Stokes, Joseph & his descendants

Joseph Stokes was born at West Bromwich in the English county of Staffordshire in 1813, the third son of Samuel Stokes & Elizabeth Blocksidge. He worked at the Lea Brook Iron Works in Tipton as an iron roller. As a young man, in 1831, Joseph helped himself to an iron ingot for some reason, and was arrested and tried at the Stafford Quarter Sessions in July of that year. His sentence was 7 years transportation. After spending a few months in an English gaol, he was loaded aboard the ship Isabella  and transported to New South Wales.

After spending 6½ years working for Alexander Chisholm at Camden as a farm hand and shepherd, Joseph gained his certificate of freedom. He found work with Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney as a shepherd, and came with them overlanding the first sheep and cattle to South Australia in 1837/38. When they reached the area immediately surrounding Mt Barker, Joseph was put in charge of the stock, while Hawdon and Bonney went on to Adelaide to arrange the sale of the animals once they had gained some condition on the abundant pasture land in the area.

As his employment with the Overlanders was ended once they reached Adelaide, Joseph decided to remain in the Mt Barker area and built himself a small slab hut in the area in which they had first camped. He purchased a couple of sheep and a cow from Mr Hawdon with his earnings and set about making a new life for himself.

He married Ann Adams, the daughter of William Adams & Jane Smith, at her father's home at Mt Barker Springs in 1846, and together they raised 3 children - a daughter and two sons. Shortly after the birth of their youngest child, gold was discovered at Ballarat in Victoria, and like many others, Joseph set off to make his fortune in the company of his brother-in-law, Frederick Adams. Apparently tragedy struck (although I have not been able to find proof) and Joseph died in Victoria - or at the very least, never returned. Frederick Adams returned from Ballarat in about 1853 and brought back a gold nugget, which he gave to Ann.

As the children were still quite small, and Ann was left to raise them alone, life was difficult for them. In 1854, Ann Stokes married William Chilton at St James' Church, Blakiston, and went to live with her new husband and children at Langhorne Creek. The family grew considerably, as she and William had a family of 10 children plus the three from her first marriage. Most of the Chilton children remained in the Langhorne Creek area, but the Stokes boys, Frederick Joseph and George Joseph moved back to the Mt Barker district, while the daughter Jane married Charles Martin and lived for a time at Strathalbyn and later at Langhorne Creek. Later, George would also move back to Langhorne Creek, where he remained until his death.

Frederick Joseph Stokes, the elder of the two sons, was born at Mt Barker in 1847. He farmed in the same location as his father had before him. In 1882 he married Sarah Anne Clifford, the daughter of Matthew Clifford and Anne Franklin of Langhorne Creek. Fred and Sarah had four children - Ada Ellen, Matthew George, Agnes Annie and Thomas Frederick. Fred liked a drink a little too much for the good of his family, and so they were often in quite poor circumstances. To add to the family's woes, Sarah's mother had come to live with them, as she was blind and couldn't care for herself. Fred's liking for drink, and lack of work prospects, added to personal ill-health and the need to care for her mother, caused Sarah to have some sort of a breakdown which saw her placed in the Destitute Assylum in 1895. She died there about 5 months later. The younger of her children were split up and sent to live with relatives - at Langhorne Creek and Broken Hill.

Of Frederick & Sarah's children, Ada married Henry Arthur Hallam and went to live at Wonwondah, near Horsham, in Victoria; Agnes married William Labram and went to live in Adelaide; Matthew George seized upon the idea of migration and went off to New Zealand where he remained until his death - he married Nellie Akersten and his descendants still live in the Christchurch area; and Tom came back to the Mt Barker district, where he married Mildred Rebecca Thompson and raised 7 of their 8 children to adulthood - my father is one of those children.

During WWII, my father, Wally, the son of Tom & Millie Stokes of Wistow, stayed at home to help with the farm, while his older brothers, Bob, Basil and Dave, went off to fight. He worked for a number of local farmers over the years doing all manner of work for them including hay carting and digging potatoes. In the 40's and 50's, Dad and his brother David were contract wood cutters; in the late 50's and early 60's he carted hay all over the state, from Wistow and Mt Barker to Avon and Saddleworth; from the 50's until he retired in the early 1990's, Wally was the local grave digger at cemeteries from Mt Barker to the Barossa, down to Palmer and back to Norton Summit. This work has remained in the family, as my brother now prepares the final resting places of the local dead.

