1828 Census of New South Wales

Great news for those researching their early Australian family history.  The New South Wales State Archives have just announced they are in the process of digitising the 1828 Census of New South Wales, which will also be included in the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register.  Below is the statement put out by the Archives.

"We are thrilled that records of the 1828 Census of NSW which we hold as part of the State Archives Collection are to be inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register. This is wonderful national and international recognition of the State Archives Collection and our work in preserving and making accessible the State’s archives.

The 1828 Census was the first official census undertaken by NSW after it was found the Governor had no authority to compel free men to come to a muster – the previous means of counting the colony’s population.

The Census covers some 36,500 inhabitants, both convict and free, and captures a social and economic picture of the Colony of NSW in November 1828, 40 years after the Colony’s establishment. It covers all settlements within the jurisdiction of the then colony of NSW including Moreton Bay and Norfolk Island.

It records such detailed information for each person (including children) as name, age, if free or convict, if born in the colony or ship and year of arrival, sentence if arrived as a convict, religion, employment, residence, district, total number of acres, acres cleared, acres cultivated, horses, horned cattle, sheep, and remarks.

The records to be inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register include:

• Alphabetical Return, 1828 (NRS 1272)
• Householders’ Returns (NRS 1273)
• District Abstracts (NRS 1274)
• Working Papers (NRS 1275)
• Colonial Secretary’s Special Bundles: 1828 Census (NRS 906)

We are in the process of digitising this material which will be made available on our website in the coming weeks.

We will also be announcing some exciting plans for the 1828 Census that will allow more people than ever before to view the documents – stay tuned!"

Like many others, I'll be keeping an eye on the Archives website and looking forward to delving into the records as they become available.

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to RB Digital eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue

• Census tips
  We reveal how you can track down your family in every census
• Transcription Tuesday
  WDYTYA? Magazine needs you! Find out how you can support our annual family history volunteer event
• Understanding your DNA results
  DNA ethnicity tests are transforming family history - but can you trust their findings?
• Sent with love
  The surprising origins of Valentine's Day cards
• Reader story
  The mystery behind a photograph of a Second World War airman
• Plus...
  How to find criminal ancestors; technical tips on scanning family photographs; tithe maps explained; and much more...

London Lives

London Lives is a website which makes available, in a fully digitised and searchable form, a wide range of primary sources about eighteenth-century London, with a particular focus on plebeian Londoners. This resource includes over 240,000 manuscript and printed pages from eight London archives and is supplemented by fifteen datasets created by other projects and provides access to historical records containing over 3.35 million name instances.

The lives of plebeian Londoners most often intersected with institutional records when they were caught up in the criminal justice system, or sought poor relief or medical treatment. The choice of sources was designed to capture this pattern of interaction, but the website also seeks to include comprehensive archival collections.

For criminal justice, the site includes the already digitised Old Bailey Proceedings, the largest printed source detailing the lives of non-elite people ever produced. This is supplemented with the most descriptive related records about serious crime available, including all surviving examples of the:

• Ordinary's Accounts (OA): biographies of executed criminals written by the chaplain of Newgate Prison.
• Sessions Papers (PS): manuscript documents which provide additional evidence about the crimes tried at the Old Bailey and other courts, as well as documents concerning poor relief.
• Criminal Registers (CR): lists of prisoners held in Newgate Prison.
• Coroners's Inquests (IC): documents relating to deaths thought to be suspicious, but which did not result in a formal prosecution.

Official responsibility for poor relief lay with London's parishes, of which there were more than one hundred, many of which have left very rich archives. The records of three parishes have been comprehensively digitised for this project:

• St Botolph Aldgate (straddling the eastern boundary between the City of London and Middlesex)
• St Clement Danes (Westminster)
• St Dionis Backchurch (City of London)

These parishes were chosen for the quality of their records, and the extent to which they exemplify different parts of London. Each of the selected parishes had a distinctive social and occupational composition. These are supplemented with the records of three parishes with externally created datasets of settlement and workhouse records from two further parishes:

• St Martin in the Fields (Westminster)
• St Luke Chelsea (just to the west of the built up area of London)

Charity for the poor also came from the guilds and associational charities. Included are the records of one London guild, the Carpenters' Company. This was one of the less prestigious companies and included a number of plebeian members. It also distributed considerable charitable funds to its members. Also included are partial transcriptions of the registers of the Marine Society, a charity which provided training at sea for poor boys.

Medical care for the poor was provided in parochial workhouses, reflected in the parish records, and hospitals. The database contains the records of one of the royal hospitals, St Thomas's Hospital, including its detailed admissions and discharge registers.

