Topic: “You Wouldn’t Believe it”

Just once this year I’m writing about my husband’s family instead of my own. One of their surnames is Arkle, which always fascinated me. Christopher Arkle 1816-1896 and most of his family arrived in NZ from Northumberland in 1861 but nothing was known about his antecedents.

One Christmas after dithering over several genealogical magazines in a shop, I bought one for something to read over the holiday. Driving home with my husband, I idly leafed through the magazine and suddenly the surname Arkle leapt out at me. (I probably exclaimed and my husband swerved…)

It was a story called “My Ancestor Froze to Death” and a little research soon showed that Eleanor Arkle Heron was the sister of the Christopher who came to NZ. The story of Eleanor’s unfortunate death had probably never reached her brother.

Eleanor Arkle aged 50, who had married into the border Heron family, lived in Hartside in the Ingram Valley, still a relatively lonely spot today, and one winter’s day in 1863 “went visiting”. Despite a fierce snowstorm, she decided to make her way home 4 miles across the Cheviot moors on foot and never made it. An account of her death in the regional newspaper on Monday 7 December 1863 was headlined “Snow storms on the Cheviots and loss of life”. Apparently it had been one of the most violent snowstorms northern Northumberland had ever experienced.

My story doesn’t quite end here. I got in touch with the author of the article who in turn put me in touch with distant Arkle relatives. They did not know anything about the NZ Christopher’s family; he had simply “disappeared”. I have been able to greatly expand the Arkle family tree back to an early Christopher of the late 17th Century who together with several later generations lived near Alwinton, Northumberland.

One of my husband’s distant relatives, in telling me of this, added this charming story:

“Alwinton church is really special. It is built out of the village on a very hilly site. How they dug some of the graves I do not know. They must have had a struggle getting the coffins up too. Inside, the church is split level with the altar about ten steps higher than the body of the church. When I was young we used to go to Alwinton Show every year. It was usually held in October, and the highlight was the sheep dog trails and the Cumberland wrestling. The men taking part were nearly all sheepherders, and real characters. There is a track that goes from Alwinton over the hills to Scotland, and this was used by the whisky smugglers in days gone by. There are many stories of the excise men trying to catch the smugglers, who did not pay tax on this black market spirit.”

Wikipedia tells me the church goes back to the 9th century. There are some beautiful photos at https://fabulousnorth.com/st-michael-and-all-angels-church-low-alwinton/

Topic: Family Recipe

I have in my possession a wonderful old cookery book, hand-written with hundreds of recipes and household hints and also knitting patterns. It has marbled end papers and would at one time have been a handsome book but is now falling to pieces. It belonged to my maternal grandmother.

Edith Lillian “Lily” Hunt was born in 1876 in Reading, Berkshire to schoolteachers Edwin and Margaret (Morgan) Hunt.

She was the youngest of their ten children. When she was aged 2 the whole family emigrated to Australia on an early steamship the “Aconcagua”which would have certainly shaved off the days a sailing ship would have taken, but nevertheless took 49 days. They travelled in the equivalent of first class and must have had a mountain of luggage including linen and silver – some still in my possession. Eventually they settled in a large house in Sydney.

When Lily was aged 32, about a year after visiting an elder sister who lived in a small remote town in northern Queensland, she married Dick d’Archy, Manager of an even more remote cattle station in the Australian outback. It must have been quite a change in lifestyle for a gently-bred English girl – she would have had to deal with loneliness, heat, drought, ants, snakes, limited water and basic food supplies … very different from her sheltered early life in Sydney.

When World War I broke out, Dick enlisted in the Light Horse. Lily, by then with two little girls, moved to southern Queensland to live with her mother and two sisters in a large family home, always full of visiting relatives. The photo was taken about 1915; the little girl being held is my mother. Lily is on her left.

Later the family moved to a large house in Sydney which they again shared with various relatives at different times. It can be surmised that Lily and her aged mother probably shared or at least supervised all the cooking. When Dick returned from the War he was very restless, and being a countryman through and through spent most of his time in the outback and rarely visited his city-based family.

When did Lily start her recipe book? It contains not only recipes and knitting patterns but many household hints, probably dating to the years of the Second World War. Possibly back to when Lily first got married, but more likely after some years when butter and eggs were again readily available, as many recipes include them. Perhaps it was a ‘new’ recipe book made from an old one. The first numbered page contains recipes for Sponge Gingerbread, Sand Cake, Soap Recipe, Lemon Syrup, Blue Transfer Ink and Coffee (!) Over the years more and more recipes have been added, some in my Aunt (Lily’s eldest daughter)’s handwriting, some in unknown hands. Many have the name of the person who contributed the recipe, hint or pattern – a custom I have continued.I am reasonably certain my Aunt continued to use the book for many years.

