My answer
I would head to Enfield in London in the early 1850’s to chat with my great great grandfather William Chandler. I would ask him about his parents and where they lived, any siblings he had and why he decided to become a gardener.
I would also ask him whether he already knew his future wife Caroline Bryant before he came to Van Diemen’s Land in 1855.
Readers: Where and when would you go?
On WikiTree this week, the challenge is from the London Westminster and Middlesex Family History Society. I replied that I would try to help with their research but I also commented that I had a brickwall from Enfield area which is a place covered by the society. A reply from Elizabeth asked could they help me. So this post is about what I know about my great great grandfather.
William Chandler arrived in Hobart Town, Tasmania on 15 February 1855 on board the ship Fortitude. It had sailed from Plymouth on 1 November 1854. According to the arrival record he was aged 22. He was one of 147 immigrants under the bounty system and his passage was certified by John Leake, a large property owner in the midlands of Tasmania. William’s single ticket was number 227. James Axton, ticket number 230, also went to John Leake as a gardener the same as William. He was also from Middlesex, was 23, could read and write and was Church of England like William. Book 5, pages 191-192
George Jobson, his wife and two sons from Yorkshire also went to John Leake’s property as a coachman and general servant. The family were also Church of England.
Caroline Bryant was a worker at Rosedale with Leake family at same time as William Chandler. She took over as housemaid from Susan Green in April 1857. page 216
Had William known Caroline back in London and asked John Leake if he could organize for her to come out as an immigrant? Or did they first meet at Rosedale?
In 1859, William married Caroline Bryant who had arrived with her mother Charlotte on 19 January 1856. They came from London to Sydney on the ship La Hogue then by steamer to Tasmania. The person who applied for them to come out was R.W. Nutt, an important solicitor in Hobart Town at the time. Book 34, pages 203-204
On the marriage certificate for William and Caroline, he was 24 and she was 22. One of the witnesses was R. G Winter who was Caroline’s brother in law and married to Esther Julia Bryant back in London. Esther’s mother Charlotte had applied for her daughter, son in law and his parents to come out to Tasmania. They left London on 7 October 1856, arrived Hobart Town on 29 December 1856 on the ship Woodcote. Pages 18-21
The other witness at the marriage was Emma Minns who arrived also on the Woodcote with her parents and sister.
By the time of his marriage, William was a gardener at Government House and was sometimes mentioned in the diaries of Lady Gore Browne, wife of the governor.
Children of William and Caroline. Might be helpful to find parents and siblings of William if naming pattern followed.
What have I found prior to his arrival in Hobart Town?
1. I have found a William Chandler from Enfield, Middlesex aged 16, unmarried and a gardener lodging with the family of John and Jane Frayne living at Railway Gate House in the district of Edmonton in 1851 English census. The family is still there in the 1861 census but William is not there anymore.
Class: HO107; Piece: 1703; Folio: 221; Page: 18; GSU roll: 193611
2. There is a possible baptism on 10 Jan. 1835 at St Leonard’s, Shoreditch, Hackney, England
Father John Chandler and mother Mary Chandler nee Youngman??
3. There is a possible baptism on 4 Aug. 1833 at St Andrew, Enfield, Enfield, England
Father Daniel Chandler and mother Mary Chandler nee Chivers??
4. From 1841 census with parents Daniel (a carpenter) and Mary Class: HO107; Piece: 653; Book: 2; Civil Parish: Enfield; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 3; Folio: 25; Page: 7; Line: 22; GSU roll: 438772
Hope this information and the links included can help Elizabeth find some more information about William Chandler my great great grandfather.
UPDATE: I was listening to a talk about gardeners in Tasmania and William was mentioned. The speaker Ann Cripps has written a book including a chapter on the Chandler family. I found a library with a copy of the book and this information now takes me to Williams employment back in England.
For two years 1852-1854 William had been working for, and living with William Everett Esquire at Chase Side which was an estate in Enfield.
The first challenge for 52 ancestors in 2023 is
I’d like to meet
Now in a previous challenge, I wanted to meet Charlotte Bryant, but this year it is her son-in-law I would like to meet
William Chandler
The basics of what I know about William
He worked at a nursery at Enfield near London before coming to Australia with another family in the sailing ship Fortitude on 15 February 1855. They settled at Monavale in the midlands where he was an estate gardener. He was then employed as gardener at Government House but left to establish a garden south of Granton. After his marriage in 1859 he returned to Government House as Head Gardener then before retirement worked at the Grange Taroona. His son began Chandler’s nursery which still runs in Sandy Bay at the present time. (Mercury 23 July 1985)
I have written a few posts related to William
Readers: Which of your relatives would you like to meet and why?