From the Archives - Australia Day Post 2011

I penned this post ten years ago and am reposting it with a few extra phrases typed in this colour.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Shifty Ancestors in The Lucky Country

Thanks to Shelley from Twigs of Yore for setting this Australia Day Challenge. Shelley will be putting together all the responses to the challenge and posting them on her website. I look forward to some illuminating reading from those with Australian links.

Meanwhile I have been procrastinating about which document from which of my convict ancestors I will share. Should it be something from Elizabeth Phipp's shady past or should I share something from one of her partners James Westbrook or William Magick?  I don't know which of these gentlemen is my ancestor as they seemed to fall in and out of favour with Elizabeth. Who was she with when she conceived James Westbrook/Magick my first direct ancestor born in Australia?

The Challenge

Find the earliest piece of documentation you have about an ancestor in Australia. If you don't have an Australian ancestor, then choose the earliest piece of documentation you have for a relative in Australia.

Because it deals with three of my ancestors I am going to share an English document from 1812. I have earlier documents that tell of Births, Deaths and Marriages but this document is several pages long, quotes actual words spoken by my ancestors and gives information on the lives they led in London that caused them to be transported to Australia.

What is the document?

The document I have is a faded photocopy of part of Old Bailey Proceedings, 16th September 1812 in which JAMES WESTBROOK ,  ELIZABETH PHIPPS ,  SUSANNAH PHIPPS , and  SAMUEL WESTBROOK , were indicted for feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of  Joseph Covington , about the hour of eight in the forenoon, on the 1st of April , and stealing therein, eighteen gowns, value 3 l. seven petticoats, value 1 l. six pair of blankets, value 3 l. a feather bed, value 3 l. a bolster, value 5 s. two pillows, value 5 s. a time-piece, value 6 l. a silver cup, value 1 l. and five yards of muslin, value 5 s. the property of  Joseph Covington .

As there are copyright restrictions on the reproduction of this document I am only pasting a snip.

Do you remember the research process that lead you to it? How and where did you find it?

Some time last century, using microform resources at The State Library of New South Wales, I identified my convict ancestors Elizabeth Phipps and James Westbrook. On a trip to the UK in 2004 I spent time at various institutions trying to discover more about them and other ancestors from the Old Country. As part of that visit I visited the stunning National Archives at Kew armed with a list of my forebears and the ships that bore them to Australia.

Mr Geniaus and I were quite bewildered during our one day at this august institution but we managed to find a number of treasures including the transcript of the Phipps/Westbrook trial. How we managed to find the transcript I cannot remember! Today I can find a digital copy of that same transcript from the comfort of my home by searching The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 online. The typed transcript is, however, much easier to read, do take a look as it is an interesting story.

The highlight of that day was handling the surgeon's journal for the journey my ancestor Patrick Curry made on the Hooghley. Sadly I did not take photographs of the entries that told of Patrick's episodes of scurvy and their treatment.

Tell us the story(ies) of the document. You may like to consider the nature of the document, the people mentioned, the place and the time. Be as long or short, broad or narrow in your story telling as you like!

A reading of the document will tell its story but it told me more than just a story; reading the spoken words of my ancestors from 200 years ago gave me spine tingles. It also gave me more facts and background on my ancestors.

1. I learnt the name of my 4th Great-grandmother, Susannah Phipps (nee Harris) and have been able to find her BDM details.

2. I learnt that James had a brother Samuel Westbrook.

3. Reading Elizabeth's defence tells me that she spoke quite well and coherently. "On the morning that Mrs. Covington left town, she called me down stairs, between six and seven. She said, where is your mother? Why does not she live at home? Mrs. Covington gave me a five-pound note, and two lace caps. I was rather fearful. I would not take them until I went up to Westbrook. I was to deliver them to my mother in Fetter-lane, where she then was. They all deal in stolen property. The things that were moved out of the place were my own."

4. I was able to identify the places of residence of my ancestors in London and have put them on a list to find on my next trip. One such place Woods Buildings (now demolished) was a haunt of Jack the Ripper. I have since visited the area in which the family lived in Golden Lane.

