From Australia to Hampshire in three days

[spison]

Maud Ison nee Taylor
I’m sorry this is so long but I needed to say it. After two years of searching I have gone back three generations in three days of work. Maud has led me on a merry dance for many years. I feel she deserves a success story even though I’m not finished working on her ancestry by a long shot. I have chased my tail but she has taught me heaps! The moral of the following story is CONTACT YOUR LOCAL TOWN for help. If you don’t know who to speak to - ASK!

Maud was my husband’s grandmother. She married Herbert Ison on 26 January 1909 in Manilla, NSW and stated at the time that she was born in Uralla, NSW in 1888 (aged 21) but came from Moor Creek – there was no birth certificate to match. She named her parents as John and Annie Taylor nee Copes. There was no marriage certificate to suit. (There was no marriage in the area that could have been an initial marriage followed by a remarriage either. There were no appropriate siblings listed whose certificates I could get.) She said her father was dead. The witnesses at the marriage were not family members and had names that were not recognized. Family stories suggested that there was ‘a problem’ with her age at the time of her marriage. Subsequent certificates held put her year of birth as either 1891 or 1892. What other stories had she told? When she died her mother was recorded as Amelia and her obituary stated she was one of the daughters of Mr and Mrs Taylor who came from a now non-existent property named “Standby”. There were no Assisted or Unassisted immigrants entering NSW, Queensland or Victoria who suited. It was clear her mother was somewhere but she couldn’t be found either.

As outlined briefly in another thread the Uralla (NSW) historian gave me a name of a living relation of Maud. The information he gave me was that Maud was illegitimate and Annie was a Taylor when she had her. Annie was his grandfather’s sister and she married a man called “Mickie”. There is no marriage of Ann/i/e Taylor to Michael anyone or anyone Mickie. There are a lot of people named Michie in the area but still no marriage in NSW or Queensland. When the pieces begin to fit it goes ahead like a rocket.

The 1906 electoral roll gives Andrew and Annie Amelia Michie living at Moor Creek three years before Maud’s marriage. The death of Annie Amelia Michie in 1940 has her parents as John and Harriet Taylor. Assisted immigration NSW has this couple with four children (none of whom is Annie) arriving on the ‘Herald of the Morning’ in 1858. Annie must have been born here but her birth wasn’t registered. William the second youngest child on the indent matched with my informant’s family. The maps I’d collected of the area once known as Standbye showed a Harriet Taylor holding land after the death of her husband in 1891. Her GRANDPARENTS were on Standbye! Assisted immigration gives John’s parents as Eli and Amelia Taylor of Hawkley, Hampshire (yes I found them today). I'm back in the UK!!!

Maud’s death is probably registered (I am waiting for the certificate) as Amelia Taylor: mother Ann E (no father) at Manilla in 1894. Can she have only been 15 or 16 at the time of her marriage?

Thankyou if you’ve read this. I feel like crying with relief. I was wondering if I'd ever get there.

Jane :D

[loadmaster01]

You must be incredibly relieved, Jane. There is nothing like finding someone who seemed lost in your family history. Well done for persevering and finding the courage to ask someone. A lesson to us all. Well done.

Mary

[blue wren]

Jane, this is a wonderful outcome after all that frustration. Just goes to show how persistance and thinking outside the box can give great rewards - well done! :)

Blue Wren

[spison]

Maud’s death is probably registered (I am waiting for the certificate) as Amelia Taylor: mother Ann E (no father) at Manilla in 1894. Can she have only been 15 or 16 at the time of her marriage?

Fool that I am! This should read Maud's BIRTH is probably registered as Amelia. (I have Maud's death certificate.)

Jane

[christanel]

Maud Ison nee Taylor
Can she have only been 15 or 16 at the time of her marriage?


Jane :D

Yes she could have Jane. My husband's grandfather's second wife was 15 when they married near Gulargambone in 1889. He was 46!! with 5 girls then they went on to have another 7 children.
Her father wrote a letter of consent to the marriage.
Christina

[spison]

Interesting Christanel!

Herbert was 31 in 1909 and had never been married. The marriage registration has her recorded as 21 with the appropriate under 21 section crossed out. I have a letter on the way to the church in Manilla requesting information on the marriage from the register considering what I now know as well as info on the baptism in 1894 and seeing if they have a marriage of Annie and Andrew Michie. If this proves to be the case I can see why the family worried but by all accounts he worshiped her.

