This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Jackaroo90 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.oceania.australia.vic.general/2445.2455.2468.1.4.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Thank you for your rapid response! I really feel I have achieved something now, in particular Janet Hastings Davidson's direct family contact. Is Dora buried here in Australia or was she taken back to America? Her daughter was named Melba Jean so I guess that came from the, "Jean" that Janet Hastings was aka. There is a Departure for Dora from San Francisco, California 9 August 1956. Did Janet travel to America too, or did she meet Gerald McKay in Australia? I came across a child Herbert Alf Caldwell born Hotham, Victoria 1895 Reg. No. 30094 mother Janet Calowell. (Caldwell?) Janet doesn't appear to feature in the several Court cases regarding maintenance that her mother Christina featured in. In one Court case the Judge asked Christina if her daughter earned 5 pound a week on the pantomime. Christina also apparently had a share in some gold mines Ballarat and Bendigo area Victoria. The following article appeared on page 5 in the Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania Friday 10 December 1909 Dora Taylor, the Australian vaudeville performer, late with Mr Harry Rickards, who went to America about five years ago, was married on October 21st to Mr H. J. Duffy, a Commandment in the United States Navy. Miss Taylor sends a clipping from a New York paper, which states that she has risen to the top rung of the ladder of fame, styling her "the star fancy dancer of America." Mrs Duffy will retire from the stage. Her mother will live with her at her husband's beautiful home in Connecticut. Mr Duffy is quite a young man, and gained his promotion by bravery at the Philippine insurrection. Christina Taylor (nee Findlay) died in Diamond Creek, Victoria 8/3 1914 aged 58 years, four months of Brights Disease. The informant on the Death Certificate was her Grandson Henry Farley Smith (1895-1964) son of her daughter Anne Berry Davidson (1870-1945) Anne and her husband William Henry Smith lived in the area at the time, their youngest child was born in St Helena, Victoria in 1911. The above indicates she must have kept in contact with at least one child she deserted. From memory I think Anne Berry was the second oldest of Christina and David. They had a child in 1877. One wonders who reared them. You may contact me at the following email address. [email protected] Once again many thanks for your help. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. <br>