Parsons English Family History – Myrtle Ibbotson nee Parsons ancestors
Highlighting their journey from Somerset, England to Victoria, where they became part of Myrtle Ibbotson’s ancestry.
First Generation (Insofar as can be established)
George Parsons wife of Mary.
Second Generation
Nicholas Parsons 1795-1873. Nicholas was born in 1795 in Somerset. Baptised 12 July 1795 in the Parish of Wellington, Somerset.
He married Ann Kingsbury 1793-1871. Born Wick St Lawrence, Somerset.
Kewstoke & Worle are near Weston-super-Mare
Nicholas & Ann had two sons:
1. George 1826-1902.
George was born at Kewstoke, Somerset. George married Maria Kingsbury 1833-1880 in 1851 of Worle, Somerset. They were the first of the Parsons to emigrate to Australia, departing Plymouth on the ship Birmingham on 27 September 1854 arriving on 6 January 1855 at Portland, Victoria after a 101 day voyage. They eventually made their way to Geelong and settled around ‘Indented Head.’ At the time, Indented Head referred to the entire Bellarine Peninsula so it is not known where exactly he lived although it appears to have been around East Bellarine and later Portarlington town. By the late 1800s, rate books have him owning and farming a property in East Bellarine. In 1878 he became a trustee of the Wesleyan church on the corner of Portarlington Road and Church Street, Bellarine and the Wesleyan church in Portarlington. He was also a local councillor. George and Maria had six children. Three of their children died as infants, another died aged 18. Two daughters survived but only into their 50s. By 1889, rate books show George owning 21 acres of land and house in Portarlington. Their children were:
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- Louisa 1851-1911. Louise was born at Kewstoke, Somerset. She was 3 yrs old when she emigrated with her parents. She married William Wright and died at Geelong aged 59 yrs.
- John Henry 1852-1854. John was born at Kewstoke, Somerset. He died on the journey from England aged 2 yrs.
- Georgina 1855-1856. Georgia died aged 3 months during their first year in Bellarine.
- Eliza Jane 1857-1875. Eliza was born at Bellarine. Died aged 18 yrs.
- Sarah Ann 1859-1913. Sarah was born at Bellarine. She married Thomas Huxtable of Portarlington. Sarah died aged 54 yrs. She is buried at Portarlington Cemetery.
- John Henry Parsons 1860-1860. John died aged 3 months.
Maria Parsons died in 1880 aged 47 yrs. George married again aged 56 yrs at Queenscliff in 1882 to 44 yr old widow Jessie Cottien 1838-1892 (maiden name Burn.) They had one child George Dudley Parsons 1884-1942. George Dudley married in 1911 in NSW and died aged 58. (Jessie’s 1st husband James Cottier had died aged 31 yrs as had her son by him aged 3 yrs.) Jessie died at Portarlington aged 53.
George died on 11 Feb 1902 aged 75 at Portarlington at the residence of his daughter Sarah Huxtable.
George & Maria and their infant children are buried in the Wesleyan section of Drysdale cemetery however the headstone has collapsed face down. (I have turned the top part face up.)
Third Generation
2. John Parsons 1828-1897
George’s brother John was born at Kewstoke, Somerset in 1828. He married his cousin Mary Parsons on 9 July 1854. They emigrated to Port Phillip leaving the Port of Cardiff, Wales, on 13 October 1957 on the ship Andromache arriving on 7 February 1858 with 2 year old daughter Hannah. They were the only passengers on the ship. They first settled at Prospect Farm, East Bellarine (Scotchmans Rd.)
According to Hannah’s baptism record, she was baptised on 13 July 1857 as Hannah Kingsbury Parsons. A note in the register states that she had been born in New York State, North America, on 20 February 1856 “on the testimony of parents.” Family records also suggest that Hannah had a twin brother William who had died at sea. A twin brother William is also noted on the birth certificate of a later son of John & Mary.
It hasn’t been possible to reconcile Hannah’s true parentage given that it was highly unlikely, and there is no record, that John & Mary had been in the USA. It seems probable that John & Mary had informally adopted Hannah from someone known to them, possibly from extended family, and had her baptised shortly prior to sailing to Australia. It is also probable that they gave Hannah the middle name of Kingsbury after John’s mother and grandmother’s maiden names. Both mother and grandmother had been the daughters of Kingsburys who lived in the same area of Somerset.
Hannah later married in Drysdale to local Blacksmith Charles Kingsbury and was then formally known as Hannah Kingsbury Kingsbury (nee Parsons.) Charles Kingsbury’s father was also born in Worle, Somerset. Hannah had married either a 1st or 2nd cousin ( although not necessarily blood related.) They had 14 children in 18 years, all born in Drysdale, only 9 of whom survived infancy. Charles died in 1903 aged 50 yrs leaving Hannah to raise the 9 children. Hannah moved to Werribee and never remarried. Hannah died in 1940 aged 84 yrs. She is buried at Drysdale cemetery in a plot marked Kingsbury near her parents John & Mary. Her burial record declares her birth place as New York Mills, Oneida County USA.
John and Mary had one other child, William Henry Parsons born at Prospect Farm in 1861. From 1869 John, and later William, were committee members of the then Murradoc State School. By the late 1880s, John is recorded in rate books as the owner of two properties of 35 & 160 acres respectively in Founds Road, Murradoc.
Family folklore suggests that there had been a 2nd son, possibly named John. It was suggested that he had emigrated back to England after a falling out with his family.
Mary died on 20 March 1888 aged 60 years.
