Repatriation Records

My grandfather had a cousin, although I do not believe they knew of each other (another story), who went off to war.

HMAT A71 Nestor 2 October 1916  from Australian War Memorial

Clarence James Royle was the only son of William Royle and his wife Frances Marion (Holloway). He was born in Bairnsdale, Gippsland Victoria, on 16 January 1894 and five years later he had a sister, Ivy Lilian.

When he was just six years old he had pleurisy, an infection around the lungs
Clarence James Royle was only  22 1/2  years old on 21 April 1915. His unit, 24th Battalion. He was transferred to the 23rd Battalion and moved from Langwarren to Broadmeadows, back to Langwarren where is appears he spent time in hospital.

He finally embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A71 Nestor on 2 October 1916. They disembarked in Plymouth, England on 16 Nov 1916.

^{He did go to France, but never got to the front line,  Clarence was taken to hospital in April 1917 with Pneumonia. He was transferred 
from France to England and on 27 August was sent  home to Australia as he was unable 
to recover from his illness.} 

When Clarence arrived home, it first appeared that he lived with his parents, never married, and was usually listed as having no occupation. After his parents died, he took over Adelaide House from them.

Then, I got his repatriation records. It paints a picture of an old man who suffered in his old age. He spoke of his wife and how he lived with her for 50 years. This was an exaggeration as she was not that old. She died after collapsing in a supermarket. She had a massive stroke. She was also a well-known photographer and was all for women's rights, etc, way ahead of her time. 

The records showed his medical visits, bills for his travelling to the hospital, etc. He had applied for a soldier settlement and attended school for this, but I need a record I can find of him taking it up. 

 Clarence (Clarry) lived with his sister and brother-in-law for a time, but it became too difficult for them to care for him. Of course, they were all elderly and there seemed to be a money issue. Clarry suffered in his final years but because it was not war-related his appeals came to nothing. 

While sifting through his information I was I suddenly had a good DNA match with a lady. I wrote to her to find out our relationship and the reply was from her granddaughter. She informed me that it was her grandmother's DNA and she was 103 years old. She was trying to find her father. Her mother was not a name I knew but her name, Clarice Royal ... made me wonder. 

It was a tricky one as neither Clarence nor his sister had any children that we knew of. Of course I could not see Clarice's results other than she was connected to me and many others in the Royle family. So I asked her granddaughter if she had matches to Clarence's mother's family. I could not see that as they were not related to me either. The answer came back that there were many matches to that family. 

I also did some research on where Clarence had lived at the time of Clarice's conception and via his Army records found they were living in the same area in Melbourne. So William and Fransces Marion do have descendants. Also there was a photo posted of Clarice and to my delight I found she and my Aunt are very much alike. 

 Maps

I find I am using maps continually while investigating family history. Where people married compared to where they were born. Adult children living in similar areas etc. 

However, many families traveled around the goldfields during the peak period. I have one of my family getting off the boat and heading to "The Ovens" where their first child was born. Other children were born in different places around Victoria. 

I have to wonder if they had had a horse and cart and a tent they were able to pop up and disassemble as they moved. Birth certificates show that the first child, my great grandmother, had been delivered without any assistance. While the second child had a possible midwife, just known as Mrs. Morcomb. Their address was the Goldmines, Waterloo. 

Each child was born in a different place and as a result I was able to map out where they followed the gold until they settled in Great Western then Stawell where they they had a business for a time. They are now buried in Stawell. 

The Walkedens travelled from Melbourne to Stanley then over to Beaufort area to Sulky Gully then back to Great Western and Stawell. 1858 to 1924. 

I believe James had already settled in Stanley before going to meet Mary Ann's ship in Melbourne. James' nephew, Thomas Glass was on the same ship as Mary Ann and went to Stanley with his uncle and aunt. He stayed there after they left. 

 Branching out

Many people have said over the years, “I am not interested in aunts/uncles, just my direct line.” I do not understand this, as there are many stories attached to people to whom our direct ancestors would be connected, therefore helping to make their story as well. 

