Friday, April 8, 2016

BRS 3 Scottish Families of Bracken Ridge The Fergusons



The first recorded mention of an association between Ferguson and Brackenridge was in 1866 when a Mr Ferguson won an award for Tuscarora corn.  

Just think how difficult it must have been to clear the land, then cultivate the soil, plant the seed, and fingers crossed that the crop would not be eaten by the birds, and there would be something to sell to market.


Tuscarora White Corn, otherwise known as Iroquois White Corn, is an ancient heirloom corn grown at the Iroquois Cattaraugus Reservation in western New York State. Tuscarora is an heirloom variety of eight-row corn that has historically been a staple of the Iroquois Nation.  The corn has big white kernels, large ears, and is the perfect consistency to grind into corn meal for breads and soups. 

 Its genetic variability fashions a range of flavors from earthy to sugary. Tuscarora is praised within the Iroquois Nation as a link to good physical health, as well as its intrinsic connection to the vibrancy of traditional native cultures.



For me, corn was corn, grown on a cob, but apparently there are lots of different varieties, and then the farmers of those times also mention mature "silks".  


         Thursday 11 January 1866

There are some references for James Fergusson, in 1866 firstly for the prize for his corn and again in 1870.  In 1866 James Fergusson, a farm servant, witnessed an assault near the Pine Rivers Bridge, and in 1870 he was appointed an Elder with the Presbyterian Church.




James was reported as being a "farm servant".

10th May 1865   Governor Sir George Bowen opened the Bald Hills bridge which was the first bridge on the South Pine River 






But who were the First Fergusons?


From Queensland Birth Marriage and Death records, Mr Ferguson was Alexander Ferguson a Farmer, who died at Sandgate on 4th December 1902, aged 87 years.  

Alexander had been a resident in Queensland for 40 years.  He would have arrived around 1860.

His parents were:

Alexander Ferguson and Mary Lyall.  His father was also a farmer in Comrie in Scotland.

His death was registered by Mrs Ann Ferguson his sister-in-law. of Logan Road.
Ann was the wife of his brother James Ferguson.
He was buried at the Dutton Park Cemetery.


The South Brisbane Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery located on Annerley Road, Dutton Park, Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Brisbane River. It is often (incorrectly) called Dutton Park Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1866 and remained in active use until the 1960s, after which its use has been limited by lack of space for new graves



Piecing his family together, it seems that perhaps Alexander did not marry, but that he brought his widowed sister Ann Ferguson to live with him.


Ann Ferguson died aged 79  on 16th December 1889.


Anne died 16th December 1889 and her occupation was a Housewife from Brackenridge Sandgate.  
Her parents were Alexander Ferguson and Mary Lyall.  Her death was certified by James Ferguson, her son who lived at Brackenridge, Sandgate.

Name:
Ann Ferguson
Death Date:
16 Dec 1889
Death Place:
Queensland
Father's name:
Alexander Ferguson
Mother's name:
Mary Lyall
Registration Year:
1890
Registration Place:
Queensland
Registration Number:
000580
Page Number:
8048
Anne died of senile decay, and she was buried at the Bald Hills Historic Cemetery on 18th December, 1889.  Anne had been in Queensland for 28 years, and she had two children James and Mary.

Anne was the daughter of Alexander Ferguson and Mary Lyall and was born in 1809.

Anne married in 1926 Donald Fergusson, also from Comrie in Scotland, and possibly a cousin.
She was married in Scotland at age 17


Name:Donald Ferguson
Gender:Male
Marriage Date:17 Jul 1827
Marriage Place:Comrie,Perth,Scotland
Spouse:Ann Ferguson             


Anne and Donald had two children, James and Mary.  James was born in 1828 and Mary in 1829.

It would appear that Donald died before 1851, because in the census of that year, Anne was living with her father Alexander.



Then there was Mrs Ann Ferguson's husband James Ferguson.  He was the brother of Alexander Ferguson and Ann Ferguson from Brackenridge, Sandgate.

James was born 1820 in Comrie Scotland and on 3rd June 1850 he married Ann Spowart in Dunfermline, Fife.


James died in 11th May 1892 in Brisbane and is buried at the South Brisbane/Dutton Park Cemetery.

It would seem that perhaps his wife Ann took care of her brother-in-law after his daughter's death, or maybe Alexander had been living at the same house.

