by Rosemary Kopittke | 16 Jul 2019 | Army, Census, Chelsea Pensioners, Vernon family
Conflicting evidence John Samuel Vernon was variously born in England, Ireland and Scotland if the British censuses in which he is recorded are to be believed.[1] It is clearly not possible for all these to be true. Estimates of his birth year based on those same...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 15 Jul 2019 | Harris family, Newspapers
Sarah was a much travelled lass, born in Lidgett Town, Pietermaritzburg in 1853. When her family decided to try their fortunes in Australia, she sailed with them in a small schooner for Sydney, where they arrived in 1855. Teaching was clearly an important focus of the...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 14 Jul 2019 | Beeston family, Migration
At one stage ‘swimming’ was looking like the only way the Beestons made it to Australia! Early in my research I found the marriage of John Francis Beeston to Frances Elizabeth Ford in 1881 at South Brisbane.[i] That was a great surprise to my father who had always...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 14 Jul 2019 | Ainsworth family, Newspapers
There were exactly thirteen bakers in the family – early mornings, hot ovens, and flour dust everywhere![1] Three left their Cheshire village where fine footwear was the family trade and established themselves as bakers in the booming metropolis of Manchester in the...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 14 Jul 2019 | DNA
I have examined documentary and family sources in my research for more than 30 years. Fortunately, I started early enough to interview many relatives of my grandparents generation. They were able to provide fantastic information about the family and their life back...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 14 Jul 2019 | McKenzie family
Mackenzies are common in Inverness-shire, Scotland. Appearing in the records under a variety of spellings, they can be a troublesome lot![1] The inscriptions on just two graves were key to linking the members of John’s family to that of his parents and brother.[2] [3]...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 8 May 2018 | Beeston family, Migration, Newspapers
The Bristol Channel 24 January 1863 “My new start almost ended today. How I wish we had not decided to follow Robert’s cousins to Brisbane. I don’t even know where Brisbane is. James’ letters promised such a bright future but so far nothing is as we thought it would...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 2 Mar 2018 | Beeston family, Insolvency, Newspapers
Insolvent. Nowhere to live and no tools to gain an income. This was a devastating moment for Robert Beeston and his two small sons. He had lost his beloved wife Elizabeth to heart problems in May 1866 and now just two months later everything they had worked for was...
by Rosemary Kopittke | 2 Mar 2018 | Beeston family
Rolling green hills with quaint village pubs. That is how we think today of the Derbyshire villages of Fenny Bentley and Kniveton where young Francis Beeston spent his days. But what was it like for him? Francis was born in 1798 in the small village of Fenny Bentley....
by Rosemary Kopittke | 8 Sep 2017 | Blackwell family
Screams. Two hats on the river bank. Ellen had lived happily together with her husband William Brass, a shoemaker, for 14 years. Together they had seven children though tragically three had died young, one that very day. Everything seemed normal – well as normal as...