More musings on the Mcleods.....

Photo: Wilmington in South Australia's mid-north.

On the basis that sometimes a detour can get you to where you want to go faster we are looking again at Hannah McLeod and possibly, if it is the same Hannah who arrived on the Eliza in 1840, her brother Daniel.

Kylie has unearthed a marriage record for a Daniel McLeod, living in the mid-north of South Australia who may well be the Daniel who arrived with Hannah.

McLEOD Daniel Par: Donald b: c1826 d: 21.5.1875 Woolundunga SA  Occ Shepherd, Labourer res: nr Pt Augusta, Saltia, Melrose rel: Presb

m: (1/2) 6.3.1862 Saltia SA Mrs? Maria MALONEY nee SIMMONS par: Thos b: 1834 d: 29.1.1864 Baroota SA ch: Danl (1864-1864)

m: (2/2) Louisa nee Domeyer, April 5, 1869 ch: Wm (1870-), Mgt Ann (1872-), Christyannah (1873-), Wm Danl (1875-)

This Daniel lists his father as Donald and the age does not quite fit the Daniel McLeod, 20, who travelled to Australia on the Eliza with Hannah in 1840. However, we know that dates of birth and ages are often wrong and the six years is certainly within the 'possible' realm.

The age given for marriages don't quite fit a birth in 1821 for our Charleville Daniel who sailed out with Hannah.  There is a 13 year age difference with the Daniel McLeod who married at the age of 35 in 1869 and Hannah's Daniel would have been 48 although we know from past experience they often got ages wrong, particularly when they married, when no doubt they wanted to be younger than they were.  Even if you take the date of birth c. 1826, he would still have been 43 and not 35.

He died in Woolundunga, in 1875, which is halfway between Port Augusta, near where he lived at Saltia, and Wilmington, from where his second wife, Louisa came. There was a homestead at Woolundunga so he may well have been working there.  He was a shepherd and labourer as was Hannah's husband, Edward Atkins, at various stages and so from the same social strata.

The records show that Daniel's first wife, Maria, died in 1864, as did her child, Daniel, so we are presuming it was childbirth and neither mother nor child survived. It took another five years before Daniel remarried but then he had no children for which he needed to find a wife and beyond that, may well have been grieving. He and Louisa had four children, and, given the same name for first and last son, it is a good guess that three survived at the time of his untimely death in 1875.


The other possible link with a Hannah is the name Christyannah, which seems a rather 'modern' name for the times and which could easily have been Christy Hannah with the 'H' not registered. It is useful having this Daniel's father's name for future research and it may well be that the name of one of their daughters, Margaret Ann, contained Daniel's mother's name, given that it does not seem to be the name of Louisa's mother if the records we have found are correct, and there is every reason why they should be.


If he was 33 in 1862 then he would have been 40 in 1869 or 48 if it is our boy. Although, given how unreliable birth records were in those days maybe our Daniel was only 15 or 16 when he applied to emigrate and Hannah a mere 14. Age was a moveable feast!
 
There were Domeyers living at Wilmington who had a daughter Louisa Rose born in 1855. Her children were William, Margaret Ann, Christyannah or Christy Hannah and William Daniel (the first one may have died). She had a brother William and a sister Christena - Christy. Her father was Christian, possibly from where Christy comes, and her mother Johannah, which may also be the origin of the 'annah' for 'Christyannah', the child being given the name of both of her maternal grandparents.

The following marriage notice has to be this Daniel and this Louisa although whether it is our Daniel remains to be established:

McLEOD—DOMIER (Domeyer).— On the 5th April, at Beautiful Valley, by licence, by the Rev. H. Mason, of Port Augusta, Mr. Daniel McLeod, of Stony Creek, to Miss Louisa Domier, of the same place.Thursday 8 April 1869 South Australian Register.
As was so often the case, there is incorrect spelling which has Domeyer as Domier. Stony Creek is Wilmington and Beautiful Valley is also Wilmington..

The following record reveals the family of Louisa Domeyer:

Name: Christian Heinrich Adrian (Henry) DOMEYER

Birth1822, Clausthal, Hanover, Prussia9295

Immigration2 Apr 1849, ‘Auguste & Meline’9295,11260,6119 Age: 27

Death19 Dec 1892, Wilmington, SA9295,17180,17181 Age: 70

Death Memo18 Dec?

Obituary

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA) 17181
Friday 23 December 1892

DOMEYER.— On the 18th December, near Wil-
mington. Christian Domeyer, aged 70 years.

Spouses

1Johanna Louisa ROSEN

Birthca 1825, Prussia9295

Immigration2 Apr 1849, ‘Auguste & Meline’11260,6119 Age: 24

Death22 May 1910, Wilmington, SA9295,17182 Age: 85

Marriage14 Oct 1850, Port Lincoln, SA17183

ChildrenLavinia (ca1850-1924)

 Adolphina Wilhelmina (ca1850-)

 Louisa Rose (1855-)

 Charles (1858-1884)

 Heinrich Wilhelm (1860-)

 William Henry (1863-)

 Matilda (1866-1937)
 Christena Mathilda (1868-)

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~moadfamily/Family/PS76/PS76_142.HTM

Map: Scotland in the 1800's.

If we can establish that this Daniel was the same Daniel who came out on the Eliza with Hannah Mcleod and that the same Hannah was the first wife of our Edward Atkins then we may be closer to finding out more about Edward's first wife and possibly, about Edward himself.


I have also heard back from South Australia's McLeod Clan Society having approached them for possible information about McLeod's living in the Clare Valley at the same time as Hannah. Alex McLeod, secretary of the society wrote, raising some good questions:
progress.

What we will do is publish a line about Hannah McLeod in our local Genealogy Search Table in the hope that someone may cross reference a connection to your family. 

The Jamestown and Clare districts were closely settled by gaelic speaking Scots from the Western Isles. They were strongly Presbyterian, and maintained gaelic services for decades.

They, being some of the earliest settlers, formed their own cemeteries. The McLeod (private) Cemetery just out of Jamestown was a family one and preceded the town cemetery. There is also a Presbyterian cemetery where a church once stood, south of town.

Similarly the White Hut Gaelic cemetery( managed by the MacAskills ) at Clare was a private one.  See link below.I am tossing up the possibility of connections to be discovered there. The rustic Highlanders stuck together.

Also, the assumption that Hannah and Daniel came from Ireland, may have merit as their family could have moved   there in the highland clearances; Why Ireland, as it had its own huge problems? Would we expect Hannah and Daniel to have been brought up Irish-catholic in Charleville in the heart of catholic county Cork?

Would the religious divide have been crossed to the firm Presbyterian protestant tradition of the  Scots?, I note that in your blogs, a Daniel McLeod had married as a Presbyterian.

What is the likelihood of Charelville being wrong ? eg. There are "Charlestons" in Scotland,  in the west. Even "Garryveillie" could come out sounding like "Charleville".

Gaelic pronounciation was foreign to English ears and knowledge, hence we have the diverse spellings of names like "MacLeod" "McCloud",  written by  clerks who had no idea, but recorded the best interpretation.  Towns of origin may have been misrecorded also.

http://headstones2.weebly.com/clare-white-hut-gaelic.html

If you imagine Henry Edward McLeod and Hannah/Daniel could be related, can you trace down Henry & spouse in the 1841 Scottish census?  

There is no doubt that raising questions about the accuracy of Charleville is valid given how easily mistakes were made at the time. We have our own classic example in Clesanthows being recorded as the name of Charlie and Mary Ross's son Chrysantheous, the result no doubt of a heavy Greek accent and the ignorance of the recorder in Clare, in the same way that Charleville may be the 'guesswork' of an English clerk trying to make sense of a broad Scottish accent. The same situation no doubt led to the publishing of Domeyer as Domier, the latter being a phonetic interpretation of a heavy German accent.

Photo: Sailing ships in Germany in the 1800's.

So previous conjectures revolving around Charleville and Hannah and Daniel being Irish may be thoroughly wrong, as such guesses often are. The other McLeod connection in the Clare Valley was Mary McLeod who married Donald McKinnon and one of Hannah McLeod and Edward Atkin's daughters married one of their sons. Mary was born in the Gorballs, Lanarkshire and Donald in Argyll. If there were a connection between Hannah and Mary I am guessing the Charleville?? would be somewhere around here.

We have only just decided that Henry Edward McLeod might be connected also as he ended up in the same part of South Australia as Hannah and Mary and checking the Scottish census is a good way to begin.


Kylie came up with the following in response to the latest information on the McLeods:

 I also wondered if there was a section of London that they were living in before emigrating and have asked the London Metropolitan Archives Family History section if they know of such an area.  They promise to answer all questions within ten days so we await an answer.

Now back to Hannah.  Scotland has excellent records at Scotlandspeople.  I am a member and have done several searches but have been unable to find a family with both a Daniel and a Hannah or Ann.  That was with father Donald.  I will do some more searches without the father’s name in case that is not our Daniel.  What I have found is that no-one named their child Hannah only Ann and that Daniel is a common name so we may be able to identify them by the combination of names alone.

This week also brought the following report from the Clare Historical Society following a request from Kylie for clarification of information:

As you have found Edward Atkins married Hannah (Anne) McLeod in Holy Trinity Church in Adelaide in 1843 and later married Elizabeth Mashford in 1857 in St Marks C of E at Penwortham - small village 10 minutes south of Clare. His son, Edward William, married a Mary Ann Wise in St Patricks Church, Adelaide in 1904. There is also a marriage of one Sarah Atkins in St Marks at Penwortham in 1872. I will have to look up this one on micro-fiche.

N.B. We are checking on this but the researcher seems to have assumed that Mary's illegitimate son was the son of Edward Atkins as well when, while this has been raised as conjecture and incest, there is as yet no firm ground for it.

BAPTISMS - a James Haynes Atkins in St Michael's C of E Bungaree church in 1862 and his birth is on state records as 2 January 1862 at Charlton which is in the district of Wirrabarra with Elizabeth as the mother. Three others baptised in St Barnabas C of E in Clare - child of Edward & Anne with no name or date shown in 1850 father shown as a labourer, abode Clare;  Joseph baptised 30 August 1851 son of Edward and Hannah, still a labourer and still Clare;  Emily baptised 11 August 1854 and born 10 March 1854, daughter of Edward and Hannah, abode Bundaleer and Edward is now a blacksmith. Rev.William Wood officiated at this last one. The other two were baptised by Rev. Bagshaw. These are from the original church records.

