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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: Andcarred on Wednesday 20 May 15 04:47 BST (UK)
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I am trying to identify a Dr Inch from Drayton near Toowoomba Qld about 1861. It's a long story so I will try to condense. Trove came up with a report on 4 March 1895 of a skeleton being found near Mudgee with a letter addressed to a Mr R J Inch of Blackheath nearby. Another man wrote to the paper saying he had known a Dr Inch in Drayton in about 1861 who had since disappeared and maybe it was him. No Christian name given.
The letter (12 March 1895) went on to say that Dr Inch was married to Miss Cramp, the daughter of John J Cramp who was the telegraph operator in Drayton at the time. Only problem is Miss Cramp was actually Mrs Walter Bennett at the time and there is no marriage to anyone else. I think Marianne Cramp left Sydney with her father only and that her husband had deserted her and left Australia (all supposition, no proof). She went on to have 4 sons, 2 born in Drayton 1860/62 (Charles & Frederick) and no births registered, and then 2 born in Banana, Qld (Walter and John). No mention has ever been made of a Dr. Inch although the family always suspected Walter Bennett was not the father of the 4 boys. The next two born in Banana Qld were registered with no father named and the certificates stamped illegitimate. Their death certs give Walter Bennett as their father.
The family thought the father's identity was forever lost when Marianne died in Banana in 1923 at the age of 90. Frederick Bennett's death cert gave his father's name as William with no surname. Was he William Inch? The letter to the paper went on to say that Dr Inch was a highly educated man and a good specimen of an Englishman. Why then was he working as a ganger on the railway and living at Bigge's Camp in Grantham and then at Drayton. This leads to speculation that he could have been a doctor who maybe became an alcoholic and perhaps a remittance man from England.
The father of Marianne's 4 boys was known to have come in and out of their lives at irregular intervals and it seems likely Marianne has left him in Drayton when she went to Banana but he may have visited on odd occasions as remembered by one of the sons.
Before this article in the paper was discovered the family had thought there was no possible hope of finding out who the father might be. If anyone thinks they can shed some light on this problem I can give a bit more detail about Marianne but nothing on William Inch. I have trawled through BDMs, Trove, immigration records, English census, cemetery records etc but cannot come up with any more information myself about a William Inch except that there was a notice in the paper to all owners of licensed premises in Tambo (which is near Banana) not to serve alcohol to a William Inch who was a blacksmith in Tambo. Any connection - who knows? ??? ??? ???
Andcarred
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Hi there,
I am so NSW centric that I have been known to confuddle Drayton NSW and Drayton Qld even at RChat :-[ :-[ :-[ .
And of course, you mention Mudgee as well. Well, Drayton NSW is postcode 2849, and it is ever so close to Mudgee NSW at postcode 2850.
Can you unconfuddle me please. :)
Cheers, JM
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Hi JM,
I was unaware that there is a Drayton in NSW. The Drayton I am speaking of is at Toowoomba, Queensland. It used to be a separate suburb in the old days but as Toowoomba has grown it has sort of swallowed up Drayton into it's suburbs.
Andcarred
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Reading this trove article he certainly sounds like a remitance man
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/171377200?searchTerm=%22DR%20Inch%22%20Drayton&searchLimits=
Maybe we need to find out who Mr R J Inch of Blackheath, NSW is?
Could he be "INCH-BLACKFORD.-March 8, 1881, at the Presbyterian
Church, Eskbank, R. J. Inch, of the Lithgow Brewery, to Harriet Ann, eldest daughter of R. Blackford, Lithgow"
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/70954738
Where did R J Inch die and how old was he, where was he born, what was his full name?
Sounds like his wife was buried in Rookwood cemetery NSW, was he buried there?
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17402577
Are they Harriet Ann Blackford (b. 1862) m. Richard Jeffrey Inch (b 1852 in St Austell, Cornwall, England to Charles Inch (a cooper by trade) and Eliza Jeffree?
Was Dr Inch his brother? Wad the Dr an epithet because he was educated or was he a real doctor?
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Agh,
So the skeleton was found near Mudgee NSW in 1895 and you are wondering if may have been the skeleton of a Dr INCH, who went missing in 1861 on the Darling Downs, Qld as a letter was found on the Mudgee skeleton, and that letter was addressed to a Mr R J INCH at Blackheath NSW and the letter has details about that Dr INCH.
Cheers, JM
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http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13626458 SMH 4 Feb 1887
This seems to be the Mr R J Inch :)
Richard Jeffrey INCH
Cheers, JM
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https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1712271/
Richard Jeffrey INCH, a Boer War Veteran who did not return.
