of baby John Richard LENNON's death.

Little John Richard LENNON's life was short so I wanted to record it here to ensure he is not forgotten. He was my first cousin twice removed.

John Richard LENNON was the son of Annie Jane LENNON (nee RILEY) and John LENNON. He was born some time around February 1898 and he died on 22 August 1898 at the age of six months. During his short life, he travelled with his parents from NSW where he was born to Western Australia where he died.

Most of the information I have about John's short life was drawn from his death certificate (certificate no. 1492, Registrar of BDM, Western Australia):

• He died at Mount Margaret, Western Australia (the Mount Margaret minefield area was located about 20-30km from Laverton in WA).
• His cause of death was "entero colitis exhaustions" (some form of inflammation of the intestines).
• He had been ill for ten days before he died.
• The medical attendants who saw him on the day of his death were J. B. Hurst and M. B. Melbourne.
• His father was John LENNON, a storekeeper.
• His mother was Annie Jane RILEY.
• He was born in Ryde, New South Wales.
• He had spent the first three months of his life in NSW and the second three months of his life in WA.
• The informant of his death was John LENNON, the child's father, whose residence was British Flag, Mt Margaret.
• He was buried the day after he died, on 23 August 2023, at Mt Margaret Cemetery.
• The undertaker was John LENNON, his father.
• There was no minister present at his burial but the witnesses were H. Johnstone, P. Sutcliffe and H. B. Clarke.

Mount Margaret (Source: https://webarchive.slwa.wa.gov.au/fromanotherview/mount-margaret-laverton-and-kalgoorlie/)

Since John's death certificate mentioned that he was buried at Mt Margaret Cemetery, I started searching for information about this cemetery. I came across a post on Moya Sharp's blog, Outback Family History, about Mount Margaret Cemetery, Western Australia. On this post, Moya lists names of thirteen people who were buried at this cemetery. John Richard LENNON was listed as the sixth person on the list and the youngest. It must have been a sad day when Annie and John buried their  baby.

Little John's grave is recorded on the Find-a-Grave site.

Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157807081/john-richard-lennon

There is not a photo of his grave on this site but I have submitted a request for someone to take a photo of the grave (if there is a headstone). Because the cemetery is located on a remote area, I may be waiting a long time for someone to fulfil this request. If I do receive a photo of John's grave, I'll add it to this post in the future.

Moya Sharp provides an account of each of the people who are buried in the Mount Margaret Cemetery on this blogpost: Deaths in the early days of Mt Margaret. The information provided about John Richard LENNON is as follows:

LENNON John Richard, d 22 Aug 1898, 6mths, at Mount Margaret, Cause: Eutero Colitis, Father: John LENNON (Store Keeper), Mother: Ann Jane RILEY, Registered by Father, Buried: Mt Margaret Cemetery,  Born: Ryde NSW, In NSW 3mths in WA 3mths, Reg 14/1898 Mt Margaret.

A couple of photos of the Mount Margaret Cemetery are located on the Lonely Graves of Western Australia blogsite:

Small Cemeteries 121-160

Mount Margaret Cemetery May 1997 no. 1, photo taken by Andrea Lewis and Jill Heather 

Mount Margaret Cemetery May 1997 no. 2, photo taken by Andrea Lewis and Jill Heather

John's death certificate notes that he was born in Ryde, NSW, but I have yet to find any record of his birth in the NSW Births Deaths and Marriages index site. When John was three months old, around May 1898, it seems that John and Annie LENNON, with their baby John, travelled to the WA goldfields from NSW. If they left from Ryde in NSW, the journey of almost 4000 km must have been a difficult one in 1898.

Ryde to Mount Margaret (Source: Google Maps)

Here is a map of the Mount Margaret area in the Laverton district around 1900:

 
(Source: Wikipedia: Electoral district of Mount Margaret)

On Wikipedia, Mount Margaret is described as:

Mount Margaret was an abandoned town located 900 kilometres (559 mi) northeast of Perth and 31 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Laverton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

The first European to visit the area was government surveyor John Forrest who passed through in 1869 while on an expedition in search of the lost explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. On 25 June he named a nearby hill Mount Margaret after Margaret Elvire Hamersley whom he later married in 1876. The local indigenous name for the hill is Kalgara.

Gold was discovered at the site of the future town in 1893 by prospectors James Ross and Bob McKenzie. The town's main mine was the Mt Morven (formerly the Mt Margaret Reward), situated on the eastern side of the townsite. By 1896 the local progress association began campaigning for the townsite to be declared. By 1897 lots had been surveyed and the townsite was gazetted in the same year.