5. I learnt the Elizabeth and James knew each other and were probably living in a common law marriage before they were transported. Another researcher claims they were married and had a child before Elizabeth was transported but the only evidence I can find to support this is from the transcript "The child with them had the key". I now think the child may have been Elizabeth's younger sister and that Elizabeth was pregnant while waiting for transportation.
6. I surmise that Ann Price was Samuel Westbrook's woman as she gave him an alibi.

Elizabeth, James, Susannah and Samuel also got a mention in The Criminal recorder:or, Biographical sketches of notorious public characters, including murderers, traitors, pirates, mutineers, incendiaries ... and other noted persons who have suffered the sentence of the law for criminal offenses ; embracing a variety of curious and singular cases, anecdotes, &c, Volume 2 (Google eBook). The British Newspapers collection on FindMyPast has has many mentions of Elizabeth, James and accomplices.

I am fascinated by the life of Elizabeth Phipps and was thrilled when I came across the transcript that told me so much about her and her environment in early 18th century London. Elizabeth, widow of William Magick, died as a respectable married woman in Richmond, NSW on August 8, 1869.

Due to the deeds of my ten shifty convict ancestors (and a few who were upright citizens) Australia was ordained as my birth place. 

As I celebrate Australia Day I will reflect on the courage and determination of past generations who triumphed over a harsh environment. I thank them for their contributions to to our nation and for paving the way for my family to live a charmed life in The Lucky Country.

GeniAus - #AtoZChallenge - M is for the Magick Mystery

During April 2020 the month of this #AtoZChallenge I will be sharing short posts on some of the  2,000+ descendants I have identified of my 3x Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Phipps. 

Elizabeth Phipps 1785-1869 was a convict who was transported from England to New South Wales in 1814 per Wanstead. 

---

You may be wondering why I am concentrating on Elizabeth's descendants rather than those of a married couple. Well the Magick Mystery is that, until we get some DNA matches that help us determine the paternity of Elizabeth's children, we cannot be 100% sure as to the identity of their fathers.

In my database I have details of ten children born to Elizabeth and christened with the surname Westbrook and that is why I record them as Westbrook There is conjecture that there was another child that was transported with Elizabeth but I only have one small piece of evidence from 1814 to support this ( General Muster of New South Wales 1814. Baxter, Carol, Ed. Sydney, ABGR, 1987: Number 1800. 1800 W Elizabeth Phipps Wanstead C (Stores) Off (Children) 1 Servant to Mr Cox). What happened to this child?

Children of Elizabeth Phipps

The two main paternal candidates are convicts James Westbrook, and William Magick. To confuse the issue further Elizabeth in 1818 applied to marry another convict, William Widgett (who had been transported to NSW on the General Hewitt with Magick). This marriage did not proceed.

Elizabeth and James who were partners in crime were cohabiting in London before they were transported to New South Wales. Although they claimed to be married it must have been a common law marriage,  there has been no formal record of this union found.

Elizabeth and James were assigned to William Cox on their arrival in NSW, Magick was first assigned to Mr Purcell but later to Cox. Westbrook and Magick worked together as Brickmakers for Cox on the building of the Road over the Blue Mountains. The trio in the 1820s all resided in the Richmond area.

Elizabeth's children are recorded in the 1825 Muster and 1828 Census with the surname Westbrook.

Elizabeth finally made her choice and married  William Magick in 1834. A cynic may suggest that this choice was influenced by the fact that William was gaining respectability as a man of property in Richmond.

Presumably Elizabeth's younger children went to live with her and Magick in March Street, Richmond. It is interesting to note that the younger children Adelina Benedicta and William John used the Magick surname on their marriage records. James was also known as James Magick on various documents.

The older girls Ann, Sophia, Louisa and Sarah were married using the Westbrook surname.

There are so many questions to be answered. When did Elizabeth begin to cohabit with William Magick? The 1822 Muster records her as living with Westbrook. She was living with Madgewick in the 1825 muster and cited as his housekeeper in the 1828 census. Therefore it is quite likely that her younger children were by William Magick.

