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Richard Watson

Richard Watson

Male Abt 1827 - 1898  (~ 70 years)

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  • Name Richard Watson  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 
    Born Abt 28 Aug 1827  Hobart Town, Van Dieman's Land, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [4, 5, 9] 
    Gender Male 
    Residence 12 Aug 1844  Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Insolvency 27 Feb 1869  Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Died 21 Jun 1898  Hillgrove, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 15] 
    Buried 23 Jun 1898  Uralla, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I712  So Many Generations
    Last Modified 21 Feb 2021 

    Father Richard Watson,   b. Bef 3 Jan 1788, Haslingden, Lancashire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Jun 1864, Burris House, Ouse, Tasmania, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age > 76 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Hannah Williams,   b. 6 Feb 1798, Norfolk Island Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Feb 1850, Ouse, Van Dieman's Land, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 52 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Married 4 Oct 1813  Hobart, Van Dieman's Land, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [16, 17, 18, 19] 
    Family ID F269  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Eliza Welham,   b. 11 Oct 1827, Alresford, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Feb 1879, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 51 years) 
    Married 4 Nov 1844  St Andrews Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [10] 
    Children 
    +1. Elizabeth Welham,   b. 12 Aug 1844, Benevolent Asylum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Sep 1924, High Street, Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 80 years)  [Adopted]  [natural]
    +2. Ellen Eliza Watson,   b. 24 May 1846, Hexham, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Apr 1931, "Woodville", Uralla, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 84 years)  [natural]
    +3. David Goodwin Watson,   b. 10 Feb 1849, Hexham, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Jun 1926, Summer Hill, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 77 years)  [natural]
    +4. Richard William "Dick" Watson,   b. 22 Jan 1852, Hexham, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Mar 1921, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 69 years)  [natural]
    +5. Samuel Nathan Watson,   b. 15 Mar 1854, Hexham, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Jan 1912, Hillgrove, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 57 years)  [natural]
     6. Sarah Ann Watson,   b. 7 May 1856, Hexham, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 18 Feb 1866, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 9 years)  [natural]
    +7. William Watson,   b. 8 Sep 1858, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Aug 1931, Emmaville, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 72 years)  [natural]
    +8. Mary Ann Lily Watson,   b. 21 Oct 1860, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Feb 1938, Charlestown, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 77 years)  [natural]
    +9. James Walter Watson,   b. 12 Mar 1863, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Dec 1914, Granville, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 51 years)  [natural]
     10. Eliza Goodwin Watson,   b. 28 Apr 1865, Rocky River, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 Oct 1902, Uralla, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 37 years)  [natural]
    +11. Sarah Ann Watson,   b. 1870, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1929, Charlestown, New South Wales, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 59 years)  [natural]
    Last Modified 21 Feb 2021 
    Family ID F220  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Direct Ancestor    		Direct Ancestor

  • Notes 
    • Richard Watson, who married Eliza Welham in Sydney in 1844, is my direct ancestor, verified by many DNA matches. But his origin has been a mystery for all of the 40 years that I have been researching. Until very recently I have always believed that he was almost certainly not the Richard Watson who was born in Van Diemen's Land in 1827 to Richard and Hannah Watson.

