The Mystery of the 'de Pallier' Family - Part 1

First of all, the main mystery is that we are having trouble finding the specific location of this family. There are many stories, assumptions and guesses over it for years. The main assumption is that the family comes from France, - to be specific - Lisieaux, Basse-Normandy.

'de Pallier' Family

Let's start with working backwards from my great grandmother to the earliest known de Pallier ancestor.

1. Alma Ethel Pallier (1895, Narrabri NSW - 1972, Gosford NSW)
m. Percy Thomas Woods (1891, West Maitland NSW - 1949, Gladesville NSW) 

6 children (5 boys and a girl - all deceased as of 2013)

2. Charles Edwin Pallier (1857, Marulan NSW - 1930, Blacktown NSW) 

m. Hannah Long (1854, West Maitland NSW - 1944, Auburn NSW)

7 children (3 boys and 4 girls)

     3. Joseph John Pallier (1823, London UK - 1893, Campbelltown NSW)

     m. Sophia Rouse (1822, London UK - 1883, Sydney NSW Australia)

     5 children (3 boys and 2 girls)

          4. John Joseph/Jewell Pallier (1799, ? - 1870, Narellan NSW Australia) 

          m. Eleanor Willocks (1796, Gibraltar - 1860, Narellan NSW Australia)

          5 children (2 boys and 3 girls)

                5. Jean Joseph Pallier (1770, Lisieaux, Normandy France - 1813, Middlesex England)

               m. Margaret Watson (c. 1770, England? - c. 1813, England?)

               one son so far

                       6. ? Jean Joseph Pallier (c. 1747, France - ?)

                       m. ? Martha Wright (c. 1750, England - ?)

                       2 children (1 boy and 1 girl?)

John Joseph Pallier (and his father Jean Joseph Pallier - in Part 2)

Those two men proven to be quite a challenge to trace and nothing is straightforward about them, apart from their families.

John Joseph Pallier (1799-1870)

John was baptised on 11 November 1813 at St Marylebone Church, Westminster, with his parents listed as John Joseph Pallier (deceased) and Margaret. There is a column that is hard to read but it is possible it stated his birth date as 1st July 1799. 

The Old Bailey Prison Registers had revealed that John was born in St. James (Westminster).

Why there is a gap between his birth and baptism is not known, but as his father was deceased, it is possible that his mother Margaret felt he needed to be baptised elsewhere at the age of 13. Margaret herself was also baptised there too on the same day. 

Another thing that should be considered - he could be born elsewhere, especially in France, so he was baptised to have the record of his existence in England? 

When John was 21 years old, he married Eleanor Willocks (also spelt as Wallox/Wallacks/Wallocks) at St Anne's (Soho), Dean Street Westminster on 27 March 1821. He was identified as a bachelor and Eleanor as a Spinster, of the same parish (of the church). They were married by Banns at the church, with the witnesses as John Taylor and Ann Walloack. Both groom and bride signed their names. 

A note aside, the Pallot's Marriage Index for England (1780-1837) had the marriage record index as:

Palleir, Jno. Jos.   =   Wallocks, Eleanor.     St. Anne, Soho 1821.

 Their first child, Joseph J (spelt as either Jean or Jewell - needs to be verified), was born on 3 January 1822 and he was baptised on 9th November a year later at St Marylebone, Westminster - the same church John was baptised in. Their surname was spelt as 'Palleir', that John Joseph's occupation was as a mechanic (of what is not known), and their abode was in St. Marylebone parish.

The reason for a delay in baptism of Joseph J was the birth if his brother Robert on 1 September 1823. They were both baptised together on the same day.

So by the time of his sons' births, he was working as a mechanic and living at the parish of St. Marylebone.

Then comes the births of his daughters Eleanor (7 August 1825 in the parish of St Marylebone) and Eliza  (1 April 1827 in the parish of St Marylebone too). Both were baptised on 21 August 1837 at St Marylebone, Westminster, along with their other sister named Mary Ann (born on 2 January 1829). Interestedly, the surname was spelt as Pallier and their mother as Ellen. Their abode was listed at Frederick Street, Portland Town, and that John's trade as a Glazier.