The book is so fragile I have not attempted to scan any more pages.

Theme: Troublemaker.

One definition of Troublemaker is ‘Someone who thrives on conflict’. That would be my Great grandfather Frederick Wentworth Wade, a barrister and solicitor. He was born in Dublin, Ireland on 23 September 1838 to schoolteacher Robert Wentworth Wade and his wife Annie Gibbons, who were married clandestinely (without parental approval) in Dublin by a German Lutheran priest (Oh the joy when I finally found their marriage!)

Frederick was the 5th of nine children and probably left home at an early age to seek fame and fortune. It is thought that he joined the navy or merchant navy but no specific record can be found. He turned up in Melbourne, Australia about 1859, working for a firm of accountants. He was said to have had a remarkable faculty for dealing with figures. In 1862 he went to Invercargill at the bottom of New Zealand, initially working as a clerk and then partner/ accountant, but very soon he was a law clerk and eventually gained his creditations as a barrister and solicitor in 1869. He set up a practice in Invercargill and remained there to the end of his days.

One of his obituaries described him as having been associated with most of the enterprises which made for the advancement of the town from the time it was in its embryo stage.

He made the news every now and then and was not free from litigation himself. Some of his cases attracted much attention. One of his last cases in 1909 involved a sad tale about the spread of scarlet fever. This case was eerily prescient of the spread of Covid in 2020 – he defended the charge that a man had failed to give notice to the District Health Officer that his daughter was sick with an infectious disease – scarlet fever. Wade explained that while his client admitted the facts, there were mitigating factors. The man’s daughter had been ill a few days previously with a cold and when she became ill again it was thought the cold had returned; it was actually scarlet fever but the man had no medical knowledge. The man’s two daughters had continued to work in a milk factory as did their father, and a man employed to taste the milk became ill. The man’s son continued to attend school and a boy sitting next to him caught the fever and died. Result: the man was Fined one pound and ordered to pay costs of one pound 18 shillings.

In 1878 he defended a notorious wife murderer; an account of the trial said he ably defended the murderer but it was a hopeless case. (Many years later a film was made about it).

He was once charged with using insulting language to the Licensing Bench – “Before you separate, gentlemen, I would like to tell you, you have been guilty of wilfully, wantonly and deliberately inflicting gross injustice, and those of you who are in private business will particularly and individually suffer”. The defence said the words were used after the business of the committee had closed, and he was dealt with leniently, with a fine in default of 24 hrs imprisonment.

In another case he brought a charge against the local police Sergeant who called him a “pettifogging lawyer” while acting for an accused man. It was concluded the remarks were not addressed to the Bench and the case was dismissed with costs.

When Frederick died aged 73 in August 1912, one of the oldest practitioners of Law in the town, many fullsome obituaries appeared in the local newspapers.

Topic: “This Ancestor Stayed Home”.

Coming from eight separate lines of emigrants who arrived in Australia between 1806 and 1879 from Ireland, Scotland and England (plus one mysterious ancestor with possible Prussian/French blood) I cannot think of an example who “stayed at home”. All the women seemed to have been adventurers to a greater or lesser degree.

However there was one Great Uncle who might qualify, in a way. He certainly WANTED to stay at home. Herbert William Hunt 1913-1937 was the seventh of eight children born to NSW country Bank manager Edwin Herbert Hunt and his wife Lillian Josephine Harrison. All his brothers were early businessmen. But Herbert, always known as “Wibb”, was a gifted musician.

He was only 24 when he died, some said of a broken heart because his father ordered him to work in the Bank while he only wanted to play the piano. (Actually he may have died of septicaemia following a throat infection.) His obituary says it all:

BRILLIANT YOUNG PIANIST PASSES – The Late Herbert Hunt
The musical fraternity and the district generally suffered a sad loss by the untimely death last
Sunday of Mr. Herbert William Hunt, aged 24 years, of Norfolk Road, Epping.
Although comparatively young in years, the late Herbert Hunt was definitely a figure in the
local musical world, and apart from being a keen and enthusiastic student of music, he was a
pianist of outstanding brilliance. When he appeared on all too few occasions at local musical
functions and recitals, his interpretations, particularly of Bach, his favorite composer, were such
as to stamp him as an artist of exceptional ability.

Topic: ‘This ancestor went to market…”

Henry Prendergast was my Great Great Grandfather. Born in Tuam, Galway in 1813, he emigrated to Adelaide, Australia with his wife and nine children in 1854. It is not known what he did in Tuam before emigrating but once in Australia he soon became the first shopkeeper in the little inland village of Maude on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in the sparsely settled ‘outback’ of NSW. His would have been the only store for many, many miles around. Occasionally either he or his eldest son would have had to travel to the nearest large town to stock up on supplies, most likely by riverboat or horse dray.

