Hi Janet and all those who have posted here. I hope you are still reading this thread.
My name is Julie Chapman and my great great grandmother was Emily May (so I guess we are related).
To add to the story, and yes all the details about Emily being married twice are correct, Emily May had a baby in August 1883, Mabel May (also called Catherine or Kate as she was known to her son / my grandfather). She was born Darghan St, Glebe according to the birth certificate. IN my brief google search, the only home on this street at the time was Lyndhurst house, and it was a lie in hospital for unwed mothers for a brief time in 1883. No father was listed on the birth certificate.
She married John Edward Dewdeney 3 months after the birth of my great grandmother in Glebe and then they travelled to Charleville. Soon after John and Emily had a son Charles who died (previously mentioned in this thread.
They then separated and Emily soon after met and lived with William Dixon. They lived together as a married couple, and got officially married in (approx 1900) after John Dewdeney died in (approx 1898).
Mabel May, called Catherine Dixon grew up in Charleville and was brought up with William as her father. She only found out William was not her birth father on her wedding day to my great grandfather Roy Chapman. I believe this was because William could not be listed as her father on their marriage certificate.
Roy and Catherine had two children Dodo and Edwards (called Ted). Ted was my grandfather.
My questions is, if Emily May came to Australia in 1877 and gave birth to my great great grandmother in Glebe, Sydney in 1883, where was she during these 6 years? The family legend is that she was originally from Cunnamulla / Charleville region and that is why she returned there with John Dewdeney. I am quite desperate to know who my great great grandfather was, as it is said in my family that Dodo always knew that both William and John were not her biological grandfather.
Any help much appreciated
