Progress    

2007 – 2008 – 2009 - 2010

A chronology of the genealogical inquiries I am making and the results thereof.

Archive 2004

Archive 2005

Archive 2006

9 January, 2007.         John Sawyer death inquiry.

Received a contact from  Rosemary in the UK. Her husband is descended from the marriage of Jane Sawyer and James Rose in 1862.  Rosemarys research has picked up a death registration for a John Sawyer at Brentford in 1849 and a marriage for Jane Sawyer (wife) to William Hazell in 1850.  Additional census returns for 1851 & 1861 show that names of children for William and Jane Hazell match those of John and Jane Sawyer except for the 1861 census which shows Henry Sawyer as a son-in-law of William & Jane Hazell.  The term son-in-law apparently is interchangeable with stepson.  An application to GRO for the certificate of death for this John Sawyer has been sent and I will advise on the outcome.

18 January, 2007.       John Sawyer Death Registration.

A registration for the death of one John Sawyer, 46 years of age, labourer of Old Brentford, Middlesex on 29 August, 1849 has been received. Sawyer died of Asiatic cholera and the certificate contains the mark of his wife Jane Sawyer who was present.  There are no other John Sawyers listed in Brentford for the 1841 and 1851 census records. Whilst the projected year of birth on the 1841 census is two years difference to the death registration it is considered that this is the correct John Sawyer.  This death record supports the information and BDM record that Jane Sawyer remarried in 1850 to William Hazell and the 1851 and 61 census records show some of Janes children living in the Hazell household.

18 January, 2007.       John Sawyer Ann Andrews Change of  photo identification.

In the Sawyer Gallery Page the first (elderly lady and gent seated) and second photos (elderly gent) are captioned as John Sawyer and Jane Chrichley and John Sawyer respectively.  These were thought to be John Sawyer b. c-1803 and his wife Jane.  Two pieces of information have come to hand to dispute this:  The first being the now acknowledged death of John Sawyer (snr) in England at age 46 and the second having come from Jan in Parkes who holds the original of photo.1.  Jan advises that the photo is a post card type and has the name of the photo gallery in King Street, Sydney printed on the back.  There is written in ink the words Grandma and Grandpa sawyer.  As John Sawyer (snr) died in the UK and there is no evidence of him having come to Australia, it would now appear that this is a photo of John Sawyer (jnr) and his wife Ann Andrews which was likely taken shortly before his death in Sydney at age 63 in 1898.  As John (jnr) died from emphysema and heart attack it was hard to appreciate that this is the same man depicted in Photo.3. of the gallery page in the Genge / Sawyer family photo taken c-1893 a mere 5 years prior to his death. But this does seem to be the case and I thank Jan for bringing the matter to my attention.  A misidentification of Annie Simpson Sawyer as Esther Amelia Millen / Genge in Photo.3. has also been corrected.

12 July, 2007.      Sawyer -  change of photo identification.

The photo number 4. on the Sawyer Gallery page had been wrongly captioned as Emma Sawyer and Janie Sawyer.  The photo has now been properly identified as Mabel Genge and Emma Sawyer.  Mabel was the grand daughter of Ann Andrews from her first marriage to George Millen. Emma was the daughter of Ann Andrews from her second marriage to John Sawyer.

8 September, 2007.   Clarification of maiden name of Jane Crutchley.

Jane, wife of John Sawyer is known by various spellings of her maiden name.  Chrichley was the name endorsed on her marriage certificate but since she and John were illiterate the actual spelling was up to the interpretation of the minister.  Her maiden name on the birth certificate of her son Henry Sawyer was noted as 'Crutchley'.  This accords with a marriage record at Shorne Village, Kent in 1800 for James Crutchley and Mary Watson.

The 1851 census where she was married to William Hazell shows her having been born in Gravesend, Kent about 1809.  The Gravesend baptisim records of the time show a family James and Mary Cruchley and children Henry John, James and Mary Ann. There is no record of Jane but the names of her Gravesend siblings also correspond with those of her own children.  There was another Cruchley family in Gravesend in 1808 and this was Robert and Margaret Cruchley and daughter Margaret. 

It is reasonable to assume that the correct spelling of her maiden name was most likely CRUTCHLEY or CRUCHLEY.

2008

25 January, 2008.   Death of Julia Edna Ann Wilkie nee Sawyer.

Julia Edna Ann Sawyer passed away at the Orange Nursing Home on 17 January, 2008.  Julia, known as Edna was 102 years of age. She was cremated at the Orange Cemetery, Lone Pine Drive Orange on 22 January, 2008.

21 February, 2008.  Descendant line of Dennis Donovan located.

Contact has been made through Genes Reunited with Damian who is the great/great grandson of Dennis Donovan.  His great grandmother was Mary Ann Donovan /Lacey. He has provided information on family links received orally from his father but has not yet began documented research.  I hope to assist him to undertake the search and will provide an attachment to the descendants of Dennis Donovan when the line is completed.  The line relating to the descendants of Thomas Lacey and Mary Ann Donovan will also be explored.

3 March, 2008 - Website Repairs Completed.

I have undertaken some housekeeping to make the page run faster and that appears to have been successful. There are new links now to the Gallery and these now allow for a greater number of  photos to be stored and viewed.

