Lilian's Tree

Twins Boys, John and Matthew Abberton. Thomas and Mary’s 12 th and 13 th children were twin sons, John James Samuel and Matthew Joseph. The arrived on 28 February 1871, giving Thomas two more sons, to go with the nine daughters, (eight still living), he had. Not much is known about these two men. They didn’t marry or have any (known) children. The family rumour has it that they did have ‘liaisons’, with some of the local indigenous women, so who knows. But it is only a rumour. From my research, I think that John stayed on the farm and Matthew got a job. Documents from the Australian National Archives have John taking over the post office at Mummell and it ‘being in a deplorable state, that it recommended that it be closed.’ Thomas and Mary had run the post office from a shed on their property, their daughter having taken it on after Thomas’s death. Matthew appears to have worked for the railways, at Goulburn. In what capacity I’ve still to discover. Both men were

We have spent the day in Kuranda, in the Atherton Tablelands and it was wonderful. After our coach dropped us at the train station, we boarded for our journey, up the mountain. The railway was built between 1882 and 1891. There are over 37 bridges and 15 hand-made tunnels. The longest of these is 429 meters. It takes you. 328 meters above sea level. There is one curve of 80degrees and you get a great shot of both the front and back of the train. The trip was about an hour and forty minutes. Arriving Kuranda, we stopped for the tourist photo. We had lunch at the Barron Falls pub, the locals eat there and the food was great. We then walked to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, home to over 1500 tropical butterflies. Ice cream, at Kuranda Icecream, was a treat and it was delicious! We then wandered back to the Skyrail station, for our return journey. This trip was 8.3kms and around forty minutes, with two stops. We glided over the Barron River and

After a lovely swim a walk to the beach, was in order. The spider was one of three, sharing a web.

Elizabeth Mary Abberton and Theresa Mary Abberton.   While these two girls aren’t twins, I know  very little about them and have chosen to do them together. Elizabeth Mary was born 1867, becoming Thomas and Mary’s 10 th child and eighth daughter. In 1894 she married Walter Thomas Daniel . Daniel was born circa 1862 and died 30 January 1955. Elizabeth and Daniel had three children; 1)       Thomas Leslie born 29 July 1894. He married Gladys M S Fletcher in 1917. They had four children, three boys and a girl. 2)     Jack Alfred born 26 September 1895. He married May Lee and they had two daughters. 3)       Linus Mary born 9 March 1901. She married John O’Connell and had two daughters. When John died, Linus re-married to Joseph Kahler and had two boys and a girl. Elizabeth died 23 January 1937. ( This information was given to me by a daughter of Linus, who had documented her family.)   Theresa Mary, born 5 December 1868, giving Thomas and Mary th

Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), Tuesday 26 July 1927, page 10     Patrick Maher, is one of those peripheral relations. He was married to Florence Vivian Corinda Millar, in 1908 and they had two children, Catherine, born 1911 and Patrick, born and died 1914.   (Florence is the sister of Edith Magill, nee Millar, my husband's grandmother.)   I don't know what caused Patrick to take is own life. The coroner ruled that he was 'temporally insane', when he died. He is buried in the Moonbie Cemetery. Florence joined him in 1950.       This is my last Trove Tuesday post, for awhile as I want to start something different. Please continue to tune-in, on a Tuesday to see what is going on.   Thank you for following these posts. Bye, Lilian  

Sydney is having a cold wet day, just the day to read. Below are three that I have on my bedside table. Sweet Tomorrows, is the last in the Rose Harbor Inn series. A beautiful read, that took me a day. Debbie Macomber writes great books and I am waiting to see if she does another series. Writing and Publishing Gripping Family Histories, by Carol Baxter, was my treat at the conference. Carol's 'How To' books are easy to read and full of useful ideas. Great for the Genealogist! I have just started The Doctor Calling, by Meredith Appleyard and am loving it. Set in South Australia, it is another good Australian story. I've also been reading from my Kindle. Bye for now, Lilian

Well my wedding dress is now apart, the christening dress pattern cut out, only have to pin. cut and sew.                                                      What was my wedding dress. The pattern I'm using. All cut out.   I knew that the lace in the sleeves wouldn't be enough, so purchased this, to use in its place.     Bye for now, Lilian.

                                             Frances Maria/Marie Abberton.     I know only the bare bones, about Frances and hope this blog will find some cousins. Frances, known to the family as Fanny, was born 30 March 1865, the younger twin to my grandfather, Thomas. She was Thomas and Mary’s seventh daughter and ninth child. Fanny married James Alfred Pell , 1892 in Goulburn. They have two daughters; May Mascot , born 22 May 1893 and Clara Eunice , born 1896. Then this little family seems to disappear. Thanks to the internet I discovered that they went to New Zealand. When and why remain a mystery but they settled in Wellington, New Zealand. Using the New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages Online, I found the death of Frances on 8 August 1941* and also the girls’ marriages. Clara married Frank Marshall on 9 November 1921*, in Wellington. May married Vernon James Hunt on 15 October 1925*, in Wellington   Apart from a small death notice for Frances, there

Forty-one years ago my dear, then to be mother-in-law made my wedding dress. She was a dressmaker, before her marriage and having only sons, didn't think that she would ever make another wedding dress. I didn't like any of the store made ones, so she took on the task. My veil was a Juliette cap and Mum spent hours sewing lace flowers on the two tiers.   Now, today, I'm about to start to take it apart and make our youngest Granddaughter's Christening dress.   The bodice had Chantilly lace and the sleeves were Chantilly lace, as well. The crepe was embossed with Lily of the Valley. I'll post a blog with the Christening dress, once it is made. Bye, Lilian.  

