My genealogy website for 2023

My genealogy website for 2023

This website is the attempt to add to the genealogy of the following families in England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and other countries. My father and I started researching in January 1983. I have created this web site to allow descendants or researchers to access and more importantly contribute information.


I am researching the following families, (all except CHRISTIE and TOBIN I am related to):

Many thanks to all contributors and other researchers. I have tried to reference them wherever possible. For privacy reasons I have tried NOT to include people who were born before 100 years ago and are still living.


Disclaimer and Copyright:

While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in transcribing, mistakes will inevitably occur. Researchers should always check the original documents.

All personally transcribed materials on this site may be used for personal family histories and research but may not be used for any commericial purpose whatsoever without express permission of the original researcher or ricksmith61 AT gmail.com.

Copyright remains with the original researcher or ricksmith61 AT gmail.com © 2005-2023.

To link to this site please only use this page: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ricksmith61/smith.html

I will update these trees on a regular basis. Please note further information may be available on request by descendants or researchers. Please use this information positively and acknowledge all source(s) of the information contained in this website.

I hope you enjoy these records and contribute any corrections or additions.

Please email me at: ricksmith61 AT gmail.com

Last modified: January 2023 - Updated website.
SMITH SMITH families of "Ratho" at Bothwell, Summerleas, Fern Tree near Hobart and Hobart in Tasmania 1865+. Also Mount Waverley, Melbourne and Colac in Victoria, Australia 1914+.

John LEVETT/SMITH (1821 - 1888) lived at "Ratho" at Bothwell, Summerleas, Fern Tree in Tasmania 1865+.

Most of the children remained in the Hobart area, but two of his sons, Edmund John SMITH (1877 - 1950) and Thomas Leonard SMITH (1878 - 1926) went to Mount Waverley, Melbourne, Victoria and later descendants to Colac in Victoria, Australia 1914+. Others stayed around Hobart, Tasmania.

After 15th August 1865 I can trace the SMITH family quite well. They lived on "Ratho", Bothwell. John was a groom and Caroline was a servant. They had several children: Elizabeth, James, Caroline Matilda, Mary Ann, Sarah Louisa, Ethel Amelia, Edmond or Edmund John, Thomas Leonard and Christy Lucy. Approximately in 1882 when they moved, due to John's ill health, back to Summerleas. John died in 1888 and was buried in a pauper's grave at Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart. Caroline remarried John EMMETT in 1891. John SMITH and John EMMETT previously worked the land together at Summerleas.

I now have a handwritten tree of Albert LEVETT (John LEVETT's nephew) that John LEVETT in Lewes, Sussex, England and John SMITH are the same person.

Please note the SMITH has been merged into the LEVETT tree as the SMITHs are a branch of the LEVETTs.

(Last Update: January 2021).
LEVETT and de LIVET de LIVET Normandy, France about 800 onwards. LEVETT England 1066+. South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, Australia.

There is some evidence to link the East Sussex Levetts to Norman French LEVETTs (de Livet) coming after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants (along with the CURSONS and BASKERVILLES) of the de FERRERS, among the most powerful of William the Conqueror's Norman lords.

One branch of the de Livet family came to England during the Norman Conquest, nearly a thousand years ago, and were prominent in Derbyshire, Cheshire, Ireland and Sussex, where they held many manors, including the lordship of Firle. The name Livet (first recorded as Lived in the 11th century), of Gaulish etymology, may mean a "place where yew-trees grow": *l-iv-et, if "yew" > ivaie "yew wood" in modern French. Like many Normans, the family's origins are probably mostly Anglo-Scandinavian.

Although the date of the family's arrival in England is uncertain, the family name appears in the records of William the Conqueror. Ancient English deeds subsequently refer to many lands across Sussex as 'Levetts,' indicating family possession of broad swaths of Sussex countryside. Among the family's holdings was the manor of Catsfield Levett, today known simply as Catsfield, located a scant three miles (5 km) from the battlefield where Duke William of Normandy thrashed the English forces to become King.