BURIALS - Henry Edward Atkins son of Edward buried in St Barnabas C of E cemetery (no headstone) February 1851 aged 7 years; Joseph of Bundaleer also in St Barnabas, 28 November 1854, aged 3 years & 3 months, no headstone. These 2 are from the original church records and no other details are given except for the officiating ministers. These 2 are not listed on the state CDs.

So many births and deaths for babies were never registered which makes it hard to trace people. It is strange there is no death showing for Anne (Hannah) before 1857 when Edward married Elizabeth in January 1857.

Sarah Atkins married James Stacy on 8 April 1872 in St Marks C of E at Penwortham. She was 22 and her husband was a teamster of Bundaleer, Sarah is shown as living at Clare and a spinster. Wirnesses to her marriage were Alex McKinnon, labourer and Harriet McKinnon both of Hillriver, Clare. From the original register which we hold here. No need to look on microfiche for that one.

 So as things stand we have found out a little more about a possible Daniel McLeod which might open the door to something more. Or it may not.

Perhaps the most important thing to emerge from this week's work is the reminder that a name may not be all that it seems and that 'accents' and illiteracy made such mistakes very common in the 19th century.

Correcting an error about Edward Atkins which makes for a neater 'fit' with other 'facts'....

Photo: Early settlement in South Australia in the 1830's and 1840's was in tents.

I have been set to right by Luke in regard to an error about Edward Atkins, or rather, the E. Atkins listed in brackets next to the names of Daniel and Hannah McLeod as registered on the passenger list for the ship Eliza, which brought them to South Australia in 1840.


The assumption had been that (E.Atkins) was another passenger, or crew member on the same ship and perhaps this signified the arrival of Edward in the colony. But as Luke wrote today:

There was no E. Atkins upon the Eliza. I asked the State Library about this when I looked up the Hannah Mcleod record on the "Register of Emigrant Labourers 1836-1840 Pike Index South Australia State Library." They said that the Barry Leadbeater website is misleading because all he is saying that E. Atkins is connected to Hannah McLeod by marriage, and with the birth of the first Henry Edward Atkins. I checked the whole passage list and there is no E. Atkins on the list.



So this means that we have absolutely no record of Edward arriving in South Australia by ship. It does not mean it did not happen but it does add weight to the theory that he came overland and may well be the Edward Atkins found in other reports or in fact, originally, Edwin Atkins the convict.

It had always seemed curious that he was not registered in the 1841 census if he had indeed been on the Eliza and entered the colony by open and legal means. Again, this is not to say he did not enter the colony openly and legally, but that he probably did not come by ship which means he is more likely to have been in Australia some years earlier and that fits with the Edwin Atkins theory.

And Luke has come up with another mention of an Edward Atkins on Trove:

Photo: The settlers built simple slab huts to replace their original tents.

I also believe that Edward Atkins came over land to South Australia. I am not sure about the Yass Society theory about W.H. Dutton, but all has to be taken into consideration. Anyway, I went on TROVE this morning to re visit the name Edward Atkins and I do not know why I have not noticed two stories I have just found regarding a person called Edward Atkins before.

 

Thomas Fielding, Joseph Best, and Edward Atkins, were charged with assaulting Thomas Wilson at Mr Reed's station on the Para, on the 30th of last month. The Clerk of the Peace stated that this was so serious a case that he was instructed to request his Worship to send it for trial at the next general gaol delivery. The prisoners were accordingly committed, but allowed to procure bail. The complainants who presented a shocking appearance, is an inmate of the infirmary, and a certificate from the Colonial Surgeon was handed in stating that he was suffering from compound fracture of the jaw.

Southern Australian (Adelaide SA 1838-1900)   Saturday 18 January 1840 p 4.

There is nothing in the above story which links the Edward Atkins above to our Edward Atkins. However, if you read the story below the same names appears and thus the same case. However, this time people’s ages appear and Edward Atkins is listed as “aged 27”

Thomas Fielding, aged 29; Joseph Best, aged 25; Edward Atkins, aged 27; violently assaulting and beating Thomas Wilson, in December last, near Adelaide.

Southern Australian (Adelaide SA 1838-1844)   Thursday 5 March 1840 p 3

Map of the area north of Adelaide where the Little Para river runs.

I am not saying that the Edward Atkins above is our Edward Atkins but if you consider his age as 27 in 1840 then the Edward Atkins in the story above was born c 1813.

We have two years as a possible year of birth for Edward Atkins c1813 and c1807.  The only reason the possible year of his birth is known is because his marriage certificate to his second wife, Elizabeth Lewis nee Mashford, lists his age as 44 in 1857 when he married her.[1] As a result, he had to have been born around the year c1813. However, if the reader studies the obituary it states that Edward Atkins died at the age of 84 in 1891. Thus, he would have had to have been born around the year c1807. As a result, there are two years for his birth which are 1813 and 1807.

Be that as it may, I have found that discrepancies in people’s ages back in the 1800s are not uncommon for many reasons. As a result, it can sometimes just add to the confusion when researching a past family member. Thus, all that can be said, at this stage, is that Edward Atkins was born somewhere between the years 1807-1813. However, I prefers the year of c1813 as the year of his birth. This is because Edward Atkins would have had a better idea of how old he was in 1857 when he married a second time. His family may have had to guess his age when he died in 1891.

