SOME GENEOLOGICAL NOTES
By John Joseph Ray of Brisbane, Australia
My "Ray" Ancestry
My father was Frank Edward Ray, who was born in 1915 at Home Hill in North Queensland. He died in Cairns Base Hospital aged 65 in 1981 and his remains are at the Townsville Crematorium. He was a quiet, sentimental man who loved my mother until the day he died. His last words were: "What's the time, Mum?" Like many men of his generation he usually called his wife "Mum". He would only call her "Peg" when he was "tired and emotional".
He was about 5'6" tall and a redhead with a Roman nose like mine and blue eyes. When he worked outdoors, his fair skin would not tan but would go red, even though he was not sunburned. I believe that he was "a bit of a lair" (i.e. he enjoyed dressing fashionably) in his youth but he certainly was no lair in my experience of him.
Frank's father was John Francis Burnside Ray, who usually gave his name as John Charles Ray and was usually referred to as "Jack". He was born at Port Douglas in 1879, died of a stroke in 1956 and is buried in Cairns. He was a "bullocky" (bullock-driver, teamster) and timber-getter (lumberjack) in his time but in his later years he worked for the Cairns City Council as a labourer. Commercial directories of the Cairns area around the turn of the century (i.e. around 1900 A.D.) describe him as a "carrier" -- as bullock teams were the usual means of heavy carrying in those times. I still have a photo of one of his teams at work. I remember him as a very quiet man of about 5'8" tall, with white hair, blue eyes, a chronic squint, a Roman nose and a white moustache yellowed from smoking.
At one time I went around the Cairns and hinterland area looking up old people who had known my grandfather and met several of them. ALL of them said about him something like: "A very quiet man; never said much". So my own impression of him was well confirmed by others. The same quiet, reserved manner was inherited by his son (my father) and then by me. In Jack it was not only a reserved but also a quietly confident manner and my having a similar manner did seem to go down well in upper class and upper-middle class circles whilst I was in England. In other words, I inherited a rather upper-class manner from a bullocky!
Henry Lawson's poem "The Teams" tells of how taciturn and enduring the early Australian bullockies usually were and what Lawson describes certainly fitted Jack to a "T". Lawson knew what he was talking about -- unlike the quite stupid poem about bullockies written by Judith Wright -- who obviously did NOT know the men she was talking about but simply drew on some ignorant stereotype or other. Bullockies had considerable capital tied up in their teams so were in fact hard-working small businessmen rather than ignorant roughnecks.
After my father's mother died prematurely in 1917, Jack remarried -- to Lucy Medlock. The Medlocks had been known to the Rays and Warrens for a long time and were neighbours in Kuranda before they moved to Home Hill, if I have it right. I have the impression that both Annie and Lucy were very good catches for Jack, both being women who were nice-looking and nice-natured. From early photos, I think Jack was probably seen as a bit of a handsome devil in his youth. He never went to school as he was working a bullock team by the time he was 10. He was however taught at home how to read and write.
Frank's mother was Annie Margaret Warren who was born in 1888 and died aged 29 of tuberculosis in 1917 at Home Hill. She was much beloved in her lifetime and her premature death was deeply felt. Frank no doubt got much of his nice nature from her. When I spoke to her brother, Vin, in 1986 or thereabouts and asked him what sort of a person Annie had been, Vin said, "She was a lovely person" -- and his eyes filled with tears.
Annie Ray's (nee Warren) father was Robert William ("Bob") Warren who was born in 1861. He was a carpenter and something of a local politician in his day. He was known as an inventor, a cricket enthusiast and for his ability to pour oil on troubled waters during any kind of dispute. Annie Ray's (nee Warren) mother (Bob Warren's wife) was born Annie Elizabeth Shorter in 1861. Bob Warren died aged 93 in 1954 and his wife died in 1951 at age 89.
Bob Warren's father was also Robert Warren and I have a photo of him which is the spitting image of me! He emigrated from England to become a gardener at Government House in Brisbane.
Jack (John Francis Burnside) Ray's father (i.e. my great grandfather) was Edward Arthur Walter Francis Burnside ("Frank") Ray, a "bullocky" (teamster) by profession who was born at Narellan in Sydney in 1844 and who died in 1910 at Goodna Mental Hospital, outside Brisbane -- though my Aunt Edie (his granddaughter) said that he and his wife are both buried in Cairns cemetery. He was deranged at the time of his death. I obtained a copy of his medical records and it seems that the medical staff of the day suspected that he had tertiary syphilis. From the photo of his wife, one could understand that he sought sexual satisfaction elsewhere. He is remembered as a "quiet" man but also seems to have been "a bit of a lair" in his youth. I still have a large original photographic portrait of him as a young man that must date from the dawn of photography -- around 1870.