CLIFTON                    04  12  1861   Queensland   Plymouth      ..  .. ....   CL   M1710   (col/12)   


They sailed on the 'Clifton' along with husband James' sister Ann, a widower and her two children and James' bachelor brother, Alexander. They arrived in Moreton Bay on November 15 1861.


The next mention of Brackenridge is with the death of James Ferguson.  James was born on 4th January 1828 in Comrie.  He died in 1890, not long after his mother.


There is mention of both James Ferguson, and Mary Ferguson, in a transfer of title after death.  The notice indicates that James Ferguson of Brackenridge, near Sandgate had left personal assets of nearly ,£500 and property of the value of around £625  and that Mary Ferguson of Brackenridge near Sandgate, spinster was the administratrix.
In 1901 Mary Ferguson died.  Her burial details are unknown, but perhaps both she and James are buried with their mother in the Bald Hills Cemetery.

Then in 1902 Alexander Ferguson a farmer died on 4th December 1902 at Sandgate. 

Name:
Alexander Ferguson
Death Date:
04 Dec 1902
Death Place:
Queensland
Father's name:
Alexander Ferguson
Mother's name:
Mary Lyall
Registration Year:
1903
Registration Place:
Queensland
Registration Number:
003894
Page Number:
8046

His death record was lodged by his sister-in-law  Ann Ferguson of Logan Road.   Alexander was the son of Alexander Ferguson and Mary Lyall.  His father was also a farmer.  He was born in Comrie, in Perthshire in Scotland and had lived in Queensland for 40 years.

He was buried at the South Brisbane Cemetery.  


The is no online record of their will, and neither Alexander, James nor Mary, it seems had any descendants.


Their Parents from Comrie in Scotland

The parents of Alexander and Ann Ferguson were  Alexander Ferguson and Mary Lyall:

Their family:

Peter Ferguson             born 1801     m  Anne Drummond  10 July 1835
Isabel Ferguson            born 1803
William Ferguson         born 1804
Jean Ferguson              born 1806
James Ferguson            born 1808
Mary Ferguson             born 1809
Ann Ferguson               born 1809     m  Donald Ferguson  17 July 1827
Elizabeth Ferguson        born  1811    m  Andrew Mcanish   21 June 1830
Mary Ferguson             born 1811
Alexander Ferguson      born  1813 
Janet Ferguson             born   1815   m  John Mcanish  5 December 1835
Barbara Ferguson         born   1817
James Ferguson           born  1820
John Ferguson             born   1822     


A little more  about James and Ann from one of their descendants

 (This information and the photographs courtesy of their descendant  Don Reis)

 Not long after arriving, Ann gave birth to a stillborn daughter. For a time they lived at One Mile Swamp where their daughter, Jane was born. They then moved to a house in Cleveland Road in Brisbane. and then to Logan Road in Woolloongabba where the family commenced a grocery store.

Ann lived another 15 years following James' death in 1892 She passed away in 1907. Ann was buried alongside her husband in the South Brisbane Cemetery
Mrs Ann Ferguson and her daughter Helen (From D. Reis a descendant)














Alexander Ferguson's niece, James and Ann Ferguson's youngest daughter, Isabella and her 2nd oldest son, Dave in Brisbane 1n 1916. Isabella was born in South Brisbane in 1865. She married a Scottish professional Soldier, James Whamond Annat in Brisbane in 1891. James joined the British Army when he was 16. He fought in the Zulu War and the first Boer War in South Africa.

He was then sent as part of a British force to Canada. Sitting Bull and his warriors had crossed from the US to Canada. By the time the British force arrived, Sitting Bull and a lot of his various had returned to the US where Sitting Bull surrendered to the military and then joined Buffalo Bill's wild west show. A remnant of the tribe still remained in Canada and James Annat was severely wounded at Pine ridge in 1890.

After he recovered he emigrated first to NSW and then Queensland and took up posts training the colonial troops. He was commissioned a lieutenant in 1895. He was sent to South Africa as part of a Queensland contingent in 1900 during the 2nd Boer War where he was blown to pieces by a Boer shell at Elands River.

His 2nd son, Dave, shown in the photo with his mother was posted to the Western Front in France in 1916 during World War I as part of the 8th field ambulance brigade. He survived the war.

His older brother, James fought at Gallipoli before being sent to the Western Front. He too survived the war and on return to Queensland he bought a small pineapple and dairy farm near Nambour. His wife, a trained nurse, hated farming life and eventually talked him in to selling the farm and moving to Brisbane where they bought a corner store.

