goldconvictsgrocers

The Ancestors

 

The earliest arrivals were John Price and Elizabeth Russell; both convicts. John arrived in 1802 and Elizabeth 1806. More of my ancestors arrived in Australia in the early 1830’s. They arrived with little. Most of them came as assisted immigrants; some came alone and were quite young. Four were convicts. Mostly unskilled, not all were literate. They could be described as economic refugees. The next arrival was in 1832 when Michael Muschtuen, on my father’s side, arrived as a convict. The last to arrive was my mother’s father, Gerald Stanley, who arrived in 1913, aged 16.

They were all English, although Michael Muschtuen’s ancestry may have been French. In England their occupations included stone mason, shoemakers, stage dancer, blacksmith, train driver, carpenter, farmers, labourers, grocer, haberdasher. Once in Australia many went to the goldfields to try their luck while James Steel decided to be a travelling salesman on the Victorian gold fields. He’d come from an entrepreneurial background, well educated and with some capital behind him. Other work included gardeners, sexton and town crier, grocer, timber getter, painter/glazier, jackaroo, linesman.The women were dressmakers, a furrier, milliner, housemaid, herbalist. Some stories are known while others have unanswered questions. All are fascinating, many are sad, and others survive against the odds. Fate plays no favourites. Life is chaotic, you get one chance, and you just live it.

The 4 main branches of my family are Budd including  Phillips, Beck, Price, Russell and Durrant families.

Muschtuen including Bliss and Bellis families

Steel including Poole family

Stanley

A special mention of thanks to Paul Klein – his research and willingness to share this with me has added so much to my blog. Especially his research on Ruth Elizabeth Steel and Ferdinand Thomas, James Steel and the Poole family. His access to English archives and dogged dedication to tracking down more detailed information far exceeded my own endeavors. This information opened up a whole new chapter on the Steel family which I have shared with my extended family. His contribution has been invaluable.