The Family Detective

When the ship which Ellen and her family boarded set sail from Southampton Hampshire on 17th November 1854 there must have been mixed feelings about the new life ahead. They were at sea for 100 days and fear for baby John Kelly and baby John Dunn must have plagued the families after Scarlet Fever spread through the passengers killing 10 children onboard. They finally arrived in Sydney Cove 25th February 1855 but the ship and those aboard were placed in quarantine for 16 more days with the immigration records showing they embarked on the 13th of March.   For Ellen we find little in the way of interesting news stories. We gain a sense of her though through records pertaining to James and those of her children. John's immigration records show he was a bricklayer and he had arrived at the time railway lines and stations were being built. Stephen Phillips and his sons after him were rail men so in the early days of arriving in the colony perhaps James was involved in buil...

Like our roses to make them grow they need some pruning and maintenance. I've made my tree private for now and I feel I've solved some big mysteries on the tree including Michael Connolly who is an uncle who was sent to Norfolk Island. I read an eye opening account of his "unnatural act" and for now I think I'll just go visit some of my original ancestors and see what the expanding world of the internet throws my way. I've never really printed any of my sources or catalogued them properly so now is the time. I feel comfortable with some of the trees I've been making as well trying to see if cousins etc throw out interesting information. I'll need to graft them onto my family tree once I've pruned my original tree. Now the big question is where to begin. I think with a cup of tea...