The Levetts and their descendants eventually held land in Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Suffolk, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Kent, Bedfordshire and later in Staffordshire. The Anglicisation of this Norman French surname took many forms, including Levett, Levet, Lyvet, Levytt, Livett, Delivett, Levete, Leavett, Leavitt, Lovett and others.

Looking for the following book "The Levetts of Staffordshire" by Dyonese Levett Haszard, (privately printed) to help greatly with the overall LEVETT tree.

Levett family members were early knights and Crusaders — many members of both English and French branches of the family were Knights Hospitallers — and they occupied a place in the English landed gentry for centuries. Unlike the French branch of the family, no members of the English branch were ennobled, although they intermarried with nobility and served as courtiers. The Levett name was joined with such well-known English clans as the Byrons, the Darwins, the Ashley-Coopers, the Hulses, the Bagots, the Prinseps, the Ansons, the Feildings, the Holdsworths, the Reresbys, the Breretons, the Suttons, the Kennedys, the Cullums, the Gargraves, the Gresleys, the Legges and others. Source: Wikipedia: LEVETT (off site).

John LEVETT/SMITH (1821 - 1888) is of particular interest he was born in Lancaster Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England and was transported to Tasmania, Australia as a convict on the "Joseph Somes (I)" in 1846. His two trials newspaper reports are here and original newspaper reports in the "Sussex Advertiser" are here (pdf format 647 kB) and here (pdf format (799 kB).

Some pictures of the church (St John sub Castro in Lancaster Street) where John LEVETT went and was christened are as follows:
St John sub Castro - March 2000,
St John sub Castro - March 2000,
St John sub Castro graveyard - March 2000,
Looking along Lancaster Street outside St John sub castro towards the Levett family house - March 2000
St John sub Castro - circa 1870.
Some of the pictures were very kindly taken by Geoff Foster. Please visit his link below.

I now have a handwritten tree of Albert LEVETT (John LEVETT's nephew) that John LEVETT (1821 - 1888) and John SMITH (1821 - 1888) are the same person.

Other LEVETT researchers are:
Shirley Buckland's LEVETT and other genealogies in East Sussex, England (off site).
Joanne Bruce's LEVETT/LEVITT and other genealogies in East Sussex, England and Victoria, Australia (off site).


(Last Update: January 2023).
CHRISTIE CHRISTIE families of Menmuir, Angus, Scotland pre 1853. Tasmania and Victoria, Australia 1853+.

Lyell Symers CHRISTIE (1824 - 1906) lived at Menmuir, Angus, Scotland pre 1853. Tasmania and Victoria, Australia 1853+. He came to Hobart from Melbourne on 5th August 1854 on the "Tasmania" as cabin passenger, (Source: AOT MB2/39/18 p198). He applied for grant of 200 acres in Summerleas, (Source: AOT SC/285, p559), 14th December 1855. He went to Victoria and married Margaret Brown in 1860 and settled in Brighton until 1863 then Ballarat about 1864. He and Margaret had 11 children: Cath, Margaret, Jessie, Mary, Annie, Eliza, Martha, William, Charlotte, John Brown and Andrew Lyell.

(Last Update: January 2021).
ELLIS ELLIS families of Kiddall Hall, [Kiddal, Kiddhall, Kiddle Hall, Kidall Hall], near Leeds, Yorkshire and Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England pre 1834. Corfu, Ionian Isles, Greece. Tasmania 1834+ and New South Wales, Australia.

Charles ELLIS (1807 - 1891) came to Tasmania as a colour sergeant of the 11th North Devonshire Regiment of Foot.

According to John Bourke in "History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland", (1863), Volume III, pages 553-555, the ELLISes [ELLYS or ELYS] came originally, with William of Normandy, into England; but no ancient documents, prior to the reign of Richard I exist.

