D is for DECORATOR

At various times throughout his life, William Richardson’s occupation is listed as Decorator or painter. A family story, passed down several generations, noted he worked on decorating the interior of churches, but nothing is particularly clear.

William was born around 1832 in Newcastle on Tyne, Northumberland. In 1862 he was living in Poynton and on 30 January 1862, aged 30, he married Mary Potts in the Parish Church at Poynton, Chester following banns. Mary was ten years younger. On the marriage certificate William is listed as a decorator.

UK Marriage certificate William Richardson & Mary Potts 1862

The couple moved to London after their marriage and they had a large family, including my great grandmother Annie, born in 1882 and her sister Amy born in 1878. In the 1871 Census he a was listed as a painter, in 1881, he was recorded as a decorator.

In 1888 Mary succumbed to Uterine cancer. William remarried the following year to Caroline Elstone formerly Lelliott. They married in St. John’s Church in Fulham in 1889. William was recorded as a 55-year-old widower, and a church decorator. 

William Richardson born ca 1832 & died between 1904-1908

In 1891, William was away from home, visiting in South Bersted, Bognor West Sussex. He was still recorded as a “decorator” and may have been quoting for a job, or visiting family or friends. William Richardson died some time between 1904 and 1908.

Painters and decorators were experts in their field. They were usually involved in painting and making use of decorative materials to beautify. It would be interesting to know what William's job entailed and if there are any examples surviving. 

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge)

C is for COALMINER or COLLIER

My Leach ancestors were from a long line of coalminers.

John Leach was born in Wales, Hawarden Flint to be exact, way back in 1819. He was the son of William Leach, a collier, and Anne nee Ellis. John followed in his father’s footsteps and headed down the mines. 

Baptism of John Leach in 1819. Courtesy Cheshire Public Records.

Throughout the 18th century, coal mining was industrious in northern Wales however production waned in the 1800s and many Welsh miners migrated eastwards to the coal producing counties of Northumberland and Durham here was a huge demand for coal due to the Industrial Revolution. By 1849 John Leach was working in Durham and married Ann Moore in Brick Garth, Hougton Le Hole. A few years later they migrated to Australia. 

By 1861 the Leach family were residing in Wallsend, near Newcastle NSW, well-known for its coal deposits. It was here my great Grandfather John William, was born in 1862.  John passed away on in 1868 from the miner's lung disease, pyaemia. 

West Wallsend Colliery, 1888. Courtesy State Records NSW

John William commenced work at the Wallsend Colliery when he was 14 years old and he worked there until his death, in his 59th year, in 1920.  My Grandfather Bill remembers waiting at the colliery gate as a young boy and walking home with father and his miner friends. 

Mining was a dangerous occupation in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Fatalities due to accidents and underground explosions were very common and the average life expectancy was short. His death was recorded as tuberculosis which silicosis was often confused with. He left four children aged from 4 to 12 years.

Original birth certificate of John William Leach in 1910. 

 There is more about the Leach family here if you are interested. 

B is for BAKER

My Great-Grandfather was a baker, he baked breads and cooked cakes. 

Ernest Nichols was born in 1875 in Islington, London the son of William Nichols and Jane nee Tucker. By the time he was 16, he was recorded as a Colour Oilmans Assistant. Shortly after, he became apprenticed as a baker.

In 1902, Ern married Annie Richardson, in Dalston. Annie was almost 20 years old, while Ern was seven years her senior. At the time of the marriage, Ern was listed as a baker, and they lived at “Lucerne” in Dale Grove, North Finchley. The year after the marriage, Ernest and Annie had their one and only child, William Robert.

Ern Nichols on the Bakery cart

From the late 1890s, Ern worked as a baker. He was employed by Henry Purvis who ran the North Finchley Hygenic Bakery at 81 High Street.  Purvis was a “high class cook and confectioner” although Purvis died in 1908, Ernest stayed on and worked for the executors. After a decade of marriage Ern and Annie made the decision that changed their lives irrevocably. They resolved to migrate to Australia, tickets were purchased and trunks packed. It would have been a difficult decision, leaving all that was familiar and travelled half way around the world. 