Also the convict Henry Edwin Atkins was born in Cirencester Gloucestershire.[2] Henry Edwin Atkins was baptised on the 23/2/1812[3].

As a result, does the story above relate to our Edward Atkins????? If so was he living along the Para River in 1840???

Another thought has occurred to me. Do we have the wrong Hannah McLeod??? Maybe, the Hannah McLeod who married Edward Atkins in 3/1/1843[4] is not the Hannah McLeod who arrived in South Australia on the 14/5/1840 upon the ship called the Eliza.[5] What if there was another Hannah McLeod who was born in NSW or was a convict and Edward and her met one another interstate??? Just a thought.

The station which belonged to Mr Reed was some sort of sheep farm located in Gawler somewhere along the Para River.

Southern Australian (Adelaide S.A 1838-1844) Thursday 16th Jan 1840 p 1.

---

[1] Marriage Certificate of Edward Atkins & Elizabeth Lewis South Australia Birth, Death, Marriage Registration Office.

[2] Unpublished report concerning the family of Atkins by John J Tunesi Beacon Genealogical and Heraldic Research 31.12.2011.

[3] Unpublished report concerning the family of Atkins by John J Tunesi Beacon Genealogical and Heraldic Research 31.12.2011.rr

[4] Marriage Certificate of Hannah McLeod and Edward Atkins
[5] Register of Emigrant Labourers 1836-1840 Pike Index South Australia State Library

Photo: Gawler, South Australia, in 1869 which is situated on the Para River.

And Kylie replied:

That is interesting because of the link below.  The Mr J Fisher is, I am guessing, CB Fisher’s brother James Fisher, they own a pastoral lease at Little Para at about this time.  Perhaps Edward was already in SA. 

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fisher-charles-brown-379

In 1838 the brothers sought another partner and occupied their first pastoral lease, Little Para, a few miles north of Adelaide. The run was sold in 1840 but the Fisher brothers soon acquired other pastoral leases from which they supplied Adelaide with sheep and cattle. Such leases were then issued on condition that they were stocked within three months with 16 cattle or 100 sheep to the square mile.

I have seen this report in Trove before and can’t remember if I ever found out if he was convicted.  If he was I would be surprised if he was out by 1843.  Or did he skip north?
 

The Para River is near Gawler, close to the Barossa Valley which is south of the Clare Valley where Hutt River was and where Edward lived when he married Hannah.

Given that we have only found two Edward Atkins and they turned out to be the same man and now here is a mention of a third, in the same area, in the same period, there is a good chance that this is also the same man. 

This means that if they are one and the same our Edward was in South Australia in 1839, one of the very earliest settlers, and, if he were found to be the Edwin Atkins, from Gloucestershire, that would fit with the end of his sentence in 1837, presuming he served out his seven year sentence in full.
  
And given how early the Yass area was settled it is logical to assume that there were other cattle drives to South Australia in which Edwin or Edward may have taken part, anytime from 1830 if he got an early ticket of leave, or 1837 if he served his full sentence.

And Luke replied:

I agree it is looking good for 1839 and it all seem to fit so far. The Mr Reed  homestead, I think is Thompson Reid  homestead. He was a early settler in Gawler and had a farm or homestead in Gawler along the Para between 1839-1850.


William Livingstone Reid emigrated with his parents, sister and four brothers from Newry, Co. Down, Northern Ireland on the Orleana. The ship arrived in Holdfast Bay, Glenelg, South Australia on the 15th January 1839. This Reid family were the first Europeans to settle in Gawler, South Australia taking up 750 acres which they named 'Clonlea'.

William and brother John went to the Victorian Goldfields in 1850 for two years to feed the miners (more lucrative than mining). William and brother Richard drove cattle from Queensland and, then with brothers John and Ross, leased Torlano Station on Darling River in New South Wales. Eventually they bought Tolarno, gradually taking up the previously mentioned 16 runs, giving Torlano 60 miles of river frontage by 60 miles deep.

If it is dear old Edward, then he was one of the first settlers in Gawler, the Clare Valley and Wirrabara. It sounds to me that the man did not like towns or cities.

Maybe he had something to hide or he just did not like to be around people. Just a thought, maybe he had a drinking problem (Dipkosey V Atkins Action for spirits) maybe dear old Edward took the booze without paying for it. If the drinking caused him to be a violent man then maybe that would explain the fight at Gawler and also explain why Elizabeth Mashford left him especially after her experience with Peter Lewis.

Photo: Hutt River Cottage in the Clare Valley, built in the mid 1800's, is now a holiday rental.



 So our Edward could easily have had links with the Reid or Fisher families, or both, which could link him to the Edward Atkins charged above and to the Edwin Atkins, convict. Both Reids and Fishers were involved in cattle and sheep droving between New South Wales and South Australia beginning in the 1830's.

William Reid was at Little Para by early 1839 and the Fisher brothers were there in 1838. The Fishers would later buy Bundaleer in 1854, where our Edward worked and Hill River, near Clare, in 1855 where Edward and Hannah's daughter Jane would raise her family.Given the small population of South Australia in the late 1830's it is likely that the Reids and Fishers knew each other well, and labourers worked for each at different times.

