Saturday 26 March 2016

Ancestors by place of birth 3

This is the last in this series.
Jenny posted a template for six generation charts so I had to have a go.
I created the one chart in Excel but have reproduced the results here in two sections.
The above chart is of my father's side of the family - family members born in
Australia -
peach = Victoria
light blue = New South wales
Six members of the family were born in the Hawkesbury River area.

Other countries -
dark blue = Scotland
red = England
green = Ireland

NB: the parents of the sixth generation member born in Windsor were born in Cornwall, England and Severn Stoke, Worcestershire, England. 
The above chart is of my mother's side of the family - family members born in
Australia, a number of states  -
peach = peach
mauve = Queensland
light blue = New South Wales
orange = Tasmania
dark green = South Australia
fawn - Norfolk Island

Other countries -
dark blue = Scotland
red = England
green = Ireland

Ancestors by place of birth 2

After posting yesterday's post on this topic I decided to try and further refine the chart to distinguish when several people can from one region in Australia or one city in the UK.
I added an addtional column next to the existing columns of cells and then reduced the width of this new column until it was a small square next to each cell. I could then add colours to show same regions or towns as required.
The above section of the chart highlights family born in the Hawkesbury region of NSW as well as family from Glasgow in Scotland. Lots of time could be spent playing with variations of charts. They do provide a way of showing the range of locations members of a family can come from.

Friday 25 March 2016

Ancestors by place of birth

Chart showing birthplace of family for five generations - by country
yellow = Australia
blue = Scotland
pink = England
green = Ireland


Chart showing birthplace of family for five generations - coloured sections show states in Australia
yellow = Victoria
blue = NSW
green = Tasmania
red = Queensland
orange = South Australia
The charts were made using Excel and result from a post in Australian and Local History Bloggers Facebook page providing a link to a post in GeniAus showing how to create the charts.

It is interesting to see the different states in which the branches of the family have lived as well as the countries from which they came.

More horses in the family

A previous post in 2014 recorded the story of Poitrel, a horse owned by Bill and Fred Moses winning the 1920 Melbourne Cup. Since then I have discovered that another family member trained winners of five Melbourne Cups - Archer in 1861 and 1862, Tim Whiffler in 1867, Chester in 1877 and Calamia in 1878.

Image from South Coast Register
The trainer of these horses was Etienne de Mestre (1832-1916). His father, Prosper de Mestre was born in France and had spent time in the United States before settling in Australia. In 1821 at St Phillip's Church in Sydney Prosper married Mary Ann Black, daughter of Mary Hyde (1779-1864), my great x3 grandmother. Prosper and Marry Ann had ten children - their third son was Etienne Livingstone de Mestre who was born in Sydney on 9 April 1832.

Prosper, a merchant, had property named Terara (Terarra) near the Shoalhaven River. In the 1850s Etienne established a horse stud, stables and racetrack on this property. Etienne had been a jockey and later had considerable success as a trainer. However he also he was not always successful and in 1883 the property was sold to cover his debts.

Etienne had had some success racing horses in Melbourne so in 1861 he took two horses, Archer and his own horse, Inheritor, by steamer to Melbourne for the race which in later years was to become known as The Melbourne Cup. Archer returned the following year and won the race again. Etienne intended that Archer would run in the 1863 race but officials said his application arrived late.
Archer with jockey, John Cutts - ABC
After the refusal to let him race Archer in 1863 Etienne refused to take other horses for the race until 1867 when he entered Tim Whiffler in the race.
Tim Whiffler - ABC
In 1877 Chester was the winner of the Melbourne Cup.
Chester with jockey, Paddy Piggott - ABC
Etienne's final winner in the race was Calamia in 1878.
Calamia with jockey, T Brown - ABC
Winning five Melbourne Cup races as a trainer was a record that Etienne held until the recent successes of Bart Cummings. Etienne de Mestre was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 12 September 1992 and Australian Racing Museum Hall of Fame in 2002.

