Some of them are duplicates, where the same person appears in different years. Pelling, Hugh Alexander and Willliam Hungerford are all there, plus Joan, who I would guess is the daughter of Hugh and Alice. There's also a Katherine Piggott Conant in Victoria.
You'll need to find somebody who has the Ancestry World or Australian Heritage sub to get the full details (address and occupation).
I've just been having a quick look through William Hungerford Conant's service record, which confirms that he's Hugh Alexander's son.
You'll be pleased to hear that William had at least one child, a son born in 1943. I won't put his name on here because he's probably still alive, but you'll find it on p. 48 of the service record.
From a quick Google search, it looks as though he's a historian.
I'm completely overwhelmed and have got goose bumps from all this superb information. Thank all so much for all this research and for doing so much on my behalf. I am really really touched.
It is going to take a couple of days/weeks to take it all in but it is fascinating to see that they are still using a mixture of the Pigott Stainsby Conant surname and still using the extremely ancient Pelling (that goes back to the 1690s and was the surname of a Pigott bride!).
My excitement is bubbling up but I know that I'll have to take things steady as this family probably have no idea of the "history of the family" nor how "important" in genealogical terms they are - only to our family of course :o! My avatar is their Coat of Arms.
Well I'm now going off with a huge smile on my face to do some looking up and damage to my bank account - but it will be so worth it!
Thank you all again - I can't really express how much it means......
Bo
At present: Marshall, Smith, Harding, Whitford, Lane (in and around Winchcomb).
Bo................have to get OH off to work. I'll get you those addresses Mary mentioned after he's gone.
I've got Ancestry UK Heritage so I'l check around the Aussie info.
He looks very impressive in his photo.....it was late last nigth when I was doing this, so there should be a family/local history group that has a bit on him.
I'll get back. Want to find the Norman Lindsay connection.
Found it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not the Ancestry...I'll get to that.
Look at this ebay.com.au number 260239296225 It has H R Gonant. It is actually H R Conant and the first name is Hugh. This is supposedly Lindsay's first bookplate.
I found a bit on the NLA (National Library of Australia) site. Unfortunately I can't copy and paste the link. I'm sure Mary will know how to do it.
I see there are Conants in the current Australian phone book, in Victoria and NSW, including an HT in NSW, probably the son of William Hungerford Conant.
I've got another marriage for Pelling HGPS-Conant. Catherine Ann Drummond in 1889 in Victoria Reg no 6963 originally born Hampshire (so I'm checking the UK censuses) - so that would account for Katherine. Pelling only died in 1925. His first wife Ann Marie Longden Orr died in 1888 at Echuca.
Not sure whether Pelling and Katherine had children.
I've looked at the NAA records for William Hungerford Conant. It really made me stop and think 60 pages for "an ordinary well behaved man". The beauracy that must've been involved in the discharge of all these men at the end of WW2 is mind blowing.
Bo
At present: Marshall, Smith, Harding, Whitford, Lane (in and around Winchcomb).
There are very few WW2 service records online - the only other RAAF one I've seen is my father's, which is quite different from William's - possibly because he enlisted a bit later and there was less red tape by them. He was also a PoW, so a lot of the file covers that aspect.
The unluckiest researchers are those with Australian navy men in their trees - they get a largely illegible 2-sided card.
Just to give you a quick update - thank you all for your help and as a result I have now made contact firstly with a lady from GR who passed me to her Ma who gave my details to her cousin who has done some research on their tree! The today I logged on here a blow me down with a feather I have a PM from the said cousin who only joined this site this month - he is probably disappointed that I am one and the same person though! :o
Without all your help I've never have got this far in Australia and would not have had the info to go to GR with. The best bit of all though is that they are as excited as I am with the discovery!
Bo
At present: Marshall, Smith, Harding, Whitford, Lane (in and around Winchcomb).
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