John died at Murradoc, on 15 August 1897 aged 69 years. Family records and a coronial inquest show that he committed suicide by hanging in the barn of his farm after years of ill health. He was discovered by a farm servant. His left 3 acres of land in Drysdale and £200 to daughter Hannah. He bequeathed his 35 acre farm at Murradoc with a 6 room weatherboard house to son William.
Both John & Mary are buried at Drysdale cemetery with a substantial headstone.
Fourth Generation
William Henry Parsons 1861-1943
William was born, most likely, at Prospect Farm, East Bellarine on 7 August 1861. His birth certificate shows Indented Head within the Parish of Bellarine however in those days Indented Head described the broader Bellarine Peninsula. On his marriage and death certificates he declares his birth place as Drysdale, the nearest town to Murradoc which was/is a locality rather than a town.
William married Agnes Mary Sharp 1861-1941 of what is now Scotchmans Road, East Bellarine at ‘Gowan Brae’, the home of her father David Sharp, on 2 October 1888. The Sharps were early Scots settlers. William & Agnes had seven children.
1. John Oscar 1889-1974
John was born on 17 July 1889. He married Audrey Willey 1894-1978 of East Bellarine, another early settler family. John was educated at Geelong College. He went on to work at the Ford Motor Company Geelong. He died in 1974 aged 85 yrs. Audrey died in 1978 aged 84 yrs.
2. Susan Ethel 1890-1977
Susan married Herbert William Andrew Gray 1880-1958 of Bellarine. They farmed at Bellarine for their entire life. Susan died in 1977 aged 87 yrs. Herbert had died in 1958 aged 78yrs.
3. Cecil William Parsons 1891-1965
He married Elma Dora White 1892-1955 of Scotchmans Road in 1913. Cecil also went to Geelong College. Cecil initially farmed at Scotchmans Road on a property owned by his father-in-law and then at Murradoc with his father. When his father retired around 1924, they put all their farm equipment up for sale but retained the house and land. Cecil and Elma then share-farmed in the Camperdown area. Cecil died in 1965 aged 74 yrs. Elma died in 1955 aged 63 yrs. Both are buried at Warnambool.
4.Lena Agnes Parsons 1894-1974.
Lena married Herbert Windsor Banks 1893-1953. Herbert enlisted in the AIF at Drysdale on 25 February 1916 aged 23 years and was attached to the 14th Battalion. He shipped out to France via England in September 1916 landing at Etaples, Normandy where he was attached to the 1st Canadian tunnelers (trench diggers and tunnel digging.) By December he was hospitalised with fever at Boulogne base camp (one of 3 base camps used by Commonwealth forces deploying to the Western Front.) On 14 January 1917 he re-joined the Canadian 1st Battalion Tunnelers and deployed again to the Western Front. He became engaged in the 1st battle of Bullecourt/Riencourt on 10/11 April and on 11 April 1817 was reported missing in action. The Germans reported, through the International Red Cross, that Herbert had been captured at Reincourt on 11 April and incarcerated at German POW camp Dulmen with a bullet wound to the back. Seven months later, on 27 December 1917, the ICRC reported that Herbert had been transferred to neutral Switzerland and interred at Interlaken for the remainder of the war. He was repatriated from England to Australia on the HMAT Ulysses in March 1919 and discharged from the army a month later, apparently in good health. After Lena & Herbert’s marriage in 1922 they took up farming near Ballarat under the Soldier’s Settlement program however in 1924 Herbert had joined the Victorian Police Force serving in Melbourne and Colac. Lena died in 1974 aged 80 yrs. Herbert had died in 1953 aged 60 yrs. Lena had been living with her only daughter Muriel Love in Geelong since Herbert’s death; (it was a family history compiled by Muriel Love lodged at the Geelong Heritage Centre that helped identify some of the Parsons’ background.)
5. Mary Grace 1896-1970
Mary married Eastern Robert Murfitt 1894-1983. They farmed at Allansford and retired to Warnambool. Mary died in 1970 aged 74 yrs. Robert died in 1983 aged 89 yrs. Both have memorial plaques at Warnambool Cemetery.
6. Myrtle Elizabeth 1898-1988
By this time, William had built ‘Kelso’ on land that has now become the Drysdale Resource Centre between Founds Road and Murradoc Road. Myrtle appears to have been the first of William’s children to be born at ‘Kelso’ as opposed to Prospect Farm in Scotchmans Road. She married Valentine Harry Ibbotson 1898-1974 of nearby ‘Enfield’ farm. They lived and farmed at her father’s ‘Kelso’ farm until it was sold to Gordon Beck in 1936. (I spoke to Gordon Beck’s son who grew up in the house. He said it was huge having been extended over the years and at some point had been relocated to higher ground on the property. It has since been demolished.) Valentine then rented a property known as ‘Wharparilla’ near Portarlington before acquiring ’Sea View’ Farm on the corner of Portarlington and Tower Roads in the early 1940s. Myrtle & Val had two daughters, Joyce Irene 1925-1974 & Edna Jean 1928-2015 both also born at ‘Kelso’ (see separate Ibbotson family history for further.) Myrtle died in 1988 aged 90 yrs. Valentine had died in 1974 aged 76 yrs, 2 days before his daughter Joyce. All have memorial plaques at Portarlington Cemetery.
7. Gladys Irene 1900-1975
Gladys was born at ‘Kelso’ farm, Murradoc. She married Leonard Ibbotson of neighbouring ‘Enfield’ farm (two sisters had married two brothers.) Leonard inherited ‘Enfield’ and they farmed there until Leonard died in 1955. Gladys remained on the farm with her son John Ibbotson until he sold it in 1974. John bought a larger farm in Lismore, Victoria where Gladys died the following year aged 75 yrs.
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