The William Webb Wagg Investigation

This page brings together all posts in an ongoing investigation into the origins and family connections of William Webb Wagg, my maternal 2× great-grandfather — an English-born man transported to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century who later settled in New South Wales, married Sarah Turner, and together they raised their family.

For many years, William’s early life and family in England were only partially understood. Through detailed documentary research — including parish registers, census records, naming patterns, chronology, and historical context — I have now identified and reconstructed his birth family in Norwich, England. The evidence demonstrates that he was one of several children born to William and Mary Ann (Clark) Wegg, with his siblings remaining in England while William’s life took a very different course following his transportation to Australia.

More recently, this work has expanded to include autosomal DNA evidence. DNA has not replaced the documentary record; rather, it has been used to independently test and strengthen the conclusions already reached. By examining shared DNA patterns across multiple independent descendant lines in both Australia and England, the investigation has confirmed that the genetic evidence behaves exactly as expected if William Webb Wagg were one of the children of William and Mary Ann (Clark) Wegg of Norwich.

The posts linked below document this investigation step by step, drawing on both documentary sources and autosomal DNA evidence. Together, they show how traditional records and genetic analysis can work in partnership — not as competing approaches, but as complementary forms of evidence — to establish and strengthen a well-supported family reconstruction.

🧬 A note for DNA matches

If you are a DNA match of mine at AncestryDNA, or if you descend from a Webb, Wagg, Wegg, Turner, or related Norwich family and have tested, I would very much like to hear from you.

Access to match lists — particularly shared-match information — allows patterns to be assessed across many independent lines and makes an enormous difference at the generational depth relevant to this case. Even relatively small shared DNA amounts can be highly informative when considered alongside other matches.

If you are willing to collaborate, please contact me via this blog or message me through AncestryDNA. I am always happy to explain what information is useful, how it would be used, and to answer any questions.

This investigation continues to grow as more evidence becomes available. Documentary discoveries and new DNA tests both have the potential to refine and strengthen our understanding of the Webb Wagg family story.

Above all, this investigation is about preserving William’s place in his family — ensuring that his story, once separated by oceans and circumstance, is securely reconnected to the generations who came before and after him.

Christine

January 2026

How to use this page

The posts below trace the investigation in sequence, integrating documentary research with autosomal DNA analysis to establish and confirm William’s birth family. Future work will also incorporate Y-DNA evidence to further explore and refine the paternal line. You may wish to read the posts in order to follow the full evidentiary journey, or explore individual topics depending on your particular interest.

Phase I – Documentary Foundations

Post 1 to 4 reconstruct William Webb Wagg’s early life and proposed birth family in Norwich using traditional historical sources.

Phase II – DNA Analysis and Confirmation

Post 5 integrates autosomal DNA evidence with the documentary reconstruction, examining whether shared-match patterns across multiple independent descendant lines behave as expected and confirm William’s placement within the Norwich Wegg family.

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Reuniting the families of James Judkins Gillett (1848 to 1925)

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James Judkins Gillett (JJG) married my great-grandaunt, Sarah Jane Webb Wagg, on 29 October 1883 at St Thomas Church of England, North Sydney.  Here's a record of their marriage- You can read the earlier blog on JJG and Sarah  HERE.   That was in July 2017 when my interest in family history was growing and I recorded- "James Judkins was born in about January 1848 in Islington, England.  He was the second child and older son of the six children of James Elvin Gillett and Frances Jane Judkins." James Judkins and his brother, Charles Elvin Gillett (abt 1857 to 11 June 1937), came to NSW in the early 1880s.  It's probable that Charles Elvin arrived in early 1883 as an assisted immigrant but it's not clear if James Judkins travelled with him.  It seems that the rest of the family remained in England.  In 1886, Charles Elvin married Alice Louisa Bowling (1859 to 1929) in Glebe and settled in Auburn." I mainly research my direct family...
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21 September 2018 - The centenary of the death of Sarah Webb Wagg (nee Turner)

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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)...
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A coincidence of Trickett's or more?

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Most days I review the "significant events" that have happened around that date on my ever growing family history data base!  Today was the day to take a closer look at Oliver William Trickett.... Oliver will be know to some of our cousins as he married Shirley Prince in 1955 in North Sydney.  Shirley was the daughter of Violet Manning Prince (nee Webb),  grand-daughter of Chris Webb and great-granddaughter of William Webb Wagg and his wife Sarah Turner.   Here's a pedigree chart for Shirley from my tree on ancestry.com.au. Sarah Webb (nee Turner's) sister, Jane, married John Trickett.  We know that the Webb Wagg and Trickett families were close.  Their children were baptised on the same day at St Thomas's North Sydney many times, Webb Waggs are informants on Trickett death registrations and vice versa and, as in this case, witnesses at marriages.  Here's the parish register from Christ Church Lavender Bay.  It records the wedding ...
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