Finding a Leman in the Laman tree

It is sometimes harder to find out about the life of someone if they go off script by not having children of their own, or migrate more than once. But it is possible to follow someone from cradle to grave when starting somewhere in the centre.

For Daniel Lamon Hines, this was his marriage to my great-great-great-grandmother, his first, her second, in Grafton, NSW in 1868. Daniel believed he was seven years younger than his wife.[1] Even though she stated her age as 38, Mary Halligan nee Campbell was closer to 43. (Her bounty immigrant record gives her age as 16 in January 1842. [2])

Daniel provided an unusual second name for this marriage. It was written as Lamon, allowing it to be interpreted as Ramon, and seems to have been inherited from his father William Lamon Hines. 

When Daniel made his way to Grafton is not certain. There is one possible arrival in Melbourne on the Royal Mail Ship Boomerang from Liverpool, England in May 1855. [3] 

Not all details match with his Grafton description, but a young Englishman who aspired to be a miner has time to make his way north. By 1858, a Daniel Hines appeared in Black Forest (now Woodend), Victoria, making a wage from woodsplitting. [4]

Then much further north, a letter arrived in Grafton, NSW in mid 1867, addressed to Daniel Hines. [5]

Mary had four children with her first husband convict William Joseph Halligan (~1810 - ~1860). Their son John and daughters Catherine and Letitia had all married and left home by the time Mary met Daniel Hines. Mary's youngest daughter Eliza, who experienced epileptic fits, remained at home with her mother. Mary had been deemed a widow after her husband left home for the Tooloom gold diggings in June 1859, never to be seen by family again. 

However, soon after their marriage, Daniel and his wife Mary moved to the Tweed River. The first record confirming this is an 1869 Conditional Purchase of Portion 2 in the parish of Kynnumboon near Murwillumbah. [6]

A second family tragedy occurred in 1874 - the disappearance of Mary's son-in-law John Henry De Chave. This was followed by another family loss - the death of Eliza Halligan on 10 February 1876; her stepfather Daniel was listed as the informant. [7] 

And in February 1904, Mary passed away. A curious description appeared in the Tweed and Brunswick Advocate and Southern Queensland Record (precursor to the Tweed Daily News):

3rd February 1904

Mrs. D Hinds [sic] died at her residence Monday night last. The deceased lady, who has been a terrible suffer [sic], was well known and highly respected in the district. 

She leaves no children, and her husband who survives her intends, it is rumoured, to visit the old country. The funeral took place yesterday afternoon. 'Twere absurd to express sympathy where congratulation would probably be more acceptable. [8]

It was certainly true that none of her remaining children lived in the Tweed River area, but what did the rest of it mean ? Did Daniel Hines return to his "old country" ? 

It did not take long to find a record of departure for one D. Hines, aged 68, on The Oroya leaving Brisbane in April 1904 for a return to London. [9] His marriage certificate stated that he was born in Devon/shire. He was easy to find in the 1841 UK Census with his siblings and parents William and Sarah at Plymtree in Devon, but there was no supporting birth record.

This time Familysearch gave a clue: there was a possible link to Daniel Leman, born to William and Sarah and baptised in 1836 in Plymtree, Devon. 

A further search for his parents' marriage at Broadhembury in 1824 provided a partial confirmation [10]:

Daniel's father had used an inverted version of the surname: Hine Laman. One of Daniel's brothers, Levi, also used this version in various documents [11].

In January 2022, the UK government released the 1921 Census of England and Wales. It was self-reporting. As in the 1911 Census, Daniel chose to use a variant of Hines as his surname. Was it him ? 

It was a thrill to see final confirmation in this way. Neatly crossed out by the 1921 Census enumerator, under the heading of Place of Work, Daniel had written New South Wales. 

