Lilian's Tree

 Rachel Wyatt Vaughan is the tenth child of my great-great-grandparents, Henry Vaughan and Charlotte Chasmar. I know little about this child other than the facts I list below. Rachel Wyatt Vaughan, born 28 July 1864 at Castlereagh Street, Sydney and died 13 January 1865 at Castlereagh Street, Sydney and buried 15 January 1865 at Camperdown Cemetery. What has interested me was the middle name Wyatt. A maiden name of someone? Couldn't find ANY family with that name. It has/had me stumped. Well until this morning and it's only an assumption but... I was searching through the Camperdown Cemetery List on the church website,  Camperdown Cemetery   When a name caused me to look again, Joseph Wyatt, 1788 - 20 July 1860. Interesting. There was also a link to the headstone and there are seven people with the surname Wyatt buried in that cemetery, including Rachel Dobson Wyatt, 1794 - 1 July 1894. Very interesting. More searching happened. Joseph was an Inn Keeper in Castlereagh Str...

Our elder granddaughters are very much into running half marathons, marathons or even an ultra marathon! Grandma and Granddad cheer them on virtually, by the apps the races have, even sneaking a quick look in church during their latest run. Well while we don't run, we do walk and on Sunday the 12 July we did a 3k walk sponsored by the Western Districts Joggers & Harriers, called The Festival of the Feet. We finished in a respectable time of 37mins. and were presented with our medals.  It was a fun thing to do on a brisk winter's Sunday morning.  Our Bibs and Medals                                                                                                        ...

As I mentioned in my previous posts, Paul and I had three night in the city, at the start of the month.  On the Sunday we attended St Philip's Church, Church Hill. I mentioned to the minister that my great-grand mother, Isabella Mary Ann Vaughan had been baptised there in 1847. He explained to me that it would have been the old church, then he went into his office and came back with the ORIGINAL Parish Record book and scrolling through the pages we found the baptism entry.  I was thrilled to see the entry and took the photos below.  William Cowper, the minister was the first rector in the Colony of New South Wales, the other two had been chaplains. There was also a 'family tree' of the parishes that had come from St Philip's. I am now going to make an appointment to return and check the other children's baptisms as well.                                         

 Sunday dawned with a cool breeze and a hint of rain, so we had a late start. Church at St Philip's, Church Hill, where Isabella Vaughan was baptised. More on that in the next post. The church of St Philip's is the third church of that name in that area. The first was a wooden convict built in 1793 and they burnt it down in 1798. The next one was built in 1798 and was used until 1856, when the present one was built, across the road. There is a park where this church stood. The site of the second church. The foundation stone from the original church, now in the new one.                                                                                Looking up the aisle. The entrance on the side. Paul and I were made very welcome and the service was very...

 Saturday saw us up early and having breakfast at the Grumpy Baker, in a little lane behind our hotel. The savoury pastries we had were delicious and the atmosphere was fun. As we were at a Light Rail stop we hopped on and took the tram to Randwick, stayed on and came back to the City, getting of at Circular Quay. We saw parts of the city we hadn't seen before. Back at Circular Quay, we caught the ferry to Barangaroo, with the idea to walk back to the Quay. I had though that  Barangaroo Reserve might be an interesting place to explore but is just a park with views to Goat Island and up the harbour. The walk was busy, with families, joggers, bike riders or just people strolling along, enjoying the warm sunny day. We did walk up into the park and looked at the view.                                                             ...

 At the beginning of July Paul and I spent three nights at the Mantra on Bond Street. We had a Light Rail stop at the door, Circular Quay, two blocks away, with ferry terminals. Eleven floors up, we looked south along George Street.  We had a one bedroom, split-level, self contained apartment. Friday saw us drop of the bags and walk to Circular Quay and take the ferry to Watson's Bay. We had wanted to do the South Head walk, but the wind was whistling up the harbour and clouds scudding by we opted out of the walk. We walked along the water front, several street and across Camp Cove beach. Looking back up the harbour the views were beautiful. Watson's Bay Looking back towards the City. Camp Cove. Camp Cove. We meandered back to the ferry terminal and then across the park to a cafe for morning tea. Catching the bus back to the city, we alighted between Hyde Park South and North. It was a lovely stroll through Hyde Park, North to St James and then into Pitt Street Mall. I did som...