Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12
  1. #1
    Newcomer to Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    5

    Default Fenwick Family - Northumberland

    Hello,

    I am researching my 3 x g grandfather, Henry Fenwick.

    He is believed to have been born in 1824 in Northumberland, UK. Possibly to the Fenwicks of Wallington Hall. In 1848 he emigrated to Australia aboard the Zealous to South Australia. He is listed as a cabinet maker when he arrived in Australia.

    There are stories in the family, that he was a remittance man. Paid by his family to come and then stay in Australia.

    In the late 1950's or early 1960's, my g grandfather, Edgar Thomas Fenwick was written too by someone in the UK advising that he had been left an inheritance. My g grandfather could not afford the passage to the UK or the inheritance tax, so he forfeited the inheritance.

    Very very little is known about my 3 x g grandfather, Henry Fenwick before he arrived in Australia.

    I would love to be able to find out more information about my 3 x g grandfather but thus far have just been coming up against brick walls.

    Any assistance would be appreciated.

    Thank you!

    Wendy

  2. #2
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default

    Have you found him on 1841 census?Do you have his death certificate or an obituary?May be worth a look here,,https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/?q=

  3. #3
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    gloucestershire
    Posts
    502

    Default

    From Trove:-

    18 November 1884. Death of Henry Fenwick of Balhannah, aged 60
    7 October 1894. Death of Mary Fenwick of North Adelaide, widow of Henry of Balhannah, age 64.

    Any of this mean anything to you?

    Added:- Looks as if Henry opened a school in Balhannah in 1851. Had son named Felton.

  4. #4
    Brick wall demolition expert!
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Lancashire
    Posts
    3,642

    Default

    I found 5 Henry Fenwicks in the 1841 census born between 1821-1832, so given the known vagaries of ages in that census any one of them might be your chap. Looking at what their occupations were, and those of the people they were living with, in my opinion, there is only one likely candidate:

    Henry aged 9 (born 1832) and living with his parents and siblings in Hexham, Northumberland. His father William is a joiner. Ref: Piece 842, book 23, folio 3, page 17.

    Looking at your note about your grandfather Edgar and his inheritance, to me this sounds more like a family tale than fact, because I can’t see why it would be necessary for anyone to travel to the UK to “claim” their inheritance, and nor would they have to pay tax on it. In England and Wales probate is managed by either the executors or the administrators for the benefit of the estate and the beneficiaries, so they have put together a list and valuation of all the assets of the deceased, which is then sent to the Govt who then say how much tax is due, and that tax has to be paid before the beneficiaries can be paid. So the executor or the administrator pays the tax to the Govt and then pays then beneficiaries. The logic being that it you gave the assets to the beneficiaries before the tax is paid the Govt might have a much tougher job collecting the tax!

  5. #5
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    gloucestershire
    Posts
    502

    Default

    From Family Search:-

    1841. Henry Fenwick, aged 15 (rounded down?), born Northumberland, living Howard Street, Tynemouth, in household with Muers, Bilton and Woodburn.. No relationships or occupations recorded on census. Ages over 15 often rounded down to nearest 5 years past.

    Could be yours?

  6. #6
    janbooth
    Guest

    Default

    Wendy, I think we need a little more information about your 3 x great grandfather Henry. For example do you have his marriage certificate and/or death certificate and if so what details are shown, for example the name and profession of his father, etc.

    Janet

  7. #7
    Wilkes_ml
    Guest

    Default

    My FENWICK family go back to Newcastle upon Tyne in the late 1700s. There were a lot of FENWICKs in the area as it a common name.

    Many of the original parish registers for Northumberland & Durham are available to view on Family Search (just search for Newcastle in the place name search bar in the Catalogue) All Saints is definitely covered as I was searching them a few days ago, but not sure what the date coverage is.

    I'll have to look through my research and see if I can see a Henry born around that time in my family.

  8. #8
    Newcomer to Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Thanks for your response.

    The information I put in my original post is all that I know about him. I have obtained his marriage certificate but details of his parents (or the brides) were not required on South Australian marriage certificates at the time.

    His death certificate also has next to no information that would be useful to find out more about him prior to arriving in Australia.

  9. #9
    Newcomer to Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Thank you.

    I do know that he had a school in Balhannah and then went on to be a teacher at the local state school when that was opened.

    I have been on Trove (one of my favourite research websites) and been thought pages and pages and pages of information that could possibly relate to my Henry Fenwick.

    I have been able to fill in my tree from myself back to him and that is where I hit a brick wall. Next to nothing is known about him before he came to Australia.

  10. #10
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
    Posts
    640

    Default

    If the marriage took place in a church you may get further information from church archives.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: