UKRAINE READING ME

In the last week, there have been 33 views of my Mawbey Family Australia blog by people living in the Ukraine, at a time of conflict with its neighbour, Russia.
The highest number of views are from the USA with 6 from China, 4 from Romania and 2 from Hungary.
 

DESCENDANTS OF FRANK ALLAN, VICTORIAN CRICKETER

Anyone with information about turn of the 19th century champion Victorian bowler, FRANCIS "FRANK" ERSKINE ALLAN (1849-1917), is invited to contact me, particularly any of his descendants.
Allan was the husband of MARY EMMA MAWBEY (1857-1927), the 7th of 10 children of Henry Mawbey 1, a Victorian pioneer settler, and horse-racing fan.
According to Wikipedia, Allan made his first class debut for Victoria in an inter-colonial match against New South Wales in 1869. In 1878 he went on the Australians tour to England where he became regarded as a fine cricketer, both at home and abroad.
The following year he played in the third Test cricket match, having declined selection for the first two Tests because he wanted to attend the Warrnambool Show.
Allan was also a leading Aussie Rules footballer for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football Association.
For where he sits on the Victorian Mawbey family tree, see my associated blog, MAWBEY FAMILY AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA, page HENRY MAWBEY FAMILY TREE

EDMUND MAWBEY, BRITISH NAVY SEAMAN AKA EDWARD MORBY

Empire, Sydney, Monday 17 April 1865
WATER POLICE COURT. - Saturday.
(Before the Water Police Magistrate.)
Jane Wilkinson, aged 29, described as a domestic servant, was brought up for protection.
From the evidence it appeared that the prisoner, on Thursday night last, threw herself into the water from the pier near the battery at Fort Macquarie and but for the timely aid of Edmund Mawbey, ship's corporal, of H.M.S. Curacoa, she  would inevitably have lost her life.
The woman had been carried into the stream fully 30 yards when Mawbey plunged in to her rescue.
She was slightly under the influence of liquor when she was given into custody. The Water Police Magistrate complimented Mawbey for his gallant conduct. The prisoner was remanded for a week for medical treatment.
*
Seven months later, in November 1865, Edmund Mawbey was in Darlinghurst Gaol.  Why?  He'd been awarded medals for his involvement in the Maori Wars in New Zealand, so what went wrong?

21-02-2016
The Sydney Morning Herald Thursday 16 November 1865
Well, I've just discovered that this once gallant seaman was back in the news in November 1865 as "Edward Morby" and as a deserter from his ship, the HMS Curacao.
The police were tipped off to his whereabouts by an informer and he was found in a bed in a pub owned by a Camperdown publican, John Woodford, and his wife who were hiding him.
The publican was fined 30 pounds in default three months in prison.
Morby aka Mawbey must have been given a gaol sentence for jumping ship. 
This all happened exactly 3 years after my ancestor, George Mawbey's death in nearby Newtown.

JOHN EVAN MAWBEY FOUND & REUNITED

A very interesting story has developed as a result of now being able to link two Mawbeys who have been dealt with separately on this blog.
They are John Evan Mawbey and Ann Clifford (nee Mawbey) who came to Australia as a couple in 1857.
According to a small piece in The Sydney Morning Herald of 13 August 1859, the former (known as 'Evan') had died at Parramatta River the previous month.
It claimed he had been a compositor, formerly of the Times office, London, and was aged 42.
*
There were several settlements along the Parramatta River, and one of them was Tarban Creek, near today's Gladesville.
It was the site of Sydney's lunatic asylum.
That was where Evan Mawbey [Mowberry] died, as a 'lunatic',on 21 July 1859.
*
Some four years later, in September 1862 (two months before my GG grandfather, George Mawbey died in Sydney), a widow, Ann Mawbey, remarried at Camden, south of Sydney.
At the time she was the housekeeper at the country estate of Charles Cowper, a son of Rev William Cowper, and several times premier of New South Wales.
The name of the estate was Wivenhoe.
*
Evan and Ann Mawbey had arrived together in Sydney from London on the Alnwick Castle on 12 January 1857.
At first, I could not find a death record for John Evan, nor a coroner's report, which seemed strange.
Then around midnight a couple of weeks ago, I did a BDM search, typing in just the word 'Evan' and his year of death.
Lo and behold his entry appeared, as 'Evan Mowbery' with his surname misspelt.
*
Meantime, I had joined forces with another member of the Mawbey family in Canberra, part of Evan's wider family, and she obtained his death certificate.
Lo and behold yet another surprise!
That he had died in a lunatic asylum.
His death death certificate gave his age as 30, but he was older, around 35.
*
Evan Mawbey came from a family of males who worked in various capacities at The Times.
So far my GGG does not appear to have any direct connection with this branch of the family.
Three generations of its males emigrated to Australia. 

WALTER & CHARLES MAWBEY

Two brothers from Crick, Northamptonshire, England, Walter Gilbert (1884-1945) and Charles A Mawbey, were living at Hurstville, Sydney in 1945.
on 27 February that year, Walter died at age 61, a machinist and invalid pensioner.
He appears to have arrived in Melbourne on the Miltiades on 26 June 1909 aged 26.
His parents were George Mawbey, wheelwright, and Ellen Mawse.

ENGLISH MAWBEYS

I am currently posting new information about different branches of the Mawbey family in England on my subpost, MFA-English Roots (see link right side bar).

INTERESTING FAMILY HISTORIES

Last night I attended a free two-hour workshop by family historian and author of popular histories, Carol Baxter, on how to write interesting family histories.
I was pleased to learn that I had already incorporated one of her techniques, placing my ancestors in their social, political and economic historical context.
The highlight for me was winning the door prize, a copy of her book, Writing Interesting Family Histories.

MAKING PROGRESS

As the new  year begins, I can see my finished Mawbey family history book looming over the horizon.
When I thought I had finished it some six months ago, I was really just at the beginning of the next stage of the research process.
This second stage, linking my first paternal ancestor, George Mawbey, with other people and events, has proved a most fascinating and rewarding exercise.
After finding all the surface 'gold', nuggets of information, I'm finding much more buried beneath the surface.
It's taken almost 50 years for me to appreciate having studied Archaeology as an undergraduate, and the understanding this gave me of the importance of the need to dig deeper.
I still have more digging to do, but I know where to look now and just have to keep shovelling.
As Steve Jobs, founder of Apple computers, so rightly said: 'The journey is the reward.'