Trove Tuesday: Miss Mary Merrick

I've been researching some of the Merrick relatives recently, particularly James William Merrick, whom I will write about in a future post. Today I've been trawling through Trove, finding out what I can about James William Merrick, and then I sort of strayed onto other Merricks as well. Including Miss Mary Merrick.

Mary Merrick's birth is not recorded in the NSW BDM, although there is nothing to suggest she wasn't born in New South Wales. Her parents were John Thomas Merrick and his wife Margaret (maiden name unknown). Mary Merrick is my first cousin, three times removed.

My great uncle told me ages ago that she worked for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, and he thought she was on the board. My research says that she was a librarian and stenographer, so it is unlikely that she was on the board! However, as I myself am a botanist, I was absolutely delighted to find that in 1925 J.H. Maiden (a big name in NSW botanical circles) and W.F. Blakely named a eucalypt in her honour.

Sydney Morning Herald, 6 Aug 1925

The plant was named Eucalyptus merrickiae, a name which is still current. It is native to Western Australia, in the Esperance region, and is considered vulnerable because it is rare. Take it from me, having a plant named after you is a very special honour. She must have been well liked and good at her job. According to the paper in the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales (1925, issue 59) in which the name was formally published, "This species is named in honour of Miss Mary Merrick, who, in her capacity as librarian and stenographer, Botanic Gardens, Sydney, has been of very great help to us in our Eucalyptus work".

And then I happened upon another one as well! Acacia merrickiae, known as Merrick's wattle, was also named in Mary's honour in 1927.

Mary's biography on the Australian National Herbarium website sheds a little further light on Mary's life - she was born 8 April 1897, and early staff records for the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney indicate she commenced work there in July 1921 as a librarian and stenographer, and then became a clerk in July 1922. According to records she was still working there in late 1925, and Hall (1978) says she still there in 1927. The National Herbarium of NSW records indicate that they have two plant specimens she collected in their collections, both from the Central Coast of NSW.

In 1933 Mary married Charles Harborough Thomas Taylor and her working career apparently came to an end. In December of the same year she gave birth prematurely to their first child, John Charles Harborough Taylor. They had at least one other child, Alan William Taylor.

Mary died on 10 August 1981 in a nursing home in Belrose, after spending her married life in Forbes, Avoca Beach and Chatswood. Did she continue with botanical interests throughout her life? I'd love to hear from anyone who is more closely related to her than me.

Church records at the Mitchell Library

I spent the day in the Mitchell Library Manuscripts Collection yesterday, looking at microfilmed church records. The records have been microfilmed by the Society of Australian Genealogists, from the original parish registers. If you can find the record you are looking for (not always) it's a cheaper option (free!) than ordering a transcript or official record from NSW Births Deaths and Marriages, though it's not nearly a comprehensive collection of the records of every single church in the state. Obviously the information for birth and death records will be not quite the same as for a baptism or burial record, but the marriage information is pretty much the same.

I was looking for information for St Paul's Church of England, Redfern (now a Greek Orthodox church and theological seminary), and St Thomas' Church of England, North Sydney.

For St Paul's Redfern I was looking for information on the Merrick family. My aunt has a prayer book that was awarded to my great grandmother, Ethel Sarah Merrick, by her teacher at St Paul's Sunday School, when she was 19, for "Answers to Scripture Questions".

It's a bit intriguing that she was still attending Sunday School at that age, but it does at least suggest that the family worshipped there. I was looking for a marriage record for James Merrick and Eliza Jane Ball (my great great grandparents), and for baptism records for any of their children. I would have looked for burial records too, but there were none available - presumably because there was no cemetery attached to the church? Unfortunately, I was unable to find the marriage record, and the baptism registers from July 1879 to October 1891 are missing - they were never received at St Andrew's House (head office for the Sydney Diocese) from the parish - and this covers most of the births of the Merrick children. Although the birth of Susanna Jane Merrick should have been in the registers (born about 1876), it wasn't there. It suggests to me that her parents were married in a different parish, and she was baptised elsewhere also. The only baptism record I could find was for Esther (Essie) Louisa Merrick.