And that is the Magick Mystery that has been confounding Elizabeth's descendants for year (over 30 for me).

UPDATE:  I wrote this post two weeks ago. Thanks to Cousin Regina, A Phipps descendant and committed genealogist, who has found a piece of evidence showing that Elizabeth Phipps was pregnant when she was in Newgate Prison. If that child was born alive then it must be the one I mentioned above. You can find new records relating to Elizabeth's time in Newgate by doing a search on Ancestry.

I love to connect with cousins and fellow researchers. Should you find any errors in my post or have additional information please contact me. 

A Question of Paternity

Something that has frustrated me and some of the 2000+ descendants that I have identified of my convict ancestor Elizabeth Phipps  is that we don't know the paternity of the children she bore. The likely fathers are fellow convicts James Westbrook (her partner in crime) and William Magick.

DNA has confirmed my line of descent from Elizabeth. It has also enabled me to connect to around twenty 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins on that line (some previously unknown to me), add more branches to my tree and include more of Elizabeth's descendants in my database. This is rather useful when trying to fathom out those treeless matches on Ancestry and FTDNA. I keep a list of Elizabeth's descendants surnames close by and if a new match has one of those surnames I have a starting point for communication.

Just recently I have lopped a branch off my tree and added another one because of a conversation I am having on Facebook with others who are also curious as to Elizabeth's relationships. One of my 3rd cousins set up, in August, a Facebook page for Elizabeth's descendants who are interested in solving our mystery. As I have been having a break from research I only found the page about a week ago.

This closed group, ELIZABETH PHIPPS - London to Richmond, New South Wales, Australia 1814, only has 28 members about 6 of whom are engaging in discussion and sharing resources, thoughts and ideas. Membership of the group has made me revisit my research with a critical eye.

William Magick had a family in England before being transported to New South Wales. I am hopeful that as more people take DNA tests we may be able to compare results from William's first family descendants and Elizabeth descendants to solve this paternity problem. What do you think of our chances?

One of my purposes in writing this post is to let other Phipps descendants (some of whom I know follow this blog) about the Facebook Group where they may discuss this issue with fellow descendants.

A little bit of Majick

Over the years some of my ancestors have given me grief because of the varied spellings of their surnames in records.

One such chap is my 2xGreat Grandfather, James Magick (born Westbrook). When looking for my Magick ancestors I have found them recorded as Madgwick, Magic, Maquirk, Maguirk, Madgick, Mogick and other variations. Although I have been able to find evidence of James' death  in a cemetery record and in a Coroner's report I hadn't found a death registration for him. When I was researching him nearly thirty years ago I put this down to the fact that his death occurred out in the bush and that no one bothered to record it.

Yesterday as I was trying to sort out my FTDNA matches I went over to Ancestry to see if one of my matches  had a tree there.... and he did.  And what did I find? This person had a reference to a death entry for James under the surname Majick. How had I not thought of this spelling????

Off to the NSW BDM Online Indexes I went and found:

I probably would have found it if I was starting my research now as I would have done a wildcard surname search for James in the NSW Online BDM index but back in the days of microfiche this was not available.

I think I need to search again more creatively for all those other ancestors for whom I couldn't find BDM records years ago.

As the entry for James indicated that a copy of his registration was Readily Available I ordered it and opted for email delivery. And Guess what? While I have been typing up this post I got these messages:

How's that for efficiency from a government department? Majick?

After 30 odd years I have the official record of James' death in my hands. How can anyone ever say "I've done my family history"?

Disappointed with this tome

A couple of months ago I went to a talk by William Cox's descendant, Anne-Maree Harriet Cox Whitaker at Hawkesbury Family History Group. I quite enjoyed her talk (see my report) and lined up afterwards to purchase her book William Cox and Cox's  Road; a bicentenary souvenir as I was keen to learn more about the road and the story of its construction.

I believe that my convict ancestors, James Westbrook amd William Magick had earned their freedom in 1818 as a result of the work they did making bricks for the road.