References

1. Marriage certificate NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages #2314/1868. This certificate copy was purchased in 1988

2. The William Sharples, Ship News. (1842, February 1). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2555644

3. Arrival of unassisted passenger 'Danl Hynes', aged 24, miner, Public Records Office of Victoria

4. Friday, Oct. 23. (1858, October 23). The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 - 1900), p.2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240894850

5. No title (1867, June 4). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 - 1889), p.2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63665690

6. Conditional Purchase, Portion 2, Book 479 No 117, NSW Land & Property Information 

7. Death Certificate NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, #0347/1876

8. File held by the Tweed Regional Museum at Murwillumbah

9. UK and Ireland Incoming Passenger Lists 1878 - 1960

10. Marriage Banns courtesy of South West Heritage Trust and Parochial Council (UK)

11. For example see the 1851 UK Census for Plymtree Parish

Acknowledgement

Thanks go to the Tweed Heads Historical Society for filling in some gaps in local records.

Picture Us

During its 15th birthday celebrations last year, there were numerous comments about the essentiality of Trove for social and historical research in Australia. 

One comment included a brief statement acknowledging the 25th birthday of the service which started the National Library of Australia's journey into making digital content accessible to everyone via the world wide web.  

So that means Picture Australia would be 25! Congratulations, hard to remember what we did before you.

            - F.S. 4 December 2024 

It is very gratifying to know that our work made such a difference to the working lives of colleagues and, by extension, to the public.  

Today marks 25 years since the launch of PictureAustralia. 

PictureAustralia was written in the naming trend of web services in the early 21st century.  It was officially launched on 4th September 2000. A prototype called ImageSearch made its debut at the Online On Disc conference in Sydney the year before.  

It was an experiment for the National Library, which trialled new web-enabled search engine software, browser design to maximise interrogation, and behind-the-scenes interactions with library "catalogues" hosted elsewhere that displayed the content in real time. Its simple technical architecture inspired other libraries, archives and museums to join in. 

PictureAustralia enjoyed several interface design iterations, including this one. 

The service had been well promoted with a series of items to be shared with the public. The PictureAustralia logo loaned itself to many formats, although a postage stamp was eventually vetoed.

bookmark

flyer

tattoo

The service was marketed nationally through a very large range of postcards. Its scope had broadened after five years, as evidenced by this postcard image from participant The City of Sydney Archives found at the Elephant Rock cafe in Currumbin, Queensland. 

Robyn Bracken, Archaeology of Bathing.
webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20091021195941/http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/history/waterexhibition/images/zoom/archaeology.jpg.html

Both the National Library of New Zealand and Libraries & Archives Canada were keen to emulate the service; NLNZ joining in and LAC introducing Images Canada.

Picture Australia was switched off in 2012. The records linking to a myriad of Australian collections of images were added to Trove, and made available in the Photos zone... the ethos of one simple search across many sources of heritage content was carried over too. 

Acknowledgements: CL & DF, JF & WC, TB & DL, FH and Lady N

   

The Australian, 29 August 2000, p.41

Tales of the Wimbriatta

Wimbriatta cannot be found. At least, not with that name. 

An exploration of the life of its author, Frederic J. Davey, reveals clues but not confirmation. Davey was born in the Cornish town of Tuckingmill, an only son with seven sisters, in 1850. [1] After his 20th birthday, he migrated to Auckland in New Zealand on his own to seek work as an architect / draughtsman. The reclamation of Auckland Harbour was underway and offered employment.

New Zealand Herald, 8 March 1871, p.2

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18710308.2.10

Daily Southern Cross, 13 February 1871, p.1

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18710213.2.2.3

While in Auckland, Davey met his future wife Robinah Hooper, a London-born immigrant who travelled to New Zealand with her family. Her older brother James became an actor and comedian. He appeared at the Theatre Royal, a short-lived theatre north of the Bombay Hills. It is likely that Frederic and Robinah met at the Theatre as six months after his arrival, he launched a play.