A police station opened in the town in 1898 but was closed in 1899.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Margaret,_Western_Australia

On her Outback Family History blog, Moya Sharp notes that the original Mt Margaret townsite and cemetery is located about 5km from the Mount Margaret Aboriginal community which was established in 1921. According to Wikipedia, this community was previously known as the Mount Margaret Mission.

Further information can be found about the Mount Margaret Minefield in the Laverton Shire at this mindat.org site: Mount Margaret Goldfield, Laverton Shire, Western Australia, Australia. The From Another View blogpost contains a blog about Mount Margaret in recent times (2018): Mount Margaret, Laverton and Kalgoorlie. 

Rest in peace, John Richard LENNON. John was the child of Anne Jane LENNON (nee RILEY) and John LENNON. 

In the future, I'll provide a link to a blogpost about the life of Anne Jane RILEY (when I write it!).

Grandfather Leo, where were you born? Finding Leo's birthplace with the help of land records

For as long as I can remember, I have known that my paternal grandfather, Leo Bertie Bede NORTHCOTE, was born in Bourke, a town that's located about 800km north-west of Sydney.

Leo Bertie Bede NORTHCOTE 1887-1970

However, I've always found it difficult to find out exactly where he was born in Bourke. The answers would be partially found in my long-held family history files and partially helped along by the information I learned last weekend about how to use land records for family history research purposes from Carol Liston at the Central Coast Regional Seminar.

To start with, I gathered up a few clues about my grandfather's birthplace.

Clue no. 1: Leo's birth certificate

Leo's birth certificate records his birthplace as Tudor St, Bourke.

Source: Extract from Leo NORTHCOTE's NSW birth certificate no. 16549/1887

Clue no. 2: Leo's father's death certificate

Sadly, Leo's father, William Walter NORTHCOTE, died when Leo was only about 11 months old. William Walter NORTHCOTE's death certificate shows that he died in Tudor St, Bourke. So, it seems that the family's home was located in Tudor St, Bourke.

Source: Extract from William Walter NORTHCOTE's NSW death certificate no. 07333/1888

Believed to be William Walter NORTHCOTE 1843-1888

Clue no. 3: Information from my Dad

On Tuesday 8 May 2001, my Dad, Carew Joseph Trevor NORTHCOTE, placed a blogpost online, inviting others to share information about our ancestors who lived for a while in Bourke during the 1880s through to the early 1900s. Dad specifically mentioned the family as living in Tudor St, Bourke.

"The Mother moved back to Orange with some of the children in 1890, leaving some of the older children behind living in the family home in Tudor Stree Bourke."

The information Dad provided about our ancestors in this blog also aligns with the information I remember him telling me verbally about our family's time in Bourke.

Tudor St, Bourke (Photography: Maria Northcote 2012

Tudor St, Bourke (Photography: Maria Northcote 2012

Clue no. 4: Reviewing bankruptcy records

A few years ago, I managed to get copies of my great-grandfather's 1886 bankruptcy records from when he lived in Bourke by visiting the NSW State Archives at Kingswood in western Sydney. I reviewed the pages of these bankruptcy records in search for my great-grandfather's address at the time of the bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, the bankruptcy didn't include his actual address but I did find a clue in these records about where the NORTHCOTE family lived in Bourke in 1886. William Walter NORTHCOTE's bankruptcy records recorded that he owed rent to someone in Bourke named E. A. WEBB who, I have assumed, was probably the owner of the house in which the NORTHCOTE family were living at the time.

Source: Extract from William Walter NORTHCOTE's bankruptcy records, Bourke 1886

Gathering up the clues: Next steps

The four clues above about where the NORTHCOTEs were living in the late 1880s, suggest that the NORTHCOTEs were living in Tudor St in Bourke and they were renting their home from a person called E. A. Webb.

However, to get a more specific answer to exactly where they were living in Tudor Street, I had to dig into the land records and use some of the searching ideas that I learned about last weekend from Carol Liston at the Central Coast Regional Seminar.

Step 1: Finding details of Bourke on the GNB

Carol Liston suggested starting research into locations by accessing the Geographical Names Board site. I accessed this site to find out information about the town of Bourke in north-western NSW - including the parish and county names in which Bourke is located.

On this site, I first went to the Place Name Search and entered "Bourke". The results of this search showed that the town of Bourke is located in the Parish of Bourke in the County of Cowper.

Step 2: Finding old maps of Bourke on the HLRV

Next, I used the information found in my GNB (Geographical Names Board) search to search the Historical Land Records Viewer (HLRV) in an attempt to find some old maps of Bourke. As Carol Liston showed last weekend, many old maps include details of land owners, landmarks and even, in some cases, names of tenants.

