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Last Updated 1st Aug 2006

Anderson Family History

1. Anderson clan in Scotland
2. The Voyage to Australia
3. Thomas marries Sarah Venables
4. Thomas buys land in NSW 1894
5. The family Bible
6. William Hilton Anderson 1886 - 1964
7. Stanley Gordon Anderson 1913 - 1980
8. Gregory William Anderson 1938 - 1971
9. Timothy John Anderson 1959 -
10. Four generations

Clan Anderson Society

1. Anderson Clan

This name now fairly widespread in Scotland means "son of Andrew" and in the Highlands is rendered as MacAndrew, but in the lowlands the form of Anderson is more common. The MacAndrews are regarded as part of the clan Chattan from the 15th Centuary. In the Kinrara manuscript it is claimed that the MacAndrews came to Badenoch from Moidart in about 1400.

As a consequence he led an unsettled existence for many years, but was always able to defend himself. Traditionally some MacAndrews are associated with the MacDonnels of Glengary and wear their tartan. The most prominent branches of the Andersons were Downhill, Wester and Candacraig in Strathdon. From The Clans of Scotland by Robert Bain.

According to the Census returns for County Sligo, a staggering 75,660 people emigrated from Sligo in the half century from 1851 to 1901. By comparison the present population stands at about 60,000, a third of what it was in pre-famine years.

As Sligo was a major port town, huge numbers of people from neighboring counties such as Leitrim, Roscommon and parts of Mayo would have emigrated from the port of Sligo. We don't know why there were in Sligo or how long they were there.

Sligo resources online

Like the rest of Ireland in general, Sligo suffered greatly when the potato crop failed. Particularly affected here as elsewhere were the landless labourers, who were neither able to purchase food or pay for a passage to the new world.

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Emigration on the "Emigrant"

Thomas Anderson may have been born somewhere in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Anecdotal stories from his son William Hilton Anderson say that he first settled for some years in Tasmania, we are not sure if he was the Thomas who emigrated on the ship Emigrant departing from Sligo?

Thomas Anderson 1850 migrated from Plymoth on 9 August 1850 to Morton Bay, He is recorded as being in Hospital in September following the trip with John who we assume is the brother mentioned in the passenger manifest.

Passenger list of the 1850 voyage of Emigrant
Thomas Anderson aged 18 and John Anderson aged 28

Thomas Anderson aged 18 is recorded as a passenger on the ship Emigrant (with brother John aged 28) on 8th August 1850. This ship Emigrant was registered in Liverpool, England. The ship Emigrant sailed from Plymouth on 17 April 1850 chartered by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, bound for Moreton Bay, with 276 passengers on board. There was typhus on the ship. There were 19 deaths on the Emigrant and 26 passengers buried on Stradbroke Island where the vessel was put into quarantine.

People travelled from all across Australia to pay tribute to the passengers and crew of the ill-fated ship the Emigrant which left Plymouth, England, in 1850 bound for Australia.

Unfortunately for many of the 260 passengers and crewmen on board, this journey would turn out to be their last. Four weeks after departing, typhus broke out on board. There were 18 deaths during the voyage to Australia and a further 26 passengers died while quarantined at the newly commissioned quarantine station at Dunwich. In total 44 died of a total complement of 260. A Diary of the 1850 voyage of the Emigrant by Sarah Kempe.

In the Liverpool Shipping Register held by the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the final entry for the Emigrant is "Sold to Foreigners 1854". No details of the sale are recorded in the Register. A gathering of descendants of passengers of the barque Emigrant that arrived in Moreton Bay in August 1850, was held at Dunwich, Stradbroke Island on Saturday 10 August 2002. A bronze plaque naming those passengers who died during the voyage from Plymouth and those who died in quarantine on Stradbroke Island was unveiled by the Redland Shire Mayor, Don Seccombe. Over 100 descendants of passengers and crew of the Emigrant were present.