(Last Update: January 2021).
HARDMAN HARDMAN families of Lancashire, England pre 1817. Mainly northern Tasmania 1817+, and Western Australia, Australia; New Zealand.

Richard HARDMAN (about 1784 - 1830) was transported as a convict to Tasmania via Sydney on the "Sir William Bensley" in 1817. He was charged along with William Duncan, James Shaw with having assaulted and robbed James Scholfield of a pocket book and seven Bank of England notes, "for one pound each", on the King's Highway at Birtle-cum-Bamford, near Rochdale, Lancashire, England.

(Last Update: January 2021).
(de) BOMFORD (de) BOMFORD families of Trim, County Meath, Ireland pre 1833. Mainly northern Tasmania, Australia 1833+.

Isaac BOMFORD (about 1800 - 1886) lived near Trim, County Meath, Ireland pre 1833 and worked at Dangan Castle. Mainly northern Tasmania, Australia 1833+.

I strongly suspect along with other researchers that my BOMFORDs are descended from Colonel Laurence BOMFORD (about 1617 - 1720) as appears in "Burke's Irish Family Records", 5th Edition, 1976, London, Burke's Peerage Limited, pages 152-5 and to Peter Bamford's "The Bomford Family and Allied Families".

(Last update: January 2021).
BOMFORD BOMFORD families of Worcestershire area, England 1580+ and County Meath and Westmeath, Ireland and worldwide about 1650+. Based on Peter Bomford's "The BOMFORDs of Worcester" and Peter Bamford's "The Bomford Family and Allied Families".

Special thanks to both Peters for their efforts in producing the documents.

Another BOMFORD researcher is Richard Bomford. His website Richard Bomford's BOMFORD website, (off site), is more up-to-date than mine. Special thanks to Richard.

(Last update: January 2021).
BOMFORD Peter Bamford's, "The Bomford Family and Allied Families" of County Meath and Westmeath, Ireland about 1650+.

Special thanks to Peter and Catherine Holman and family for their efforts in producing the document.

Another BOMFORD researcher is Richard Bomford. His website Richard Bomford's BOMFORD website, (off site), is more up-to-date than mine. Special thanks to Richard.

(Last update: January 2021).
RICHARDSON The Scottish RICHARDSON families of Smeaton and Pencaitland, Haddingtonshire, Scotland. Robert RICHARDSON (about 1514 - 1578), commendator of St Mary's Isle and Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, was the son of Robert RICHARDSON (1490 - about 1556), burgess of Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Robert RICHARDSON (about 1514 - 1578)'s great grandfather moved to Scotland from England in 1424 during the reign of King James I of Scotland.

The second son of Sir James of Smeaton (before 1548 - 1625), Sir Robert (about 1589 - April 1635), was created Baronet of Nova Scotia on 13th November 1630, (RICHARDSON, later STEWART-RICHARDSON Baronets, of Pencaitland).

The Irish RICHARDSON families are descended from the first son of Sir James of Smeaton (before 1548 - 1625), Alexander RICHARDSON (about 1585 - 1630), Drum estate, Kildress, County Tyrone, Ireland by 1618-19.

Charles Evans Davis Morgan-Richardson, (1857-1913)
According to a Richardson family pedigree copied and accepted by Francis Green, Charles Evans Davis Morgan-Richardson was descended paternally from a Scottish family who later settled in Ireland.1 At the beginning of the 17th century the Richardsons were an influential family of Edinburgh burgesses, and Alexander Richardson left his native Scotland for northern Ireland. In 1617 he bought the estate of Craigbalk in county Tyrone and built Drum Manor or Manor Richardson as it was also known. One cannot help suspecting that the acquisition of this estate was connected in some way or another with the many grants of land made by James I to those hardworking, stable and ambitious Scotsmen who benefited from the plantations of Ulster whence the native Irish had been cleared from 1608 onwards. Alexander Richardson married Grizel Stewart sister of James Stewart of Ballymenagh in county Tyrone.