The town history shows it was established in approximately 1861 on a reserve made up of portions of land from two extensive sheep and cattle properties, one of which was originally established by one Thomas Darchy. Some doubts were expressed about the viability of a township so close to the river, but it went ahead. A store was erected and the following year a post office which Henry Prendergast operated. A hotel followed and a monthly Court of Petty Sessions was introduced a few years later. The licence for the hotel was transferred to another of Henry’s sons Patrick in 1864, and by 1865 John was the postmaster. Henry died in 1867. Many of his descendants still live in the district.

The store is still there today and is still the only little shop in the town.

Not-so-incidentally to this story one of Henry’s daughters, Margaret married John Stoddart in Melbourne in 1866 and bore him two children, but John died in 1875 and four years later Margaret married Frank Darchy, son of local magistrate and wealthy land owner Thomas Darchy. The marriage was frowned up on by the Darchys – Margaret was not only ten years older than her new husband, but she was a widow with two children, and worse still was of the wrong religion (!). But the marriage endured, four children were produced and I am one of the descendants. The photo below shows Margaret with her eldest son Frank Downs Darchy, his wife Lydia and various female relatives.

(Unfortunately I was unable to complete Week 44 -Topic: Spirits).

My Great Great Uncle John Lyle 1789 – 1822 was born in Paisley, Scotland and died of yellow fever in Jamaica. At that time he was Colour Sergeant in the 91st Regiment of Foot.

The son of a weaver and farmer, he was initially a weaver but enlisted at Paisley on 24 August 1805 when he was 18. Scottish military records are very detailed – he was 5 feet 3 inches in height, which increased to 5 feet 7 inches in the next 6 years.; brown complexion, gray eyes, brown hair and a round face.

We do not know what caused him to enlist – perhaps he was bored, perhaps attracted by the enlistment bounty ….. He rose in the ranks quickly, becoming corporal a year after enlistment and Sergeant seven years later.

John fought at Waterloo – and survived.

He married soon after enlistment but his first child a son was not born until 1810 after the Regiment returned home on leave (?) after serving in the Peninsular wars against Napoleon for several years.
Did his wife followed the Regiment? Conditions would have been difficult even though as the wiie of a Sergeant she would have had some standing among the women. After Waterloo they remained in France for some years and in 1818 their third child was born in Valenciennes.

It is not known if John’s wife accompanied him when the regiment was posted to Jamaica in 1822, but John died there only 3 months later. The Regimental Returns for June-July 1822 show that following John’s death, a quite reasonable sum for those days was retained “. .. for the benefit of his three orphan children left with the regiment.” Despite searching for years I have been unable to determine the fate of the children.

A much fuller story is at https://nancyvada.me/john-lyle-of-the-91st-foot/

Topic: Dig A Little Deeper.

There is always a little doubt about the accuracy of on-line records. Are you CERTAIN you have the correct person? It is not always practicable to order certificates. You may think the record must be correct because it is an unusual surname – but I have found otherwise.

One of my Great Aunts, Margaret Hunt, married a Bill Wiblin/Wiblen. I soon found them and their family in Australian records. Seeking to expand the family tree I looked for Bill’s parents and discovered a huge number of Wiblin families all living in the same small country area in NSW. That rang some cautionary bells, but not quite strongly enough!

I was fairly certain I had Bill’s family correct. He had a large number of uncles, aunts and siblings, all of whose names and dates I noted and put in the family tree. There was a slight discrepancy about his birthplace but initially I put that down to a transcription error.

But something did not fit. Checking newspaper reports, birth records, etc it became obvious that I had the wrong family. It was not difficult to find the correct one, thankfully a little smaller! Then it became a task to delete all the incorrect family members from my on-line trees.

Lesson learnt – always check the facts and if something doesn’t agree – check again.

Topic: Friends.

Remembering that this is a Genealogical discussion: It is impossible to estimate the number of ‘friends’ I have made online – many of them distant relatives who are only too willing to exchange family information. Some are ‘mine’, some are my husband’s relatives. Many live in other countries. Some have remained correspondents for years; others for only a short time, but if something pops up – sometimes years later – that needs running past them, we often resume just where we left off. The inestimable value of the internet and email!

And then there are of course my personal friends – people I have known since childhood – not related but sharing other kinds of bonds. Distance often separates us and, sadly, old age is also making inroads now- so many have gone either physically or just mentally – shadows of their former selves. With those friends I share great memories. With my internet friends I share often valuable genealogical information which could not be obtained anywhere else.