In 1838 there were 6,000 settlers in South Australia and most of them were in Adelaide. The German Lutherans had arrived the previous year and some of them had moved out to the Barossa and Clare Valleys but the major immigrant group was from Britain. It was fifty years since the English had landed at Sydney Cove and the first group of convicts had staggered ashore, alongside their gaolers.

It was seven years since the first plans were made to create a new colony for free settlers in South Australia - free of the convict taint, well, officially anyway, unlike Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.


Edward, Hannah and Elizabeth did not know it but in their own small way they were 'making' history. It has ever been thus.

Edward and Elizabeth were amongst South Australia's earliest pioneers...... and more links with the convict Edwin Atkins

The newspaper record of the report from the Gloucester Assizes for Edwin Atkins, convicted of stealing a lamb. Edward Atkins and Elizabeth Mashford were two of the earliest European settlers in South Australia, as were Edward's first wife, Hannah Mcleod and Elizabeth's first husband, Peter Lewis.


The first English settlers had arrived in Australia in 1788 when the country was established as a penal colony. Within a year that impact had reached South Australia when a smallpox epidemic from Port Jackson, New South Wales, made its way West and hundreds of local aborigines died.

Within a decade ships began charting the unexplored South Australian coastline although American sealers had been lodging on Kangaroo Island, off the coast from what would be Adelaide, from 1803. An original proposal had been to base settlement on Kangaroo Island, but the mainland offered much greater opportunities.

In 1829 the National Colonization Society was formed in Britain and a second smallpox epidemic reached South Australia where it took hold, lasting for a few years. In the same year Edwin Atkins, who might be our Edward Atkins, was in gaol in Gloucestershire for stealing a lamb.

In 1830 Charles Sturt's expedition from New South Wales reached the River Murray in what is now southern South Australia. Not long after Collet Barker surveyed Gulf St Vincent, climbed Mount Lofty, near where I now live and saw the Port River inlet, where soon there would be passenger ships by the hundreds dropping anchor and dropping colonists from England and Europe.

In the same year Edwin Atkins landed in Australia as a convict, aboard the Florentia and was sent to work at Yass, which is near to where Canberra now is. He was nineteen. The O'Brien brothers, Cornelius and Henry, from County Mayo, Ireland, settled this area in 1833 and employed Edwin/Edward Atkins and other 'scoundrelly' convict shepherds. Edwin was a blacksmith who now worked as a shepherd. Our Edward was a blacksmith who would later work as a shepherd.

In 1831 a plan was created to found a colony in Southern Australia, exceptional in that it would be a colony for free settlers and not a penal settlement for convicts. And possibly a reason why if Edwin Atkins is our Edward Atkins he did not want to register his name in the census and why he began to call himself Edward and not Edwin.

The South Australian Association was formed in Britain in 1833 and just a year later the South Australian Colonization Act was passed with a board of commissioners to oversee the project, soon appointed. By 1835 the South Australian company was formed to offer free passage to immigrant labourers and John Hindmarsh was appointed as the new Governor of the fledgling colony. In the same year William Light was appointed as surveyor-general and his inspired designs would have the city of Adelaide as one of the best designed cities then and now.

On February 22 and 24 the first migrant ships left England bound for South Australia. Just two months later Pastor Kavel met with G.F.Angas to discuss emigration for German Lutherans who were being persecuted. It was a busy year with The South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register founded and the first permanent pioneer settlers arriving in large numbers, aboard the Duke of York, John Pirie and Lady Mary Pelham.

On November 14, 1835 the first pioneer settlers arrived at what would be the city of Adelaide, landing at Holdfast Bay. In 1836 Light chose the name of Adelaide, after King William IV's Queen, for the new city. There were around 546 colonists and probably 12,000 Aborigines.

For the colonists it was an exciting new adventure; for the Aborigines it was the end of their world as they knew it although records of the time showed that the early settlers, in the main, tried hard to take the needs of the indigenous people into account. It was disease which did most of the killing in its unexpected and alien way, as opposed to a considered process of 'removal' by the early settlers, which is how the situation is often viewed in more modern, more politically correct, and more ignorant times.

The English had sought to protect the native Kaurna people in law, but fate had other things in mind. A Protector was appointed to look after the interests of the Aboriginal people and land was set aside for them, but despite good intentions, the 'clash of cultures' would see the most powerful take precedent. It has always been thus.

In 1837 the first German Lutheran settlers arrived and among them no doubt, some ancestors. The Supreme court sat for the first time and the foundation stone was laid for Holy Trinity Church where Edward and Hannah would marry in six years time.

In 1838, Australia's first police force was established, the South Australian Police and Aborigines were deemed to be British subjects - whether they wanted to be or not. There were now 6,000 settlers.  In the same year the Adelaide Chamber of Commerce was founded, the first in Australasia; a school was opened for Aboriginal children by the Lutheran missionaries and Dr Matthew Moorhouse was appointed Protector of Aborigines.

In 1839 the village of Hahndorf, where I now live, was established and our farm would have been one of the first settled in the Adelaide Hills.  In the same year vaccinations began for smallpox and on October 6, William light died of tuberculosis.

In the same year:

Daniel McLeod, Servant, made application to come to SA 3/12/1839,

From Charleville, (Ireland)  18 years old. Hannah McLeod, Worker woman made application 3/12/1839, 16 years old from Charleville.”