I had a good tree related to a branch of my grandfather’s family. In recent years, through DNA, I found out who my great great great grandfather was. Interestingly, I was then sent a photo of my great-great-grandmother and found she and her half-brother were the image of each other, just to cement the theory. 

However, what came about was the mention of one of those families whose name sounded very familiar. On checking, I found he had married a cousin on my grandmother’s side of the family. Bringing the two lines together. 

My maternal grandmother had some interesting stories that did not make sense, but after finding a photograph of a man unrelated and looking to see why he seemed to be prominent in a few records with my family, it all tied in with her story and resolved the mystery. Her version was not so accurate, but as she was very young at the time, I could see where her story got its roots. 

Now, even today, I am finding that there was a family who seemed to be good friends, and their family married into our family on more than one occasion, making this family very close to ours. This has happened a number of times, including my first cousin, who married the stepdaughter of a distant cousin, and one of Mum’s cousins, who married into that family as well. 

Mum’s cousin married the daughter of a captain involved in bringing Batman to Victoria, and then I found one in Dad’s line that is also connected to this story. 

Of course, genealogy and Family History are two different things. Genealogy is the direct ancestors, and family history is the story relating to your genealogy. Branching out from those direct ancestors will give you many stories. 

If you have completed a DNA test, you will need to branch out. You will be surprised at how much information, photos, memorabilia, etc., you have that you have been searching for. We also need to remember those who did not have descendants; often, their story is important as well. 

I have found distant families who have family bibles, these had dates, etc, as well as proving my research was correct after many years of searching! There was also talk of a gold watch given to my 3x great-grandfather. This had to be purchased at auction by his daughter. I found one of her descendants who had this pocket watch but had no idea of the story behind it. I had newspaper cuttings telling the story. 

 Curiosity

(John Johnson and grandson Jack, my Papa about, 1916)

Sr. Ambrose put both her hands on my desk and looked me in the eyes, “Your name is Johnson, so your ancestors would be from England!” She had set the class a project, “go home and find out where your family were before they came to Australia.” No one in my class, or possibly in the school, had an indigenous background so our ancestors had come from somewhere. 

I was about ten years old at the time and had not really thought about where I had come from. I knew where I lived and that was about it. We were studying Australian History (not sure what the subject was called then), and the gold rush. 

Mum was one of those people who argued everything that was said. If you said something was green she would argue it was more blue! So when I got home I asked the big question, where did our ancestors come from. Mum’s answer was, England and Ireland, pretty boring as that is where most of my classmates had descended from, except those who had come from Holland, there were a number of families in our area from there, and I thought them exciting. 

Dad however stated that “Old Johnny Johnson was from Sweden.” Wow, how exciting was that! Mum’s response was, “Oh Rob, don’t be bloody stupid!” But he bit back, “No, Dad’s grandfather was Swedish!”. So Sr Ambrose was wrong! The Johnsons came from Sweden, no boring old England! I did not know of anyone who came from Sweden. Suddenly, history was a very interesting subject. 

Along with that, I found out that I had a number of gold miners sprinkled through that history as well. That year at school we wrote and performed a play about gold miners. 

Unfortunately, my Grandfather died shortly after that so I never got to ask him about his grandfather. If only I had more time with Papa. I found out years later that he was the grandson who spent a lot of time with his grandfather and possibly knew all about him. John married an Irish lady and they had one son, who went on to have three sons. Papa was the eldest and a favourite with his grandfather. 

John’s marriage certificate states his parents were Peter Johnson and Albertine. I have a photo of a lady who is supposed to be John’s sister who went to America but no more information. DNA has many matches to the area around Sweden, Finland, and Norway, but I am yet to pin down any common ancestors. I have found a marriage between a Peter Johannisson Sandsten and Albertine Oberg in Stockholm. This may well be them, but I am still investigating, even after all these years. I have family histories go back centuries, to ancient castles in England, however, the Swedish side is still a mystery. 

My curiosity has never died with this one and will continue until I can solve it. 

Updated now I found them. I posted on a Swedish FB site. with all my little jigsaw pieces. Within a few hours, I had the best result. A lady had found my family. 

