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A Question the Records Can't Answer

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A #52ancestors prompt -    most of the records we use in genealogy don’t tell us the “why” and “how” of our ancestors’ lives.  W e can read the records of what happened, but how did our ancestors feel? What was it like? What would you ask that ancestor? Well, this prompt was made  for my paternal great-grandfather, Gaspar Sigović!  So this post will be part genealogical record, part research and part interpretation on my part! Where did Gaspar come from?   The main document that I had at the start of my research was Gaspar's naturalisation certificate (more on that later), which listed him as Gaspar Sedgwick, a fireman, living in Newtown, inner-west Sydney, for 25 years since coming from Austria on the "Lady Belmore" in 1874. There is a fire station near 27 Australia St, Newtown, so I assumed he worked there, and came a yodelling from Austria like the Sound of Music! But my father and his Sedgwick relatives had discovered via his marriage certificate (more ...
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Third Fleet ancestor - Thomas Mansfield

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A couple of years ago, I posted that my first ancestor to arrive in Australia was Samuel Freeman, a convict on the Earl of Cornwallis, who arrived on 12 June 1801. However, more recent research has found that my 5th Great-Grandfather, Thomas Mansfield (also known as Thomas Mansell), was the first to arrive—on the "Matilda," part of the Third Fleet that transported convicts here. Stay tuned for the link to Samuel Freeman! Thomas Mansell was born around 1756 (based on his age of 72 on his burial certificate), around Surrey, England. He's my 5th great-grandfather on my father's side: Thomas Mansfield/Mansell (5th great-grandfather) Elizabeth Sandall (4th great-grandmother) Mary Anne Burn (great-great-great-grandmother) Thomas Freeman (great-great-grandfather) Susannah "Jane" Freeman (great-grandmother) Cora Parsons (paternal grandmother) Terry Sedgwick (father) Another Ancestry member has listed his parents as Robert and Mary Mansell, but I haven't found a...
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