Mid North Coast Pioneers - Newcastle to Lismore and beyond

Email from Christine White 27 March, 2007.

Edited.

Until I check what's on Ancestry etc, here's some info re Edward Albert Elphick's grandmother - Bathsheba Friend.

FRIEND, Bathsheba
B. 1815c; D. 3 August, 1887
Born Hawkhurst, Kent UK, died North Waratah, NSW.

Arrived aboard the 'Eleanor' on 21 August, 1841. Her immigration record noted that she was born in Hawkhurst; her parents were Thomas FRIEND and Phillis WOOLYER & were still alive; she was sponsored by Thomas Gore & Co; was in good health, but had been in quarantine during the voyage; could read and write her 'calling' was cook and her religion was Protestant.

She was accompanied by her 2 sons, Charles 5 years & William 1½ .
Her first husband Richard ELPHICK died at sea during the voyage.

Also aboard the 'Eleanor' were Bathsheba's sister Rebecca, born 23 November, 1817, Hawkhurst, Kent and her husband, Henry Francis WOODGATE. Rebecca & Henry married at Hawkhurst. They are believed to have had one child, born approx 1840, Hawkhurst.

Children of Bathsheba Friend & Richard ELPHICK:
1.Charles ELPHICK, b abt 1836 Hawkhurst, UK; d 1903 Newcastle NSW.
2.William ELPHICK, b abt 1840 Hawkhurst, UK

More about William ELPHICK.
Little is known about William's early life. It is known that he had a relationship with Mary Ann Gribble. A record of their marriage has not been located. They had 3 children:
1.Charles born about 1862 at Lachlan Diggings, NSW.
2.Richard Thomas (named for his 2 grandfathers) born at Cashmere Station, Qld 1868 and died the same year.
3.Bathsheba Jane (named for her 2 grandmothers) born 1869 at Cashmere Station, Qld.

William was a butcher by trade.

Mary Ann Gribble was born in 1844 at Wilberforce NSW. Her parents were convicts, Thomas Gribble and Jane Irwin.

Charles (eldest son of William Elphick & Mary Ann Gribble) married Sarah McNanley, 1884 in Brisbane. (The Qld BDM record 1884/B009319 records her name as Silby McNanley.) Sarah was born in Manchester UK 1863. Her parents were Felix McNanley and Sarah Watson who may have arrived in Australia via Moreton Bay.

Charles and Sarah eventually moved to Victoria where Charles worked in Melbourne for some time before moving to Gippsland where he worked in a coal mine before settling on a dairy farm outside Foster in South Gippsland where they remained for the rest of their lives.
They had a total of 9 children, including Alice Bathsheba Elphick, born 1898.

Bathsheba Jane married James Thomas Rogers in 1889 at Mormanton, Qld. James was a Customs officer. They had one unnamed child in 1892, who died shortly after birth. It is not known if they had any other children.

More about Charles ELPHICK (son of Bathsheba FRIEND & Richard ELPHICK, b abt 1856).
Charles died in 1903 aged about 47 years, in Newcastle and it is stated on his birth certificate that it was unknown whether he was married or had children. He was a butcher by trade. (Jan - I have a copy of Charles's death certificate on file - happy to send a copy if you'd like it. cw)

Bathsheba formed a relationship with Thomas Mead WELLER. No record of a marriage has been located.

Children of Thomas Mead WELLER and Bathsheba FRIEND:
1.Sarah L WELLER b 1843, Sydney; d 1843 Sydney. Baptised 22 November, 1843, St Matthews CoE, Windsor.
2.Henry WELLER, b 12 July 1844; Stoke Hill, NSW d 18 December, 1908, Sydney
3.Rebecca WELLER, b 1848; m Captain Henry BASTIANS (BDM Ref V18481174 33A/1848).
4.Thomas WELLER, b 1851, St Matthews Windsor NSW (BDM Ref V18511837 37A/1851)

NB: Another descendant has suggested that Bathsheba & Richard Elphick also had a 3rd son who did not accompany them to Australia. I cannot confirm this & I don't know their sources.

Bye for now,
Chris