Chandler

V for Van Diemen’s Land

Miss W. Boyd, Bryant, Chandler, Colgrave, convict, Davey, Dawson, Dixon, England, Hearn, Jackson, Pickering, Sutton, Virco, Watkins , , , ,

The state I live in is now called Tasmania but was once called Van Diemen’s Land.

The Palawa or Aboriginal Tasmanians were first on this island. When the rising sea level cut off the island from the mainland of Australia, the Palawa were isolated from contact with the aborigines on the mainland.

Their first knowledge of Europeans was when Abel Janzsoon Tasman landed in 1642 and planted a Dutch flag near what is now the town of Dunalley on what was then called Blackman Bay. There was no contact with the aborigines though.

It was at this time the island was named Anthoonij van Diemenslandt (Anthony Van Diemen’s land). This was in honour of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies.

During the early colonisation of Australia the name Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) was used and it was part of the colony of New South Wales. But in 1825, VDL became a colony in its own right. Then on 1 January 1856, it was renamed Tasmania.

The new name was to celebrate Tasman as the early explorer but also to get rid of the notorious convict past of VDL.

Tasmania 1644

How does VDL relate to my family?

Nearly all my ancestors first arrived when the colony was known as VDL.

Convicts:

  • Francis Colgrave – 1832 – ship Circassian
  • Isabella Watkins(on) – 1841 – Garland Grove
  • John Holliday Boyd – 1836 – Henry Porcher
  • Martha Virco nee Hearn – 1839 – Hindostan
  • John England – 1846 – Pestonjee Bomanjee
  • Rebecca Jackson – 1847 – Waverley
  • William Dawson – 1850 – Maria Somes (2)
  • Catherine McKay – 1848 – Cadet (3)
  • Mathew Sutton – 1840 – Mandarin
  • Mary McCrewney – 1848 – Kinnear (2)

Free settlers:

  • John Davey – 1854 – Wanderer
  • David and Mary Dixon nee Pickering – 1841 – Andromeda
  • William Chandler – 1855 – Fortitude
  • Caroline Bryant – 19 Jan 1856 – La Hogue – would have arrived during celebrations of new name Tasmania

S for Sandy Bay

Miss W. Chandler, England , , , , , ,

Sandy Bay is one of the oldest settled areas in Tasmania. But before the white men arrived the land was roamed over by the Muwinina people. There was lots of food and shelter found on the land and in the river which bounded part of their area. There were lots of fresh water creeks as well as beaches along the shores of the Derwent River.

The early European explorers were  Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, Nicolas Baudin and John Hayes. In 1808, just four years after the first settlement on the western shore of the Derwent River, many land grants were given to settlers who had been relocated from Norfolk Island. A lot of these settlers had been convicts and had earned their freedom on the island. Most grants were 20-100 acres and had frontage on the river. Easy for transporting goods from Hobart as the road was unpassable when wet and muddy.

In the 1840’s, some exiled Canadian political prisoners were set to road building from Hobart, through Sandy Bay and on to Brown’s River now called Kingston.

Some of the famous things found in Sandy Bay are:

  • Wrest Point Casino – first legal casino in Australia
  • Queenborough Cemetery – now built over by Hutchins School – their recent development has found more graves listed here
  • Long Beach – the end of the original tram line from Hobart – Sandy Bay Regatta held here each year
  • University of Tasmania – UTAS – including accommodation, oval, buildings for uni

Wrest Point Casino

How does Sandy Bay relate to my family?

My mother’s paternal lines are totally in Sandy Bay. Her paternal grandparents Henry Lewis England senior and Julia Charlotte Chandler both lived in the Sandy Bay area. The Chandler family still live in the area as they have had a garden nursery over the fence from where my mother lived with her parents in Grosvenor Street in Sandy Bay. Henry worked for the Queenborough Council in various roles.

Julia’s parents William Chandler and Caroline Bryant were living in the same house my mother lived in with her parents.

My mother told me lots of stories about her father taking her and her older sister down to Long Beach to go fishing. I think mum ate too many fish growing up as she wouldn’t cook it once she was married. Luckily dad liked cooking it. I have written other posts relating to mum and her family in Sandy Bay.

Family on regatta day, oral history from mum’s sister Margaret, Henry Lewis England Junior, biography of Julia Chandler

There is one video maker who has made a film about Sandy Bay in the 1800’s

Overlooked

Miss W. #52ancestors, Chandler, Davey, Dawson, Smith , ,
RitaE / Pixabay

This past weekend I took part in the WikiTree Connect-a-thon. Adding new profiles to the tree, I noticed there were many cases of infant or child mortality. In some families, 5 out of 10 children died before age three. Then when I searched newspapers for the death of parents, I found many of these infants were not mentioned as deceased children in the family.

These children had been overlooked by their siblings who wrote the death notice in the newspaper. Maybe they didn’t know they had more siblings who had died young. Some of these infants didn’t even get a formal name.

Looking in my direct family tree:

  • Mum had an older sister Iris who died aged 9, just a month after mum was born. She is remembered on the family gravestone and in photos I have inherited.
  • Dad was an only child but ended up having 7 half siblings who all survived to adulthood. But one was in a mental hospital from a young age and I can’t find his death.
  • My paternal grandfather William Elvis Allen had 2 siblings and three half siblings. His older sister Ethel Maud Allen only survived two years and I have not yet found any headstone for her.
  • My paternal grandmother Irene Smith had 14 siblings (DNA they are half maternal siblings) and another 3 siblings (DNA they are half paternal siblings). Only one of those half siblings died less than one year old.
  • My maternal grandfather Henry Lewis England had 3 sisters. The youngest Lucy died aged 20.
  • My maternal grandmother Hannah Davey had 11 siblings. Her younger sisters Elsie died aged 11 and Lila died aged 8. Both are remembered on the same headstone as their parents in Evandale, Tasmania. They were always mentioned in newspaper reports as well.

Hannah had 44 nieces and nephews and only one of them died young aged 14.

If I were to go further back in my tree and look at nieces and nephews of my direct ancestors, I know there are a lot more families with infants or children who have died young.

So to make sure these youngsters are not overlooked, I am making sure I write a profile for them in WikiTree. Here are some of them: