The Family Detective

After disembarking from the Planter at Sydney Cove, Sarah was transported to Parramatta by boat and then walked a short distance further along the river to the Female Factory. Sarah probably lived at the factory, although some of the females were housed nearby and went to the factory everyday for work. We know from the records that Sarah was a dressmaker and this was most likely done at the Factory. It was expected that she would have made 9 pieces of clothing a week that would be sold to the public. If Sarah made more than her quota she would be able to earn 9 pence for every extra article made. (from the book The Great Shame: A Story of the Irish in the Old World and the New ). Female Factory to the left with St John's Church in the centre of picture Women were divided into 3 classes at the factory. Class One, were females eligible for assignment, may have earned a wage if something was available and could also receive friends on visiting days. They also had the right to ...

Sarah spent  4 months at sea onboard the HMS Planter . Captain F B Manning's journal showed life on the ship to be almost idyllic. Unlike many other journeys, there were no deaths on board. There was also one birth.Throughout the voyage the prisoners were kept on deck when the weather permitted from 7 o'clock in the morning until sunset. On the voyage schools were strictly attended. According to the surgeon a great many learned to read and write that could not previously do coming on board. Sarah's records mostly indicate she is illiterate, and can only sign her name with a mark. However, her gaol entrance record for 1846 states she can read and write. Most of the convicts had been employed as housemaids, kitchen maids, cooks, dairymaids, children's maids, laundresses, dressmakers and needlewomen and like Sarah, their crimes were nearly all various forms of stealing.On board, needlework and dancing generally occupied most of the day. The women were in good heal...

Sarah Age 18, based on Convict Indent descriptions  When I was handed some family history papers on our Lang family, each person's background information took about a page. Sarah Weatherstone's entire life was written in 2 sentences. It seemed little was available on her in 2004, yet 10 years later she is the ancestor in my family tree that I know most about. I don't think I would have liked her, but then again she grew up in tough times and perhaps things would have been different for Sarah if she'd been born in a different place and time.  My research is ongoing and already new information has come to light and had me spending a few nights editing this post and Part 2.  Part 3 is being written, but the research is taking longer, because it's once she reaches Australia that we really do find out a lot about Sarah! Stay tuned .... Sarah Weatherstone was in the Tower Hamlet of Middlesex on July 1st, 1821. Her baptism took place at St Dunstan’s Church of Eng...

*** The following article has been copied from http://branchesleavespollen.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/belated-australia-day-post-john.html *** This has to be some relation, so please visit Amy's blog if you too are related to one of Australia's convict Weatherstones. John Weatherstone was probably born in 1806 in Gloucester. Various unsourced research has named his parents as William Weatherstone and Mary Clutterbuck. Indeed, in the Parish records of St Mary-de-Lode in Gloucester a William Wetherstone and Mary Clutterbuck were married by licence on 12 February 1788. Whether or not this couple are the parents of John Weatherstone is yet to be proven. In fact, on John Weatherstone's death certificate (the only document to mention his parents) his father is listed as John, a farmer, and his mother as unknown. This is to be expected considering the amount of time that had elapsed (more than 50 years) since John Weatherstone's arrival in Australia. John Weatherst...

It's a year today since my dad passed away. He was the someone who told me so much about our family history. I just wish he was here so I could share some of the things he never really knew. Strangely, I was asked yesterday if I knew Teddy Lang. Yes, he's a great great uncle of mine. Seems some I know of, knows someone who knew him. Infact, it's Teddy's niece. So, a cousin of my dad's. There is a 93 year old woman out there who knew my family. I wonder if she knows the answers to some of my questions. I sometimes wonder if Dad has something to do with the mysteries I'm uncovering. Like he's helping to guide me to find answers. Since he's passed I've discovered cousins and relatives Dad didn't even know existed. I've spoken to several on the phone, and met another. And the circumstances of finding these people has always been random, not people I've hunted down. A year ago I lost the most amazing person, felt the family had shrunk, but thr...

I've been contemplating turning my bedroom wall into something resembling a police detective's wall. Post it notes covering it in an attempt to get a visual image of my family history. I'm a visual person, and find sometimes I don't get all the facts right because I haven't got a great grasp on the information. Today I used Timeglider to make a family time line of Henry Laing & Sarah Weatherstone. Already by doing this I realised I had the birth or death dates of two of his children out of date. It's a handy tool and I'm keen to use it to test out some ideas such as comparing if two people were in the same area at the same time etc. While Timeglider can cost money, I've made the following timeline just using the free version. Hope you find this helpful.

One finds many things when searching online .. I found this family history checklist today. Very handy for anyone just starting out ... Even though it's a list for interpreting an obituary, I found much of the advice useful ... eg checking census records, checking military records ... etc 1. Look at a map to determine exactly what city, county and state the deceased lived in. 2. Check for the Surname in online databases or public records from that time period. 3. Check Census reports from around that time period, if the exact year is not available, look for census reports from before and after, you’ll surely find something in one or the other. 4. Check for his surviving family's names in the census reports. 5. Check for other local newspaper publications that may have more details in the obituary. 6. Check for newspaper articles about the deceased prior to his death. 7. Check marriage recordsfor the deceased and the deceased's spouse. They may have had previous marriages o...

Henry Laing was the first of "us" to come to Australia, aboard the convict ship " Isabella " in September 1818. Born Wednesday, September 22, 1794, Henry Laing grew up in the shadows of Edinburgh Castle. His father John Laing & mother Elizabeth (nee Annan) were cowfeeders who lived near the junction of Fountainbridge & Thornybauk Roads. They had at least 4 children, Lillias (who married Charles Hunt), William, James and Elizabeth (who married William Atkien and continued to live in Thornybauk Road as a cowfeeder after her parent's & husband's death). As an adult, Henry was 5"5" tall with a ruddy complexion, pocked skin, brown hair and hazel eyes. At around the age of 21 Henry moved out of his parents home to live with a woman named Mary Graham. They shared a room in Curries Close which was in the cattle market district of Edinburgh known as the "grass market". Of the evening of or around May 26th, 1817 Henry reci...