Australia Day post (The Kerr, Strelley, Gadsby, Kelf side)

 

This year they seem to be reframing the day

 

A couple of years ago  Aussie genealogy bloggers Jennifer Jones and Jill, aka Geniaus put out a reminder of an Australia Day Geneameme that was devised by Pauleen, aka Cassmob. 

What a great idea to follow up on for this years Aussie Day. Basically it’s a questionairre about where we came from, how we ended up here and what happened.

On my side of the family, the main family names are Strelley, Gadsby, Kerr and Kelf. 

My first ancestor to come to Australia was the Harris family. Lucy Strelley, her husband, Joseph, and children were pioneers of the Swan Valley. They arrived on the Signet on the 27th of January 1833.

I have Australian royalty..….. Not. No convicts in my line but I’m following up on my grandsons’ incredible and infamous convicts in the Small family and John Cashmore Isreal.

However my 3x great grandmother's sister Sophia Allan came here with her family while her husband was the Deputy Commissariat for the NSW Colony in early 1820s. Not convicts but the Government! David Allan got into a bit of trouble with his dealings and they were recalled home.

I am an Aussie mongrel. On the whole my ancestors came to Australia from England and Scotland. There is a good bit of Irish mixed in amongst Scottish ancestors who arrived in Scotland a generation or two before that.

Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam? My Kerr ancestors looked to have paid their own way. A couple of them were even rich enough to pay passage home when Australia didn't suit them.

A few of the Gadsby men probably worked their passage on merchant ships with the rest of the family travelling together .

How many ancestors came as singles?

There were a few single men, for example, Henry Gadsby, my great great -uncle who came as a young man after the death of his parents. I suspect he was sponsored as he was a bricklayer.

My widowed great great Auntie, Jessie Smart Kerr came on her own. My maternal grandfather, Frank Kelf also came on his own. Quite some years later my great grandfather James Cross Kerr came after the war but he was paving the way for relatives to come.

Jessie Smart Kerr

James Cross Kerr's passport photo 1925

My maternal grandfather, Frank Kelf also came on his own perhaps as a result of a dysfunctional family. Funny no sooner was he here but was signing up to fight the war in Europe.

How many came as couples? Family Groups?

The Gadsbys came as a family. As I've said before, they were a big family and could have taken a cheaper /quicker trip to Canada. I'm convinced someone  helped them out of England. It may  or may not have been a royal payoff by Edward VII to get a certain woman out of the country if the rumours are true.

Did one person lead the way and others followed?

The first Kerrs to depart were a family of horse breeders to New Zealand. Sisters and half sisters came over to Sydney. More relatives arrived, lived here for a while and some  returned. Having enough money to pay for a return passage makes me doubt the myth that they were poor as church mice.

Back in the day, it was a bit of a badge of honour to have travelled on certain ships. Perhaps there was also a certain snobbery about the route they travelled Liverpool, London or elsewhere.

Did anyone make a two-step immigration? I believe all arrived in one go, but possibly one, James Gadsby, arrived via the Boer War and First World War. He didn't like what he saw with his mother's behaviour taking up with her daughter's fiance.   He himself married a divorcee and  fled to New Zealand for good.

Did they settle, remain in one state or colony? With the exception of Henry Gadsby, who started off in Queensland. Yes. We had some explorers from the Harris/ Gregory line in Western Australia and Queensland. It certainly was a land of opportunity.

Do you have any first Australians in your tree? Not that I know of, but I’ve heard a slight rumour that Joseph Strelley Harris may have fathered a line of Harris's in Western Australia. Joseph Strelley Harris developed good relationships with the Noongar people while moving sheep around Western Australia during his explorations resulting in his understanding of Indigenous fire control.

Were any of the families self-employed? Great Grandfather Thomas Gadsby brought over his bricklaying skills. His wife ran a store and most of the children started their own businesses and were quite entrepreneurial, including the women. My grandfather, James Kerr  sold fruit and veg from the back of a horse and cart, building up from one box of tomatoes, mainly because work was scarce in the Depression.

Did any of the ancestors leave Australia to go home? Yes. It looks like my great grandmother Mary Anne Kerr took a look around. and went back home shortly after arriving in Australia. She was accompanied by my great uncle, Frank, who went back to Scotland and lived there for good. 

My great grandfather and his wife MAry Ann who went back home

My step great great grandmother , Agnes Yiull Kerr did the same and returned to Scotland with her son Thomas. There’s more to this story than meets the eye- I’d love to know more.

Comment It's a pretty brave act to make this type of decision to travel half way around the world chasing a new life, jobs, land and the opportunities. It is hard to imagine. I'd love to see more advertisements and articles from relevant newspapers at the time about those who were enticed to be part of that big immigration movement out of London and England in the 1900s onwards. Some copies of old letters would be nice!

 

Now it's about me.

My state of origin is New South Wales, Sydney.

Do I still live there? Hell no, not in Sydney. Wollongong is much quieter and my suburb even quieter too. We’ve brought up a family of three daughters there who all studied at Wollongong university.

Any special place we like to holiday? We spent heaps of time in sunny Yamba on the north coast of New South Wales and lots of camping over the years on the South Coast of NSW. A little bit of history, beautiful beaches and nature.

The Grandkids with Belinda at the Kerr telegraph pole in Maclean

Studying family history makes for good holiday explorations to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Warwickshire, Derbyshire and London. Ireland and Norfolk are next.

My Australian bucket list is getting shorter, but I'd like to check out where the Harris family emigrated to in the Swan Valley in the 1830s. When they arrived, they almost starved. They made money, farmed, explored, grew wine, and after a while Lucy as a widow went back to England.

Australia Day necessities

How will I celebrate Australia Day 2026? I'll be at our holiday place in Yamba. Yamba is the home of the Yaegl people. In the past, there have been celebrations and welcoming by the local elders at Australia Day functions. Recently, these have been suspended as celebrating Australia Day has been overshadowed by Aboriginal pain about invasion. I get that there has been a change of sentiment, though in the past they have been very proud and welcoming.

Usually our family and friends gather around for swimming, cricket, barbecue and drinks.

Australia Day 26/1/2021