The Past Geoff and Lorraine Pollard
Our Family and Local Heritage.
Geoff's Ancestors
Geoff's paternal ancestors arrived in Australia during the 1830-50s. His third great grandparents, William and Lucy Pollard (nee Wheatley) came to Australia with his other 3rd great-grandparents, Tom and Sarah Brown (nee Turk) on the Duchess of Northumberland arriving in Sydney on Apr 23, 1838.
His second great-grandparents, John and Charlotte Cooke (nee Parkes) migrated to Australia with their children on the 'Northern Light' in 1858.
Details of other paternal grandparents can be found by selecting the "More Information" button.
Geoff's father's family established farms to the west of Goulburn in the Gunning, Jerrawa, Rye Park area. His father was raised at Rye Park only moving to Sydney in the early 1940s.
His maternal grandparents arrived later; Isaac Bonsor arriving aboard the Otway from London on 13 February 1913. His wife, Ada (nee Leavers) and son, William, following some months later arriving on 20 September 1913 aboard the Commonwealth. Sadly William died six days after arrival on 26 September.
Isaac and Ada came from Nottingham, he was a tailor and obtained work at David Jones. Mum was born a couple of years later in October 1915.They lived in Beatrice St. Ashfield.
Lorraine's Ancestors
Lorraine's surname was Bergin, her 2nd great-grandfather, Daniel Bergin came from Kilkenny, Ireland. We don't know when he arrived in Australia but we do know he married Mary Kehoe (sometimes appears as Keogh) on 31 March 1855. The place of marriage is recorded as St. Marys Cathedral, Sydney. We assume they came to Australia due to the Irish Potato Famine. We would like to know more but have had no success with our research.
Did Mary become a Famine Orphan? We know she arrived on 11 January,1853 aboard the 'Parsee' and that her mother died on the journey. Mary was 16.
They had 10 children with the youngest being born at Ararat in Victoria on 30 November, 1872 but on his Marriage Certificate, when he married Alice Smith on 17 March, 1898 at Waverley NSW, it states his mother was Mary Shortell (or Shortall) but on his Death Certificate his mother was Mary Keogh. A puzzle to be examined further.
Lorraine's maternal great-grandmother, Mary Jane Hall, came to Australia on the "Samuel Plimsoll" arriving 27 August, 1877 as an Assisted Immigrant from Devon, England. She was aged 23 when she arrived. She married Henry James Duggin on 17 February, 1881 in Sydney. Henry was born in London.
Descendants of Benjamin Pollard
Benjamin is Geoff's 2nd great-grandfather. Whilst much good information is available regarding him and his 26 children and two wives; Sophia and Martha, especially by M.D.Friend, I am keen to research his descendants a little further and see what can be found. I would value hearing from anyone who can assist.
Lay Preachers
Within Geoff's family there are many lay preachers. A lay preacher is someone who preaches sermons at a church when a formally ordained person is not available. Geoff's ancestors were often members of the Methodist or Uniting Church in country areas. Some of these went on to be ordained.
The Lay Preacher information available via the 'More Information' button also includes current people.
Local History
We have both lived in our area for nearly fifty years so we have found its heritage interesting. The house we have lived in for most of that time was built back in 1911, the suburban railway line was opened in 1895 and the goods line, now used by the light rail, at around the time our house was built.