Hi, my wife is descended from William John Morley Markwell, and I have a fair bit of information on him. though when I say information, this could be interpreted as speculation.
On his marriage cert. in 1841 (in London) he was John, aged “minor” (i.e. less than 21) and in the 1841 Census (in London) earlier on that same year he was John, aged “15” (in that Census they put “15” for anyone between 15 and 20). He was born then between 1822 and 1826, I imagine it was closer to 1822, making him 19 or possibly 20 at marriage. He was a tailor, and in 1841 he was living with his brother Benjamin and family of 4 children in London.
His parents were Bartholomew and Sarah (Jeffries) who also had, according to the IGI, a son John in 1806. I think the IGI have a son William christened in 1822, and this could be where the William/John business arises.
William John’s birth in 1822 was 5 years after his next oldest brother, 23 years after B and S’s first child, and there is no IGI record for him. If he was born in 1823, his mother would have been 44. Not impossible of course, but they did have their oldest son, Bartholomew, in 1799. Also missing IGI records are the christenings of Samuel (1815) and Isaac (1818), those who went over to Oz in 1849. Also strange is that Samuel is recorded as being born in Wainfleet, after the first 5 children were born in Horncastle. If the family had moved to Wainfleet, then William John’s birth should have been there too.
He was married 3 times:
first to Mary Anne IZARD in London before emigrating (with 3 children). I have a copy of the marriage certificate.
His second marriage was with Georgina Edmonstone, and they had 10 children. I have a copy of this marriage certificate also.
His third was with Harriet Hunt Davis Beal – 6 children.
Speculation on his use of "Morley":
I did find on the internet that the “Morley” was a convict ship in the 1820s and early 30s.
In 1868, an 8-year old son of he and his second wife, Frederick Morley MARKWELL, died, and that might be why he adopted the name "Morley" for himself, which was how his grandson had always referred to him. [His grandson was my wife's grandfather] It was while trying to determine how this name came about that I came across the convict ship called “Morley”. He wasn't a convict and the "Morley" finished operating when he was about 10 years old in Lincolnshire, so it's still a mystery. His 3rd wife, Harriet outlived him, and ended up with "all the money". Much of this had come from George EDMONSTONE, his second father-in-law, a wealthy business man, who set up a butchers shop and became “the first mayor of Brisbane”
A few years ago, on a rare sunny day in the north of England, we drove down to visit the church at Hammeringham, where Bartholomew and Sarah were married in 1798. The church records there only went back as far as 1837.
I'd be interested where makjeng's source of his date of birth.
If anyone can add any more to my information I’d appreciate it.