      I always hoped I was wrong about this because I loved Rachel Hoddy's story. But there has never been any evidence found to connect Richard to Richard and Hannah except for the coincidence of the birth date and the disappearance of the Tassie Richard from all subsequent records.
      A son, Richard Watson, was born to Richard Watson (3rd fleet convict)and Hannah Williams (daughter of 3rd and 2nd Fleet convicts Isaac andRachel (Hoddy) Willams) in Hobart on 28 Aug 1827. We have to date (27Dec 1996) found no record of this Richard's marriage or death inTasmania. Nor have we found any record of another Richard Watson,born in 1827, arriving in Australia from Liverpool as our Richard isreported to have done. It seems that the name combination RichardWatson was surprisingly unpopular in the early 1800s which has madethe search both frustrating and interesting. Any incident of the namecan be thoroughly investigated because of the rarity. For thepresent we will work on the assumption that the Tasmanian Richardtravelled to Sydney sometime prior to 1844 when he married ElizaWelham. It was a very common practice for both men and women to hidetheir convict ancestry and would be very understandable consideringthat Eliza's family came "free" as Bounty Immigrants. Until theabove discovery it was generally believed that Richard came out fromEngland with his parents when still a child, probably sometime around1838. Birth certificates of four of his children indicate that he wasborn in Liverpool in 1827. No profession was listed when hisdaughter Elizabeth was born in Sydney. At the time he and Eliza hadnot yet married and their address was listed as the Sydney BenevolentAsylum. By the time their second daughter was born the family wasresiding at Newcastle and Richard's profession was then listed as"stock keeper". When their sixth child was born they were living atRocky River. When his son, David Goodwin Watson was born in 1875,Richards was recorded as a Miner. We do know that Richard died atHillgrove on 21 Jun 1898. He was buried in the old cemetary at Urallatwo days later. His death certificate states he had spentapproximately 60 years in Australia. The Rev. WJ Hugill, Church ofEngland Minister, conducted the burial service with Witnesses EFrancis and George McCrossin present. His occupation was listed as"gold miner". (Research):Shirley Brierley reports that Richard'sheadstone cannot be found in Uralla cemetery.

      UPDATE July 2020 : I now have three DNA matches to people who connect to VDL Richard. Two are related to the Duckworth family - Ann Duckworth is VDL Richard's grandmother. The third match is to a son of Isaac Williams born prior to his transportation.

  • Sources 
    1. [S3] Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;).

    2. [S1] Australia, New South Wales, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages.

    3. [S2] Index of NSW Births 1788-1922, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, (Name: Registrar General of NSW; Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia;).

    4. [S9] Source, (Name: http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=18031271249&indiv=try;).
      Birth date: 1827Birth place: Hobart, Tasmania

    5. [S2] Index of NSW Births 1788-1922, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, (Name: Registrar General of NSW; Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia;).
      Birth date: 1827 Birth place: Hobart, Tasmania

    6. [S9] Source, (Name: http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=18031271249&indiv=try;).
      Death date: 1898Death place: Hillgrove, New South Wales

    7. [S1] Australia, New South Wales, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages.
      Death date: 1898 Death place: Hillgrove, New South Wales

    8. [S1] Australia, New South Wales, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages.
      Death date: 1898 Death place: Hillgrove, New South Wales

    9. [S2] Index of NSW Births 1788-1922, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, (Name: Registrar General of NSW; Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia;).
      Birth date: 1827 Birth place: Hobart, Tasmania

    10. [S5] Index of NSW Marriages 1788-1950, NSW Registrar General, (Name: Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages of NSW; Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia;).

    11. [S222] Citation Text: Marriage date: 1844Marriage place: Sydney, New SouthWales.

    12. [S1] Australia, New South Wales, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages.
      Marriage date: 1844 Marriage place: Sydney, New South Wales

    13. [S9] Source, (Name: http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=18031271249&indiv=try;).
      Marriage date: 1844Marriage place: Sydney, New South Wales

    14. [S1] Australia, New South Wales, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages.
      Marriage date: 1844 Marriage place: Sydney, New South Wales

    15. [S495] Dorrigo and Environment, Edwin Howell, (Name: The Don Dorrigo Gazette and Guy Fawkes Advocate; Location: New South Wales, Australia; Date: 2 Apr 1915;), Page 4. Downloaded from Trove 29 Aug 2020.
      Full transcript in PDF attachment

    16. [S30] Citation Text: Marriage date: 1813Marriage place: Hobart, Tasmania.

    17. [S9] Source, (Name: http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=18031271249&indiv=try;).
      Marriage date: 1813Marriage place: Hobart, Tasmania

    18. [S31] Details: Ref 133 Citation Text: WATSON Richard to WILLIAMS Hannah 4Oct 1813 Church: River Derwent, Hobart Town.

    19. [S1] Australia, New South Wales, Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages.
      Marriage date: 1944 Marriage place: Auburn, New South Wales


 

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