This daughter, Pixie, also trained as a nurse and went on to become first secretary and then president of the newly formed nurses union. She campaigned for better working conditions and pay not only for the nurses but also the doctors, other medical staff and the patients. She became matron of St Andrew's Memorial hospital and then its longest serving CEO. Since her retirement she has continued charity work for the hospital and her church. She was awarded both an MBE and order of Australia medal for her services to nursing.

James and Amelia Ferguson (nephew)

James and Amelia
                                    












Annat — Lieutenant J. W. Annat, Coupar Angus. Bom at Lintrathen, Airlie, in 
1864. Joined Gordon Highlanders in i880y and took part in first Transvaal 
War. Wounded at Majuba Hill. He was afterwards transferred to Argyll and 
Sutherland Highlanders, with whom he took part in Zulu War, 1883-4. He went 
to Canada in 1886, and was on the staff in the North- West provinces; fought in the Indian rebellion raised by the defence of, Sitting Bull, and was severely wounded at Pine Bridge in 1890. 
 
From Canada he went to New South Wales, and afterwards to Queensland, where he acted as instructor. Commissioned 1895. On the formation of the Warwick Company of Queensland Rifles in 1899 he was unanimously chosen by the men as officer commanding. Enrolled for active service in third contingent of Queensland Rifles, and was killed in action at Elands River, 5th August, 1900

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So who owned Lot 96 in Brackenridge   Named J Ferguson.

On the land map, the owner of Lot 96 shows J. Ferguson.
 
On his death, James Ferguson left £486 personally (cash) and £624 in realty. 
That is quite an estate to have amassed.




Not one person named Ferguson lived in the area in any Electoral rolls between 1903 and 1930's.  They lived in Sandgate, Zillmere and Bald Hills, all with different occupations.  






By working with the relatives of the Ferguson's who arrived on the Clifton, there was an uncle who came.   His name was John Ferguson.  

There are quite a few possibilities, but knowing the background of how the land was allocated, in terms of the number of acres granted as per the Immigration Schemes, in particular the release to the Scottish immigrants who arrived in the period of 1855 and 1862, there are some strong possibilities of who this person or his family may be.

In 1855 a Janet Ferguson arrived on the Helenslea.
In 1855 a John Ferguson arrived on the William Miles and yet another Ferguson family, arrived on the John Davies in 1855.  

That family were John Ferguson, his wife Ann, and children Helen and Charles.

No doubt, Alexander and his siblings Ann and James immigrated in line with the Immigration Scheme, which allocated additional acres for the number of family who emigrated.

Without a doubt, from the Probate records, James Ferguson, his mother Ann and his uncle Alexander lived on the family farm at Brackenridge.

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Ferguson - There were many in Queensland.

Among the early Scottish settlers, there were many of the name of J. Ferguson.  A little like the surname Smith, or Brown!  There were however, some very interesting people who arrived with Dr Lang's chosen.  There was a James Ferguson who had a grocery shop in Brisbane,  Or James Ferguson who had property in Ipswich, perhaps it belonged to another who was in favour of the separation of Queensland and who became a Senator.    Was the Brackenridge James Ferguson the owner of a grocery store?


 But it was the close links between this John Ferguson, and his background in Scotland compared with Alexander, Ann and John Ferguson, that aroused by interest.

John Ferguson was born in Perthshire in Scotland, the same area as Alexander Ferguson.  Both families were involved in weaving.  Whether they knew each other is unknown.  But he did not own the land in the early records.  The similarities and co-incidences are many.

Not one person named Ferguson lived in the area in any census records between 1903 and 1930's. They lived in Sandgate, Zillmere and Bald Hills, all with different occupations.  The closest family lived on Gympie Road Bald Hills, and were timber fellers.


A John Ferguson was also an Auctioneer - as from the cutting, along with Davidson, another speculator who purchased in Bald Hills




But in all probability it was James Ferguson who died in 1890.  After probate, his estate was being sold.  The description of it gives an indication of what the land looked like.


Bald Hills, about 2 miles from Sandge, and near Bald Hills Cemetery - Property known as Mr Ferguson's farm.  This property is for sale, either as a whole or in blocks, two of 6.5 acres, and one of 23.5 acres with cottage,e tc.  The adjoining properties and part of this are under pines and having easterly slope is practically free from frost.  Price from £6.10s per acre.