• "Esther Louise Meyrick (sic)" was baptised on February 3 1878 at St Paul's Redfern, born on 5 January 1878 to James and Elizabeth (sic). Her abode was Vine St, Redfern, and her father's occupation was listed as Government Employee. That he was a government employee is very surprising to me - James Merrick was a bootmaker - so I'm not sure what the government would have employed him to do!

For St Thomas' North Sydney I was looking for records on the Smith family. There's quite a bit I don't know about the Smiths, partly because they were on the poorer side of society and didn't generally put notices in papers, nor did they get themselves into newspapers for any other reason. And then there's the fact that their surname was Smith... not the most unusual of surnames! So I was hoping that the church records might shed a little more light on them. I already knew that James Smith and Sarah Ann Adamson (my great great great grandparents) were married at the Wesleyan Methodist Princes St Chapel on 28 June 1853. However, I also knew that some of the family were buried in the St Thomas' Cemetery, so there was a good chance the family attended St Thomas'. Although there was a Methodist presence on the North Shore, it was struggling, and this is perhaps why the Smiths went to St Thomas'.

• Ann Jane Smith (my great great grandmother) was baptised in the Sydney North Circuit (of Wesleyan Methodist church) on 11 November 1854, born to James and Sarah Smith on 20 October 1854. The family's abode was "North Shore" and James Smith's profession was recorded as "labourer". This particular information was actually obtained from the family history section of the State Reference Library, from the Registers of Baptisms, Burials and Marriages 1787-1856 microfilm. These are early records from before civil registration began in 1856.
• Eliza Annie Smith was baptised on 1 February 1863 at St Thomas', born to James and Sarah Smith on 11 January 1863. Their abode was "Willoughby" and James Smith's profession was "labourer".
• Susan Smith was baptised on 24 September 1865 at St Thomas', born to James and Sarah Smith on 1 July 1865. Their abode was "St Leonards", James' profession was "laborer", and the witnesses were Wm. Sparkes, Ann Jane Adamson, and Eliza Anne (Barker?).
• William Mark Smith was baptised at St Thomas' on 4 June 1871, born to James and Sarah Smith on 20 April 1871. Their abode was "St Leonards" and James was a "quarryman". This is the first time I have seen William's full name of William Mark Smith.
• Maria Smith was buried on 30 November 1861 at 4pm in St Thomas' Cemetery. She died 29 November 1861, her abode was St Leonards, and she was 8 months, 3 weeks old when she died. There is a note that she had been baptised by Mr Hurst, and was a child of James and Sarah Smith.
• James Smith was buried in St Thomas' Cemetery on 6 July 1879. He died on 4 July 1879, aged 49 years 7 months. His abode was St Leonards, and his profession was quarryman. I wonder where the quarry was?
• Susan Smith was buried in St Thomas' Cemetery on 23 December 1881, having died on 2 December 1881. She was 16 years old, and her abode was St Leonards.

So I still found no reference to the 2 deceased males recorded on the death record of James Smith in 1879. Interestingly they were not noted on their mother Sarah's death record. I can only assume that they were never baptised and their births were not officially recorded. They must have died young. Which makes me wonder what they did with the bodies of the two little boys whose births and deaths were never officially recorded... I'm not suggesting anything sinister here, I'm just wondering!

I also browsed through the other reels of microfilms and found some for the Scots Church Sydney (Presbyterian), relating to Rev Dr John Dunmore Lang. I knew that one couple amongst my relatives had been married by Rev Dr Lang, so I dug deep in my memory (and my smart phone!) and found it was Samuel Harper and Susanna Ball, sister of Eliza Jane, who married James Merrick, and daughter of James and Susanna Ball (my great great great grandparents). So I also found the marriage record for them.