JM
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Hi again,
I don't know anything at all about the Inch family. Most of them seem to come from Cornwall. I also have no idea if he was a true doctor or not. It would be a big help if we even knew his Christian name.
Marianne Bennett's father John Cramp died in Banana in 1873 and she had all 4 boys (the last one born 1874) baptized in St Johns Cathedral in Brisbane in 1876 and said their father was Walter Bennett and he was a tea planter at Assam in India. This is clearly untrue as the two born in Drayton were not registered at all and the two born in Banana had their birth certs stamped "illegitimate". It is also possible that neither Bennett nor Inch were the father of the last two boys.
Andcarred
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Hi,
October 1861.
George Sydney Inches, his son is seeking Sydney residents, friends of the late Dr Charles Inches, RN.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13055984?searchTerm=
Gerry
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Thanks for that clue Gerry, I will follow up tomorrow as I am just about to go out. I don't know how "late" Dr Inches would have been but the fact that they called the first boy Charles Sydney might be a clue. Shame he has given the address to contact as SMH Head Office, don't suppose anyone there would remember him now.....
A.
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I was going to add int he 1861 census Richard Inch of St Austell (8 years) has and older brother called David Inch (10 years). Could it be D R Inch rather than doctor?
http://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
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"At the Banana Police Court on Saturday last, George Sydney Inches"
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/51785677?searchTerm=%22George%20Sydney%20Inches%22&searchLimits=
So he was in Banana too
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If this elusive Dr Inch was in Queensland in 1861 he may have been here in 1859, the year Qld separated from NSW.
There is a comprehensive index which used to be called something like "Qld Pre-Separation Index" which lists everyone who could be found in any type of documentation, that was in Queensland before the separation. Separation was officially in December 1859 though "Queensland Day' is celebrated on 6 June - (should know, I know :P :P, but..) I think that must be when Queen Vic declared it a separate state.
This index is now called "Queensland Early Pioneers Indexes 1824-1859" and many FH libraries etc have it, in Oz, either in microfiche form or on CD.
QFHS Inc also put out "Queensland Founding Fathers" for the 150th anniversary of Separation.
I've just had a look at the story titles and nobody seems to have written one on the Inch family.
Though of course they may be mentioned in other stories. Sorry but I don't have the full CD to check that.
Dawn M
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NSW SRO: Deceased Estate http://www.rootschat.com/links/01fc8/
INCH, R. J. ; Blayney; date of death 13/06/1902; date duty paid 17/09/1902
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Well-found cupoflife :)
This seems to refer to the death of Richard INCH, son of David INCH of Blayney, who drowned near Hobart in early June 1902
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144291962
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71525502
regards
Ros
(I can photograph that probate packet if you wish)
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From NSW BDM
Birth 1877 Richard Jeffree INCH father David J, mother Hannah, at Hill End
Ros
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1875 Greville's NSW Post Office Directory.
Hill End
Inch, Richard, brewer.
Gerry
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Hi,
Queensland 1868 Post Office Directory (Meyer)
DRAYTON
George Sydney Inches, bushman
Gerry
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Re DawnM's post. The Pioneers Index is available online (Google it) on one of the subs site. Two references to John Inches and John Ince but relating only to migration. Regards, Gazania
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My grateful thanks to JM, Gerry, Whiteout, CupofLife, BillyBlue, Ros, DawnM et al. With all this wonderful help I have now found that Charles Sydney Bennett's birth was registered in Queensland 1865 as Charles Sydney Inches Father George Sydney Inches Mother Mary Ann Bennett. I will now apply for this certificate plus a death certificate for George Sydney Inches who died in Queensland in 1881. Seems George was the son of a Dr Charles Inches, RN so more research to do on this.
Doesn't help with the unknown skeleton though, he still remains a mystery. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that R J Inches of Bathurst is a brother or nephew of George. Very curious death, he must have fallen overboard from a ship on his way home from the Boer War as he drowned off Tasmania. I also have not found how George Sydney Inches came to Australia but I wouldn't be surprised to find he had been married to someone else before becoming involved with Marianne Bennett. The family always thought Walter Bennett had left her but it could have been that she ran away with G S Inches.
Once again my thanks to all the wonderful people on this forum,
Annie
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By Google -ing "Dr Charles Inches Navy" I found a reference to the death of his wife in Portsea in 1837. Also the following:
http://www.jenwilletts.com/surgeon_superintendents_-_i.htm
Regards, Gazania
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Please refer to my last post. Dr John Inches, brother of Dr Charles Inches, is also mentioned on the above site. Gazania
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So where and when did George Sydney Inches die? Being a bushman was he the skeleton?