Described as a 'new local farce', the play was titled "Potagold's Peep, or Sammy Come Home". One of the jokes centred around the Queen Street sewer. A newspaper of the day referred to it as "The main sewer nuisance". The title of the play was also a puzzle, until I heard the name Samuel Pepys (pronounced Peeps)  mentioned in passing. He was an English diarist who wrote about the state of the London sewerage system in the 17th century. There is no doubt that Davey was a scholar, but he was also unwell. 

With work on the Harbour coming to an end and his health not improving, Davey, his wife, and son Albert migrated to Sydney in July 1877 on the Rotorua. He joined the Colonial Architect's office. 

Australian Town & Country Journal, 14 July 1877, p.31

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70607378

But the climate in Sydney was not dissimilar to the climate in Auckland, so after the birth of a daughter, the family moved north to the Tweed River. Davey resumed his architectural career, and was instrumental in designing public buildings in Tweed Heads including pubs and St Cuthbert's church. Another son and two daughters arrived between 1880 and 1888.

Despite this investment in the future, Davey paid a farewell visit to England in 1890 to see his mother Anna and his sisters. This journey may have helped to extend his life. Between 1900 and 1903, a series of articles appeared in the British journal Good Words. They were advertised as "Tales of the Australian bush", and noted in Davey's 1913 obituary as 'Tales of the Wimbriatta". [2]

It is not possible to search in text databases for the word Wimbriatta and find the articles; rather, a search of the author's name is required. So where is the Wimbriatta ? Almost every one of the nine articles detailing life on a river was accompanied by photographs, taken by one F. J. Davey. Some of the photographs include himself. 

The Last Pioneer, Good Words, Dec. 1903, pp.36-42
https://www.proquest.com/britishperiodicals/results/F0A7E4E58CC44A43PQ/

The Wimbriatta is Terranora, on the Tweed River in New South Wales. 

Davey's home at Terranora was known as Mighbyn, pronounced 'Mij-bin', and is most likely a reference to the local palm in the Bundjalung language. [3] Perhaps Wimbriatta will  eventually be located  in the same language. 

The nine articles in Good Words are:

Davey, F. J. (1900). A NEAR THING. Good Words, 41, 188-194.

Davey, F. J. (1900). "ORATOR" EXTON. Good Words, 41, 483-494.

Davey, F. J. (1900). THE CAVE. Good Words, 41, 738-747.

Davey, F. J. (1900). OUR LITTLE ALL. Good Words, 41, 846-852.

Davey, F. J. (1901). NO GREAT CATCH. Good Words, 42, 599-605.

Davey, F. J. (1902). A friend in need. Good Words, 43, 401-408.

Davey, F. J. (1902). A back seat. Good Words, 43, 577-585.

Davey, F. J. (1902). Coo-ee! Good Words, 43, 845-854.

Davey, F. J. (1903). The last pioneer. Good Words, 44, 36-42.



References

[1] English Birth Certificate #204, 11 September 1850, to Thomas Davey and Anna Heynes.

[2] British Periodicals, Good Words, December 1902, p.2; Advertisement. (1902). Good Words, 43, 2. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/advertisement/docview/3445793/se-2

[3] Ian Fox, email communication, 2016. Other spellings were also used. 

Correcting the record

Recently I decided to cauterise my research into a spindly branch of the family tree. Despite emanating from a well-documented ancestor (i.e., a convict transported to Australia), the spindliness was due to his name. John Jones. It gave a sense of relief that here was one branch which had grown above a brick wall so high it was never to be scaled. 

As part of the decision to set aside the research, one last attempt was to be made to correct the metadata distributed globally by British, American and Australian genealogical services. In particular, to excise the occurrence of the unsubstantiated addition of the name Michael.

When first investigating John Jones and his family, the occasional occurrence of his name as Michael John Jones or even John Michael Jones in other people's anecdotes or self-documented research did not trouble me much. The trial, hulk and transportation records; his marriage and death certificates and gravestone all clearly labelled my great-great-great-grandfather as John Jones.