• Marriage of Samuel Harper and Susanna Ball on 23 September 1865 at Botany Rd, Sydney, by John Dunmore Lang. Samuel Harper was a bachelor, born in Sydney, NSW, a Custom House Officer, 24 years old, from Botany Road, Redfern. His parents were John Harper, ironmonger, and Charlotte Styles. Susanna Ball was a spinster, born in London, living with her parents, 22 years old, living in Redfern. Her parents were James Ball, bookbinder, and Susanna Smith (no relation to the Smiths above). The witnesses were Geo. West and Louisa Ball.

Thanks go to my aunt for the above photos of the prayer book.

The quote on Samuel Merrick's gravestone

On my trip to Rookwood Cemetery the other day we visited the grave of Samuel Merrick, as I knew there was an inscription in italics that I previously hadn't been able to decipher, but I thought my aunt and I together might have more success.

The engraving on this section of the gravestone was very worn, and very difficult to read, but in the end we managed to pick out enough words to work it out, with the help of Google!

Now the labourer's task is o'er
Now the battle day is past
Now upon the farther shore
Lands the voyager at last.
Father in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.

The inscription is the first verse of the hymn "Now the labourer's task is o'er". It seems a very appropriate verse to have on Samuel's gravestone - he was a labourer - a bootmaker. I also like the imagery of the farther shore - this refers to heaven, but it also alludes to Samuel's own journey from Sligo, Ireland, to Sydney, Australia.

The Merrick family of Sligo

I've been contacted by a Merrick relative - my third cousin once removed - so I've been delving into the Merricks back in Ireland again.

William Merrick was my great great great grandfather. William was married to Jane, and they had at least seven children: James (1845-1911, my great great grandfather), Samuel (1849-1913), Anne Jane (1862-?), John Thomas (1864-1959), Mary Ellen (1867-?), William (dates unknown, but apparently died as a child), and Esther (dates unknown). Considering the early children were born around the time of the Irish potato famine, I can't imagine life would have been easy for the Merricks in those early years of their family.

I don't know when William Merrick was born or died, or even who his parents were, but he certainly lived in Sligo, County Sligo, Ireland during his life. The first address I have the Merricks living at was in 1845, recorded on son James' baptism record, in Ramseys Row, with William noted as a shoemaker. On the baptism of son Samuel, in 1849, and in 1862, at the baptism of daughter Anne Jane, the family was in Williams St, and William was again noted as a shoemaker. In 1858 William Merrick was noted in the Griffiths Land Valuations as occupying a house, office and garden of 17 perches on the south side of Georges St, Town of Sligo. There is also another record, the same year, for a William Merrick occupying land (no buildings) of just over one acre in Derrydarragh or Oakfield, Parish of St Johns, but I'm not sure that this is him. Again in 1867 the family was living in Georges St, at the time of daughter Mary Ellen's baptism. In 1870 William was listed in the Slaters Directory as a shoemaker, and also as the keeper of the Fire Engine Station, in John St, Sligo. William was also the village sexton at the time they lived in John St, apparently in the Sexton's House. I have found reference to the fire engine being kept on the premises next door to the sexton's house in John St, as the vestry was responsible for the repair and upkeep of the engine, being a public service. This certainly fits with William being both the keeper of the engine and the village sexton.

James and Samuel followed their father into shoemaking and emigrated to Australia. John Thomas was a carpenter and also emigrated to Australia. Both Anne Jane and Mary Ellen married. Esther also married but has also gone down in a corner of literary history. Apparently the Merricks were neighbours of the Yeats family. In his childhood the famous poet William Butler Yeats was taught spelling by Esther Merrick and she also took it upon herself to read poetry to him. Yeats' father later said it was Esther Merrick who made a poet out of young William, though he was kind enough not to credit her with his son's appalling spelling!

And that is about all that is known for certain of my Merrick family in Sligo. There were plenty of other Merricks in Sligo. My Merricks were Protestant though there were some in Sligo who were Catholic. Interestingly, a Samuel Merrick was the sexton in Colry (Calry) parish, Co. Sligo in 1860 - possibly a relation. I'm sure there were lots of Merrick relations in Co. Sligo, I just haven't been able to straighten out all the relationships!

