Sarah Smith

[sasarina]

I have details of Thomas Boyd's marriage to Eliza Freeman in 1859, he gave his mother's name as Elizabeth Lewis. 
Eliza Freeman's parents were James Freeman and Mary Smith (I can't seem to get away from Mary Smith)  They were married in Sydney, 1859, witnesses James Lees and Louisa Lees.

[majm]

I have Mary Mulhall d.c. states female, Prospect, age 75, no mother, father James,
Children George, Patrick, William, Sarah.
Informant, son George.

and

I also have William Reid-Mulhall marriage cert to Elizabeth Smith, Mary's youngest sister, they were married COE, so looks like they didn't bother too much re religion?

and

William Smith Boyd, the father of Thomas and William Boyd, for some reason used his fathers surname Matthew Boyd and his mothers surname Elizabeth Smith.

Hi,

  on the d.c. for Mary MULHALL,  what information is there for her marriage to George, and for her age at that marriage, and for any mention of any other marriage?  what cemetery, what denomination for the clergy noted on that d.c.

  on the Elizabeth SMITH marriage, what information on that document gives you that she had a   sister, and what was her sister's name at the time of that Elizabeth's marriage, and what information about her parents from that marriage cert?

  what documentation do you have to support the notions  that
i) William Smith Boyd,  was the father of Thomas and William Boyd,
ii) William Smith Boyd for some reason used his fathers surname Matthew Boyd and his mothers surname Elizabeth Smith" ....and where does Matthew Boyd come into this
iii) William Smith Boyd ... father of Thomas and William Boyd ... and how is that Elizabeth SMITH connected to your Joseph LEWIS

May I suggest that you do a time line, working from the death certificate for your confirmed LEWIS ancestor, back to his/her parent, Joseph LEWIS at Fitz' Valley, before you venture back to Charles or his nephew, or any of the Smiths.   I think once you have sorted the Fitz' Valley LEWIS families, it will be clearer and you could then see some smaller brickwalls to tackle,  rather than at present it seems to me there is a four sided solid brickwall, no opening, no gateway, fully surrounded by a deep moat, and guarded by the lack of information available.

JM

[sasarina]

I will look at this tomorrow when I clear my head again.
Elizabeth Smith is not closely to Joseph Lewis, she is the younger sister of Mary Ann Smith.
Elizabeth married William Mulhall.

[majm]

I have long held the view that prior to the gold rushes in NSW the most popular female name was Mary and that after the rush of people, the most popular female name was Mary Ann. 
And both before and after the rushes ... John was the most popular name for males.

The most popular surname :  SMITH, followed by BROWN. 

And, having been researching in NSW families for errr ... since late 1950s as a child ... errr ... and having ancestors arriving as a) came free in the 1790s,  and b) Convicts in the 1800s, and more recently in the penal er, and c) as garrison forces and families of them .... well, I believe that the most difficult name is Mary SMITH.  It can be  for an alias, a married name, a spinster, a widow, a contraction of a longer 'smith' name (Blacksmith etc) and it can be an alternative spelling for a European surname eg SCHMIDT ... so to me, it is very important to hasten slowly, and to re-hash the KNOWN and avoid making any assumptions.

Timeline ... Assemble all those NSW BDM documents, put them into chronological order by year of event... most recent to earliest...

Just my thoughts/suggestions of course. 

JM

[sasarina]

There is no issue with the Joseph Lewis that married Jane Noble, his parents were Charles Lewis and Mary Ann Smith, this is all confirmed.
It is the other Joseph Lewis that was born in 1851 and married Elizabeth Hart that is the issue.
His parents are noted as Joseph Lewis and Sarah Unknown.
He is noted on Joseph Lewis senior d.c. ,  but that is the only place,  he is not listed on Jane Noble's d.c. or is he listed as a sibling on Susannah Lewis (my grandmother) birth cert

[majm]

I will look at this tomorrow when I clear my head again.
Elizabeth Smith is not closely to Joseph Lewis, she is the younger sister of Mary Ann Smith.
Elizabeth married William Mulhall.

But what information gives you that that Elizabeth (  Mrs MULHALL)  is the younger sister of that Mary Ann ( Mrs LEWIS who you are considering married twice, second time becoming a Mrs MULHALL)... For Mary Ann SMITH's marriage to MULHALL, even in that era (1835), the clergy should record if she was a spinster or a widow...  and if both marriages were in Sydney  (St Marys R.C  1835 and St James C of E 1830) then the churches are actually basically within 'cooee' of each other.  In that era, the clergy all kept in contact with each other, regardless of their own denomination.  Convictism in NSW ceased in 1840, so the clergy needed to be aware of the rules re people seeking to marry, and the checking process to follow to ensure any convicts were following the rules re seeking permission to marry. 

JM

[sasarina]

I had been in contact with a Lewis family still living at the Valley,  they tried to help with my research but apparently no one wanted to speak to them about the family.
This lady had a stroke, so I will not be annoying them about my elusive ancestors.
I remember reading about Mary Ann being the most popular name, trust me to have a Lewis, the most popular for a convict to NSW. Smith, what more can I say.
The number of coincidences I have come across is amazing.

[sasarina]

I have Mary Ann Smith's marriage cert to George Mulhall,  there is nothing recorded for her, no mother, no father, no status, only thing mentioned is she was born in the colony.
She had a child 3 days before she married George Mulhall.
This is why I thought Charles Lewis may have reoffended?
I seem to remember reading something on Trove about a Charles Lewis charged with stealing and being sentenced to a penal colony, (2nd offence) I will have to see if I can find it again

[sasarina]

Maybe even the clergy got sick of Mary Ann's