And then, a few years ago while delving into the 1840s history of a small town in New South Wales, I found this gem:

PIONEER HISTORY (1925, July 22). 
Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 7.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93528050

The story teller was William Exton, brother to John Jones' wife Harriet Lancaster Exton. Although published long after the death of Jones in 1866, it gave an explanation for the introduction of the name Michael, albeit a curious one. Without studying the Bundjalung language of that time, or similar, it could be true. 

There was an earlier reference to Micky Jones in Trove:

Seventy-Five Years on the Richmond. (1922, September 2). 
Casino and Kyogle Courier and North Coast Advertiser (NSW : 1904 - 1932), p. 3.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234043933

One ( the only? ) official record in Australia of the name was an appearance on the death certificate of Jones' wife Harriet, where it was endorsed by her daughter Eleanor Atkin, and her obituary:

PERSONAL. (1915, August 20). 
Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), p. 4.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194802986

Were family members merely repeating a family legend ? But why Micky << >> Michael and not some other nickname ? The elapsed time between the 1840s, '50s, '60s, and 1915 is long enough to forget it. Until, as part of the process of verification, I found a record I'd never seen before:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C14607109

Was this the source of the name Micky ? The young men mentioned in this crime were both transported, separately, under their "aliases" of John Jones and William Robinson. There is no mention of an alias, which sometimes did appear in Government records. The other details seem to match all Australian documentation. [1]

Did John Jones try to reinvent himself on arrival ? Or were the petitions manufactured ? Certainly there was a young man named Michael Ralph who committed crimes in London, in the following year. 

Does one record outweigh the many ? Family historians who use the global genealogical services without triangulating original sources of information won't care. For a pedantic practitioner however, it's not good enough. Perhaps that's a gene not shared.

Footnote

[1] John Jones' transportable offence, described in his Convict Indent as Assisting in rescue of a prisoner, seems quite unusual. Not the same as the original indictment, Stealing from a dwelling house 112 yards of worsted cloth. The dwelling house was a storehouse for a materials trader. This crime seems to have been instigated by the other young man, and the event could be interpreted in different ways. Perhaps this was why Jones' Certificate of Freedom [#45/467] was issued after seven years from the original 10 of "incarceration" imposed ? 

A swoop of Seagulls

Although their colours were described in the first issue of the relaunched school magazine The Seagull in 1962, the rugby league socks were not. 

Socks in TRHS school colours worn for the last time in 1975.
A new black and green colour scheme was introduced in the following year. 

The Seagull was launched in 1957 by the Tweed Heads Intermediate High School. The cover echoes the design work of the Art Teacher, Gordon Drummond Story (sometimes Storey), for the school badge. 

Image used as the front cover of the Seagull from 1957 until 1965.
It was then replaced by various renditions of a seagull and student art until 2015.

The design was explained in the November 1962 issue as "the Seagull with wings outspread against a sky-blue background above the white-capped waves rolling shorewards. A Fish portrayed the valley's most important and profitable industry, which today still plays a big part in the lives of the community."  

A few years later, to cope with a growing community, a new site at South Tweed Heads was chosen for a larger secondary school. The newly renamed Tweed River High School was opened in October 1961, but The Seagull was not published in that year. Rather, a commemorative programme was published.[1] The magazine resumed the following year. 

It is possible to read all published issues of Seagull in Trove. Searching for the name of someone who attended either High School, or just using the word seagull with a year in the Magazines and Newsletters tab, makes a good starting point. 

Despite best efforts to effect a virtual representation of the whole series, there is a strange separation of digitised Seagulls, wrought by a traditional interpretation of what constitutes a collection. Issues held by the National Library are viewable at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3140364009 and issues loaned to the Library are viewable at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3283749708. It is necessary to peruse both to see all covers. Nevertheless, their co-location exemplifies the power of Trove to provide a single point of access to a physically separated set of issues. 

The 'Browse this collection' button on the resting page for each subset shows the delightful range of covers as the magazine was taken over by the School's artists. 

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to the Tweed River High School's Library, the Tweed Regional Museum, and the Tweed Heads Historical Society for providing the "missing" copies of The Seagull to be digitised and included in Trove in perpetuity. 