When I looked up the old maps available for the town of Bourke, I found a map that was dated 1927 but it was based on maps from earlier days, and many of the map markings were dated 1880, 1886 and 1889. So, it seems that although the map was updated in 1927, much of the early information from the 1880s formed the basis of this third edition map of the town of Bourke.

Source: Extract from the third edition of the TOWN OF BOURKE map, 1927, File Name: wl_tnBourke.jp2 from HLRV

Although some of the land-owners' names were difficult to see, I went searching for the name "E. A. WEBB", the person who my great-grandfather owed rent, as noted in his 1886 bankruptcy records. I was in luck. I found at least five town blocks that were labelled with E. A. WEBB's name - one in Tarcoom St, two in Darling St (in the next street, parallel to Tudor St) and two in Tudor St. Since many of my other records mentioned Tudor St as being the location of the NORTHCOTE family home, I have made a guess that the home they lived in was located at one of these properties: either Lot 15 or Lot 16 Tudor St, Bourke, as indicated on the map below.

Source: Extract from the third edition of the TOWN OF BOURKE map, 1927, File Name: wl_tnBourke.jp2 from HLRV

Step 3: Finding the land deeds on the HLRV

Using the information on the 1927 third edition of the map of the Town of Bourke, I found out the Volume and Folio ("vol and fol") reference numbers for lot no. 15 and no. 16 Tudor St Bourke:

Section 37, Lot 15, Volume 562, Folio 193

Section 37, Lot 16, Volume 562, Folio 194

Source: Extract from the third edition of the TOWN OF BOURKE map, 1927, File Name: wl_tnBourke.jp2 from HLRV

I was then able to search, using the vol-fol numbers to find the sale deeds for these two lots. I found that a man called Edward Augustus WEBB, a senior constable, purchased these two blocks for £21 (lot no. 15) and £22 (lot no. 16) on 20 April 1881. Here are some excerpts from the land deeds.

Lot no. 15, Volume 562, Folio 193:

Lot no. 16, Volume 562, Folio 194:

Step 4: Google maps and street view

Next, of course, I wondered what this street looks like today, so I went into Google Maps. Although the numbering system is now different, I estimated that the current block numbers 32 and 34 line up with the old lots 15 and 16.

Source: Extract from the third edition of the TOWN OF BOURKE map, 1927, File Name: wl_tnBourke.jp2 from HLRV

Source: Google Maps, accessed 7 March 2023

I also lined up the above maps with the Allhomes.com.au website's aerial photograph of this section of Tudor St:

Source: Allhomes.com.au

Step 5: SIX maps

To double-check my estimation of where the old lots 15 and 16 Tudor St were located in relation to the current numbering system on Tudor St, I accessed the NSW SIX (Spatial Information Exchange) maps site to find out the DP numbers as well as the old lot numbers and the new numbers for the houses on Tudor St, Bourke.

Above and below: 32 Tudor St (Lot 16), Bourke

Above and below: 34 Tudor St (Lot 15), Bourke

In conclusion ...

So, I now think that my grandfather was born and my great-grandfather died at either 32 or 34 Tudor St, Bourke.

Great-grandmothers and great-great grandmothers GO, GO, GO to the 1903 polling booth

On the occasion of International Women's Day 2023, I would like to honour my four great-grandmothers who registered to vote for the first time 120 years ago. Their names were:

• Catherine CARRICK - she registered with her married name, Catherine KINGSBURY
• Margaret FLEMING - she registered with her original name as she was not yet married in 1903
• Margaret BUTLER - she registered with her married name, Margaret KENELLEY
• Margaret RILEY - she registered with her married name, Margaret NORTHCOTE

I am so proud of all of my four great-grandmothers who all registered to vote in 1903, along with about 80,000 other women in Australia, following the law that was passed the year before in 1902 to allow "all" women to vote who were aged 21 years and over.  Clearly this law was not inclusive of all women, it allowed some women to vote. Although it was a great step forward for equality, the law didn't include First Nations people and this is one of the most awful aspects of this law.

Then, in the 1903 election, many women did actually vote, including my four great-grandmothers. They were permitted to enrol on the "Roll of Persons entitled to Vote under the Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902".

Imagine how excited I was when I started looking up the 1903 electoral rolls to find out which, if any, of my great-grandmothers registered to vote for the 1903 federal election ... 

Catherine KINGSBURY, nee CARRICK (1876-1912)

First, I found my mother's mother's mother, Catherine KINGSBURY (nee CARRICK). She registered to vote at the Rozelle polling place, as part of the Dalley Division of electoral areas. She registered with her married name, Catherine KINGSBURY. She had married James Walter KINGSBURY three years earlier at St Patrick's Catholic Church at Church Hill in The Rocks, Sydney.

