stemmata - About the Editor

About the Editor

Hi! I'm Maggie Tucker (nee Hope) and am the great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Hope (1806-1876) with my connection coming through the lines of Richmond Armstrong Hope (1844-1924), Edgar William Hope (1894-1964) and my father, Lindsay Halbert Hope (1923-1967).

The seeds of curiosity about my heritage were planted when I was a child and as I grew into adulthood, those seeds started to grow until a desire to know more had to be satisfied. Publishing this e-book was the only course of action for me. I became conscious of a need - indeed of a duty - to share the information I had began to accumulate with the descendants of the Hope, Armstrong [Family Armstrong], Edgar [Family Edgar] and Smith [Family Smith] families that are interested in knowing about our families life as pioneers of Australia and New Zealand in the mid 1800's.

Maggie Tucker (nee Hope)

I don't recall any single event in my life or the first time, as an adult, that I made a conscious decision to research my family history. In 1974 it certainly was not the favoured past-time to delve into one's ancestry and I discovered that some of the family were not too comfortable discussing it. Not having any parents or grandparents alive at that time, I asked my uncle[1] for information about the family. As he admitted, what he knew about the family would fit onto the back of a postage stamp but suggested I contact Jessie Roper[2] who "had it all together". I did so, but the "all together" wasn't enough for me, so she put me in touch with Noel Hope[3] in Melbourne, who had become the 'family historian'. Noel smiled at the compliment but confessed that his 'historian' activities had turned out to be a 9-day wonder and after sharing his information with me, gave me the address of Lewis Barker[4] in Sydney. Already 2 years had lapsed and I really didn't have very much to show for my efforts.

Noel's letter in the very early days of correspondence (c.1974) stated: 'Yes, I did commence to keep a family tree, but must confess it was a 9-day wonder with me and after putting in some concentrated time and effort, I rolled the large sheet of cardboard up and poked it into a corner where it now reposes.'

Noel's tree commenced with Thomas Hope (1806-1876) and Alice Armstrong (1812-1890), my earliest traceable ancestors and continued through Richmond Armstrong (1844-1924) and Isabella Edgar (1856-1936) to his own father Richmond Armstrong Hope (1885-1962) and Harriet Veronica Hill (1888-1976). This information had come from May Smith[5]. Noel then called on Joan Helms[6] who made available to him much information concerning the Adam Smith[7] and Jane Armstrong[8] line. He was also in touch with the late Lewis Barker of Wyong, New South Wales who shed further light on the Hopes. An extract from Lewis Barker's letter of January 1976 is reproduced in the Anecdotal section of this book and gives a most interesting angle to the history of the Hopes as far back as the Great War of 1914-1918 in which Lewis was a Colonel.

Lewis Barker was eager to share aspects of his life and the information that he had on hand, and at 81 years of age wrote many pages not only about his own memories and experiences but of the previous generation as well. He gave life to what would otherwise have been but 'names in this book'. In his letter dated 15 March 1976, Lewis Barker established his credentials for making some statements about the family in identifying his late wife as the grand-daughter of Jessie Scotland Giles Smith (nee Hope) 'and having met JSG', as he referred to her, 'in his teens and knowing her ever since.'

Some years later, in mid 1985 I was given the names of 2 people who shared amazing information about the early Hope family with me, that other family historians usually only dream about. They were Margaret Mulcahy [Neighbour Minogue], a descendant of the Edgar's and a neighbour of the Hopes, and Ian MacKinnon [Neighbour MacKinnon] who, at that time, was the aged son of another neighbour of the Hopes while they were living near Apsley in Western Victoria; and they recalled many events in the lives of the families.

Of family in my own generation Marilyn Fordred[9] of Melbourne, my second cousin, has been an immense help, enthusiastically digging deep into her own resources to find out more information about our Hope family. Along the path of being a family historian, I discovered my fourth cousin, Ian Fyfe[10], whose family emigrated to New Zealand. Ian and I, through our common interest in genealogy, discovered[11] our long lost relationship in the mid 1980's. We have since shared many aspects of our research as well as corresponding on a social level. Last, but by no means least, is another fourth cousin, Peter Smith[12], formerly of Hynam, South Australia. Peter and I have spent many hours corresponding with each other as we travelled down the path in search of our common genealogy, the Armstrong’s. We have tried to piece together the bits of information that have been handed down from one generation to the next and have experienced some moments of real joy as we sought and found new discoveries.

Although space does not permit me to acknowledge everyone who has helped and encouraged me, the list would be incomplete without mentioning my brother Keith[13]. In 1974 we started looking into our family history together and over the decades, he has helped me tremendously as we have sifted through new information and tried every avenue to confirm it.

These were but a few who inspired me to continue learning about my pioneering ancestors and offered all they could to assist me in my quest for information.

