Lilian's Tree

Susan was born on 16/08/1854 to George Donald and Jane Galbraith, being baptised on 18/09/1854. She was their last child. Like her brothers and sisters I don't know anything about her childhood. She was just 16 when her father died in 1870. In 1875 Susan married George Henry Melrose in Yass. They would have seven children Henry Irwin (Irvine), Birth record #21847/1874, father is listed as George Henry Irwin Melrose, place Yass, died 1962 William Arthur Aubrey, birth index # 7320/1877, Armidale, died 1967 Herbert Lesley, birth index # 24793/1880, Tamworth, died 1970 Mina May Evelyn, (Nina), birth index # 28044/1882, Tamworth, died 1939 Albert George Birth index # 32845/1886, Queanbeyan, died 1942 Percy Harold, birth index # 34676/1888, Bungendore, died 1954 Stanley, birth index # 14477/1891, Goulburn, died 1973. Both George and Susan died in 1936 at Canterbury, Sydney. On Susan's death certificate her name is given as Susan Alston Melrose. This name doesn't come up on any ot...

 Jane Donald was the tenth child born to George Donald and Jane/Jean Galbraith. Sometimes Jean would be used for her as well.  While Jane appears to have had a normal childhood, it is her adult life that is very interesting. In 1871, at Balmain in Sydney she married Alexander Donaclift Young and then she vanishes! Searching the Australian records, for that time yielded nothing so I search the New Zealand records and found the birth of their first child, James on the 30 November 1871. And the family vanishes, again! Back to searching the Australian records. In 1873, at Balmain in Sydney their second son, Donald was born, Yes, they vanish again! By now I was wondering what was going on as I had found two marriages for Alexander in Victoria, before his marriage to Jane. BUT there didn't seem to be any deaths of divorces. before he married Jane. I did find divorce proceedings, for the second marriage, and it would appear that their 1871 marriage was a bigamist one. I say their 187...

 Day Four. This was the day we were supposed to go to Garwin and see the opal fields there, but Lightning Ridge was going to be without power on day five, so we swapped days.  This was a fun morning as we got to go underground in two different mines. The first one was an easy entrance, down 30 steps and a loop once inside. The sandstone is pink and our guide explained the different processes to find and extract the opal. Not my best photo but the hard hat kept falling onto my glasses. Pretty in Pink. One of the walls. I didn't spend to long underground as it was warm and I had my cardigan on. Wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  We had a wander around the top and watched a video of the history of the area, while others did the tour. Our next stop was the Chambers of the Black Hand, this was 40 feet underground and accessed by 84 steps or a small lift. I picked the lift and it was very interesting going down as it was a cage and you could see the wall. This mine had ...

 Several years ago we were supposed to do a day trip to Lightning Ridge from Moree but things didn't go as planned... This year we made it and had three wonderful days exploring the town and the opal fields. Day One Leaving Sydney on a Saturday morning had us boarding our Coach Holidays and Tours coach and heading over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and on to Ourimbah for morning tea and to get the rest of the travelers. Lunch was in Muswellbrook at the Hunter Belle Cheese Cafe. Then it was on to Tamworth, with a quick stop at Wallabadah, to look at the First Fleet park. But all was not well on our coach, the air-conditioning decided to  play-up, much to the annoyance of all. Our driver tried several things, including meeting a mechanic on the side of the road, and got it working a bit better to get us into Tamworth. He also ordered a replacement coach to be driven up from Sydney.  Day Two. Our new coach was decked out in the colours of the Manly Sea Eagles, we couldn't loose ...