On 25 May 1827, John was arrested for stealing two shawls (worth at 25 shillings) and 3 handkerchiefs (worth at 5 shillings) from a Mr. Michael Webster's shop at The Quadrant, Regent Street near the corner of Air Street. Apparently Mr. Webster dealt in baby linen and John's 4th child, Eliza was born just a month before this arrest. How would his wife, Eleanor, coped with four kids aged between 5 years old and 1 month old.

John was aged 27 and pleaded his innocent stating that he had no reason to steal as he was in constant employment during the trial on 13 May 1827. His verdict was guilty and sentenced to be confined for 6 months. His first few days were spent at Newgate Prison before being moved to the House of Correction a month later. He was released from the Newgate Prison by November 1827, having served his 6 months sentence. He was described as  5 feet 9 inches tall with a shallow complexion, brown hair and grey eyes, and was stoutish. He was listed as being born in St. James's and was a printer.

However this deterrent didn't last long for John, as he was charged with break and enter on 6 April 1829 (only 4 months after the birth of his last child Mary Ann). However this time, John was using alias as 'James Johnson', and that he was claimed to be in a group with other 2 men (James Bird and Henry Brown).

He stood the trial on 24 August 1829 at the Summer Assizes of the Home and South Eastern Circuits "holden at Croydon, Surrey". The men were charged as guilty of 'housebreaking and larceny', and were sentenced "to be severely hanged by the neck until they be dead".

Fortunately, John/James was listed for a change in the sentence to be transported to New South Wales or Van Dieman's Land a month later. After this, John/James was among the prisoners moved into the prison hulk "Retribution", awaiting for their transportation out of England for their sentences.

Finally on 11 February 1830, John/James was removed from the prison hulk "Retribution" onto the ship "Marquis of Huntley" (3), along with 99 male convicts. The trip took them to Sydney Cove and arrived on 21 August 1830. He was mustered on the ship before being assigned to a master to serve his sentence.

According to the record of the Muster, John/James was aged 30 years, married with 4 children (1 male and 3 females), had a trade as a house painter and that he came from London. His sentence was life and that he had a previous conviction (6 months). Apparently John/James could read and write and his religion was identified as Protestant.

His looks were described as dark ruddy complexion with dark brown hair and grey eyes, standing at 5 feet 7 inches tall. He had a small dent in the centre of his forehead.

He was assigned to a Mr. Thomas V Bloomfield at Maitland region. Mr. T.V. Bloomfield was a free settler with a farm called "Dagworth" in the Hunter Valley and had a wife named Christine Jane. Mr. Bloomfield appeared to be a fair and compassionate master, being well respected and influential colonialist in the area.

After worked for Mr. Bloomfield for three years, John/James sent a petition to have his family reunited to him in New South Wales at the expense of the government. In the petition, he spelt his wife's surname as 'Willex' and that they were living at No. 13 Turnbridge Street, Somers Town in the parish of St. Pancras of Middlesex. His children were listed as Joseph aged 11, Eleanor aged 8, Eliza 6, and Mary Ann 4. Mr. George Barlow of George St, Portman Square, Councillor Barry of Henriette St, Brunswick Square and Mr. William Gilbie of Fitzroy Square were the 'respectable persons known to the Petitioner's family'.

At the bottom of this petition, Mr. T.V. Bloomfield added his comments that John/James was under his service since the month of September 1830 and that his "conduct has been such that I respectfully recommend his petition to be given favourable consideration of His Excellency the Governor." He was also confident that John/James was able and willing to support his family on his own.

The petition was sent about 8 months later, however there were some mix-up with the paperworks at the offices of Governor Bourke and the offices in England which resulted the petition being rejected.

In the muster of 1837, John/James was still working for Mr. T.V. Bloomfield, however the location had changed from Maitland to the district of Liverpool.

Four years after the last petition, John/James asked again for the permission to bring his family out at the expense of the government. In this petition, he had his family as: Eleanor Willicks of No. 7 Frederick Street, Portland Terrace, Regents Park, Marylebone; Joseph, aged 15 (born on 3 February 1827 [sic]); Eleanor, 12 (7 August 1837 [sic]); Eliza, 10 (1 April 1837 [sic]); Mary Ann, 8 (9 January 1837 [sic]).

It was during this time that his girls were baptised, possibly in readiness for the relocation to the Colony as the process of the Assisted Passage required a certified copy of birth certificates as proof of identity.

However, the last petition did not succeed so John/James wrote another formal submission a year later asking for his wife Helena Willicks and their children Joseph (15), Eleanor (12), Eliza (10) and Mary Ann Pallier (8) to be reunited to him in the Colony. Their address was as same as previous. The references were Mr. & Mrs. Manning of Clapham R... (sp?) and Mr. Barlow of George St., Portman Square.

It was not till 1838 before John/James received a Ticket of Leave, based on the recommendation of the Liverpool Bench of Magistrates. The condition stated that he has to remain in the district of Liverpool.

Finally the permission was granted for John/James' family to be brought out at the expense of the government. It seems that the previous petitions were rejected due to the lack of Ticket of Leave for John/James.

By 1852, John was living at Narellan, a freehold residence which is in the districts of the Camden and Narellan police.

It is not known when his family arrived in Australia - the estimated years would be between 1839 and 1841.

The census returns for England and Wales have revealed that Joseph, John's son, was left behind when his wife and girls migrated. The possible reason was his age as he was already 18 when this census was taken. Joseph was staying with his Alegs and Rebecca Nicholl, along with Rebecca's son George aged 7. Rebecca was a wife of George Willocks, Eleanor Willocks's brother.

John/James's Ticket of Leave was 'torn up' and was awarded a Conditional Pardon in September 1844. This provided him more freedom to move around and gain better employment, etc.

A year later, John became a grandfather, when his son Joseph had a baby daughter named Rebecca with his wife, Sophia Rouse, in England.

Around this time, John was running a Post Office in Narellan/Picton region, and possibly a storekeeper as well. Not much more about this, unfortunately.

On 3 December 1860, Eleanor, his wife, died of stroke at their residence. She was buried at St. Paul's Cemetery, Cobbitty NSW. The most interesting and perhaps telling bit about her death certificate was that she has no children listed and her informant was her husband, John. What was going on?

Five years later in 1865, his daughter Eleanor (known as Ellen Lamont) died at Narellan and was buried at the same cemetery as her mother. It was suspected that her husband Donald may have abused her which resulted her death, leaving two young daughters behind.

John died on 16 June 1870 at his home of Narellan. There was an inquest held at Narellan on the death of John Pallier dated 16 June 1870. Mr. E. Palmer, the coroner, had ruled that he died of natural causes and sent in the report on 24 June.

John Joseph Pallier was buried at St. Paul's Cemetery, Cobbitty, NSW Australia, on 19 June 1870.

The Sydney Gazette had a death notice of John Pallier:

On the 16th instant, at his residence, Narellan, John Joseph Pallier, aged 72, an old and much respected colonist.

Sources:

• London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 (London Metropolitan Archives, St Marylebone, Register of Baptism - p89/mry1, Item 014) (Baptism record of John J Pallier)
• London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Anne, Soho: Dean Street, Westminster, Transcript of Marriages, 1821 Jan-1822 Jan, DL/t Item, 087/034. (Marriage record of John J Pallier and Eleanor Wallocks)
• London Metropolitan Archives, St Marylebone, Register of Baptism, p89/mry1, Item 024. (Boys' baptism records)
• London Metropolitan Archives, St Marylebone, Register of Baptism, pg89/mry1, Item 038. (Girls' baptism records)
• New South Wales Government. Musters and other papers relating to convict ships. Series CGS 1155, Reels 2417-2428. State Records Authority of New South Wales. Kingswood, NSW Australia.
• State Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood, NSW, Australia; Series Number: NRS 12188; Collection Title: Bound manuscript indents, 1788-1842; Item: [4/4015]; Microfiche: 676.
• New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849. Class: HO 10; Piece: 33.
• New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave, 1834-1859. Class: HO 10; Piece: 54.
• State Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood, NSW Australia; Copies of Conditional Pardons Registered; Reel Number : 774; Roll Number: 149; Volume Number: 4/4492. (Application for family to be sent to Australia).
• New South Wales, Australia Historical Electoral Rolls, 1842-1864. State Records Authority of New South Wales: CGS 1199; Year 1851-1852.
• Registers of Coroners' Inquests and Magisterial Inquiries, 1834-1942. State Archives NSW; Series: 2922; Item: 4/6614; Roll: 343.

