The Clarence River Series

These publications are produced to help all those who have ancestry in the Clarence River District which included the area around Grafton, Ulmarra, Maclean, Lawrence, Tabulam, and before 1870 included Casino and Lismore. They also include references to items in the newspapers of people who lived elsewhere, but had connections to family on the Clarence River. Examples include deaths in North Queensland and marriages in New Zealand.

Clarence River Register No 1 – 1859-1869

An Index to Birth, Marriage & Deaths from the local newspaper the Clarence & Richmond Examiner. Pertinent details are included to help in identification of family.

Clarence River Register No 2 – 1870-1879

An Index to Birth, Marriage & Deaths from the local newspaper the Clarence & Richmond Examiner. Pertinent details are included to help in identification of family.

Clarence River Register No 3 – 1880-1889

An Index to Birth, Marriage & Deaths from the local newspaper the Clarence & Richmond Examiner. Pertinent details are included to help in identification of family.

Clarence River Register No 4 – 1890-1899

An Index to Birth, Marriage & Deaths from the local newspaper the Clarence & Richmond Examiner. Pertinent details are included to help in identification of family.

Clarence River Register No 5- 1900-1905

An Index to Births & Marriages from the local newspapers the Clarence & Richmond Examiner, The Argus, The Grip, and The Clarion. Pertinent details are included to help in identification of family.

Clarence River Register No 6- 1906-1910

An Index to Birth, Marriage & Deaths from the local newspaper the Clarence & Richmond Examiner. Pertinent details are included to help in identification of family.

River Register No 7- 1900-1905

Deaths and Burials in the Clarence River District taken from several sources such as newspapers, probate, undertakers records, church burial records and family papers.

Clarence River Register No 8- 1862-1869

Conditional Purchases of Land on the Clarence and Richmond Rivers.

Clarence River Register No 9- 1860 – 1865

Index of passengers and crew named on coastal shipping, in and out of the Clarence River.

Clarence River Register No 10- 1866- 1869

Index of passengers and crew named on coastal shipping, in and out of the Clarence River.

Shipping In & Out of the Clarence & Richmond Rivers- 1860-1869

This volume is a companion volume to Clarence River Registers No 9 & 10. However, this publication concentrates on the ships and voyages rather than the people on board.

European Settlement in the Clarence River District before 1850

This book is a detailed history of European settlement on the Clarence, Richmond, Tweed and Brunswick Rivers in northern New South Wales, prior to 1850. It begins with the discovery of the area, by sea and by land exploration, and then continues with the story of the cedar-getters; the ships and shipbuilders; the surveyors, the commissioners of crown land and their border police; the squatters and their stations; the early church ministers and priests that served in the area; the settlers such as inn keepers, storekeepers; trades people and government officers; and the hundreds of free immigrants and convicts that played their part in the story of settlement during this early period. It also deals with the tragic consequences of the clashes between the settlers and aborigines.

More than 2000 persons are specifically mentioned, and an attempt is made to document their origins, arrival details, initial settlement and occupational pursuits.

This publication has been enhanced by the inclusion of beautifully executed watercolours by a local artist. These were specially commissioned, and depicts scenes on the Clarence River in the time period.

History of the German Community in the Clarence  River District of New South Wales.

Between 1850 and 1870 approximately 200 German immigrant families settled in the Clarence Valley of New South Wales. Most of   them originated from the South Western States of Germany. Some of  these families did not stay in the Clarence River District for longer than a few years, but the majority of them settled permanently, and their descendants are still to be found in plentiful numbers living in and around the Clarence Valley.

This book documents the early history of this community of German Pioneers in Australia. It addresses the questions: Who were they? From where did they come? When did they arrive? Why did they come to the Clarence Valley? Who employed them? What contribution did they make, individually and collectively to the life of the Clarence river District towns and villages?

Part One of the book is devoted to the description and documentation of the role of the German Community in the daily life, commerce and society of a rapidly developing rural town and district.

Part two of the book focuses upon the genealogical aspects of the German immigrants, dealing with 195 families, documenting their origins, arrival details, settlement and occupational pursuits of each of the initial pioneers within this community, including foundational birth, death and marriage details relevant to each family.

The Eggins Family History

The first section of the book records the detailed research on the origins of the surname, Coat of Arms, and genealogical information of several Eggins families in Australia and England.

The book then traces the life and times of the Eggins family in Kent and East Sussex, including detailed accounts of the fortunes of  James and Jane Eggins (nee Playford) and their six children, spouses and their families- Caroline and William Kemp (nee Eggins); James and Eleanor eggins (nee Apps); William and Jane Eggins (nee Meppin); Thomas and Ann Eggins (nee Unicomb); Herbert and Caroline Eggins (nee Unicomb) and Walter and Mary Martin (nee Eggins).

Full details are given of the voyages to Australia, of those who emigrated, their settlement on the Hunter River and their later migration to the Manning and Clarence Rivers.

There is much information in this book of interest to those not actually descended from Eggins, but are closely associated, including the Playford, Unicomb, Packham, Gill and Apps families.

This book will also be of great interest to anyone who had ancestors on the 1838 voyage of the Amelia Thompson, as this is the first time so much detailed information has been collected and published on this voyage.

Anyone whose ancestors migrated from the Hunter to the Clarence River, via the Tablelands Rout in the early 1860's will find a well researched description of the route in this book.

The Descendants of Robin and Mercy Bell

This is the second book in a series of books on the Bell families of Kent, England which have been researched and written by Nola Mackey.

Robin and Mercy Bell emigrated from East Farleigh, Kent on board the Woodbridge in 1838, with their children Robert, John, Thomas, James, Jethro, Charlotte and granddaughter Rebecca. Their daughter Elizabeth followed later.

