Evandale

Hannah Sutton

Miss W. Biography, Sutton , ,

Hannah Sutton was born on 9 July 1861 in Evandale, Tasmania to parents Matthew Sutton and Mary McCreery who were both convicts. Hannah’s father was a labourer and in 1853 also got his carrier licence. 

Children born to Matthew and Mary:

  • 1852 Thomas Henry
  • 1855 Sophia
  • 1861 Hannah
  • 1863 Matthew William
  • 1870 Clarence St Clair Cyril George

Matthew and his family moved to Lymington near the Nile where he was working as a groom. In 1880, Hannah’s father was charged with cruelty to a horse but the case was dismissed.

On 26 April 1882, she married Alexander Dawson, a miner, at his family home in Gladstone, Tasmania.

Children:

  • William John Alexander Dawson
  • Albert William Dawson
  • Alexander Dawson
  • Catherine Mary Dawson
  • Henry George Dawson
  • John McKay Dawson
  • Myrtle Amy (Dawson) Eaves
  • Olive Maud Dawson
  • George Byron Matthew Dawson
  • William Percy Dawson
  • Frederick Roy Dawson

In September 1889, Hannah’s father passed away from paralysis at the Launceston Invalid Depot.

Hannah and her family moved from Gladstone to Queenstown between 1898 and 1900.  The family were living at Conglomerate Creek where they had moved all their belongings from their house during a big fire. Unfortunately they lost all their belongings and a week or so later, their house was also destroyed. It was just after this that Hannah’s husband passed away in 1901. The people of Queenstown raised over 65 pounds to give to Hannah and her family.

With many young children to look after, Hannah remarried in 1905 to Michael John Carey and had one child with him.

  • Eileen Jessie Blanche Carey

Hannah passed away on 26 July 1938 at Queenstown, Tasmania. An obituary was written up in local papers.

U for Upper Blessington

Miss W. Boyd, Colgrave, Davey, Dixon , , , , , , ,

Upper Blessington is a rural locality about 50 kilometres east of Launceston, Tasmania. There is another locality called Blessington which is about 30 kilometres south east of Launceston and adjacent to Upper Blessington.

In the 2016 census, Upper Blessington had a population of 61 while Blessington had a few more at 93. The two towns are on Blessington Road C401.

Upper Blessington is at the junction to Ben Lomond Road which leads up to the ski resort on Ben Lomond.

Much of the land to the south and east of Blessington Road is now pine plantation rather than the open farmland it was when my ancestors first lived there.

The map below shows the area my family lived in and Upper Blessington is just off the top right corner of the map.

The numbers represent:

          1. Evandale
          2. Clarendon
          3. Nile
          4. Deddington
          5. English Town
          6. Blessington
          7. White Hills

Distance from Evandale to Blessington is approximately 25 kilometres.

My family and the Blessington area

The first two Colgrave generations (18 chn) were born in 5 of the 7 towns above. 1840-1890

The first two Davey generations (20 chn) were born in 5 of the 7 towns  1860-1914

The first Dixon family (5 chn) were born in 2 towns 1842-1850

The first Boyd family (9 chn) were born in 2 towns 1842-1861

No children born at Clarendon in the above numbers.

Evandale – 17, Nile – 4, Deddington – 9, English Town – 5, Blessington – 9 and White Hills area – 8

I drove my mother, her sister and a cousin to Evandale to have a look at the area. We had lunch in the local pub and my cousin called out, “Anyone here a Davey or Colgrave? If so we are your cousins from Hobart.”  We got a positive reply and ended up for afternoon tea and another drive around the area looking at places related to the families.

I also had a big day out in the area as my first trip since Covid began. I wrote a post about it and included images.

I have also run two family reunions in the 1980’s and 2000’s at the Evandale memorial hall for the Davey and Colgrave families. At least 200 people turned up at each reunion where I had my computer to add information but also had a paper copy of the tree put up around three walls of the hall.

E for Evandale

Miss W. General info , , ,

Clarendon Arms Hotel, Evandale

Evandale has had many names over the past two hundred years. From 1811 when it was originally a military post, it then became Collins Hill, Patersons Plains, Gordon Plains, Morven and Evansdale. In 1836 it became Evandale.

The village is about 20 kilometres south of Launceston and about 5km from the main airport for Launceston.

The whole village is a National Trust Georgian village with many interesting buildings. There are lots of shops to visit including a saddler, a Christmas shop and many art and antique shops.

If you visit in late February you will see the famous Penny Farthing Races around the village, in March is the Glover Art Prize and every Sunday is the local market. To find out more about the history of this village, check this out.

But for me, Evandale district is the area where my family tree has many branches and leaves. Most of my mother’s maternal  lines come from around Evandale – John Davey and his wife Ann Dixon, Francis Colgrave and his wife Isabella Watkinson, John Boyd and his wife Martha Hearn and David Dixon and his wife Mary Pickering.

I love visiting the town and checking out the cemeteries and churches there. We have had two family reunions based at the Memorial Hall, where the family tree covered three of the four walls.

Hilary Birchall née Davey and myself

In January 2023, I decided to have a big day out after all the covid problems. I wrote a post about my trip which included Evandale.