Our Hodgetts Family Saga-Sarah Hodgetts,1797,Sydney

The ninth document for our Hodgetts family in Australia was the baptism entry of Sarah Hodgetts, the third daughter of Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts.

I found the first mention of this record in John Cobley’s Sydney Cove 1795-1800 Vol V, The Second Governor. The entry states:-

 Baptisms

 SYDNEY

Dec 24 Sarah Hodgats  d of Thomas and Harriet Hodgats. B 1st September 1797.[1]

I then checked for references in the online index of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages in Sydney at https://bdm.nsw.gov.au/

HODGETS  SARAH       495/1797 V1797495 4 d of  THOMAS and   HARRIOT

HODGETS SARAH M   662/1797 V1797662 1A  d of THOMAS and  HARRIET

Using these references I was able to search for entries in the Archives Authority of New South Wales (now State Records) Genealogical Kit (1988) for baptisms 1788-1855. The early colonial baptism, marriage, and burial records of some 164 volumes cover the time before civil registration in New South Wales. This includes Victoria and Queensland which was part of New South Wales at that time. These are held as Government records by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages for New South Wales in Sydney.

Many of these records were microfilmed and released to the public in the Archives Authority of New South Wales Genealogical Kit in 1988. Of the 164 volumes copied, only 123 volumes were released in the kit covering the time frame 1788-1855. Volumes 124-164 were not included in the kit.

This was because some of the records contained in the volumes were after 1855 so fell outside the parameters of the historical project and were subject to state privacy laws. Other volumes were not included because they were so fragile and the handling of those volumes would have destroyed them.

Returning to our Hodgetts research I found Volumes 1 and 4 were in the above-mentioned records, and I was able to view microfilm copies of the original records on AO Reel 5001 and 5002. These were Rev Richard Johnson’s original baptism register and the chronological list he sent to the Governor’s Office.

Although you can view these records at your library you cannot make a printout as it is a condition of use of these records and is stated at the beginning of each film. The copyright belongs to the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages.  At the time I was able to make transcriptions and add appropriate notes.

By 1797, Thomas Hodgetts had completed his sentence some two years before, and as a ‘free man’ was able to set up a business for himself in Sydney. We would like to think he set up as a blacksmith, as it has always been presumed to have been his trade in Australia. However, I have found no evidence of this in colonial records. I believe he would have found it difficult to get any employment, which paid any reasonable income.

Although still on meagre government rations, I believe the family lived in very poor conditions.

Eastern View of Sydney, 1797

By Edward Dayes

Contributed By National Library of Australia [PIC Solander Box A28 #R286]

From <https://dictionaryofsydney.org/media/59789

 

My share documents for this baptism can be found under the  Resources and Examples Tab on this website under-

HODGETS, Sarah,1797, Sydney, Baptism Transcription 1

HODGETS, Sarah,1797, Sydney, Baptism Transcription 2

[1] Sydney Cove 1795-1800 The Second Governor (Volume V), John Cobley, Angus & Robertson Publishers,1986,Sydney, p188

 

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Family History Class Notes, Marriages in NSW – Transcription Agents

In our class about the Marriage Index for New South Wales Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, I solved a little problem of the place and date for the marriage for my Great-Uncle, Henry William Bell, by finding an article about this marriage in a newspaper.

Should I leave further research and be content with these two references for this marriage? Remember newspapers may not be correct for an event either.

I need more references to enter onto my datasheet of the marriage event for this individual.

In this case, I decided to seek a more solid reference for information by using a transcription agent for the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for New South Wales. If you consult the web page for this office you will see there are three such licensed agents.

 

• Marilyn Rowan
  Phone: 61(2) 4658 1206
  Email: marilynr@nswtranscriptions.com.au or visit nswtranscriptions.com.au
• Joy Murrin
  Phone: 61(2) 9585 1187
  Email: joy@joymurrin.com.au or visit joymurrin.com.au
• Laurie Turtle
  Phone: 61(2) 4573 1559
  Email: lturtle@iprimus.com.au or visit home.iprimus.com.au/lturtle

I have used each of these agents from time to time and have been happy with all of their services. I used a transcription agent because  a transcription is about half the cost of obtaining a certified copy of this certificate from the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages Office. All family historians know just how quickly these costs can add up when you are seeking documentation of your family tree.

This transcription is not a certified copy and cannot be used in any legal transactions. This is stated in the transcribed document supplied by the agent.

 

The transcription agent actually looks at the official copy of the marriage certificate held by the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages and carefully extracts all the information into a transcription form. Although there is a possibility of errors in transcribing I have found none to date.

We family historians can be a generous lot when it comes to sharing information and we might be tempted to photocopy or scan one of these transcriptions and share it with family and friends.

