EDWARD and HANNAH DESCENDENT NEWSLETTER

Issue No 4/12

May Meeting; There was only a small number at Wendy’s place for the meeting however great progress was made on fine tuning of the information on hand thanks to Wendy, Val & Marilyn.

There was a side trip to a nearby Vineyard on the Saturday where some purchases were made to take home.
At Right, Val looks pleased with her purchase

“Edward & Hannah Corner”

The 15th June 2012 was the 224th wedding anniversary of Edward and Hannah. June was also a sad time for both Edward & Hannah as Edward’s daughter Ann (Nancy) died and Hannah’s son William also died.

Introducing ………

I would like to start an Introduction section in the newsletter, this will be just a short introduction from members to their cousins both from those who cannot make many meetings because of distance and those who do attend for the benefit of those they are yet to meet. So please consider a short story of yourself, example below;

Introducing Ann & Ray Keating. Ann was born at Tamworth then moved to the central coast at Ocean Beach (now called Umina) then to Auburn, Sydney. I was born and grew up in Auburn. We married in Auburn and first lived in Parkes, then Sydney, Orange, Sydney and now live at Glenbrook. Ann worked as an accountant most of her working time and I was an Electrician with the railways and worked at varies jobs but always in the electrical trade field.

We both retired in 2004 early to enjoy life and have had 3 extended holidays overseas totalling about 6 months since retirement. Also we have had holidays at home in Australia. One enjoyable and restful trip was from Darwin to Adelaide on the “Ghan”.

We have one son married and a granddaughter who now lives in Canberra. Ann is the descendent of Edward & Hannah and I am the family history researcher and have found that Ann is a descendent of 7 convicts all in NSW. My family all come to Australia via South Australia and then moved to Broken Hill for work in the mines.

Ann keeps herself busy with interest in our local church where one of Ann’s tasks is the chairperson of the Parish Advisory Council. I like some men am a shed man and enjoy my 1967 Mustang.

Family Story – John Guard & Elizabeth Parker,

Elizabeth (1814) was the daughter of Stephen Parker and Harriet Pugh. Elizabeth who became known as Betty went to live with her Aunt Charlotte Pugh who was a servant/house keeper for a John Guard in his house at the Rocks.

John Guard was a convict and after receiving his conditional pardon started to work hard in 1820 as a sealer; through his hard work he became joint owner and Captain of the “Waterloo” he continued seal hunting and moved on to Whaling near New Zealand where he set up a base. He retained his house in the Rocks and would use it when he returned to sell his cargo.

In 1830 Betty now aged 16 went to New Zealand on the “Waterloo” and set up house with John. They made several trips back to Sydney where their first child John was baptised.

On a return trip to New Zealand in 1834 they were hit by a gale and their ship was driven ashore and damaged. The set up some shelter but were attacked by Maoris and some were killed. Betty with the two children and 12 of the crew were captured. Among those killed was David, Betty’s brother. John and some of the crew did escape but were captured by another Maori tribe up the coast.

John did a deal with this tribe to allow him and some of the crew to leave to obtain a keg of gunpowder to exchange for the others. John managed to return to Sydney where he told his story to the Government & left Sydney again for New Zealand. This time on the man of war ship “HMS Alligator” with a second ship also. There were some 90 men on the two ships including soldiers.

After some negotiations and fighting including bombarding, Betty, the children and crew were rescued and returned to Sydney. After some time the family returned to New Zealand where they lived and had 6 more children.

This is an edited version by Ray of Val Williams’ story. If you would like the full story, about 5 pages, let Carmen or me know and I will email it direct to you,

F F F Charter; Remember Carmen’s request that anyone can drop her a line with their thoughts on the FFF charter formation before next meeting. *Carmen’s note: A formal motion will be circulated before the end of June so we can collect votes on this issue before the next meeting*

Next Meeting;

The next meeting will be Saturday 28th July at Pioneer Park, East Gosford . It is hoped we have better weather for this meeting in the park after the March one was washed out. This meeting will include the AGM and hopefully, the drafting of a Chapter formation letter to the FFF.