Beautiful Shores

  Great grandfather - Benjamin John Elford Harris, was born in 1878 at Kapunda, South Australia, and died in 1908 at Broken Hill, NSW. DNA analysis was undertaken to  evaluate whether he was the biological father of John Leslie Harris, who was born on 10th June 1901 at Kapunda. Benjamin was married to Annie Sexton at the St Rose of Lima Catholic Church at Kapunda i n December 1900. The couple had no other children together, and were living in different areas at the time of Benjamin's death. The question arose because children and grandchildren of John have done DNA tests, and no Harris family matches are apparent in their match lists. A presentation was made to the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney NSW in February 2021.  The recording was provided by the Society and I uploaded it to my YouTube channel. The presentation was aimed at a level of understanding for people who have an interest in family research, but who might be unfamiliar with DNA testing. It provi...

Most helpful to my research on the Smawfield family has been a book found during a Google search, called  "Rifted Clouds, or The Life Story of Bella Cooke."     Bella was the author, and the book was first published in 1885 in New York. Bella Cooke was the daughter of John Beeton and Elizabeth Smawfield, and she was the niece of my 5th great-grandmother, Ann Smawfield. Bella Beeton was born on 13 July 1821 in Hull in Yorkshire, and was baptised in the Holy Trinity Church in Waltham Street on 11 October 1821.  It  was a Methodist Church, and her devotion to the faith was evident throughout Bella's life. Bella married Joseph Cooke in Sheffield in Yorkshire on 7 October 1840, and they emigrated to New York in 1847 with their 3 daughters.  Her husband died in 1849 and her sisters and friends stepped in to provide for Bella and her small children.  Bella then began an active ministry, soliciting funds on behalf of the poor, as well as visiting them to ...

The Raven family - Part 2 - Mrs. Ann Good. My 3rd great-grandfather, Richard Raven was born in about 1833 in an area of Sheffield called Ecclesall Bierlow.   The earliest record that I have for Richard Raven is his marriage certificate, which was included in my previous post about this family.  (see  The Elusive Raven Family  ) The wedding took place on 25th December 1856, and Richard stated that his father's name was Robert Raven, a bricklayer.  Searches have failed to find any trace of Robert Raven in the area, or  a birth or baptism record for Richard Raven.  A Census record from 1841 includes a child aged 8 named Richard Raven, who could possibly be "my" Richard Raven.   The Census record has an address as Whitelock Court on Russel Street, North Sheffield. The residents on the night of 6th June 1841 were Richard Good, aged 50, a tailor born in Ireland ; Ann Good, 50, born in Yorkshire ; and Richard Raven, 8, also born in Yorkshire....

  My great - grandparents, Evelyn Ernest and Mabel Kemp Raven were the last of my ancestors to come from over the seas to settle on Australian shores, when they arrived in Perth on 5th August 1913. They married in Sheffield in Yorkshire on 1st July 1913 and departed from London on the "Orsova" three days later. My father, Noel Cavanagh, was their first grandchild, and had very fond memories of his grandparents. Mabel & Evelyn Ernest  RAVEN, daughter Elsie between them, grandchildren Noel (standing) and baby Shirley CAVANAGH. 1936 My grandmother, Doreen, was the eldest child of Evelyn and Mabel. Grandma had treasured family photos which included images of people from the Sheffield families, with no identifying details for most of them. Grandma shared the limited information that she knew about her father's family. She did have Evelyn and Mabel's marriage certificate, and Evelyn's father Richard's will, and a couple of letters from him.  Grandma also knew th...

Rod Cavanagh and Mick Ronan      2021 An unexpected connection.  This is my brother Rod, and his  workmate, Mick Ronan. Rod and Mick first met over 10 years ago, while working in the mining industry in Western Australia. Not long ago, they had a discussion about family backgrounds, after I had shared some of my f amily history discoveries with Rod. There were some overlaps, as Mick had a surname that was in our family tree, and was from South Australia where our grandfather was born.  The result - Rod and Mick discovered that they are ...               4th cousins once removed. The relationship chart explains the connection. Patrick Ronan is Mick's great-great grandfather. Patrick Ronan's sister, Catherine Ronan, is our 3rd great grandmother                                                     ...

  Way back in May 1994- I spent 4 days driving around Ireland.  A day in the town of Ballymote was included, based upon a clue as to the origins of my 3 rd  great grandfather, Thomas Cavanagh. Thomas was tried at Sligo in March 1821 under the name of "Thomas Kaveny", and sentenced to 7 years for the crime of “house robbery.” He was a native of Sligo, his calling was a reaper, and he was described as aged 25, 5’ 6” tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fair and freckled complexion.  Thomas arrived in Sydney on the 15 March 1822, on the ship “Southworth”. Just prior to a planned visit to the UK, a distant cousin had told me in a brief phone conversation that she had found a request for Thomas to have his wife Mary, who was from a place called Emlaghfad, to be sent to join him in Australia.   Emlaghfad and Kilmorgan was a Roman Catholic parish in Sligo, and the parish has been re-named as Ballymote since my visit there.  Ballymote is an ancient market to...

This blog was created in October 2021 with the assistance and encouragement of the Society of Australia Genealogist (SAG) "Blogger for DNA Enthusiasts" group. Creating short stories and research summaries will allow me to gather data and material collected during family research into a format suitable for sharing with close and more distant family members. Included will be references to analysis of DNA test results with consideration given to genetic genealogy standards and protocols. Refer to the "about me" page for details.