I told the group that John Johnson supposedly was born to Peter and Albertine in about 1839 in Gothenburg Sweden. I had no idea of a maiden name. Peter was a cooper by trade.

When John's wife died she suddenly had a middle name, Horsldt, this was on her death certificate, and death notice in the paper.  Anne was Irish and I doubted her middle name would be Horsldt. Then in the 1903 electoral Roll John was John Horstedt Johnson but  I was told that the names I was giving were not Swedish. 

I also was given a photo of a lady, taken in America, who was supposed to be John's sister. Uncle Jim said her name was Sylvia. Uncle Jim had a sister Sylvia and I wondered if he had this confused. John was supposed to have had 2 sisters who went to America. 

I knew John was a Merchant seaman of some kind and he said he had come to Melbourne on board the Triton. I spent many hours looking for the passenger ship "Triton". I eventually found the "Triton" was a merchant ship and it had left Warrnambool for Sydney the day before John said he landed in Melbourne. I also found several records for John Johnson, a Swede, the right age, working on ships between Melbourne and Sydney. 

Then came the results! Johan Hörstedt, born 30 August 1839, to Sven Peter Hörstedet, a cooper,  and Albertina Andersdatta (I had a lot of Andersen/son) DNA matches in Norbotten, Sweden. Sven was the son of Jöns Hörstedt. I later found Sven's christening and he was Christened Sven Peter Jönsson. 

Sven Peter and Albertine had children Johan, Josephina, August Ferdinand, Sofia Loisa Amalia,  Albertina Wilhelmina Maria, and Tekla Maria. So Silvia was in fact Sofia, which was confirmed when I found a passport photo of her. Sofia (Sylvia) and Tekla both went to America travelling often back and forth. 

When Albertina died she had written in her will that Johan was a merchant seaman but she did not know where he was. Also August went to sea but no one knew where he was either. We know August jumped ship in Cardiff, another name change? 

Suddenly everything I had fitted together. 

Two days later I had a message saying that a lady on a Swedish speaking FaceBook page was looking for this exact family. She needed to figure out where to find Johan and August. I was excited to write to her and say "Johan or John is my gg grandfather and he ended up in Australia." 

Kersten Larson is a cousin on Albertina's side of the family. She has written a book on her family and much to Kerten's delight she was able to include John's family and some of his descendants in the book. 

We have also found Sofia's passport photos and it is the same lady I had the photo of. Josephina married a sea captain as well and after she passed away her children changed their name to Herstedt and also moved to America. 

Who says Family History is boring! 

 

Favourite Photo

This is a difficult one. Over the years I have collected and had so many photos sent to me. I get very excited over these, I love them, especially if I had not seen the person before. 

Many years ago I was given the album that belonged to my three times great grandparents. One photo of have him shows a gentle old man with thick white hair and beard, which my three-year-old granddaughter exclaimed excitedly when I told her who he was…” and he is Santa!” I feel he would have liked that. 

However, a more recent photo was of my great-great-grandmother Maria Royle (Nichols) born in 1836 in Hobart. She was illegitimate, however, DNA has shown she is most likely the daughter of George Edols, who died before she was born. We believe her mother may have worked for him and possibly came to Australia as a servant to his wife and family. 

Maria (pronounced Mariah) married Roger Royle, an ex-convict, when she was just seventeen. She had two children before they made the move to Sale in Victoria. She then went on to have another twelve children, including my great-grandmother. Despite all of these children, she gained work as a monthly nurse/midwife. 

The photo, I was sent, was of her in her nurse's uniform. In it, she looks tall and slim. Her hair is tied back, under a cap, very tightly and it looks like she does not have teeth. She looks quite formidable and her face quite sharp and pointed. Her eyes are quite strange, possibly very pale and she has high cheekbones. There is a photo online of her brother, he too has these very same cheekbones and is more proof they are related, they are very much alike. 

On the back of the photo, it is written “Mrs Royle Snr. Dad’s Mother.  Maria Royle born Tas, 1837. She bought 1/2 of Sale into the world with presence Dr Horgenor. She would go into the homes of her patients for 1 month, apart from caring for the mother & new babe, house kept for the husband and other children” There is also a sticker for an enlargement and framing from M.P. Butler and Sons, of Bairnsdale. 

