A Powder Monkey With Sticky Fingers?

An Australian auction house is taking bids on Admiral Lord Nelson's telescope and a brass-bound elm bucket supposed to have seen action in the Battle of Trafalgar.

The items came to Joel's via the descendants of a 10-year-old cabin boy and powder monkey, William Thomas Cook, who served on the Victory and later was transported to New South Wales.

According to various family documents, Cook walked off the vessel with the telescope in the bucket after it was gifted to him, by whom it is not clear. Supposedly he managed to keep the relics and still had them when he arrived in Botany Bay in 1820 as a convict aboard the vessel Mangles. [Link]

Steal a Fish, Go to Australia

Ancestry.com has released the Australian Convict Index, 1788-1868, with data on 165,000 criminals transported to Australia from the British Isles and British colonies. They were the worst of the worst.

Some of the crimes they were punished for included stealing from a pond or river and setting fire to undergrowth.

One convict of note was the father of Ned Kelly, Australia's famous bush ranger. His Irish father, Red, was sentenced to seven years for stealing two pigs and sent to Tasmania.

The first female convict to set foot in Australia was Elizabeth Thackery, sentenced to seven years for the theft of five handkerchiefs. [Link]

The landing page for this database includes the statement "Web sites concerning convicts can be accessed at http://www.familytreeresearch.net," linking to a domain formerly operated by the late Janet Reakes, but now full of advertisements and empty of useful content. The correct address is here.

Hell Is Their Heritage

A little boy named Max Hell was refused admission to a Catholic school in Melbourne, Australia, because of his Austrian surname.

Alex Hell said his eldest son, Max, 5, was refused entry to St Peter Apostle Primary School in Hoppers Crossing last month after he reneged on a deal with the principal to change Max's surname to Wembridge, his mother's maiden name.

[W]hen it came to ditching the family name, Mr Hell had a change of heart. "I couldn't do it because that's our name, our heritage, it's who we are." [Link]

Army Poster Boy Was a Deserter

Marcel Caux died in 2004 at age 105. He was given a state funeral as one of Australia's last five World War I veterans, and an army recruitment poster bearing his image recently won a competition. But soon after his death, historians discovered that he was a deserter and a bigamist.

Ms [Lynette] Silver and Ms [Di] Elliott discovered that records issued in the name of Marcel Caux described the war service of Harold Katte, who was born in 1899 in Marrickville, although some records say Hurstville. Ms Silver points out that he had five names, five signatures, three nationalities, three places of birth, three dates of birth, three mothers, three fathers and two wives, simultaneously.

Though injured three times in battle, Katte's service was not wholly exemplary.

He had gone absent without leave for seven days in July 1917, for which he served 14 days in close confinement. He went AWL again in June 1918, when French authorities arrested him in the port of Brest, where he was said to be posing as a Frenchman. [Link]

Australia placed 376,000 World War I service records online this week, so you can search for the two-timing Aussie deserters in your own family tree.

Wife Swap

Australian genealogist Kate Wingrove has organized a reunion of the descendants of George Cribb: "convict, bigamist and general scoundrel."

Within six months of arriving in the colony as a convict in 1808 Cribb was advertising "fine fresh pork" to his neighbours in The Rocks. He was also living with another convict, Fanny Barnett, whom he married in 1811 - conveniently forgetting that he was already married to a woman in England called Mary.

Cribb was caught out when Mary wrote to say she was arriving in Sydney in June 1815. The butcher - by now prosperous - paid Fanny 300 pounds to leave for England on the same ship that deposited Mary. [Link]

The World's Oldest Blogger

107-year-old Olive Riley is a great-great-grandmother and a blogger. Here's how her first post at The Life of Riley, dated Feb. 16, began:

Good Morning everyone. My name is Olive Riley. I live in Australia near Sydney. I was born in Broken Hill on Oct. 20th 1899. Broken Hill is a mining town, far away in the centre of Australia. My Friend, Mike, has arranged this blog for me. He is doing the typing and I am telling the stories. He thinks it’s a good idea to tell what’s going on. He already made a film about me a few years back and people liked that, so they might like this blog too, he says. We’ll see. [Link, via OhmyNews]

Her Ancestors Made War, Not Love

Australian xenophobe Pauline Hanson underwent DNA testing to prove that her ancestors came from England and Ireland. The results showed that she is 9 percent Middle Eastern, and that another 32 percent of her genetic blueprint was drawn in Italy, Greece, or Turkey.

When told of the results, the former fish and chip shop owner appeared flustered, making references to "rape and pillage" in ancient times, adding: "All I can think of is that probably down the track it eventuated from some war.

"But I'm not going to knock it. It has made me who I am." [Link]

Jews Down Under

In These Are The Names, Rabbi John Levi has documented the lives of 1500 Jews who came to Australia in the early decades of European settlement. He's been working on the book for 40 years.

His wife, Robyn, said each time they went to London or anywhere in Australia for a holiday, religious ceremonies or meetings, Rabbi Levi would take an "extra day" to read old newspapers at the local library, or to explore snake-infested cemeteries.