Legally we should not do this. That document is copyright to the agent who produced it. You actually purchased the information on this transcription not the copying rights of the document.

When I want to share this information I transcribe the information onto my own marriage transcription form clearly giving full credit for where I got the information and adding any notes I wish to add. Here are my sharing documents for this marriage.

 

 A pdf download of this marriage transcription document can be found on this website under the Resources and Examples Tab.

 

My transcription copy of the marriage report in the newspaper.

 

A pdf download of this marriage newspaper report transcription document can be found on this website under the Resources and Examples Tab.

By doing my copying in this format there is no confusion about the source of the information and when I obtained it.

Over time when collecting information it becomes difficult to remember who gave you the actual information and when. If you get into good habits early on in your research you have fewer problems on this front.

 

Family History Class Notes – Using Newspapers in Family History Research

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and people are staying at home, many have found time to pursue their hobbies and there is a world -wide upsurge of interest in family history. Most are using online resources, including newspapers.

I believe that in the past, newspapers were the most under -utilized genealogical resource, but new technology is now changing that.

Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay, the early 19th Century British poet, historian and Whig politician once stated that ‘the only true history of a country is found in its newspapers’.

When you consider the first Australian newspaper began in Sydney just fifteen years after the arrival of the First Fleet, just imagine how much history of Australian families and their overseas connections must be buried in Australian newspapers.

We can read all the political, economic and social history books available for background context of our ancestors, but we can certainly better understand the lives of these ancestors when we find their stories, items and notices in old newspapers.

Types of Newspapers

• National
• Regional
• Local
• Ethnic and Foreign Language
• Religious
• Political
• Literary
• Military

Access to Australian Historical Newspapers

In Australia, the National and State Libraries have the responsibility of tracking down and collecting newspapers published, even today. They have many volumes of bound hardcopies of both Overseas and Australian newspapers. These can be located through their catalogues.

 

Regional and Community Libraries, historical societies and museums may also have original hard-copy or microfilm copies of newspapers, particularly those of the local area. You may have to travel to these local institutions to access these newspapers or you may be able to make arrangements for someone to view them on your behalf. There may be costs and fees associated with this service.

 

On-line Digital Access

In the past, it could be said that local and family historians did not use newspapers in their research because of poor accessibility, but this is no longer the case. Over the last few years, millions of pages of newspapers throughout the world have been scanned and digitized, and made available on-line to the public, through commercial ventures of subscription web sites, such as ancestry.com and findmypast.com, as well as historical document programs in National and State Archives and libraries.

Perhaps the most important source for Australian 19th Century and early 20th Century newspapers on-line are through the National Library of Australia, in their Historical Newspapers program, 1803-1954 at :-

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper and the historical journals, and magazines program through the Australian Periodical Publications 1840-1845. This is part of the Australian Co-operative Digitization Project, which can be found at http://www.nla.gov.au/ferg/.

Between these two sites hundreds of titles are offered. These are in pdf format and can be searched by word or phrase, which makes them a very accessible resource. However one important warning- not all surviving issues of newspapers have been microfilmed, digitized and put on- line.

 

The first newspaper in New South Wales was the Sydney Gazette which first appeared on 5th March 1803 and was printed by George Howe, a convict. It was published for many years, ceasing in 1842.

As well as including functions many of us associate with a newspaper it also carried official governmental orders and proclamations, serving as the government gazette until 1832 when the New South Wales Government Gazette was inaugurated. Several other newspapers were published in Sydney over the years including:-

• The Australian-(1824-1848);
• Sydney Monitor (1828-1838);
• The Sydney Herald-(1831-1842) (later the Sydney Morning Herald);
• The Colonist-(1835-1840);
• Australian Chronicle-(1839-1843)
• Sydney Chronicle-(1846-1848).

I have had extensive experience of these Sydney newspapers and using them in local and family history, and have spent many hundreds of hours compiling selected indexes. Although all are now out of print they can be found in Libraries and Family History Societies.

 

These include

1. Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol 1 1830-1832

[Nola Mackey,1996,65pp, ISBN 1875840133,Out of Print]

2. Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol 2 1833-1835

[Nola Mackey,1996,107pp,ISBN 187584015X,Out of Print]

3. Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol 3 1836-1837

[Nola Mackey,1996,91pp,ISBN 1875840176, Out of Print]

4. Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol 4 1838

[Nola Mackey,1994,65pp,ISBN 18758409192,Out of Print]

5. Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol 5 1839

[Nola Mackey,1994,67pp,ISBN 1875840214,Out of Print]

6. Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers Vol 6 1840

[Nola Mackey,1995, 64pp, ISBN 1875840230,Out of Print]

 

Here are some examples of Birth, Death and Marriage Notices and Reports in newspapers which allows you so see the range and type of information given.

