Can You Help

We have started a new column in our quarterly journal, Relative Thoughts, in which members - and non-members are invited to write in with research requests relating to the Fleurieu Peninsula or perhaps a person who lived on the Peninsula whose family they are researching.

Extracts from our journal will be posted here as they come to hand, marked solved and displayed for a month after the solution has been found, at which time, they will be archived.

If you would like some help, please write to our Acting Secretary at PO Box 1078, Christies Beach North, SA 5165 or by email to [email protected]

Simpson & Berry Descendants
Are you a descendant of sisters Sarah Jane and Mary Ann Simpson who married brothers Joseph Barclay Berry and James Berry? If so, member Julie Stokes would like to hear from you urgently please. You can email Julie at [email protected]

Former Parliamentary Members' Images
 Marie Maddocks, one of our valued members, is presently helping the South Australian Lower House fill in the gaps in the portraits/images of Lower House Members of Parliament. The following are the members whose images she seeks. If you have or know of someone who may have an image of one of these people, please contact Di Roberts who will pass on the details to Marie.

Thomas Wylde Boothby 1873-1875
Edward Gascoigne Collinson 1858-1860
William Bower Daws 1857
Rudolph Wilhelm Emil Henning 1878-1884
William Lennon 1860-1861
Charles Lindsay 1862-1865
Morris Lyon Marks 1857-1858
Edward McEllister 1858-1862
William Owen 1859-1862
William Partridge 1870-1871
Joseph Peacock 1860-1867
George Pearce 1868-1870
Frederick Spicer 1870
James Stewart 1870-1871
William Henry Trimmer 1865
David Wark 1857-1862
Emil Wentzell 1870-1871
William Whinham 1883-1884

Cut Flowers on a forgotten grave at Old Noarlunga
 Vanessa Catterall writes - A solitary headstone sits in the former churchyard of the Methodist Church in Old Noarlunga. It bears the name of John Hooper of Port No-orlunga [sic] who died in 1860 and his daughter Mary Ann who died in 1857. A Council truck accidentally knocked down the headstone some years ago, and the Council made an exact replica and replaced it surrounded by a low fence. Burials have long since ceased in this churchyard as the Onkaparinga River flows nearby and the water table is too high. In recent months, cut flowers have appeared on the grave and the local residents are asking why? Has someone found that these people were their ancestors? The locals would love to know. The only details I have been able to find are the following from the Biographical Index of South Australians 1836-1885.

Hooper, John - born c. 1827, died 15th (18th) March 1860 at Port Noarlunga, SA. Buried: Methodist churchyard, (Old) Noarlunga. Arrived by 1857. Religion - Methodist. Married to Margaret. Children: Mary Ann born 1854 - died 1857 - buried churchyard Old Noarlunga.

Any details forthcoming will be passed on to the residents of Old Noarlunga. Please contact Vanessa Catterall if you know who the mystery flower depositor is.

In Search of the Hull Family
 FPFHG Member, Cynthia Hull, is stuck between a rock and a hard place in her research into this family. Much of her information comes from family anecdotal stories, and she has been unable to confirm through records, many of the details. Perhaps you may hold the key to the mystery for her. Her questions about these people are in italics below. While this may seem straight-forward to most of us, believe me, it isn't really. There are not that many records that prove the existence of these people for Cynthia. If you can help her out at all, please contact  Di Roberts, who will pass your details on to Cynthia.

James Hull was born in Ballymackeever, Northern Ireland in about 1812. He married Elizabeth Smyth and had several children. Elizabeth was born in County Derry in 1831 and died there in 1871, being buried at Dungiven. James moved his children to Scotland after the death of his wife, where he lived either in Fife or Glasgow. He died in Glasgow in 1896.

Of their children, Cynthia knows little, except for a few names, dates of birth and a few possible marriage partners. The known children are -

James born 29 Aug 1855 in Northern Ireland. He died in Scotland in 1868.

William born 11 Oct 1858 in Northern Ireland. He went to Scotland with his father and siblings in about 1890. He married Leah McFetridge, who was born in Scotland herself, in 1860).
Where and when did they marry?
Did they have any children?
What was William's occupation and where did they live?

John born in about 1863 in Northern Ireland. He was apparently in the military and served in India, where he died of enteric fever in 1886.

Samuel born 10 Sep 1861 in Northern Ireland and died in Glasgow, Scotland in 1908.
Did he marry, and if so who to?
Where did he live and what was his occupation if he didn't marry?

Margaret has no birth details, but she was apparently already working for a family in Scotland when her father and siblings moved there in the early 1890's.

Mary was born 23 Jul 1852 and married James Miller and had a daughter named Elizabeth Hull Miller who was known as Bessie.
When and where did Mary and James Miller marry?
Is the daughter Elizabeth aka Bessie the only child or were there others?
When and where did Mary and James die and where are they buried?

journal


Snippets Directory

Relative Thoughts
Relative Thoughts April 2008 edition