I'm going to do several of the children in one post as I don't have heaps of information on them. These will be, James b 1842, William  b 1846 and Susan b 1854.   James Donald was the second child of George Donald and Jane/Jean Galbraith to be born in the Colony of New South Wales. Or was he? With Agnes being born in 1837 there is a a good five year gap until James arrives in 1842 and another six children follow. So is there a couple of 'missing' children? I don't know. In 1877 at Yass, James married Isabella Cowden and it is sometime after this that they move to the Blue Mountains as their seven children are registered in either Lithgow, Hartley or Wickham. Children of the marriage; Agnes J DONALD #14275/1878, Hartley George Patterson DONALD #15938/1880, Lithgow Minnie Isabel DONALD #17391/1881, Hartley Vernon G DONALD # 21248/1884, Lithgow James L DONALD # 22624/1886, Lithgow Stanley G DONALD # 19357/1890, Lithgow Eleanor G DONALD # 37267/1894, Wickham. James died...

 Emigrating from Scotland, they started the voyage, with Jane pregnant, and with Thomas and George, having left John behind, (that would have been heart-breaking, too) and arriving with Thomas, only, as George had died on the voyage, Agnes' arrival would have been bitter sweet for them. Agnes Donald  was born 10 October 1837 and baptised in St Andrew's Scotts Church, Sydney, she hasn't caused me any stress in searching for her. In 1859 she married James Cole in Yass. They would have four children, Alexander 1860, Emily 1861, Agnes 1862 and James 1864. I find no references to her in Trove, nothing to tell me about her life. Agnes died on 25 March 1906.  Agnes is buried beside her parents in the Yass Cemetery.

 Back to Jane, for a bit. While looking through Trove for the death of George, I found an article in the Yass Courier, Friday 23 November 1894, page 2,   it was relating to the death of  Mrs George Donald Senr. It is a lovely article but again thrown up the question of 'How many children?' Almost at the end it mentions, " The deceased leaves behind four sons and one daughter..."   The death certificate says seven living, four boys and three girls. Got to love the conflict of children! What a merry dance, chasing them! Don't you just love the way, even in death she is still listed as his wife? So to wrap-up Jane and George in a neat, (messy) bow, here are their facts; George born 26 December 1807, to Thomas Donald and Jane Miller. Jane born 1811, to John Galbraith and Agnes McNish. Married 11 June 1830. Four sons born between 1831 and 1836. One would die, one was left behind, two emigrated in 1837. One died on the voyage. The family arrived in NSW in 1837, w...

 I've written about the problems that this Donald Family are causing me, regarding the number of children the family, could, should  or does have. My thought was to get George Donald's 1870 death certificate and see how many were listed on that. Well... Searching the New South Wales Birth, Death and Marriages Index, I found that there wasn't an entry for him. (Here we go again!) Thought outside the box by using wildcards in my searches, nothing, left out the name George and narrowed the year, nothing. Now you are thinking, 'how does she know it is 1870?' Fare question, 1) I have stood at his gravesite, 2) there are death notices in various newspapers, both in NSW and England, 3) Several articles about the inquest, in different newspapers and 4) the actual entry in the Registers of Coroner's Inquests and Magisterial Inquiries-1834-1942,  found on Ancestry. He is dead and buried. I contacted my transcription agent, Joy Murrin and she couldn't find it either. I...

 When last I posted I had ordered Susan's birth certificate and John's death certificate.  They arrived and I eagerly read the birth certificate, only to realise, the civil registration didn't start until 1855. Susan was born in 1854, hence it is only a baptismal records and no siblings are shown. It was good to check. John's death certificate was good, with all the details filled out, all the dates work out but there is no mention of the ship he arrived on even though it is on his admission entry. More searching to be done. What was interesting was the note at the bottom I certify that this body was removed to medical school 14 May 1914 (statement was crossed out.)    I had seen other references to his body going to Sydney University but it must have been given back as there is a burial date of 22 August 1914, for John on the certificate. While the certificates gave some answers, there are still questions that need answers, so the search continues. Thomas was the ne...