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I haven't yet found a death for him. One family member has him dying in Queensland in 1881 but I cannot find a death registration on the Queensland Indexes. The family story is that he was bitten by either a spider or a snake in his swag and he died of the poison. Whether this is true or not is anybody's guess.
Annie
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Qld BDM death 11/05/1881
1881 #C2265 George Sidney Inches; aged 30 years
https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/queryEntry.m?type=deaths
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Just to make things interesting, another death in 1873 and more documents ;D
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28410112
Not your George though because four years later he was charged with neglecting to support his illegitimate children at Banana. Then again, perhaps he wasn't paying because he was deceased.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/65768141
Debra :)
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NSW BDM has that Sept 1873 death
George S INCHES, registered West Maitland.
Aged 40 years
#5105
Cheers, JM
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Just to make things interesting, another death in 1873 and more documents ;D
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28410112
Not your George though because four years later he was charged with neglecting to support his illegitimate children at Banana. Then again, perhaps he wasn't paying because he was deceased.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/65768141
Debra :)
" Remanded at his own request until the following day" :) from the July 1877 cutting :-X
Cheers, JM :)
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INCHES and CRAMP/CLAMP in 1869
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/75460270
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/75458925
Debra :)
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" Remanded at his own request until the following day" :) from the July 1877 cutting :-X
Cheers, JM :)
8) 8) ::)
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And we can rule out Dr John Inches RN (brother of Dr Charles Inches RN)
he died at Maitland (so he isn't the skeleton)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/135252704?searchTerm=%22John%20inches%22&searchLimits=
and left issue
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/126397119?searchTerm=%22Dr%20John%20Inches%22&searchLimits=
Did he have any sons that were doctors?
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This is a fascinating thread - hope you super sleuths manage to identify that skeleton :)
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But wait there is more .....
In google books (needs to be proven with census data, bdms)
There are notices of a Dr Charles Inches marrying Sophia Peake daughter of John Peake Esq at Kensington in 9 August 1832
son 1833 at Earl's Terrace, Kensington, England
a son 1835 at Bingham Town, Gosport, England
son 7th May 1837 (Dr Inches sailed for Australia this year and Mrs Inches died this year at Portsea, England)
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=6YwEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA448&lpg=PA448&dq=%22Dr+Charles+Inches+RN+%22&source=bl&ots=L9kscj1dFU&sig=lePyv_c5UpbRHQ85PKotnI0D52Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B6hdVZ2RMYilmQXX6IDgBA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Dr%20Charles%20Inches%20RN%20%22&f=false
Could his sons have come to Australia and were any of them doctors?
I've got a feeling this could be a long thread.
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Is that Kensington NSW Australia for that 1932 marriage?
It could well be a long thread, but it will be interesting ;D
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Wow! For someone who had never heard of the Inche family until 2 days ago I have certainly been educated in how to do research. I am assuming the marriage of Charles and Sophia was 1832 and a slip of the fingers. It would also have taken place in Kensington, London, as this is where the children were born.
Charles has had one son (George Sydney) who came to Australia obviously, plus a brother also a doctor on convict ships. It is possible that the brother also had a son named George Sydney so I will have to check on that. It is also possible that more siblings, possibly a daughter, have come to Australia. More investigation needed. Things are moving so fast I am having trouble keeping up, I really need to do a bit of housework and cook a few meals between posts.
None of the sons born in Banana were doctors but one of them at least was extremely well educated in another field. I think the family is finding out more than they ever wanted to know about their rather disreputable ancestor. I find it hard to equate George Inch with the description given of a highly educated English gentlemen but then again maybe this is what heavy drinking does.
Seems like material for a very interesting family history book, no need to invent the drama.
John Cramp did indeed own the block of land in Drayton where his daughter was living with George Inch. It was eventually advertised for lease in the Darling Downs Gazette for lack of payment of rates in 1895 and it was this advertisement that started the whole story.
To add a bit more drama to the story Mrs. Cramp and Walter Bennett Jnr. were drowned in Newcastle Harbour on the wreck of the Cawarra. They had been travelling to Brisbane or Rockhampton to join their husband and mother/daughter Marianne Cramp/Bennett/Inch. The little boy was 6 years old and seemingly the only true Bennett son in the whole saga. He was strapped to the body of his grandmother as the ship went down.
Annie
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Whoops, I changed that post a bit and added the link to the book, where some of the information shows up.