Researching a family online for a day?

This is how I did it today:

The focus of the family is named HUMMERSTON – quite a rare surname.

From the marriage certificate of Edward Thornton and Anne Clarke, my ancestors – one of the witnesses was named George Hummerston so I’d like to know who this George Hummerston was and his connection to my ancestors. 

So my procedure of doing the research in day (with plenty of interruptions from my kids of course) is shown below.

Now the first website I go is at the BDM NSW Registry online (http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/familyHistory/searchHistoricalRecords.htm )  where I used all three search engines (Birth, Death and Marriages) to see if I can find him and his family – I was pretty confident that it will be easy as the surname is unusual.

The first two records came up:

A death record – George Hummerston died in 1892 at Woollahra – father named George and mother unknown. [14196/1892]

A marriage record – George William Hummerston married Emily C Harris at Waverley in 1876.

Then I looked through the rest of the marriage records under the name of HUMMERSTON and those what I found – there was not many.

George W Hummerston married Ellen Styles at Woollahra in 1899 – son of George?

Christopher Hummerston married Susan Windsor at Sydney in 1873 – brother of George?

Arthur Hummerston married Sophia Wilson at Waverley in 1885 – son of George?

Edward Hummerston married Alice C Lusty at Waverley in 1887 – son of George?

So with all those marriages sorted out – I did a broad Hummerston research on the Birth search engine and compiled the whole family groups as much as I can, which are shown below – 6 family groups.

George and Emily Hummerston’s children registered as:

1.     1877 – Amy at Sydney

2.     1879 – Percy at Sydney

3.     1881 – Violet Ada at Sydney

4.     1883 – Millbra M at Sydney

5.     1885 – Clarice M at Sydney

6.     1888 – Ada M at Sydney

7.     1890 – Gertrude L at Sydney

8.     1893 – Emily C at Woollahra

9.     1901 – Stella M at Waverley

10. 1898 – Walter T S at Waverley

Christopher and Susan Hummerston’s children registered as:

1.     1877 – Maud A at Paddington

2.     1873 – Christopher at Paddington

3.     1880 – Annie G at Paddington

4.     1885 – Sydney S at Paddington

5.     1888 – Jessie at Paddington

6.     1891 – Winifred S M at Paddington

George and Georgiana Hummerston’s children registered as:

1.     1865 – Albert S at Paddington

2.     1867 – Percy at Paddington

3.     1869 – Violet A at Paddington

4.     1872 – Maud A at Paddington

5.     1874 – Percival H at Paddington

Arthur and Sophie Hummerston’s children registered as:

1.     1886 – Alice M at Paddington

2.     1888 – Reginald A at Waverley

3.     1890 – Albert S at Waverley

4.     1892 – Stanley R at Woollahra

5.     1894 – Cecil W at Woollahra

6.     1897 – William R at Woollahra

Edward and Alice Hummerston’s children registered as:

1.     1887 – Ernest E at Waverley

2.     1889 – Clarence G at Waverley

3.     1891 – Ethel M  at Woollahra

4.     1905 – Roy E at Waverley

George W and Ellen Hummerston’s children registered as:

1.     1899 – Nellie E at Woollahra

2.     1903 – Frederick W at Glebe

3.     1905 – Rose E at Glebe

4.     1907 – Albert G at Glebe

5.     1910 – Doris M at Glebe

Then I noted there are two records with no name in the Fathers column:

Gertrude L had a daughter named Rita A in 1907

Ada had a son named Alfred T in 1909

Leaving BDM NSW registry online to do broad search with the Google Search Engine, a great tool to use...

