Frances "Fanny" Jeans

1811 - 1882  (~ 70 years)

• Name	Frances "Fanny" Jeans  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  Born	Feb 1811	Cranbourne, Dorset, England
  Christened	18 Aug 1811	St Wolfrida, Horton, Dorset, England   [8]
  Gender	Female
  Residence	England   [1, 2]
  Died	17 Jan 1882	Hovells Creek, New South Wales, Australia   [9]
  Buried	19 Jan 1882	Bennett Springs, , New South Wales, Australia   [9]
  Person ID	I7819	So Many Generations
  Last Modified	21 Feb 2021

  
  

  Family	Benjamin Weeks,   b. Between Feb and Nov 1812, Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, England ,   d. 28 Feb 1885, Camden, New South Wales, Australia  (Age ~ 69 years)
  Married	17 Oct 1836	Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, England   [7]
  Children	1. Charles Jeans Weeks,   b. 4 Aug 1837, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 27 Jul 1911, Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 73 years)  [natural]   2. Mary Ellen Weeks,   b. Aft 9 Nov 1838, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 9 Nov 1906, Eglinton, New South Wales, Australia  (Age < 67 years)  [natural]   3. William J Weeks,   b. 28 May 1841, Cawdor, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 12 Nov 1916, Yass, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 75 years)  [natural]   4. George Weeks,   b. 21 Oct 1843, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 1924, Camden, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 80 years)  [natural]   5. John Weeks,   b. 25 Jan 1846, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 27 Jul 1927, Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 81 years)  [natural]   6. Henry Weeks,   b. 23 Sep 1847, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 8 Feb 1918, Yass, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 70 years)  [natural]   7. Eliza Weeks,   b. 27 Mar 1850, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 21 Oct 1937, Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 87 years)  [natural]   8. David Weeks,   b. 4 Jul 1851, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 10 Nov 1864, Camden, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 13 years)  [natural]   9. Maria Weeks,   b. 16 Jun 1853, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 15 Feb 1924, Gordon, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 70 years)  [natural]   10. Frances Elizabeth Weeks,   b. 19 May 1855, Camden, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 28 Dec 1856, Camden, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 1 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	21 Feb 2021
  Family ID	F2431	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Benjamin and Frances married just over a month before sailing forAustralia aboard "THE BROTHERS" arriving, in Sydney, 8 April 1837.They were selected as farm hands, together with brother John andsister Jane and her husband George Vincent, by the Rev. John West onbehalf of the Macarthur family to work on their properties here inAustralia. Also selected was an assumed cousin Richard Weeks who wentto Macarthur's Taralga property, about 150 miles south west of Sydney,while Benjamin, John and Jane went to "Camden Park" Camden which isonly 50 miles southwest of Sydney. Jane and George Vincent marriedthe same day as Benjamin and Frances. After their three yearcontracts at Camden were completed all three took up 21/25 yearleaseholds with the Macarthurs at Cawdor, which is seven miles southof Camden. This area was and still is known as "The Cowpastures".Benjamin is known to have done very well with his farm and they movedto the Burrowa area after his lease expired (1866/68). Although notcertain at this time, they probably first settled at Hovell's Creeksome 30 odd miles north of Burrowa. It could be that they never livedin the actual township of Burrowa. NOTE:- Burrowa was changed toBoorowa in 1914. This was due to a misspelling. Before settlement thetown was named "Boorowa" by Thomas Mitchell, a famous explorer, andnever was officially spelt "Burrowa" but somewhere during the earlydays someone locally misspelt it and when the Post Office was built itwas named, and sign posted, "Burrowa Post Office", whereas on all LandMaps and in official records it was Boorowa. When the railway wasextended to the town some confusion and apparently, bitter argumenttook place as to what spelling should be used on the Railway Station.The Post Office was ordered to change their spelling to "Boorowa" inDecember 1914 by the NSW Government. To avoid confusion in futureyears for this research all reference prior to 1914 will be spelt"Burrowa" and after 1914 "Boorowa". This will then coincide with allofficial local records at least. Benjamin died when he apparently fellfrom a window of the "Plough and Harrow" Hotel at Camden when on avisit there after 15/20 years absence. It was believed he fell asleepwhile sitting on a window sill on a hot night. February can be veryhot in Camden. He was alone at the time, Frances having been deadthree years. On Benjamin's death certificate his mother is listed as"Hannah formally Vicary". This is an error. See the notes for Diana(Hannah) for explanation. Frances was obviously well educated. Shesigned her marriage certificate, whereas Benjamin's signature was a"X". But a short time later, before sailing, Benjamin signed his fullname on the contract agreement to work for three years for theMacarthurs at "Camden Park". Frances obviously wasted no timeteaching Benjamin and on arrival in Sydney his record declares "Readand Write". Frances taught school to 21 children on the ship on theway out to Australia for which she was paid five pounds on arrival at"Camden Park". This is recorded by Alan Atkinson in his LiteraryAward winning book " Camden " page 40, chapter 3. It is also reportedby Captain Robert Towns, in his evidence to the New South WalesLegislative Council "Committee on Immigration" and later by EdwardMacarthur in an address to the British Parliament regarding "Emigration To New South Wales" in which he specifically referred tothe families from Dorset who sailed on "THE BROTHERS" detailing theircare and conditions, which included the setting up of a school for thechildren. It seems Frances was always earning extra money for thefamily as the years rolled on. She even took in washing while bearingand raising her young family at Camden as early as 1838. This is notedin the 1988 Commonwealth Government commissioned Bi-Centennialpublication " A Push To The Bush " on page 45 of the chapter titled"Master and Servant at Camden Park". Family handed down stories alsotell that she set up a school at Hovell's Creek for local children forsome time. Just where it was is not known because there was noofficial school ever built there. Unfortunately there does not seem tobe any other reference to Frances in any documents discovered so far.Her death certificate reads like a sad story. Her first born child,christened Charles Jeans Weeks, was the informant. The cause of deathis listed as "Natural causes" from which she had suffered for theprevious two years. ?????? Where the certificate asks "when last seenby a medical attendant" is the one word "Nil". In the column whereher parents should be listed are the names of Benjamin and Francesherself except that her maiden name is spelt James. This surely was anerror by the Registrar. Seeing that Charles' second given name was"Jeans" one would hardly think that he would not have known thecorrect maiden name of his mother. In the column asking the name andreligion of the Minister attending is also the one word "Nil". Nodoctor for at least two years; no Minister of Religion at all. Thereare at least three spellings for "Jeans" in the various indexes butthe spelling in the British Vital Index Records takes some beating.They spell it "Jannas" but no where else in any of their records isthere anyone in the whole of England named Jannas. Perhaps theoriginal record was hard to read that day. Benjamin & Frances had 74grandchildren. A notable feature of the descendants of Benjamin andFrances is the prominence of a high forehead right through to thepresent time.