Trove Tuesday: An unexpected hotelier's license

LICENSING BUSINESS
The license of the Exchange Hotel, King-street, was transferred from James Merrick and Samuel Harper, executors under the will of the late Edward Sadler to Joseph Gordon.
1874. Licensing Business, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 December, p. 5, viewed 17 November 2012. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13338044.

I've been putting old searches back into Trove of late, as they've been adding a whole lot of new newspapers into their databases. I was quite surprised to find this notice in the Sydney Morning Herald. I had no knowledge of there being any hotelier's licenses in the Merrick branch of the family - even if only briefly. Samuel Harper was married to James Merrick's wife's sister. Edward Sadler was the previous owner of the Exchange Hotel, where James was apparently a regular. There is an article in The Empire about a man up on charges of assault, and one of the people deposed was James Merrick, who carried on business locally in King St as a shoemaker. Apparently he was in Sadler's hotel with the accused, and swore he ate oysters with him some time around midnight, as was his custom to eat oysters at night (The Empire, 25 May 1874, page 3). This was after his first wife Mary Ann had died (Jan 1870), before he married Eliza Jane Ball (1875). I do hope that after he married Eliza Jane that he didn't stay out till all hours of the night like that!

Auntie Alice

My great great aunt, Alice Mary Allen nee Merrick (born 1883, Redfern NSW, died 11 Dec 1967, Strathfield NSW), was quite superstitious. Being brought up in a Christian family didn't seem to have had any impact on this and there were a number of rituals that she would perform at times.

The one that has been passed down through family lore is about the new moon. At the time of a new moon she would go out into the backyard and say "Welcome New Moon, welcome New Moon, welcome New Moon" - I'm not sure of the reason why, presumably it ensured good luck. She also believed it was unlucky to look at the new moon through a window - I guess you'd need to keep the curtains tightly drawn! I think my grandmother and her siblings (Alice was their aunt) thought she was rather eccentric. Searching on the internet I found reference to both of these practises in "The peasant speech of Devon, and other matters connected there with" written by Sarah Hewitt, published 1892. Goodness knows how Auntie Alice came to hear about them!

Auntie Alice was a milliner who employed a number of people at her factory in Lakemba. I have tried to find advertisements in historical newspapers for the millinery business but without success. However for her to have employees it must have been reasonably successful. One advantage of having a milliner in the family was that my great aunt, Auntie Alice's niece, had a penchant for hats, and so upon her death there were a large number of once terribly stylish hats passed down for my children and their cousins to use for dress-ups!

Updated to add: I mentioned this to Dad the other day and he commented that the other strange thing Auntie Alice did was to put all the cutlery away in a thunderstorm. Mum said that had been done in her family too!

How the Merricks got to Australia

I logged on to Ancestry.com last night for the first time in a little while - I've been working on the Weiss' and there's not much information on Europeans there (well, not that I've found useful), and so I've been using other sources to track down information on them - it's helpful that they had a degree of fame!

Anyway, I noticed that Ancestry has a new source of information, one which I had previously only accessed from a CDRom at the State Library: NSW Immigration Deposit Journals, 1853-1900. I had a few family members who I'd been putting aside to look up the next time I went in to the State Library. So I checked them. And though many of them didn't come up in the journals (e.g. James Ball wasn't sponsored to come out, neither was Josiah Horsey) I looked up the Merricks. Though there was an entry for James and Samuel Merrick coming out on the Hotspur from Sligo, Ireland, I was finally able to confirm that they were not my relatives - they were sponsored by David Merrick, so I now know they were the other Merricks from Sligo - David was not one of my Merricks - I confirmed that a while ago.

