My Latest Discovery - The George Cuthbert who went to Australia

Recently I found that a long-lost Irish first cousin twice removed ended up in Australia. Below is a copy of an article that I've submitted for publication in the Ontario Genealogical Society Toronto Branch's newsletter, The Toronto Tree.

OGS Course on Ancestry Leads to Family in Australia!

While doing a search on Ancestry - during the recent OGS Toronto Branch course “Hands-On Ancestry.ca Library Edition” - I came across a George Cuthbert, born in Bray, in a database entitled Victoria, Australia, Deserter, Discharged, and Prisoner Crew Lists, 1852-1925.   Not the kind of list on which one hopes to find a relative!  But Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, was the birthplace of my father and several generations before him, and so I knew that there was a good chance that this George could be mine.   

I had discovered some time ago that my great grandfather, Robert Cuthbert’s brother, George Christopher Cuthbert, a ship owner and sea captain, and his wife, Emily Roe, had five children in Bray:  William ( b. 1867, died at age 7 days), a second William (b. 1868), George junior (b.1870), Richard (1871-1922), and Robert (b. 1872).  And I knew that the children’s mother, Emily, had died in 1872 giving birth to the fifth son Robert.  

Sadly in 1886 their father, George Christopher, also died, leaving his four surviving children as orphans, the oldest just 17 years of age.  In his will, George Christopher named William Roe, most probably his wife’s father, as guardian of his minor children. (See https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ5H-NHR)

  

Although I’ve traced the descendants of fourth son Richard until that line expired, for a long time I was unable to find out what happened to the other surviving sons - William the second, George junior, and Robert - since there seemed to be no marriage or death records for them in Ireland.  

Eventually Robert turned up on some War Office records in the National Archives at Kew at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=693568&catln=6 showing among other things that he served in the military, for many years in far-away Ceylon and Hong Kong! 

And, now thanks to the Ancestry course, I have found George!!   According to the Register of Deserters on Ancestry, at age 20, able seaman George Cuthbert - along with 8 others ranging in age from 19 to 29 -  deserted the ship, the Banklands #93779, in October 1888 in Victoria, Australia.  Searching the wonderful Crew List Index Page (CLIP) site at http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/vesselsnum.php, I found that the Banklands #93779 was a barque, 1197 tons, International Code Signal K.R.T.W., registered in Liverpool.

Perhaps George chose Australia because his father’s brother, William Cuthbert, a Master Mariner, had gone there in 1852, returning to Ireland in 1861 with tales passed down through the family of his adventures at the Gold Rush at Ballarat and a gold ring, engraved with a pick and shovel, bearing the words “With these I got it”.  While in Australia in the 1850’s, William had served as Captain of the ship Courier.  A crew list with his name and signature may be seen on the Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters site at http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/1854/10/022cou.htm .

But back to the story of George.  After living in Australia for seven years, in 1895, George - using his mother’s maiden name, Roe, as his middle name, so it certainly is him -  married Barbara Brown.  

Continuing the search on Ancestry, I found that Barbara and George had at least 6 children:  Ellen Emily(1896-1970), Barbara (1898-1968), Alice Maud (b. 1900), George William (1902 -1911), Eleanor Victoria (b. 1905) and Margaret Roe (b.1908).  

Since their son did not survive to adulthood, it seems that the Cuthbert name in this branch died out in 1911.  That this loss was felt intensely by the family is evidenced by the In Memoriams placed in the newspapers for years after the death.  For example, in 1930 in The Age newspaper in Melbourne, found on line on the excellent Australian newspaper site Trove at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/202455731?searchTerm=%22George%20and%20Barbara%20Cuthbert%22&searchLimits=, they wrote:

“In loving memory of our dear son, George William Cuthbert, who passed away 12th July, 1911, age 9   years.

“His memory is as dear to-day

“As in the hour he passed away;

“It's sad, but true, we wonder why

“The best are always first to die.

“Inserted by loving father, mother and sisters, George and Barbara Cuthbert, Eastern Road, Albert Park”.

While there is evidence that some of the daughters eventually were married, so far I haven’t located their actual marriage records, or the birth records of any children they might have had.  But according to the death records I’ve found so far, Ellen Emily died in 1970 as Emily Ellen Howard Merison, and Barbara died in 1968 as Barbara Clarke.  And a Law Notice in The Age on Trove at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/203838845?searchTerm=%22George%20Roe%20Cuthbert%22&searchLimits=exactPhrase=George+Roe+Cuthbert%7C%7C%7CanyWords%7C%7C%7CnotWords%7C%7C%7CrequestHandler%7C%7C%7CdateFrom%7C%7C%7CdateTo  concerning George Roe Cuthbert’s death in 1934 reads as follows:

“AFTER the expiration of fourteen days from the publication hereof APPLICATION will be made to the Supreme Court of Victoria, that LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION of the ESTATE of GEORGE ROE CUTHBERT, late of 157 Eastern Road, South Melbourne, in Victoria, Wharf Laborer, deceased, intestate, may be GRANTED to Alice Kine, of Crlchton-avenue, Port Melbourne, married woman, being a daughter of the said deceased.”

There are a few Merisons and Kines, and numerous Clarkes, in the current Australian phone book on line at http://www.whitepages.com.au/?entryType=R which might be worth pursuing.  If I persist, I may come up with some living descendants if there are any.  But the fact that I got this far, adding a whole new generation to my tree in such a short time, is a entirely due to taking the OGS Toronto Branch Ancestry course.  Although I had used Ancestry Library Edition for many years, I signed up since I thought there must be something more to learn in a three-week course, and I’m certainly glad I did.