Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Trove Tuesday – Don’t believe all you read


The Thomas Brooks in this death notice was my great great grandmother’s younger brother. I mentioned their parents in my last blog post: Thomas BROOKE and Jane CUNDELL.

Thomas wasn’t 80, he was closer to 82 – his birth reg shows 1858 in Mortlake, so yes he was one of the oldest native-born residents.
His elder sister was Sarah Jane Holmes nee Brooks and had died on 22 July 1940.

Their parents did not arrive in the area as early as 1838.

Thomas Brooke (senior) married Jane Cundell at St Matthews, New Norfolk in 1844 and their first daughter, Mary Anne, was born in Tasmania seven months later. Thomas had arrived in Tasmania in 1831 on the Lord Lyndoch (1).
In 1845, Thomas was granted his conditional pardon and was required to leave Tasmania. He was employed at Mt Shadwell and arrived in Victoria in October 1845.

Jane, pregnant with my great great grandmother (Frances Eliza), remained in Tasmania until after the birth in Feb 1846. She had joined Thomas by 1848 when the next daughter, Isabella was born (in Mt Shadwell).
Jane had arrived in Australia in 1840, as a free 18 year old nursery maid. Her parents were already here, but that is a whole other story.

The second article is something amusing I saw in the course of searching for the death notice: children raising funds for the war by catching rabbits!

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