The Webb Wagg Family in Australia

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...

Sarah Jane Wagg was second child of William and Sarah Wagg - named after her mother (Sarah) and her maternal aunt (Jane).  A transcript of Sarah's birth registration shows she was born on 11 July 1856 at Botany Road, Redfern - just over 6 months after the death of her brother, William George.  Her father, William Wagg, a drayman, aged 28 from the West of England is the informant.  Sarah Turner, aged 23 and born in Sydney is shown as Sarah Jane's mother.  The date and place of William and Sarah's marriage is recorded as 18 April 1853 at St James Church, Sydney.  The transcript also show the previous issue as "1 boy deceased". By the mid 1860s, the Wagg family has moved to the Blues Point area on the North Shore of Sydney Harbour. In 1883, Sarah Jane, aged 27, married James Judkins Gillett, aged 35.  The marriage is registered at St Leonards.  James Judkins was born in about January 1848 in Islington, England.  He was the second child and o...

In our last post, we saw the home where our matriarch, Sarah Wagg (nee Turner), died in 1918.  Dale, a granddaughter of William John Neely (1898 to 1947), recalls that 247 West Street, North Sydney was the address William used on his First World War discharge papers stating it was the home of his uncle (and Sarah's son), William John (Bill) Webb-Wagg (1873 to 1933). So Sarah was living with her son Bill, his wife Ethel (nee Swanson) and their six children - Les, Bill, Em, Christopher, Charlie and Ali - at the time of her death.   We've seen a number of precious documents that have passed through the family of Bill Webb-Wagg.  This adds to the story of how they survived for over 150 years! William Neely was the oldest of the four children of Arthur John Burns (Top) Neely and Minnie Daisy Webb Wagg (the youngest of William and Sarah's children).  Minnie died on 08 July 1911 and Top Neely was still living at the family home in Willoughby at the end of the First...

Leslie Hayden "Les" Gillett (1889 to 28 January 1943) I couldn't let Anzac Day pass without sharing this information which I've receive just hours ago. Les is a grandson of William and Sarah - his parents are James Gillett and Sarah Wagg. Les was awarded the Military Medal for his gallantry in leading a patrol on 29 August 1916 in France. A great niece of Les has kindly provided us with this extract from his memoir.  In this, Les  describes being buried in mud as a result of gunfire. He writes “I was with two others, one was buried up to the neck in mud, I was covered right up, but the other one dug us out. They both went back with shell shock, but I stayed on. I went back for my false teeth which I lost when I called out for help as the mud was coming over me. The Lieutenant said I couldn’t have any nerves". Extract from the memoir of Les Gillett We don' know if Les ever found his false teeth! Les's Enlistment Papers - Page ...