Jack Ray's mother was Elizabeth Ann Holt, who was born at Bury in Lancashire in 1859. Her parents were Ellen Rodwell and William Holt. She was a redhead and very stout in her later years.
The father of E.A.W.F.B. (Frank) Ray was Joseph Henry Ray, born in Birmingham in 1807. He came out to Australia as one of 170 CONVICTS in the hold of the East Indiaman "Bussorah Merchant" -- arriving in Sydney Cove on 1828. He must have had a great 21st birthday! He was tried at Stafford Assizes in 1827 and convicted of house robbery. I have a copy of his "Conditional Pardon" (The condition of conditional pardons was that the pardonee never return to England).
From Sydney's newspaper of the day ("The Australian" -- particularly the issue of 30.7.1828) we learn that the "Bussorah Merchant" left London on 27.3.1828 under Captain Baigrie. The guard was from the 29th Regiment. When the ship arrived, there was smallpox on board, which was immediately notified to the appropriate authorities. The ship was sent to Neutral Bay in quarantine and the Sydney population warned. Thousands of people had cowpox vaccinations as a result. After official investigations, the ship was allowed to disembark on August 5th at Spring Cove.
So Sydney was a pretty sophisticated place by that time. A "visiting English gentleman" writing in "The Australian" around that time was surprised to find Sydney comprised of substantial brick and stone buildings instead of the mud huts and log cabins he had expected. He found it "a bustling, elegant and extensive city" with shops as good as London's but with much cleaner air. So the convicts had built well in their first 40 years.
According to the convict ship records, Joseph was Protestant in religion, 5'6 1/2" tall, with a ruddy complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. In England he was a farm labourer but in Australia he was known as a sawyer or carpenter. He left Sydney as soon as he got his pardon and died in Rockhampton on 17.4.1866. His death certificate records that his parents were Edward and Sarah Ray.
While still in Sydney, he met a tiny little fellow convict named Ann Jane Burnside and married her in 1843. She arrived on the "Margaret" in 1840 from Ireland. The convict ship records show that she could read, that her native place was Liverpool and that her religion was Presbyterian. She was also described as of ruddy complexion, with brown eyes and light brown hair. She lived in Northern Ireland where she was a child's maid by occupation. She was tried at Down on 26.3.1840 and convicted of stealing clothes. She was born on 18.6.1814 and was baptized at the Oldham St Kirk in Liverpool on 10.7.1814. So she was of Scottish origins. The records of the Session of the Oldham St Kirk are now held at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh! She died in Toowoomba, aged 96 on 2.9.1910. Despite being only 4'9 3/4" tall, she was something of a dominant character according to Mort Ray, who remembered her as his grandmother when I went to see him at age 96. The couple married on 29 November, 1843 in Narrellan, near Sydney.
Records in England may enable a trace further back but all that I have so far is what appears to be the marriage certificate of Joseph Ray's parents. It was issued by St. Martin's church of Birmingham, England, and says that Edward Ray and Sarah Hackett were married on 15th September 1793. Both signed with their "mark" (i.e. were illiterate). I also have a note of uncertain origin that the father of the Edward Ray mentioned was Samuel Ray.
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As convict origins are a source of great interest and pride in Australia today, I give below all the information on the ship's manifests for both my convict ancestors:
The ship "Bussorah Merchant" under Captain Baigrie arrived in Sydney Cove on 29th July, 1828 with 170 convicts aboard:
Ref. nos. 135 and 1643: Convict Joseph RAY
Age: 21. Education: None, Religion: Protestant. M.S.: Single
No family accompanying. From Staffordshire. Occupation: Farm labourer
Crime: House robbery. Tried at Stafford Assizes 2 August 1827
Sentence: Life. Previous convictions: None. Height 5 ft 6 and a half inches
Complexion: Ruddy. Hair: Brown. Eyes: Hazel
Assigned to John Blaxland at Newington
Marks: Scar on neck right side; Blue neck on left; Arm: Small finger of left hand contracted, also small finger of right.
Later information: Ticket of Leave 39/1841; Conditional Pardon no. 48/440, pp. 483 & 484 of Register 25 dated Dec 31, 1847.