We are guessing Hannah and Daniel were brother and sister given her age although both of them may well have been even younger if Daniel is the man who married Louisa Rose Domeyer in 1869, in Wilmington, South Australia.

There were now 10,000 settlers and Adelaide Hospital was established along with a City of Adelaide Council and the road between the settlement of Adelaide and the Port, where Hannah and Daniel McLeod and possibly Edward Atkins,  if he is the E. Atkins listed on the same ship, the Eliza, would arrive the following year, was completed.

In that year, 1840, the free passenger immigration scheme would cease due to lack of funds, so they had made it just in time and the population of the colony was 15,440 with nearly 9,000 of them living in Adelaide. There were also 959 horses, 16,050 cattle, 166,800 sheep and a total of 1,615 buildings in the new city.

Hannah McLeod arrived in the colony in 1840 and Edward Atkins may well have arrived at the same time if he was the ex-convict Edwin Atkins and he had made his way overland, or he may have arrived on the same ship, as the ex-convict Edwin Atkins or as another man entirely. It would be seven years before Elizabeth arrived with her family and during that time her first husband Peter Lewis would make his way to the colony. But they were all to be counted as South Australian pioneers, amongst the very first to set foot on and settle down in, this part of Terra Australis.

N.B. Some new information has come to light showing there was no E. Atkins on board the Eliza with Hannah Mcleod and the name has been included in the register for the ship as a link to the marriage of Hannah to an E. Atkins. However, the original researcher has not made this clear and so the inclusion of (E.Atkins) looks like someone else travelling on the same ship when it is not the case.

Which takes us back to trying to turn the theory about Edwin Atkins being our Edward Atkins into fact just as we have done with Hannah's Edward Atkins and Elizabeth's Edward Atkins. And I have commissioned new research on just that count having come across a newspaper report for the court case against Edwin Atkins in the Gloucester Assizes.  As is so often the way in life, it seems our Edwin, who may also be our Edward, was in the wrong place at the wrong time and less a sheep thief than a hapless visitor or perhaps a man having an affair with someone's wife and 'taking a fall' because of it.


The case involved not just Edwin but a William Walker and his wife, Amy and while William got off, Edwin and Mrs Walker did not!

A 'teg' I discovered is a  lamb, weaning to first shear. It looks like Edwin and Amy got a death sentence but clearly this was commuted to seven years transportation at least for him.

I have asked the researcher to do some more work to see what else can be found. I wrote some time ago about the research to date on Edwin and the connections between him and our Edward, including a physical description which sounded very much as our Edward looked, going by the photograph we have.http://roslyn-ross.blogspot.com/2012/01/convict-factor-is-raised-again-for.html


And in the meanwhile Kylie came across a piece of information which might 'link' Edwin the convict and Edward our ancestor. She wrote:

I came across this report in Trove.  This is how I would imagine that Edwin shifted to SA. This trip would have been the right time and I am guessing that Mr. J Fisher was James Fisher brother of CB Fisher but that is just a guess.

I realise we had originally looked at Yass Plains over near the SA border but this is incorrect.  Edwin was sent to Yass in 1830.  He was assigned to the O’Briens.  So it would have been Yass near Canberra.  There is no way that they had moved out that far from Sydney in 1830.

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/obrien-cornelius-2848

The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840)

Thursday 24 September 1840

OVERLAND ARRIVAL AT SOUTH AUSTRALIA. -We have much pleasure in announcing the arrival overland from New South Wales of another fine herd of cattle, brought by Mr. J. Fisher. Mr. Fisher started from Yass, on the 21st of June, accompanied by Mr. Hallack, who left this place along with Mr. Fisher, and by Messrs. Hallett and McIntosh   from Sydney. The remainder of the party consisted of ten white men and two blacks. Herd consists of cows, heifers, steers, and bullocks 850 in number; thirty-five working bullocks,   and twenty-five horses. The party kept the northern side of the Murrumbidgee and the Murray the whole way. The track has now be come so distinct, Mr. Fisher states that in some places it is like travelling along a high road. The feed along the Murrumbidgee was very good, on the Murray not quite so good. Very little loss was sustained on the journey Two or three head of cattle were lost in crossing the Darling, the waters of which were swollen very much. The Rofus was also very high, and the party not having a punt with them , they were detained a short time in crossing three rivers. The blacks were not at all troublesome out Mr. Fisher thinks they are not so fond of cattle parties as of sheep. Mr. Fisher left the cattle at the bend of the Murray, about nine days ago, and arrived in Adelaide on Wednesday evening. —-South Australian Register, September 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725677At this point we know only that Edward was in South Australia by 1843 when he married Hannah. There was a census taken in 1841 and his name is not on it. There was an E.Atkins listed on the same ship which brought Hannah but one can only wonder why, if it was our Edward, he did not register with the census.

However, if Edward is in fact Edwin, and he reached South Australia in 1840, as a freed convict he might want to 'protect' both is identity and his presence.

The Certificate of Freedom report on Edwin/Edward Atkins sounds a lot like our Edward looked, as seen in the photograph with his daughters by Elizabeth. It says he  had dark grey eyes, sandy hair, a ruddy-freckled complexion, eyebrows meeting and he was 5ft. 71/2 inches and had a tattoo HEA on his right inside wrist.

