The Webb Wagg Family in Australia

William John Webb-Wagg (1873 to 1933) We're looking for cousins in this line who'd be prepared to take an AncestryDNA test?  If you're interested please contact me at chrisw9953@gmail.com. Many of the Webb-Wagg cousins have taken DNA tests that prove our genetic link back to William Webb-Wagg and Sarah Turner.  Linda, a descendant of their son, William, has taken an AncestryDNA test.  William married Ethel Swanson in 1895 in Sydney.  Linda's keen to work with other descendants of William and Ethel to see if genetic genealogy throws any light on Ethel's parents - Swan Swanson and Susan Kelly.   I t's been hard to locate Swan (or Sven) and Susan's families in Sweden and Ireland, respectively.  Swan possibly arrived in Sydney as a seaman in 1871, the year before his marriage to Susan.  But little more is know about either of them apart from their marriage on 8 January 1872 at St Patricks Church Hill, Sydney and the birth of their two daughters - E...

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 ...

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.

We've all asked where did "Webb Wagg" come from and why are there all the variations. Recently, I met a third cousin who is descended from William Webb-Wagg (1873 to 1974) - son of William and Sarah.  She had two documents that had come down through "the Williams" (as I now call them) which supports and answers many of our questions.  The mystery is not fully solved yet.... First, we have William Webb's discharge from the Gwalior (sic) on 4 March 1853. This was a ship that sailed around Australia and the Pacific in the 1850s. So we see that William was working under the name of Webb not Wagg. He continued to do so for all his working life being referred to as "old Billy Webb" I've read. Next, we have the original registration of the marriage between William Wagg and Sarah Turner at the Parish of St James, Sydney on 18 April 1853 - just six weeks later. You'll spot that one of the witnesses is Jane Turner, Sarah's sister, who went on to...

Yes, that’s the name of the boat in the photo -  Australian . Are you connected to any of the people onboard? This is a treasured family snapshot, and right there on the left is our patriarch,  William Webb Wagg  (6 Feb 1826 ro 8 Jan 1905). Known affectionately as  Bill Webb ,  Old Billy Webb  or simply  Grandpa Webb , he was 76 years old when this photo was taken. On the boat… …are his four sons who survived to adulthood — from left to right: Charles “Charlie” Albert Hayden “Hayden” William John “Bill” Christopher Henry “Chris” Also on the boat is one of Grandpa Webb’s grandsons,  William  (son of William John). On the pier… Left to right are three more of Grandpa Webb’s grandchildren: Hayden Albert  (son of Albert Hayden) Claude William  (son of Charles) Mabel Zoe Glencora “May”  (daughter of Christopher Henry) Joining them is  Halway  Harry Anderson , better known as  Harry . He married  Eva Theresa Clan...