 

 

 

As wonderful as it is having this electronic access to newspapers family historians need to remember. One document or newspaper item concerning an event is not proof.

Assessing Newspapers as a Family History Source

1. Do not automatically take the published word as gospel, and proof of what happened. Look at the evidence and how it was presented. Reports of Inquests and Court Proceeding are likely to be correct as the evidence is taken under oath, but an obituary or biography of a person’s life may contain untruths and exaggerations.
2. If there were more than one newspaper being published in the area in a time period look at them all. You will be surprised to learn they will not report the same event exactly the same. There may be more information in one than the other.
3. Not all newspapers are equal- and there is good reporting and bad reporting and much depends on the editor of the paper at the time.
4. Newspapers have always been in the business of selling news, but they have always come under the Crown laws concerning slander and misrepresentation of facts. Some owner/editors stretched these boundaries and have found themselves in Court. There have been several newspapers who were sent to the wall and insolvency through court cases concerning slandering opposition newspapers.

Family History Class Notes- Where Do I Start?

You start your family history journey with yourself. Then work backward from yourself slowly, from the known to the unknown, verifying and documenting your information, and if possible from more than one source. If you do not do this you may end up following someone else’s family line, and wasting money and time.

The key family documents for doing a family history are the Birth, Marriage and Death records of our ancestors. Not everyone married but everyone was born and died. There are many records that help us find this information.

Talk to family members and take notes of the information you are told, but remember you will need to verify it all.

This includes getting documents to support your ‘facts’ of birth, marriage and death dates and places. Particularly of interest are the legal documents for these events.

Be prepared to spend money on purchasing full copies of the key birth, death or marriage certificates of your family line. It is a false economy to try to research your family history without referring to your correct key primary documents.

Locating the documents.

Some of you will already have in your possession either by having acquired it previously for legal purposes or being passed down from your parents, a copy of your own birth certificate. However, be aware in Australia there is a difference between an ‘extract of a birth certificate’ and a ‘full birth certificate’.  For example, many years ago most people got an ‘extract of their birth certificate’ so they could get a vehicle license or a passport. This has the full name, place, and date of birth of the individual. Today you need a certified copy of a full birth certificate for many circumstances including applying for a passport, so many people will already have this important document. This full birth certificate will give you clues to other documents you will need as you progress on your quest to find your ancestors.

In Australia, most modern birth certificates will have what we term ‘full information’ however this was not always so for all states. Since civil registration began in  Victoria,(1852)  NSW (1856) and Queensland (1859),  a full birth certificate has not only the full name; place and date of the birth; but also, parents full names, including mother’s maiden name or in case of a widow her former married name; date and place of parent’s marriage; place of birth and age of parents; and all other children previously born into the family, often including both their name and age.

By studying your own birth certificate you can see that it is a stepping stone back to another generation, that is it gives information on your parents, so now you can search for their certificates.

It is at this stage most people use the Birth, Death and Marriage Indexes for their state of interest. Many Internet-based indexes are being released, but due to the privacy laws of each state, their range and availability vary.

Be aware you cannot photocopy and share the Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates you purchase from the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. All certified certificates from the Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages are legal documents and when you apply for such you undertake not scan or photocopy.

However, you can make a transcription without legal problems and I encourage you to do so to share and include in your family history research notes. I have included a transcription I made of the certified copy of the birth certificate of my Maternal Great-Grandfather, John Bell.[See Above]. A pdf copy under Resources and Examples Tab on this website.

My Family History Life

Over a lifetime I have learned our most valuable resource is TIME. We all have the same amount – 24 hours, 7 days, 365 days, etc. However, we do not know how many years we will live. The most important thing is how we spend that time.

The second most valuable resource is our relationships. Over my lifetime of more than ‘three score years and ten’, I have built a very large network of people, both relatives, and friends, who share my many passions. Here, I refer, particularly to family history.

In the last few years, life has changed dramatically for us with health issues, drought, fires, storms, and floods forcing us to make daily changes to accommodate what is presented.

As one might expect at this stage of life, I have also lost many of my friends and family through death, which has taken a great emotional toll. I now feel it is most important that I devote as much time as I can to our family history and share it with my siblings, children, and grandchildren as well as cousins of many degrees from 1st to sixth and beyond.

I may not have written many blogs over the last year, but I have done a lot with my family history. I have organized my documents, photographs, and research; designed and began a process of passing it on to present and future generations and I have also written lots of stories, biographies, and research and shared with those relatives and friends, who are interested in my work. 

I have recently returned to teaching family history through our local U3A (University of the Third Age). Many of my students of fifty years plus of teaching, have asked me to share my experience and guidance so they can finish many of their personal family history projects. We have several new U3A members, who are just beginning their family history journey too. They have requested I share some of the notes on-line so they can refer and refresh their memories between classes.