So take a look through London Lives and see what it can tell you about the lives of your ancestors.  Even if there are few (or no) specific records for your family, they provide an invaluable insight into the social conditions and attitudes of the time.

The Old Bailey Online

The Old Bailey, also known as Justice Hall, the Sessions House, and the Central Criminal Court, was named after the street in which it was located, just off Newgate Street and next to Newgate Prison, in the western part of the City of London. Over the centuries the building has been periodically remodelled and rebuilt in ways which both reflected and influenced the changing ways trials were carried out and reported.

As the central criminal court for the City of London and the County of Middlesex, the Old Bailey was where all trials took place for serious crimes occurring in the London area north of the Thames. This includes all trials for felony (crimes which were, or had been at one time, punishable by death), and some of the most serious misdemeanours.

The general categories of crime type used in this project are modern ones, and were created in order to facilitate statistical analysis. Nonetheless, the specific categories follow, as much as possible, the precise descriptions of offences used in the original Proceedings, which in turn tend to repeat the language of the actual indictment on which the defendant was tried.

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Online cover the period 1674-1913 and is a fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

The Mystery of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae

One of my favourite (and most frustrating) family mysteries is that of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae.  Both were born in Ireland and emigrated to Australia, settling in the area around Bright, Victoria.

David Mulholland was born in Ireland sometime around 1830 and emigrated to Australia around 1860.  These details are only approximate, taken from the details in his death notice and cemetery headstone.  He married Eliza Jane McCrae, although no marriage record for the two has been found, either in Australia or Ireland.  For many of their children details are sketchy – most were never registered at birth, some died registered under their mother’s name, others under their father’s name.  For some the only details come from their cemetery records, as no other records seem to exist.

The death notice for David Mulholland reads “Mulholland.  On the 10^th April, at his late residence, Eurobin, David Mulholland aged 71 years, after a short illness.  Father of E.M., D.M., M.M., J.M., P.M., J.M., H.M.  Interred in Bright Cemetery Saturday 12^th inst.  Beloved by all who knew him.  A colonist of 42 years.”  This death notice was published in the Argus 15^th April 1902, the Australian 19 April 1902 and the Leader 19 April 1902.

The initials refer only to his surviving children – Ellen (Stoddart), David, Mary (Pape), Jane, Pricilla (Cark), James and Henry.  His wife Eliza is not mentioned, although she still lives.  All these children are also mentioned in David’s will, with the married names of daughters Ellen, Mary and Pricilla also included in the document.

David was buried in Bright Cemetery, 1F, Presbyterian, plot 35.  In the same or neighbouring plots are the following :

• Mulholland, Elizabeth Jane 85 years  Died 30/10/1925  Daughter of James McCrae and Mary
• Mulholland, Henry 4 years 8 months Died 29/1/1872 Son of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae
• Mulholland, Margaret 10 years Died 5/9/1885 Daughter of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae
• Mulholland, Margaret Jane 6 years Died 2/2/1872 Daughter of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae
• Mulholland, Samuel Thomas 4 months Died 29/4/1879 Son of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae
• Mulholland, Thomas 14 months Died 15/2/1872 Son of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae
• Mulholland, Thomas 10 days Died 26/1/1887 Son of David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae

From the details that I have, I can conclude David Mulholland and Eliza Jane (or Elizabeth) McCrae had the following children :