Hillman, John and his descendants

John Hillman was born in the Devonshire village of Bovey Tracey in March of 1802, the second son of William Hillman and Sarah Earle. He married Johannah Palmer, daughter of Joseph Palmer and Mary Elizabeth Wise, at the Cornish Parish Church in Plymouth in 1827. John and Johannah lived in Plymouth for a few years and then moved to Penzance in Cornwall. At some point in 1836 or early 1837, John must have heard about the new colony of South Australia, and the large amounts of land that would be opening up there. He would also have been attracted to the idea of having his passage paid out to the colony for him, as by this time he had 5 children, and life on the land in Cornwall at that time provided slim pickings indeed.

Encouraged by what he had heard, John and Johannah, and their five small children, John's brother Leonard and his sister Jane, joined the early throngs of assisted passengers to South Australia. They boarded the Katherine Stewart Forbes at Plymouth in mid-1837 and reached Holdfast Bay on the 17th October that year.

Just two days after they arrived, their 6th child, a son, was born at the emigration depot at Holdfast Bay. Their family would be completed by 1846, with the birth of two more sons. In total there were 8 children in this family - James, John George Lilga, Richard Thomas, Elizabeth Jane, John, Leonard, Walter and William. I am descended from two of these children - John and Leonard.

Not long after their arrival, John went looking for work or for land on which to raise his family. They moved to the city of Adelaide and set up a home there, with a carpenter's shop alongside it. A short time later, with the need for timber for his carpentry business, John set off for the Nairne area to look for land and timber. He settled on the Native Valley area and built a home there, which survived until it was destroyed by vandals in the 1970's. Later, as his business grew, he built a home called Uplands at Nairne, where most of his children grew up. When Johannah died in 1855, John re-married to Elizabeth Haggett, and had a further 12 children with her.

When John Dunn, the flour miller, arrived in the colony and walked to Nairne to visit his brother Charles, he passed a block of land on the corner of what is now the Princes Highway and Woodside Road, where John Hillman and John Disher were growing wheat, and recorded in his diary the existence of this crop as "...the best crop of wheat I have seen, east of the Tiers."

All of his children grew up, married and had children. The fifth and sixth children of the first marriage grew up and went about their own lives.  John and Johannah Hillman were my great-great-great-grandparents.

John, the fifth son, married at the Primitive Methodist Chapel at Dawsley to Welsh born Sarah Prosser, the daughter of James Prosser and Mary Jones. He moved to Wirrabara in the far north of the state. They had 5 children - Richard Edward Jasper, Mary Elizabeth, Laura Alberta, William John Herbert and Reginald Hartley. Their daughter Laura, a single woman in 1909, gave birth to an illegitimate son at the Carrington Street Salvation Army Home for Unwed Mothers. This child was placed in the care of the Salvation Army, and Laura returned to her life at Wirrabara, but never married or had any other children. The child, named Albert Ernest Fuller Hillman, grew up at Eden Park, and was educated there as well. He left the "Park" and found work with some of the local farmers before leaving the area for a time. He returned to the Mt Barker district in the early 1930's, where he met his future wife, who by what seemed to be a coincidence to them, had the same surname as he - Kathleen Millicent Hillman. John & Sarah were my great-great-grandparents and Laura was my great-grandmother.

Leonard, the sixth son of John & Johannah, was born at Holdfast Bay on 19th October 1837, the first truly Australian Hillman in this family. As a young lad, he grew up around his father's timber cutting concern at Hay Valley, and worked for a while in the saw pits that John had constructed on his land there. In 1866 he married Susan Cock, daughter of William Cock and Mary George, at St James' Church, Blakiston. Leonard & Susan lived in the Native Valley area for a few more years before moving to Moonta in the mid-1870's, and then to Karkarilla in the mid-1880's before returning to the Kanmantoo/Callington area in 1888, where they set up home in the old Police Station house. Leonard died at Callington in 1910, but Susan lived on for another 24 years - she died at Callington in October 1934, and she was buried in the cemetery there on the 98th anniversary of her husband's family arriving in Australia. There were 7 children in their family - Charlotte Victoria, Elizabeth Jane, Selina, Alice Maude, William Leonard, Walter John and a still born son. Their son Walter John grew up at Callington, and spent his time working in the copper mines there, and on the railways for a time. Eventually, Walter married Hannah Elizabeth Morley, the daughter of Charles Henry Stevens and Mary Ann Morley, of Mt Barker, and moved to Littlehampton to live. Walter and Elizabeth had a daughter named Kathleen Millicent Hillman, who would grow up to marry a man with same surname as her own - Albert Ernest Fuller Hillman. Leonard & Susan Hillman were my great-great-grandparents, and Walter & Elizabeth were my great-grandparents.