 My previous post had me searching for the remaining children, as I had 11 not 14. Well... John 62, Agnes 57, George 53, Jane 51, James 49, William 47 Susan 40, Living. 4 males, 3 females Deceased.  The four deceased males is my starting point. Well we know that there were two Thomas', one died in Scotland and the second arrived, with his parents in 1837, and isn't listed with the living. Searching the NSW Birth, Death & Marriage Indexes I find that the second Thomas died in 1885. Two down, two to go. George died on the voyage. Three down and one to go. My working theory, at this stage is that they had two Williams, just a hunch but one I will explore more. Three deceased females. Janet, born 1844, isn't on her mother's death certificate. I checked her marriage and in 1858 she married a John Patterson. Searching the NSW Indexes for her death yielded none, so I searched the Queensland Indexes and there she was, Janet Patterson, died 1890. One down, two to go. And her...

 I have started using the program WeAre.xyz, on line to do my One-Place Study and now my Galbraith Family line. I have done Samuel Galbraith, my direct line and have now decided to add his sister Jean Galbraith and what a merry path she has lead me on! Jean Galbraith born 27 April 1811 in Dalrymple, Scotland to John Galbraith and his wife Agnes McNish. Married George Donald on 11 June 1830 in Ayr, Scotland.  And the search for children began. My Brother's Keeper program has listed, Thomas 1835, George 1836, Agnes 1837, James 1842, Janet 1844, George 1846, William 1849, Jean 1851, and Susan 1854. Yes, two Georges' but the first little George died on the voyage from Scotland in 1837 and Jean and George reused the name. (Something the Galbraith family does very well.)   Searching the Scotland's People website for any births etc. I found John 1831 and two Thomas', one born 1833 and the second 1835. Yes, the first one died.  Now this is the conundrum WHERE IS JOHN? O...

 Back in July I wrote about viewing my great-grandmother's baptism record at St Philip's, Church Hill, Sydney.  You can read about it here  St Philip's I then made an interesting discovery about her sister  Rachel  and a possible link to a neighbour. The story continues... Last Monday 31 August, I went back to St Philip's to search through the baptism records to try an find the remaining baptismal records, of the other nine children. I was privileged to be allowed to search the original books. Of the 10 children, including Isabella, I found another five records. They were for Elizabeth, 1841. William, 1845, Louisa, 1850, John, 1854 and Catherine, 1856.  The one I wanted, Rachel's wasn't there. I had hoped to find godparents listed, to prove my theory. I have another church to enquire with, to see if they hold their original records and also the Society of Australian Genealogists. While it would be great to find the remaining four records, the books don't me...

 On Friday 7 August I attended an all day seminar at the Western Sydney Records Centre, Kingswood. They are part of Museums of History NSW. (We still call them NSW State Archives.) The seminar was on Vital Records: Tracing Births, Deaths and Marriages in NSW. After a welcome by Martyn Killion A/Chief Executive Officer, Museums of History NSW, it was time for the talks to begin. Louise Briffa, Director, Operations and Service Delivery, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages was our first speaker and she gave a talk on the history of registration in NSW. She explained various things about the records and answered questions.  Morning tea was provided and it was a chance to catch-up with friends and enjoy standing in the sunshine. Heather Garnsey OAM was next with her excellent talk on using church records to solve problems and add more details. She explained that there are more to church records than the registers and they have different information  to the registers...

 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 nights 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...

 My blogging is still not happening and I'm puzzled as to why.   Since I last wrote, back in May I've been busy with things. I did my two posts for the Genealogical Society of Queensland, it was fun sharing what friends thought with  the different questions I asked them. The link to the first post is here  Chat with Friends . If you click on the next post link the second one will come up. In May I attended a Morning Tea, at the State Library of NSW, and meet the new State Librarian, Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon. She spoke about the vision for the next 200 years of the library, very informative. From Macquarie Street, it was a dash down to the Capital Theater at Haymarket to see the musical, The Lion King. It was fantastic! The costumes are amazing and the cast were excellent. To say I was blown away would be an understatement.  I gave a presentation at the Parramatta Family History Society at the start of June and had a wonderful time. I really enjoy presentin...