The photo of our Edward clearly shows the fair and possibly ruddy and freckled complexion and the sandy hair and dark eyes and the height looks right when compared to the height of his eldest daughter Elizabeth who is standing beside him. What a pity we cannot see the inside of his right wrist!

Both Edwin and Edward had a father called Joseph Atkins. There is a connection to Haines or Haynes with both of them. Edwin lived near Cirencester, Gloucestershire and a UK researcher previously came up with the following:


Joseph Atkins married Ann Haines in 14 August 1809 in Cirencester in the county of Gloucestershire.  

All the children were baptised in Cirencester, Gloucestershire:

Charles Atkins bp. 1 July 1810

Henry Edwin Atkins bp. 23 February 1812 (This could fit with convict Edwin Atkins if he were known by his middle name as was common. The age is right.)

Joseph Lewis Atkins b. 18 January 1814, bp. 13 February 1814, bur. 3 April 1814

James Webb Atkins b. 14 August 1816, bp. 5 October 1816

Susannah b. 30 November 1817, bp. 3 January 1819

David Atkins b. 31 March 1822, bp. 19 May 1822

Thomas Haines Atkins b. 20 June 1825, bp. 24 July 1825, d. 30 October 1825

Mary Ann Haines Atkins b. 10 January 1827, bp. 4 February 1827.

 It is not so much that there is new information regarding Edwin Atkins which links him positively with our Edward but there is a little more information on him which could link him to the Edwin Atkins born to Joseph and Ann Haines (Haynes) and which 'places' him possibly in South Australia at the time that Hannah McLeod arrived.

The court case says that the lamb was stolen from a property at Cubberley which is near Cirencester in Gloucestershire where Joseph and Ann had their children.

There is some evidence that the convict Edwin Atkins was Henry Edwin Atkins, the full name of the son born to Joseph and Ann Atkins.

If Edwin Atkins served his full seven year sentence he would have been released in 1837. He may have remained in the employment of the O'Briens at Yass or he could have gone home to England and returned by 1840 in time to make the trip overland to Adelaide, or he could have been the E. Atkins on the Eliza, the ship which brought Hannah McLeod to South Australia. Both are possible. And it is also possible that Edwin Atkins was released early and had more than enough time to return to England and take passage again to Australia and employment with the O'Briens before joining the party of ten men who made the trip to South Australia, arriving on September 5, the day I would be born, 109 years later!

And here is an account of the same journey made by another party, around the same time,as that which Edwin Atkins may have made from Yass, New South Wales, to South Australia in 1840.

— NOTES OF A JOURNEY OVERLAND FROM GOULBOURN TO ADELAIDE By James Snape, Esq., late of Chester.

We started on the 13th November last, with three teams, two of them bullocks, and the  other one drawn by horses, the former loaded with twelve week's rations for twenty-two men, which was the number of our party, and   the latter carrying a portable stockyard for the horses.

Our stock consisted of 500 head of cattle and 100 horses, most of them young,     sound, serviceable animals, many of them very         valuable. The whole party was under the charge and management of Mr Craig, who is   I believe, principal superintendent, of Mr James McFarlane's different stations, to whom and to his brother Duncan McFarlane, Esq., of Ade- laide, the stock belongs. Mr Craig is, in my   opinion, well suited for the purpose, as he possesses a great deal of shrewdness and   activity, and gained the confidence and respect   of his whole party, which is one of the most desirable objects in an expedition of this sort.

Mr J. McFarlane accompanied us beyond Yass, for the purpose, as he expressed it, of seeing the party fairly started and past the public-   houses, a precaution necessary where so many     servants not much used to forebearance were of the party. The face of the country above Yass is very mountainous ; the land appears rich,   the grass was just recovering from the last   year's drought, and afforded plenty of food for the stock. Mr O'Brien is police magistrate for this district, and is one of the largest land- owners about here.

Four day's stages brought us to the banks of the Murrumbidgee, which     is a fine and rapid stream, but at this time it had risen very high on account of the heavy   rains, which had given it a much wider and more rapid stream than usual. About thirty miles further we came to the Gundejee district, situated upon an extensive and apparently rich flat, as the grass in some places was growing   breast high.

The river takes a complete circle round the flat or marsh. There are a great   number of small settlers in this part, and there         is also a store and an inn kept by Mr Andrews. It is here that the Port Phillip and Port     Adelaide roads part, the former crossing the river and the latter leading off to the right over the Gundojee ranges. We here gave the cattle a day's spell— such is the country phrase   for a day's rest. I took the opportunity of making inquiries of Mr Andrews, who, for his station, is rather an intelligent person, respecting the road and country around us. He   informed me that we should be a day crossing the ranges, which is only a distance of three miles; we found his statement perfectly   correct, as the ascent up the mountain seems almost perpendicular, and a person to look at   it would scarcely conceive it possible for drays to cross.

As it was, we had to yoke all the bullocks to one dray and drag it up, and so on alternately, till all three arrived at the summit. Then commenced the descent, which was much more easily accomplished than the   former, having only to cut one or two small   trees down, which were fastened behind the   drays to prevent them going down too suddenly. We had some old and experienced bullock-drivers and they told me they had crossed many a steep hill before, but nothing when compared to that. I believe few people travel this way, as they prefer crossing the river at Gundogee and recrossing it again a few     miles further down, by these means avoiding     the ranges.