The Purvis Company supplied Ern with an excellent reference stating he was “leaving entirely of his own accord, to try his fortune in a new country.” He was considered “absolutely trustworthy and hard working” who had “an intelligent interest in anything he had in hand.”  

Reference for Ernest Nichols

Ern’s Recipe Book has survived and in it is recorded seven varieties of yeast, recipes for Queen cakes, Madeira Cake, Cornflour Cream Buns, Coconut Mac’s, Cheese Curd etc, all with large quantities suited for a bakery store. 

Ern and Annie originally settled at Tilba on the South Coast, they moved north, where Ern did a bakery run between Tweed Heads and Coolangatta, then eventually settling in Richmond, where he ran the Nichols Bakery and General Store located in Windsor Street, towards the end of WW1. 

Nichols Bakery & General Store, Richmond NSW

The family left Richmond in the 1920s and tried their luck at poultry farming in Schofields and then moved to Riverstone and lived at 20 Castlereagh Street. For some years, Ern was employed in the bakery business working for Charlie Fisher, doing the night shift. During the day he often worked for his son Bill who had established a Service Station in Riverstone. 

When Ern gave up work his asthma disappeared. He had suffered dreadfully throughout his life with the disease, often wheezing for hours on end. Not working with the flour dust in the bakeries must have helped. Son Bill passed away suddenly in March 1958 aged only 54 then Annie died of a broken heart in the December, they had been married for 56 years. 

After a long and fulfilling life. Ern died on the 26 July 1967, aged 92 years old. 

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge)

A is for ACCOUCHEUR and APOTHECARIST

Robert Havens was an ACCOUCHEUR, a person who is trained to help at a birth, more commonly known as an obstetrician. He was also an APOTHECARIST, making and dispensing medicines similar to a pharmacist.

This nameplate was photographed at his cottage in the 1980s but is now 

part of the collection at Braidwood Museum.

Robert Havens was born in 1809, the son of Robert Havens and Janet Crabbe. The family were a distinguished line from Colchester Essex who could trace their ancestry to the 14th century and beyond.

Robert was born in Edinburgh and as a boy in 1822, was apprenticed as an apothecary, to John Stanley of Whitehaven for seven years. Later he was admitted as a Licentiate of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) in 1831.

He stayed in Kendal and got a job at the Dispensary in 1834 and at some stage met Esther Lee. The couple married in Kendal in 1839 and shortly after their migrated to Australia onboard the Orizaba with other family members. In 1840 he was registered by the Medical Board of NSW to practise and in 1842 acquired land in Reidsdale on the outskirts of Braidwood. 

For many years he worked as a doctor and assisted women in childbirth and obstetrics, mostly from his property known as ‘Brookside’. In 1848 he was blinded as a result of a chemical explosion but according to correspondence from one of his daughters, he continued to practise with assistance. Dr Robert Havens died at Reidsdale, in 1885 aged 76 years.

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge) 

Theme Reveal: Pieces of my family

 My family history journey commenced over fifty years ago and continues today. I don't always have a lot of time to devote to my research but my interest has never waned and I look forward to the time I do spend discovering more about my ancestors. 

Over the years I have been keen to participate in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge) but this year I decided I would have a go!! 

Since I made the decision, I have struggled to think of a 'clever' theme, despite some careful consideration. The challenge has commenced today, so I am going to go with something simple. I will be sharing stories about 26 people with occupations starting with letters of the alphabet, from my extended family tree. 

A is for ACCOUCHEUR and APOTHECARIST

B is for BAKER

C is for COALMINER or COLLIER

2024 in review ~ Accentuate the Positive Geneameme

My friend GeniAus has encouraged her geneabloggers followers to create a blogpost, to consider what they have (or have not) achieved in 2024. I always have good intentions to participate but this year, I found some time to write a post. She will collate a general response, early in the New Year.