Jane

[birdlip]

Fantastic Jane, sounds like a great 'Aha!" moment!

I'm following this talk of 15 yr old brides with interest. I'm sure it was not uncommon in early Australia, particularly in country areas. Though it was probably unusual as late as 1909, hence the initial reaction of the family. Nice that he 'worshipped her' though. Who can ask for more than that?

cheers birdlip

[Heather17]

Hi Jane, Wonderful news after lots of effort. These searches make it difficult to finish up and go to bed (vbg). Cheers Heather (Tas).

[v.wells]

Jane - I understand your relief over finally getting the information you needed. What a great success. |woohoo|

I think it was quite common in the pioneer/colonial days of settlers to marry early at 15 :)

[spison]

I'm following this talk of 15 yr old brides with interest. I'm sure it was not uncommon in early Australia, particularly in country areas. Though it was probably unusual as late as 1909, hence the initial reaction of the family.

15 year old marriages were often the case as I understand it in early Australia. Families wanted their children to be well off (by comparison to themselves) so sanctioned the marriage of their young daughters to - often much older - men who had established some degree of security and wealth. That wasn't the case here. It was the 1909 that surprised me. BUT I may get the certificate and find it's not Maud (or there's nothing on it that will point to it being her) and she wasn't registered at all. There's nothing else I can buy.

Thanks all for your comments. |hug| I'm pretty chuffed with this discovery!

Jane

[Kathb]

Jane, this has me enthralled, please, please do let us all know what the certificate states.
Regards
Kathb

[spison]

The birth certificate for Emilia Taylor (b. 1894) mother Annie Emilia Taylor has arrived. DEFINITELY NOT HER! And here am I thinking Amelia was a relatively modern name! Silly me! And two Annie Amelia Taylors in this area too!

The death certificate for Annie Amelia Michie was correct but as the first child, Maud, was illegitimate, she was not listed as a child of the marriage of Andrew and Annie. I did get the three children of the marriage who also weren't registered. The first one, Andrew, was born in 1892 so Maud was born before this so she wasn't 15.

Armidale Diocsese has found Annie Taylor's birth and baptism in their records from 1862 and 1863 respectively - four years after the family arrived in Australia. She was born on the property Balala. (At her death her son recorded her birth place as Bundarra.) Manilla Church still has to get back to me about Maud's 1909 marriage and any baptisms of Michie children. (I think they might be a bit busy at this time of the year.) I now believe that Bendemeer Church records are more likely to have information about Maud's birth as Annie's death certificate gives this church as the location of her marriage. I'll contact them after the festive season.

All small steps
Jane

[spison]

I hope that I've finally solved all the confusion on the Maud Taylor front. I think I've got it - thank goodness! It has been a trauma! |5cups|


Silly me! And two Annie Amelia Taylors in this area too! Jane

There weren't! It was the same woman! This birth certificate led me to the correct ones. The mother's name on this certificate was Ann Amelia Taylor formerly Kelly. I searched for a marrrage and there she was marrying John Kelly in 1880 and having three children. Maud Kelly born in 1891 was the Maud Taylor who married in 1909. She was 17. The birth certificate that led me to her was actually the certificate of her half-sister Amelia Michie who is shown on Annie's death certificate to be born in 1895. Amelia and her two brothers were the illegitimate children. I suspect that the marriage of Andrew Michie to Annie A Kelly in 1932 is their marriage but I haven't purchased this one yet. What was Annie Amelia Taylor thinking - or was she? I have yet to discover more about John Kelly but I think he may have been a bit of a rogue as there are NLA hits in this area that may be him and they're not nice.

So Maud Taylor who said her parents were John Taylor and Annie Copes was actually Maud Kelly whose parents were John Kelly and Annie Amelia nee Taylor. My oral history man (who is pretty old and did certainly help) had got it slightly wrong. Maud wasn't illegitimate. She probably never knew her father as her mother entered the relationship with Andrew Michie and they had their first child, Andrew, in 1892. His birth isn't registered at all.

Jane *wiping the sweat from her brow*

[blue wren]

Wow Jane - this has been quite a journey for you to unravel - bet you were not expecting this when you first started researching! Sounds like John Kelly has an interesting past if he is showing up so regularly in the NLA website. I have found lots of interesting information on my own branch lines on this site. Congratulations and well done for not giving up on this story as it has paid you dividends.
Sabina

[v.wells]

Great sleuthing Jane! http://bestsmileys.com/clapping/2.gif What a great story!