Additional information on the web about Etienne de Mestra:
Etienne Livingstone de Mestre - Australian Dictionary of Biography
Archer, first Melbourne Cup winner - Progroup Racing
Australian Connection - de Mestre family tree
The horse that started a legend - Alison Stuart-writer
De Mestre family history
Etienne de Mestre - De Mestre Family story

Books:
My Australian Story: Archer's Melbourne Cup by Vashti Farrer (children's book)
Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) by Keith Robert Binney

Friday 11 March 2016

Simeon Lord (horse)

Family history can produce many surprises and puzzles. Recently I read that my great (x3) grandfather, Simeon Lord, had been involved with the early days of horse racing in New South Wales. This will be discussed in another blog post. However when exploring Trove recently I found reference to a racehorse named, Simeon Lord. Needless to say this had to be investigated.
[1] Telegraph (Brisbane) 2 July 1945
Simeon Lord appears to have been raced originally in Queensland in 1945 and later, in 1946, in New South Wales. There are a number of reports, often in country newspapers, listing details of race meetings including the names of horses involved and / or the results. The newspaper article [2] below lists E McKell as the jockey and he rode the horse in many of his races.
[2] Daily Examiner (Grafton) 1 July 1946
This newspaper also provided additional information about the racing career of Simeon Lord.
[3] Daily Examiner (Grafton) 1 July 1946
The results above in newspaper article [2] provide information about the sire and the dam of Simeon Lord. The sire was a horse named Simeon's Fort which further research revealed had been imported from Ireland. In 1928 Simeon's Fort won the AJC Doncaster Handicap and years later sired the 1942 winner of the Doncaster Handicap, Tuhitarata. The dam was a horse named Bachelor's Petal and her pedigree is also available online. Simeon Lord was listed as a four year old. The article refers to the horse as being a "Richmond River owned galloper".
[4] Sydney Morning Herald 21 April 1943
In April 1943 both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Argus announced that at a thoroughbred sale Mr W J Lloyd of Risdon Stud in Warwick had sold four horses sired by Simeon's Fort. One of the horses was by Bachelor's Petal and was sold for 100 guineas. This horse was possibly the horse later named Simeon Lord. The buyer of the horse was R Ramsay.

The newpaper article [1] above discussing the naming of the horse stated "it is in memory of an ancestor that the youngster got his name". Simeon Lord's eldest daughter, Sarah Ann Lord, married Dr David Ramsay in 1825. They had eleven children with ten living to adulthood. If  R Ramsay purchased and named the horse Simeon Lord and was related to this Ramsay family, it would explain the choice of the name.
[5] Daily Examiner (Grafton) 20 May 1946
The above race result in newspaper article [5] provides additional information as the name of the owner is given as R B Ramsay. Searching Trove and Google again I located Mr and Mrs R B Ramsay living on Cheviot Hills Station near Drake in the Richmond River region in the 1940s. R B Ramsay was secretary of the Tabulam Graziers' Association. The Australia Pastoral Directory 1954 in Ancestry has R B Ramsay on Cheviot Hills, Drake, where the property has 1311 head of cattle plus 36 sheep. Articles in Trove show that he was also a veterinary officer. In the above newspaper excerpt the jockey was listed as Alvos. Tommy Alvos rode many horses in races in this region in the 1940s and 1950s until his death from a fall from a horse at Casino in 1958.

I still needed to find out more about R B Ramsay and whether he was a descendant of Simeon as claimed in  newspaper article [1]. I knew that Belinda Cohen had carried out extensive research on Simeon Lord and Mary Hyde and their descendants, especially the Ramsay and de Mestre families, so I checked if Belinda had a Ramsay family tree on her website. I hit gold. I then looked for a member of the Ramsay family with given names beginning with the initials R B who lived in New South Wales during the twentieth century and  I located Roderick Biddulph Ramsay. A Google search for Roderick Biddulph Ramsay and Cheviot Hills, the property owned by R B Ramsay, confirmed that this was the right person. A further search in Google showed that Roderick was born in New South Wales in November 1912. In 1939 he married Dorothy Smith and they lived on the Cheviott Hills property. Roderick died in July 1996. Roderick Biddulph Ramsay was the great, great grandson of Simeon Lord and Mary Hyde.

