E is for Elizabeth and later Eton Vale.
Elizabeth Hanna Antoney nee Young was my maternal great great grandmother and sister to Mary Jane Walker nee Young. Elizabeth was married to Joseph Antoney and lived on a property “Eton Vale” near North Eton. It was from Elizabeth’s 1921 obituary1 that I discovered the existence of Mary Jane.
I’m sure that Elizabeth must have written to her sister Mary Jane advising her to come out to Queensland as she had been resident here since 1864 and had married Joseph Antoney in Bowen in 1867. She was settled in the Mackay District by the time Mary Jane arrived in 1871 and I’m also sure that she must have delighted in having a sister to share stories of home.
What continues to puzzle me is the lack of mention by my grandmother of Aunt Mary Jane or other members of the Walker family. My grandmother, Dorothy May, often talked about aunts, cousins and in-laws but never a mention of the Walkers. I will have to really put my thinking cap on and try a variety of research opportunities to solve this puzzle. Perhaps a cousin is out there with more information?
Now for Eton Vale ...
Eton Vale was the name of the property selected by Joseph Antoney near the settlement of Eton2 in the Mackay District.
The Australian Handbook3 published in 1903 describes Eton as:
My grandmother told many a happy story about her grandfather’s farm Eton Vale and about Eton and North Eton where she was born. I must make the effort to travel north and visit some of these places – but in winter definitely.
- 1921 'PERSONAL.', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 2 February, p. 2. , viewed 06 Apr 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188692401
- 1936 'NOMENCLATURE OF QUEENSLAND.—121',The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), 18 February, p. 12. , viewed 06 Apr 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36781499
- The Australian Handbook, 1903 accessed from
http://queenslandplaces.com.au/eton on 6 April 2016
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/
Elizabeth Hanna Antoney nee Young was my maternal great great grandmother and sister to Mary Jane Walker nee Young. Elizabeth was married to Joseph Antoney and lived on a property “Eton Vale” near North Eton. It was from Elizabeth’s 1921 obituary1 that I discovered the existence of Mary Jane.