Elizabeth m George wood; Robert m Mary Allsop; John m Harriet Terry; Thomas m Margaret frazer; James m Rachel Dawson; Jethro m Priscilla Barwick; charlotte m William Palmer and Rebecca m John Ashford. Over 8000 descendants recorded over eight generations.

Index of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Sydney Newspapers 1830-1840

This series will be of great interest to a large number of researchers, as some births and deaths are not recorded in any other sources such as church registers, coroner's inquest records nor Colonial Secretary Papers. The surviving issues of the following newspapers have been used in these indexes; Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser; The Sydney Herald; The Sydney Monitor; The Australian; The Colonist; The Sydney Times; The Australian Chronicle and The Sydney Standard and Colonial Advocate.

This series covers the period 1830-1840. The first two volumes cover three years of papers, the third volume two years, while the last three are yearly volumes. Each volume is in four sections. The first three cover the Birth, Death and Marriage Notices in each paper and the fourth section records deaths from the news columns and includes reports of death, inquests, funeral notices etc.

Volume 1: 1830-1832

Volume 2: 1833-1835

Volume 3: 1836-1837

Volume 4: 1838

Volume 5: 1839

Volume 6: 1840

Index of Passengers and Crew In and Out of Sydney

There are six volumes in the series of indexes for the 1830-1840 period, which have been compiled from the shipping and news columns of at least two and often as many as four Sydney newspapers. The entries are compared for the most informative. If the spelling of the surname does not agree in the sources, all spellings of the surname are included. The newspapers used are the Aydney Gazette, The Australian, The Herald, and The Monitor.

Incoming passengers- Although shipping passenger lists have survived for incoming passengers into Sydney, for this period, and can be consulted at the State Records of New South Wales, they are thought to be incomplete. Many names can be found on these indexes which do not appear on the State Records lists.

Outgoing passengers- There are no outgoing passenger lists at the State Records office for this period. This the first known index to fill this important gap.

Incoming Crew- Although there is at the State Records, an unpublished card index for ship's captains arriving in Sydney in this period, there are no lists for crew. All mention of members of any ship's crew through newspaper items such as wrecks, inquests, death reports and court cases are listed in these indexes.

Outgoing Crew- This is the only known list for ship's captains and crew leaving Sydney at this time. Again these lists have been compiled from all sections of the newspapers.

The indexes are set out to include-Surname, Christian name or initial; Title; Ship; Date of Arrival in Sydney; Date of departure from original port and other ports of call; Date of departure from Sydney and destination port; ship's status of person named; remarks and notes as well as full references.

A seventh volume for 1841 has been produced to fill a gap in the records and to meet up with the privately produced indexes by Pastkeys for 1842+.

Volume 1: 1830-1832

Volume 2: 1833-1835

Volume 3: 1836-1837

Volume 4: 1838

Volume 5: 1839

Volume 6: 1840

Volume 7: 1841

Free Passengers and Crew on Convict Ships into Sydney 1830-1840

Produced in two parts- Part 1- More than 3300 entries arranged alphabetically by name with full details of ship, date of arrival, and all details noted in the records, such as age, occupation etc.

Part 2- organized alphabetically by ship giving all details of passengers and crew on board, extracted from surviving records.

These entries were extracted from several sources, most of which have never been indexed or published before, such as Journals of Surgeon Superintendents of Convict Ships' Muster and Other Papers relating to Convict Ships; Crew Lists, Convict Indents and Shipping columns in Sydney newspapers etc.

In the introduction there is a useful table listing all the convict ships which arrived in Sydney during this period arranged chronologically, giving Master, Surgeon Superintendent and numbers of convicts, free passengers, military regiments and families on board.

Convicts assignment, Absconding, and Apprehended in NSW.

In many instances convict ancestors are the best documented persons in colonial records. However most of us have convict ancestors whom we have great difficulty finding any mention of them other than their  entry into NSW or their possible marriage. In fact we have difficulty in even identifying the convicts themselves, because there were several convicts of the same name, and there are even instances of convicts of the same name, on the same ship. In fact, for most convicts it really is difficult to find any information about their day to day life.

These indexes are the first in a series to assist in tracing the Colonial life of a convict ancestor between 1830-1840. It is also the first attempt to bring together a variety of surviving records into one series to help researchers to identify possible avenues for further research.

It should be remembered that the government soon realized that with several convicts of the same name that they had to find a better way of identifying a convict other than 'name' and 'ship'. Firstly they added a physical description. By this period there were many thousands of convicts whom the government was still responsible so even a fuller method was needed for identification. This included a number, made up of the year and running number- eg 32-505 would show 1832 as the year of arrival and he/she was the 506^th convict arriving in the colony in that year. Then aliases including married names appeared in the details as well as occupation, native place, sentence and any distinguishing features such as scars and tattoos. These full descriptions are given in the Absconding Indexes so that researchers may more readily identify the convict.

Convict Assignment: On arrival the convict was assigned to private service or government service. It may have been necessary to re-assign if their 'master' did not collect they or they absconded or were not suitable in a particular service. These indexes are compiled from the Sydney newspapers and include official government lists as well as court cases and other incidental items in the newspapers. They are supplemented by surviving records at the State Records Office of NSW and sections of the Government Gazette.

Convicts Absconding- Not all, but many convicts absconded for a variety of reasons, and this publication lists these, with not only full details of names, but includes aliases, which are also cross referenced. This is particularly helpful to identify the convict correctly, especially when there were several convicts of the same name. Again the indexes are compiled from Sydney newspapers but are supplemented by surviving records at the State Records Office of NSW where necessary.

Convicts Apprehended- Again these lists are compiled from the newspapers and surviving government records, but include where possible a cross reference back to the absconding. This aids in calculating how long the convict has been 'at large' before being apprehended.