Letter W challenge

As many of you know, my father’s side of the tree is holding me back. I am trying to find proof using DNA matches but it is hard to do unless they are a first or second cousin. As I don’t know surnames going back more generations, it is very tricky to prove.

What’s in a name?

My paternal grandfather is either William Alan WYATT or Alan William WYATT. Born between 1900 and 1905 in either England or Sydney or Georges Bay, Tasmania. I have no sources to prove the actual birth. It is believed he married 3 times; twice in Tasmania and again in NSW where we think he died.

My paternal great grandmother on my grandmother’s side is registered at birth as Nellie SOMERS in 1889. I have also found other siblings being born with the surname SOMERS but no father mentioned on the registrations. Using FamilySearch I have found baptisms where the surname is now CLARK(E).

1889 – Nellie Somers – daughter of Thomas Somers and Alice O’Keefe – Georges Bay

1893 – Kate Clarke – daughter of West Clarke and Alice Somers formerly O’Keefe – Gould’s Country

1895 – William Henry – son of Alice Somers – Lottah – no father mentioned on birth reg.

1897 – Jessie May – daughter of Alice Somers – no father mentioned on birth reg. – baptised Clark in St Helens

1898 – Joseph Edward – son of Alice Somers – Lottah – no father mentioned on birth reg. – baptised Clark in St Helens

1899 – Charles Archibald – son of Alice Somers – Campbell Town – no father mentioned on birth reg.

Someone on FamilySearch says Alice O’Keefe married Thomas Somers in 1882 and had 4 children before she then married Wes. Clark and had six more children. I still don’t have proof of marriages as they are not mentioned on the Tasmanian Names Index. Looks like I need to visit the Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office to check out the baptisms in St Helens which is Georges Bay area.

ReadersPlease leave a comment about my post or something beginning with W that relates to your family history or your research.

letter W

11 thoughts on “Letter W challenge

  1. Well, well, well, the letter W. There are lots of William Walkers in my tree. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out which one I want.

  2. W is for Watson

    Phoebe Watson was my husband’s Great Grandmother. She was born in 1832 in Weardale in England and came to Australia with her first husband, George Emerson. Settling on the goldfields in Ballarat, they opened a grocery store. It was a volatile time and Phoebe was caught up in the aftermath of the Eureka Stockade. She heard noises outside her store and upon investigating she discovered the miners’ leader, Peter Lalor who had been shot in the arm. She bandaged his arm, hid him in the store and then went for help for him. She was truly a Woman of Eureka.

  3. I guess Sue the proverbial 5 ‘W’s come into account with your dilemmas. Who, When, What, Where and Why! Good luck with sorting these out.
    My ‘W’ is Wilkins family (paternal gggrandparents and family – including my g grandmother Elizabeth Wilkins) who came from Somerset in 1857. I know they were Ag. Labs., but can find out nothing else. After working out their 6 months on arrival they went back to working for others on the land in Brighton, Victoria.
    PS Like your Anti-spam words – they make sense!

  4. ‘Willing’ we have to be willing to go down the rabbit hole in search of our heritage.
    William Henry Wynne is my maternal grandfather who I am seeking more information on especially his Aboriginal wife and children somewhere in Bourke around the fifties.

  5. Hello! My name is Janson, a fellow science lover! When scrolling through the Spring Blogging Challenge’s Student List, your interest in genealogy certainly caught my eye. I find genetics to be a fascinating subject, and sometimes find myself looking at groups of people, noting their differences, and thinking about how genetics has made us all completely unique. I would now like to ask you the following questions: When did you come to harbor such an interest in genetics? How did this happen? I hope to receive an answer from you in the near future. have a wonderful day!
    Link to my blog (http://21isonjm.edublogs.org/)

    • G’day Janson,
      Thanks for visiting my blog and now I will answer your questions. I have had a keen interest in family history since high school here in Australia when we had to create a family tree as part of our social science curriculum. I enjoy going to archives and finding out if I had any convicts in my family (They are like royalty here in Australia). So far 8 convicts have been found.

      Then over the last couple of years I have been doing a Diploma of Family History online through the University of Tasmania. But it is only in these last few months I have been interested in the DNA side of researching, mainly as I said in the post, to try to find my father’s background. He should have had Samoan results in his DNA but he ended up as 45% Irish – I have no idea where this has come from, so am now doing a lot of comparisons with DNA matches through Ancestry.com and Gedmatch.com

  6. Wow, what a web of intrigue is caused by a woeful lack of documentation and worrisome wicked ways of the woebegone women of bygone eras. Welcome to the family – a woman has to do what a woman has to do to survive in this world.

    • Thanks for the great W comment, new relative of mine. Will be putting up William’s essay soon as I have now passed in the assignment.

  7. W is for War, WW1 and WW2 . So many of my family severed in both World Wars. There are so many stories to tell. I love the stories my mother told us of her life in the Wrens.

  8. W- Well, War is over and that completes my diploma.
    Who will be my next focus
    What to do now
    When will advanced diploma start
    Where to go next
    Why is so much held secret

  9. Hi Sue, you asked who was Alice, Mary and Emily Clark.
    Alice Summers née Clark no info found. Rumored to have been given to the Clark family in Hobart. Adopted????? Born Williamstown Victoria according to her children’s birth registrations.
    Emily Agnes Clark b 1891married Percival Peardon in Tas then Arthur Robertson in Victoria. Worked out year of birth by her children’s births.
    Mary Smith née Clark. Just wondering if this could have been Nellie. Can’t find a Mary.

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