Interestingly, the family bible states that Maria was born on 26th March 1837, however her Christening certificate states she was born on 27 Dec 1836 and was christened 23 April 1877. 

There were two Dr Haganauer’s in the area, Gus and Henry. Henry was based in Traralgon and changed his name to Hagan after the war. However these men may have been a bit young to assist Maria with her deliveries, but maybe one of them did in her later years as a nurse. 

A couple of years later I was sent another photo. This is one of Maria with her youngest daughter, Mary (Molly). In this one she is in a wheelchair. Her death certificates states that she suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Heart disease and this was for ten years. This is the photo I find is one of my favourites. She put on some weight, softening her features and making her look to be a gentle soul. It is the one where I just wanted to give her a cuddle. The great, great-granddaughter who sent the photo was not sure it was the same lady, but a study of both photos, you can see it is the same lady. 

This is one ancestor I really admire. Having fourteen children of her own, and then going out to help other women would not have been easy. Many women work and have families these days, but with not so many children. 

Benjamin, the son of John (a sorter and dyer) and Fanny (nee Mellor), grew up in his birth town but left to pursue an apprenticeship in carpentry. On finishing this he found a position on the London Railway to help establish this new mode of transport in England. He then moved on to Lancashire, chasing the same and purchased a hotel there. 

It was in Kendal that he met and married Isabella Jenkinson.  Their son, Alfred Townley Woodhead, was born a year later and it was then that Isabella became ill and died from Pthsis, when Alfred was just eight months old. 

Isabella was just nine years old when her mother, Bella (Woofe) died and I believe Isabella then went to her aunt and uncle, Mary and Thomas Townley, of course this is a theory but would explain Alfred’s middle name. 

Benjamin quickly married Sarah Clarke, who also had a son, born a few months before Alfred. I wonder if Sarah was bought in to help with Isabella’s son and was maybe a wet nurse. Benjamin had married Sarah within three months of Isabella’s death. 

A year later, their daughter, Fanny, was born and Benjamin secured a job in South Australia to help build the railway there. This was in 1850, tickets were purchased and they set sail on the “SHIP” and arrived in Adelaide in January 1851. Sarah was again pregnant and Adelaide was experiencing a very hot summer. It was not long that Ben and Sarah decided that the climate was not for them and they moved on to Melbourne. Their son Benjamin was born while they were living in Collins Street, Melbourne. 

Favourite Find

When Alfred was married, he listed his mother as Sarah Taylor. My Uncle and Cousin were also both avid genealogists and all three of us spent years trying to find the marriage of Benjamin Woodhead to Sarah Taylor and the birth of Alfred. We did find a marriage at about the right time and were quite excited. It all fitted nicely. One day I took the plunge and purchased the marriage certificate. Of course coming from England it took some time. 

The certificate arrived saying his father’s name was Joseph … his father was John. Benjamin was a weaver … He was a carpenter and his father a carpenter … his father was a dyer and sorter. Also Benjamin was illiterate, however 3 years later he had a beautiful signature, not one of a newly literate person. This was not the right certificate for our Benjamin. 

I then decided to follow up with census information. Benjamin was already in Australia when the 1851 census was taken, however Benjamin and Sarah (Taylor) were there. I knew that Benjamin’s wife, Alfred’s mother, had already passed away so then a search for a different marriage and a possible death of the wife ensued. The next was Benjamin Woodhead to Isabella Jenkinson. This was a likely one and I found that Isabella died about the time Alfred’s mother died. More certificates. This time the information was correct. They had married in Kendal on 27th September 1846. Alfred was born on 22nd July the following year, information in his daughter’s birthday book, which I still have. 

I still could not find a birth or baptism for Alfred. But then… I did find a birth of an Alfred Townley Woodhead and a christening. However, his parents are listed as John and Frances Woodhead, Benjamin’s parents! I then sent for the birth certificate and it was all correct. Parents are Benjamin and Isabella. 

I can imagine the conversation in the church? Baby’s name? Alfred Townley Woodhead. Parents? Oh John and Frances… Benjamin has given his parents names, no Alfred’s. 

