Lilian's Tree

As I look towards a 'big' birthday,  Judy G Russell  in her blog post, The passing of time , got me thinking about my six closest ancestors and how old they were when they died. 1998 was the first time I passed the age of  my paternal grandmother, Louisa Abberton, nee Nicolls. Louisa died in childbirth, not uncommon for the time, aged 43yrs, sadly the baby boy also died. 2002 was the next time and it was my maternal grandmother Evelyn Galbraith nee Jasper. Evelyn, aged 47yrs,  had delivered her 10th child when she succumbed to a pre-existing illness. The baby boy lived. 2003 and it was my paternal grandfather Thomas Abberton.   TB claimed his life, aged 49yrs, again not that uncommon, he left seven children orphaned. 2017 was the year I passed my dad,   Matthew Abberton, aged 62yrs. That leaves just two, my maternal grandfather   Arthur Galbraith he was 81yrs and 41 days when he passed. Still a long way off. Then my mum, Lilian Abberton,...

Lilian, (Mum) was born on 22 October 1911 [1] , at Regent Street Camperdown, to Arthur Galbraith and Evelin Jasper. She was their second child, with Edith being her big sister. Eight more siblings would follow. Aged 12 months. She was baptised at St Stephen’s Newtown on 22 November 1911, confirmed and had her First Communion, at Holy Trinity, Erskineville on 19 September 1926.                                                               St Stephen's Newtown. Snippets Mum talked about were, attending school at Erskineville Public School, where she and some of the other girls, would ask for help with their work and then pass it on to each other, working in Allen’s Cake Shop, at Erskineville, working in a shoe factory, outings with church friends, trips to Katoomba, with her family and walking home during ‘browno...

Talking to both staff, from State Records and Genealogy SA, at the expo, I figured that a bit of research might be good. August Jasper arrived in Adelaide, in 1876 and I was curious as to what he had done, during his time there. An article, I found on Trove, see the post, 16 September 2016, that placed him Clare. With more questions than answers, I went to Genealogy SA. Being able to view a copy of the passengers, on the Dilbhur, I found more information about him. I enquired about court records and they didn't have any and recommended State Records. Of to State Records, today. From the lady, on the desk, who showed me how to join, to the staff,  bringing up the books, everyone was friendly, helpful and nothing was a problem. There were no court papers, pertaining to him and Kelly suggested that I apply to the courts, for a search. She even found the forms and information I need. She then suggested I look at Assessment Book, for Clare, to see if I could find his res...

                                                                 August Jasper. August Jasper is my great-grandfather and he has been difficult to find much on. I knew he arrived in South Australia in 1876 but didn't know what he had done. I did a TROVE search and selected South Australia and found his arrival and this interesting article about him taking his employer, Mr Sampson,  to court, for back wages. Northern Argus (Clare, SA : 1869 - 1954), Friday 23 January 1880, page 2

  FAMILY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY. As I have ‘finished’ the Vaughan Family, I was at a loose end as to who to do next. This is a one off post and I’ll get back to a family , next week. August Frederick Conrad JASPER. August is the second husband of Isabella Vaughan and my great-grandfather.   I have gaps , in August’s life and I would love to fill them in. It was a fluke that I found his birth. Early one morning I was playing with FamilySearch . I entered his name, clicked search and closed my eyes. There was only one result and it was him. August Jasper (it takes too long to do his full name), was born in Heidenoldenorf,   Germany on 3 rd December 1846*, to Toens Simon Herm. Christoph JASPER and Wilhelmine Friederike Caroline KESSEMEIER. I have found other children and will do more research on the whole family. I don’t know how he grew-up or why he came to Australia. He arrrived in South Australia on the   Dilbhur on 29/3/1876. Listed a...

Great-Grandma, I find your re-marriage and it is through this marriage that I make you mine. You marry Frederick August Conrad Jasper, from Detmold, Germany on 23 August 1884 * , at the Congregational Church, Glebe. Apart from you both living in Christie Street, Glebe, there is scant information on this marriage certificate, too. Frederick and yours first and only surviving child, a girl, Eveline Maud arrives 23 April 1885 * . She will become my Grandmother. Sadly I never knew her but her picture sits on my dressing table. It is on Eveline’s birth certificate that Frederick states; 2 males and 3 females, living per previous marriage on wife’s side. Why didn’t he name them, for me??? After Eveline, you have three more children; 1887, Lilly May, known as Lydia, she dies, aged 15 months, on 11 November 1888 * ; 1889, Violet Louisa, you too watch her die on 19 March 1891 * , she is just 16 months old;   1891, Walter Frederick, he makes it to 18 months but dies on...

                                                                  Photos Hands up, who has boxes of photos, with nothing written on the back?  Me too! How do you store your photos? Albums, boxes, on the computer? I have a mix of all three.  I promise myself that I will write who, where and when they were taken but I don't. My new digital camera has GPS, so now when I upload my photos to the computer, it tells me where and when it was taken. I have wonderful old photos, that I know are family but exactly who they are is lost. Mum did write on the back of some but a Mrs Bell??? I have know idea. This one is a mystery. I know that the two small...

Today I'm looking at my Chasmar line. Some times I see it spelt Chasmer and figure they weren't that literate back then.  I used the Surname Database to find the meaning of Chasmar  and discovered that  this unusual surname is of early medieval English origin. Something I didn't know.  It gives seven different ways that is can be spelt and also mentions Benenden, Kent, where my Chasmars' came from. My ancestor, Charlotte Chasmar was born in Benenden, Kent around 1821 to Robert Chasmar and his wife Elizabeth Chasmar, nee Gardner. Her Christening record show that she was christened on 21 December 1821. I'm going to jump around here and just do Charlotte and then add other details. Charlotte arrived in Sydney on 1 September 1839, on board the 'Cornwall'. The spelling of her surname was given as Chaperance. (With the spelling conventions, of that time, the letter p might well have been an S.)  She was 18 years old, a Protestant, from Benenden and was se...

Faces, what do they tell us? Can we find any trace of our ancestors in our faces? We see a new baby and we say, he has so-n-so's nose, chin, ears as we look for a link to the past. Today I'm looking at my mum and her parents and then my husbands great grandfather. Arthur Alfred Victor Galbraith Born 1884 Died 1965 Evelyn Maude Jasper Born 1885 Died 1932 Mum Born 1911 Died 2006 Samuel Hunter Magill Born c1844 Died 1928 Looking at these photos I think, what colour were their eyes?  Why and where  were these photos taken? Mum's eyes were blue, Grandad's I can't remember. Grandma's photo was taken at Katoomba. Mum's was on her first birthday. Some answers, still some questions.

Well Christmas is over and I can get down to some very serious family tree research. Yesterday I was able to fill in a Pedigree chart for my youngest child and found several gaps, to explore. Some of the surnames that I am researching are Sigrist, Hudson, Chasmar, Vaughan, Jasper & Abberton. Please contact me if you have any of these names. Who knows we could both find 'missing links'!