I certainly do not have all the answers, but I hope these blogs and resources might assist others in their own family history journey.

The Last Post Ceremony, Menin Gate, Ieper – Postscript

In my last blog, I wrote about our very emotional attendance at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ieper.

After viewing the Last Post Ceremony, many of our tour group went to explore Ieper, but Vern and I returned to our hotel to have dinner in the restaurant there. We were ‘seated’ at a small table for two. An elderly couple sat at an equally small adjoining table. We were the only ones sitting in this section of the restaurant.

I had noticed this couple at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate earlier in the evening. They had been standing in the crowd opposite me. Just as the ceremony ended the woman collapsed. A number of bystanders rushed to her aid and the couple was assisted to a seating area and taken care of by paramedics.

While we were waiting for our meal to be served I plucked up the courage to speak to the couple. I admitted I had seen them at the ceremony and enquired if the woman was feeling better.  The elderly woman couldn’t speak English well, but the gentleman did and spoke on her behalf. He thanked us for our concern and said she had recovered, but needed rest.

Hearing our accent they asked where we from and what had brought us to Ieper. We told him we had come to pay our respects to family members who had died on the battlefields of Europe many years before we were born. During the course of things, my passion for Family History was mentioned once or twice.

Over the next hour, we heard much about this couple. They had been born near Ieper between  World Wars I and II and had grown up in the area, but now lived in the south of France.

Their ancestors were from Ieper through several generations, and they loved to return to the city whenever an occasion presented itself.

They told us the Menin Gate and the Last Post Ceremony had been an important part of their lives growing up. Friends and family members always attended the ceremony, whenever they visited the city, in grateful thanks for the great sacrifice made by so many.

We learned that this couple were special guests at an International Dinner at the Great Cloth Hall that evening and the gentleman was to receive an award. Neither were in good health and the lady had become quite frail, but both were determined to return to Ieper for this special dinner.

They both wanted to attend the Last Post Ceremony, as they had always done when returning to the city.  When the lady’s health deteriorated at the ceremony, the attending doctor suggested she should return to the hotel to rest and not overly stress herself by attending the gala event with her husband. Of course, the gentleman would not leave his wife’s side and so they planned to dine quietly at the hotel restaurant.

We asked if there was anything we could do to assist them in any way. They thanked us for our offer but said the wonderful city officials had taken care of everything for them.

Then the gentleman reached into his evening jacket and retrieved the official guilt edged programme of the  Cloth Hall Dinner and asked us to accept it as a special memento of our meeting and dining together that evening. What a beautiful and generous gift. Although I cannot read it, (I believe it is in Flemish), there is no doubt receiving this is one of my most treasured memories of our Western Front Tour.

Josiah Bell, Woodman of Mereworth,Kent

In former blogs, I have written about John Billinghurst alias Bell, born 1800, the illegitimate son of Sarah Billinghurst, of Mereworth, Kent. See ‘The Story of an Alias-John Bell, Mereworth, Kent’ and ‘More on the Alias of John Bell, Mereworth, Kent’.
The following year Sarah Billinghurst married Josiah Bell, in St Lawrence, Mereworth. They had a daughter Elizabeth born 1803, whose story is told in ‘A Life Cut Short-Elizabeth Bell, Mereworth, Kent.’

In this blog, I continue the family story about their son, Josiah Bell who was born in 1806.

Josiah Bell, the second child, and son of Josiah and Sarah Bell (nee Billinghurst) was born in Mereworth in 1806. By his time his father was 52 years of age and his mother 42 years.
Josiah Bell was baptized at St Lawrence, Mereworth on 31 August 1806. He grew up in Mereworth and was only ten years of age when his father died. No doubt Josiah took on the care of his mother and sister from an early age, but by the time he was in his early twenties, he had lost both his sister and mother.
Josiah Bell married at St Mary’s, East Farleigh, on 29 January 1832, a cousin, Ann Bell, the daughter of Robin and Mercy Bell (nee Cox). She had been baptized at East Farleigh on 10 November 1811.

They had a large family all of whom were baptized at St Lawrence,
Mereworth.
⦁ Sarah Bell, b 1832
⦁ Catherine Harriet Bell, b 1835
⦁ Josiah Bell, b 1837
⦁ James Bell, b 1838
⦁ Ann Bell, b 1840
⦁ Mercy, b 1843
⦁ Thomas, b1847
⦁ Robert Bell, b 1849
⦁ Mahalah, b 1851
⦁ George, b 1854
⦁ Frederick, b 1856

Josiah and Ann Bell remained in Mereworth, when Ann Bell’s parents, Robin and Mercy Bell (nee Cox), and most of her siblings emigrated to New South Wales on the Woodbridge, in 1838.

