Bryant

My dinner party

Miss W. Bryant, Chandler , , , ,

#52ancestors theme for week 4 is ‘Invite to dinner’  I knew exactly who was coming to my dinner party.

William Chandler and his wife Caroline Chandler nee Bryant and John England and his wife Rebecca England nee Jackson are my great great grandparents on my mother’s paternal line.

I have already written some posts about William and Caroline as well as others on John and Rebecca.

But the reason I want to ask them to dinner is I have a lot of questions to ask them. I have settled for three questions per person.

William:

  • Where exactly were you born and when?
  • Who are your parents?
  • Did you know Caroline and her family before you came to Tasmania in 1855?

Caroline

  • Who was your father and what was your mother’s maiden name?
  • What happened to Charles before you and your mother came out to Tasmania?
  • Did you know William back in England and did he ask for you to emigrate to Tasmania?

John

  • Do you think your life in Tasmania was an improvement over life in Yorkshire?
  • Who were your parents?
  • How did you get to know Rebecca once you were both in Tasmania?

Rebecca

  • I know your father was William but what was your mother’s full name?
  • How is Sarah (Jane) Steele related to you?
  • What relation was Ann Jackson to you?

This would be an interesting dinner party as William and Caroline were free arrivals to Tasmania while John and Rebecca came at their majesty’s request (convicts). I wonder if this would make any difference to the conversation.  William’s family were into gardening while John was an iron moulder. The Chandler family lived in Sandy Bay while the England family were around Molle St, Barrack St and Goulburn St in South Hobart.

William and Caroline’s daughter Julia married John and Rebecca’s son Henry in 1885. I wonder how the two met. Maybe a local church?

Who lived the longest?

Miss W. Bryant, Chandler , ,

Week 3 of the #52ancestors challenge is longevity. For this post I thought I would do a bit of a survey of my direct ancestors to see who lived a long life and then I would research one of those people.

When I look at that list, I am amazed that 12 out of 19 of my direct ancestors have reached the age of 70+ years at death. What was most fascinating though was that one set of my Great great grandparents lived  to their 80s just like my parents.

William CHANDLER grew up in London near Enfield where he worked as a gardener before arriving in Australia  on the sailing ship Fortitude on 15th February 1855. Little is known of his life prior to his arrival in Tasmania. According to the shipping record, he was age 22, single, Church of England and could read and write. He was born in Middlesex and was a gardener. His application to emigrate was from John Leake in Tasmania and it cost him  £22. [1]

The Leake family owned Rosedale (near Campbell Town) in the midlands area of Tasmania where it is assumed William was an estate gardener, along with James AXTON who also arrived on the same ship. I wrote a short fiction story based on their journey.

After his marriage to Caroline BRYANT in October 1859, he was employed at Government House as a gardener. He was often mentioned in newspaper articles in the Mercury winning many prizes in horticultural fetes. I wrote a short story based on one of these articles. The birth of many children often mentions Government House where Caroline’s mother also worked. By 1865, he is mentioned as an ‘old friend’ who has again won the silver medal at the horticultural fete. In 1868, he is mentioned as gardener to His Excellency who was Colonel Gore Browne. [2]

In March 1873, William and Caroline were involved in the inquest of their daughter Sarah aged 2. At this stage they were living at Hestercombe in the area of Granton or Austin’s Ferry. [3]

In October 1882, William prosecuted John Sullivan for stealing 9 fowls off William, but the judge gave him the benefit of the doubt as only a few feathers were shown as evidence.[4]

It seems that young George Chandler (born 1874) did not enjoy attending school (or preferred helping with the gardening), as his father William was summoned in 1887 for a breach of the Schools Act in allowing George to truant. He was fined 5 shillings. [5]

In 1894, at the marriage of his third daughter Caroline, the family was living at Brown’s River Road. [6]

By the time of William and Caroline’s golden wedding anniversary in 1909, they were living in Grosvenor Street, Sandy Bay just around the corner from what is still Chandler’s Nursery.[7]

William lived at 6 Grosvenor Street, Sandy Bay at his death, and is buried at Cornelian Bay Cemetery with his wife.

To read about the Chandler family and the nursery they established, check out this newspaper account. From my research Mona Vale was built in 1867 so probably not the estate where William worked in the midlands.

Sources:

[1] Tasmanian Archives and Heritage  Office (TAHO),  CB7/12/1/3 Bk 5 pp 191-192

[2] 1868 ‘GARDENERS’ AND AMATEURS’ HORTICULTURAL AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.’, The Tasmanian Times (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1867 – 1870), 1 April, p. 3. , viewed 16 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232859188

[3] 1873 ‘THE MERCURY.’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 5 March, p. 2. , viewed 16 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8925438

[4] 1882 ‘THE MERCURY.’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 27 October, p. 2. , viewed 16 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9028363

[5] 1887 ‘THE MERCURY.’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 17 June, p. 2. , viewed 16 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9135155

[6] 1894 ‘Family Notices’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 17 November, p. 4. , viewed 16 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9339512

[7] 1909 ‘Family Notices’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 22 October, p. 1. , viewed 16 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9997539

 

Bryant family

Miss W. Bryant, General info

Been doing more research on the BRYANT family.

Caroline Bryant was my great great grandmother who married William Chandler my great great grandfather. What do I know about this family so far? Check out this post I have already written back in January this year.

But what new information have I found out?

I now know about J. Winter, the witness on the 1859 marriage certificate of Caroline and William.

J Winter is Caroline’s sister Julia.

London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Pancras Parish Church, Register of marriages, P90/PAN1, Item 104

Camden, Parish Chapel, St Pancras , 1852

When did Robert and Julia arrive in Tasmania?

They were sponsored out by Charlotte Bryant and arrived on the ship Woodcote in 1856 along with Robert’s parents.

 

Tasmania, Australia, Immigrant Lists, 1841-1884

Alphabetical List of Immigrants with Details , 02 Dec 1856 – 18 Aug 1858

Noticed a few other bits of information reading these two documents.
1. Henry Bryant, Caroline’s father, is a surgeon according to Julia’s marriage certificate. So some time between 1852 (marriage certificate) and 1856 when Charlotte arrives in Tasmania, Henry must have died as she is a widow on her documents.
2. Robert George Winter was a piano forte maker on marriage but a cabinet maker when arriving in Tasmania.
3. Caroline was witness at her sister’s wedding – I now have her signature to compare with other documents.

What to follow up on next?
Might look at Henry. When were Charlotte and Henry married? Where and when did Henry die?