An English Rose in the Secret Garden
I’d long believed that my genealogical cocktail was Irish, with a shot of Irish & an Irish chaser. My brother, Helen Paul Callinan, is our family historian & recently started making noises about an English bloodline. Being a proud descendant of Eureka Rebels, I wasn’t quite ready to explore this particular ingredient just yet. However, as we were holidaying to the mother country I got over myself & Paul began plying me with information. My mother’s maternal line is English & while there are a plethora of names to pick from the family tree, it was the story of Robert Lathropp Felton Murray, that begged further research.
My Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather’s list of credits are worthy of a film, with room for a sequel. He was involved as a British army officer in the Iberian Peninsula War, Napoleonic Wars & ruthlessly putting down the 1798 Irish Rebellion (that one hurt). His military career came to an abrupt end when he was treasonously involved in Napoleon’s escape from the Isle of Elba. His neck was saved by someone in high office. His listing in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, claims he was likely the illegitimate offspring of one of the prince’s with a penchant for putting it about. Instead, he was charged with the lesser crime of bigamy, of which he was very much guilty, and was transported to Van Dieman’s Land.
When his feet touched the docks on Hobart Town, he was immediately pardoned. He thrived in his new home. He kicked things off by writing a regular newspaper column under the pseudonym of ‘The Colonist’, vehemently criticising Gipovernor Arthur’s administration. Others may have been reincarnated, but as Bobbie’s ‘real’ dad had a royal box at Ascot, so he did as he pleased seemingly without further recrimination. He went on to become the editor of the Hobart Gazette & is widely lauded as being the godfather of the free press in Tasmania, if not Australia.
For good measure, he decided to found the Masonic Lodge in Tasmania, because he wasn’t done hating on the Catholics yet. Realising he hadn’t added to his tally of wives for awhile, he married Eleanor Dixon (this is where I eventually come into the story) After conceiving 6 children, Rob got homesick & dragged the family back to his family home, West Felton Hall, Shropshire. He died in Oswestry on November 2nd,1850, aged 72. Thankfully, Eleanor & the kids returned to Australia, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this.
We wandered West Felton in the misty rain yesterday. We were unable to locate West Felton Hall. It may be long gone, renamed or knocked down to make way for the A5 that splits the village in two. The St.Michael the Archangel Churchyard revealed some Felton headstones (and a dog turd you can see from space), but as my GGGGGGF was prone to adding names to attach himself to hereditary titles, we’re not really sure what his actual name was by the time he passed.
Anyway, I’m glad we made the pilgrimage, and just for a few hours, I let my English Rose bloom … Now to write the fillum!
Australians make me laugh when they discuss their ancestry. Almost without fail they claim Irish or Scottish heritage, never English. The fact is the vast majority of early convict settlers were English, with maybe around 15% Irish and even less Scottish. Any Australian claiming direct Irish ancestry from being on the first fleet in 1788 is deluding themselves - unless they are happy to admit to being descended from an Irish guard serving in the British army. There were no Irish convicts on the first fleet, but quite a few on the second fleet and beyond.
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