A Guyett mystery

[Thomasin]

I think it said 'Guyett and Sons Timber Merchants' or something of that ilk.

I've managed to have another look, and they have two letterheads, one headed 'Port Fairy Timber Yards' and the other 'Sackville Street, Port Fairy'. The firm is 'Guyett & Sons, Ironmongers, Builders, Contractors and Undertakers, Timber, Lime and Cement Merchants' and one version has in addition 'Plumbers and Gas Fitters'. Talk about a finger in every pie!

Thomasin

[ChristineR]

.....What happened to William and Louisa's daughter, Jessima Alice Guyett?

I wonder whether the name Jessima was mistaken for Jemima, or whether she was registered as Jemima and the name misread. Could even be Jessic(c)a!

There were four or five years between all their children (while Thomas and Lilian were having children like shelling peas), and then poor William lost his wife and presumably two daughters. ..... How far is Keilor, where Winifred was born in 1897, from Essendon, where Louisa died in the same year? Oh, and what happened to Winifred?

Sorry, more questions!...
Thomasin

Love more questions!

Jessima /Jemmima and Winifred did not turn up further in the records. I did check freeBMD in case Jess had died back in the UK. Now, the places given (Keilor and Essendon) are registration places (and years), so they could actually not have moved in between the two events, just registered where it was more convenient when going about their business.

I was actually in Keilor Road, Essendon buying a car last week

The great thing about our Victorian birth certificates - if you were to purchase the last birth certificate (images can be downloaded online, see the sticky at the head of this board) it will give you the names and ages of previous children and also name any dead ones.

The death certificate of their mother Louisa will tell you how long that they had been living in Australia as well as name all her children (and if they are living or not) Though sometimes if a person died in hospital the informant couln't be bothered finding out these particulars.

There was another GUYATT / GUYETT family from the early days in Victoria, they seem to be over in the Sale area.

I will look again for the two girls later, they didn't show in the general search that I did, I have only searched using Guy*t. Might have a wierd surname spelling.

[ChristineR]

it looks as if they are still funeral directors, although from their letter headings preserved in the above link, that seems to have been more of a sideline at first

Just a comment here, it was very common for builders / carpenters to be also the local funeral directors as well, especially in the smaller towns.

Also, I have just checked the inquest index for Victoria, no untoward deaths for this family recorded.

[Thomasin]

I followed Leanne's method, and Googled Jessima's name in quotes - and she appears on Anc* in someone's tree. Right birth date - and she married in 1905 in England. FreeBMD confirmed this. So a trip to the 1901 census showed her as 'Jessie Guyett', a visitor to a house in Battersea. There were three other visitors, and one of them was a Nellie Hornewood, living on own means, aged 40, from (surprise, surprise) Australia.

Jessie was 'apprenticed to millinery' and she must have stayed behind in Oz when her father returned to England in 1898 - perhaps staying with her uncle and his family, or even with this Nellie Hornewood. Is there any way of finding out?

Thomasin

[ennael]

not sure about why you aren't getting into NSW BDM but follow this link to the home page and you should get in ok.

www.bdm.nsw.gov.au

Leanne

[ennael]

GUYETT Jessima Alice Pancras 1b 241

DEC 1905.

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl


Leanne

[Thomasin]

I have found, on scadding.net, a highly inaccurate account of Jessima and her family. The writer claims the family emigrated soon after Jessima was born, and that in 1899 or 1900 her parents brought her back to London on a visit. Well, by that time her mother was dead and, as far as we know, her father had brought only May and Elsie over, in 1898, before his own death in 1900.

I think there's a bit of Scadding family folklore going on, because Jessima is supposed to have met her future husband during this visit at a dance, and after she returned to Australia they corresponded 'despite her parents' disapproval.' Her suitor is supposed to have saved money to send to Jessima so that she could return to get married.

'In the meantime her parents (or at any rate her father) had died and Jessima, May and Elsie were looked after by either a relation or a friend of the family in Australia.' Jessima, it says, came over to England in about 1905 on a wool clipper.

It claims that May came over 'some years later' and lived with Aunt Lizzie Perrin (our very own Sarah Elizabeth) until she married. It says that Elsie came over even later and, 'although she lived with Aunt Lizzie for a short time'! she started to train as a nurse and lived with Jessima and her husband.

......................

In fact, it's obvious from the 1901 census that May and Elsie were both living with 'Aunt Lizzie', and Elsie was still there in 1911! I think the writer may have confused the two younger sisters, because from a quick search of the 1911 census it does look as if May is living with Jessima.

As for the 'visit' to London, this is presumably Jessima's journey probably with Nellie Hornewood, as she was here in 1901.

Beware the folklore!!

Thomasin

[Thomasin]

Leanne - I'm getting into the site but not getting any results (not until I tried John Smith!)

Thomasin

[ennael]

I don't understand????????
this is an index site only and you have to purchase the registration when found.
It is the formal NSW BDM site so you should have no problems accessing it.
not sure where the problem is coming in.




Leanne

[ennael]

may be some one else can help solve this problem.
Leanne