Duke of Richmond

Ship Mates

/ Merron Riddiford / 7 Comments

The Casterton Historical Society newsletters, as featured in Nifty Newsletters, ran a series of extracts from the book Tales of Casterton: the Waines murder and other stories by Jack Gorman.  In the September 2005 issue, Part 1 of the story stated that convicted murderer George Waines arrived in Victoria aboard the Duke of Richmond.

This is a particularly interesting find as my ggg grandmother, Margaret Diwell, who appeared as a witness at George’s murder trial, also arrived on the Duke of Richmond, along with her husband William.  This answers the question has to how she came to know the Waines, other than the fact they lived reasonably close together.

I have a database of Duke of Richmond arrivals and  I did a search but no George Waines.  I then went to an online passenger list of the Duke of Richmond that I often refer back to.  No George Waines.

So a-Troving I went.  An article from the Bendigo Advertiser, reporting on the hanging of Waines, supported his arrival on the Duke of Richmond.  But there seems to have been a case of mistaken identity Waines was keen to amend before his death.

EXECUTION OF THE CONVICT WAINES. (1860, July 18). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87945170

EXECUTION OF THE CONVICT WAINES. (1860, July 18). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918), p. 3. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87945170

I did find a George Waines in the Australian Convict Transportation Registers(1791-1868).  Convicted in Warwickshire,  he left England for Tasmania in 1843.

Back to the Duke of Richmond passenger list.  George’s wife was Jane so I thought I would look at first names instead of surnames.  Sure enough, there was a George and Jane Whainer both aged 29 from Yorkshire.  George’s age matches his birth date of 1823, but Yorkshire?  Both the  Casterton Historical Society Newsletter and the article above, state George was born in Dorset, England, with the Bendigo Advertiser narrowing it down to Sherborne.

Back to Trove and look what I found:

POPULATION OF THE GOLDFIELDS. (1860, October 22). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87947401

POPULATION OF THE GOLDFIELDS. (1860, October 22). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918), p. 3. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87947401

George was from Sherburn, Yorkshire, Sherburn as opposed to Sherborne, Dorset.  This and the claim George “was one of the most notorious poachers in the district” helps support something I found on the England and Wales, Criminal Registers (1791-1892).  In 1849, George Waines of Yorkshire was sentenced to three months imprisonment on a charge of larceny.  Maybe he wasn’t as squeaky clean as he wanted people to believe.  No matter the impression he tried to project, nothing could save him from the gallows.

Using FreeBDM I found a marriage of  George Waines in 1847, registered in the Scarborough district of Yorkshire.  From the same Volume, there are two Janes, Jane Winter and Jane Jewett.

That settled, back to the original aim of my post, the friendship between Margaret Diwell and the Waines, particularly Jane.  So it seems they met on the Duke of Richmond, the same ship another set of ggg grandparents sailed on, James and Susan Harman.  The Diwells spent around five years in Portland after arrival, then they went to Casterton in 1858.    The CHS newsletter says that once in Casterton, the Diwells lived close to both the Waines and the Hunts.  As the Hunts purchased land off George Waines in 1856 at Casterton, the Waines must have arrived in town before the Diwells.

It sounds like Jane Waines would have been a good friend.  The CHS newsletter describes her as “a comely woman, a vivacious personality full of joy and fun…”. George was not described in such a favourable way, although he did hold Jane in high regard.

EXECUTION OF THE CONVICT WAINES. (1860, July 18). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved February 4, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87945170

EXECUTION OF THE CONVICT WAINES. (1860, July 18). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918), p. 3. Retrieved February 4, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87945170

Of course, I did wonder what happened to Jane after George’s death.  George had thoughts about what she should do.

THE CASTERTON MURDER. (1860, April 30). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), p. 3. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1204764

THE CASTERTON MURDER. (1860, April 30). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 – 1889), p. 3. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1204764

On the Victorian Marriage Index, a Jane Waines married Thomas James Brooks in 1861.  From there I lose her.  I can not find a death record for either Jane or a Thomas James Brooks that I can definitely say is them.  I can’t get a lead on the town Jane lived in so that is making it hard to search for her at Trove.  I wonder if she stayed on in Casterton?  Did Margaret Diwell see her again?  Did Margaret and Jane’s relationship falter during the trial period, given Margaret also knew Mrs Hunt well.  So many questions.

As the Harmans were also on the Duke of Richmond, I have a picture in my mind of James Harman back in 1860, then at Muddy Creek, looking up from his paper of choice, maybe the Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser and remarking “Do you remember the Waines and the Diwells from the ship, Susan?”

 

This post was part three of a series of posts about the Casterton Murders.  You can read the first two parts on the following links:

Part 1:  Witness for the Prosecution

Part 2:  Witness for the Prosecution – New Findings

 

Left Behind

/ Merron Riddiford / 21 Comments

I have told you about the original Harmans of Byaduk and their time in Cambridgeshire, their journey to Australia, and their life beyond.  What I haven’t told you about is the family members that were left in England.

Yes, Joseph and Sarah Harman had children that did not make the voyage to Australia, thus never getting the opportunity to live the long and prosperous lives of their siblings.

For most of the children, it was death that robbed them of the life-changing experience.  For Mary Ann, the eldest living daughter, it seems marriage and children sealed her fate.

The children of Joseph and Sarah that did not travel to Australia were:

James:  Born 1827, Cambridgeshire, Died 1827, Cambridgeshire

Mary Ann:  Born 1829, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire; Died 1873, Poplar, London.