Topic: TRAVEL.

My Great Aunt Margaret Anne Hunt, always known as “Maggie” , was born on 9 Sept 1864 in Reading, Berkshire and travelled to Australia with her family in 1879. She spent much of her early years in the shadow of her big sister Fanny, the first woman to gain a Science degree in Australia. Fanny started a girls’ school in Ipswich, outside Brisbane, Australia and Maggie, who as far as is known had no formal nursing training, became the school matron. Later Fanny started another school in Toowoomba, Queensland which she named Girton after Girton College at Oxford. Maggie was again the matron.

In an interesting twist of fate the building which housed Girton was later taken over by a Mr. Ernest Gill who started a boys’ school there in 1910. His wife was Isabella Griffiths, daughter of AL Griffiths of the Griffiths family which founded the Toowoomba Foundry.

In 1911 Maggie married wealthy George Washington Griffiths, almost certainly the brother of AL Griffiths. She was 47 and he was 67. They were great world travellers and made one or more voyages to England via the newly-opened Suez Canal. It is said they crossed the Alps in a De Dion motorcar, saw a ‘flying machine’ (airship) over Lake Lausanne, brought back a tin of tea from Japan and also several huge ornamental vases, and some intricately carved items of furniture from northern India among many other mementoes. Many of these are still in the hands of Maggie’s siblings’ descendants.

When George died in 1924, Maggie had a wonderful time spending George’s money on more overseas travelling. One does wonder if George’s children from his earlier marriage were equally well provided for! Maggie survived him by another 15 years. She had no children.

Although not part of the “Travel” story, it is worth recording that eventually Maggie bought a substantial house in northern Sydney some time after 1931 and named it “Redmarley” after the Hunt family’s ancestral village in Worcestershire. This particular “Redmarley”, one of a number of houses owned by Hunt family members, was at one time later a private nursing hospital run by Maggie’s niece Betty d’Archy, the author’s aunt. The family house in Toowoomba at the time Maggie was a matron at Griton, was also named “Redmarley”.

Topic: LONGEVITY

My oldest ancestor was probably Margaret Lyle, born in Glasgow on 14 October 1827 and died aged 98 in Australia. Margaret was the fourth of eight children born to surgeon Thomas Lyle and Margaret Cochrane, his cousin. As the daughter of a surgeon it could be surmised that Margaret led a comfortable early life, however her father was far more interested in bryology (the study of mosses) and in writing ballads (he was the author of “Kelvin Grove”) than surgery. By 1851while Dr. Lyle occasionally practiced surgery in the little town of Airth in Stirlingshire, where the last three children were born, Margaret (then aged about 23) and two of her younger siblings were in Glasgow earning a living.

Margaret probably met her future husband Alexander Johnston, a cabinetmaker and a little younger than her, through their church. They married on 25 March 1853, Alexander’s birthday, in Glasgow.

Their first son Charles arrived in December 1854 in Airth. He was less than a year old when his parents embarked on the new clipper “Storm Cloud” for Australia the following year, with Margaret already pregnant with her second child George who arrived three weeks after their voyage ended. The long sailing voyage must have been difficult for Margaret, heavily pregnant and probably still grieving following the loss of her mother just before they departed.

The family settled in Launceston in northern Tasmania. A daughter was born in 1858. Ten years later, which must have been a surprise, another son (my grandfather) was born in 1868.

Margaret and Alexander lived in the same house until Alexander died aged 76 in 1906. Margaret survived him by almost 20 years, dying aged 98 at the home of their eldest son Charles in Sydney.

Their story is told in more detail at https://nancyvada.me/alexander-johnston-margaret-lyle-tasmanian-pioneers/

It is curous about Margaret’s longevity. It does not look like heredity had much influence. Her paternal grandparents only lived to 30 and 32 (probably succumbing to cholera or similar) and her father was 67. Her maternal grandfather was 53 and her mother 57. Of her siblings, the next oldest were the sisters Mary Anne and Amelia, 74 and 85 respectively, who also emigrated to Tasmania. “Something in the water??”

Margaret Lyle’s children were 78, 67 and 84 respectively (one other son drowned in a shipwreck at 29). Her 67 year old daughter Margaret Johnston (whose husband FJA Huxtable lived to 72, his father to 83 and grandfather Dr. William Huxtable (1791-1887) to 87, had four children 85, 90, 77 and 81 and most of their grandchildren and great grandchildren are also long-lived. A Huxtable longevity gene? Certainly modern medicine must play a part. But still ….Does that mean that I, another great granddaughter of Margaret Lyle, may just possibly reach 100???