I did a Google search to see if there is any notable website focused on the Hummerston family – unfortunately there is not much and I was only able to extract that - Christopher was a blacksmith whereas his son George W was a printer (http://www.lkjh.org/family_history/legacy/575.htm ).  This is confusing because the BDM NSW Registry shows no particular relationship.  So I am just taking this website with a grain of salt although it did stated that details were obtained from the certificates. It is possible that George W’s birth record was not recorded for some reason? I’d leave this for time being and move on.

Then I noted from one of Google records that there is a mention of a Florence Hummerston reserve at Perth in Western Australia – aha! My Clarke family came from Perth in 1850-60s so better hop off straight to the BDM WA Registry online to see if I can find any more Hummerston records.

Onto the BDM Western Australia Registry online for possible further records...

Then from BDM WA (http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pioneersindex/default.aspx?uid=9125-2873-5779-1388 ) shows that a Christopher was born in 1851 at Fremantle to George Hummerston and Georgiana Dixon.

So it can be assumed that Clarke and Hummerston families knew each other and that Anne and Christopher may have grew up together being close in age. In the marriage certificate of Edward Thornton and Anne Clarke, it was stated that  they got married in the residence of Mr James Clarke, Perth House at Smith Street, Sydney. Now there is no Smith Street in existence now at Sydney, but it can be assumed the name of the house was named after the city they ‘came from’ to Sydney (“Perth House”)?

Next excellent website to look at but remember nothing's absolute online so take care on gathering details from the Family Search - IGI (International Genealogy Index) and its massive record collections...

From Family Search org (http://www.familysearch.org), it shows there is a particular family group I was looking for which stated that:

George Hummerston was born on 23^rd January 1823 at Essex, England, married Georgina Dixon on 5^th April 1851 at Western Australia and died on 13^th April 1892 at Woollahra NSW. Georgina Dixon was born on 20^th December 1833 at Fremantle WA and died on 31^st May 1889 at Woollahra NSW. Her parents were unknown.

Their children were listed as:

1.     George William Hummerston – born May 1853 at Fremantle WA

2.     James Hummerston – born 1855 and died 1855 at Fremantle WA

3.     John Wesley Hummerston – born 1856 and died 1858 at Fremantle WA

4.     Samuel Hummerston – born May 1858 at Fremantle WA

5.     Edward Hummerston – born 10^th April 1860 at Fremantle and died in 1951 at Parramatta NSW

6.     Arthur Hummerston – born July 1862 at Fremantle WA and died on 26^th September 1896 at Woollahra NSW

7.     Mary Adelaide Hummerston – born 1^st February 1864 at Sydney NSW and died on 29^th October 1944 at Sydney NSW

8.     Albert Sydney Hummerston – born 12^th May 1865 and died 27^th May 1872 at Sydney NSW

9.     Percy Hummerston – born 29^th August 1869 at Sydney NSW

10. Violet Ada Hummerston – born 16^th November 1868 at Sydney NSW and died in 1950 at Paddington NSW

11. Ernest William Hummerston – born 6^th August 1870 and died  in 1870 at Sydney NSW

12. Maude Alice Hummerston – born 29^th February 1872 at Sydney and died on 12^th July 1950 at Randwick NSW

13. Percival Heidelbert Hummerston – born 20^th February 1874 and died in 1874 at Paddington NSW

14. Herbert John Hummertston – born 29^th September at Paddington NSW and died on 12^th November 1875 at Paddington NSW

Next obvious step was to check out the Ancestry site to see if there would be any possible records, which I could check out later at a public library or a genealogical/historical society for more details...

Then I checked the Ancestry.com (http://records.ancestry.com/Georgina_records.ashx?pid=12020215 ) and did a limited search there as I am not a paid member of the website – it is far cheaper to use it from a public library than doing it at home! There is a record of Georgina Dixon Hummerston which stated that her parents were William Dixon and Jane Frances Stanfield and that she was born in Fremantle, WA on 20^th December 1833. Georgina died on 31^st May 1889 at Woollahra NSW.