The Baptismal Font, St Lawrence, Mereworth
Copyright-Nola Mackey, 2004

Josiah and Ann Bell and family can be found in the 1841,1851,1861,1871 Census Return for Mereworth, where Josiah is described as a ‘Wood Labourer’. We know his father was also recorded as a ‘Woodsman’ in several parish documents.

Josiah bell died and was buried in the Mereworth churchyard on 24 March 1874. His headstone is inscribed with “He was for 43 years a bellringer at this church”.

The weathered headstone of Josiah Bell, St Lawrence Churchyard.
Copyright- Nola Mackey,2004

After Josiah Bell’s death, his wife Ann, found employment as the Monthly Nurse. In the 1881 Census she was not at home, but in the household of John Humphrey’s, with his wife Mary Ann and their infant daughter, Edith. She is recorded there as 72 years of age but would have been about 70 years.
In the 1891 Census, Ann Bell was living in Kent Street. Her invalid daughter Ann, and her youngest son, Frederick Bell and his family were living with her.
Ann Bell died in 1895 and is buried in the Mereworth Churchyard, possibly beside her husband, but her grave is unmarked.

 

A Voyage with a Ship “Lamp Trimmer”

In a former blog, I wrote about the occupation of the “Lamp Trimmer”. Just what did he do and what was life like for him on a ship?

The following is an extract from the book “The Log of a Sea-Waif; being recollections of the first four years of my sea life”, by Frank Thomas Bullen (1857-1915) published by Smith, Elder & Company, London, 1899. (Available on-line [i])

This extract is in reference to a voyage of the coastal steamer the “Helen McGregor“. This ship was built in 1866 and was lost while attempting to cross out over the Clarence River bar in very heavy seas on 12 March 1875. Her Master was Captain A Turner. The below extract is believed to have taken place in the early 1870s.

” I was overjoyed to get a berth, without anybody’s assistance, as a lamp trimmer on board a pretty little steamer, called the “Helen McGregor”, that ran regularly between Sydney and the town of Grafton on the Clarence River, called at Newcastle and sundry places on the river en route.

My lamp-room was a mere cupboard by the side of the funnel, on deck, and just abaft the galley. To do my work I had to kneel on, a hot iron plate in front of the said cupboard, exposed to whatever weather was going. But the cook had all my sympathies. In his tiny caboose, he had to prepare meals for seventy or eighty people, while all his pastry-making, butchering, etc (for we carried live sheep and fowls with us), must need to be done on deck. Now the vessel, though exceedingly pretty to look at in harbour, was utterly unfit to cope with the tremendous seas that sweep along the eastern shores of Australia. Somewhere, in one of Henry Kingsley’s books (The ‘Hillyars and the Burtons’, I think), he speaks of a little steamer climbing one of those gigantic seas like a bat clinging to a wall. That was a common experience of ours. Her motions were frightful. I have seen every soul on board sea-sick while she crawled up, up, up one mountainous wave after another, plunging down into the abysses between them as if she would really turn a complete summersault. Everybody was black and blue with being flung about, and the passengers, who had perforce to be battened down in the sweltering saloon, or the second cabin, suffered misery untellable.  Yet even that wretchedness had its ludicrous side.

To see our fierce little hunchback cook astride a half-skinned sheep, to which he held on with a death-like grip, his knife between his teeth and a demonical glare in his eye, careering fore and aft in a smother of foam, surrounded by the debris of preparing dinner, made even men half dead with fatigue and nausea laugh. But it was terrible work. As for me, I got no respite at all at night. For I had to keep the lamps burning; and she thought nothing of hurling both the big side lanterns out of their slides on the deck or shooting both binnacle-lights at once into the air, leaving the helmsman staring at a black disc instead of the illuminated compass-card. And often, as I painfully made my way forward with the side-lights after a long struggle with wetted wicks and broken glass, she would plunge her bows under a huge comber, lifting a massive flood overall, which seize me in its ruthless embrace and swept me, entangled with my burden, the whole length of the deck, till I brought up against the second-cabin door right aft, with a bang that knocked the scanty remnant of breath out of my trembling body. Down in the engine-room, the grey-headed chief-engineer stood by the grunting machinery, his hand on the throttle-valve, which he incessantly manipulated to prevent the propeller racing the engines out of their seats whenever she lifted her stern out of the water and the screw revolved in thin air. For the old-fashioned low-pressure engines had no ‘governor’, and consequently, no automatic means of relieving the terrific strain thrown upon them in such weather as this. And the firemen, who had to keep steam up, though they were hurled to and fro over the plates like toys, were probably in the most evil case of all.

  Binacle.