Though he counts some interesting Aussies among his forebears, Rabbi Levi is "miffed he isn't related to any convicts, although 450 Jewish convicts were sent to NSW, and 230 to Van Diemen's Land." Others are more fortunate.

Former Supreme Court judge Howard Nathan said he was "positively delighted and terribly proud" to learn his ancestor Nathan Nathan had come to Sydney in 1800 as a convict, having snatched a parcel from an old woman in Cornhill, inner London. [Link]

A Large Wild Man at Large

From the Macclesfield (U.K.) Express of Jan. 18, 2006:

We’re all related to the Macclesfield Wild Man

WOULD the real relative of the legendary Wild Man of Macclesfield please stand up?

After the Macclesfield Express went in search of the legend behind a local giant who was transported to Australia, escaped and became an Aboriginal chief for 30 years – we thought we would be lucky to find one living relative.

But, like London buses, three came along at once!

[snip]

Margaret Windelinckx, 64, of Chelford Road, Macclesfield, was the first person to come forward as a potential relative, and is the one candidate who has traced her family tree – originally from Belgium – the furthest back to William.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

The Bushranger Who Couldn't Shoot Straight

From the Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun:

Ned Kelly under fire, again

Danny Buttler
31dec05

BUSHRANGER Ben Hall's great-grandson has fired a salvo at Ned Kelly, more than 125 after he was hanged.

Shepparton man Ben Hall Jr said his famous ancestor, who was shot by police in 1865, was a better bushranger than Kelly, who swung from the gallows 15 years later.

Mr Hall, 79, said his great-grandfather was known as the "gentleman bushranger" who never killed anyone, despite committing 600 crimes in just three years.

"He didn't shoot anybody because he was an awfully bad shot," he said.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

Aboriginal Artist Not So Aboriginal After All

From The New Zealand Herald:

Imposter finding guts artist

03.12.05
By Carroll Du Chateau

Two months ago, ex-pat New Zealander Sylvia Huege de Serville was enjoying the greatest success of her artistic career.

She had four works touring Australia as part of prestigious Aboriginal art awards, three in private Australian collections and a studio full of paintings about to be shipped to Melbourne for an exhibition. Then she found out she is an imposter.

[snip]

"My grandmother [...] told me she was Aborigine. Later my mother's cousin, who was raised by Wee Mum, verified it ... that's where it came from. We suspected she was one of the Stolen Generation who was taken away from her culture and ended up in New Zealand."

But a Tauranga cousin sent Huege de Serville first a birth certificate, then a copy of the family tree. To her dismay her great-great-grandfather, father of Wee Mum, was described as "Indian".

"My roots came from Bermuda ... It was like being slapped on the side of the head with a piece of 4 by 2."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

For American readers, a "4 by 2" is a 2 by 4 held sideways.

Sorry, My Pearl-Diving Uncle Ned Was Missing an Arm

From (Richmond, Va.) Style Weekly:

Treasure Hunt: Historian Seeks to Reunite Descendants

November 30, 2005

At the Thanksgiving family gathering, did anyone mention long-lost Uncle Ned? Not the one who lives in Des Moines, but the Confederate veteran who deserted a whaling ship to live with the natives on an island off the coast of Australia, where he made his fortune in pearls and sea cucumbers. The one who was missing a leg. If such an unusual character appears in your family tree, James Gray would like to hear from you. Gray, an American historian who lives in Queensland, Australia, believes the family of local legend Edward “Yankee Ned” Mosby can be found in Virginia — perhaps even in Richmond.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

UK to Aussies: We've Changed the Locks

From The (Melbourne, Australia)Age:

UK may abolish ancestry visas

By Annabel Crabb
Age Correspondent
London
October 27, 2005

GRANNY'S British birth certificate may no longer be the ticket to an overseas working holiday for young Australians.

Changes to the British immigration system, under consideration by the Blair Government, may include the abolition of the "ancestry visa" scheme.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Crocodile Dun-DNA

From the (Surry Hills, New South Wales) Australian IT:

Genetic data under fire

Karen Dearne

SEPTEMBER 13, 2005

RESEARCHERS in Western Australia have created a vast population database containing 17.5 million records of highly sensitive personal information about 3.6 million of the state's residents.

Next, they're planning to build a BioBank - a human genetics database containing the DNA of every consenting adult in the state. That will propel WA into the global bioinformatics research marketplace.

At the WA Institute for Medical Research's new laboratory for genetic epidemiology, director Professor Lyle Palmer is working on a database that will integrate all the state's human research information with the unique population data sets collected over the past 30 years.

[snip]

The WA Genetic Epidemiology Resource (WAGER) database builds on the work of the state's Data Linkage Unit, which maintains a system connecting records about an individual held in a variety of public registries and other databases.

The unit provides a data linkage and geographical coding service to its partners - the University of WA and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research - and to approved government, academic and hospital-based researchers and planners on a fee-for-service basis.

Recently, it added Medicare and PBS claims information from the Health Insurance Commission, and aged care data from the federal Department of Health and Ageing.