I read the book when I got home and have had it sitting on my desk for six weeks as I ponder what to write about it. It was attractively presented, well laid out, competently written, had some pertinent images and was well sourced. Although there is nothing wrong with the book I felt disappointed after reading it. Why?

* From the title I thought there would be more emphasis on the building of the road and I was hoping to discover new information about the road and its construction.

* About 59 pages are devoted to Cox and his family, I didn't realise that this was a major focus of the work but should have realised as in the title the words  William Cox are in bigger font than And Cox's Road.

* The author recognises in the short four page chapter on "Cox's Road Party" that not all the names of those who worked on the road are recorded. I wonder what research was carried out to identify others. I would like to have seen a bit more information on the other members of the Road Party but this book's focus was definitely just Cox.

* 34 pages of the book are devoted to a reprint of the Journal Cox kept during the road's construction. This together with Governor Macquarie's instructions to Cox (also reprinted in the book) is freely available here through Project Gutenberg. I was annoyed that I had purchased a book told me no more about the building of Cox's Road than what I can find freely available on the internet.

Do go ahead and  purchase this book, it is a good souvenir. My disappointment is personal,  I had great expectations that just weren't realised.

The Road Builder

Anne-Maree signs a copy of her book for me 

Yesterday I attended a talk by Anne-Maree Harriet Cox Whitaker at the monthly meeting of the  Hawkesbury Family History Group

I was rather excited as she was talking on her latest book "William Cox and Cox's Road" and two of my convict ancestors had worked for Cox on the construction of the road. Can you imagine my disappointment when Anne-Maree showed a slide of the thirty convicts that worked on the road and my men weren't on the list?

While the talk continued I grabbed my phone, brought up my family tree and checked my sources. Yes, my men earned their conditional pardons for working on the road. James Westbrook and William Magick were "On list of prisoners recommended for mitigation of sentence by Wm. Cox" as a result of their work making bricks for the road  (State Records NSW Reel 6065; 4/1798 p.107) As Anne-Maree didn't want the flow of her talk interrupted I had to wait until the end of her talk to ask if the thirty were the only convicts who worked on the road. She assured me that there were indeed more.  I wish she would have mentioned this during her talk!

The talk which Anne-Maree read was supported by interesting and relevant historical and contemporary images. The presentation firstly focused on the genealogy and history of the Cox family before moving on to the story of Cox's road. I found it most interesting to discover that Cox's first career was as a watch and clock maker. Because of my ancestor's connection I would have liked to hear more about the road but, as I have purchased the book which includes a transcription of 36 pages of Cox's Journal I am sure that I will be able to discover more of the story of the road's construction right from the horse's mouth.

William Cox Festival

Two of my convicts, James Westbrook and William Madgwick worked on the building of the road over the Blue Mountains by William Cox.

I was interested to read that the Nepean District Historical Society is hosting a mini William Cox Festival at the Arms of Australia Inn on Sunday 26th May.

The William Cox Festival will celebrate the building of a road across the Blue Mountains. Construction
started on July 7, 1814 at Emu Plains and finished on January 14,1815.  The road opened
up inland New South Wales to European settlement. As a result of their work on this road my two convicts received their Conditional Pardons.

Details of this event can be found in the Society newsletter that is published online at http://www.nepeanhistoricalsociety.org.au/imgedit/show_news1.php?id=1

Australia Day Blog Challenge - James Westbrook (1784-1859)

In her blog challenge for Australia Day 2013 Helen V Smith has challenged geneabloggers "to tell the story of your first Australian ancestor."

I think James Westbrook was my first ancestor to arrive on Australia's shores but as there is no way to verify the paternity of Elizabeth Phipps' offspring I cannot be 100% sure that he is my ancestor. 

James WESTBROOK, son of Edward WESTBROOK  and Elizabeth FITCHETT , was born on 3 November 1784 in London, England and was christened on 23 November 1784 in St. Sepulchre Holborn, London, England.²  He claims to have married Elizabeth PHIPPS before 1812 in England but I cannot find any evidence to support this.  