They died on the way

Family names of those who died on the Emigrant are BRIMBLE, BLOXAM, BURBEROW (Matron), CONNOR, CHAPPLE, CHARLTON, CUNNINGHAM, FRITH, FURPHY, GLEESON, GORMAN, HALLETT, HAYWARD, LANCASTER (Seaman), LODER, MEARA, SLATTERY and WATERSON. Family names of passengers buried on Stradbroke Island are BALL, BRIMBLE, CANNING, COLEMAN, CONNOR, CUMMINS, DWYER, FARMER, FRITH, GORMAN, HALLETT, HECTOR, HUISTON (HEUSTON), REAL, ROWE, SALLISBURY, SYNOTT (SYRETT), TROWBRIDGE, WADE and WATERSON. Also buried there are the ship's Surgeon Superintendent, Dr MITCHELL and the former Resident Surgeon of the Moreton Bay General Hospital, Dr BALLOW who volunteered for the task of tending the stricken passengers of the Emigrant. A letter describing the voyage written by Sarah Kempe, wife of the ship's captain, was published in The Emigrants' Penny Magazine Vol I , Plymouth, 1850.

A gathering of descendants of passengers who arrived on the Emigrant was held at Dunwich in August 2000, the 150th anniversary of the ships arrival.

Diary of the 1850 voyage of the Emigrant by Sarah Kempe
CAPTAIN W.H. KEMP Diary of the 1850 voyage and reports of death
Letter to Morton Bay Courier regarding deaths on the 1850s voyage
Passenger list of the 1850 voyage of the Emigrant Thomas Anderson aged 18
Thomas is listed as being 18 years of age, a labourer departing from Sligo. His brother John is aged 28, both are recorded as being in Hospital in September 1850.

Thomas is a very difficult fellow to tie down to any area. As he was a ship's carpenter, he may have travelled a lot, maybe even jumped ship in Australia according to some stories. Bert Anderson stated that he was French from Canada, but the Anderson's appear to be from the Shetland Islands in Scotland. There was only one Thomas we could find on shipping records who matched the age of Thomas and he was travelling with a brother John. This might be our Thomas. What happened to John? The ship they made their journey to Australia on does not list John as being one who died on the Voyage, but they are both listed as being hospitalised after the trip. Perhaps John died in hospital?

Thomas Anderson was also reputedly born in the Orkey Islands, but his death certificate says he was born in North America, but William Hilton's birth certificate lists Thomas as being born in Scotland. He was a ship's carpenter and came to Albury NSW via Tasmania, tradition says, he stayed in Victoria for some 12 years and lived in NSW for almost 36 years.

Other Voyages to Australia in 1854

• The Miles Barton
• The Araminta

Stories collected by Gae

Gae Mary Anderson has a Doctorate in Theatre Arts, she worked in the theatre and also as a teacher at Macquarie University. She is currently writing a history of early Australian vaudevillians.

Bert's stories about Thomas related that he was French Canadian and that the story of Thomas being the first man to sail into Anderson's inlet in Victoria, might be apocryphal and is to be taken with a pinch of salt.

There is another yarn about Thomas abandoning his ship and swimming several miles to shore. According to Gran (George Andrew) this is the reason why Thomas was always looking over his shoulder, fearful that someone might be coming to get him. Gran was quite superstitious, and believed it was bad luck to start a job or work on a Friday. Sounds good to me, a four-day week!

From Martin Johnson, "I do know from the Greville's Post office directory that a Thomas Anderson was listed as a farmer in Bungowannah in 1872. That is in the vicinity of Burrumbuttock."

Family Group Record

Husband John Venables Married -1 at St Saviours, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
30 Dec 1844. His wife Mary Ann Homer was born 1830 at Cerne Abbas, Dorsetshire, England. Mary was Christened 28 Jan 1830 at Cerne Abbas, Dorsetshire, England. Mary died 13 Jan 1871 at Moorwatha, New South Wales, Australia.

