While browsing in TROVE and discovering that Joseph Antoney was a winemaker of some renown in the Mackay District in the late 1800s, I thought what else was he up to?
So on to TROVE to see what else I could find and I found an obituary for his wife, Elizabeth Hannah Antoney nee Young, my 2nd great grandmother. I had not previously found her obituary so as you can imagine I was thrilled. The image from the Daily Mercury on 2nd February 1921 is very faint, so I am unable to put a snapshot of it on this blog.
Not only were her children mentioned, and I knew about all of them, but her arrival in Queensland at Port Keppel (Rockhampton) on the Fiery Star in 1864 was new. I had not been able to find her arrival for certain on any passenger lists as you can imagine Elizabeth Young is not an uncommon name. More interesting was the fact that Joseph was a quartermaster on the Fiery Star and left the ship in Brisbane. I wonder if the romance blossomed on board the ship or when they met in Bowen later did they reconnect? They married in Bowen in 1866.
Reading on further there was another surprise: "...A sister, Mrs. AIex. Walker, also resides in the district, and had of late been in attendance at the bedside of her sister". A sister? Why had I never heard about a sister? My grandmother, Dorothy May, was the keeper of all things family, both from her family and her husband's family, and had never spoken of an aunt that was her grandmother's sister. I sensed a family story.
So I started to research Mrs Alex Walker and found her death record in the Queensland BDM index and found her death:
1931 C3908 Mary Jane Walker Henry Young Anna Murry
Yes, this proved that Mrs Alex Walker was the sister of Elizabeth Hannah and had married Alexander Walker in Queensland in 1872:
1872 C324 Mary Jane Young Alexander Walker
Why had my grandmother never mentioned an Aunt Mary or an Aunt Mary Jane? My grandmother, who was born in 1898, spent much of her childhood with her grandparents Joseph & Elizabeth Antoney in and around North Eton and according to other articles in TROVE, the Walker family resided in Walkerston some 16 km away.
So, the discovery of another 2nd great-great aunt is exciting and I now have another family to research and discover. Stay tuned.
1921 'PERSONAL.', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 2 February, p. 2, viewed 19 February, 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188692401
https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/family-history-research/
What a great find, or rather great finds..well done. I hadn't thought of checking Rockhampton for shipping, so you've given me another place to search. Thanks, Helen..
ReplyDeleteDancing with you.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful when we can add another branch to the tree. Do let's know if you track down some cousins.