Henry Lewis England

There are some great places to meet your cousins. Weddings, family reunions, birthday parties and picnics at the beach.

The first photo today of cousins are some male members of the Davey, England, Boxhall and Stirling families. The Stirlings are actually double cousins to me as they are related through both England and Davey surnames. They are being serious in this photo but I also have one with them making faces and mucking around with the photographer at my aunty Margaret’s wedding in 1949.

Back row: Len Davey, Ted Stirling, George Boxhall, Jack and Bill Stirling (twins) and Trevor Davey
Front row: Frederick Davey, Henry Lewis England (my grandfather) and Les Moore (husband of a Boxhall)

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, I helped organize family reunions with my cousin Hilary Birchall nee Davey. I would organize the family tree to be displayed, while Hilary would book the venue and invite the relatives she knew. We would also put an advertisement in the local papers in Tasmania for people to ring us to find out more about the reunion.

Many of the cousins from the south of the state would come up to Evandale where the reunion was always held. They would make a day of it, with the kids and grandparents, bringing a picnic lunch to share. These reunions also involved visiting the local church where many of the Davey and Colgrave ancestors were baptised and buried.

Whenever cousins from interstate arrived in Hobart we would have a get together. This particular one celebrated birthdays of the cousins from Western Australia.

Four young cousins from the Ryan family who are now adults

Dad has one favourite cousin from the Smith side of the tree, Ruby Blyth. He is pictured here with Ruby at her 21st birthday according to the information on the picture. I recently met Ruby again when I visited Flinders Island on a trip. This is where many members of the Blyth family live and where Ruby worked at the local hospital.

Ruby and Sue at Whitemark on Flinders Island

Finally, get togethers with visiting cousins could also be held on the beach especially if in summer. Our favourite beaches were Long Beach at Sandy Bay or we would drive down to Snug area and the beach near Coningham Nature Reserve.

Sue Leigh Raelene Bronwyn Philip at beach

In the first picture Raelene is our cousin as her grandmother (Aunty Glad) was the sister of my grandfather Henry Lewis England. In the second picture Michael is the grandson of Frederick Davey (also seen in the background) who was my grandmother Hannah Davey’s brother.

According to my DNA test, I have thousands of cousins but the main ones I know live in Tasmania.

Readers: Do you often get together with cousins?

This time I do have some photos relating to my dad’s side of the tree – the Smith family.

This is my father as a young boy, his mother and her brother (actually her half brother). Nan was very close to her brother Jack, who we knew as Bomber. He lived not far from Nan and he served in WWII and would often send nan postcards and letters from wherever he was serving.

Three more siblings of my nan are Ruby, Jimmy and Max. I have my nan’s photo album and she has many black and white photos of her siblings and nieces and nephews.

Now looking to my mum’s side of the tree where we have lots of photos of sibling groups.

These two photos represent the three England sisters. My aunty Margaret and her older sister Iris who died aged 10, then the second photo is my aunty Margaret with her younger sister Phyllis, my mum who was born a month before Iris died.

My grandmother Hannah England nee Davey was always very close to her sister Elizabeth Boxhall nee Davey known as Lizzie.

In this photo they even look alike – Hannah on left and Lizzie on right. The two sisters also kept in close touch with their other siblings especially those who lived in southern Tasmania. Hannah and Lizzie would often be together at different events. This photo shows two of Lizzie’s children Reuben and George Boxhall playing on the beach.

Many of the Davey siblings got together at the wedding of my aunty Margaret in 1949. Pictured above are Frederick, Doris, Hannah, Lizzie and George. Frederick is the youngest of the siblings and was born a month before his father died in 1914.

I also have one on mum’s paternal side of her father Henry Lewis England with his sister Ruby May England. This was also taken at Margaret’s wedding.

Readers: How many black and white photos do you have of siblings?

Oér the seas we go

Tracing my family history

Cousins

Siblings in black and white