After we had crossed the mountains, the face of the country was much altered, it being for the most part a dead flat, extending N.N.W. upwards of 270 miles. We passed by the stations occupied by Messrs Thoms, Jen-   kinson, Lichtons, and Smalls, which last is the lowest station on the Murrumbidgee. About four miles from the above mentioned place, there are the remains or rather the ruins of a hut which Mr Small had intended to have formed into a station, but was not able to do so on account of the hostility shown by the natives.

It was here we overtook Captain Finnis' party, who were proceeding with 5000   sheep to the same destination as ourselves, under the directions of Mr Kessop, of the Royal Navy. We were now upon the outskirts of an immense plain, which took us seven days to cross. Day after day the feed became less, and the tracts began to wear a more barren appearance, but the stock were never at a loss for feed, as we always found plenty in the points of the river, which the cattle and horses appeared to be very fond of.

About the sixth day the appearance of the country began to alter, passing through high reeds. It was here for the first time we fell in   with a small tribe of natives. They appeared to show every sign of peace and friendship, help- ing us to carry wood for the purpose of making fires round the cattle. Upon the seventh day we arrived at a rich plain interspersed with   fine large timber, which is always a certain   proof of the ground in the neighbourhood being of superior quality. 

We encamped within two miles of the Lachlan river. Next day, Friday,   28th of December, we crossed it ; it was very small at the time, and presented more the appearance of a creek than a river. We had here the misfortune to break the axle-tree of one of the drays, and not having a spare one to replace it, we were obliged to leave it behind—under our circumstances a sad inconvenience. We   moreover had the misfortune to lose a horse     which got into the river and was drowned. The   natives here were less friendly ; a fine bullock was speared by them, but not dangerously hurt.

The land in this tract lies low, and has evidently been some time or other under water. It was here that a tremendous storm of wind and rain visited us, which continued nearly   the whole night, and most unfortunately for our "creature comforts," we had pitched the camp on a very low ground, where towards day break we were up to our knees in water, our shivering frames giving us no indifferent idea of the comforts and luxuries of a bush life! There are abundance of reeds on this side the Lachlan, which our stock had been enjoying the benefit of for the last five days. They gradually decreased till we arrived   at a small sandy plain, which, having crossed, we passed through a belt of brush seven miles   in width, occasionally interspersed with sandy hillocks.

It is here the river takes a great     turn to the southward. On the 29th we passed Lake Stapylton, and on the succeeding day arrived at the junction of the Murrumbidgee with the Murray, which is here a broad, deep,   and beautiful river. We here saw a numerous body of natives, all of whom appeared friendly.   They are a much finer race of men than I had yet seen —tall, and well made in proportion. Jan 1 —Passed Lake Bernice. Crossing a deep creek, we had great difficulty in getting the horses and cattle to take the water, it   being the first time they had occasion to do so. Travelled for two or three days over immense   high sandhills covered with brush, which the cattle and horses got remarkably well through.

Friday, 10 — We passed over Golgol creek — the feed for the stock for the last day or two has been very bad. We met Mr McLeod's party loaded with a dray full of rations, who were making the best of their way to meet Mr. Kessop.  

Sunday, 12th.— Within a few miles of the Darling river, which I have great cause to remember. The saddle horses had strayed a long distance to look for food, and I proceeded after them for some miles when I had the ill luck to dismount and lose my horse, and not having taken particular notice of the many twists and turns I had taken, I mistook the direction of   the camp ; and what made my condition worse   than it otherwise would have been, that part of the country was thickly peopled with natives, who if they had fallen in with me, would   have effectually put a stop to any more horse- hunting on my part, but to my great joy I reached the river, after following which for a few hours brought me to the camp. The   party there appeared to be quite surprised that   I should have arrived with a whole skin, as they afterwards informed me that a hundred   blacks had taken the direction the horses had strayed.In the afternoon of this day, our party encamped on the banks of the Darling,   and were busily employed in making the cart       water-tight to answer the purpose of a punt.

 Friday 24 —Travelled ten miles over a range of very high sandhills covered with a thick scrub, which brought us in sight of Lake     Bonney, where we encamped without water. This was barren looking country, and we were obliged to tie the horses up all night, fearing that they might make for the water, the river being distant six miles. The second day's stage from Lake Bonney brought us to a range of sand hills ; and as there were plenty of good feed in the neighbourhood, we gave the horses and cattle a day's "spell". The   country now presented a curious and wild appearance. Some of these hills were two or three hundred feet high. We have often kept the river in our view for miles, and were enabled to procure a drink of water, owing to the steepness of the banks.  

Wednesday 5 — Made Mr Duncan's sheep station, a distance of twenty-four miles over a   very hilly country ; the nearest place where we got water was called the Springs ; it was very brackish, and the quantity of it was not sufficient for the cattle to drink, so we drove   them on a few miles further and about sun- set arrived with them near a chain of ponds (as it was later called), most of which are extremely salt, and I am sorry to say, through the darkness of the night, and the eagerness with which the horses rushed to the water, five or six were most unfortunately drowned. This was happily the last of our casualties, and our charge was in a few days afterwards safely delivered into the hands of Mr D. Macfarlane.

From the South Australian Register, 1840.