G - Germany

Germany doesn’t really feature in my tree. Although there have been discussions about the brickwall great-great grandfather who “could” have come from there and anglicised his name. Until more convincing evidence is found I think that is as much conjecture as my daughter’s theory that he was from gypsy stock.

Germany though does feature in her paternal tree.

Her great-great-great grandparents emigrated to Australia in 1852. The Germany that they left was not the Germany we know today. Prior to the unification and formation of the German Empire in 1871, “Germany” was made up of a number of kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies and principalities of German speaking peoples. Included in this group were Austro-Hungarian Empire, Luxembourg and Switzerland which remained outside the empire when it was formed.

I wonder what is was that propelled them and some of their friends to leave for a new life on the other side of the planet. They were Roman Catholic, so they wouldn’t have faced the persecution that the Lutheran did. Perhaps it was just the opportunity to change the direction of the lives of their children.

Ruedesheim, on the steep banks of the Rhine is a charming, if touristy town. It seems that every spare patch of land is planted with grape vines. Riesling has been the most highly prized variety in the area since the late 15^th century. Today 84% of the total vineyard area in the Rheingau is planted with Riesling vines; no other area in the world grows such high proportion of Riesling.

On their immigration record, where they interestingly were accompanied by just 2 of their 4 children, Friedrich stated his occupation as “Vine dresser”. There weren’t too many vineyards around Sydney in 1852, so a change in career ensued. He became a stone mason. (In case you were concerned, their other 2 children travelled to Australia with different families, they weren't left behind as such.)

Two of Friedrich’s sisters emigrated a few years later, and possibly a brother. The sisters settled in the Mudgee area of New South Wales. Somewhat of a surprise came when I learnt that their father had also emigrated to Australia, after the death of their mother. He passed his twilight years with his daughters near Mudgee. One sister had remained in Germany. Did she not want to take her father in ? Or had he had aspirations to emigrate all along ?

There is another potential German connection. More research is required to prove that the evidence some have attributed to people in their trees is actually for the right family. John George vs Johann Georg ? the birthdays differ by about 5 years, but with chicken scratch writing in old church records 1733 could be 1738…couldn’t it ? A few DNA matches would come in handy for this branch, but since testers are few and far between and most likely in the range which Ancestry has deemed “invaluable”, they might be lost forever.