Tag: John FERRES

52 Ancestors #3 Mary Davey

Mary Davey (c1826 -1904), my greatMary to Me great grandmother, was the third of my direct ancestors to migrate to Australia. This makes her the third of my ‘boat people’.

Mary was one of 235 “assisted” immigrants on the barque “Elizabeth” which sailed from Plymouth on 11th April 1849 and arrived in Port Phillip on the 23rd July 1849.

The ‘Nominal List’ of the passengers on the “Elizabeth” listed her as Mary Davey; a nursemaid aged 23, from Truro, Cornwall. Her religious denomination was Independent, and she could both read and write. Continue reading “52 Ancestors #3 Mary Davey”

52 Ancestors #2 John Ferres

John Ferres (1818-1898),John to memy great great grandfather, was the second of my direct ancestors to migrate to Australia. This makes him the second of my ‘boat people’.

John was one of 203 “assisted” immigrants on the barque “Aurora” which sailed from Plymouth on 17th August 1848 and arrived off Point Henry, Geelong on the 7th December 1848.

The ‘Nominal List’ of the passengers on the “Aurora” listed him as John Ferries (or Fernes?); a carpenter aged 30, from Bath, Somerset. His religious denomination was given as Baptist. John could both read and write and owned a Bible. Continue reading “52 Ancestors #2 John Ferres”

Trove Tuesday: Solving the Mystery of That Photo – almost!

I always enjoy reading other bloggers Trove Tuesday posts so it is probably fitting that my first family history post relates to the fabulous resources on that site.

This photo has puzzled me for some time. It was obviously an important occasion as most of the people depicted are quite formally dressed. Many of the individuals are difficult to distinguish, unfortunately.

Picknickers at Clontarf, Middle Harbour, Sydney 2nd June 1870
Picnickers at Clontarf, Middle Harbour, Sydney, 2nd June 1870

The letter on the back provided some clues, the most important of which was the date of the picnic: 2nd June 1870

The very formal style of the letter seems to indicate that the writer and the recipient were acquaintances rather than family or friends.

My dear Sir
I send you a photo, not certainly a very perfect one, of our picnic held at Clo?lar? Middle Harbour on the 2nd inst.
You…ly
Thos Ri?h?? Continue reading “Trove Tuesday: Solving the Mystery of That Photo – almost!”