So I looked at the other Merricks. And there was an entry for a deposit made by James Merrick on 16 November 1864 for Samuel Merrick, aged 15, to come out to Australia, with a note in the final column stating that he was a passenger on the Trebolgan. Looking up the ship's passenger list for the Trebolgan, which arrived in Sydney on 28 June 1865, I am puzzled by the fact that it says he was Roman Catholic when the name given for his reference in the deposit journal was the Church of England Clergyman in Sligo. I am guessing the person writing the list for the ship's passenger list was on a roll and just assumed Samuel was Roman Catholic like most of the Irish passengers aboard. I think this is my Samuel Merrick - his year of birth fits (1849).

Which means my great great grandfather James Merrick, Samuel's brother and immigration sponsor, had arrived in Sydney by November 1864. I still haven't worked out how he got here. I don't believe that he is listed in the Assisted Immigrants Passenger Lists for NSW. Perhaps he came out unassisted, though I'd be surprised if he could afford that, unless he worked as a crew member of a ship. I'm not sure how many ships would have needed shoemakers on their crews though!

John Merrick

When I first started researching the Merricks, I tried to find out information on them from Ireland. Perhaps I was comparing it to the ease of access to records that we have here in NSW but I really didn't get very far. I knew that James Merrick was from Sligo, but I didn't have a certain birth date, and really didn't know where to search. I had a bit of a go at RootsIreland, but that was pretty expensive and pretty hit-and-miss as well. In the end I gave up.

Recently though, a relative of my husband's did some excellent research on the Irish branch of their family so I picked her brain to find out the secret of her success. She had access to another subscription database (origins.net) and found a number of references to Merricks in Sligo. She passed them on to me, so I made up a spreadsheet of all my Merrick references to see what I could make of them. I also used information from the new FamilySearch website, which is SO much better than the old one (which I found next to useless).

I still had the problem of knowing that there were two sets of James and Samuel Merricks in Australia, both from Sligo, so I focused on the brother of my James and Samuel - John, my great great great uncle. I didn't even know if he had emigrated to Australia, but I had found references to at least one other child born to a William and Jane Merrick in Sligo at about the right time - Mary Ellen. If she hadn't emigrated, but the three brothers James, Samuel and John had, then that could be why only the three brothers were listed in the death notice of Samuel.

These were the pieces of information I had on a John Merrick:

• John Thomas Merrick, born 3 Sept 1864, Sligo. Father: William, mother: Jane. From FamilySearch.
• John Merrick, carpenter in John St, Sligo, 1894. From Slaters Directory, 1894.
• John Thomas Merrick, died in Parkes (country NSW), but lived in Penshurst (Sydney, NSW). Was a builder. Was married to Margaret. Father: William, mother: Susan Jane. Children: William, Mary, John. From Trove (Sydney Morning Herald death notice), NSW BDM, Sands Directories of NSW.

So were these all the same people? My great aunt didn't remember any uncles called John, but I spoke to my great uncle. He remembered an Uncle Jack (✓ - "Jack" often equals "John"), who worked on the Sobraon as a tutor, teaching carpentry skills (✓). Uncle Jack was married to Margaret (✓), had three kids (✓), one called Mary (✓) who worked for the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, and another was a chemist (✓ - this was the son John). My great uncle also told me a lovely story about Uncle Jack's apple: Uncle Jack went to Tasmania and got an apple which was so big it was shared between six people. After that, within the family, if anything was big it was compared to Uncle Jack's Apple. He also, incidentally, remembered one of James' daughters going back to Ireland to visit an aunt - perhaps Mary Ellen.

So, with my great uncle's help I concluded that the pieces of information I had were all for my great great great uncle, John Merrick. The different mother's name - Susan Jane - is probably because it was "remembered" by grandchildren who had never met her, and therefore may have been hazy on her name - close enough though! I came to the conclusion that John had married and had at least one child before he and the family emigrated to Australia. This was confirmed when I accidentally happened across the military service record listing for John's son William in the National Archives of Australia - it listed his birth date and his birthplace - 1895 and Sligo, Ireland.

So there we are - chipping away a little bit more of the Merrick brick wall.