 

She must have been staunchly built, for she bore the fearful buffeting without any damage worth speaking of, except to the unfortunates who were compelled to attend to their duties under such difficulties. And after the gale blew itself out, and the glorious sun mounted triumphantly in the deep blue dome above, the scene was splendid beyond description. We always kept fairly close in with the land, except when crossing a deep bight, and the views we obtained of the magnificent scenery along that wonderful coast were worth enduring a good deal of hardship to witness. We arrived off the entrance to the Clarence River just at dark, and to my great astonishment, instead of going in, the sail was set, the fires were damped down, and we stood ‘off-and-on’ until the daylight. As soon as there was sufficient light to distinguish objects on shore, we stood in; all passengers were ordered below and everything was battered down. All hands perched themselves as high as they could on the bridge, upper deck, and in the rigging, while we made straight for the bar. These precautions had filled me with wonders, for I knew nothing of bar-harbours. But when, on our nearer approach, I saw the mighty turbulent breakers rolling in mountains of snowy foam across the river’s mouth, I began to understand that the passage through that would mean considerable danger. Every ounce of steam we could raise was on her, and the skipper, a splendid specimen of a British seaman, stood on the bridge, the very picture of vigorous vigilance. We entered the first line of breakers, all around us seethed the turmoil of snowy foam, with not a mark of any kind to show the channel, except such bearings as the skipper knew of on the distant shore. Perched upon the rail, a leadsman sounded as rapidly as he could, calling out such depths of water as amazed me, knowing our draught. Along came an enormous wall of white water, overwhelming the hull and hiding it from sight. “Lead-quick”! Yelled the skipper above the thunder of the sea; and Joe screamed: “Two, halt one, a quarter less two.” Ahh! A long and grinding concussion as she tore up the ground, then along came to another mighty comber overall. When it had passed we were over the bar and in smooth water, only the yeasty flakes of the spent breakers following us as if disappointed of their prey. A very few minutes sufficed to dry up the decks, and the passengers appeared well pleased to be in the placid waters of the river and at peace once more.

    Anchor Light

What a lovely scene it was! At times we sped along close to the bank, while a great stretch of the river extended on the other side of us a mile wide, but too shallow for even our light draught. On gleaming sand-patches, flocks of pelicans performed their unwieldy gambols, and shoals of fish reflected the sunlight from their myriad glittering scales. Turning a sharp bend we would disturb a flock of black swans that rose with a deafening clamour in such immense numbers as to darken the sky overhead like a thunder-cloud. And about the bushes that clothed the banks, flew parrots, cockatoos, and magpies in such hosts as I had never dreamed of. For an hour we saw no sign of inhabitants; then, suddenly, we sighted a little village with a rude jetty and about half a dozen houses. All the population, I suppose, stood on the pier to greet us, who came bearing to them in their lonely corner a bit of the great outside world. Our skipper, though noted for his seamanship, was equally notorious for his clumsiness in bringing his vessel alongside a wharf, and we came into the somewhat crazy structure with a crash that sent the shore-folk scurrying off into safety until it was seen to be still intact. We were soon fast, and all hands working as Chinamen to land the few packages of goods, for we had a long way to go yet and several places to call at. Our discharging was soon over, the warps cast off, and followed by (as I thought) the wistful looks of the little community of Rocky Mouth, we proceeded up the river again.

Occasionally we sighted a homestead standing among a thick plantation of banana trees, each laden with its massive bunch of fruit, and broad area of sugar-cane or maize. From amongst the latter as we passed rose perfect clouds of cockatoos and parrots, screaming discordantly, and making even the dullest observer think the heavy toll they were levied upon the toiling farmer. Again we stopped at villages, each bearing a family likeness to the first, but all thriving and inhabited by well-fed sturdy people. Just before sunset we arrived at Grafton, having passed but two vessels on our journey up – one a handsome Brigatine, whose crew were laboriously towing her along at a snail’s pace in a solitary boat, and the other a flat-bottomed, stern-wheel steamer of so light a draught that she looked capable of crossing a meadow in a heavy dew. There was a substantial jetty built out from the steep bank to the end of which, after considerable fumbling about, we moored. The only house visible was a rather fine dwelling whose front verandah overlooked the jetty from the top of the bank. I was surprised to find quite a considerable town, with well laid out streets and every appearance. There was little inducement to remain, however, and I soon hurried on board again to enjoy some grand fishing over the side.

Here we remained for a week discharging our cargo and reloading with maize, cases of preserved beef and mutton, and bags of tin ore. Just before sailing, we received a good deal of farm produce, including several hundred bunches of bananas, for which there was always a good demand in Sydney. In order not to miss a tide we sailed sometime one morning before daylight, and when about twenty miles down the river, ran into the region of a bush fire. As we had to hug the bank rather closely just there, we had an anxious time if it, the great shower of sparks and sheets of flame reaching out towards us as if determined to claim us, too, among their victims.