Meanwhile, a Family Connections genealogy project has linked nuclear families in the databases back to 1970. It is now planned to extend the pedigree linkages back to 1900.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

It's Good to Not Be the King

From The (Melbourne, Australia) Age:

Aussie Mike the true King of England

September 11, 2005

The man named by historians as the rightful heir to the English throne has a republican's disdain for the big job. Matthew Benns enjoyed tea with the reluctant monarch.

BUCKINGHAM Palace would be run differently if Australian rice farmer Michael Hastings successfully pursued his claim to the English throne. "Well, I'd put a keg on for the palace garden parties and some party pies instead of cucumber sandwiches for a start," he says.

"And I'm thinking of sending Lizzie a bill for 500 years of back rent on the palace, too."

It has been more than 18 months since a team of British historians led by Tony Robinson — Baldrick in the Blackadder TV series — turned up on the doorstep of his modest weatherboard home in the southern NSW town of Jerilderie and told the 63-year-old widower he was the real King of England.

[snip]

"They arrived here and filmed my surprise as they put the family tree down on the table," recalls Mr Hastings.

[snip]

"Who would bloody well want it, anyway?" asks the man who should be known as King Mike I.

"I feel sorry for poor old Liz. I think she has a very hard life because it is so regimented. I do what I want, but if Liz wants to sit in and watch Fawlty Towers on TV, she can't."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

80% of Genealogy is Showing Up

From the (Northam, Australia) Avon Valley Advertiser:

Aborigines afraid of the truth – Goodacre

Thursday, 8 September 2005

FORMER Northam resident Jan Goodacre has strongly defended her integrity in her 35 years' genealogical work on Western Australian Aboriginal family trees.

Since her extensive data base was sold to the State Government for $300,000 Aboriginal groups and individuals have been claiming that their privacy has been violated and that family materials lent to her have not been returned.

Mrs Goodacre says there is a hidden agenda behind these claims and that some Aboriginal groups and individuals are afraid of governments finding the truth about their genealogy.

"Aboriginal people fear what the truth will do to their native title claims," she said.

"They are afraid of who will have access.

"But everything I have is on the public record.

"If anyone else got off their backside they could do the same as I did."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

1853 Petition was Pure Rubbish

From The (Melbourne, Australia) Age:

Historic petition rescued from rubbish tip

By Larry Schwartz
September 6, 2005

JOCK Murphy was delighted. "You wouldn't do this job if you weren't excited by this sort of thing," the State Library manuscripts librarian said after viewing a 13-metre-long document discovered on a rubbish tip.

Mr Murphy said the fragile Bendigo Petition, signed by more than 5000 Victorian goldminers and others detailing grievances that culminated in the historic Eureka uprising in Ballarat, was a key document in a collection that also has Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter, papers from the Burke and Wills expedition and John Batman's journal.

[snip]

[Australiana collector Dr John Chapman] said yesterday he had received a call in the late 1980s from a man who thought he might be interested in a document he had found some years earlier. It was on a magnificent, carved roller. The caller had no idea what the document was and had found it on a rubbish tip.

"I said the roller's not the interest … is there anything else you have?" Dr Chapman said. "He said, 'Oh no. It was all papers and documents and things. But this I just saved because it was a nice bit of wood.'

[snip]

"It's quite funny because they roll it out with these cotton gloves now. You can't touch it. When I first took it home, it was rolled out on my front lawn, with all the bird droppings."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Man Prefers Deportation to Marriage

From the Yorkshire (U. K.) Evening Post of Aug. 23, 2005:

Back at the court of our Aussie ancestor

BY CHRIS MURPHY

WHEN mischievous John Naylor stood before magistrates in Ripon after pinching a bag of coal in 1836 he was warned another misdemeanour could result in his deportation down under.

But quick as a flash, Naylor informed the bench he wanted to go to Australia immediately – just to get away from his wife.

And his wish was granted when he was sentenced to a seven-year stint working as part of the Gold Rush. He went on to become a successful farmer and married again twice.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

News Flash: Genealogist Profits from Life's Work

From the (Northam, Australia) Avon Valley Advertiser:

State buys Jan's lifetime genealogy work

Thursday, 11 August 2005

NORTHAM'S Jan Goodacre has seen the vindication of 35 years' work with the sale of her database on Western Australia's Aboriginal genealogy to the State Government.

Price has not been disclosed but Jan admits it is a "considerable sum".

A presentation will be made to Jan this Friday by the Minister for Community development Sheila McHale, but the cheque has already been banked with some of the proceeds buying a home in suburban Perth.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Still No Solution for Heir-loss

From The (Hobart, Tasmania) Mercury:

Percy's $1.3m mystery photo

07aug05

A CRUMPLED old 1920s photograph of a Tasmanian man is the key to a $1.3 million windfall.

The man in the centre of the tattered photo is the elusive Percy Joseph Marsh who, if still alive, would be aged 102.

Victorian authorities are trying to locate him to help identify beneficiaries of a $1.3 million deceased estate.

They believe Percy is probably dead but want to know if he had any children.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]