The ship "Margaret" from Ireland arrived 17th August, 1840:
Details for Jane Burnside:
Standing no. 394-40; Index No. 63
Age 17; Education: Reads; Religion: Presbyterian; Status: Single
Native Place: Liverpool; Trade: Child's maid; Offence: Stealing; Tried Where: Down; When: 26 March, 1840
Sentence: 7 years; Former conviction: 6 months
Complexion: Ruddy and slightly pockpitted; Height 4 ft 9 and three quarters of an inch
Hair: Light brown; Eyes: Brown; Particular marks: Lost canine tooth right side of upper jaw, scar on top of right side of forehead, scar on left cheek; Anchor, flag and J.W. inside lower left arm
Additional information from Death Certificate:
Joseph Henry Ray died on 17th April, 1866 in Rockhampton. The cause of death given on the death certificate is general debility. His father was given as Edward Ray and his mother as Sarah. He was buried at Rockhampton cemetary. He was said to have been born in Birmingham. His children living at the time of his death were:
Edward (my ancestor) born 5 Sept 1844
Joseph born 28.July 1849
John born 2 Oct 1852
William Francis 1858 (?)
Sarah
Ann Jane 1844 (?)
Elizabeth 1856 (?)
Deceased children were given as Samson, Thomas, Charles and Mary Ann
My "C**" Ancestry
It is a sad thing but it is generally unwise these days to mention online the maiden name of one's mother. It is too often used for ID purposes. Hence the abbreviation "C**"
My mother was Margaret Ray (nee C**). She was born in Townsville on 8.7.1917 and married my father on 30.3.1940. She was about 5'6" tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and fair skin which developed a few skin cancers in her later years. She was a feminist before her time and would probably have been a lesbian if born in a later age. She certainly had a considerable contempt for men generally. She died in Cairns in her 70s.
Her father (my grandfather) was Joseph C** who was born on 1.1.1883. He was mostly a railway worker but was also a part-time confectioner. He died relatively young (in 1939) of stomach cancer. My cousin Shirley Smith has written the following about him:
Joseph C** was born in Townsville on 1st January, 1883, the first child of Joseph C** and Paulina Weaversley. He travelled with the family in North Queensland and by the time he was 18 was working as a pig farmer at Selheim, a small farming community near Charters Towers. Gold was discovered at Charters Towers in 1871 and the population grew to 33,000 so Joseph soon changed to mining. He met and married Margaret Kelly in Brisbane in 1910 and headed straight back up North. New mines had been opened up right out to Mt. Isa but he went to Cloncurry and worked at the Mt Elliott copper mine at Selwyn --just South of there. Children William (Bill) and Jean were born in Cloncurry before there was a strike at the mine and it closed down. He moved to Charters Towers for a while where Pauline was born, then to Duchess, where he made "aerated waters".My mother's mother was born Margaret Kelly in Brisbane on 16.12.1883 and I remember her as a lovely grandmother of about 5'4", with blue eyes and white hair.
He moved to Townsville and joined Queensland Railways on 10th April, 1916 and two more daughters were born, Margaret (Peggy) and Maude. The family lived in Townsville until 1933, when they moved to Home Hill -- South of Townsville. Joseph died in 1939 aged 57 and Margaret stayed on in Home Hill, until she had raised Bill's two boys, Kelly and Bobby. She was living in Brisbane when my mother died in 1951 and spent her later years alternating between the three remaining girls until here death in 1957.
While living in Townsville, Joseph continued to make aerated waters, cordials and chocolates and did cake icing. He was very good at it, apparently, but when he died all his equipment and recipes were thrown out.
Joseph's brothers and sisters: I do not know much about Martin John except that he married Violet May Brock in 1912 and had seven children. He worked as a miner at Irvinebank then was a "stoker/gas boy" at the gas works in Cairns and died of "Miner's Phthisis" (pneumoconiosis -- a wasting disease caused by particles lodged in the lungs) in 1932 aged 43 years.
Thomas Francis married Eda Augusta Carlson and had five children. He lived in Brisbane and was a Tramway Inspector -- a very esteemed profession. He married a second time and this wife looked after her mother-in-law (Paulina) until her death. One of Thomas's daughters had twins. Jessie Emma married Thomas Sobey and lived in Brisbane. She had three children and I remember her coming to visit my mother often. She resembled her mother.
Margaret Kelly's father was Joseph Kelly and he was born in Glasgow on 20.4.1857. My mother always remembered Joseph Kelly doing somersaults to amuse his grandchildren even though he was by then an old man! Margaret Kelly's mother was Martha McGuire -- another very Irish name.
