The Webb Wagg Family in Australia

Today marks 100 years since our many times great-grandmother and great-aunt, Sarah, died at the home of her son, William - 247 West Street Cammeray. Sarah was born on 21 October 1832 in Sydney - the daughter of George Turner (a carpenter from York, England) and Mary Hand (a convict from Atholone, Ireland).  George and May had another daughter, Jane, but it's possible that there were more children - the search continues! You can read last year's post about Sarah here. Sarah married William Wagg (a seaman and convict from Norfolk, England) on 18 August 1853 at St James Church of England in Sydney.  They settled on the lower North Shore of Sydney and raised their large family. Here's the last photo that we have of Sarah with her extended family.  She's clearly visible as are some of her sons and their wives.  I doubt we'll ever identify everyone or know the reason for the gathering. Listening to my great-grandmother, Josephine Webb-Wagg (nee Clancy)...

You've probably heard how DNA was used to apprehend the alleged Golden State Killer. Knowing that I use genetic genealogy in my family history research, friends and family have spoken to me about how this unfolded. Upfront, I should say that the Police didn't use one of the commercial testing companies like AncestryDNA. They used  GEDmatch.com  which allows people to upload their DNA data from the commercial testing companies to a common platform. Roberta Estes, a US based gene tic genealogist, has published a very detailed article today that some may be interested in reading. Roberta makes the point that there's been little coverage of the same process being followed to identify a murder victim just 13 days earlier. The victim, known as the Buckskin Girl, was found in 1981 and identified as 21 year old Marcia Lenore King earlier in the month. At the end of the article, Roberta details why she's keeping her DNA online. Mine's staying online as well. Plea...

John Joseph Webb-Wagg, 5th child of Josephine and Hayden, was born on 5 November 1911 in Mosman NSW.   Jack married Anna Geraldine McVean in 1950 in Mosman.  Jack died on 28  November 2005 in Mosman. Last your, his daughter, Leonie, shared some of Jack's cherished memories from his time in the Second World War - Jack's  award which was always displayed in his family home and a page from his scrap book along with a collage of photos.

A few days ago, I was listening to "Conversations with Richard Fidler" on Local ABC radio and I was back with our family!  Richard's interview with John Durroch was "The Story of Sydney's ferries".   Press this link to hear the episode. The conversation about early ferry travel in Sydney was fascinating.  Two of the sons of William and Sarah Webb Wagg worked for Sydney Ferries, Charles (1862 to 1932) and William John (1873 to 1933).   Captain Charles Webb-Wagg Photo kindly shared by Therese, his great-granddaughter Charles was the fifth child of William and Sarah.   Charles worked for Sydney Ferries all his working life ending his career around the age of 70 as a master of the vehicular ferry service between Dawes Port and Blue's Point.  The service was discontinued when the Harbour Bridge opened in 1932.     Press this link to read the earlier post about Charles and his family. Captain Charles Webb-Wagg's Sydney Ferry hat pin ...

For many of the Webb Wagg "cousins", every 19 March brings special thoughts back to us of our cherished "Ma Webb" for she was born on St Joseph's Day in 1878 - 140 years ago today.  Ma was named Josephine, of course, because she came from a family with a strong Irish background.  I'm sure she would have been called Patricia of she was born two days earlier! To recap an earlier blog.... We were so fortunate to have Ma with us until her death on Anzac Day 1974, aged 96.  Ma was very proud of her Irish Catholic heritage but both of her parents were born in Australia.   John Clancy, her father, was born on 24 January 1845 at Camden - the fifth of the ten children of John Clancy (1811 to 1858) and Mary Casey (1814 to 1905).  John and Mary married on 29 December 1836 in County Cork, Ireland and arrived in Australia on 16 October 1838. John Clancy Catherine Mary Teresa (Kate) Flaven, her mother, was born on 28 September 1846 at Princes Street, The ...

A  Facebook comment from one of the "Webb Wagg cousins" about the involvement of Chris Webb in the family of his youngest sister, Minnie, underlies my view that all the children of Bill and Sarah Wagg were very close and supportive. We just have to look at the three generation in this photo! Then we have the photo another "Webb Wagg cousins" shared with us of the Webb Wagg family gathering in the late 1910s. I've spent a long time looking at this photo with a magnifying glass since Therese lent it to me. You can clearly see Sarah Wag g in the front row. In the middle of the second row looking away from the camera is Chris and Nellie Webb with Hayden and Josephine Webb Wagg to their right. I'm sure that there are many Tricketts in the photos. You'll recall that Sarah's sister Jane Turner, married John Trickett. Here's the 1906 marriage certificate of Edward George Thickett (Jane and John's oldest son) to Bina (Sabina) McManus at...

We all know him as "Chris Webb" but Henry Christopher Wagg was born on 17 October 1866 at Blues Point, NSW.  While all the Webb Wagg and Trickett boys were great sailors, Chris was the greatest of them all! Thank you to "Arncliffejack" who s hared this on ancestry.com.au on  12 September 2015 Some details of Chris's family life will be followed by the words on his life and sailing achievements from  The Australian Dictionary of Biography. In 1892, Chris married Ellen Eliza (Nellie) Rogers at Redfern.  Nellie was born on 19 November 1873 in Redfern.  Her mother was Annie Eliza Rogers.  Her birth registration doesn't record the name of her father (NSW 5106/1873).  Thank you to "James Andrew Hudd"who shared this on ancestry.com.au on 04 June 2015 Chris and Nellie had 3 daughters- Violet Manning (Vi) was born in 1893 in Sydney and died on 31 January 1978 in Nort...