The sight was terribly grand; the blood-red sky overhead and the glowing river beneath making it appear as if we were between two furnaces, while the deep terrific roar of the furious fire so near drowned every other sound. All hands were kept alert dowsing sparks that settled on board of us, and right glad was everybody when we emerged into the cool and smoke-free air beyond. After that, we had a most hum-drum passage all the way to Sydney…”[ii]

[1] The Grafton Argus, (Grafton) 8 January 1900, Trove, National Library of Australia website https://trove.nla.gov.au .Accessed 22 January 2018

ii   Bullen, Frank Thomas. The log of a sea-waif: being recollections of the first four years of my sea life. Smith, Elder & Co., 1899. Nineteenth Century Collections Online, http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/5osDe9. Accessed 21 Jan. 2018. Gale Document Number: GALE|BJPYVT144389105

Pictures from Google Images http://www.thepirateslair.com/10-21-huge-anchor-light.html retrieved 22 January 2018

Occupations – The Lamp-Trimmer

The occupation of a ‘Lamp Trimmer” in the past was a very important one. These men were responsible for keeping ‘the lights’ in order and burning in all weather conditions, whether a municipal employee trimming the street lights, working for a railway company in trains and on stations, or even very large houses. However, it was on-board ships that he was of the greatest value.

 

In the days of sailing ships, this duty might fall to one or more of the petty officers on-board to attend to the navigational lights required by International Marine Law.

 

In pre-electric light times, when candles and oil lamps were the sole means of illumination, the rule of ‘lights out’ at ten pm was strictly enforced as a precaution against fire.

 

However, as ships got larger, especially with the advent of steam power, a ‘lamp trimmer’ was usually employed to take care of the many lights on ships. Both the cabin and navigational lights.

 

The lamp trimmer usually worked from a small room known as a ‘lamp locker’ containing tanks of oil, (originally Camphene and later kerosene), rolls of wick, spare lamps, chimneys, burners, scissors, reflectors, and cotton waste for cleaning purposes. He spent part of his days and most nights moving around the ship trimming and attending to all kind of lamps.

 

Even after the introduction of the electric light, International Regulations for the safety of life at sea made it mandatory that all ships should carry a spare set of oil navigation lights. These consisted of two white mast-head lights, one stern light, two anchor lights, one signaling lamp, one red and one green side lights, and two red ‘not under command’ lights. The latter was displayed one above the other, not less than six feet apart, whenever a ship was not under proper control owing to some defect in her engines or steering gear. It was the signal to other ships to give her a wide berth.

 

Even when all the above lights were normally electric, the spare oil lamps had to be kept trimmed, and once a week they had to burn for two hours, to ensure they were in good order.

 

The lamp trimmer was often given the nickname of ‘Lamps’ or ‘Lampey”, and he had to be a very competent seaman, who knew the importance of keeping all the lights trimmed and working in all weathers and situations. An inexperienced or lazy seaman would never have been employed in that position.

It was never an easy job but was often downright dangerous in stormy and wet weather as we learn from the experience of Frank Bullen in the next blog.

Binacle with light

 

 

 

Pictures from Google images https://www.google.com.au/  from eBay retrieved 22 January 2018

Thomas Hodgetts, Second Fleeter- Identifying Our Ancestor

For many years several family historians researching and writing about the “Thomas Hodgetts” who was transported on the Second Fleet, have argued over his origins. All records we have been able to gather together stated he came from “Staffordshire, England”. However there are several “Thomas Hodgetts” born in Staffordshire about the same time. How can we identify our Thomas Hodgetts from the rest?

 Anyone who has followed any of my research and blogs will know I am a great believer in digging long and deep into the “Parish Chest Records”. From these we can get down to the local level not only of our ancestors, but all their friends and family too.

 Over time I sorted through all the surviving Parish Chest records of many, many parishes in Staffordshire, in my quest for Thomas Hodgetts.

 I was finally rewarded when I found the Examination Certificate of an Ann Hodgetts, when she applied for assistance, on 13 January 1790, to the Vestry of Wednesbury, Staffordshire.

 This parish meeting was made up of the Vicar, Parish Clerk, and Overseer of the Poor. Church Wardens might also attend. Their job was to administer the parish funds. They had the reputation of being very careful with parish funds, especially in difficult times as was the case in Wednesbury in the latter part of the 18th Century. Only those who had a very good case would get the needed assistance.

 In her examination, which was given under oath, Ann Hodgetts stated, among other things, that she had married Thomas Hodgetts some years before and she had three children, who were desperately in need of assistance. She gave their names and ages. She also stated that her husband had been ‘transported’ and she had no one to turn to for assistance.