Purchasing in 1943 a thoroughbred racehorse whose sire had a name that included the name Simeon provided Roderick Ramsay with the opportunity to name the horse after his ancestor who came to Australia in 1791 on the Third Fleet. Simeon Lord was a successful businessman (most of the time) who made the most of the opportunities he came across in the colony. Simeon Lord, the horse, appears to have raced for only two years however, as newspaper article [3] noted he had some success on the race track.  

NB: I can find no substantiation for the statement in newspaper example [1] in this post that "Forebears of the owner arrived in Australia back in 1880".  Roderick's great grandfather, Dr David Ramsay was born in Scotland and married Sarah Ann Lord in Sydney in 1825. Other family members in this line were born in New South Wales. I suspect an error was made in the date or the reference is to a member in another line of the family.

Sunday 6 March 2016

The Portuguese Connection


Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster
Almost a year ago I wrote a general post on the children of John of Gaunt (1340-1399). The eldest child of John of Gaunt and his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster was Philippa of Lancaster (1359-1415).

Philippa was born  at Leicester Castle on 31 March 1359. She was one of seven children of John and Blanche, however only her sister Elizabeth and her brother, Henry, survived childhood. As a grandaughter of Edward III Philippa had a royal upbringing. She appears to have had a good education. Her governess was Katherine de Roet (later Swynford) who eventually became her father's third wife. Katherine's brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the theologian, John Wycliffe, are quoted by some sources as being involved in the education of the children of John and Blanche. Philippa later ensured that her children also received a good education.

Marriages in royal households were often arranged marriages planned to cement political alliances. France and Spain had formed an alliance against England so it was considered wise for England to form an alliance with Portugal. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance remains today.

As part of this Alliance, in 1387, Philippa married Joao I of Portugal (also known as John I) (1357- 1433).  Joao becoming king was the beginning of the House of Aviz in the Portuguese royal family.
Philippa and Joao had nine children - six lived to become adults.
Blanche (1388-1389)
Alfonso (1390 - 1400)
Duarte (Edward) (1391-1438) - Became King of Portugal in 1433
Pedro (Peter) (1392 - 1449) - Duke of Coimbra and Regent during the minority of his nephew Alfonso V
Henrique (1394 - 1460) - Duke of Viseu (Known by the English as Henry the Navigator)
Isabella (1397 - 1472) - married Phillip III of Burgundy
Blanche (1398 - 1398)
Joao (John) (1400-1442) - Constable of Portugal, Lord of Reguengos
Ferdinand (1402-1443) - the 'Saint Prince'
The children of this family were referred to as the 'Illustrious Generation'.

Philippa ensured that her children were well educated while Jaoa also ensured that the boys were skilled in riding and hunting. Events in later life show their interest in law, science and religion.  Duarte wrote a number of books and during his short reign as king edited collections of law and required written opinion from his councillors before making decisions. Henrique became known for his interest in discovering new lands and, although he did not go on any of the early Portuguese voyages of discovery and certainly was not a navigator, he funded many of the voyages discovering unknown sections of the west coast of Africa. Henrique was also responsible for the beginning of the Portuguese involvement in the African slave trade.

Using her connections with England, Philippa was able to influence both the Portuguese and English courts and was able to improve diplomatic and commercial bonds between the two kingdoms.

Blanche, Philippa's mother had died in 1369 after contracting bubonic plague. On 19 July 1415 Phillipa also died from the plaque. Initially she was buried at the Convent of Odivelas. Eighteen years later when King Joao died, her body was reburied next to her husband at Founder's Chapel at Batalha.

Portuguese explorers
It was during the reign of Joao I that Portugal began to seriously investigate Africa leading eventually to seeking an alternative route around the coast of Africa to India and the spice trade. Up until this time it was necessary to travel through many, often hostile, countries to gain access to the spice route. Portugal had a good navy and was prepared to build additional ships to aid the exploration of the African coast.