On 1 April 1812 he was a butcher  living in Angel and Porter Court, Golden Lane Parish of St Luke Old Street, London, England with Elizabeth Phipps, a cotton spinner. He and Elizabeth had a bit of trouble with the law and found themselves before the court at The Old Bailey indicted for "feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Joseph Covington." A transcript of this trial is available online.

As a result the hapless pair were sentenced to Transportation.  James was one of 200 convicts who left England on the Earl Spencer on 2 June 1813 and arrived in the Colony of New South Wales  9 October 1813.  On arrival he was assigned to William Cox; James worked as part of Cox's gang that built the road over the Blue Mountains. 

James and Elizabeth were both assigned to the Windsor area and had several children together. It is just not clear which of Elizabeth's children were Westbrooks and which were fathered by William Magick.

He appeared in the convict muster in 1814 in Windsor, NSW, Australia.  Between January 1816 and January 1818 he was resident in Bathurst, NSW, Australia.  On 7 July 1818 he was  a prisoner resident in Bathurst and he reappeared in the convict muster in Windsor in 1822 with a Conditional Pardon. James earned his pardon as a result of the work he did for Cox on the building of the road. 

He appeared in the census in 1825 in Sydney listed with children Louisa, Harriett, Emily, William, Ann and Sarah. This could indicate that these were his children.  

In the 1828 Convict Muster he was back in the Windsor area at Richmond where it is presumed that he lived until his death.  James must have lead an ordinary life as I have not been able to dig up any stories about him on Trove!

When he died on 14 July 1859 in Windsor Hospital, Windsor, NSW, Australia James was listed as a pauper.^3,4  He was buried on 16 July 1859 in St.Matthew's Church of England, Windsor, NSW, Australia.

Shifty Ancestors in The Lucky Country

Thanks to Shelley from Twigs of Yore for setting this Australia Day Challenge. Shelley will be putting together all the responses to the challenge and posting them on her website. I look forward to some illuminating reading from those with Australian links.

Meanwhile I haave been procrastinating about which document from which of my convict ancestors I will share. Should it be something from Elizabeth Phipp's shady past or should I share something from one of her partners James Westbrook or William Magick?  I don't know which of these gentlemen is my ancestor as they seemed to fall in and out of favour with Elizabeth. Who was she with when she conceived James Westbrook/Magick my first direct ancestor born in Australia?

The Challenge

Find the earliest piece of documentation you have about an ancestor in Australia. If you don't have an Australian ancestor, then choose the earliest piece of documentation you have for a relative in Australia.

Because it deals with three of my ancestors I am going to share an English document from 1812. I have earlier documents that tell of Births, Deaths and Marriages but this document is several pages long, quotes actual words spoken by my ancestors and gives information on the lives they led in London that caused them to be transported to Australia.


What is the document?

The document I have is a faded photocopy of part of Old Bailey Proceedings, 16th September 1812 in which JAMES WESTBROOK ,   ELIZABETH PHIPPS ,   SUSANNAH PHIPPS , and   SAMUEL WESTBROOK , were indicted for feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of   Joseph Covington , about the hour of eight in the forenoon, on the 1st of April , and stealing therein, eighteen gowns, value 3 l. seven petticoats, value 1 l. six pair of blankets, value 3 l. a feather bed, value 3 l. a bolster, value 5 s. two pillows, value 5 s. a time-piece, value 6 l. a silver cup, value 1 l. and five yards of muslin, value 5 s. the property of   Joseph Covington .

As there are copyright restrictions on the reproduction of this document I am only pasting a snip.

Do you remember the research process that lead you to it? How and where did you find it?

Some time last century, using microform resources at The State Library of New South Wales, I identified my convict ancestors Elizabeth Phipps and James Westbrook. On a trip to the UK in 2004 I spent time at various institutions trying to discover more about them and other ancestors from the Old Country. As part of that visit I visited the stunning National Archives at Kew armed with a list of my forebears and the ships that bore them to Australia.
Mr Geniaus and I were quite bewildered during our one day at this august institution but we managed to find a number of treasures including the transcript of the Phipps/Westbrook trial. The highlight of that day was handling the surgeon's journal for the journey my ancestor Patrick Curry made on the Hooghley. Sadly I did not take photographs of the entries that told of Patrick's episodes of scurvy and their treatment.