Alfred:  Born 1833, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire; Died 1851, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire

Arthur: Born 1842, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire;  Died ?

Ann:  Born 1847, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire;  Died ?

Betsy/Elizabeth:  Born 1849, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire;  Died ?

James was first born of Joseph and Sarah but he died as a baby.  Alfred was the fourth born child and he appears on the 1841 England Census.  His death was registered in January 1851 thus missing the 1851 England Census.

It was that census in 1851 that Arthur, Ann and Betsy appeared, all born after the 1841 England Census.  The question is, what happened to them between 1851 and 1854 when Joseph and Sarah and three children sailed for Sydney?  I have not found death or marriage records for these three children.

Second born child and eldest daughter, Mary Ann was married in 1847.  Her husband was James Loats, who was living with his family in the same street as the Harmans, Drury Lane, Melbourn.  After their marriage, they continued to live in Drury Lane in their own house.

At the time, none of the family would have even heard of Australia let alone considered making it their home.  However, on three occasions from 1852,  Mary-Ann said goodbye to family members beginning their journeys to Australia.   It began with James and his new wife Susan sailing on the Duke of Richmond in 1852.  Then the three boys, George, Jonathan, and Reuben.

In 1854, the last goodbyes came when her parents sailed.  Around this time Mary Ann was living in London.  Maybe she was at the docks.

Mary Ann and James had 10 children that I can match on the various census and vital records.  The first three children were born in Melbourn, with the remaining seven born in London.  James was working as a labourer at a coke oven.  Mary Ann died in 1871 at just 43 leaving four children under 10.  Aside from her brother Reuben, all the siblings that immigrated to Australia lived to around double that age.

Recognition of the Harman family is clear with the names of the Loats children. Julia again proves a popular Harman name, possibly the earliest record of that name in the family.

Betsy/Elizabeth: Born 1849, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire

Julia:  Born 1851, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire; Died 1856

Harriet Sarah:  Born 1852, Melbourn, Cambridgeshire;  Marriage:  Charles George Hazell, 1874 West Ham, London; Died:

Mary Ann Harman:  Born 1854, Camberwell, London

Wilfred:  Born 1857, Camberwell, London; Died 1857 Camberwell, London

Julia Mary Ann:  Born 1858, Rotherhite, Surrey; Died 1900 Holburn, London

Laura: Born 1861, Bromley Middlesex

Grace:  Born 1864, Bromley Middlesex

Joseph Harman:  Born 1867, Poplar, London

Jesse:  Born 1868, Bromley, Middlesex

I had always hoped I might find an Australian link through the Loats line, especially as I know of the name from the Hamilton area.  I have found two links.

Firstly, aboard the Duke of Richmond with Susan and James Harman was Thomas Loats, the brother of James.  Thomas settled in the Western District.  It makes me wonder how close  James and Mary Ann may have come themselves to settle in  Australia.  What stopped them?

Secondly, thanks to the granddaughter of Joseph and Sarah Harman, Harriet Sarah Loats, I have found a link taking a Harman descendant where none have gone before.  However, this post has gone on long enough and I will need to dedicate a whole post to my exciting find.  Stay Tuned!  (That might be a clue).

The “Duke of Richmond”

/ Merron Riddiford / 8 Comments

On 20 October 1852, the barque Duke of Richmond sailed from Birkenhead, England bound for Portland Bay, Victoria, Australia.  Among the 236 passengers on board were two couples, each from different parts of England and one with small children.  They were my great, great, great grandparents James and Susan Harman and William and Margaret Diwell.  William and Margaret, from Kent, and two daughters under five.  Another daughter had passed away before the journey.  James and Susan were from Cambridgeshire and been married only two months.

One of the passengers, Ann Maria Taylor wrote in a letter home,

The weather was then so hot that people could not sleep on their berths. They were lying on the open deck…the captain who has been such for thirteen years, said he never experienced such weather.  Indeed I never expected to see land again.  Two nights were awful…lamps smashed…barrels of water capsized. (State Library of Victoria, Letter, Taylor, Ann Maria, 7 March 1853, MS 13313,   http://search.slv.vic.gov.au )

After around 140 days, Captain Thomas Barclay sailed the Duke of Richmond into Portland Bay on 4 March 1853.

portlandbay

PORTLAND BAY, 1856. Illustration by S.T.Gill, courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/303521

The Portland Herald reported on 11 March 1853, that Captain Barclay and Dr Webbers, the Surgeon Superintendent, had attempted to make sure all immigrants were comfortable and happy in an almost competitive way.  However, the voyage was also reported as arduous with much illness and over twenty deaths.  Measles claimed many of those that died.

The Diwell family disembarked and stayed in Portland for another five years before moving to the Casterton area.  William was a bricklayer and left the ship on his own account.  James Harman was engaged by  Mr Robertson at Boodcarra near Port Fairy for six months with wages of £50.

It is doubtful the two families came together again until 1945 when my grandparents, William Gamble and Linda Hadden were married in Hamilton.

I have done some extra research on the other passengers aboard the Duke of Richmond.  A number moved to the Byaduk area.  Some of the family names include Clarke, Everett, Gibbons, Looker, McIntyre, Merry, Patman and Spong.  There were several families from Cambridgeshire.  If anyone had family on the Duke of Richmond, it would be great to hear from you.