Bert and Kath Hillman were married in Adelaide at the Registry office in February 1932. They made their home at Mt Barker and had four daughters and a stillborn son. Their daughters were Lorraine, Jennifer, Margaret and Pauline. Bert joined the army in WWII, and served in the middle east at Tobruk and El Alamein. On his return, he worked in a number of jobs including milkman, night cart driver, bottle collector and saw miller. Later, he became the town gardener at Mt Barker. Kath died at Mt Barker in 1971 and Bert in 1994. These were my grandparents.

Thompson, Theodore Horatio

Theodore Horatio Thompson was born the illegitimate son of Thirza Thompson at Chatham, Kent in October 1824. As a young lad, he worked as a farm hand at the village of Luton in Kent, and his mother lived at Chatham where she eventually married William Wedd. Thirza Thompson was descended from the Thompson, Bellingham and Darby families from the Halesowen area of Shropshire, and her ancestry can be traced back to the early 1600's.

In 1838, for reasons that have evaporated with time, Theodore, his mother and step-father decided to migrate to South Australia. Thirza and William applied for assisted passage as a married couple, while Theodore, then just 14 years of age, applied in his own right. The family left Gravesend on 1 August 1838 and arrived in South Australia exactly four months later.

After arrival in the colony, Theodore, along with his mother and step-father went to live at Blakiston, where Mr. Wedd had bought some land. Theordore worked again as a farm labourer and squirreled away his earnings, saving enough money to by some property in Mt Barker. He married Johannah Collingridge, daughter of Joseph Collingridge and Betsy Parish, at St James' Church, Blakiston in 1849 and the couple set up their home on the land that Theodore had purchased in Mt Barker. He was a founding member of the Britannia Lodge of Oddfellows at Mt Barker, and was the last of the founders of this lodge to meet his maker. Theodore farmed at Mt Barker until his death in 1894, and Johannah lived in the town until she died in 1910.

Theodore and Johannah had 15 children - all born at Mt Barker - Elizabeth, Thirza Cecilia, Caroline Anne, Henry Ambrose, Eleanore, Edwin Henry, twins - Theodore Victor and Theodore Plummer who both only lived a very short time, George Theodore, Charlotte Jane, Alfred Willie, Mary Alice, Edward James, William, and Arthur Charles.

Elizabeth Thompson was born in 1850 at Blakiston. She married Charles Remnant and had 10 children. The family moved about a lot with her husband's work and lived at Pt Pirie, Warnertown, and Broken Hill. Elizabeth ended up moving to WA to live with one of her children after the death of her husband, and is buried over there.

Thirza Cecilia Thompson was born at Blakiston in 1841. She married Basil George Pearce at Wistow 1873, and had eight children. Her husband was a railway employee, and his places of work throughout his life coincide with the births of their children. In 1904, when Thirza was on holiday in Adelaide with her children (according to the newspaper reports - but she was actually at Mt Barker visiting her aged mother), her husband received a telegram - about what, I have never been able to discover - and promptly dropped dead of a heart attack. Thirza survived another 27 years after Basil died and passed away herself at the home of one of her children in Hindmarsh in 1931.

Caroline Anne Thompson was born at Blakiston in October of 1853 and died there in July of 1854. She is buried at Blakiston with her father.

Henry Ambrose Thompson was born at Blakiston in February 1856 and died there in March of 8157. He too is buried at Blakiston with his father.

Edwin Henry Thompson was born at Mt Barker in May 1859. He married Annie Lacey, the daughter of Edward Lacey of Bugle Ranges, at the Wesleyan Parsonage in Mt Barker in 1882. They had 8 children - Charles Henry, Annie Grace, Ernest Allan, Rosa May, William Theodore, Elsie Caroline, Bertie Edwin Henry, and Elder, who were all born at Mt Barker, but they didn't all stay in the area. Known as Harry, he was a builder of some repute and many of the fine stone-fronted homes in the town are his handiwork - in an article in the Mt Barker Courier & River Murray Advocate in July of 1850, the Rev. W. Gray described one of the house he built as being built "out of materials taken from Duncan MacFarlane's old house in the township." This house still stands, and is on the corner of Stephens Street and Druids Avenue, and once belonged to Mr George Wedd, the brother of Harry's step-grandfather, and father of the late Mrs. Eunice Penny.

The twins, Theodore Victor and Theodore Plummer, didn't survive to adulthood either. They were born in July 1861 at Blakiston and died there within two days of each other in March the following year. Both are buried at Blakiston.

