Hi everyone
I have been reading through Part 2 again and all the contibutors names are beginning to click with me. Reiver, MissM, Polldoll, ShaunJ, Gatacre, Tephra, MaryA, you have all been there from the beginning, as well as Liverpool Annie and of course Michel. Forgive me if I have missed someone as it is hard to follow the content of the messages as well as the tracking the contributors.
You have certainly expanded the family tree including some rather dubious characters like Euclid!
I am sorry to disappoint you, but I have no information on William Harley Stead, except for a copy of his GRO birth certificate. He was the son of Fanny Maria and Edward Harley (the bounder!), born 6 Apr 1857.
Joseph and Fanny Maria's father, William died in 1864, their mother was already dead, and Joseph emigrated in 1865.
According to the passenger list of the Essex (provided by clr), he didn't go accompanied by a wife. He was listed as a Bell Hanger in the UK 1861 census, and set up business in Melbourne as a brass founder and whitesmith.
Joseph married twice; there were 2 surviving sons from the first marriage, of whom I have no information, yet.
There were 5 surviving children of the second marriage and my grandfather was the youngest. Joseph died when Walter Adrian was aged 7, and I suspect this is why there is so little personal information about the family. I haven't yet found any photos of Joseph.
There is still a lot to do at the Australian end.
While you are snowed in, we are on bushfire alert, including an official 'Catastrophic bushfire weather alert' 2 days ago (this means pack and evacuate). Bizarre, isn't it?
Lyn