1415, the year Philippa died, was the year that the Portuguese began their campaign to make in-roads into Africa. Joao and three of his sons, Duarte, Pedro and Henrique, led Portuguese troops in  a fleet of 200 ships to capture the seaport of Ceuta, the gateway to Morocco. The expedition was planned so that the Portuguese had some land in Africa but it was also a 'battle of fire' for the three princes to prove their capabilities as military leaders. King Joao knighted his three sons shortly after their participation in the battle. It was at Ceuta that the princes saw for themselves the riches that abounded in the city from the spice trade. This was to be the beginning of Portuguese expansion to the New World. Other countries controlled the Mediterranean Sea so for Portugal the decision was made to establish a sea route around the coast of Africa to India.  
                                                                                    
As well as trading in spices, the search for gold was part of the plan. This was also the time of battles against Muslims who inhabited the north of Africa. Consequently religion, desire for trade, riches and new trade routes and defeat of Muslim lands were some of the goals behind the exploration plans. Colonisation of areas discovered was part of the plan and this led to the development of the slave trade.

The first expedition sponsored by Henrique was to the Atlantic Islands of Porto Santo (1418-1419). The where abouts of these and a number of other island groups in the Atlantic had been known for many years but now the Portuguese rediscovered the islands and established colonies. The Azores became Portuguese territories in 1439 and the Cape Verde Islands 1455-1460. Meanwhile the coast of west Africa was gradually being explored and mapped. Expeditions were also being made into north Africa, not always with success. The attempt to capture Tangiers in 1437 was a failure and Henrique's brother, Fernando, was taken hostage. Fernando died at Fez in 1443.

When Henrique died in 1460 the Portuguese had developed the desire for further exploration. By 1460 1,500 miles of African coast had been explored, a number of settlements established with African coastal rivers explored. The explorers had travelled and mapped as far south as Sierra Leone. Trade with people living along the coast of Africa resulted in large supplies of gold. They also had access to some of the African spices and, of course, the slave trade had begun. The Portuguese had also obtained the rights to further explore and colonise the African coast in their search for a route to the 'Indies'.

The exploration continued, much of it during the reign (1481-1495) of King Joao II, the great grandson of King Joao I. Exploration of the Afican coast continued with stone pillars being left on the land to show that the Portuguese had been there. There were a number of explorers but it was Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 who located the southern tip of Africa and sailed home to report the discovery to report his discovery.

In July1497 Vasco da Gama, with a fleet of four ships, sailed from Lisbon to locate the route around Africa to India. They did not travel all the way along the African coast as they took a detour into the South Atlantic Ocean to avoid unfavourable winds before sailing east to the southern tip of Africa. They then travelled north to Mozambique and then to Mobassa before crossing the Indian Ocean to Calicut on 20 May 1498. When the ships returned to Lisbon in 1499 only 55 of the original crew of 170 men had survived the voyage.

In March 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral set out with 13 ships to follow da Gama's route to India. When taking the detour to avoid the unfavourable winds he sailed further west than da Gama had and discovered the coast of Brazil which became another Portuguese colony. Regular trips to India followed including a second and then a third expedition by Vasco da Gama.

So by 1500 the Portuguese had established trade routes to India, established new colonies in Africa and India and now also had a colony in South America.

Websites and blog posts about Phillipa of Lancaster:
Famous people - Philippa of Lancaster
English monarchs - Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal
Freelance history writer - Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal
Medievalists.net - Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal

Website about King Joao 1 of Portugal:
Encyclopaedia Britannica - John 1 King of Portugal

Websites about Prince Henrique (Henry) often referred to as the Navigator:
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Henry the Navigator Prince of Portugal
Bio - Henry the Navigator Prince
Encyclopedia.com - Henry the Navigator

Websites about King Joao II of Portugal
Encyclopaedia Britannica - John II King of Portugal
Mad Monarchist - King Joao II of Portugal

Website about King Manuel I of Portugal
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Manuel 1 King of Portugal

Websites about Portuguese explorers
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Bartolomeu Dias
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Vasco da Gama 
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Pedro Alvares Cabral