George Theodore Thompson was born at Blakiston in January 1863. He married Anna Emily Thiele, daughter of Johann Gottfried Thiele and Rebecca Simpson, in 1893 at the home of Mrs. H.H. Splaine, aunt of the bride, at Hilton. The couple made their home at Wistow, and had 4 children - George Walter Henry, Mildred Rebecca, Lillian, and Reginald Thomas Stanley. George farmed the land at Wistow, and the house in which they lived still stands and is still owned by a family member today, although it is now a bed and breakfast. George died at Thebarton in 1921 and his widow lived on at Wistow until she passed away in 1963. Both are buried at Wistow. These were my great-grandparents, their daughter Mildred married Thomas Frederick Stokes (see Stokes biography for his details). Their eldest son George passed away in 1923, and Lillian in 1980. Mildred died in 1982 and the last connection to this generation of my family was severed when their youngest son passed away in 2000.

Charlotte Jane Thompson was born at Blackiston in May 1865. She married Donald Maclean, a native of Scarp in Scotland, at the Old Scots Church, Adelaide in 1891. They had 8 children - John Theodore, Donald Archibald, Charlotte Jane, Christina Margaret, Angus Charles, Annie Isabel, Mary Alice and Florence May. The family moved away from Mt Barker and lived at Canowie, where Donald was a station manager. Later, they moved to Spalding. Charlotte died at Canowie in 1938.

Alfred Willie Thompson was born at Blakiston in April 1867. He never married, and was apparently quite a talented artist. He died at Mt Barker in 1902 and is buried beside his parents at Blakiston.

Mary Alice Thompson was born at Mt Barker in September 1868. She had an illegitimate daughter, Alice May Thompson, in 1885 at Bugle Ranges. Her daughter went to live with the Pearce family (Thirza and Basil) where she worked as a maid and helped with their children. She married Alexander Frederich Staker. Mary Alice never married, and died in Adelaide in 1890. She is buried at Blakiston near her father.

Edward James Thompson was born at Mt Barker in November 1870. He married Lucy Ellen, Eveline Stevens, the daughter of Charles Henry Stevens and Jane Catherine Webb, at Meadows in January 1898. The family moved to land belonging to Lucy's father at Meadows, and raised their 7 children there - Edward Norman Charles, Mary Evelyn Johanna, Alfred Willie James, Frederick Walter James, Clifford John Webb, Malcolm Ronald, and Fanny. Edward died at Macclesfield in 1925 and is buried at Wistow. His wife died at Flaxley in 1931 and is also buried at Wistow.

William Thompson was born at Mt Barker in 1871 and died there in 1872. He is buried at Blakiston.

Arthur Charles Thompson was born at Mt Barker in 1874. He married Lilly Bourne Wynnes at the residence of the bride's father, Mr. Charles Wynnes, at Queenstown in April 1908. They had three children - Marjorie Alison, Harold Horatio, and Margaret Jean. Arthur and Lilly lived at Hove, and both died there - he in 1950 and she in 1977.

Thiele, Samuel & descendants

The Thiele family were Lutheran refugees from the villages of Kay and Harthe in the Kries Zullichau Schweibus region of Prussia. They arrived in South Australia with Pastor August Kavel's people aboard the ship Prince George in December 1837. The family consisted of Samuel Thiele, his wife Anna Rosina Schulz, and their sons Johann Christian and his wife Anna Dorothea nee Klenke, Johann Friedrich, Johann Wilhelm and Johann August. A sister of Samuel's, Johanne Christiane and her husband Johann Friedrich Suss, also travelled with them. Samuel and wife were my 4xgreat grandparents.

Samuel and his family set up home at Hahndorf where they farmed for most of their lives in Australia. He passed away at his home in 1869, and his wife had pre-deceased him in 1862. Of their children:-

Johann Christian, was born in 1809 in Harthe and lived in the village of Kay prior to emigration. He was already married on arrival here, and went to live in the Murray Bridge area, where he and his wife raised her two children from a previous marriage, and had four more children together - Johanne Luise, Johann Wilhelm, Johann Gottlieb and Johann August. In their declining years, Christian and wife moved back to Hahndorf where they both passed away - he in 1881 and she in 1887 - and are buried in the Hahndorf cemetery.

Johann Friedrich was born in 1812 in the village of Harthe, Prussia. He married Anna Dorothea Schmidt in the first marriage ceremony conducted in the town of Hahndorf, under a large gum tree, which he subsequently cut down and used to build his home, which still stands today. They lived in the town for all of their lives together, and raised 13 children there - Johann Gottfried, Johann Christian, Johanne Louisa, Johanne Eleanora, Johanne Dorothea, Caroline Ernestina, Maria Amalia, Ernst, Martha, Anna Dorothea, Lydia, Augusta Emma, and Hulda. Johann Friedrich died at his home in April 1886 and his widow Anna in October 1907. Both are buried at Hahndorf. They were my 3xgreat-grandparents.