Lucky it was known as Brackenridge in 1866, not Ferguson's Farm,  or we would be waiting until 2039 for a 150 year celebration!


The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947) Tuesday 25 June 1901 p 8 Advertising
... Bald Hills Cemetery. — Property, known as' Mr. Ferguson's Farm. This property is for sale, 

But just in case, this John Ferguson must be some sort of relative!

FERGUSON, John (1830–1906)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–03 (Free Trade)

John Ferguson, builder, contractor and mining investor, was born at Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland on 15 March 1830, son of John Ferguson, weaver, and his wife Janet, née Ferguson. After a short period of primary schooling, he worked on the Marquis of Breadalbane’s estate.

 In 1847, he became a carpenter’s apprentice at Killin, later moving to Glasgow where he was employed as a journeyman and then as a carpenter.

In 1855, he arrived in Sydney where, following unsuccessful attempts at prospecting on the Mudgee and Mount Ararat goldfields, he worked again as a carpenter. After an interlude in Sydney, he moved to Rockhampton in 1861. Ferguson then established a successful construction enterprise, which was responsible for many public and private buildings in Rockhampton and Central Queensland. In the mid–1880s he bought a tenth share in the Mount Morgan gold mine for £26 000. Subsequently, one third of Ferguson’s share was sold for £13 500. By 1888, he was able to retire, and from then on he spent extended periods overseas.

Ferguson was a municipal councillor from 1878 to 1890, and mayor of Rockhampton (1880–81) and (1882–83). He was Member for Rockhampton in the Queensland Legislative Assembly (1881–88) and sat in the Legislative Council between 1894 and 1906. His political thinking was influenced by Central Queensland’s need for roads, bridges, railways and cheap labour.

Ferguson was a strong supporter of the separation of Central Queensland from Brisbane, and of Federation. These causes ultimately proved to be incompatible. As section 123 of the Constitution would make clear, the onus for territorial separation was placed firmly on the legislatures of the states. Given the reluctance of southern Queenslanders to countenance such devolution and the fear of Labor control of the proposed two new Queensland states, Ferguson’s stance, even by 1899, was anachronistic. He had been, as ‘Honest John’, president of the Central Queensland Separation League, and had, during a visit to England between 1892 and 1893, presented the League’s case to the colonial secretary, Lord Ripon. A combination of imperial pressure and Brisbane intransigence scuttled the plan, although not before Ferguson had built one of the grandest private houses in Queensland, ‘Kenmore’, and had ordered monogrammed china and gold plate for what was to be Central Queensland’s future Government House.

Ferguson was out of Australia visiting Great Britain (and probably Japan) during the whole of the campaign to elect the first Federal Parliament. In his absence, he was selected as a Queensland candidate for the Senate on a platform embracing free trade and White Australia. Elected to the first Federal Parliament, he later told the Senate that he was ‘rather surprised’ to find that he was ‘one of the six chosen’

Ferguson, over seventy years old, in poor health and living in Sydney, contributed to three major debates during his term in the Senate. On 3 October 1901, he opposed an amendment to the Post and Telegraph Bill prohibiting the employment of coloured stokers on mail steamers in favour of white men. He believed that ‘no white man should be asked to work in the stoke-hole of a steamer in the Red Sea’, adding that it was ‘work for which the coloured men are specially adapted’. Another concern also surfaced: ‘I would ten times sooner travel in a steamer manned by lascars, who are our own loyal subjects, than with a steamer manned by a crew of mixed foreigners’. Ferguson considered the proposal as disloyal to the British Empire, of which he counted himself ‘a strong supporter’

On 14 November 1901, Ferguson expanded on his ‘White Australia’ philosophy during the second reading of that cornerstone of a white Anglo-Celtic Australian settler society, the Immigration Restriction Bill. He stated that this was ‘the most important measure that we have yet had before us’. He did not ‘believe altogether in the Bill [and did] not like it’. As an imperialist, he agreed with the British Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, that there should be no distinction in the British Empire between man and man on the basis of colour. Australia was not in a position to stand alone in the world by adopting exclusivist racial policies.