Due to family circumstances I lived with my paternal grandparents from my ninth birthday and did so for many years. They constantly spoke of their brothers and sisters; aunts and uncles; cousins, nieces and nephews. I knew a lot about my grandparents' generation; the names, places and life's events being familiar to me.

As the various family groups came to Adelaide for a holiday or maybe some family business, they would visit my grandparents and I would meet them; a rather shy schoolgirl who, more often than not, sat in the background listening, not being encouraged to participate in the 'grown ups' conversation.

I listened as the visitors would tell my grandparents about the latest family news and they in turn would share their news over a 'cuppa'.

I remember questioning my grandfather about the recurring names in our family. Why was my uncle named Ronald Armstrong Brien Hope and another uncle Ian Edgar Hope? Why was my grandfather's name Edgar William Hope and my own father Lindsay Halbert Hope? What meaning and stories did these names hold? He would patiently tell me that these were family names, being passed down through the generations with great history attached to them. I learnt to respect the names because my grandfather spoke so lovingly and respectfully of them. I didn't understand fully or remember all that he said but those moments made a tremendous impression on this young schoolgirl.

As I discovered more about my ancestors I became more fascinated with my rich heritage.

My grandparents had spoken with pride about their forebears and especially about my grandfather's maternal line, the Edgar's. I had heard from many of their generation the story of the Edgar family, with each of them owning a written historic account of that family, which spanned time from the 12th century through to the 1850s when some of them migrated to Australia and New Zealand [see Appendix 4-8].

In addition I had heard stories about why the Hope family came to Australia and a little about those early years in the mid to late 1800s; of the struggles, the pain, the sufferings as well as the good times. Research put meat on the bare bones of what I had heard as a child. Some aspects of that early knowledge remained constant, while other portions proved to be no more than family heresy, legend, folklore or wishful thinking.

Both my grandparents had been born and brought up in Western Victoria. My grandfather (Edgar William Hope) near Casterton and my grandmother (Christina O'Brien) [Family O'Brien] at nearby Merino. Sometime between 1923 and 1925 they moved with their 2 young sons to Murray Bridge in South Australia, where their third and last child was born; then onto Bordertown before settling at Black Forest, an inner Adelaide suburb where they remained till their deaths. I remember with great fondness how I would motor across the border with my uncle[14] and grandparents and stay with their families on farms and properties in Western Victoria.

As I widened my research the jigsaw of my family began to fall into place. Each new piece fitted into the puzzle to show me how people were related to me and to each other. My own close family that once seemed so small began to assume a much wider and larger proportion.

With this background it probably shouldn't be any surprise that one day I would feel a compulsion to join the jigsaw pieces together. I wanted to know more about the Edgar name, who were the Armstrong's, what about the O'Brien's?

In 1974, my husband, Norm, and I returned to Adelaide after living in Darwin for a time and not many months passed before I started the thrice weekly trek to the Adelaide Library and Archives, as well as purchasing Birth, Death and Marriage certificates one after the other.

Upon reflection on the material collected for the families of Hope, Armstrong, Edgar, Smith and others, I decided to concentrate on the era up to the 1930's with only scant reference to more recent generations.

This book would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the family as a whole.

This book is the culmination of decades of searching for answers that a young schoolgirl started asking but did not understand fully the implications of the questions she asked.

I hope it will answer some of your questions too.

Taking a leaf out of one of my cousin's[15] book on her own ancestry, she made mention that all of her direct ancestors had arrived in Australia before the 1880s - which I found to be an interesting fact. So, I thought I might check out that piece of information for my own ancestors:

I have Thomas Hope and Alice Armstrong - arrived 1856

their son RA Hope, married Isabella Edgar, whose family arrived in the early 1850s
- their son EW Hope married Christina O'Brien, whose family arrived in the late 1860s

Note: this e-Book is only looking at and documenting my father's family. However, for my own interest, I looked at my mother's side at the same time and discovered a similar story - those families arriving in 1846, 1857, 1883 and 1897 - all before the turn of the new century.

[1] Ronald Armstrong Brien Hope (son of Edgar William Hope 1894-1964)

[2] Jessie Euphemia Roper - nee Hope, (daughter of Richmond Armstrong Hope 1844-1924)

[3] Anzac Hoel Hope (son of Richmond Armstrong Hope 1916-1997)

[4] Lewis Barker (husband of Alice Hope McEachern)

[5] May Smith

[6] Joan Helms (daughter of William Richmond Smith)

[7] Adam Smith

[8] Jane Armstrong

[9] daughter of Halbert Edgar Hope

[10] great, great grandson of John Armstrong

[11] Genealogical Research Directory

[12] great, great grandson of Adam Smith