Johann Wilhelm was born in Harthe in 1819. He married at Hahndorf to in 1839 to Eleonore Henriette Lubasch, whom he had met on the voyage out. They lived their whole lives in Hahndorf and raised 12 children there - Johannah Luise, Johannah Caroline, Johann Gottlob, Eleonore Henriette, Johann August, Johann Wilhelm, Carl August, Johanne Emilie Bertha, Johann Friedrich, Gustave, Hermann Reinhold and Johann Ferdinand. Their children moved far and wide around the state. Wilhelm and Eleonore both died at Hahndorf - she in 1901 and he in 1909. They were small farmers and gardeners for all of their lives.

Johann August was born in Harthe in 1832. He married Johann Louisa Thiele, the daughter of Johan Georg Thiele and Anna Rosina Kluge who had arrived in the colony on the ship Gellert in 1847. I have not yet proved a connection between the two families, but as they came from the same area in Prussia, it is likely that they may have been related other than by marriage. August and Louisa set up home in Hahndorf, where he worked his small piece of land. They had 11 children, all born in Hahndorf - Johann Friedrich August, August Eduard, Johanna Louise Bertha, Hermann August Edmund, Emma Louise, Augusta Lydia, Ferdinand Heinrich, Johanna Maria Martha, Louise Bertha, Carl Reinhold, and Johann Oswald. Most of their family remained in the Hahndorf and Mt Barker area.

Samuel's son, Johann Friedrich and his wife Anna Dorothea nee Schmidt, had a son Johann Gottfried Thiele, born at Hahndorf in September of 1841. Gottfried lived in Hahndorf and Mt Barker for a while and after he married Rebecca Simpson, the daughter of Walter Simpson and Mary Ann Scammell, he moved to White Peg Creek, just the other side of Wistow on the road to Hartley, on property belonging to his father-in-law. Gottfried and Rebecca had 5 children - Johann Friedrich Walter, Gottfried Hermann, Anna Amelia (Emily), Wilhelm Albert, and Rebecca Lydia. Of those children, only two survived to adulthood, and only their daughter Anna Amelia went on to have a family of her own. When Rebecca died shortly after the birth of the youngest child, Friedrich married a second time to Johanna Pauline Reugner and had more children with her. Friedrich and Rebecca were my great-great-grandparents.

Anna Amelia (Emily) Thiele grew up at Wistow and married George Theodore Thompson, the son of Theodore Horatio Thompson and Johanna Collingridge. They lived at Wistow for all of their married lives. Their children were George Walter Henry, Mildred Rebecca, Lillian, and Reginald Thomas Stanley. Anna Amelia and George Theodore Thompson were my great-grandparents.

Mildred Rebecca Thompson, daughter of Anna Amelia Thiele and George Theodore Thompson, married Thomas Frederick Stokes and raised 7 of their 8 children to adulthood at Wistow. They were my grandparents. Their children were Robert Leslie, Basil George, Mavis Emily, David Thomas, Walter Ronald, Frederick John, Gordon Thomas and Albert Roy. Their son Walter is my father.

Simpson, Walter & descendants

Walter Simpson was born in 1801 at Battersea, just south of the River Thames in Greater London. He was the son of Walter and Sarah Simpson, who lived near to St Mary's Church in Battersea where both Walter and his sister Sarah were baptised. His father worked as a waterman on the Thames, and when he was old enough, the young Walter was apprenticed as a boat builder.

In 1818, at the age of 17, Walter and a friend named William Burn, stole 6 loaves of bread in a basket from Mr. James Unwin, the Superintendent of the Battersea Workhouse. For their efforts, both men were tried at the Surrey Quarter Sessions sentenced to 7 years transportation to Van Dieman's Land. They spent several months in the hulks before being loaded aboard the ship Surrey to be sent of to their new lives as convicts. When they first arrived in Hobart, Walter worked on road gangs and other building works. It appears from his record that he was quite prepared to stand up for his rights and to speak his mind, as he received a large number of lashes of the cat-o-nine tails for his efforts. In 1821, he was one of the first sent to the most unholy of penal settlements - Sarah Island - where he would spend the next five years working as a virtual slave from daylight to dark cutting timber and building boats. His punishment record whilst there is extensive, and includes several instances of being placed on bread and water in solitary confinement, and of receiving large numbers of lashes. After his return to Hobart, he worked in the general area of Glenorchy and New Town as a carpenter and odd job man. But he ran foul of the law again, and received another 7 year sentence, but fortunately for him, Sarah Island had closed as a penal station by that time, so he was sent to work on the roads and public works gangs. Towards the end of his second year sentence, he and some other convicts got themselves drunk one Saturday night and became a bit too rowdy for the liking of the law, so were arrested and sent to the newly constructed Port Arthur settlement. Thus, he became one of the first to be sent there as well.