How we managed to find the transcript I cannot remember! Today I can find a digital copy of that same transcript from the comfort of my home by searching The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 online. The typed transcript is, however, much easier to read, do take a look as it is an interesting story.


Tell us the story(ies) of the document. You may like to consider the nature of the document, the people mentioned, the place and the time. Be as long or short, broad or narrow in your story telling as you like!

A reading of the document will tell its story but it told me more than just a story; reading the spoken words of my ancestors from 200 years ago gave me spine tingles. It also gave me more facts and background on my ancestors.

1. I learnt the name of my 4th Great-grandmother, Susannah Phipps (nee Harris) and have been able to find her BDM details.
2. I learnt that James had a brother Samuel Westbrook.
3. Reading Elizabeth's defence tells me that she spoke quite well and coherently. "On the morning that Mrs. Covington left town, she called me down stairs, between six and seven. She said, where is your mother? Why does not she live at home? Mrs. Covington gave me a five-pound note, and two lace caps. I was rather fearful. I would not take them until I went up to Westbrook. I was to deliver them to my mother in Fetter-lane, where she then was. They all deal in stolen property. The things that were moved out of the place were my own."
4. I was able to identify the places of residence of my ancestors in London and have put them on a list to find on my next trip. One such place Woods Buildings (now demolished) was a haunt of Jack the Ripper.
5. I learnt the Elizabeth and James knew each other and were probably living in a common law marriage before they were transported. Another researcher claims they were married and had a child before Elizabeth was transported but the only evidence I can find to support this is from the transcript "The child with them had the key".
6. I surmise that Ann Price was Samuel Westbrook's woman as she gave him an alibi.

Elizabeth, James, Susannah and Samuelalso got a mention in The Criminal recorder:or, Biographical sketches of notorious public characters, including murderers, traitors, pirates, mutineers, incendiaries ... and other noted persons who have suffered the sentence of the law for criminal offenses ; embracing a variety of curious and singular cases, anecdotes, &c, Volume 2 (Google eBook).

I am fascinated by the life of Elizabeth Phipps and was thrilled when I came across the transcript that told me so much about her and her environment in early 18th century London. Elizabeth, widow of William Magick, died as a respectable married woman in Richmond, NSW on August 8, 1869.

Due to the deeds of my ten shifty convict ancestors (and a few who were upright citizens) Australia was ordained as my birth place. 

As I celebrate Australia Day I will reflect on the courage and determination of past generations who triumphed over a harsh environment. I thank them for their contributions to to our nation and for paving the way for my family to live a charmed life in The Lucky Country.

Elizabeth Phipps - an honest woman

On this day, June 4th in 1834, William Magick made an honest woman of my 3rd great-grandmother, Elizabeth Phipps when they were wed at The Scots Church in Sydney.

Elizabeth had lived a colourful life having been transported to Sydney on Wanstead in 1814 after a trial at The Old Bailey. Elizabeth was one of "The wanton witches of the Wanstead". Old William, another convict, arrived in the colony per General Hewitt.

Elizabeth gave birth to 10 children between 1815 and 1830 but their paternity is hard to determine as she resided with both her first husband, James Westbrook, and Magick during this period.

Elizabeth Phipps

My great.great.great.grandmother, Elizabeth Phipps (c.1792-1869), was quite a girl - a convicted felon, she bore at least ten children (their paternity is hard to identify) by James Westbrook and William Magick?) and, in 1834, married William Magick a much older man who reputedly lived to 108.

Elizabeth and William lived out their lives in March Street, Richmond, New South Wales.

Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Phipps and Susannah Harris, arrived in Australia on Wanstead on January 9th 1814 having been convicted with James Westbrook and transported for life. A transccript of their trial can be found at the Old Bailey Site. Her first assignment was to Mr. Cox at Windsor. She had gained her freedom by 1822.

I have located details for 1,600+ direct descendants of Elizabeth and would be thrilled to hear from more.