#52Ancestors, Week 32, Youngest

Oldest last week, youngest this week. I did think about my brother – he’s the youngest in my nuclear family, and it is his birthday this week too. But then, I thought I would follow the theme from last week.

So Happy Birthday little bro. Another trip around the sun completed safely and great things to look forward to on the next trip.

Looking at my tree, I can see I have made some additions this year. My cousin had her second daughter in June 2018 and there are three others, either here on or the way.

Family history often focuses more on the people who have gone before, researching their lives and trying to form a better picture of who they were and what their lives were like. It is great being able to add new people and happy events to the family though, because all the research is for them, ultimately.

It got me thinking about relationships though, and how often branches of our trees grow at different pace to others. I have looked at the relationship of these youngest people compared to my daughter since they are related to her on both branches of her tree.

Already this year a new 2^nd cousin and 4^th cousin once removed have been welcomed and added with another 4^th cousin once removed and 5^th cousin once removed on their way. You can see how far back the common ancestors are for these new family members; great grandparents, 3x great grandparents and 4xgreat grandparents. These new little twiglets are all on my side of her tree.

On her paternal side of the tree though things are a little different. In the past couple of years there have been additions who include a 1^st cousin once removed and THREE 1^st cousins twice removed. Their common ancestors are much closer – her grandparents ! Those three 1^st cousins twice removed are the GRANDchildren of her first cousins.

My side of the tree doesn’t stand a chance catching up to that growth. But nevertheless, each new little twig that I add to the tree is welcome. I hope that someday all my hard work will answer any questions they might have about their ancestors.

Searching for Mary Ann and remembering her

They say that when we are gone we live on, as long as people still speak our names or tell our stories. I reckon my ancestors are all pretty lucky then, to have me searching for them, trying to discover all that I can; who they were, where they lived etc - and then sharing that with the rest of you.

So today, one year and one day since relocating to Victoria, we made a trip to Melbourne. I had done some inquiring you see, something I kept telling myself I had to do one day. So one day came !

I knew that my 2 x great grandmother was buried at Melbourne General Cemetery from her death certificate. But where ? Have you seen the SIZE of that cemetery ? And the records aren't online just yet. So I emailed and asked and got a reply very quickly.

From their information I also learnt that her "husband" was buried in the same plot as well as one of her daughters and an infant grandchild. I had been unable to find his death before, but now I had a date. 

Certificate purchased !

I know a bit more about him too now. He was from Cornwall and came to live in Geelong with his parents as a young child. What enticed him to go to New Zealand then ? Haven't solved that piece yet. But he returned to Australia in March 1876 after his father died and made him executor to his estate. Looks like that might have been when great great grandma Mary left her husband in Kaikoura and her ten eldest children and started a new life in Melbourne. (You might remember her from here)

Anyways, back to today. We went exploring in Albert Park/Middle Park/South Melbourne. What a lovely area. Today it still has quite a bustling village atmosphere.

We found the house where they lived

and walked the streets she will have walked

spotted the school where the children likely attended (emailing on Monday)

Then we caught the tram to the cemetery and armed with the information in my email reply and the map we went walking.

And found her resting place with a bit of divine intervention steering me in the right direction. Not so many magnificent headstones in the Wesleyan "compartment" that they are in, and none for them either. No wrought iron surround, just SCHNEIDER at the foot of the simple concrete border. The married name of her daughter Mary Ann (Mollie), the last of the four interred.

Still waiting for some of the descendants of those three children to get DNA tested, or share information. It has taken over 60 years to get this much of the puzzle solved, so what is a few more ? There is still time.

Mary Ann Barratt (married name Cooper; known as Nicholls) 1831-1903

Charles Nicholls 1837-1900

Mary Ann Cooper (known as Nicholls, married name Schneider) 1873 - 1932

Baby Schneider 1907-1907

©we remember you still©

#52Ancestors, Week 31, Oldest

Oldest what ? or oldest who ?

I thought about “oldest child” but that would be me and didn’t feel right. So instead, I looked to see who was born the longest time ago – the “oldest” person in my tree.

The “actual” oldest person I found that I have added to the tree was Elizabeth Delebere 1338-1428 who is really only in my tree by association. Her husband was Oliver St John 1346-1437. Their grandson Oliver reputedly married Margaret Beauchamp when she was about 14. She later married John Beaufort and then Lionel de Welles. The only child from her second marriage was Margaret Beaufort; the Red Queen (if you are a Philippa Gregory fan) – mother to Henry VII.  Anyway, one of the descendants of the first marriage (to Oliver St John) is a direct ancestor of my mother’s first cousin on her mother’s line. Confused ?

The next eldest people are Christophe Du Prie 1570-1657 and his wife Marie Boutelie 1570-? I am fairly confident that they are my 11xgreat grandparents in my mother’s paternal line. I don’t know too much about them. But I am pretty sure they were Huguenot refugees who left France seeking refuge in Spitalfields, London and becoming part of the silk industry there.

They were from Valenciennes, in the north of France, close to what is now the Belgian border. Valenciennes was known for its wool, fine linens and lace. It was also a religious hotspot and for many years under Spanish rule. The 16^th century was a time of turmoil religiously. Protestantism was challenging the Catholic church in Europe and in Britain. Protestants attacked Catholics, and were massacred in retaliation; there were up to EIGHT civil wars between 1562-1598.  Some sources estimate that the Huguenot population in France fell from 2 million to 856, 000 between 1562 and the mid-1660’s.

Christophe and Marie left France in the early 1600s after the Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598. This edict reaffirmed Roman Catholicism as the state religion in France but granted Protestants equality and a degree of religious and political freedom. Although initially enforcement of the Edict alleviated the persecution and pressure to leave France, it became more irregular over time with life becoming so intolerable that many fled the country.

The “strangers” were welcomed to London and permitted to worship by thirteen year old Edward VI (coincidentally a descendant of Margaret Beaufort – above) who as a Protestant himself supported the reformation in Europe and saw the need to provide for the refugees fleeing to London. He granted a Royal Charter in 1550 giving them this freedom. Anyone who knows their English history will know that the pendulum swung back after Edward’s death and the persecution began again in their new homeland under the rule of Mary Tudor, until her sister Elizabeth I assumed the throne.

Christophe and Marie’s first child Daniel was born in Valenciennes in 1598, but their subsequent children all appear to have been born and baptised in London in one of the French Protestant Churches in Spitalfields.

Over time the spelling of their name changed, becoming Dupree by the mid-late 1600’s when their great grandson married. Many of their descendants were still recorded as weavers in the mid 1700’s and still living close to Spitalfields.

Maybe I should try my hand at lacemaking – it could still be in my DNA.