After he received his second certificate of freedom, it appears that he was fed up with constantly being under the watchful eye of the police, so he settled into a normal working life in Glenorchy. He set up home with a young woman he had met in Hobart named Mary Ann Scammell, who had come to Hobart as the children's maid to the first Baptist minister in the colonies. They had 3 children together before they married in 1843 and a fourth was born just after.  In about 1845, Walter made the decision to move his family to South Australia, and left Tasmania in January the following year to investigate the prospects. He returned to Hobart later in the year to prepare his wife and children, and departed again September with his family aboard the Timbo in September of 1846.

I have long been curious as to how an ex-convict who had spent a total of 14 years in servitude could present himself in Adelaide, and almost immediately upon arrival, have the money to purchase the amount of land that he did at £1 an acre. He purchased a full section of land at Littlehampton, that stretched from the corner opposite the Great Eastern Hotel up to the corner opposite Garwood's garage, and back to the Freeway! He also bought three large sections of land at White Peg Creek near Wistow, a town acre in Adelaide and a large block in Mt Barker - and all within a very short space of time. In addition to this, he purchased a bullock dray and team of eight sturdy bullocks, with which he managed to obtain a contract to cart goods to the farmers in the Wistow area, and to the Aboriginal station near Salem.

Walter and Mary Ann lived for a time at Littlehampton and moved in about 1850 to White Peg Creek, but still maintained the home at Littlehampton. Later, he built a house for Mary Ann in Mt Barker, on the corner of Hutchinson and Mann Streets, just in front of where the Methodist Sunday School building stands today. The house had a large cellar beneath it and the front door faced the corner of the two roads at an angle. The building remained in the family until after Mary Ann's death, when it was sold to Richard "Dickie" Daniels, and was used as a shop by Erskine Anderson for a time, and also as a Brownie's and Guides venue. The building was demolished in about 1948 to make way for the Sunday School building that stands on the site today. Walter Simpson & Mary Ann Scammell were my 3xgreat-grandparents.

The children of Walter and Mary Ann Simpson were:-

Mary Ann Simpson was born in Hobart in 1837. She married Joseph Barclay Berry, the son of James Berry and Ann Ellen Barclay of Langhorne Creek. They had 16 children - Joseph Barclay, Walter James, Mary Ann, Mary Anne, Ann Ellen, Joseph John, Alice Rebecca, Abraham, Samuel, Arthur, Samuel, Adelaide, Louise, Edith Laura Barclay, Frederick Ernest Oliver Barclay, and John Henry. Mary Ann and her husband were both school teachers and taught at the Sandergrove, Angas Plains, Stirling East, Bugle Ranges, Kangaroo Flat, Crystal Brook South, Langhorne Creek and Mannum schools.

Sarah Jane Simpson was born in Hobart in 1839. She married James Berry, the son of James Berry and Ann Ellen Barclay, the brother of her sister's husband - and on the same day as her sister Mary Ann married.  James Berry was also a school teacher who taught at Callington and Woodchester, as did Sarah. They had 11 children - James, Thomas Walter, Joseph, Sarah Ann, Robert William, Frederick John, Ann Ellen, Alfred Edward, Alfred Henry, Henry Alfred and Marian Susannah. Due to ill-health, Sarah and James moved to Ballarat in Victoria, where they lived until they died - James in 1879 and Sarah in 1929.

Walter Simpson was born in Hobart in September 1841. He came to South Australia with his parents in 1846, and died in Adelaide in 1848. I believe he is buried at West Terrace cemetery.

Rebecca Simpson was born in Hobart in November 1844, the first of the Simpson children born inside the marriage. She came to Adelaide with her parents in 1846, and married in 1868 at St Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church to Johann Gottfried Thiele, the son of Johann Friedrich Thiele and Anna Dorothea Schmidt. They had 5 children - Johann Friedrich Walter, Gottfried Hermann, Anna Amelia (Emily), Wilhelm Albert, and Rebecca Lydia. Rebecca died shortly after the birth of their youngest daughter in 1880, and her husband remarried to Johanna Pauline Reugner and had more children with her.  Rebecca Simpson & Johann Gottfried Thiele were my great-great-grandparents.

Susanna Simpson was born in January 1847 in Adelaide, the first of the family to be born in South Australia. I believe that Susannah has also known as Hannah, and as such, witnessed her sister's marriage in 1874. She did not marry.

