Articles and jottings by Christine Leonard
Ann Simmons, a convict mother
Christine writes about her two-times great-grandmother Ann Simmons, who was transported to Van Diemen’s Land with her daughter Eliza in 1823.
My connection to ‘The Valley’ from the late 1850s
Denis James Guerin with his wife, Margaret, and eight children, moved to Moreton Bay sometime between 1856 and 1857 to take up a job as a weigher with HM Customs. This was quite a change for the Guerins as before leaving Sydney, Denis was the licensee of the Corporation Arms Hotel in Old South Head Road Sydney. Agnes Guerin, the ninth child, was born in Brisbane in 1857, followed by John, also born in Brisbane in 1860—hence, the family’s migration north fits into the 1856-57 timeframe.
The family was living in Fortitude Valley, street unknown, and with another child on the way, when Denis fell ill and died unexpectedly on 3 February 1861.
Ann Simmons — The Gift of Resilience
Ann Simmons - The Gift of Resilience. Photo of Mary, Ann’s daughter
The transportation of William Wall
William Wall’s story of transportation as it appeared in the Norfolk Family History Society’s quarterly magazine Sept 2023
Death of a Blacksmith
My two times great grandfather Charlie Sturwohld was a German immigrant to Queensland in the late 19th century. He built up a successful business as a blacksmith and wheelwright but the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death in 1916 leaves descendants convinced it was murder, not suicide as the Coronor stated.