The Webb Wagg Family in Australia

Albert Hayden Webb Wagg was the ninth child of William (Bill) and Sarah Wagg.  He was know as Hayden and is my maternal great-grandfather. It's taken me a long while to get to Bill and Sarah's ninth child.  It's over two years since I wrote about Chris Webb , their seventh child.  Alice was Bill and Sarah's eight child.  She was born on 30 March 1869 and died 3 months later on 30 June 1869.  A year later, on 1 July 1870, along came Hayden.  He was born at the family's home in Blues Point.  Sarah's sister Jane Trickett (nee Turner) was present at the birth. Only three of Bill and Sarah's children were still living when Hayden was born - Sarah Jane (11 days short of the 14th birthday), Charlie (8 years and 7 days) and Chris (3 years and 9 months).  William George died in 1855 aged 18 months.  Mary Ann died in 1861 one day short of her third birthday.  Adelaide died in 1861 at 8 months.  William John in 1868 at 3 years and 9 months...

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)...

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...

On 21 September 1918, our many times great-grandmother and great-aunt, Sarah Wagg (nee Turner) died at the home of her son, William, at 247 West Street Cammeray.  Sarah was 85 years of age and William, her husband, has died 13 years earlier. Sarah and William had 11 children- 5 had died as infants or children - William George, Mary Ann, Adelaide, William John and Alice, Sarah and William predeceased their other children but Sarah Jane Gillett (nee Wagg), their oldest adult child,  died one year and one week after her mother!  Sarah was buried with William at Gore Hill Cemetery.  I recently visited and have to report that it's in fine condition! In the New Year, we'll let you know about the arrangements we are making to celebrate the lives of William and Sarah around the centenary of Sarah's death....stay tuned!

Sarah's death notice shows that she died on 21 September 1918 at "her residence, 247 West-street, North Sydney".  After lunch at a cafe in West Street, I decided to track down Sarah's home - only to find that I've driven past it hundred of time without knowing.  I don't know if any other members of the family were living in the home at the time....maybe you do! Here it is on the north eastern corner of West and Amhurst Streets, Cammeray.  How many times have I taken the Cammeray exit heading east on the Warringah Freeway and driven along Amhurst Street right next to it!  I'll think of Sarah and the Webb Waggs from now on..........

Today seemed like a appropriate time to focus on George Turner, the father of Sarah and Jane as it's highly likely that George died on 16 May 1847 - 170 years ago today! Our cousin, Leonie, has led the "The Webb Wagg Family" research into George and his wife Mary Ann Hand with many hour spent pouring over microfiche at the NSW State Archives and the Society of Australian Genealogists.  What's written here is a mixture of fact and informed speculation! We are confident that George Turner, our many times great-grandfather, was born in about 1805 in York, England to William and Sarah Turner. We have fragments of George's indenture paper that have been handed down through "The Williams" and provided by George's 3X great-granddaughter, Linda. Fragment of George Turner's Indenture Paper Understandably, this document is fragile at it's almost 200 years old!  George's indenture commenced on 3 September 1818 when George was abo...

I've previously written about our search for the birth family of our patriarch, William Webb Wagg.  As we approach Mother's Day, it's timely to look at the birth family of our matriarch, Sarah Turner. The first clue is in the 1853 marriage registration of William Wagg and Sarah Turner at St James, Sydney.  We see the witnesses named as George Fairfield of Sussex Street and Jane Turner of George Street. Sarah's 1918 death registration records the names of her parents as George Turner (a shipwright) and Sarah.  The witnesses to the death registration are Sarah's sons, William Webb Wagg and Charles Webb Wagg.  They record Sarah's age as 86 - birth around 1832 in Sydney. As Sarah's birth was so early in the colonies history, there are no birth registrations.  However, we've found a baptism transcript for Sarah Turner at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.  It records that Sarah was born on 21 October 1932 and baptised on 09 December 1832.  Her father...

On this day 164 years ago, a 27 year old William Wagg married a 20 year old Sarah Turner at Saint James King Street Sydney.  So this is very much the start of our Webb Wagg story! No photos of the wedding but we do have two precious momentos - the marriage registration and the photo of William and Sarah taken in about 1903. 1853 Marriage registration of William Wagg and Sarah Turner William and Sarah Webb Wagg circa 1903 I've located a drawing of St James from around 1842 along with the banner from the Sydney Morning Herald on 18 April 1853.   William and Sarah were married for 51 years until William's death on 08 January 1905. They had 11 children with 5 dying as infants or children. I've attached the details of the children again. I'll be having a toast to William and Sarah today......

William John Webb-Wagg This is a photo of William John "Bill" Webb-Wagg son of William and Sarah. On Australia , Bill is in the centre of the boat with his son Bill next to him.   This was the third son that William and Sarah Webb Wagg called William.   Their  first child was named William George - William being a strong family name in the Wagg family and George being the name of Sarah's father. William George was born on 17 May 1854 and died on 31 Dec 1855.  He is buried at Camperdown Cemetery.  The first William John was William and Sarah's sixth child. He was born on 23 Jul 1864 and died in 1868.  The tenth of William and Sarah's eleven children, another William John, was born on 19 Jan 1873 in Blues Point and died on 03 May 1933 at 51 Belgrade Street Neutral Bay. Bill worked for Sydney Ferries for 45 years and was an accomplished sailor. William married Ethel Adeline Swanson in 1895.  Ethel was born in 1874 and died in May 1924. ...

William Webb Wagg (Bill Webb) arrived in Australia about 1845 from Norfolk, England at about 19 years of age.  Sarah Turner was born in Sydney about 1832.  William and Sarah married in 1853 at St James Church of England in Sydney. They had 11 children - 3 Williams (2 died as infants), Sarah Jane, Mary Ann (died as an infant), Adelaide (died as an infant), Charles, Christopher, Alice (died as an infant), Albert and Minnie. William died on 8 Jan 1905 and was living at 34 Blues Point Road, North Sydney at the time. Sarah died on 21 Sep 1918 and was living at 247 West Street, North Sydney at the time.  Are you a descendant of William and Sarah?  Then why not follow the blog to share information and find out more about William and Sarah and their family. This photo was amongst the treasured possessions of Claudia Snell, a great granddaughter of William and Sarah.