[christanel]

Fantastic Jane. Glad you got it sorted, perseverance wins again.
Christina

[birdlip]

Fantastic work, well done! :D

[spison]

Thanks all! I have ordered the marriage certificate of Andrew Michie and Annie A Kelly and will let you know whether it is them. Let's hope it says they were both over 70! This may be a waste of money but who knows - it may not be either. I can't stand not knowing! Fingers crossed.
Jane

[spison]

Well the marriage certificate arrived and lo and behold it was them. Annie says she was 68 and Andrew was 72. Annie says she was a widow. None of her children were witnesses and when she died 8 years later her and Andrew's oldest son stated that they married in 1891! Nobody can remember or ever knew what happened to Maud's older siblings or John Kelly. We really only know the older children existed as they were listed on her birth certificate and only two were registered. John Kelly has disappeared and was most inconsiderate as he chose not to name his parents when he married. When Annie married in 1932 did she know she was a widow or was she guessing that as her first husband would have been over 90 it was likely and she'd chance bigamy?

A lovely story has now developed that I briefly mentioned on another thread. The afternoon of the day I ordered the certificate, I found a cousin of my husband's through My heritage. It was with great satisfaction that I discovered that J. had had just as much trouble finding her grandmother as I did and she had her mother still alive to help. J. also sought help from the same man who had led me to the answers. (He had told me at the time that someone else was searching so I hunted for J.) It has been wonderful for me as I am getting all the juicy family stories and for her as the original family home was destroyed by fire and all the photos were lost. Because my husband's father had joined the army and then moved to Tasmania before this event, he had taken many photos with him so J. now has photos of her mother as a young girl.

Jane :cheers2:

[Waitabit]

Don't you love it when the 'goodstuff' comes together?

'Raaaay Jane! :thumbsup:

[birdlip]

Fantastic Jane! J must be thrilled with the photos too!

[blue wren]

This is truly the 'icing on the cake' Jane. Congratulations to you for your persistance - you can be my researcher any day!
cheers
Sabina

[susan-y]

:hurray:
What a great story, Jane..the brick wall that was demolished with an ice pick one chip at a time......................
Now wouldn't it be great to get some sprinkles on the icing on the cake? By sprinkles I am referring to a descendant or two of Maud's siblings reading this and getting hold of you... you never know:smile5:

Sue

[swheather]

There is an Eli Taylor of Hawkley buried 30 Dec 1873 aged 87 according to the PR's of Hawkley
Emelia Taylor buried [date not on original PR's but between 21 May 1863 and July 17 1863] aged 78

There is also a Caroline Taylor buried 4 June 1866 aged 28 [don't know if she links but I guessed worth mentioning]

Looking at the baptism for Hawkley I have found
Henry s of Eli and Emerly Taylor bap 9 Mar 1833
Hannah d of Eli and Emily Taylor bap 4 Nov 1838
Benjamin s of Eli and Amelia Taylor bap 3 Dec 1843

Didn't see a baptism for John sorry

However I did found this in the baptisms which might interest you
John s of John and Harriet Taylor bap 7 Jan 1848
Louisa d of John and Harriet Taylor bap 25 May 1851
Caroline d of John and Harriet Taylor bap 3 Oct 1852

Hope this helps

[spison]

Thankyou very much swheather,

Eli was a popular family name (and so was Audrey) so nice to have something apart from the usual to look at! Thankyou for the deaths as I hadn't found them - just knew when they disappeared from the records. (John reported that his parents were both alive when the family arrived in Australia in 1858 so this is probably them. Harriet's parents were both dead by 1858.) I've started to collect information from the censuses but haven't spent much time anywhere else yet. I much appreciate the PRs. Is there an OPC for Hampshire as I haven't searched for one? The other family surnames were Underwood, Page, Pink and Meggs. Harriet was an Underwood from Froxfield. These baptisms are some of John's younger siblings. I suspect that John was baptised at Prior's Dean in 1821. The John and Harriet children aren't the same children who travelled with John and Harriet to Oz so I will have to keep my eye out for another couple - and remember that they exist! I'll bet there's a tie somewhere! John and Harriet's children were born in Empshott. Thanks for the searching.|hug|

Jane