19 thoughts on “tasemail2-1fswhjn

  1. Dear Sue Wyatt,
    As I have just discovered you are the gr gr granddaughter of William Smith of Samoa. I am currently chasing my daughter’s family history and have also discovered William Henry Smith of Samoa is Sarah McMahon’s gr gr gr grandfather and I am wondering if you have found anything more about his parents.

  2. William Henry Smith
    1840 – 1913

    Birth: Mar 25 1840

    Navigator’s Island, Samoa

    Occupation: Ships Captain

    Hobart Town

    Death: Oct 27 1913
    Burial: William and his Sarah Ann and baby Robert, are all buried here together, but unfortunately there isn’t a headstone nor marker just a grassy patch. Section L row 7 Church Of England.

    Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart

    Marriage: Marriage to: Sarah Ann Smith (born Tedman)
    Sep 30 1874

    Burnett Street in Hobart Town.

    I also have a picture of William and his wife

  3. Hello Suzanne

    I am working on Ralston stories. In his journal, Newspaper Clippings (entries c.1876-1898), John Ralston (1850-1908) of Hampden also documents people who offered or carried out work for him, what the work involved, costs, dates, etc, among which stripping and barking on Marathon and Logan (near Evandale, Tasmania).

    On Marathon, strippers and barkers include: c,1890 Charlie Davey, Adam Davey 1891-2, Ben Cutler 1894, Ben and Sam Marshman 1894, Charlie 1897, Colgrave 1897, and others. The bark was bagged and weighed, and taken to Launceston, presumably destined for a tannery but John doesn’t actually say. As this was a seasonal operation, contractors were used. Any of these men in the family you researched?

    Anntoinette Ralston

  4. Hi Sue
    I have done two online courses through utas Writing and Intro I also plan to do more. Sue I love your blog and tips. I’m not sure if this is the the right place to ask Sue , my files are in a mess. I use Family tree maker and binders . It is my binders that are the main problem how do you keep your paper ffiles on families ?Thanks Cheryl Smith

    • Hi Cheryl,
      I am also taking part in a genealogy do-over and the first month was about sorting stuff out. I wrote a post on it here http://suewyatt.edublogs.org/2016/01/02/january-do-over/ but I am now putting together folders for each married couple which includes things about their children. Once the child marries they then have their own folder but I haven’t got that far yet. I am concentrating more on the direct line as I am starting to use a new software program and putting data in there only when I have sources that are credible and have verified the data. Forty years of sorting is taking a long time.

      • Thanks Sue
        Great idea re folders for married couples. I really need too do this to help my research . Love your blog
        Cheers Cheryl

  5. Dear Sue,
    I am researching the history of the Marie Laure and would love to know if you have any other documents pertaining to Captain Smith’s time on board? Do you also know if it is true that he could neither read nor write? I have documents I’d be happy to share,
    Best
    Denise Lombardo

    • Hi Denise,
      I think I have a couple of crew lists for the ship while he was on board. Not sure about the read and write but looks like a signature on his application for master mariner certificate that is different to earlier signatures.

      • Thanks Sue! I ask because I have read a couple of articles that claim Captain Smith could not read or write – but had developed navigational skills that confounded orthodox mariners! – If you haven’t seen it before check out the article of Australian Historical Society _ Journal and Proceedings (vol xxxix) – available online at google.com. Smith must have looked after the Marie Laure well. She was built in Seychelles in 1840 (that’s where my interest comes in) and ended up serving as a hulk ship on the Yarra river until the late 1940s, making her Australia’s oldest serving vessel. Not enough room here, but I’ll send you other links of interest that I have regarding Captain Smith and photos of the hulk of the Marie Laure.
        Denise

  6. Hi Sue
    We are doing research on whaling ships that came to Norfolk Island and have found in a local diary that William came on shore 29/9/1884 and was entertained with singing and music. I was wondering if his daughter was also there? Any other informantion on his trips to Norfolk Island would be great as he sounds like a fascinating person.
    Don and Sue Brian

  7. Hi Sue, I have come across your post while researching my own family tree and they have been very helpful and informative. Thank you for posting and sharing your information. Domingo and Rosetta Evorall are my great great great grandparents.

    Were you the one who cleaned up the graves in cockle creek? If so thank you very much for doing so. If possible could you give me some more information about the location of the gravesite? I would love to visit it. I too spent years camping at cockle creek as a child without realising I had relatives buried so nearby, but I don’t believe I ever happened across a gravesite. I would love to be able to visit and pay my respects. I am planning on tracking down the graves of as many of my relatives as possible so I can visit them.

    Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and journey.

  8. Hi Sue, I am a Smith by birth. My Dad was the second youngest child of Robert and Irene – James Henry (commonly called Tony or Jim). I remember your Grandmother and visiting Auntie Rene and Uncle Mike as a young child. I, and my two siblings, walked from Patrick Street to her house, in West Hobart, a few times and also visited occasionally with my father. My family, being from the ‘younger’ Smiths, grew up mainly with Merve, Max, Ruby & to a lesser extent Bomber.
    We did visit Maddie and she would call in whenever she came to Hobart. I was especially fond of Uncle Bill (William Henry) who lived at Oyster Cove and spent lots of School/Christmas holidays at the farm. Unfortunately the younger Smiths were not great at keeping records/photos but I know Maddie had a great collection and would show me old photos when I visited. I don’t know who has them now, probably her girls. I enjoyed seeing my family through your research, so thank you. It would be great to know more of William’s heritage. If you have any further information about his Samoan family I would be very interested to know.
    Kind regards
    Leanne

    • Hi Leanne,
      Great to hear from another reader of my blog. If you want to find out what I have researched about William Henry Smith, then check the categories or tags at the side of the blog. Clicking on Captain William Smith will take you to all posts mentioning him. I also got some information from Glenn Smith, son of the youngest Smith Maxwell. I had done a lot of research on the Smith side of the family but after DNA testing of myself and my father, we have found we are not related at all. We are related through Irene but not Robert. Apparently my grandmother Rene was actually the child of another man but I doubt that was known at the time.

      Maddie’s daughter Ruby was also DNA tested and had Polynesian ethnicity so she is definitely from Robert and Irene. She has many DNA matches with Samoan names.

  9. Hello Sue can you please email me to discuss a possible family connection? I’m trying to find out information on my ancestry and I’m led to Captain William Smith and the maid of Erin. I have family who live in Strahan as well and my grandmother‘s name is Hazel Simms (Nee Crane)
    Thanks! Nicole

  10. Hi again Sue.
    I lost you after a computer meltdown.
    Just re-reading your post about Dawsons & Disaster. I’m not sure I told you about the North-east connection re your question
    “how does the Dawson family feature in a post about a disaster? My post from last week was about my great great grandfather Thomas Somers, a miner in the North East of Tasmania; the Dawsons were miners on the West coast of Tasmania.”

    The west coast Dawson miners came from Gladstone, N-E Tasmania. My ggGrandfather, Alexander who married Hannah Sutton, was born c1860 in Gladstone of convict parents William Dawson (per Maria Somares) and Catherine McKay (per Cadet). Alexanders son, Alexander b1884 at Gladstone is the connection you’re looking for.

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