Wife's father Thomas Homer
Wife's mother Mary Pitman

Children:
Sarah Venables Born 15 Jun 1849 at Nangus via Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia
Christened 1 Jul 1849 at Yass, New South Wales, Australia. Sarah died 2 Apr 1935 in Albury, New South Wales. Buried 3 Apr 1935 at the Pioneer Cemetery, Albury. Spouse: Thomas Anderson. They were married 18 Jan 1879 in Albury.

Prepared by
Martin Johnson
7 Aug 2005

Notes from Martin

WIFE Mary Ann Homer
1830 Born Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England
1839 Arrived in Australia 8 December on the "Kinnear" with her family.
1844 married John Venables at Richlands North of Goulburn
1849 Sarah born at Nangus near Gundagai
1856 married James Marsh in Wangaratta
1857 Charlotte born in Wangaratta
1860 James William born at Burrumbuttock
1868 Elizabeth born at Albury
1871 David born at Albury
1871 13 January died at Moorwatha.

Some time back I discovered a marriage between a Mary Ann Venables and a James Marsh in Wangaratta on March 28th 1856. There were some bits of information on that certificate that were not consistent with other information that was generally accepted as being right. Her parents were recorded as Dillon not Homer but their Christian names were correctly stated as Thomas and Mary. Her mother's maiden name was also stated correctly as Pitman. She was of course from Dorsetshire.

Her age was given as 24 and is near enough as she would have been 25 or 26 but she said she had 2 living children and 2 dead children from her previous marriage which is quite a change from the one child, Sarah, that is generally accepted as correct. On the marriage of Sarah to Christian Casimir Falk on April 13 1868 at Moorwatha one of the witnesses is James

Family Group Record

Husband John Venables
Wife Mary Ann Homer

Mary Ann Homer (Pitman) from Dorsetshire.

Mary's age was given as 24 and is near enough as she would have been 25 or 26 but she said she had 2 living children and 2 dead children from her previous marriage which is quite a change from the one child, Sarah, that is generally accepted as correct.

On the marriage of Sarah to Christian Casimir Falk on April 13 1868 at Moorwatha one of the witnesses is James Marsh. Perhaps this is just a coincidence.The death certificate for Mary Anne Marsh who died on 13th January 1871 stated she had Four males and Two Females of the marriage living. The Dillon story was perpetuated. Her death certificate states she had been in the colonies 25 years which is not true and the other marriage details are true. There is no marriage listed anywhere in Australia between a Mary Ann Dillon and a Venables.

During the past week I have obtained a copy of the Death Certificate of James Marsh who died at Combanning near Temora on 8th August 1896. The information on the certificate was supplied by his son Mathew George Marsh. The most interesting pieces of information for me are that under children of the marriage it lists four boys and two girls living and one female deceased and that one of the girls is Sarah aged 45 years. Actually as we know Sarah was 47 at this time as she was born in 1849. Sarah could not have been of the marriage as the marriage only commenced in 1856 just 40 years prior to that marriage not 45 or 47 years.

The listing of Sarah on this Death Certificate shows that Sarah was certainly known to other members of the Marsh family all those years later even though she was in Albury district at this time and was not known to have moved.

Another difficult part is that there is no registration of the births of James (William) Marsh (Junior) or John (C D) Marsh although they are both listed on their father's Death Certificate. These people obviously existed as they are required to make the numbers of children on James and Mary Ann(e)'s Death Certificates correct. John C D Marsh was the informant for the Death Certificate of James William Marsh in Temora in November 1942 and stated that

James William Marsh was born in Burrumbuttock but did not know their mother's maiden name. She had of course been dead for 71 years by this time. The Death Certificate of Mathew George Marsh in 1928 in Temora lists his mother's name as Mary Ann Venables from information provided by his son Charles William Marsh who was not born until 1908 or 37 years after his Grandmother had died.

