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Showing posts from September, 2021

John Hand (Matilda Seward's husband) was born 150 years ago today!

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John Hand was born on 14 July 1871 at Deepwater Creek on the Macleay River.  He was the oldest child of John Hand and Ann Kenny, two Irish migrants.   Father John had arrived in 1863 on the Sir John Moore as a 20 year old single man.  He records a cousin, Margaret McGough, was already in the colony.  Ann was on the same ship with her widowed mother, Catherine,  and three younger siblings.  Ann was 18.  Catherine's two orders children, Bridget and Margaret were already in New South Wales.   Both John and Ann settled on the Macleay.  On 26 April 1865, Ann married Frederick Honholz (or Hohnholy) who had migrated from Germany.  Their son Henry Frederick was born on 17 April 1866 at Deepwater Creek.  On 5 September in the same year, Frederick died in Sussex Street, Sydney.   On 29 March 1869, John and Ann married at the Catholic Church in West Kempsey.  After John was born in 1871, 7 other children were born to the couple.   John married Annie Seward on 1 March 1905 at the same church.

Update on Ann Feeney's husband, Richard Wilkinson

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It's just over 171 years since the death of our many time grandaunt, Ann Wilkinson (nee Feeney). You can read about Ann  HERE.   Ann died on 4 August 1850 at her mother's home in Clarence Street Sydney.  That was just nineteen months after her marriage to Richard Wilkinson. Last year, we didn't know anything about Richard or his fate after Ann's death. The only detail was in the Camperdown Cemetery Internment Register which records Ann as "wife of a Mariner". Could we have a lead on Richard Wilkinson? While it's early days, we might have a breakthrough thanks to Olivia, a young New Zealander, who's been busily researching her 3rd great-grandfather, Richard Wilkinson. Richard married Susannah Craib on 11 October 1860 in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. As his marital status was shown as widower, Olivia has been searching from his previous marriage in New Zealand. However, after finding Ann Feeney's marriage to Richard Wilkinson on my  ancestry.com.a