Jemima Rourke (Marshall)

[Tuscany]

I know this is likely to be a very long shot but worth a try.  

Is there anyone researching who has any personal information about Jemima Rourke, nee Marshall, born Frensham Surrey, England 1805, died West Maitland Sydney 16th October, 1901.  

Thanks to one of the people on this site I have much recorded information and am now waiting for her death certificate. but I just wondered whether any decendent had any family information.  Jemima would be my 5x's great aunt, (somewhat distant) but I find her fascinating.  She could great, great, grandmother to someone of my age, not so far removed.

She must have emigrated with her husband, John Rourke, somewhen in the 1830's, a tremendous undertaking in those days.  Now, if someone emigrates and doesn,t settle then it's not too much problem to come back, but then it must have been a very final decision knowing that the possibility of return was most unlikely.  

I imagine Jemima must have been a very strong and determined lady and I admire what I know of her so far, I would love to 'know' her better, so anything, however small, would be greatly appreciated.  A photo would be beyond value.

In anticipation, many thanks,
Tuscany

[trish251]

Hello Tuscany

There may be better ways to find the information you are seeking than hoping to meet a descendant on RC. The death certificate is a good start as you should get a list of all the children (which you may have anyway) and you may be able to trace them through the 20th century via NSW marriage and death indexes. This can lead to newspaper funeral notices detailing family & via the white pages or the internet (google is good) you may well find living relatives.

West Maitland, is in fact about 100 miles north of Sydney - it is part of NSW but not considered part of Sydney (yet  ). There is a thriving family history group there and as your family were quite early settlers, they may well have lots of information about them.

This list offers cemetery pictures and there seem to be two jemimas mentioned and quite a number of other Rourkes.

 http://www.rootsweb.com/~ausmfhc/Photo_Index2005.pdf

This is the home address
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ausmfhc/main.html

If you google Maitland Family history - there are over 3000 hits

This presumably relates to a descendant

http://www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=232&print=1&FORMMODE=search&NAME=DECENT&T=welcomeWallBrowse

Trish

[Tuscany]

Hi Trish,
You, as always, are an absolute mine of information.  It was you who gave me the names of Jemima's children and the information on how to obtain the death certificate, which is due any day.

This lady has just grabbed my imagination especially as the rest of my bunch are ag labs, (nothing wrong with that, an honest occupations) and someone with a pioneering spirit appeals no end.

I'm off now to try the site.

Many thanks
Tuscany

[Tuscany]

Hi Trish,

Have discovered Jemima's place of burial and hope to send for a photo of the grave.  The one you believe is a relative appears to be Jemima's daughter who baptised one of her children with the name Harry Marshall, Marshall being Jemima's maiden name.

So once again many thanks for your guidance.  It is difficult with the Australian sites because they offer so much more than ours and we aren't used to such open access to information.

Tuscany

[trish251]

Hi Tuscany

I assume you got the death certificate They can be quite useful if the informant knew all the details. Where is the burial - there may be a rootschatter close by - sometimes you can be lucky

Trish

[Tuscany]

Hi Trish

The death certificate is on it's way, they say 2 weeks but then it's got a bit further to come, but I am getting quite excited.

I've also e-mailed the West Maitland history group who have a list of cemeteries where they have photographed the gravestones but I haven't heard back from them yet.  The cemetery is Campbell's Hill Church of England cemetery, on South Street, off the New England Highway.  Jemima also owned a property in West Maitland, 'Glanmire'.  That was on the Parliamentary Return of Landholders 1885.  There is a mass of information it's just a case of trawling through it all.

Would you suggest putting up a post asking if anyone lives anywhere nearby?

Tuscany

[trish251]

So the information came from the Maitland links - nice to know they are still working. It could be worth a query, but being somewhat out of the way, you will need a little luck to find someone from nearby. Do hope you hear back from the history group - it may be your best option for the picture. You may be lucky enough to find someone there with links to the family as well 

Trish

[sparrett]

Yes Trish, That does happen sometimes that you find a connection through the  localgroup.
Once when I was seeking a certain name in the central Vic area, I wrote to the local Hist Soc. and the secretary replied saying she was actually of that family!
We had a good old yarn.

Odd isn't it.
Sue

[Tuscany]

Trish,

I do dislike keep calling on you but you're always so willing and helpful (and that's not flattery), but having used the contact you gave me for the Maitland Family History Society I have received no reply, do you have any further suggestions? Should I just try again?

Tuscany