Not only were the Japanese ‘a proud and civilised people’, but Indians should be regarded equally as citizens of the Empire. Ferguson saw New Guinea, as a territory of the Commonwealth, as a source of cheap labour which could replace Melanesian workers. He also believed, contrary to most conventional opinion, that when Aborigines are ‘well fed and taken care of they develop into good workers’. How, he argued, could their position be reconciled with the White Australia policy, which ‘has become a ridiculous cry, and nothing else’.

Ferguson’s strongest disagreement with the policies of the new Commonwealth was in relation to the Pacific Island Labourers Bill, which had as its objective the deportation of all Melanesian indentured labourers (Kanakas) by 1906. Mistakenly predicting the ‘utter ruination’ of the sugar industry if the Kanakas were too hastily expelled, Ferguson supported Senator Walker’s amendment aimed at allowing Kanakas who had been in Queensland for more than five years to remain permanently.

After Walker’s amendment was lost by fifteen votes to ten, Ferguson moved his own amendment to exclude that part of Australia north of the Tropic of Capricorn from the Bill’s jurisdiction. This was defeated by sixteen votes to ten. During the debate, Ferguson reiterated his view that while he agreed that ‘the kanaka must go’ he was in favour of an extension of the repatriation period. Not one among the other five Queensland senators supported either Ferguson’s or Walker’s amendments, leading Ferguson to remark that the ‘greatest enemies of Queensland are her own representatives’

By now, Ferguson was seriously ill; he made only three further speeches, all brief and of no great moment. His attendance in the Senate was less than constant; he was absent for 128 of the 222 sitting days in the first and second sessions of the Parliament. Ferguson was absent without leave for two consecutive months, and as a result his seat was declared vacant on 13 October 1903, the only time that this has occurred in the history of the Commonwealth Parliament. As he had continued to hold his Legislative Council seat in the Queensland Parliament, the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1902 would, in any case, have prevented his renomination (Queensland was the only state not to legislate to prevent sitting MPs from simultaneously occupying seats in the federal and state parliaments). As a public speaker, Ferguson was described as ‘clear and plain, but no more. He had not a touch of the orator. In debate . . . he lacked fire’

Ferguson died at his mansion ‘Winslow’, Darling Point, Sydney, on Friday 30 March 1906. On 1 March 1862, he had married Eliza Frances Wiley in Sydney, who, with one son, John, and five daughters, Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary, Janet and Helen, survived him. (Catherine had married the Hon. J. T. Bell, a Queensland cabinet minister and a speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly). Two other daughters had predeceased him. Ferguson, who left a Queensland estate probated at £218 319 and another probated at £12 179 in New South Wales, was buried in Waverley Cemetery with rites befitting a deacon of the Congregational Church.

A Gaelic speaker who did not learn English until a young man, Ferguson’s political contribution was mainly devoted to the economic development of Rockhampton and Central Queensland. Nevertheless, this honest and unassuming Scots–Australian did, through his brief appearance in the Senate, debate minority positions which, while somewhat contradictory and unfashionable, revealed astute insights into seminal questions of race, imperial relations and economic development.
D. B. Waterson


Well he certainly has the qualifications, the money, the power, the standing, the political swayings, the interest in sugar cane


John Ferguson (1830-1906), builder, contractor, mining investor and politician, was born on 15 March 1830 at Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland, son of John Ferguson, weaver and lead-miner, and his wife Janet, née Ferguson. After a limited education he worked as a ploughboy on the estates of the Marquess of Breadalbane. 

He then trained as a carpenter, working in that trade in Killin and Glasgow before sailing to Sydney at the end of 1855. Over the next five years he was a miner and carpenter at the Mudgee and Ararat, Victoria, goldfields. He also worked as a carpenter in Sydney, before moving to Rockhampton, Queensland, probably in 1862. On 1 March 1862 he had married Eliza Frances Wiley in Sydney.




Name:John Ferguson
Gender:Male
Birth Date:15 Mar 1830
Birth Place:Killin,Perth,Scotland
Father:John Ferguson
Mother:Janet Ferguson             

John Campbell, 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane KT, PC, FRS, styled Lord Glenorchy until 1831 and as Earl of Ormelie from 1831 to 1834, was a Scottish nobleman and Liberal politician.Breadalbane sat as Member of Parliament for Okehampton from 1820 to 1826 and for Perthshire from 1832 to 1834. The latter year he succeeded his father as second Marquess of Breadalbane and entered the House of Lords. In 1848 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household by Lord John Russell, a post he held until the government fell in 1852. He held the same office under Lord Aberdeen between 1853 and 1855 and under Lord Palmerston between 1855 and 1858

My paternal family are descendants of the Campbells of Breadalbane,  it is amazing the connections! 

