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Western Australia - opinions please.

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  • Western Australia - opinions please.

    I'm all googled out!! I'm trying to prove/disprove some IGI entries.

    Do you think, in Western Australia in 1881, it's likely that the daughter of a convict could/would marry into one of the most influential families in the state? (Her brother remained a lowly railwayman all his life.)

    I've checked WA bmd indexes, IGI, etc until I'm cross eyed and can't prove it one way or the other but I'm very sceptical as to the truth of the matter.

    The couple are Emily Paley and Henry Gerald Lefroy and/or Emma Jane Paley and Henry Maxwell Lefroy.
    Cath.

  • #2
    Some convicts certainly got to be influential people, but a convict marrying into an influential family sounds a bit less likely.

    Have you got any certs for them? Australian marriage and death certs usually have the parents' names and occupations, which should help.

    Comment


    • #3
      Just looking at the electoral rolls.

      1925
      Henry Gerald Lefroy is a sheep farmer at Carnarvon, Dampier district, Gascoyne sub-district, WA.
      At the same address:
      Elizabeth Jane Lefroy, married
      Emily Lefroy, married
      Emily Elizabeth Lefroy, home duties
      Lucy Carolene Lefroy, home duties

      There are some other Lefroys nearby.

      The electoral roll doesn't give ages, but they'd have to be over 21 to appear on it, I think.
      Last edited by Mary from Italy; 29-05-08, 19:36.

      Comment


      • #4
        There's a John Henry Maxwell Lefroy, surveyor, on the 1901, 1906 and 1916 censuses in WA, but he's not with an Emma Jane or Emily.

        Comment


        • #5
          This is presumably the marriage you found for Henry Gerald:

          LEFROY / HENRY GERALD / Male / PALEY / EMILY / Female / PERTH / 5108 / 1881

          I can't see the other one - where did you find it?

          Comment


          • #6
            Ah, just looking at the births on the WA BMD site.

            According to the sets of parents, Emily Paley married Henry Gerald Lefroy and Annette Bates married Henry Maxwell Lefroy.

            Comment


            • #7
              HI

              Maybe this might explain things if indeed she did take up with a Lefroy


              Lefroy, Henry Maxwell - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry
              WendyP

              Comment


              • #8
                Yes, well done. I'd only found Sir Anthony Langlois Bruce Lefroy in the ADB so far.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Main problem we're having is that "my" E. Paley was registered as Emma Jane (dau. of John Paley and Elizabeth Jerrold) but it was an Emily who married Henry Gerald Lefroy. We don't seem to be able to confirm births for either Emily or Henry Gerald around 1850/60ish.

                  It's all getting very complicated but I'm 95% sure that John Paley (convict) was my direct ancestor.
                  Cath.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    There's a load of stuff about this family if you do a Google books search. They seem to be connected with an Eyre - I wonder if that's one of Libby's relations?

                    Here's Henry Maxwell's marriage:

                    Notes and documents relating to the family of Loffroy, by a cadet [J.H. Lefroy]. - Page 7
                    by John Henry Lefroy - 1868


                    Henry Maxwell Lefroy, of W. Australia, b. Aug. 1818, m. Annette Bate, November
                    1853.
                    Last edited by Mary from Italy; 29-05-08, 19:50.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I think you'll find that Emma and Emily were pretty much interchangeable in those days, and lots of my female Australian ancestors changed their middle names.

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                      • #12
                        What an interesting family - they were connected with Jane Austen:

                        The friend: Mrs Anne Lefroy - The people in Jane Austen's Life
                        Last edited by Mary from Italy; 29-05-08, 20:01.

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                        • #13
                          It sounds as though you need to get the marriage cert for Henry Gerald and Emily, which should give you their parents' names and occupations and birthplaces.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hello Cath...................

                            I can't help you with whether your girl is the one mentioned above or not, but I can give you a bit of insight into convicts.

                            Quite a lot never saw the inside of a jail when they got here...mainly because there were no jails..or any buildings for that matter....
                            It was only quite late in the history of transporting that there would have been jail buildings.
                            The convicts were workers for the British government. They grew the food, built the houses and public buildings, etc.

                            My gggg grandmother came on the first fleet in 1788 as a petty crim from the streets of London. She could not read or write and had at least a couple of children to different men. After coming here she still had more children to more men (probably the only way she, and her children, was fed and clothed).
                            Her daughter to another convict from the second fleet went on to marry the son of yet another convict and start one of the most famous families in the early history of Australia.

                            The convicts were relied on to grow the timber for buildings. I can look at the first government house and say my ggggg grandfather supplied the timber for that. At first he would have been a convict, but later supllied it as a free man with a huge timber business.

                            So that's part of the long answer.....the short answer is...yes.... a convict could easily marry a wealthy man and go on to establish a famous family. It happened quite often.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Jerrold? Gerald? Bit of a coincidence, isn't it?

                              OC

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Thanks Mary,
                                .Yes Henry Maxwell Lefroy married Annette Bate in November 1853 in St. Germans, Cornwall, UK before returning to WA aboard the Sea Park.
                                One of the problems with googling Lefroy is the Jane Austen connection, especially since the film about Jane's life has been released. There are dozens of entries about Tom Lefroy 's friendship with her and all the other important family members but it's the Paley line I'm trying to prove.

                                O.C.
                                It gets even better when you see that when Elizabeth Jerrold/Paley married again her new husband was Johann Herold!!!
                                Cath.

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Hi Libby

                                  Thanks for your reply. My great great grandfather wasn't transported until later - 1854. I understand that Fremantle jail had been built by then. I've been sent some interesting information from a contact on Curious Fox about the WA convicts and their living/working conditions.

                                  Thanks everyone - I think this will have to remain another "it appears but can't be proved" piece of information.
                                  Cath.

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                                  • #18
                                    Cath.....do you know if Emma/Emily Lefroy died in Australia? If so, her parents' names should be on her death cert (if whoever the informant was, knew).


                                    Oh Mary......didn't see the Eyre connection. Have to say I have no idea as there are very few PRs for Bristol done and can't find any more than a marriage.

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      Oh Mary......didn't see the Eyre connection.
                                      I found the names of explorers Henry Maxwell Lefroy and Edward John Eyre in some Google book search snippets, so I thought they were connected somehow, but I can't see any evidence of it so far.

                                      Have to say I have no idea as there are very few PRs for Bristol done and can't find any more than a marriage.
                                      Have you never tried the LDS centre in Brisbane?

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        Hi Mary........Cath..sorry to hijack your thread.

                                        Eyre the explorer is not related to my Elizabeth Eyre anyway I can see.

                                        I have tried the LDS here but apparently not much has been done before the late 1700s.

                                        I've also tried the Somerset OPC (who have Bristol) same response. Trouble is that they were non-cons so not sure where they were. I have several baptism certs from lates 1700s, but only a couple of marriages prior to that in Bristol. I was just trying to get back as far as possible to see where the Ariels originated. There are a stack in Yorkshire with a double "L" and stackes in Wales, but can't connect any with mine.

                                        Comment

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