Footnote

[1] the 1961 programme in full (click on each image to read the details)

Copy of the programme for the opening of the Tweed River High School provided by
Denise Garrick, President, Tweed Heads Historical Society 

Pulling a thread

In 1983 The Strongest Thread was published. It described the life of a Manx family matriarch, her Northern Irish husband, and their 10 children born in Australia during the 19^th century. Unbeknown to the author Glad Stanford, research began two decades earlier, during the 1960s, summarising the life of one of those 10 offspring. This compilation bridges the two, requiring 21^st century resources to bring it fruition and relink the generations. It is based on a collection of papers preserved by Ian Campbell Jagelman. 

The collection includes documents obtained by Patricia Gwena Jagelman, daughter of John Steele Campbell and Edwina Hatton.  

1. A handwritten ode

Even song
 By Kinchela my loved one
O Come & walk with me
Where the great light of Smoky
Flames o’er the Eastern Sea

Now the old sun has left us
To wander in the West
& the rise clouds have faded
That tinged Toorumbee’s crest

 The swans are in the sedges
The flowers are closed in sleep
All nature is in slumber
Except the restless deep

 So let us seek Koorora
& linger by the Wave
Where round the rocky headland
The trampling surges rave

 While softly round your temples
Will blow the perfumed breeze
Where silvered by the moonlight
Stoop blossom laden trees

So later may we linger
& wander Evermore
By mystic seas of Gladness
Along a summer shore  

Initially it wasn’t exactly clear who wrote this poem, although the paper is stamped with the business details of Campbell & Son indicating that it was transcribed earlier than 1908. Further investigation revealed that it was the work of Dr Brabazon Casement, a botanist and medical doctor who practised in Kempsey until his early death in 1910. He was well-known for his humanitarian and botanical work, less so for his poetry published by his family in 1945. Curiously, this poem was not given the same title in the publication – it is labelled A Serenade to his Wife, Islet Casement. [1]

2. The 1960s’ certificates 

Patricia Jagelman obtained copies of certificates in the 1960s. They were generated by hand and typewriter [3]:

Birth of Ann Campbell, 1880, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages

Birth of Mary Mabel Campbell, 1882, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages

 

Death of Jane Campbell, 1884, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

3. John Campbell’s daughter Annie collected postcards during the first decade of the 20th century. Many were sent by Annie’s brother Jack when he was travelling for work. 

John Steele Campbell (Jack), 1888 - 1964

Jack’s father had drawn him into the family business in July 1908, but there were also exchanges between Jack’s step-sisters and friends. Here is a sample:

4. Land titles

Photocopies of documents pertaining to Charles Steele’s holdings in New South Wales, which are available on the website of the Land Registry, see Volume 4610, Folio 177. John Campbell took on responsibility for the block of land owned by Charles Steele which had rates etc. owing at the time of the latter’s death in 1886.

5. Family history pages

In a Biblical style, the pages impart counsel. John’s first family’s details may have been written by John himself.

The remaining pages, which seem to have been cut from a larger volume, show a range of different handwriting styles.

6. A curious note

Ann Quirk and William Campbell met when the Campbell family arrived on the Isle of Man, and moved into a farmhouse on the same road as the Quirk family. The other details are not yet proven.

7. Newspaper cuttings

Obituaries for John Campbell and his second wife Eunice Septima Campbell (click on each group)

JOHN CAMPBELL 

John’s first wife was Jane Leslie, born on 23 April 1858 at Tycannah (near Warialda in NSW) to Irish immigrants James Leslie and Jane Phillip. 

Messrs. Campbell and Scott. (1904, November 30).
Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), p. 24.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71517361

At the time of their marriage in 1879, John Campbell was a stock and station agent. John and Jane had two daughters: Ann, known as Annie, named for her paternal grandmother Ann Jane Quirk; and Mary Mabel, known as Mabel.