Yes, Kensington, England and 1832. I was distracted by tv.
So sad about the Bennet boy, dangerous times, spiders/snakes/shipwrecks!
Here is another reference to Dr Charles Inches 1851 Death
At the residence of his nephew (Mr James I Robertson), 1 Royal Crescent, Glasgow, on the 22d instant, Dr. Charles Inches, RN.
http://www.happyhaggis.co.uk/1851nov.htm
Which matches a previously posted link on this thread but adds a nephew
http://www.jenwilletts.com/surgeon_superintendents_-_i.htm
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Hi
1868 Queensland Post Office Directory ( Meyer)
BANANA
Cramp John, telegraph master.
John Cramp was appointed as a Line Repairer, Electric Telegraph in the Queensland Government on 8th April 1861, salary 161 pounds per year.
John Cramp was appointed as Station Master at the Drayton Telegraph Office in 1864.
Gerry
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Some more information on the skeleton - he was 'aged', may have recently left one of the asylums, had a seamen's discharge certificate (illegible), a prayer book with writing (also illegible) and had died within the last 3 months.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/62743019
Debra :)
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Also in National Advocate 2Mar1895 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/156696059
Dead Three Months.
Mudgee, Friday.
The body of a man was found in the river. It is supposed the man had been dead three months. In a swag was found an envelope addressed to Mr. R. J. Inch, Blackheath. Deceased is supposed to have been an old man who passed through town in November, and said he had come from Sydney.
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Great find by Cup and Debra, thank you all so much. I am now fairly sure that the skeleton found is not that of the George Sydney Inch I am looking for. The Seaman's Discharge papers would give rise to a connection seeing there were so many naval officers in the family.
However a different problem has arisen ::) now because of the report found of a George Sydney Inch being killed by a falling tree branch. This was in late September 1873. Marianne Cramp/Bennett/Inch had her last son born in June 1874. This timing would make it just possible that George has left her pregnant when he went off again to work in the bush. I am assuming he was back in Banana in 1873 because this is when her father died. The father had given up the Telegraph Office and had opened a general store and Marianne was running the store and looking after the other 4 young boys.
The obvious problem with this theory is that the later report of him being summonsed for abandoning his wife and illegitimate children (1879 in Rockhampton) says he was given bail on his own sureity which seems to indicate he was still alive and it was another G S Inch who died in the tree accident. Maybe I need to look for a death cert or inquest on the G S Inch killed by the tree and/or start to see what the outcome was with the Court case in Rockhampton. I cannot find any evidence of another man of this name being in Australia at the time and the age fits my G S Inch.
Annie
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I think there were 2 John Cramps in Queensland, the other Mr Cramp was a publican in Rockhampton then Townsville.
Gerry
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:) Now I am still wondering about the identity of the skeleton
Was it another George Sidney/Sydney INCH/E/S or was it someone else ..... unconnected to any of the INCH/INCHE/INCHES families.....
:) Now I am wondering how to go about further solving this mystery
Cheers, JM
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Queensland Gazette
Insolvency 30th March 1867.
John Cramp, licensed victualler, Rockhampton.
1868 (Meyer), Queensland PO Directory
Cramp John, resident, Rockhampton.
Cramp J, telegraph mstr, Banana.
Gerry
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I did think there is another George S Inch from Dr John Inches family (brother of Dr Charles Inch) - I'm sure I saw it somewhere.
Or from R J Inches family.
Perhaps the Skeleton is from another family?
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This death in NSW??
5105/1873 WEST MAITLAND
George S INCHES age about 40 years
DIED MAITLAND
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28410112?searchTerm="George INCHES"&searchLimits=l-decade=187
Essie
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Thanks for that information Essie. I have ordered this certificate as we need to know if there was more than one George Sydney Inch but unfortunately I don't think there will be any parents named on the certificate. Time will tell if there are any other clues on it.
I have been told by another family member that she has some notes saying that George Inch died in 1881 in Queensland but she doesn't know where this came from and there is no death registration under that name on the Queensland Index.
Yes JM I am also wondering where to go next but as we have at least solved part of a family mystery and only just discovered the existence of George Inch after more than 20 years of research, I am overjoyed at the progress so far, thanks to all the help I have received on this forum and the wonderful Trove. I am off on a week's holiday on Monday so I will not be able to answer any more posts for awhile. If I haven't bored everyone to death on this subject I will let you know when I receive the results of the certificates.
With grateful thanks to all researchers,
Annie
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What a fascinating read...
