Week 22 - So Far Away - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

The prompt for Week 22 is "So Far Away", and it makes me think of how brave some of my ancestors were to leave their homes and move to the other side of the world to Australia.  The were so far away from everything familiar - family and friends, the locale and society they were used to.  Everything would be strange to them - the weather, the landscape, the plants and animals, in some cases even the language would be different.  Who would find it most difficult - those how came alone, or those who came with a family group?  Each would face different challenges.  Those who came out to Australia alone faced extra loneliness and isolation, while those who came with family had the additional responsibility of dependents to look after.  How brave - or how desperate - must parents have been to pack up their children and head off into the unknown?

I have had several ancestors make the decision to emigrate to Australia.  Several came from England, the most recent being my father's parents who arrived in Victoria in 1907 on the ship 'Essex'.  Ancestors on my mother's side arrived in Australia earlier, and came from England, Ireland and Germany.

One ancestor, Alexander Davis, emigrated from England with his wife Margaret and their 5 children.  Alexander and Margaret (nee Farmer) had married in 1843 and ten years later they chose to make the journey to the colony.  Tragically, Margaret died at sea during the voyage giving birth to twins.  Neither twin survived, and Alexander found himself in the colony of Victoria, sole parent to five children, all under 10 years old.  Home and family must have seemed very far away indeed, but Alexander and his children built new lives for themselves and thrived in Victoria.

Another ancestor Friedrich Beseler was born in Germany in 1810, and married Susetta Farkins on July 17th 1838.  They and their 5 children emigrated to South Australia in 1848 on the ship Pauline, spending a few years near Adelaide before traveling overland to Ercildown in Victoria.  Friedrich, known as Frederick in Australia, was a shoemaker by profession, but the family settled on the land and farmed.  Friedrich died December 11th 1862, just 2 years after his wife Susetta, who died September 29th 1860.  Their eldest son Edward (born 1837 in Germany) married Emma Flower in Victoria in 1865, and they raised 9 children before Edward died December 7th 1918 in Ararat.  For this family the decision to settle in Australia would not only mean traveling to the other side of the world but also learning a new language as well as a new way of life.

'So far away' indeed.