In January 1884, Jane died. Annie was three years old, Mabel almost two.

On 7 July 1886 John married Eunice Septima Steele, a daughter of Charles Steele and Mary Ann Weymouth, at Gladstone on the Macleay River. Eunice’s obituary describes her birth as having been unregistered due to a lack of a government office in Port Macquarie, but in reality her parents did not marry until 1860. [4]

John died in 1913, only two months after moving from East Kempsey to Port Macquarie. He was trying to overcome a serious illness.

JOHN STEELE CAMPBELL

John Steele Campbell, known as Jack, was the first and only son of John and his wife Eunice. He was born on 7 January 1888 at Kempsey.

After his father’s death, he enlisted twice, in 1914 and in 1918, but the second enlistment lapsed.  Both have been made available by the National Archives of Australia. [5]

He served in the 1st Light Horse Regiment for just over a year, but was demobilised after succumbing to two contagious diseases. He is listed on the Port Macquarie Presbyterian Church’s First World War Roll of Honour. On his return, Jack married Edwina Hatton, and they had a daughter Patricia Gwena Campbell in 1918. 

He “deserted” his wife and daughter in December 1920, ostensibly looking for work north of Manly. His war-attained illnesses do not seem to have affected his ability to have children, but post-traumatic distress may have led to his life taking unexpected directions.

There were some attempts by Jack’s sisters to contact him prior to the divorce petition lodged by his wife. Advertisements were included in Queensland newspapers as well as Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. He found temporary work at Goodwood Station near Boulia.

Jack did not inherit any of his mother’s estate when she passed away in 1940. He died in Roma Hospital, in Queensland, in 1964. 

PATRICIA GWENA CAMPBELL 

engagements (1940, June 9). 
The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 5 (WOMEN'S SECTION).
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231459786

Jack’s daughter Patricia, known as “Paddy”, spent time with her half-Aunts Mabel and Ann when she was young. 

In 1942, when she married Ian Jagelman, her father was described as deceased on her marriage certificate. Paddy had two sons.

ANN LAWSON

Ann was the older daughter of John and Jane Campbell, and step-sister to Jack. She married Findlay John Lawson on 21^st October 1914, at 2 Table  Street, Port Macquarie. [6]

The bride was given away by her mother (in the absence of her brother, who left for the front with the Light Horse Regiment of the 'first Australian Expeditionary Force' [7]) – as Ann’s father John had passed away the previous year, and her brother Jack was already overseas.  

Eunice was Ann’s stepmother, but she raised Ann and Mabel from a young age after the death of their mother Jane. 

Ann died on 25 February 1962, and Findlay died on 28 April 1964 respectively, in Sydney. They did not have children.

MARY MABEL CAMPBELL

Mabel died on 29 May 1963, and was buried in the Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens in Sydney. She did not have children. [8]

The original collection of papers is available for viewing at the Port Macquarie Museum. 

References

[1] Casement, B. N. (Brabazon Newcomen) (1945). Poems. N. Morriss, Newcastle, https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/23370558; held by the University of New England. The publication was explained in a newspaper article here: trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173391566.
[2] State Archives of NSW, Register of Firms Index, Campbell & Son, 30 July 1908; file 17262. See also Advertising (1908, June 18). The Macleay Chronicle (Kempsey, NSW : 1899 - 1952), p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174469726
[3] Extracts of certificates supplied by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in 1962. They are all typescript copies.
[4] It is possible that Charles Steele had married in his hometown of Forfar, Scotland prior to his travel to Australia.
[5] National Archives of Australia naa.gov.au, Item ID 1914: 1855169; Item ID 1918: 1854329. See also Item ID: 32545663.
[6] The History behind No.2 Table Street, Toomey, R. in Footsteps, Port Macquarie Family History Society, August 2019, https://www.pmdfhs.org.au/files/152-footsteps-pdf.pdf
[7] Wedding. (1914, November 14). The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate (NSW : 1882 - 1950), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119154623
[8] Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 1963, p.22