An still-born son was born in 1850 at Blakiston.

William Simpson was born at Littlehampton in October 1851 and he was baptised at St James' Church, Blakiston a month later. He never married, and went to Gawler, where he worked as a farm hand until his death in 1903.

Fanny Simpson was born at White Peg Creek in 1854. She married twice, and was apparently quite a formidable woman. Her first husband was Charles Abercrombie Dignum Sigmont, the son of William Abercrombie Dignum Sigmont and Lucy Batt of Sydney. They had 3 children - Charles Andrew Dignum, Fanny Lucy Dignum, and Florene Dignum. After her first husband died in 1877, just 3 months after the birth of their youngest child, there was no mention of these children amongst family anecdotes. Only through diligent tracking, have we learned that only two of the three children survived to adult hood, married and had children of their own. In 1880, Fanny married a second time to Henry Hove Splaine, a native of Bandon in the Irish county of Cork, who had migrated to South Australia and became a police officer in Adelaide. He soon tired of the force and resigned to become a market gardener at Richmond. He must have had something troubling him, as he shot himself in the paddock opposite the home of Mrs Theodore Thompson (daughter of his late sister-in-law Rebecca Thiele nee Simpson) at Wistow. He is buried at West Terrace cemetery. Fanny lived at Richmond and Mile End after her husband's death, and passed away herself at Parkside in 1939. She is buried at West Terrace cemetery with her husband and mother. Fanny and her second husband had a son also named Henry Hove Splaine who was born at in 1882.

Emily Simpson was born at White Peg Gully in 1857. She married Charles William Brown at the Wesleyan Church in Mt Barker Springs in 1874. Her sister Susannah and her brother in law Gottfried Thiele were witnesses to their marriage. They moved around between Callington, Mt Barker and Kooringa during their lives, with 8 children being born to them in these locations. Their children were - Mary Ann, William, William, Emmeline Ellen, Albert Charles, Edith Florence, George and Walter. Towards the end of their lives, they lived for a time at Edwardstown, where both of them died.

Ellen Simpson was born at White Peg Gully in 1859. She married in 1886 at the Mt Barker home of her mother in Hutchinson Street, to Richard Luke Peters. They had only one son, also named Richard Luke Peters, who was born in 1891 and died in 1912. Ellen died in 1941 at Parkside and her husband had pre-deceased her by 20 years in 1921. Both are buried in West Terrace.

Alice Anne Simpson was born at Echunga in February 1860 and sadly only lived a couple of weeks. She died at Echunga in March of 1860.

Walter Simpson was born in August 1861 at White Peg Creek. He married twice - firstly to Margaret Amelia Byrne in 1893 at Mt Barker, and secondly to Agnes Bonney in 1915 at Adelaide. There were 3 children from the first marriage - Walter Leslie, Ivis Maude, and Henry Arthur Lawrence. His first wife died in 1913. There were no children from the second marriage. Walter died in 1935 at his home in Mile End and his second wife in August of 1951 at Hilton. Both are buried at Centennial Park.

Stevens, Charles Henry and descendants

There were three Charles Henry Stevens' - grand-father, father and son who lived in the Mt Barker area in the early days.

Charles Henry Stevens, the grand-father above, was born at Leominster in Herefordshire in 1817, the son of Charles Stevens and Mary Harris. He married at Hope-Under-Dinmore in Herefordshire in 1843 to Eliza Jones. They had 12 children altogether - three born in Herefordshire, one in Ayreshire in Scotland and the rest in South Australia. Their children were - Eliza, Charles Henry, Sarah, James, William, Elizabeth, Joseph, Louisa, Susannah Matilda, Thomas David, Alfred, and Emily Ann. Charles Henry Stevens & Eliza Jones, along with their first four children migrated to South Australia in 1851 aboard the ship Adelaide. They were my 4xgreat-grand-parents.

Their second child is the one from whom I am descended.

Charles Henry Stevens, the father mentioned above, was born at Hope-under-Dinmore in 1844. He married twice during his lifetime - the first time to Jane Catherine Webb at Blakiston in 1866, and secondly to Jane Anne Alexander at Mt Barker in 1877. His first wife, Jane Webb, was the daughter of Henry Webb and Catherine Choat Dyer from Clare in County Suffolk.  His second wife, Jane Alexander, was the daughter of Thomas Alexander, who had migrated to South Australia quite early in the piece, and who was a large land owner in the Mt Barker district - the area known today as Alexander Farm is built on his original property.  Charles Stevens & Jane Webb had 4 children prior to her death in 1877 - Charles Henry (the son of the three generations), Fanny Eliza Catherine, Lucy Ellen Eveline, and John Herbert. After Jane's death, Charles married Jane Alexander and had a further 11 children - Eliza Jane, Thomas Alexander, Ellen Louisa, William James Richard, Florence Emily, Stephen Wellington, Alfred Amos, Rose Margaret, Stanley Wallace, Robert Oliver, and Eunice Adelaide. Charles Henry died at Mt Barker in 1934 and is buried at Meadows with his second wife. His first wife is buried at Macclesfield. Charles Stevens & Jane Webb were my 3xgreat grandparents.