Can I bring your attention to Reply #24 by cupoflife, with a link to a death registration for George Sidney Inches, d. 1881.... aged 30 years...
May not be yours, but can be counted out (or in!)...
Look forward to an update.
PCB
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Hi again,
I have now received the Death Certificate for George Sydney Inches who died in Rockhampton in 1881. His cause of death was given as Abscess 20 hours? There is no identifying information on the Certificate such as parents, children or marriage but a note in the margin which is extremely faded and hard to read but which says, in part, he was brought into Rockhampton Hospital unable to speak. All the information on the DC was given by the Superintendent of the Hospital and he was buried the same day in Rockhampton Cemetery. The age is also hard to read but I think it says 30, or maybe 38. Although not conclusive proof due to lack of parents' names I am sure it is the correct man.
The other George Sydney Inches who was killed by the falling tree in Maitland a few years previously is, I think, the son of Dr John Inches of Maitland and therefore a cousin of my George and they are nearly the same age. There is also a distinct lack of information on his certificate and no parents names, marriage or children listed. Obviously his cause of death was being hit on the head by the dead tree branch. The inquest papers say he had told a witness he had relatives in Tamworth and this is where a son of the late Dr John Inches lived. Again not positive proof but the best I think we are going to get.
This leaves our poor skeleton still unidentified but his death has led us to solved a family mystery for many curious relatives who were never told the truth about their great grandmother and the true identity of their grandfather.
Annie
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Hi Andcarred,
I am a direct descendant of R J Inch of Blackheath. He is Richard Jeffree Inch. He was, as others have supposed, born in St Austel, Cornwell and married to Harriet Blackford. He came to Australia with his parents Charles Inch and Eliza Jeffree, as a young man. He had one sibling, a brother David Jeffree Inch. They came to Hill End and were gold miners along with a clan of Jeffrees. I have no knowledge of any other Inch family at that time. They went into Cordial manufacture and Brewing at Hill End. Richard Jeffree Inch moved to Hartley and then the Blue Mountains at Lithgow and Blackheath. At Lithgow he founded and operated Inch Brewery in Inch St, Lithgow. The building has since gone.
His brother David married Hanna Pattinson and had a son Richard Jeffree Inch, who went to the Boer War. On his return by troop ship he was badly sunburned and in delirium jumped over the side and was lost drowned. Coincidentally a chap contacted me about 4 years ago and informed that he had RJ Inch's (David's son) service medal that he bought at a flea market. It was traced by the number embedded in the edge.
Our subject RJ Inch also had a son Richard Jeffree Inch, who only recently passed away and with whom I had been in contact.
Our subject RJ Inch sold up in Australia, left his wife and family to follow him once he was established and began a coffee growing venture in partnership with another investor in present day Vanuatu. As the family were about travel by ship to reunite, they received word that he had died of Blackwater fever (malaria). His gravesite has never been located and the investment he took with him was never returned to the family. Hmmm???
All persons I have mentioned are accounted for as far as gravesites except for RJ Inch my GGGrandfather as already described.
I do not know who this Dr Inch is but I am mightily intrigued.
I hope this information may assist you and I hope to hear more if you find anything else.
Photographs of M Inch (actually RJ Inch, the M was part of Mr) and David Inch are to be found in the photograph section at NSW State Library online.
regards
Greg
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Hi Greg,
Sorry for the delay in replying and thank you for the information on the other Inch family. The Inch line that I am following descended from 12 children born in Dunkeld, Scotland and this line has been extensively researched on Ancestry. This family has scattered to many parts of the world and a few have stayed put in Scotland. Mainly they are in Australia, Canada and England. There does not appear to be any link with your Richard Jeffrey Inch but I will keep all this information in my file just in case. It would be interesting to know the parents of your Charles and David Inch.
Thanks again,
Andcarred
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My name is Bob and I recently met with a third cousin who I had just found. A nice older guy who is not really comfortable discussing in a forum environment. He asked me if I could act as an intermediary, thus this post.
His request "Attempt to have the chap who posted an enquiry about a skeleton, on the RootsChat.com web system; contact me by E-mail. He mentions Drayton, Banana and Mary (although he name was Marianne) CRAMP. Marianne Cramp was first born daughter of John Cramp. I think I can perhaps solve his puzzle and that he may be able to solve a question of mine."
I don't know if or how one makes private communication on this site, perhaps you can advise.
Regards
Bob.
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Once you make 3 posts - anything will do - you can send a private message to another member.
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I believe there is an Inch St in Lithgow Nsw Maybe if you get in touch with some one in the Lithgow you may be able to find out whom it was named after.