Family History Mysteries

Augustus Baker Pierce, an American, was a colourful sailor, Murray River riverboat captain, actor, ventriloquist, raconteur and artist.

Mary Hyde was a convict who became the wife of one of Port Jackson's influential emancipists, Simeon Lord. This is her story and the story of her descendants.

Mary Hyde was a convict who became the wife of one of Port Jackson's influential emancipists, Simeon Lord. This is her story and the story of her descendants.

In 1920, George Macquarie Paine sued his mistress to recover goods from the Point Piper home they shared.

In September 1873 in Moonta South Australia, Thomas Woolcock died slowly from mercury poisoning. His wife, Elizabeth Woolcock, was convicted of his murder and became the only woman hanged in South Australia.

Reg Lye was an Australian actor who worked extensively in Australia and England. He was married to my grandmothers first cousin, Ruth Clyne.

Rebecka Small was born in Port Jackson on the 22 September 1789, the eldest daughter of John Small and Mary Parker. She is thought to be the first Anglo-Australian born girl to be married in Australia and the oldest living white Australian at the time of her death aged 93 in 1883.

Lola Montez was a hugely popular and controversial performer in the mid 1850s and was known as an ‘adventuress’. Crowds descended on the Victoria Theatre in the Victorian Goldfields to witness her notorious 'Spider Dance', a titillating version of a tarantella, an Italian folk dance.

Lola Montez was a hugely popular and controversial performer in the mid 1850s and was known as an ‘adventuress’. Crowds descended on the Victoria Theatre in the Victorian Goldfields to witness her notorious 'Spider Dance', a titillating version of a tarantella, an Italian folk dance.

**Warning - there aspects of this episode that listeners may find distressing **  In June 1898 there was an article in a WA paper titled 'Sad Family Scandal'. This is the story of 16 year old, Henry Mason and his family.  

There is some conjecture about the first baby born to Anglo-Saxon parents on Australian soil. Governor Phillip's reports do not mention the first birth in the colony. On 12 February 1790 he simply states the number of births, 59, that had occurred to date. There are two distinct possibilities: William Nash and Elizabeth Baker. This episode tells the story of both babies and how they fared in A...

George and Jessie Read featured in an article outlining their divorce case in 1905. This is the story of George and Jessie and their family.

Eighteen births took place during the First Fleet voyage to Port Jackson, including two stillbirths and one miscarriage. Phoebe Norton and Ann Colpitts were two convict women who assisted births on the journey on their ship, the Lady Penryn. This is their story.

Charles Hall was involved in a divorce case with his wife Jane. He was jailed for 2 years as a result of perjury in this case. This was the first time I had seen a divorce case result in an incarceration!

John Alston Wallace was born on 15 December 1824 at Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1860, Rutherglen Victoria, was named after his hometown in Scotland. There was widespread coverage of not only a court case regarding the will of Mr J A Wallace, but also coverage of a ‘sensational divorce case’ with one of his sons.

Elizabeth Neen contested the will of her husband Alexander Neen. It stated that Alexander made his will less than three weeks before his death and left everything to an attendant at the Liverpool Benevolent Asylum. Elizabeth Neen contested the will however the judge upheld Alexander’s wishes. So how could a wife not lay claim and have success in obtaining the proceeds from her husbands will?

Was Bridget O’Brien Ned Kelly’s wife? Bridget O’Brien was the proprietor of the Greta Hotel and has been discounted by many due to her being 14 years older than Ned, however there are links that may prove otherwise, one of them with a link to Deniliquin in southern NSW!

On Wednesday, 15 May 1895, there was a Royal Commission case that commenced in Sydney, known as the Dean Royal Commission. George Dean stood accused of poisoning his wife Mary, the daughter of Catherine Adams. Poison had been found in Mary’s food and Dean was charged in early March 1895 and the court case commenced in the same month.

Two years ago a fantastic photo of a house that was made out of flattened kerosene tins was posted on the Deniliquin & District Historical Society Facebook page. The house was nicknamed  ‘Plume House’, no doubt because Plume was the brand of the kerosene! The photo was taken from a glass negative so is excellent in quality. It captured my attention and I was intrigued to find out more about th...

I came across Harry Albatross Patrick in a newspaper article outlining how his wife was contesting his will. Harry left the proceeds of his will to his nieces and nephews and clearly stated his wife was to obtain none of the proceeds of the will. This got me intrigued!

Thomas Alexander Browne was a pastoralist, police magistrate and gold commissioner, but best known as novelist 'Rolf Boldrewood'. This is the story of Thomas and his family.

*Warning there is reference to suicide and graphic information in this episode*I came across the Harries family when I found a newspaper article, outlining the gruesome discovery of a human leg found in the Edward River at Deniliquin in 1894. It was surmised that this was part of the body of Thomas Harries, of Mathoura, who it was presumed had suicided by jumping off the bridge at Deniliquin in 18...

In 1904, Ann Elizabeth Grut died, leaving the proceeds of her will to her friends and relatives, excluding her husband, Henry B Grut. He challenged the will, stating she was incapacitated when writing it. I was intrigued to find out why Elizabeth totally exclude her husband from her will!

Cuthbert Featherstonaugh arrived in Australia in 1853. On his death a close friend described him: 'If ever there lived a British gentleman in every sense of the word, he was one, and all is summed up in that. Wherever he lived, in numerous parts of Australia, he was beloved by everyone'. This is Cuthbert and his family's story.

William Douglas, known as ‘Black Douglas’, was labelled the ‘terror of the goldfields’ in Victoria in the 1850s and became one of Australia’s best-known criminals at this time, decades before Ned Kelly made his mark.