28 March, 2008 - Contact made with Cronin Descendant.

Contact has been made with Greg who is a g/g/grandson of Patrick Cronin, the father of Kate Cronin married to Joseph Stafford. Greg has provided additional info on the siblings of Kate Cronin and also identified the buriel place of Mary Elizabeth Cronin (her daughter) who died at 5 weeks of age.

25 April, 2008 - Passing of Herbert Stanley Donovan and Marie Catherine Crawford.

Sadly the past fortnight saw the passing of Herbert Stanley (Stan) Donovan on the 11th April and Marie Catherine Crawford on 17 April, 2008.

9 September, 2008. - Marriage of Patrick Donovan & Ellen Cocklin 1886.

1886 - BDM shows Patrick Donovan wed Ellen COCKLIN 1c/688 Apr-June Q at Whitechapel 1886. Church of the English Martyrs, Whitechapel 10 May, 1886. Patrick Donovan, 21 old married Ellen Cocklin, 19 old. Daughter of Jeremiah Cocklin, Tobacco Stripper. Witnesses, Thomas Lacey and Johanah Donovan. Patrick was residing at 53 Pell Street, St. George in the East whilst Ellen was living at 4 Pell Place, St. George in the East.

1891 census - Patrick Donovan (24) is living with his wife Ellen (23) and children Dennis (4) and Mary A (2) at 41 Pell Street, St. George in the East. Also living with them is a Cornelius Harrington (50) coal porter- (probable godfather to his cousin Mary Ann Donovan) and wife Julia (48) tailoress.

1901 census - Shows a Patrick Donovan (34) living at 18 James Place, Ratcliff with wife Ellen (33) children Dennis (14) Mary (12) ]- both born St. George ITE, & Ellen (6) born Ratcliff.

8 December, 2008. - New cousins located in England and Canada.

Very pleased to have been contacted by Phil Gibbs and Danny Donovan in the UK. Phil is working on the descendants of Dennis Donovan of whom Danny is a direct descendant. Looking forward to information exchange with them both. Cousin Ruby in Canada has steered a new cousin 'Jacquie' to me and she was able to supply a scanned letter from Jane Sawyer / Davis to Mary Ann Stocker / Sawyer in 1911. This letter was one of a number exchanged between the two ladies between 1911 and 1915.

8 December, 2008. - Immigration and death details located for Jane Sawyer.

In a joint effort with Jacquie the letter from Jane Davis to Mary Sawyer was deciphered and from the content it was deduced that Jane Sawyer who married James Rose, was present in Australia around 1876. A search of the immigration records showed that both Jane and her husband had arrived in Sydney, Australia on 16 December, 1874. They lived in Parkes, N.S.W. where her brother John also resided. BDM shows Jane Rose died at Parkes in 1877 and James Rose died at Granville in 1916. The death certificate for Jane has been ordered and should confirm that there were no children to the marriage. Will advise re same when received.

20 December, 2008 - Death of Jane Sawyer / Rose.

Jane Sawyer / Rose died of pneumonia at Bushmans Reef, near Parkes on 26 November, 1877. The informant was her brother John Sawyer and witness was Albert Genge. Then death certificate does not show her husband James Rose as being present. There were no children from the marriage. The maiden name of her mother is spelled 'Crutchley' which is believed to be correct. She was buried at Goobang Creek Cemetery near Parkes on 27 November, 1877.

2009

18 October, 2009 - Correction of birth info for children of John Sawyer and Jane Cruchley.

The original names and dates of birth for the Sawyer children were provided by cousin Margaret Donovan from information noted in the Sawyer Family Bible that was in the possession of Jane Sawyer / Davis.  This information differs in some aspects to that which was located in the St.George, Hounslow, Old Brentford, Middlesex parish records in received this date in 2009.  The differences relate to the Christian names of ‘Mary’, ‘Ann’ and ‘MaryAnn’ and minor differences in birth dates. A birth / baptism in 1832 for a 'Mary' has not been located nor has a birth for a second 'Thomas' in 1838. Considering that John and Jane Sawyer were illiterate (at least at the time of their marriage) and that the information in the bible may have been added some time after the actual event, it is reasonable to assume that the information in the parish register is more likely correct and this is now endorsed as the most accurate source. The Sawyer page has been amended to reflect these changes.  MD.

Baptisms all in St george, Old brentford, Hounslow, Middlesex

2010

17 July, 2010. Death of Michael Henry Donovan.

Michael Henry Donovan passed away at the Sutherland District Hospital, Caringbah on 17 July, 2010. He had suffered a stroke on the 10^th July at the Warena Aged Care facility, Bangor where he had lived since November, 2009. He lapsed into a coma two days after admission and did not regain consciousness. He will be cremated at the Woronora Cemetery, Sutherland on 23 July, 2010 and will be interred next to his wife Winifred in the garden.

 2012 

21 June, 2012. Location of Donovan Townland in Rosscarbery Parish, County Cork, Ireland

As a result of the location of the 1911 census record for Denis Donovan a record of his birthplace was found on that document. It is listed as 'Roscorborough but has been correctly identified as Rosscarbery, in the county of Cork, Ireland. With the assistance of other researchers and the Irish Genealogy web site www.irishgenealogy.ie the marriage of Michael Donovan and the baptism dates for his children were located in the Townland of Reanascreena, 8 ks north of Rosscarbery. There was some ambiguity in the parish register concerning the name of Franky but this is explained fully in the narrative on the Michael Donovan page. It is pleasing that after twelve years of research this brick wall appears to have been breached.

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