Why visiting graves can be extremely illuminating

I went to Rookwood Cemetery this morning. My main objective was to find the grave of Adam Beringer, which I did, after an hour and a half of searching in the unmapped Catholic cemetery. Unfortunately his second wife Elizabeth clearly wasn't willing to spring for a gravestone, so it was unmarked. I did know that it was grave 2600 though, and discovered some graves had the number engraved in the sandstone at the base, and I was able to count back to find the right grave.

So after that little let down (the grave being unmarked) I thought I'd head to the Anglican cemetery and search for a grave in Section A (the Anglican cemetery also is not mapped at this stage) that I was interested in. I arrived in Section A to discover little white pegs at the end of the rows, announcing what grave number was next to them. You beauty! According to the numbers, the grave I was looking for shouldn't have been too difficult to find. I stumbled across the grave, expecting to find a Samuel Merrick buried there - one whom I wasn't totally sure I was related to but I thought it might be helpful to find it nonetheless. However, I was delighted to find other people buried in the grave, killing three birds with one stone (pardon the pun).

I transcribed the headstone information as best I could:

"Sacred to the memory of Mary Ann, the beloved wife of James Merrick, who departed this life 6th January 1870, aged 24 years. "She is not dead but sleepeth." Also Eleanor Sarah, beloved infant daughter of James and Eliza Jane Merrick, who departed this life 16th March 1880, aged 10 weeks. Also Samuel Merrick, who departed this life 24th August 1913, aged 64 years. [section in italics which is completely illegible]."

I'd love to go back sometime and do a rubbing of the italics section at the bottom to see if I can decipher it.

I learnt lots of new information from that headstone. Firstly, it confirmed my guess that my ancestor James Merrick had been married to Mary Ann Cooper before he married Eliza Jane Ball.

Secondly, I discovered where James and Eliza Jane's only child who didn't make it through childhood was buried - Eleanor Sarah. This information does not seem to be noted in the Anglican cemetery online Deceased Search.

And thirdly, I could now confirm that James Merrick did have a brother called Samuel (coupled with the related death notice in the Sydney Morning Herald, 25 Aug 1913), who died, aged 64 years old. With both this headstone and Samuel's death notice I now know that Samuel was born in about 1849, and that he and James had a brother, John. I don't know if the brother John emigrated as well - there is a record for a John Merrick, with parents William and Susan Jane (not Jane), dying in 1959 in Parkes. Perhaps it is him or perhaps he stayed in Ireland. I also am inferring from the headstone and from the wording of the death notice that Samuel was not married, otherwise, surely a wife would have been mentioned.

And I do not now think that my relations James and Samuel arrived in Australia on the Hotspur because the dates do not work - James was definitely older than Samuel and the brothers on the Hotspur had Samuel older. I'm not ruling out that they were related though - all bootmakers, all Anglican/Church of England, with the same surname, from the same town...

True versus guessed, or How I got Myself all Confused...

One of my ancestors, my great great grandfather, was James Merrick. As I understood it, he was Irish (from Sligo) and a bootmaker.

He was married to Eliza Jane Ball and they had seven children, one of whom was my great grandmother. There was no death notice published in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) for him, but there was for his wife when she died, and knowing where she was buried, I found James buried in the same grave. The cemetery records showed he was buried 21 March 1911. The corresponding death record in the NSW BDM showed his parents were William and Jane.

I did quite a bit of research on James, finding he arrived in Australia on the Hotspur in 1862 with his brother Samuel (both listed as either bootmaker or shoemaker), working as a bootmaker in Sydney (Redfern) and then in Jerry's Plains in the NSW Hunter Valley. Except that there were quite a few bits of conflicting information. I began to suspect that the information I had about Jerry's Plains was not right. I'm not even sure if he had a brother Samuel, because I can't be sure that is him on the Hotspur. There also seems to be more than one bootmaker called James Merrick, more than one called Samuel Merrick, and there's also a David Merrick, bootmaker, on record too. In the end I was so confused about what I knew for sure and what I had guessed that I started again, putting together all (and only) the information I knew to be definitely true about him:

24 Dec 1874, at the residence of the bride, by the Rev George Sutherland, James eldest son of William Merrick, of Sligo, Ireland, to Eliza Jane, youngest daughter of James Ball, Esq., Claremont Cottage, Botany Road (SMH 28 Dec 1874). This information conflicts with the ages given for James and Samuel Merrick who arrived on the Hotspur - Samuel was the eldest there. Either the listing of ages is wrong in the ship's list, or its not my James Merrick.