Having spent the weekend, at Camden, enjoying the conference, I thought I'd continue the Camden theme, for Trove Tuesday. Illustrated Sydney News, (NSW 1881-1894), Saturday 5 December 1891, page 5.  

This years conference was originally to be hosted by Camden Area family History Society, the asked the Picton & District Historical & Family History Society to join with them. It was fantastic. Held in the Camden Civic Center, the his venue was superb. A auditorium, for the trade tables, main conference and dinner, was great. The smaller Ferguson Room was used for the Friday talks, Meet & Greet, morning and afternoon teas, as well as lunch. This was one of the better catered for, I've been to. The organising team did a wonderful job and everything from the name tags, conference booklets and satchels, to the timing of the talks,  done very well. Orange 2017. has a lot to love up-to. I, myself had a great time, catching up with old friends and making new ones. I have come away with tips on how to find an arrival, how I can get a death certificate changed, to how I should really use the Dictionary of Sydney. I also met several other people, doing the UTAS c

All good things must come to an end, likewise the 32nd Annual Conference but not before we had three more excellent speakers. I started my morning, very early, 5.50 and was booked out and at Camden by 6.55, for breakfast. Nothing open, except McDonalds. By 7.30 there was a cafe open and I had, had a good walk around the area. Andrew Gildea, from Finders Cafe, gave an interesting talk about Finders Cafe. No, not a coffee shop but a Global Social History Project. www.finderscafe.com   The aim is for us to upload images to Preserve+Protect=the Share them. Have a look at the website and see what you think. I haven't looked, yet. You, too, could be a Lacemaker of Calais, by Gillian Kelly was next and I went, not interested in lacemaking. Boy was I wrong! While I don't have any on my tree, I learnt about them and was fascinated. Google Lacemakers of Calais and explore. Very interesting. Jody Tayor, finished the day with an explanation of how AncestryDNA works and th

WiFi isn't that great. A snail is faster! Saturday started with Welcome to Country and ended with the Conference Dinner. In between we had six interesting speakers, covering topics such as Family Papers and Family Stories- The Hidden Gems of the SAG, by Heather Garnsey and the Dictionary of Sydney, by Dr Lisa Murray. Nick Brodie talked about Kin in the Cowpastures, his family still lives in the area. Kin in the Cowpastures is the name of his book. 1787 is the title of his next book. Bruce Carter, had us Online with the State Library and Gail Davis had us in care, with Children in Care in the 19th and Early 20th Century. Dinner was a lively affair with a raffle, I won an Ancestry subscription and a cow auction. Yes, a cow auction! The were ceramic cows on every table and the bidding started at $10. We were entertained by a singer and the songs brought back memories. My table, Table 1, had an interesting discussion that covers WW1 to Vietnam. I will post photos of

"Day 1 of the conference was open to the public with a Family History Fair and five talks. I attended two of them, Basic Family Search and Introduction to Trove. Whilst I use both of these, I still came away with new information. I also spent time catching up with friends and making new ones. Heather and Danielle are representing the Society of Australian Genealogists. The ladies from the Ryde Historical Society have a great display of books, including their new one on the Field of Mars Cemetery. The theme is Cowpastures and Beyond and my view lives up to that. More tomorrow, Lilian

                                                   Thomas Joseph Abberton. (Thomas is the elder born of twins. I will do his twin, Frances Maria, next week.) Thomas and Frances arrived in the world 30 March 1865*, being the eighth and ninth children of Thomas and Mary. Thomas Joseph was also the second son, Frances was the seventh daughter. The information I have on Thomas is scant, with bits and pieces being found in TROVE and Archives NSW. Thomas married Louisa Mary Ann Nicolls 1 January 1890*, in the Roman Catholic Church, Mummel. Louisa was a school teacher and five years older than Thomas. Louisa also continued to teach, up until the birth of her second child.   (I can assume that they met at Mummel, as this was where Louisa was teaching. Thomas’s father had sold the land, for the school, to the Education Department. Mummel was also a thriving town, with several hotels, church, copper mine, post office and school.) I am going to just list Thomas and Louisa’s ch

                                                                 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

                                                      Four Abberton Daughters. I don't have much on these four Abberton daughters, so thought that one post would be enough. What I have has been gleaned from TROVE, NSW Birth, Death and Marriage records and other family members. Bridget, Mary Ann, Margaret Josephine and Honorah are big sisters to my Thomas, the next child. Of these Mary Ann is a twin but sadly her twin sister died aged three days. I can find no record for her. Bridget. Bridget was born in 1856, being Thomas and Mary's third child and second daughter. In 1881 she married James John Ferney (b 1858 d 1917). They had one son, Thomas Abberton Ferney, born 1882, d 1960, m 1904 to Amy Maria Hill (d1954). They in turn had two sons, Leopold b 1905 d 1956, m Marie Potts. And John James b 1910 d 1961 m 1942, Olga Hillway. I found an article on Bridget's death  in the Cootamundra Herald, Saturday 4 June 1904. p2 Mary Ann.  Mary Ann was born 16 August 18