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Hi All,

I am trying to trace the family of John Bower b Huddersfield  c 1831. John came to Australia, date unknown at this stage. On November 2, 1866 he married Alice Adams at St Luke's Church, Emerald Hill (South Melbourne) Victoria. According to their marriage certificate he was aged 35 and born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire to Thomas Bower, Farmer and Mary Balfour? (the writing is atrocius). At the time of their marriage John was shown as a Blacksmith but later became a farmer.

I have found a Thomas Bower b Yorkshire 1806, Labourer, at Fieldhouse, Huddersfield on the 1841 census. With him were wife Mary, b Yorkshire, 1811, son John b Yorkshire 1832, son William b Yorkshire 1837 son Francis b Yorkshire 1841 and a James Harrison, Lab/Lodger, b Yorkshire 1826. I have not been able to find any member of this family in Yorkshire for any census after that, but feel that this is John's family from the information on his marriage certificate.

On Free BDM there was a death of a Francis Bower in Huddersfield in the Dec 1/4 1844, also the death of a William in Huddersfield in the March 1/4 1850. There were six deaths for Mary Bower's listed in Huddersfield from the Dec 1/4 1844 to the March 1/4 1850. No sign of a death or a marriage for a Thomas Bower in that area, and no definite proof at this stage that Thomas came to Australia.  The names of Thomas, Mary William and Francis come up in the children of John and Alice.

I have tried to find a marriage of a Thomas Bower to a Mary Balfour, or similar, and have also tried to find the baptism records for the children listed on the 1841 census, all to little or no avail. On Family Search I have found a John, William and Francis born to a Thomas and Mary Bower with dates that match the census but they were born in Cawthorne and Scisset, South Yorkshire. I have not discounted them though.
If anyone could could help me find the marriage of Thomas and Mary and what happened to this family I would greatly appreciate it.

Regards,
Tissy

Hi All,

I'm currently in the process of writing a book on the pioneer women of Bega which is on the far South Coast of NSW, Australia.
One of the women to be featured in the book is Mary Ryan who came to Australia as a free woman on the 'Red Rover' which arrived here on 10 August 1832, aged 19, (birth year 1813). There were 144 free Irish girls on this ship, most of them from the House of Industry in Cork.
In the Report of the Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor of Ireland, 1824, I have found a Mary Ryan on a "List of Teachers to whom gratuities have been paid during the past year". The entry reads #827 County Tipperary, School, Clonmel, House of Industry, Name, Mary Ryan. If this was our Mary she would have been very young to be a teacher but, considering the times, that is not an impossibility.
I have found a baptism for a Mary Ryan dated 19/09/1813. The address shown is Ballymaclaurence in the Parish/District of Castletownroche, Denomination Roman Catholic. Her parents were listed as Denis Ryan and Bridget Sheehy and her sponsors were Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Lombard. This is the only Baptism record I have been able to find that matches Mary's supposed aged on the passsenger list.
Mary married a convict, Joseph Rolfe in 1834. They had six children, the last unnamed who died tagically with Mary in the disastroud floods of 1851. They were two of the 17 people who died then.
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could give me any pointers on how I could find if our Mary was at the House of Industry or point me to a list of the girls from there that were on the Red Rover or any hints on where I could look to find anything at all on Mary's early life, I would very much appreciate it. I would dearly love to be able to tell her story as fully as possible. She was one of the remarkable women who helped build this area and this country.
In desperation,
Tissy

Hi All,

I'm trying to trace the birth or baptism dates for the children of Isaac and Ann (Nee Stevenson) White. The children were:-

William Isaac White b c 1829 and Jane Rebecca White b c 1832.

There is a baptism listed at Berwick St John in 1829 for a William White and also one at Hindon in 1830 and one at Preshute in 1830.

There are baptisms for Jane White's in Devizes 1832, Winterslow also in 1832 and Hindon in 1834.

Isaac White came from Devizes and Ann (Stevenson) White came from Hilmarton. They were married at Bath on 22 February 1829. The whole family ended up here in Australia, Isaac as a convict and Ann and the children following later.

Any help with the birth or baptism records of William Isaac and Jane Rebecca White would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Tissy

Hi All,

I'm looking for a needle in a haystack and I hope that someone can help me in my search. I'm trying to trace the birth of one JOHN THOMAS BROWN who, according to the birth certificates of his children in Victoria, Australia, was born in Jamacia c 1825/1826.

Any help anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Tissy