James and Eliza Jane had eight children, all born in Sydney. Susanna Jane, Lizzie Madeline, Esther Louisa (Essie), Eleanor Sarah, Alice Mary, Ethel Sarah, James William and Ida May.

16 Mar 1880. Death of Eleanor Sarah, infant daughter of James and Eliza Jane Merrick, at Clapton Cottage, Vine St, Redfern (SMH 19 Mar 1880).

James Merrick, bootmaker, listed in 1884 Sands Directory at 96 Vine St, Redfern.

25 Mar 1903, Essie Merrick married Arthur Hulme, noted as "second daughter of Mr J. Merrick of Redfern" (SMH 18 Apr 1903).

27 Feb 1906, Alice Merrick married Henry Allen, "fourth daughter of Mr James Merrick, of Redfern, Sydney" (SMH 10 Mar 1906).

2 Feb 1910, Friends and family of Mr and Mrs Merrick, Mr and Mrs A E Hulme and also Mr and Mrs H A Allen were respectfully invited to the funeral of their dearly beloved and only son and brother James William, leaving his late residence of 167 Pitt St, Redfern, for the cemetery (SMH 2 Feb 1910). My great aunt has spoken of James' death (known to her as Uncle Will) - he was on a trip to the Blue Mountains, drank some stagnant water, became sick and died. He was only 21.

28 Mar 1910, Ethel Merrick married Frank Weiss, "fifth daughter of James Merrick of Croydon (late of Redfern)" (SMH 16 Apr 1910).

21 Mar 1911, James Merrick buried in Rookwood Anglican Cemetery. Cemetery records give his age as 65, which would make his birth year about 1846. This may fit with the James Merrick on the Hotspur, whose estimated year of birth was 1845.

15 Sep 1923, Ida Merrick married Harold Snodgrass, "youngest daughter of the late James and Mrs Merrick, of Railway Parade, Lakemba" (SMH 29 Sep 1923).

13 Aug 1928, Death of Eliza Jane Merrick, widow of the late James Merrick, at her residence, Railway Pde, Lakemba" (SMH 14 Aug 1928). Buried 14 August 1928 in the same grave as her husband.

I also rang Grandma (and her sister was most helpfully visiting her at the time) and queried her on a few things that she/they might remember: was he Irish? - "yes, he was from Sligo", was he a bootmaker - "yes, a cobbler", did they know of any siblings who came out to Australia (or associated relatives) of James - "no" but they will get the family tree from my great uncle for me - I didn't know there was a family tree for the Merricks!

Other information which may or may not relate to him:

A James Merrick married Mary Ann Cooper 26 Dec 1867 (SMH 21 Jan 1868). There is a death record in the NSW BDM for Mary A Merrick in 1870 in Sydney. There are no births registered for James and Mary Ann. It is possible that James may have been married before he married Eliza Jane - the dates do fit. Or it could be another James Merrick.

24 Aug 1913, at Matoka, McDonald St, Lakemba, Samuel Merrick, beloved brother of John Merrick and the late James Merrick, of Pitt St, Redfern, aged 64 years (SMH 25 Aug 1913). This would make Samuel's year of birth about 1849. If he were the Samuel from the Hotspur he would have been 13, a vast difference from his listed age of 22. However, this Samuel would have been younger than James, fitting with James being the eldest child of William Merrick of Sligo, Ireland. Plus, there is a death record in the NSW BDM for a Samuel Merrick in 1913, with parents William and Jane.

I shall await the arrival of the Merrick family tree from my great uncle. If that doesn't help I think the next step will be to obtain the death certificate of James to see what that reveals.