A holiday, a pilgrimage and so much more..

I'm almost organised and ready to commence my journey to the United Kingdom in four days time (heading off with a rotten head cold though) I'll kickstart my stay with an exciting week in London seeing all the sights together with a visit to the birthplace of my great great grandfather Frederick Williams in Greenwich where he was baptised at St Alphege in 1821 - more on Frederich another time though.  At some other point yet undetermined I shall visit Baschurch Shropshire where my great great great grandfather Samuel Griffith Hughes was born in 1789 (and what a story he is, an armed robber no less!)  and was tried and sent to the colonies at the age of 19 aboard the convict ship Glory.  It is also documented that he was a "native of Shrewsbury" (perhaps he moved there)
At another time (yet undetermined) I shall venture on to Clones, Monaghan Republic of Ireland birthplace of my most precious great great great grandmother Anne Fitzpatrick (with whom I feel a tremendous connection) born 1801 who was transported on the convict ship John Bull at the tender age of 20 for street robbery - which was most likely food.  It's all the interconnecting stories and information that is so interesting but for now I'll share this little excerpt which I promise is well worth reading...

WOMEN TRANSPORTED - Life in Australia's Convict Female Factories.
(Parramatta Heritage Centre and University of Western Sydney)

.....Forward from the Lord Mayor of Parramatta City Council....

..."Here, finally, is the story of the women, their lives forged by suffering and
dislocation, who became the mothers of our nation. They are, literally, the ancestral
mothers of one in five Australians living today. This exhibition reveals their
heroism, their grit, and the astonishing ability of most to bounce back and adapt
to alien circumstances in a hard and foreign land. They brought to Australia a
kaleidoscope of different trades – and contrary to the myth, only a handful were
prostitutes. They went on to pioneer the land, raise families, conduct businesses,
run farms and work in the myriad of occupations which kept the early colony alive.
They indelibly defined the Australian character and it is surely time their story –
our story – is told.

My beloved great great great grandmother Anne Fitzpatrick is one such woman who amid terrible conditions found love in the colonies and a fulfilling life with great great great grandfather Samuel Griffith Hughes whom she married in 1824 after he received his ticket of leave. Samuel  is buried at the Branxton Cemetery NSW with his grave being the oldest surviving single headstone in the cemetery. On his headstone it reads ... leaving a widow to deeply deplore her loss. Stop stranger stop as you pass, as you are now as once was I - and so you will be, so pray prepare to follow me.  The style of headstone for the times, together with a footstone indicates that Ann would have more than likely spent  every cent she had to give her beloved such a burial. Ann survived her Samuel by 18 years and regrettably is not buried here with him, she was buried at Bulga NSW a trifling 30 kms away. They had 7 children. I find it ironic that had I  known all this information during the time I resided in the Hunter Valley I could have so easily visited the cemeteries having driven through the area on numerous occasions. I know this will happen eventually, I feel it must happen. Only then will my pilgrimage come full circle.

...............stay tuned for more and my thanks to J for helping me with some of the early research and for being companion and host from his lovely new home in beautiful Colwyn Bay Wales.

...and my apologies in advance if you are one of the unlucky ones receiving double notifications for the same post - there's little I can do, Blogger program can at times be very capricious.

...... it's going to be one hell of a ride trodding the same paths and roads as these ancestors of mine once did.  stayed tuned! 

. . . and Blogger is playing about with my fonts!