52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #3 - Tough Woman - Hannah Nesbitt (1827-1913)

St Michael's Church, Alnwick, Northumberland

Alnwick is a small market village in the north of Northumberland. It is built near and has serviced Alnwick Castle for around 700 years. 

Alnwick Castle has been the home of one of the most powerful northern barony of England, the Earls of Northumberland and still is the home of the Percy family and the present day Earl of Northumberland. In was in this village that my great great grandmother Hannah Nesbitt was born in early August 1827.

Hannah is the subject of my third blog in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks category "tough woman". Her story starts in the lush green country side of north of England, living in a small village  on the outskirts of a castle and finishes in the dry and dusty outback of South Australia living in the small copper mining community of Burra. 

Hannah Nesbit - Baptism St Michael's Church, Alnwick, Northumberland

Hannah's baptism, at St Michael's Church, Alnwick, on the 3 August 1827 lists her parents as Anthony Nesbitt and Margaret Ramsay. Anthony's occupation was a commercial traveler. Unfortunately, when Hannah was only 7 years old her father passed away. However, her father's will left the family with a reasonable weekly income and Hannah remained in Alnwick until she married Francis Albert Newman at St Paul's Church, Alnwick on the 1 November 1847.

Soon after their marriage Hannah and Francis Newman moved to Sunbury on the Thames, London. Their first daughter Hannah Martha was born in October 1848 and was baptised at St Mary Church, Sunbury.  It seems that the family was living in or near one of the local pubs as Francis Newman's occupation is listed as publican on Hannah's baptism record

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Arrival of Boyne  in SA 1850

Two years later, Francis, Hannah and their daughter left London (9 March 1950), bound for the Australian settlement of Adelaide, South Australia on the "Boyne".*

Little is known about their first couple of years in the colony of Adelaide, however life in this new colony would not have been easy for Francis and Hannah.  Shortly after their arrival, on November 17th 1850, their second daughter Margaret Ramsay was born.

Life was soon to take a difficult turn for Hannah.  Francis decided to seek his fortune in the Victorian Goldfields joining the exodus of males from Adelaide to the goldfields around Ballarat and Bendigo.  Unfortunately, Francis passed away quite soon after his arrival in the gold field. 

His death left his widow, Hannah to fend for herself and their two daughters.  Two years later Hannah married William Herbert, and moved to the Burra.  In the space of six years, Hannah, a young women of 27 years, had left the quiet life of the small village in Northumberland, married, moved to London, borne two daughters, immigrated to a small colony on the other side of the world, lost her husband and remarried. 

Miners Cottage in Bridge Terrace, Burra

Hannah spent the rest of her life living in Burra where she would lived through and seen the fluctuations of prosperity experienced by Burra community and its copper miners and farmers.

William and Hannah had four surviving sons (William, John, Charles and George) who along with Hannah and Martha (daughters from her first marriage) spent their formative years in the Burra Community. William passed away in 1881 and Hannah continued to live with her family in one of the small miners cottages in Bridge Terrace.  

On the 12 January 1913 after a "lingering illness" at the age of 86 Hannah passed away at her home in Burra.  Her death was mourned by her two daughters Hannah and Margaret from her first marriage, her sons John, George and Charles from her second marriage and numerous grandchildren.**

Hannah's Headstone - Burra Cemetery

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* 1850 'SHIFTING INTELLIGENCE.', South Australian Register(Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), 15 July, p. 2, viewed 1 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38440888

** 1913 'Family Notices.', Burra Record (SA : 1878 - 1954), 15 January, p. 2, viewed 1 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37491602

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #1: Barbara Martin (1827-1902)

John Bell - Build by Alexander Stephens and sons, Glasgow 1854

This year, I have challenged myself to join Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Hopefully this will provide me with incentive to put pen to paper and write a few more family stories. As we are already into the third week of 2015,  I am a little late getting started, however the plan is to to catch up over the next couple of weeks. 

Advertisement for John Bell

This challenge will not only give me the motivation to research family members further, but also help me to connect with other researchers who may be connected  and researching the same family members.

It is my experience that a story shared inevitably links you with other family members. Over the next 12 months I plan to split my 52 ancestor stories over my two blogs, Family Stories, Photographs and Memories, and this blog, The other half of my tree, stories of my female ancestors.

Keeping with the theme "a fresh start" I have chosen to write about my husbands great great grandmother, Barbara Martin (1827-1902). Barbara was the second child of Adam and Janet Martin, and was born in the Scottish moorland village of Carnwath, Lanarkshire, Scotland in March 1827.

The journey from Greenock Scotland to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia in 1855 on the "John Bell"  was most certainly a fresh start for Barbara and her family. Barbara's parents Adam Martin (1800-1875) and Janet Russell (1801-1879), along with her siblings, immigrated to Tasmania as part of the Bounty Ticket System. 

The Martin Family, included parents Adam and Janet, children Thomas, Barbara, Adam, Margaret, Janet and Jane  (ages ranged between 28 and 14 years of age) left Scotland arriving in December of 1855. Their bounty fare of 22 pounds each was paid in total by a Mr John Walker. 

Immigration Record  - Adam and Janet Martin and their Family- on the John Bell arriving in Hobart in 1855

Barbara Smith (nee Martin) DC

The Martin Family settled in the rich rural area of New Norfolk Area of Tasmania. Barbara met and married Joseph Smith on the 28 March 1859, and continued to live in the New Norfolk district.  They had five children, Janet, Robert, Margaret, Thomas and my husbands great grandfather William Joseph.

Prior to 1888, Barbara's son William moved to Sydney, New South Wales  and married Elizabeth Sixsmith. It is quite possible that Barbara and Joseph Smith moved to Sydney around the same time as William as Joseph is listed as one of the witnesses on his marriage certificate. 

It has been difficult to discover the latter events in Barbara life, though we do know from her death certificate she spent the last twenty years of her life living in New South Wales.

On the first of February 1902 Barbara passed away at the age of 74.  Her death certificate states that she was living with her son William in Victoria Road, Marrickville.

Though there are still many gaps in Barbara's story, you would definitely have to agree that her story fits well into the "fresh start" category and that in her 74 years she had certainly seen and experienced a full and eventful life.