1.  Google provided an answer to many of my family and local history queries during 2024, however I really enjoy drilling down to the references and checking what is available online. For example many university collections have digitised thesis documents and other material such as this article from the RAHS journal on early Hawkesbury floods.

2.  I was the recipient of genearosity from Bruce Fairhall who reminded me to attend the recent meeting about HRE, designed for genealogists who currently use the discontinued The Master Genealogist software. It reminded me to continue updating my database and in 2025 update my Second Site online.  The site was last updated in 2012 and I have done a lot more work since then!!!

3.  This headstone gave me some extra information. Not so much additional information but reminded me to look at the female branch of one of my families. A quick visit to the cemetery in Hawarden in Flintshire in Wales this year shows that the Ellis family were still in the district in the 20th century. William Leach was born in 1789 in Hawarden and married in 1815 Ann Ellis.

Ellis headstones from Hawarden in Wales. Photo: M. Nichols, 2024.

4.  Useful record I discovered was the Trove Digital Library - Digitised Journals  which I found very useful. I continue to use the digitised newspapers on Trove nearly every day and it still remains my all-time favourite. 

5. & 6. A newly found family member and my biggest geneasurprises was when a 2nd cousin contacted me with a dilemma. He had been contacted by someone to say their DNA matched my cousin’s. Weirdly I went to school with the mystery person and we never knew of this connection. 

7.  My 2024 post that I was particularly proud of was the only one I posted in 2024. It was about the Australian astronomer John Tebbutt 1834-1916, who is indirectly connected to my family tree. He occasionally employed assistants known as computers to assist with his calculations. The two assistants were Margie Arnold, a young school teacher from Windsor and Lesley Parker employed at the local Commercial Bank. Although technically local history research, I employed the relevant family history strategies to undertake the research. If anyone is interested you can read Astronomer Tebbutt's computers  about it here on my Hawkesbury Heritage blog.

8.  DNA helped me to realise that there are many connections out there and I should follow them up, if only I had time.

9.  No upgrades I can think of… but I continue to make use of Libby through my local library for free and access the Family Tree UK and Family tree magazines for free. Check if your local public library subscribes on their website or check here  

10. Although Face to Face events have returned Zoom has allowed me to attend many online meetings. I was even able to attend the talk ‘Walking in the footsteps of your ancestor’ with Gow descendants Barbara and Stephen that was held in Windsor NSW in November 2024 while I was travelling overseas in the UK.

Screenshot of meeting - Walking in the footsteps of your ancestor

11. I dipped my toes into the water at Porthleven Harbour in Cornwall in in November and it was really cold but haven’t really done much else!

Porthleven Harbour in Cornwall. Photo: M. Nichols, 2024.

12. I connected with author and lawyer, Larissa Behrendt who spoke at our Hawkesbury Family History Group meeting about 'Storytelling traditions in Literature' in October 2024. Her talk was mesmerising and I found it exceedingly interesting. She spoke from the heart about growing up, a member of the Eualeyai/Kamilaroi nations in northern NSW. There was a lot of discussion in her home growing up about "land rights and the impact of colonization" however "aboriginal history and the removal policy were never discussed in school." Larissa was the first aborigine to attend Harvard Law School in 1993. one of the  She was one of the first generation of aborigines to be able to go from high school to 

 Larissa Behrendt. Photo: M. Nichols, 2024.

13. By dipping my toes into AI I was able to conduct some interesting searches online. Still have much to learn and look forward to Andrew Redfern visiting the Hawkesbury Family History Group as a speaker in 2025.

14. I was honoured to lead the Remote Cemeteries Tour on behalf of the National Trust NSW – Hawkesbury Branch with my husband, Jonathan Auld in September 2024. This walking/driving tour involved taking about 30 attendees to various remote cemeteries in the Hawkesbury including St Albans, Wisemans Ferry and Sackville.