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Leaving Scotland behind


The family like most others, faced a  struggle to live.  Among the children, some became servants, another worked in the mines.   With so many similar names, confirming deaths and possible marriages becomes difficult.


My  4th great grandmother was Isabel Ferguson, and a great uncle McDairmaid, two families from the same area as this Ferguson family.  My family also includes the Drummond family.

Who knows just how closely related anyone from these parts of Scotland are!

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Scotland in the mid 1800's was a country overpopulated, with a severe land shortage.  A scheme of mass migration called the Highland Clearance followed, with thousands relocating to Canada, USA and Australia.

The country was poor, they also were affected by the potato blight, and while the mass migration was being conducted, can you believe that they welcomed Irish ladies as immigrants. 


That plan sounded a little bit Irish to me!    


The reason?  Scotland had a huge industry with  spinning linen from the European flax, and they needed women to do the spinning and piece work.  Earl Grey, famous for his tea, financed and arranged a scheme to send Scottish families and single girls and boys to Australia.

You should read some of the reports -  "They arrived dirty - don't like the look of them - he is strong would make a good worker" -  some of the comments that come to mind!  Like judging cattle!

But that was life in those times.  Unless you have stood inside a tenement, 2 rooms, no privacy, it is quite unbelievable and  staggers belief how they managed to have so many children.  

Mind you close quarters meant close relations with the extended family.  My own  grandfather and my father were both the result of two cousins getting a bit too close for comfort.




Comrie is a village in Perthshire, west of Crieff.



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The closest Ferguson family lived on Gympie Road Bald Hills, named Richard  and Susan Ferguson.

Ferguson
Richard, Susan
Brown's Road
Labourer

Richard was the son of Richard Ferguson and Mary Clark.  Richard and Mary arrived in Queensland in 1857 on the "Hastings".  They came from the Yorkshire region, and had 5 children.

The children were Richard Ferguson             born        1858  m  Susan Walwood  1887  d  1952                                   Rose Hannah Ferguson     born        1860       d 1860
                           William Ferguson            born        1860       d  1860
                            Mary Jane Ferguson        born        1861
                            Rose Ferguson                born        1864
                            John Ferguson                 born        1866
                            Elizabeth Ferguson          born        1869  m  William Malcolm  1890
                            Joseph Ferguson             born       1855 Guisborough  m  Eliza Frost 1877 d 1905
                              
The children of Richard and Mary did not have an easy life.  Richard was on many occasions arrested for drunkenness. 

 



Richard Ferguson was listed on the list of eligible voters in 1862.  A Mrs Ferguson was also listed.

  A box had arrived from Scotland for him.

By 1873, Richard Ferguson did what seemed to be the custom, he refused to pay any debts incurred by his wife.

My own 4th great grandfather did this also.  Three announcements in the media, and that seemed to give him the right to start a new relationship, and in his case, sire a new family, then marry bigamously!

Guess they never knew that the records could be found.

Susan Jane Walwood was born in 1864 in Carrigallen, Leitrim, in Ireland.  Her parents were Thomas Walwood and Frances Morrison.    Their children all carried the naming tradition which the settlers followed!

Richard and Susan Ferguson's children were:  Thomas, Richard, Robert, Roy, Frances, Sarah, Richard, Mary, Elsie, Olive, Alice, Robert and Edith.  The children were born between 1887 and 1904.

Poor Mary, she had no money and 6 children.  By that time, the elder boys would have been working.
The girls reverted to theft.    



 


CITY POLICE COURT. THIS DAY. (Before Mr. Finney, J.P.)
The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947) Thursday 10 September 1874 p 2 Article
... -four hours imprisonment. Laboeny.— Mary Jane Ferguson and Rose Ferguson, charged with stealing a purse, were ..

Poor Mary Jane, she was assaulted by Thomas Scott, who hit her with a hammer!

  




 

Her father meanwhile, is attacked by the husband of the woman he has swapped his wife for, and is killed.

  

Richard Junior and Susan lived in Lutwyche.  They were witnesses in a case which involved arson, and then perjury,  c 1890




  
 

Susan was living at Bald Hills when her father died, as she posted a memorial to him at his death.  Susan died c 1926
    


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