I am now convinced by the information on the James Marsh Death Certificate that this was indeed Mary Ann Homer.

Sarah Venables

1868 Gave her address as Burrumbuttock on her marriage certificate and Occupation as Domestic Servant. James Marsh, her Stepfather, witnessed her marriage. 1872 Alphabetical Listing of all Surnames in Greville'sPost Office Directory shows the following listing:
FALK Christian
farmer ---
Bungowannah -
Her First husband.

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3. Sarah Venables

We think this picture may be one of Sarah Venables children by her first marriage, she is not one of the children of Sarah and Thomas. She may possible have been a nurse guessing from the fob watch she is wearing? Contact us if you know who she might be. On the back is written, "Just having a read of the dear old paper".

Thomas married Sarah Venables, who was 17 years younger than him. Her parents were John and Mary Ann Venables (Homer). Sarah was born on 15th June 1849 and was baptised at Gundagai NSW. She was left a widow by her first husband.

Thomas married Sarah on 18th January 1879. They had five children.
Sarah died on 2nd April 1935, aged 85, cause of death being listed as shock following on burns.
Thomas died much earlier on 18th August 1914 aged 81. The cause of death is listed as Gastritis and exhaustion which appeared to afflict him for the last five years of his life. Thomas is buried in the Church of England section of the old Albury cemetary Waugh Road Albury.

Stanley Gordon Anderson said that Ellen Ann died as infant and Ethel Jane died at eight years old, diptheria being the cause of death in both cases.

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4. Buying Land in NSW

Some great controlled penmanship below in the mortgage of land. £900 Sterling for property in NSW in 1894, how much would that be today? Thomas signed this Mortgage in his neat hand, Sarah made her "X" mark. From other documents from the 1850s onward, there seem to be few examples of females who were educated to read and write.

Thomas lived near Burrumbuttock in NSW, situated on one of these properties. The full Mortgage of which only a few pages are show here is seven pages long. It combines the land originally purchased in several parcels in the county of Hume and parish of Hovell into one 590 Acre parcel: All land was registered at the Land Office Albury.

Repayments on the loan of £900 Sterling were £7 per annum by way of equal half yearly payments on the 18th day of October and April in each year.

The Mortgage for land in NSW amalgamating seven farms

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5. The family Bible

The 1884 Edition of the Parallel-Column King James and Revised versions 1884. 100,000 marginal references and readings. Over 2,000 scripture illustrations on Steel, wood and in colors and rev J.D. Williams standard Bible dictionary. 1,500 pages, the largest bible we have ever seen. Presented to Sarah Anderson (nee Venables Homer) by Mrs Mitchell on 25th December 1886. This bible has many pages to record family details, which thankfully were filled out by the previous generations. From these old Bible images we have produced some texture maps for use in 3-D modelling.

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William Hilton Anderson 1886 - 1964

William Hilton Anderson was an early photographer using glass plate technology from Kodak. Most of these pictures were taken between 1900 and 1920, exact dates unknown. The picture at the top of this page, of Sarah Anderson (nee Venables Homer) can be dated to around 1913 to 1914, as the baby on her lap likely to be either Stanley Gordon born 7th November 1913 or maybe Herbert Gregory born 30 March 1913. The baby seems to be only a couple of months old. Sarah lived another 20 years after this picture was taken, the only one we have of her.

By the turn of the century, the coated glass plates were being made in factories and bought by the boxful. The use of glass plates continued up to the 1920s. The first picture taken by William Hilton is of his wife Sarah and their children Stanley Gordon, Iris and Daisy. It is unknown who the other two children are, they may be relatives of Sarah by her first marriage. The second picture is of Josephine Daisy (1923) feeding the chooks in front of the Anderson family home. Stanley Gordon wrote on the back of this picture "chook, chook, chook". He may have been teasing his sister. The steam engine in the front yard was working until the late 1960s.