1. The primary source of the Richardson pedigree was compiled by the Reverend Hugh B. Richardson in the Francis Green MSS. Collection, Haverfordwest Public Library, Pembrokeshire, England.

The RICHARDSON, later RICHARDSON-BUNBURY Baronetcy, of Augher in the County of Tyrone, is including in this family tree. The title is in the Baronetage of Ireland. It was created on 30 August 1787 for Sir William RICHARDSON (about 1747 - 1830). The second Baronet assumed in 1822 his aunt's surname of Bunbury.

Reverend William RICHARDSON (about 1815 - 1875) lived in Dublin, Ireland pre 1841 and later was the rector at Avoca, Tasmania, Australia. Mainly northern Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, Australia 1841+.

The RICHARDSONs are related to the Royal Stewarts of Scotland and hence related to the British and European Royal families and directly related to Charlemagne (off site). A comprehensive list of Charlemange's descendants is here. (off site).

(Last update: January 2023).
DENNIS DENNIS families from Kenwyn, Kea and Truro areas, Cornwall, England pre 1854. Ballarat and Creswick areas, Victoria, Australia 1854+.

Ferdinando Pascoe DENNIS (about 1829 - 1910) lived in the Truro area, Cornwall, England pre 1854. Ballarat and Creswick areas, Victoria, Australia 1854+.

(Last update: January 2021).
DEASON DEASON families from the Isles of Scilly and mainland Cornwall, England pre 1855. Bendigo area including Moliagul, Victoria, Australia 1855+ and New Zealand.

John DEASON (about 1829 - 1915) came to Victoria, Australia via South Australia and co-found the "Welcome Stranger" gold nugget with Richard OATES (about 1827 - 1906) on 5th February 1869 near Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.

(Last update: January 2016 but will be updated later in 2021).
KERRISON KERRISON families of Norfolk, England pre 1835. Mainly Tasmania in Australia 1835+.

Stephen KERRISON (1798 - 1881) lived in Norfolk, England pre 1835. Mainly Tasmania in Australia 1835+.

(Last update: January 2021).
McIVOR McIVOR families of Edinburgh, Scotland pre 1836. Mainly northern Tasmania 1836+.

Francis McIVOR/McIVER or IVOR (about 1822 - 1905) was a child convict on the "Lord Lyndoch (II)" to Tasmania in 1836. Francis was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in about 1822 and was convicted with Daniel BAIN for the crime of theft, habit and repute, and previous conviction in the High Court, Edinburgh, Scotland on 19th May 1835. Francis of College Wynd, Edinburgh was the son of Francis McIVER.

(Last update: January 2021).
TOBIN TOBIN families of possibly County Kilkenny or Tobinstown, County Carvan, Ireland, Ireland pre 1875; Victoria and Tasmania, Australia 1875+.

William TOBIN (about 1857 - 1936) came from possibly County Kilkenny or Tobinstown, County Carvan, Ireland, Ireland pre 1875; Victoria and Tasmania, Australia 1875+.

(Last update: January 2021).
Isles Of Scilly - OPC guide to genealogy on the islands Online Parish Clerk page for the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England.

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Search Engine:

NOTE: Please check every few weeks as it takes time for Google to update search results for frequently changing websites.

Google search
WWW https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ricksmith61/

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Useful Links (All offsite except the first):

Mike Dunphy's DUNPHY research (no relation)

Tasmania On-line

Ballarat and District Genealogical Society

The Thin Blue Line by Geoff Foster

Official Lewes Town Web Site in Sussex, England

Local Sussex libraries - very helpful people

Sussex Family History Group

Cornwall Family History Society

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First created: 23rd September 2001.

Last modified: January 2023 - Updated website.

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Contact
Email ricksmith61 AT gmail.com
Home https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ricksmith61/smith.html
Address Please email for postal address.
Phone Please email for telephone number.

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