We can deduct that George was an immigrant while Georgina was born in Australia – how did George got himself planted in Western Australia by 1850s? Was he a soldier, a convict or a free settler?

Now I need to know why George Hummerston was invited to be the main witness to Anne Clarke and Edward Thornton’s wedding. This is where internet get limited as there are so few military websites for Australia and I was unable to confirm that Robert Clarke, Anne’s father, was actually a soldier from the 99^th Regiment as stated in Anne’s birth certificate (the informant was Robert himself). An interesting note – the birth certificate has a correction to the number of his Regiment from 51^st to 99^th – wonders why it was corrected in the first place. However I cannot find him in both 51^st and 99^th regiments but there is a possibility that he may have been in the 96^th regiment – need to dig that up at the library though.

Another great tool to use is the NLA's Trove - a wide database search engine that includes the digitalised newspapers of Australia from 1803 onwards and other manuscripts, etc... 

A quick look at the Trove – digitalized newspapers and such from NLA (http://trove.nla.gov.au/ ), which shown only two pages of searched records which is quite not enough and nothing so worthwhile if you only used the ‘Family Notices’ as a part of the criteria. So re-did the search with only the name “Hummerston” and years ranged between 1803 and 1900. The records number shown as 1,268 or in 20 pages, now we are getting somewhere. I’ve clicked the relevance to the earliest date to see when the Hummerston was first mentioned in Australia. The first mention was dated in 1814 and the earliest newspapers were both Sydney Gazette and the Argus (Melbourne).  The earliest mention of a Hummerston was a Michael Hummerston.

Further research on this Michael Hummerston proved to be quite difficult as it was apparent that no one is sure how or when did Michael Hummerston migrated to Australia. It was generally accepted that he arrived at South Australia around 1849 and ended up living at Ballarat, Victoria. There he married a Charlotte Honey, who was at the age of 20 years, on the 27th April 1854 at "St James Church" in Melbourne. Michael was listed as a shoemaker and later a licensed victualler in the Chidlow’s Well Hotel in Western Australia. He was born in 1822 in Epping, Essex, son of George Hummerston and Mary Pindon. After their marriage Michael and Charlotte moved to Steiglitz, North of Geelong, probably in search of gold, and it was here that their first children were born. They’ve had 10 children together before Charlotte died in 1876. Michael re-married in 1882 at South Australia to Mary McCracken. They’ve had two sons. This family have lived across South Australia and Western Australia. (http://members.iinet.net.au/~kjstew/HONEYhistory.htm )

Could it be possible that this Michael was related to George Hummerston?

From some advertisements and notifications in the newspapers, George Hummerston was a bootsmaker of Woollahra. So both Michael and George have similar occupational background.

Other websites could assist in narrowing leads and possibilities such as...

A quick look at the Western Australian Museum’s Welcome Walls (http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/welcomewalls/names/hummerston-michael ) for a record of Hummerston revealed there is a Michael Hummerston. However there is quite an interesting twist to the mystery of Michael – it was stated that Michael “Ran away from 24 siblings. Owned licences to several hotels in South Australia & Victoria. Returned to Perth with his family & owned licences to the P&O & Freemasons (now Sail & Anchor) Hotels. Built hotels in Mt Helena, Kalamunda (still standing) & Midla.”

To make sense of what I've gathered and put together...

So therefore, the Hummerston family is quite large, mainly located in Essex, England; Perth, Western Australia; Sydney, NSW and Victoria.  And I am nowhere closer to the reason for the connection between George Hummerston and the Clarke family. It may be possible there would be a military, locality or even family relation connection but a further research will need to be done in the library or such.

In the end...

There is so much one can do with family research online for a day before coming to a point where books and more comprehensive details can be found from other institutions such as libraries and genealogical societies.

I hope this helps somewhat for others to do more on their own family research. Any feedback, tips and such are always welcomed.

Cheers!