SMEDLEY - Victoria

[Smeddles]

Hi Bellejazz,

I am researching my late father's family line without a great deal of success and in searching have noted that you had a couple of antecedents called William Smedley.

My father, Alan Smedley b. 30/10/1915 was the son of Michael Alfred Smedley b. 31/07/1883 at Colac Common, to William Smedley and Emma Wigby (possibly Rigby). William and Emma also had a son Patrick, born according St Mary's Colac Baptism records as 31/11/1881?

I have searched the Vic. online historical index but have been unable to find birth records for Michael, Patrick, William or Emma, nor William and Emma's marriage. From your experience, you may be able to tell me if registration of Births was patchy in the 1880's?

Anyway, to have fathered Michael and Patrick, William was probably between 20 - 30 in 1883, putting his birth somewhere between 1853 and 1863. I have seen the subject email and responses and as a longshot, wondered if you had been able to gain more information on William Smedley born in 1851.

If you are unable to help with the above, I wonder whether you can direct me further.

There seems to be quite a bit of activity around a William & Margaret Smedley (nee Ward) who married and lived at Toolangi/Wandong during the period. I note that Smedleys from Kilmore/Broadford are mentioned and I recollect that Dad had contact with someone researching that line in the 1990s but a link was never made. If you have a contact, I'd like to dig a bit further.

For background, Michael Smedley subsequently married Isabel Woods of Learmonth in 1906, at Ballarat and moved sometime prior to 1909 to Broken Hill where he managed the Barrier Daily Truth newspaper. Together they had 3 children, Doris Isabel (23/06/1909), Alfred Roydon (21/04/1913) and Alan George (my father).

The family moved to Adelaide in the 1920s where Michael was active in the ALP and managed the Workers Weekly Herald until its closure in 1948. Subsequently, Michael and Isabel helped their children establish a printing business at Glenelg (Smedley Press) which traded until 1979. Michael died 17/12/1953 (Isabel 10/07/1952).

Anyway, hope this email finds you well; I'd be grateful for any information/leads that you might be able to provide.

rgds
John Smedley
Glenelg, South Australia

[krisesjoint]

Hi John,

A Big Welcome to RootsChat. 

I have split your post from Belinda's thread so that our lovely members may be of help to you with your family without infringing on Belinda's thread (If they do not turn out to be connected.)

I have left the link on Belinda's old thread so that she will find you here, when she comes online. Hope you don't mind.

Link to Belinda's SMEDLEY thread you had posted to

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,279457.0.html

Regards Kris 

[Smeddles]

Kris,

No problem, thanks.

John

[sparrett]

Hi John,
Have you seen the digitised ww1 record for PATRICK SMEDLEY?
When he enlisted in November 1915 he was aged 35 and he gave his birthplace as Camperdown.  Religion was R Catholic and he was a labourer.
His Next of Kin was his brother Michael SMEDLEY of Ballarat.

The record shows (from about pg 9) PATRICK had some shortcomings and things did not go well for him in the forces.

http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/using/search/

Sue

[sparrett]

Do you think this news item from The Colac Herald 21st Jan 1890 is about EMMA SMEDLEY, the mother of PATRICK and MICHAEL?



The case of the womani Emma Smedley, who was arrested by the police as a vagrant was next gone into. The woman when arrested had three children with her, and these at her desire were ordered to be sent into some keeping, and the mother was detained for the purpose of allowing her to obtain a good good cleansing, she being in a very filthy condition.


http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/87350780?searchTerm="emma smedley" +colac&searchLimits=

Sue

[cando]

John do you have Michael's marriage 1906 certificate?  I tend to look to marriage certificates for information as the details are given by the parties concerned and not a third party.

Cheers
Cando

[cando]

Michael states in Jun 1914 that he had worked in the mines
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0smh/


Cheers
Cando

[cando]

Emma in Camperdown Court 1891
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0smi/

http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2845922

Childrens registers of State wards in the colony of Victoria, 1864-1897 [microform] : estray series registers, girls books and associated registers

Index to the Children's Registers of State Wards, 1850 -1893

This is an index of Children’s Registers of State Wards in Victoria, Australia between 1850 and 1893. It is culled from the records of the Department for Neglected and Criminal Children and industrial and reformatory schools of the 19th Century in Victoria, Australia. The index has more than 29,000 names of children who were under the state’s protection and its records contain: Name, birth date, birth place, volume page
The index has the volumes and page numbers in those volumes, but the volume names are abbreviated and need to be looked up in the introduction to determine which volume contains the specific record.

Index only

SMEDLEY John  Born 1889 Vic        Vol 10  Page 148
SMEDLEY Michael  Born 1883 Vic    Vol 10 Page 143
SMEDLEY Patrick  Born 1883 Vic     Vol 10 Page 142

I wonder if this is actually John's birth with a mistranscribed surname.    On Victorian birth certificates the ages and places of birth of the parents are noted along with previous issue to the marriage.  The place and date of the marriage is also detailed.  Images of certs can be purchased online [$20] and immediately downloaded
https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/index-search?action=purchaseImage

Birth
MEDLEY Michael
Father William  Mother Emma RIGBY
At Carlton  1889  Reg#1470

I can only see two births with mother Emma RIGBY on the Victorian indexes prior to 1890 when Emma SMEDLEY appeared in court, the one above and another in 1885 at Noorat for a Michael to a Wm OBRYAN and Emma RIGBY Reg#27645

Cheers
Cando

[sparrett]

This is a possibility for the death of PATRICK SMEDLEY in NSW

5276/1940 SMEDLEY, PATRICK Father ROBERT Mother--- At PARRAMATTA

This man is buried at ROOKWOOD

Name Patrick Smedley
Service Date 03 Jan 1940
Age 58
Register Number    62213
Burial
Location Section Grave Mortuary 2
Area  13 Concord Removals Grave : 68


I suspect this may be a public funded common  grave as this man is also at that location and was interred about the same time-

Forsyth   Henry J    Date 05 Jan 1940 Aged 47   

The fact that the father's name is not correct (ROBERT) may be because the informant was mistaken or because PATRICK was fostered or adopted in early life.

Sue