William Hilton inheirited the farms from Thomas the elder. He seemed to have a diversified farm, he was a breeder of draft horses (used mainly to deliver beer supplied CUB with horses). He also sowed some wheat as we have receipts from 1942 for wheat classing from the grain authority. Dr Gae Mary Anderson, daughter of Bert, son of George Andrew, "Dandy Anderson", as a young girl in Wagga Wagga recounted wishing William Hilton could spare her a horse from his farm, but alas, they were all working horses.

The second picture here is interesting in that it shows an aboriginal woman, never mentioned in the family history, but she appears to be a part of the family! She seems well clothed and also appears riding horses in other glass plates. Generally only male aboriginal stockmen rode horses, so we are guessing that she was an important part of the family.

We think the blurred party pictures are from the late 1920, possibly a children's party for the birthday of Stanley or Iris.

Stanley Gordon Anderson 1913 - 1980

Stanley Gordon was William Hilton's oldest son, but he left the farms to his younger daughter Iris. Iris also married well and had two children, her son Phillip inheirited the remains of the family wealth.

What happened between William Hilton and his son Stanley Gordon is unclear. Certainly WIlliam Hilton had Stanley Gordon well educated, in that, he attended Sydney University in the mid 1930s, when it cost a fortune to do so. Stanley graduated with a science degree and thereafter was a science and maths teacher, in schools around Albury, for many years. Stanley recounted wanting to run the farm, but his sister Iris, eventually sold the properties and left Stanley heartbroken and perhaps bitter for some years.

We think that Stanley Gordon, after being educated at Sydney University, may have been trouble for his more humble, less well educated father. Stanley recounted his father William Hilton locking him in the laundry with no clothes on, when there were visitors to the farm, if he thought Stanley had been naughty. Parental discipline could be very harsh and arguing against it with the confidence of a Sydney University graduate, may have cost Stanley Gordon the family farm.

In his late 50s Stanley suffered left hemispheric strokes, despite being a non-smoker and a non drinker all his life. Infact he was almost part of the temperance league and I recall him spitting out the car window when he would drive past an hotel where as said louts were drinking.

Stanley Gordon married Mary Grey and had one son Gregory William.

Gregory William Anderson 1938 - 1971

To Stanley's great disappointment, Greg was not so academically inclined as himself and Greg became a mechanic. From an early age he loved cars building his own go-cart. He went on to become a great mechanic, in fact he was second in his class out of all the motor mechanic apprenticeships in NSW in the late 1950s.

Greg could just by listening to the sound of an engine, diagnose many problems. He owned his own car business and it was always interesting to see what he might drive home every evening. I would often have the job of detailing the car and painting the tyres black.

Greg was also incredibly strong and could lift an engine block.

Greg and his father Stan were always arguing about something or other. Greg being a Ford man was really upset with Stan, when he purchased one of the first Japanese Mazda rotary engines around 1970. I remember them arguing about the revolutions the rotary engine could achieve. Stan's Maza did go well for many years though.

Greg pushed every car to the limit, I remember being with him when the first Holden Monaro was released and after working on it he could get it to go over 100 miles an hour which was a pretty scary speed on outback Queensland Roads.

Timothy John Anderson 1959 -

Tim was educated in a Catholic primary school in Queensland and moved back to Albury when his father Greg's business in Emerald Queensland went Bankrupt in 1969.

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7. Four Generations

In the early 1960s there were four generations alive, at the same time. The first picture here of is the Anderson males, William Hilton (1886 - 1964) Stanley Gordon (1913 - 1980) Gregory William (1938 - 1971) and Timothy John (1959) The second pictures of the mothers, Mary Hilda (O'Shae 1875) Mary (Grey 1915) Mary Bridget (Hanrahan 1937) and Timothy John(1959)

Anderson Links

NSW records
NSW History records
Victorian Family research links online
Link to genealogical Society website.

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