Alfred was only eight months old when his mother died. Benjamin married Sarah Clark/e a few months later. She already had a son, John, who took the Woodhead name, and was only a few months older than Alfred. I wonder if she was a wet nurse called in to help with the feeding and caring for a newborn baby to a sick mother. I gather this is where the Sarah came in on Alfred’s marriage certificate, just not sure about the Taylor name. He never used his middle name, Townley, maybe he confused this with Taylor or the registrar. He may have believed this was where his middle name came from. 

                                                             Foundation

Benjamin Woodhead watched as the Foundation Stone for the Fitzroy town hall was laid. A list of names in alphabetical order were etched into the stone, his name, starting with W was last listed. This was Melbourne’s first Suburb and he originally voted against it becoming a suburb siting money concerns. However, this moment was a moment of pride. He would be remembered even if it was only by name.

By the time the town hall was built, in 1874,Benjamin had already served twelve years on the council and was now a Police Magistrate. He had nine children and his own dairy business, which he started soon after arriving in Melbourne. 

After becoming ill a Dr told him that he needed to start drinking a particular bovine milk. He purchased a cow for this purpose but word got around and people began coming to him for this milk. The business grew from there. From my research it seemed the cows were kept on Alexandra Parade, which ran behind his Cecil street Home. 

Benjamin was 82 years old when died  in 1902, he owned a number of houses, a shop (which I believe was his son’s business as a bootmaker) and the Recreation Hotel (which is now a coffee shop and appartments). He never ran the Hotel. 

Many of these days do not feel the anxiousness of sending our children to war and wondering if we will ever see them again. There are still people in our Armies being deployed to war zones, and sadly there are a few who do not come home, but at times there have been thousands sent off, and many did not come home or came home damaged in many ways.
It was a different world then, a much simpler world but the fears would have been the same. But imagine waiting day after day to hear word of a love one. A letter saying they are safe or a letter from the war department giving news you do not want to hear or even start to imagine.

My great great grandmother Mary Ann Hackett was born in Hampshire, England in July 1836. Her mother, Harriet Butler, had originally married John Kearshall in 1831, a soldier serving for Canada. He had joined the military at just 17 years of age. I have not been able to trace him but assume he was killed as Harriet then married an ex-soldier in January 1836.

Henry Hackett had served in the 35th Royle Scotts Regiment of Infantry. The Royle Regiment of Foot. He joined in March of 1815 and was marked as under age. He served in the West indies and also the  Mediterranean. He was discharged in 1834 where it is said he was a bad soldier and continually in hospital. He had a chronic liver complaint. Henry died 18 March 1842 in the Workhouse, just four months after his daughter Elizabeth  Hannah was born. (There does not appear to be further records for Elizabeth).

Harriet then went on to marry William Hales, another soldier who served on the Britannia, was on the "Benbow" in Syria and "Hyacinth" where he received the China Medal. He then retired as a Greenwich Pensioner. He too was a widower. They had children Charles, who seems to have died as a baby and Charlotte. Charlotte married George Adnams. They had thirteen children, after Charlotte died, George remarried and had another 5 children. His father was also a Greenwich Pensioner.

George Adnam's mother was also a Butler born in Hampshire and it is possible that her and Harriet  were cousins.  Also Mary Ann Hackett married James Walkeden and his mother was also Butler. All 3 of these Butler ladies were born in Alverstoke, Hampshire.

Mary Ann grew up amongst ex soldiers and no doubt heard stories surrounding them. She came to Australia, met James Walkeden who had come to meet the ship. It is not known if he came to meet Mary Ann however we do know his nephew was on the same ship.

James had come to Australia as a sailor but left to find his fortune in gold, as many men did. We have not been able to locate a marriage for James and Mary Ann but according to children's birth certificates they married two days after Mary Ann landed in Melbourne.

They then left for the "Ovens" Stanley, Victoria where their first child, Harriet, was born. After that they travelled south and ended up at Fiery Creek, Great Western and finally Stawell. There were six children born in all, however Ada, the last child was registered at birth but nothing on her since, we assume she died very shortly after birth.