Hi Michael, Thanks for the information about the WA gold rushes of the 1890s, this looks like a likely reason given her late husbands occupation. Martha THOMAS was the widow of Thomas THOMAS a miner from Glamorgan, WALES (he died in Victoria in 1890). Martha was the daughter of George LAMB and Mary Anne (nee HAWKRIDGE). Her father was one of the Calais Lacemakers originally from Derby and then Nottingham. The LAMBs came to Australia in 1846 when MARTHA was only about 3 years old. Martha's daughter Winifred had an illegitimate son George THOMAS born in 1897 in South Melbourne and he was raised by his adopted parents (William and Julia FULTON) with no knowledge of his biological family. I am slowly piecing information together and was recently given the clue that Martha died in Perth. I would love to find out about her other children especially Winifred but am having trouble getting started. All I have is the children's names and years of birth, that many were still alive when their mother died in 1919 (according to Martha's death certificate). Thomas and Martha THOMASs children: Louisa (1870-1944) Married Allan DICK and stayed in Victoria David (1871-?) He also had a son David (1922-?) Sarah (1873-?) Lena (1876-?) Arthur (1878-?) Winifred (1879-?) Mary Ann (1881-?) Philip (1883-?) Emiline (1885-?) Died after 1890 but before 1919 I don't know where to go next. Any suggestions? Michaela Morgan Hobart, Tasmania, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Cheeseman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 1:58 PM Subject: RE: [AUS-WA] Help please? > Hi Michaela > > The Gold Rushes began in WA in the 1880's with discoveries at Roebourne, > Halls Creek > and other nearby areas in the Far North West of WA in the 1880's. Though > these fields > attracted many fossickers the lack of Water and distance of these feilds > made them > unattractive to most. > > With the Discovery of Gold at Coolgardie in 1892 and By Paddy Hannan and two > companions > at Kalgoorlie in 1893 80 km's east Of Colgardie followed by finds east and > North of > Kalgoorlie such as Darlot in 1895, Sons of Gwalia, Leonora circa 1897 and > many other finds > in the eastern goldfields around this period all over including Southern > Cross meant Gold > was being found in an area West, South (Kambalda/ Norseman) East of Kal at > Bulong to Leonora > and even further North covering a hugh area. > > It is estimated that the population of WA increased fourfold eg 250,000 to > 1,000,000 > in just ten years. A lot of work for men was also available through the > railways during > these years as rail lines began to spread across the state (Many were > unfortunately abandoned > in the 1950's and 1960's) But if kept going would be saving millions on road > maintenance > and cheaper freight and transport costs nowdays. > > It is highly likely that your ggg grandmother had some sort of family or > some of her > children living in WA. What Thomas family is she from? > > Regards > > Michael Cheeseman > 2x great grandson of Joseph Samuel Thomas b 1855 Staffordshire d 1934 WA > Arrived 1897 from NSW to work for WAGR > > Dorset Parish Transcriptions website Webmaster > http://www.rootsweb.com/~engdorse/Dorset.html > Western Australian Genealogical Society member # 4520 since 1993 > Convict and Historical Research Group member since 93/94 > http://www.wags.org.au/mid/4520.htm > Perth Dead Persons Society Member > http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/research/che01.html > > Rootsweb List Admin since 1999 > > Rootsweb Email Lists I am admin for: > > Australia: > > AUS-AIF (1914-1918 The Great War), > > Western Australia: > > AUS-WA-ABORIGINAL, AUS-WA-ALBANY-REGION, > AUS-WA-CONVICT (colonial convicts, Parkhurst boys and their families), > AUS-WA-GERALDTON (Region), AUS-WA-KALGOORLIE-REGION, > AUS-WA-NORTHERN-REGION (Northern half of WA), > AUS-WA-PENSIONER-GUARDS (Army/Marine Pensioner guards, Warders and > families) > AUS-WA-SOUTHEAST, AUS-WA-SOUTHWEST, AUS-WA-WHEATBELT > > UK county: > > DORSET_SOMERSET_WILTSHIRE (list pending) > > Surnames: > > ARCHER-UK, BLACK-UK, BOULTON, BUNTER, CHANT, CHAPPEL, CHAPPELL, CHAPPLE, > CHEESEMAN-UK, CROXFORD, CORNWALL (Surname), DOGGETT, FREEBODY, HANCHARD, > HILE, HYLE, LARKE, LARK, MUDFORD, NOAKES, NOSSIETER, OLDFIELD, SARGEANT, > SAMUELS, TOMLINSON-UK, THOMAS-UK, WAKEFIELD-UK > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michaela Morgan [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, 24 March 2003 5:15 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [AUS-WA] Help please? > > > Hi All, > > I received my ggg grandmother's WA death certificate today and it indicated > that when she died in 1919 she had been in WA for 20 years after spending 50 > years in Victoria. Her husband died in 1890 in Victoria and I have been > unable to locate the deaths of many of her children in Victoria so perhaps > they also went to WA. > > My first question is why might a family move from Victoria to WA around the > turn of the century. Secondly, how can I go about finding out what happened > to her children. The surname is quite common THOMAS as are many of the > first names. As the index does not include parents names I do not know what > to do next. > > Any suggestions much appreciated. > > Thanks > > Michaela Morgan > Hobart, Tasmania, Australia > > > ==== AUS-WA Mailing List ==== > > Q: Why do WA's cyber-genies hang out at the Perth DPS & use DPS-CHAT-L ? > A: Check out: ' http://www.perthdps.com/dps-chat.htm ' > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.461 / Virus Database: 260 - Release Date: 10/03/03 > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.461 / Virus Database: 260 - Release Date: 10/03/03 > > > ==== AUS-WA Mailing List ==== > > Q: Why do WA's cyber-genies hang out at the Perth DPS & use DPS-CHAT-L ? > A: Check out: ' http://www.perthdps.com/dps-chat.htm ' > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >