This Website is probably no more or less than you might expect from I'm not particularly smart, but I do have great patience and would like to think that I am a great scrounger, and can make something out of "nothing", it must be the Jewish blood in me. Mind you, on the odd occasion this blind stubborness has caused me to turn some items of value into nothing.... I guess it could be said that, "I'm pigheaded, and proud of it", fortunately my obstinacy has served me very well over the years. It has certainly not made me rich in the monetary sense but it has caused me to have a very "interesting" and enjoyable life. I originally started this site in the hope that it may attract the attention of some of my extended family members as Genealogy is probably my primary interest, my other interests include Local History, Mineral Prospecting and, as my poor long suffering Wife of 30+ years puts it, "Mucking about in the shed". Recently I have started looking for the 128 blokes with whom I joined the Royal Australian Navy as a Junior Recruit in 1963. I hope that this website may also, "shake a few monkeys out of the trees". This page is dedicated to the first two of these subjects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Family Genealogy 
My initial interest in our family arose from two doubts that I had. The first was that my Father's family always insisted that they new almost nothing of their ancestors, this was supposedly because my Grandfather Robert Jones (seen at Left) was the son of a devout Jewish family who "cut him off" when he married out of the faith, he never talked about the circumstances relating to this affair. What has come to light in my research is that some of my Aunts and Uncles obviously new a lot more than they were willing to let on. There were other stories, but this is the only one that seems to have any supporting evidence. The second reason for my interest was that there was also a similar intrigue on my My first trip as a Merchant Seaman in 1980 took me to Newcastle NSW and just out of curiosity I decided to see how many Hendersons and Smarts there were in the Wallsend area. There were scores of them, so I thought, I should just ring one and see if they may recognise some of the names that I had heard Mum and Joe speak of. I chose the first Smart in the phone book, A. Smart, who turned out to be an elderly lady who new little about her deceased husbands family, but she gave me the phone number of her sister in law which I rang. I mentioned the names again and was staggered to learn that this lady was my Mothers cousin Ivy. Ivy was one of those persons that every genealogist dreams about, she new nearly all of the older generation and who they married, right down to the birth dates of their grandchildren. She invited me to come and stay for the weekend, which I did, I must have nearly driven her mad with my questions, but I had the names and details that led me to the first 160 odd relatives. If you have just the slightest interest in "where you came from", I sincerely urge you to take up Genealogy as an interest. I waited until it was far too late and have spent the last twenty five years regretting that I never took an interest earlier. Updated 06/04/08The Descendant tree of Eliezer "Lezer" Jonas, who's Grandson Joseph and family arrived in Melbourne from London aboard "Mermaid" on 19th. Oct. 1856. The Jones's were London Jews, Joseph's occupation was given as being a "Dealer". His Father was listed as Samuel on his Death Certificate but has since been shown to be Solomon, Sarah's Jewish name was "Malka" which I am told is the hebrew name for "Queen". Updated 03/10/08The Descendant tree of Isaiah Simmons, also listed in the records of The Great Synagogue, London, as "Jesse the Hatter" Grandfather of Sarah Simmons, my Paternal Great grandmother. Updated 19/08/06The Descendant tree of Livingstone Muirhead and Helen Storie, who's son Robert Hunter Muirhead arrived in Adelaide with his wife Christina (nee Mitchell) aboard "William Stevenson" on 1st. January 1855. Updated 22/01/07The Descendant tree of William Hepple and his Wife Ann, who's Gt. Gt. Gt. Grand daughter Jane and two eldest children arrived in Sydney NSW aboard "Annie Wilson" on 08 April 1862, accompanied by her brother William and his family. I can find no record of her husband Thomas Henderson's arrival and assume that he may have arrived earlier, he was a Railwayman and his occupation was given as "Platelayer or Pointsman" who was to become a florist here in Australia. Most of the male Henderson descendants went into the coal mining industry around Wallsend and Catherine Hill Bay in New South Wales. Many of the Hepples were also miners, and they settled around Lithgow. Updated 06/09/06 The Descendant tree of John Henderson and Mary Hodgson. a tile and brick maker, who's Great Grandson Thomas arrived in Sydney on 12th. Jun 1879. Thomas was a coal miner who left the pits of Wallsend in Northumberland to go straight back down the pits in Wallsend NSW. Updated 03/03/08The Descendant tree of Mr and Mrs Graham of Cumberland, England, ca. 1745. Their descendants for several generations were focused in Arthuret Parish, particularly at Randalinton, a farmstead near Arthuret Longtown in the north of Cumberland. Updated 08/09/06The Descendant tree of John Smart and Mary Clark, who arrived in Sydney aboard "Samuel Plimsoll" on 12th. Jun 1879. John was a coal miner who left the pits of Wallsend in Northumberland to go straight back down the pits in Wallsend NSW. The Gee and Cook Family of Western Australia (Shirl's Rellies). Updated 19/08/06Descendant Tree of Charles GEE and Mary Ann Lasseter. Charles and Mary Ann arrived in Western Australia aboard "Caroline" on Monday 12th., Oct 1829. They initially settled in the Guilford area and spread northwards to Gingin. The Gee family is notable in Western Australia for it's pioneering endeavours, and the service of it's men in the Western Australian Police Force. Updated 19/08/06Descendant Tree of Jeremiah Cook and Mary Jane Sutton. who arrived in Fremantle on 1st. Feb. 1831 aboard "Drummore" Jeremiah was an indentured labourer to William Tanner. This page was inspired by and is dedicated to, Mrs. Iris Aamot, a Gee descendant who wrote the definitive history of the Gee and Truslove families in Western Australia.. “The Caroline” 150 Years in Western Australia of the GEE and TRUSLOVE FAMILIES 1829 – 1979. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Jamestown, South Australia - Cemetery Database. |
Mother's side. It was well known within the family that Grandma Henderson had run away with her younger brother in law, Robert (my Grandfather) after having had three children to his elder brother Thomas. Robert being a miner looked for work in the most remote place possible, which at that time was Kalgoorlie but soon decided that Broken Hill was more to his liking. As a consequence my mother grew up with only a sketchy idea about her family back in Wallsend NSW. It was not until her half brother Joe came to South Australia on his retirement in about 1954 that I started to hear occasional mentions of all of these relatives that I had in NSW. 
