U - Uriah

Uriah Cooper has been sitting in my tree for some time. I feel that he fits. The fact that makes some people less convinced is his supposed date of birth.

As I see it, he is a younger brother of my great-great-great-grandfather Samuel Cooper. Samuel too has a pretty fluid date of birth, somewhere between 1789 and 1801 depending which document you are reading. I’ve not yet been able to find a baptism for Samuel, but I believe he (and Uriah) are the sons of John Cooper and Ann Pullman who married in Stoke sub Hamdon, Somerset in June 1784. It appears from the church register that a sister of John’s also married that day.

There aren’t many Cooper families around this area so I think they have to all be connected. John and Ann had several children baptised in Stoke sub Hamdon and by 1797 had moved to Montacute where they had some more before John died in 1810. John was a tailor according to one story I read attached to someone's tree. My great-great-great-grandfather Samuel and his son John were both tailors too, so this new revelation seems like it could have an ounce of truth to it. My Dad and I spent a lot of Saturdays at the National Library in Wellington reading the microfilm copies of the church records for Montacute about seven years ago. We even managed to find evidence for my great-great-great-grandmother’s maiden name, but still haven’t been able to convince everyone who has it wrong in their trees to make the correction.

But back to Uriah. He is thought to have been born between 1798 and 1807. His death certificate in 1878 gives his age as 80, but who knows ? I remember being reminded recently about the literacy levels of our ancestors and that their numeracy skills were likely low too. Did they really remember which year they were born in, if they couldn’t write it down or have a document to refer back to ? And what were their addition skills like ? 80 might just have been a fair assumption made by his wife, the informant…who signed with an x.

My ancestor Samuel emigrated to New Zealand in 1841. Uriah had however left two years earlier and sailed on the Asia to Adelaide with his wife Elizabeth (nee Hockey) and three children. Some sources have only documented 2 children. He appears to have had a run in with the law before leaving England and spent some time in Ilchester Gaol.  He and his brothers may even have been involved in a riot which occurred in Montacute in the 1830s. I wonder if their wives and sisters were involved in the women led riot that occurred around the same time. You can read about the riots here. 

Uriah & Elizabeth stayed in South Australia for about 3 years before moving to Launceston, Tasmania. There they had six more children before moving again to Melbourne where their last two children were born. Uriah appears on the 1856 Electoral Roll living in Hawthorn, Melbourne. I am unsure where they lived in South Australia but it should be noted that there is a small settlement there, in the Adelaide Hills named Montacute after the birthplace of a financier of the Copper mine established there in 1843. I wonder if Uriah & Elizabeth knew John Baker ?

There is also a Montacute in Tasmania, near Hobart. This settlement was also established by a former Montacute resident. Captain William Langdon RN was the son of a former vicar of St Catherine’s in Montacute. He had been granted land in Tasmania in 1823, he regularly traded between London and Hobart and is reputed to have owned his own sailing ship. Other former Montacute residents are thought to have joined him there as well. Uriah though seems to have been further north. Uriah was a sawyer by trade and I imagine he would have had no shortage of work as settlers arrived and timber was required for building.

Uriah and Elizabeth had at least 13 children, not all of whom survived infancy, but many of who went on to marry and have families of their own.  He died at his home in Highett Street, Hawthorn. I know that the church records make the connection look pretty sketchy, but DNA matches are certainly pointing in the right direction. We all have matches coming up with descendants of Uriah, through at least 5 of his children and we and they also share matches with the descendants of their sister Ann. Contacting some of them is my next priority to compare information and see where can help each other.

Midwinter weekend on an island off an island surrounded by other islands

So, it is that midwinter time of year again. Always special to celebrate the solstice of shortest days and longest nights and look forward to when it happens again, but in reverse.

It is a pretty special day for a birthday too.

Anyway, this year we went to Hobart for the weekend. Not my idea - I'm all about NOT spending money at the moment, but Lauren had planned to go for the midwinter festival held there (Dark Mofo) as her treat to herself for her birthday. She said I could tag along, so I thought - why not ?

We'd been watching the weather so were prepared for the cold and rain - and it was such a refreshing change to the dry dry dry climate in central Victoria. It hampered some of our activities, but we had rented a car, so managed not to get too drenched or be constant icicles.

We had an early flight from Melbourne, so we had gone on a shuttle on Friday night and stayed at the airport. Not the greatest Holiday Inn we have ever stayed in, but convenient. The weather on arrival was crisp, but the sun was out and the rain clouds looked far enough away to not spoil our exploring.

We had a little wander around the Salamanca Market 300+ stalls selling food, drink, bric-a-brac and handcrafts - most locally made. Travelling only with carry-on makes you a discerning shopper though.

We were pretty hungry, no breakfast because of the early start, and you might remember we have had hangry travel experiences before. So we found somewhere - with the perfect name, and as it turned out perfect food.

We managed to get almost all the way to the top of Mt Wellington - part of the road was closed - but we got to the lookout anyway. By the time we walked back to the car the rain had arrived. Only a fine drizzle. The cloud and mist hung about the hills, it's a long time since we have seen that ! Scotland; Wellington.

On the way down the hill we stopped by the Cascades Brewery for photos, not tasting and then the Female Factory. We wandered about in the mizzle thinking about the women who had spent time there, sent to the other end of the planet mostly for petty misdemeanours centuries ago.

We stayed in Battery Point which looks so English you could imagine just being transported back to Georgian times. It is just a 10 minute walk to the city centre. 

I had coffee and cake with Christina Henri who is running a project to memorialise the 25000+ women transported to Australia as convicts between 1787 and 1868. It was wonderful to meet her and handover the bonnets I had made for the project.

Dinner was at the Winterfest on the waterfront - in the drizzly rain. Outside there were foodtrucks selling all sorts of deliciousness and inside there were more food and drink choices. Also inside was the seated banquet. Long, long tables adorned with candles and bathed in red light, people enjoying each others company. Such an awesome idea.

By now the rain had really begun to set in, so we braved the crowds to get some delicious donuts from Lady Hester Eats and an orange & cinnamon hot chocolate with coconut milk to take back to our private hotel.

 an iron for every adornment you could imagine (lace, frills, fluting) new admiration of laundresses

Sunday we went to an exhibition each which we enjoyed separately then set off for a drive. We had hoped to go to the miniature village Old Hobart Town in Richmond but the rain put paid to that. Then some poor navigating led us on a very roundabout journey to Oatlands. Had we been thinking more clearly we should have just taken the opportunity to drive to Launceston and explore there as well. (Next time). 

Carrington Mill, Oatlands

We'd thought about going to Bruny Island, so after a stop at the Old Kempton Distillery we carried on to Kettering. But it was late in the day, and the weather really was looking like a ferry trip might not be the most fun thing to do.

After a night time wander along the foreshore we found our way through the city to pick up pizza for dinner from Amici. Delicious. 

Monday we went back to Solstice for breakfast because it had been sooo delicious on Saturday, then drove to Port Arthur stopping at the Tessellated Pavement on the way. The tide wasn't right but we got some photos anyway.

 A fossil ? Or petrified wood ?

Port Arthur was a much larger site than I had thought, we wandered about on our own wishing there was a little more information on display. Pretty tricky holding an umbrella and camera while trying to read a foldout paper map. It is amazing that so much has survived there...but there is still potential to develop the experience further in my opinion; especially for independent visitors who don't want to join over-sized walking tours where you struggle to keep up or hear what the guide is saying. We didn't have time to spend in the visitor centre either as we had to get back for the flight home.

...and then we were home.