She finally stated that she had not at any time applied to any other parish for assistance. This would suggest she did not approach St Mary’s, Whitechapel, London, for help as some have claimed.

 Having transcribed this document and gleaned several important clues, I could now move forward on my research into the origins of our Thomas Hodgetts.

 Meanwhile, on the very day that Ann Hodgetts had been examined at Wednesbury, Staffordshire, some 170 miles to the south, in Portsmouth on the coast of Hampshire, others waited. Several ships were anchored in the harbour waiting for the wretched winter gales to abate so they might sail.

These included the Justinian, Guardian, Surprise, Scarborough and Neptune. These five ships were to make up the Second Fleet bound for New South Wales.

 On board the Scarborough was our Thomas Hodgetts, who had lost his appeal not to be transported and to serve out his sentence in England.

 On board the Neptune was our Harriet, a free woman, who arrived on the shores of New South Wales several months later claiming to be the wife of “Thomas Hodgetts”. She certainly wasn’t Ann Hodgetts who had changed her name and was sailing towards a better life. Who was she, and how did she get a ‘free passage’ on the Neptune?

 On the 19th January 1790 the weather improved and the Fleet set sail for New South Wales.

 In recent blogs I have stated that I have begun to put together our Hodgetts family history.

Most family historians know that a family history is more than a list of names and dates. You need the story around these names, dates and events. However, it does not mean that you should fabricate a wonderful fictional story with no basis of historical and contextual truth just because you want your ancestors to be so. Nor should you thoughtlessly manipulate names and dates to fit this fictitious story.

 There are many, many published books and articles that suggest how to go about putting together an interesting family history based on facts and evidence. There are also on-line writing courses on that very subject. Just Google it. You will be surprised how much there is. You need to find that book or course that fits what you want to do.

 I have written and published many books on history and family history, but each one is different, and I try to approach each project with new eyes. At the same time there are basic things I need to think about when I start to write.

Time, place, circumstances, law, custom, mood, suspense, pace and ‘voice’ are some of the things I need to keep in mind. Indeed there is much to think about as I begin to put my words down on paper.

I know I will not find it an easy project, and there will be much frustration and editing, but I can but try.

Taking the above mentioned document of Ann Hodgett’s Settlement Examination, this is one way I might use it in the family story.

 Ann Hodgetts, the wife of Thomas Hodgetts, in desperate need, applied to the Wednesbury Parish for assistance for herself and her children on 13 January 1790. (Referenced Footnote)

Or perhaps this way.

Ann sat huddled in the icy tomb. She clutched her thin brown shawl around herself and stared down into the darkness, where her much-mended shoes should be. She couldn’t see them, nor could she feel her feet. Her shoes were wet with melted snow, and her feet had literally frozen into them. She was completely numb with cold and hunger.

 She had prayed long and fervently for many months, that this hour would not come.

Firstly to Mary, the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Mother to all mothers. In the beginning in the long warm days of summer Ann’s prayers had been answered, and she believed that she had been delivered from this terrible fate. In those days Ann had hope.

 However, as the barmy days gave way to chilling winds and long dark nights, it seemed the saintly Mother no longer listened to her supplications. When Ann knew Mary had deserted her, she then prayed even longer and harder to St Bartholomew, the patron Saint of this very church, and then to all the heavenly host, but to no avail. By now, Ann’s hope had faded away.

 Would she and her children now be sentenced to a terrible death, through no fault of their own?

 Suddenly the heavy door of the church creaked loudly, and a draught of chilling winds entered the inky darkness. A single candle spluttered into life and a shadowy figure glided down the nave to light the altar candles, one by one.

 Soon other shadowy figures entered and set up a trestle and chairs three parts of the way up the nave, below the pulpit, and in front of the choir stalls. This was some distance from where Ann sat, towards the rear of the church, in what had been in better days, the family pew.

Interior of St Bartholomew’s Church, Wednesbury prior to the alterations of 1827.(from: A History of Wednesbury, in the County of Stafford’ by JN Bagnall Published 1854, by William Parke, Wolverhampton.) Retrieved From <http://dp.genuki.uk/big/eng/STS/Wednesbury/StBartholomew/picture2> on 25 May 2017

The door opened a third time and in strode several portly figures, some with chains of office hanging from their necks, to be seated at the table. To sit in judgement for, and with God himself. For a full minute a foreboding stillness settled on the ancient stone church.

 Then one of the figures of judgement rose and bellowed into the darkness. “This Vestry is now in session. All ye seeking benefit, come forth!”

 Ann rose slowly and shuffled forward. Thus began the Settlement Examination of Ann Hodgetts. (Referenced footnote)

Or somewhere in between. I would value comments from Hodgett descendants, as I know there are a lot of you out there.