1. Ellen born 1862.  No birth record.  Married James Stoddart 1886.  Died 1905 – on her death certificate father David Mulholland mother Ellen (unknown), no place of birth given.  Her initials are included in David’s death notice and she is included in his will.
2. David born 1863.  No birth record.  Died 1951 - on his death certificate father David Mulholland mother Elizabeth Jane (McCrae), born in Eurobin.  His initials are included in David’s death notice and he is included in his will.
3. Margaret Jane born 1865.  No birth record.  Died 1872 - death record is under the surname McCrae, mother Eliza Jane McCrae, father unknown.  Buried in Bright Cemetery under the surname Mulholland.
4. Henry born 1867.  No birth or death record.  Died 1872 - buried in Bright Cemetery under the surname Mulholland.
5.  Mary born 1869.  No birth record.  Married John Pape.  Died in 1950 - on her death certificate father David Mulholland mother Eliza Jane (unknown), born in Eurobin.  Her initials are included in David’s death notice and she is included in his will.
6. Thomas born 1870.  No birth record.  Died in 1872 - death record is under the surname McCrae, mother Eliza Jane McCrae, father unknown.  Buried in Bright Cemetery under the surname Mulholland.
7. Jane born 1872.  No birth record.  Never married.  Died in 1948 - on her death certificate father David Mulholland mother Elizabeth (McCrae), born in Eurobin.  Her initials are included in David’s death notice and she is included in his will.
8. Margaret born 1874.  No birth record.  Died in 1885 - on her death certificate father David Mulholland mother Eliza Jane (McCrae), born in Eurobin.  Buried in Bright Cemetery under the surname Mulholland.
9. Pricilla born 1877.  No birth record.  Married James Clark.  Died 1976 - on her death certificate father David Mulholland mother Eliza Jane (McCrae), born in Eurobin.  Her initials are included in David’s death notice and she is included in his will.
10. Samuel Thomas born 1879.  No birth or death record.  Buried in Bright Cemetery under the surname Mulholland.
11. James born 1879.  Registered in 1880 (he was born 30 December 1879) born in Eurobin.  Died in 1970 - on his death certificate father David Mulholland mother Eliza Jane (McCrae), born in Eurobin.  His initials are included in David’s death notice and he is included in his will.
12. Henry born 1883.  Registered in 1883, born in Eurobin.  Died in 1966 - on his death certificate father David Mulholland mother Eliza Jane (McCrae), born in Eurobin.  His initials are included in David’s death notice and he is included in his will.
13. Thomas born 1887.  No birth or death record.  Died 1887 - buried in Bright Cemetery under the surname Mulholland.

I have also checked New South Wales records but found nothing.  I am descended from child no 9, Pricilla Veronica, who married James Nicholas Clark.  Anyone out there descended from David Mulholland and Eliza Jane McCrae, I’m interested in hearing from you and swapping information.

New Newspaper Titles Coming to Trove

I always get excited to hear about new resources about to become available on the free Trove site.  Below are some of the upcoming additions.

Newspaper titles are listed by state/territory and then alphabetically by title. These titles have been funded for digitisation by various contributors which are indicated in square brackets after the title name.

NSW

• Albury Banner (1881-1896); [Albury & District Historical Society; NSW State Government Regional Cultural Fund]
• Border Morning Mail (1938-1942); [Albury & District Historical Society; NSW State Government Regional Cultural Fund]
• Daily Express (Wagga Wagga: 1919-1929); [Wagga Wagga & District Historical
• Mosman, Neutral and Middle Harbour Resident (1904-1907); [Mosman Historical Society]

QLD

• Toowoomba Chronicle (Sept. 1917-Sept. 1922); [State Library of Queensland]
• Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette (Oct 1922-Dec 1933); [State Library of Queensland]

SA

• Messenger (1951-1954) [State Library of South Australia]
• Port Augusta & Stirling Illustrated News (Feb.-Aug. 1901) [State Library of South Australia]
• Portonian (1871-1873) [State Library of South Australia]

VIC

• Elmore Standard (1882-1905);[Bendigo Regional Genealogical Society]
• Great Southern Advocate (1907-1913; 1919-1926); [Korumburra & District Historical Society]
• Richmond Guardian (1907-1909;1915-1916) [Rhett Bartlett]

WA

• The Fremantle Advocate (Aug 1926 - Jan 1942); [Fremantle Library]

International

• A Voz de Timor (1965-1975) [Canberra Friends of Dili and the National Library of Australia]

Week 52 - Resolution - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Although at times I doubted it, I have managed to complete the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  Along the way I have revisited many areas of my research, taken closer looks at several ancestors, and reflected on the discoveries I have made. Now it is time to look at the final prompt, resolution.
For me, resolution is not just the end of the challenge but also looking to the future, to my plans for my research in the coming year.  And my resolutions are :

• to keep blogging, even if I can't think of much to say.  This blog helps to keep me focused on my research and all the marvelous developments in genealogy - the new resources and books available, the new records I can access.
• to keep researching, because family history is never something you can sit back and announce is 'done'.  There is always new paths to explore, newly available records to search, new relatives to share information with.  And we constantly make new history to pass down to the generations to come.
• to contact more of my DNA matches, something I did when I first tested but have not followed up as well as I should.  New DNA matches appear all the time as more people do DNA tests, and this is an area I need to pay more attention to.
• to celebrate the successes, both large and small.  Sometimes I focus too much on the brick wall in my research, the searches that revealed nothing, the records that have been lost, the DNA matches I have reached out to who have not replied.  I need to focus more on the positives - the new records I have found, new details gleaned, the various 'cousins' who have responded to my emails and shared information.

Finally, a huge thank you to Amy Johnson Crow, who created this challenge and issued the prompts throughout the year.  I've greatly enjoyed it and have found it extremely worthwhile.  Thanks Amy.