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Thursday, January 28, 2010

MY BRANCH OF THE MAWBEY FAMILY TREE

I am a 5th generation Australia, a descendent of British-born GEORGE MAWBEY who is thought to have arrived in Sydney in 1832.
I haven't been able to find out exactly how and when he got here, despite having checked all the shipping lists as well as the convict records.
Maybe he arrived in Melbourne and then came to Sydney overland.
Maybe he wanted to check out the Victorian goldfields. [Incorrect. They had not yet been discovered.]
I'll find out eventually.
That's the beauty of living on an island continent before air travel.
There was only one was to get here and that was by ship.

GEORGE MAWBEY is said to have come to Australia with his father, JOSEPH, who was a dealer in Surrey [Update 31-12-11 no information about Joseph has so far come to light].
I don't know the source of this information, but it's all I've got to go on.
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The first factual record about George [Update 31-12-11 A 'G. Mawbey' who is possibly him made his first appearance in public as an actor in a play at the Theatre Royal, the first professional theatre in Sydney in April 1833; he is a witness in a court case against a former employer in 1837] is his marriage certificate from St Philips Church of England, Sydney, when he married 19-year-old ANN WILLIAMS in 1838.
She had arrived in Sydney the same year as he did, having travelled with her parents from Lancashire, England.
If I can find what ship she came out here on, maybe I'll find him there too.
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I guess GEORGE was named after one of the English kings of the same name.
The use of kings' names for the boys has been a tradition in our branch of the MAWBEY family.
Both my father and brother were Edwards and there were a couple of Alberts too.
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Back to my original male forebear who I will call 'George (I)', not because he was royalty, but because he had a son and grandson named after him and it can become confusing trying to work out who is who.

GEORGE and ANN MAWBEY(nee WILLIAMS) had 10 children:
1842 David (bap. St James, Sydney; d.1848 St James, Sydney aged 6)
1843 Alfred (bap. St Phillips. Sydney; d.1848 St Phillips, Sydney aged 5)
1845 Alice (b. Cooks River, Petersham, Sydney; d.1917 Perth, WA aged 72)

1847 Ann Jane (bap. St Lawrence, Sydney; d. 1923 Byron Bay, aged 76)
1849 John Thomas (bap. Dural; d.1912 Mendoran, Dubbo aged 63)
1851 James (bap. Dural; d.1871 Newtown aged 19; buried Balmain Cemetery)

1853 Grace (b. Camperdown, Newtown, Sydney; d.1880 Newtown aged 27; buried Balmain Cemetery)
1855 Elizabeth (bap. Dural)
1858 George II (bap. Dural); d.1924 Little Hartley, NSW aged 66)

1862 Mary Emma (b. Newtown; d. 1944 Camden aged 82)
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GEORGE (I) died in 1862 at Newtown at the age of 53.
His wife ANN was only 43 at the time.
He died the same year as his youngest child, MARY, was born.

The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 6 January 1880
The FRIENDS of Mrs Ann MAWBEY are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of her late beloved DAUGHTER, Grace, to move from her residence, Albermarle street, Kingston. THIS (Tuesday) AFTERNOON at 3 o'clock, for Balmain cemetery. CHARLES BOOTS, Undertaker, Hordern street, Newtown.
[Source: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13450685]
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Grace's oldest surviving brother, John Thomas, named his eldest daughter, born on 24 May 1884, after her.
At age 16, young Grace and her younger sister, Hilda, were murdered by Aboriginals on their farm in the central west of New South Wales in July 1900.
But more about that later ...
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Thanks to the internet, and the wonderful Australian Newspapers beta site of the National Library of Australia, I have managed to find out a bit more about George I.
He appears to have been involved in a court case as a witness against his employer in 1837, the year before he married.
I'll report on that in a future post.
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GEORGE I was a witness at a wedding of 23-year-old MARY WILLIAMS and Irish-born Henry George BLACK at St Jude's Church of England at Dural on 19 February 1856.
The marriage certificate was signed by him as 'Geo Mawbey' together with the groom's brother, GEORGE BLACK and brother-in-law, GEORGE HUNT.
[Source: http://www.easystreetretreat.com.au/australianroyalty]
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Mary's father was THOMAS WILLIAMS.
Mary had an older sister, also called 'Ann', born at Castle Hill in 1828.
Ann Williams and her parents and siblings did not arrive in the colony until 1833.
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UPDATE 22-12-11
According to present day descendents of Mary Williams, her family was not related to George Mawbey through his wife, Ann Williams.