Of the children from the first marriage:-

Charles Henry Stevens, the son mentioned above, was born at Macclesfield in 1867. He worked as a farmer for all of his adult life. He married at the home of Mrs Thomas Morley in Littlehampton, the mother of his bride, in 1892. His wife was Mary Ann Morley. Together, they had 6 children - the eldest born prior to their marriage - Hannah Elizabeth Morley, Ann Elizabeth, Emily Jane, James Thomas, Walter William Morley and Annie Susannah. Charles died at Meadows in 1899 and his wife at Hay Valley in 1913. Charles Henry and Mary Ann were my great-great-grandparents, and their daughter Hannah Elizabeth was my great-grandmother (she married Walter John Hillman, son of Leonard Hillman and Susan Cock).

Fanny Eliza Catherine Stevens was born at Ashbourne in 1869. She married William Joseph Morley, the son of Thomas Morley and Sarah Bott, and the brother of Mary Ann Morley who married Charles Henry Stevens above. They had two daughters - Alice Jean and Kathleen Salmar. Fanny died at Mt Barker in 1936 and William in 1959 at Kenton Valley.

Lucy Ellen Eveline Stevens was born at Macclesfield in 1872. She married Edward James Thompson, the son of Theodore Horatio Thompson and Johannah Collingridge of Mt Barker and Wistow. They were married in 1898 at Meadows.  They had 7 children - Edward Norman Charles, Mary Evelyn Johannah, Alfred Willie James, Frederick Walter James, Clifford John Webb, Malcolm Ronald, and Fanny. Lucy died at Flaxley in 1931 and her husband in 1925. Both are buried at Zion Hill Cemetery, Wistow.

John Herbert Thompson was born at Macclesfield in 1874. He married Claria Remnant, the daughter of Charles Remnant and Elizabeth Thompson, and the grand-daughter of Theodore Horatio Thompson & Johanna Collingridge of Wistow. They were married in 1904 at Payneham and had 6 children, but none of their offspring lived in the Mt Barker area.

Of the children from the second marriage:-

Eliza Jane Stevens was born at Macclesfield in 1879. She married in 1911 at Goodwood to Jabez Mahlon England and moved to Mt Barker where her descendants still live today. They had 4 children - Keith, Ida Coral, Eileen May, and Mahlon. She died in 1946 and her husband in 1937 and both are buried at Mt Barker.

Thomas Alexander Stevens was born at Macclesfield in 1880. He married Fanny Haines, the daughter of William Haines and Mary Ann Bott of Nairne. They had 3 children - Emily Madge, Charles William, and Edward Thomas. All of their children lived in the Echunga area. Fanny died in 1934 and Thomas in 1969 and both are buried in Mt Barker.

Ellen Louisa Stevens was born at Macclesfield in 1882 and she died at Green Hills in 1897. She is buried at Macclesfield.

William James Richard Stevens was born at Green Hills in 1883.

Florence Emily Stevens was born at Green Hills in 1884. She never married, but did have a son named Frank who was born in 1916 at Mt Barker. She died at Unley in 1950.

Stephen Wellington Stevens was born at Macclesfield in May of 1886, but lived only two days and is buried at Macclesfield.

Alfred Amos Stevens was born at Macclesfield in September 1888.

Rose Margaret Stevens was born at Green Hills in 1889. She married in 1915 at Myponga to Herbert Haskett, the son of James Haskett & Caroline Maslin. They had 3 children - Lindsay Andrew Elliott, Herbert, and Caroline. She died at Eastwood in 1959 and her husband died at Hindmarsh in 1933. Their grandson, also named Lindsay was an Ambulance driver in Mt Barker for many years.

Stanley Wallace Stevens was born at Meadows in April 1891. He died in February the following year, having lived only 9 months.

Robert Oliver Stevens was born at Meadows in 1893. He married in 1917 at Willunga to Violet Elsie Rachel Reed. They had 2 children - Leslie Raymond and Harold William but none of their descendants came back to Mt Barker.

Eunice Adelaide Stevens was born at Meadows in 1887.