Morgan Family

John was born at Poplar, London and died in 1898 at Napoleons, Victoria. Mary was born at Greenwich, Kent, England and died in 1874 at Poplar, London. They were married at St Matthews, Brixton, Surry In Nov 1835. They had six children, Mary-Ann, William Charles, Caroline, George, Elizabeth and Frederick. All were born at or near Poplar, the working-class location in central London of the popular TV series “Call the Midwife”. Sometime after the 1861 English Census, they migrated to Victoria as did two sons, William and George.

·         Mary-Ann was born in 1835, married Henry Channon in 1858 and died in London in 1892.

·         William Charles was born in 1840, emigrated to Victoria, married Ann Frazer at her mother’s residence in Buninyong (Vic) in 1864 and died at Ballarat IN 1937.

·         Caroline was born in 1847, married James Puxley and died at poplar in 1898.

·         George was born 1848, emigrated to Victoria, married Jane Paterson at Ballarat in 1869 and died at Buninyong in 1936. Jane died in 1874, and George married Louisa Robinson in 1875. George and Jane had three daughters, George and Louisa had five sons and one daughter. Louisa died in Ballarat in 1930 and is buried at Buninyong.

·         Elizabeth was born in 1852 and married James Willans in 1875.

·         Frederick was born in 1857 and married Mary about 1878. They had two children; both were born in England.

Two boys, George and William emigrated to Australia, as did their father, John. John died in July 1898 at Napoleons, Victoria.

Funeral Notice in The Ballarat Star of Jul. 14, 1898: MORGAN. -The Friends of the late John Thomas Morgan are respectfully invited to follow his remains to the Buninyong General Cemetery. The funeral will leave his late residence, Napoleons, on Friday next, the 15th July, 1898, at 1 o'clock p.m.

Obituary in The Ballarat Star of Jul. 18, 1898: The remains of the late Mr John Thomas Morgan, of Napoleons, were interred in the Buninyong Cemetery on Friday afternoon, and the funeral was very largely attended. The following were the pallbearers:- Messrs S. Bray, W. Bray, L. Bawden, M. Thompson, A. Dreaver, and W. Robinson; coffin bearers, Messrs T. Golden, D. Sullivan, H. M'Haffie, and J. Theissen. The Rev. W. H. Lewis conducted the service at the house and grave. Mr Thomas Cahir carried out the funeral arrangements.

William was born at Clackmannan, near Stirling in Scotland, and Isabella at St Ninians, not far away. They married in 1836 at Stirling, Scotland. At the 1851 Scottish Census, Isabella had five daughters. The second child (George born 1840) died before the census. The youngest (Janet born 1850) died as an infant and then another girl (Jane) was born in 1852.

In 1854, they emigrated to Victoria with their five daughters Isabella (14), Grace (12), Mary (11), Christina (6) and Jane (1) as assisted migrants arriving 30 June on the “Lord Stanley”. William was variously listed as an agricultural labourer and a miner. In Victoria, they had three children in Geelong and one in Ballarat. Only the older, William survived childhood.

William was listed as a wool spinner (perhaps in Geelong) and later a miner, They settled at Scotchman’s Lead, a rural locality 6 km from Buninyong and close to Ballarat, in South Western Victoria, a prominent mining area and farming area.

Isabella died at Scotchman’s Lead in Victoria in 1869 and William at the same location in 1870.

George was born on 22 Apr 1848 at Poplar, London. He was listed in 1861 Census as a butcher and Herb Farmer, living at St Leonard Shoreditch, London, Middlesex, England. 

Jane was born at Stirlingshire, Scotland in 1852 and arrived in Aust in June 1854 with her parents and sisters. They married on 14 Oct 1869 at Ballarat, Vic. They had three children, Isabella (b. 1871), Elizabeth Ann (1872-1943) and Jane Anne (b. 1874). 

Jane died in 1874 at Buninyong, Vic. George then married Louisa Maria Robinson (born 1854 at Gloucestershire, England) in 1875 in Victoria and they had six children. Louisa died in 1930 at Ballarat and George died in 1936. Both are buried at Buninyong Cemetery.

Founded in 1841, Buninyong was the earliest inland settlement in what was then the Port Phillip District of NSW. Buninyong's blacksmith dramatically changed its course in August 1851 when he discovered gold, starting a rush that gave birth to Ballarat and the enormous riches of the Victorian goldfields.

Today, the "first-settlement" benefits from its proximity to the prosperous regional city of Ballarat, but Buninyong still proudly protects its independent identity. This is preserved by a strong sense of local community, our historic town centre and the encircling green belt of bushlands and farms, all presided over by our beloved Mount.

(Elizabeth) Ann was born on 20 Oct 1872 at Napoleons, south of Ballarat, Vic. Her parents were George Morgan and Jane Paterson. She married Charles Henry Symons on 22 April 1897 at Clunes, Vic. They had six sons and one daughter. Their details are recorded under the Symons section.

In 1931, they were living at Geelong West. Charles died in Geelong in 1934. By 1940, Elizabeth was living in Campbell St Traralgon, Vic. Her son, Fred and his new wife were living with her when Fred enlisted in the CMF on 30 Jun 1941.  Elizabeth moved to Tempe, NSW by Nov 1942. 

A careful search was made to find death information for Ann Symons. The only records found were handwritten notes on war records of two sons. James Francis' Army Attestation Form, dated 3/6/40. Next of Kin was Mrs E A Symons, mother, handwritten on 30.4.42, as of 22 Barden St Tempe, NSW. She died there on 23 April 1943, according to notes written in James’ s war record.and handwritten note mother deceased 23/4/43. Charles Henry's record has somewhat similar handwritten notes