Joe C**'s father and paternal grandfather were both named Joseph C** also, which can be a bit confusing.
The mother of the Joseph C** born in 1877 (my grandfather) was born Paulina Weaversley in 1853 and is remembered as speaking with a broad Yorkshire accent and making very good Yorkshire pudding. She had red hair and blue eyes. She was irreligious and profane, had a strong personality and long arms (like myself). She lived into her 90s.
The Joe C** who was the father of my grandfather Joe C** was born in 1841 at Gravesend in Kent and died aged 75 of stomach cancer on 10.1.26 in Brisbane. He is buried in Lutwyche cemetery in Brisbane. His mother was born Cordelia Woollett. He (Joe C** of 1841) was originally a sailor and jumped ship in Townsville to go to the goldfields. He became a goldfields publican and retired to Ascot in Brisbane a rich man. My cousin Shirley Smith has written the following concerning him:
Joseph C** probably arrived in Australia sometime before 1876. Family stories say he was a seaman who jumped ship in North Queensland. It is not clear if the brothers came out to Australia together as William was married in Brisbane in 1876. Joseph is first recorded in Townsville in 1882 when he married Paulina Weaversley. There are two stories about how they met. One says she waved a handkerchief to him from the ship as he worked on the docks. The other says that they met at the races. Joseph was working as a labourer at the time.
They were married in St. James' Church of England, Townsville on 25th March, 1882 and their first son Joseph was born in Townsville on 1st January 1883. Four more children were born: William Thomas on 19th October 1887, Martin John on 1st November 1889 and twins Thomas Francis and Jessie Emma on 23 May 1892. The twins were born in Normanton, which is a port for beef cattle and gold and tin mines on the gulf of Carpentaria. Joseph worked as a labourer in Normanton and took over the lease of the Norman Hotel on 7th October 1893. Reputedly, Paulina ran the bar and the business prospered while the children ran wild.
In 1897 they left the hotel and the whole family went by ship from Townsville to West Australia to a small town called Sawyers Valley and ran a hotel there for 12 months before sailing back to Queensland. This was a very long journey, thousands of miles, and probably in sailing boats.
On his return to Queensland, Joseph operated the Tattersalls Hotel at Allora, a small farming town South West of Brisbane. He then bought the Federal Hotel at Mt. Garnet. This ia a tin and copper mining town West of Cairns and at the time all supplies for the town were transported by camels from the nearest railhead. Just after he got there the copper was worked out and the smelters closed down. Joseph was worried but other mines opened and he did very well financially -- so well in fact that they put the twins into boarding school and went to England for a year. The twins both went to a girl's boarding school so that they would not have to be separated. Joseph probably visited his relatives at Gravesend while he was in England though I see his father had died by then. They visited Yorkshire and were welcomed by Paulina's former employer.
On returning to Australia, they bought the Palace Hotel at Childers, 220 miles North of Brisbane where they grow sugar cane and produce beef cattle.
The family was devastated when William Thomas died at the age of 20 from typhoid fever on 27th November 1907. They sold the hotel and retired to Brisbane in 1908, when Joseph was 57 years old. When he died 18 years later he was listed as a gentleman -- which means that he was living on private means. Paulina lived on for another 20 years and was active almost to the end of her days.
Regarding the above, Martin C** of Charters Towers says: One small error I can see is that old Joseph was born in 1851 not 1841 - actual date was 4/8/1851. Interestingly old Joe's brother (older) William Joseph lived here in Charters Towers for a number of years - I think his 3 children were all born here.
Some pix received via Martin C** of Charters Towers:
Joseph C** senior below. You can see what a tough cookie he must have been. To the right is Violet. Martin says of Violet: She was old Joe's daughter in law - married to Martin John C**. They married on 14/2/1912 (she was pregnant) and they married in Irvinebank on the edge of the Atherton Tablelands. It is not a great distance from Mt Garnet where old Joe had his pub earlier.
A later picture of Joe C** senior below with his wife Paulina:
The children of old Joe C** below:
The kids above are/were: Joe (oldest) William (Bill) 2nd oldest, Martin John 3rd oldest and twins Jessie and Francis (Frank).
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The views expressed by me on my political blog linked above are generally conservative but they were pretty mainstream views in North Queensland when I was growing up. Since most of my relatives are still Queenslanders and many are North Queenslanders, I doubt that many will be much shocked at what I have to say