I found it very touching to note that she attended the same polling place at Rozelle as her mother, my great-great grandmother, Catherine CARRICK (nee HIGGINS), and three of her four siblings: Annie STAPLES (nee CARRICK), Thomas CARRICK and Patrick Joseph CARRICK. They all registered to vote at the same polling place. I couldn't find her eldest sister, Mary Ann McLISTER (nee CARRICK), but maybe she voted at another polling place. Her father, Thomas CARRICK, had died just two years earlier; otherwise, I'm sure he would have joined his daughter and wife at the polling place.

Here is a record of Catherine KINGSBURY (nee CARRICK), my great grandmother on my mother's mother's side of the family, on the Australian Electoral Roll in 1903. She is listed just above her husband, James Walter KINGSBURY.

Source: Excerpt from: NSW Electoral Roll 1903, Dalley Division, Rozelle

Catherine KINGSBURY (nee CARRICK)

Catherine voted alongside her mother, Catherine CARRICK (nee HIGGINS) and her sister, Annie (aka Hanorah) STAPLES (nee CARRICK):

Catherine CARRICK (nee HIGGINS)

Annie STAPLES (nee CARRICK)

Margaret FLEMING (1866-1939)

Secondly, I found my mother's father's mother, Margaret FLEMING on the electoral rolle who registered to vote with her original surname as she was not married in 1903 (she married John Joseph WALTERS in 1904 at St Benedict's Catholic Church at Chippendale). She registered to vote at the Phillip polling place, as part of the Western Sydney Division within NSW electoral zones.

Like Catherine CARRICK, my great-grandmother on my mother's mother's side of the family, Margaret FLEMING also went to the polling place with her mother, Ellen FLEMING (nee TORPY); they were both registered on the same page of the electoral roll.

Here is a record of Margaret FLEMING, my great grandmother on my mother's father's side of the family, on the Australian Electoral Roll in 1903. She is listed just a few rows under her mother's name, Ellen FLEMING.

Source: Excerpt from: NSW Electoral Roll 1903, West Sydney Division, Phillip

Margaret WALTERS (nee FLEMING)

Margaret KENELLEY, nee BUTLER (1853-1946)

After finding two of my four great-grandmothers on the 1903 electoral roll, as well as their mothers (my great-great grandmothers), I was very keen to keep searching for my other two great-grandmothers. Hopefully, I could find my remaining two great-grandmothers on the electoral roll.

Thirdly, I found my father's mother's mother, Margaret KENELLEY (nee BUTLER) on the 1903 electoral roll. She registered with her married name, Margaret KENELLEY. She had married William Joseph KENELLEY thirteen years earlier at St Augustine's Catholic Church in Balmain. Margaret registered to vote at the Drummoyne polling place, as part of the Parkes Division within NSW electoral zones.

Here is a record of Margaret KENELLEY (nee BUTLER), my great grandmother on my father's mother's side of the family, on the Australian Electoral Roll in 1903. For some reason, her husband does not seem to be registered on this electoral roll.

Source: Excerpt from: NSW Electoral Roll 1903, Parkes Division, Drummoyne

Margaret KENELLEY (nee BUTLER)

Margaret NORTHCOTE, nee RILEY (1843-1927)

Now, I just had one great-grandmother to find in the electoral rolls and I wasn't disappointed.

After finding three of my four great-grandmothers on the 1903 electoral roll, I was delighted to find my father's father's mother, Margaret NORTHCOTE (nee RILEY) on the 1903 electoral roll. She registered with her married name, Margaret NORTHCOTE. Margaret registered to vote at the East Orange polling place, as part of the Canobolas  Division within NSW electoral zones.

Here is a record of Margaret NORTHCOTE (nee RILEY), my great grandmother on my father's father's side of the family, on the Australian Electoral Roll in 1903. 

Source: Excerpt from: NSW Electoral Roll 1903, Canobolas Division, East Orange

Margaret NORTHCOTE (nee RILEY)

I suppose that, for the first time in the history of Australian electoral rolls, the following key was required at the bottom of each page:

So, the descendants of these four women can be pleased to know that their female ancestors didn't drag their feet when it came time to vote. No doubt, they had the members of the Womanhood Suffrage League of NSW supporting them, along with many other women and men who had campaigned before them for the right to vote.

Source: Women's Suffrage in Australia (Wikipedia)

Sadly, it would not be for many decades later that everyone of eligible age in Australia, including First Nations people, would be permitted to vote.