  
  

• Sources

  [S572] England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906, Ancestry.com, (Name: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com OperationsInc, 2008.Original data - Genealogical Society of Utah. British IslesVital Records Index, 2nd Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: IntellectualReserve, copyright 2002. Used by permission.Original;), Place: Horton, Dorset, England; Collection: ; BTs; Date Range: 1811 -1844; Film Number: 1239201. [S571] England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906, Ancestry.com, (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data - Genealogical Society of Utah. British Isles Vital Records Index, 2nd Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, copyright 2002. Used by permission.Original da;), Place: Horton, Dorset, England; Collection: ; BTs; Date Range: 1811 - 1844; Film Number: 1239201. [S2268] Details: Pg. 4. [S2225] Dorset, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921, (Name: Ancestry.com. Dorset, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.;), Dorset History Centre; Dorset Parish Registers; Reference: PE/SIX: RE 1/1, 2/1-2, 3/1-3. [S2181] Dorset, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com. Dorset, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.,2011.;;), Dorset History Centre; Dorset Parish Registers; Reference: PE/SIX: RE1/1, 2/1-2, 3/1-3. [S2140] England, Select Dorset Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1999, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;). [S2237] Dorset, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011;), Dorset History Centre; Dorchester, England; Reference: PE/SIX: RE 1/1, 2/1-2, 3/1-3. Record for Frances Jeans [S2238] Details: Pg. 3. [S2239] Details: Pg. 11.