Chandler

Story 6 – Pride in Growth

Miss W. Chandler, Stories

What a difference ten years could make? Standing proudly at the horticultural fete, William remembered back to his youth in the old country. There he was in Enfield, a basic gardener learning the skills of weeding, pruning, growing seedlings and preparing the earth for growth of future plants and trees.

“First prize for a magnificent collection of pears goes to William Chandler.”

But by the early 1850s, he could see the demise of the market gardens where he worked and the build-up of residential housing. All because of the new railway making it so easy to get into London.

“First prize for a dish of Standwick nectarines goes to William Chandler.”

When he had the chance to come to Van Diemen’s Land in 1855, he took it very quickly. A chance for a new life in a new colony. No pollution, lots of new plants to study and maybe, just maybe, a chance for his own garden.

“William Chandler takes out three prizes for a dish of grapes.”

The past few years had seen a lot of changes in his life including marriage to his darling Caroline. They were so lucky to have her mother with them now that their family was growing.

“Second prize for collection of greenhouse plants goes to William Chandler.”

So here he was in Autumn of 1868, standing with his fellow Hobartian gardeners winning awards for those fruits and vegetables he had been growing with his own hands. Maybe not his own garden yet; that was going to be his future.

“Silver medal for collection of vegetables goes to William Chandler, gardener to his Excellency.”

Source:

1868 ‘AUTUMN, HORTICULTURAL FETE.’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 1 April, p. 2. , viewed 24 Jan 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8851383

Letter V challenge

Miss W. Bryant, Chandler

This week has brought to mind that one word that is so important in genealogical research. It has come about because of a DNA match with one of the other students in the UTAS cohort. We are trying to find the link or most common recent ancestor in our trees.

Verification

For many years I have always believed that Caroline Bryant, who married William Chandler in 1859 at St Georges church in Hobart, was the daughter of Benjamin Bryant and Charlotte Bryant (nee Bull). But how was this verified? I had used information from a relative but did they actually have proof.

This is what I know from documents:

  1. Caroline Bryant aged 17 arrived in Hobart Town via Sydney on the steamer La Hogue then the ship Tasmania in January 1856.
  2. Charlotte Bryant (presuming this is mother) aged 51 and a widow arrived on same boats.
  3. R.W. Nutt was the sponsor of their immigration to Tasmania.
  4. On birth certificates of William Charles Chandler in 1863, Robert Henry in 1865,  the informant is Charlotte Bryant, grandmother and living at Government Gardens.
  5. On birth certificate of Mary Ann Eliza in 1867, Caroline Louisa in 1870, Ada Ethel in 1878, the address of informant is Government House.
  6. On birth certificate of Sarah in 1872, George Edward in 1874, the address of informant is Glenorchy.
  7. On birth certificate of Fanny Ethel in 1882, the address of informant is “The Grange”.
  8. On birth certificate of unknown female in 1860, the address of informant is J Winter friend Battery Point. This child was later named Julia Charlotte and is my great grandmother.
  9. On 1859 marriage certificate, J Winter is a witness.

But as you can see, there is no Benjamin among Caroline’s children. This has worried me as naming patterns were often used in the mid 1800s. So where to next?

  • I am currently trying to find records from Government House about employment records in the 1850s. Perhaps there will be more information about Charlotte and Caroline there especially as they were the only two bounty immigrants on those ships.
  • I have researched RW Nutt and he was a pre-eminent lawyer in Hobart during the early 1850s. Maybe the governor of the day asked him to write a letter to bring out Caroline and Charlotte especially. Did they have a friend or relative already working at Government House? As William Chandler worked there as a gardener, did he already know Caroline and her mother from back in England?
  • Are there any letters from the Governor of the day asking for Caroline and Charlotte to come out as bounty immigrants?
  • Check out the 1851 census in England for any Charlotte Bryant aged about 46 with a daughter Caroline aged about 12. Check out the names of Caroline’s siblings in the census results. What is name of father?
  • Check 1841 census for similar things as above.

 

20170123-130026.jpg
My great grandmother, Julia Charlotte Chandler born 1860

Readers: Do you have any other ideas of what I could do to verify back in the old country, who is Caroline’s father and when did Charlotte marry him?

Story 3 – A New Adventure

Miss W. Chandler, Stories ,

Is this going to be my life for the next few years? Living in a couple of rooms, walking to my job as a gardener in Enfield or do I want some adventure?

Reading the local London newspapers, I see advertisements for emigrants to Van Diemen’s Land. That is a new British colony thousands of miles across the seas on the other side of the world. This might be my chance to eventually develop my own business rather than work for someone else.

After visiting the bounty immigrant office mentioned on the advertisements, I have now been assigned to Mr John Leake who lives in the Midlands in VDL. The immigrant agent told me Mr Leake was very important in VDL; he was a member of the Legislative Council and had the ear of the governor.

Surely a person of this stature would have need of a gardener and if I worked extremely well, maybe he could give me good references for future gardening jobs.

Travelling on the ship Fortitude with about 140 other immigrants, I arrived in Hobart Town early in 1855. Disembarking quickly, six of us were met by a servant of John Leake. George Jobson, who arrived with his wife Harriet and two young sons, was a coachman while both James Axton and I were gardeners.

It took two days by horse and cart to travel on the well worn road from Hobart to Campbell Town, a total of 82 miles. What was this property we were going to work at like?

My new adventure was about to begin.

…………………………………………

This was my first story written in first person rather than third person. Two students commented mentioning the tense changed from past to present a couple of times. They also said I needed to get more of his feelings and thoughts rather than all the factual info. Maybe I am trying to include too much in a short story.

This is about my great great grandfather, William Chandler, who began the Chandler’s Nursery in Hobart. Read more about it here http://www.chandlersnursery.com.au/our-history.html

Readers: Where else could I improve this writing? As it is only going to be published on this blog, feel free to re-write whole paragraphs if you want.