15. I found the Wider local studies seminar on 11-13 June, a very useful presentation. There were some interesting sessions on oral history. I also have a several talks to catch up on through the Virtual Genealogical Association. 

16. A great repository/archive/library I visited was the State Library of NSW. I have been visiting here since 1978 and never fails to disappoint. I am hoping to make more visits in 2025.

17. I got the most value, just not from one book, but from many. I work everyday surrounded books. I cannot single just one special one in 2024.

18. It was exciting to finally meet some of the new leaves on our family tree this year. Got to personally catch up with my great-nephew Reuben and great-niece Rose both born in the UK since I last visited in 2018. 

19. A geneadventure I enjoyed was a quick visit to Hawarden in Flintshire in Wales in November whilst travelling through the UK. Although we were limited with time, we stopped for quick walk through the church and cemetery. My mother’s ancestors the Leach and Ellis families resided here in the late 18th and early 19th century. 

Visit to Hawarden in Wales. Photo: M. Nichols, 2024.

20. Another positive I would like to reiterate is that even though I have not done a great deal of research this past year, I continue to be passionate about discovering more about my family’s past. I find much inspiration from the geneabloggers group.

Remembering Jack Porter 1882-1918 ~ 100 years ago

One hundred years ago today, just months before the end of World War 1, ‘Jack’ Porter was killed in action in Belgium. Jack played an important role in our family, having been married to Amy Richardson, sister to Annie, our gt Grandmother.

John 'Jack' Porter as a young man

John James Porter known as Jack, was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 26 February 1882, the son of John Henry and Frances Porter. His father was a shoemaker and operated a shoe store. A bright boy, Jack attended St John’s College, Cambridge and studied to become a teacher. Whilst at St John’s he won a swimming race and was awarded a set of silver spoons. By 1901 he was employed as a National School teacher.   

Amy and Jack Porter

Amy met Jack sometime in the early 1900s and by 1908 he was an Assistant schoolmaster at St. James School House in Fortis Green Road at Muswell Hill, near north London. They married at the Wesleyan Methodist Church at Muswell Hill North on the 16 April 1908. Amy’s employee and long-time friend Percy Livingstone Parker and her sister Helena Richardson, witnessed the marriage. They were obviously devoted and Amy fondly referred to her husband as "My Jack". 

From 1911 Jack was the Headmaster at Gosberton Clough School at Spalding. Following the eruption of hostilities in Europe which resulted in World War 1, many young men joined up. Jack, although married was in his early 30s when he enlisted in the London-Scottish on the 13 February 1915 and departed for France following his training on the 21 June 1915. His number was 511051 in "B" Coy, 2nd/14th Battalion and he was appointed to the rank of Sgt-Major and miraculously managed to survive the horrendous circumstances of the war to the final stages. In the early part of 1918 he was serving in Jerusalem. 

Jack enlisted in the London-Scottish "B" Coy, 2nd/14th Battalion in 1915 

Unfortunately Jack was “Killed in Action” in Belgium on the 21 August 1918 aged 36 years. Older members of the family used to say he died the day the Armistice was signed however he died several months prior to this. Jack was buried at site A.8 at the Locre No. 10 Cemetery at Heuvelland, West-Vlaandereb in Belgium.  Following his death Amy is listed as living at 161 High Street, Watford. 

Amy was heartbroken with the death of her husband. She records in her diary on the 4 December 1918, "left home for business, alone and sad."

Documents from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archives 

Following her mourning for her beloved husband Amy made a decision to travel to Australia to visit Annie, Ern and her nephew Bill. She travelled by boat and arrived in Australia via Fremantle in WA. In October 1929, Amy visited Jack’s grave at Locre Cemetery at Heuvelland, West-Vlaandereb in Belgium.

Amy and Jack did not have any children, and although she married again, Amy conveyed to her family how much she cherished Jack, her first love. Subsequent generations are justifiably proud of Jack, his contribution and ultimate sacrifice in the Great War. To find out more about Amy, read the following post. 

Certificate for John James Porter from CWGC