Where did my Name come from?

NOTE:  The writer’s name of Stafford emanated from this union of John Watkins and Abigail Stafford.  It would appear that the name Stafford was used extensively as a family Christian name for many generations, until the writers' generation where it ceased.  Upon the writers divorce from Geoff Crowd her name was changed to Janice Elizabeth Stafford (nee Cramp) [refer CRAMP JE].

WATKINS FAMILY

Marriage of John Watkins and Abigail (Stafford)

John Watkins, a blacksmith (born c1800-1820) and Abigail (Stafford) born Lincolnshire c1807-1813.  John and Abigail were married on 13 July, 1834 Lincolnshire and had two sons, Alfred Stafford born 1840 and Joseph Smith b 1842, also a daughter Mary Annie born 1844..

Abigail was the daughter of Robert Stafford and Christianna.

Children of John Watkins and Abigail (Stafford)

Joseph Smith Watkins and Hannah Fowler

Joseph Smith Watkins, a plater was born 12 September, 1842 (ref 388 Corby) at Corby Glen Lincolnshire UK.  On 22 April, 1866 (ref 34) he married Hannah (Fowler) born 23 May, 1845/6 at Wollaston Stourbridge Worcester UK.

They had four children, three sons, John Samuel (born 8 November, 1866 [ref 491] York Street Wolverhampton East refer to WATKINS JS), Arthur Stafford (born 21 January, 1870 [Ref 435 Wolverhampton] 56 York Street Wolverhampton East), Joseph William (born 13 April, 1868 [Ref 370 WE] York Street Wolverhampton East) and a daughter Mary Ann Eliza [Refer CRAMP GE] (born 11 May, 1872 [Ref 58 WE] Lichfield Row Wolverhampton). 

Joseph owned an Iron Foundry in Wolverhampton.  Joseph and Hannah emigrated to Australia (date unknown).  Hannah died in 1943 aged 98 years and is buried in Bargo Cemetery (south of Sydney).

Joseph was the second son of John Watkins, and Abigail (Stafford).

Children of John Watkins and Abigail (Stafford)

Mary Annie Watkins

Mary Annie Watkins born 22 June, 1844 was the third child of John Watkins and Abigail Stafford.  According to the Public Service List 1915-1917, she was the Assistant Mistress of Education at North Sydney High School for Girls. She was appointed to service on 16 April, 1917 (Grade A) with a position salary of ^250 pounds.

(Public Service List 1915-1917 [1917 p 173])

Children of Joseph Smith WATKINS and Hannah FOWLER

John Samuel Watkins and Emily Griffin Cave

John Samuel Watkins born 8 November, 1866 in Wolverhampton England, son of Joseph Smith Watkins a plater and Hannah nee Fowler of Wolverhampton, brother in law of George Ernest CRAMP.

Young Watkins received his education locally at Dudley Road School, a boys college, and later attended the Technical College.  He made rapid strides with his studies, especially in the Art Classes, and on account of the high standard of his work was appointed an Art Teacher.

This young man wanted adventure though, and he remained on the staff of the college only long enough to save enough money to pay his passage to Australia. After a long voyage in a sailing ship he arrived in Brisbane at the end of 1882.

He gloried in the changed conditions of a strange land, and one can well imagine the effect this country had upon him.  The bush with its golden sunlight made special appeal to this young Englishman, who after some time spent in Queensland made up his mind to visit Sydney.  At that time he had  little money so he decided to work his way overland doing all sorts of jobs on the way - even to painting the outside of a church.

On arrival in Sydney, young Watkins lost no time in taking up his art again.  He became a night student at the Royal Art Society and also worked under the late Julian Ashton CBE, while during the day, he made a living at photography.  He did well at the photographic business and had soon saved enough money to go abroad for further study.

He was a little more than twenty when he arrived in Paris to continue his studies at Colarossi's studio and he spent much time in the Lourve studying the Old Masters.  He also visited Germany and other parts of Europe to see the masterpieces to be found there.

Later he returned to England to visit his people and do further study and we find him exhibiting at the Grafton Galleries and with the British Empire Society.

Two days before Christmas and aged 21 in 1887 he arrived back in Sydney aboard the "Oroya" with his sister Mary Ann Eliza.  Here he founded the Art School that bore his name and which he conducted for over 40 years.  He was also engaged in journalism but it was not long before his school of painting absorbed all his attention and he had little time for writing.  J S Watkins Art School was in Jamieson Street, Sydney.

“Watty” as he was affectionately known to his many friends, was one of the original founders of the Society of Artists and was a member of its first council in 1895.  Afterwards, he joined the Royal Art Society of which he became Vice-President.  Thousands of young people have attended his classes, and many notable painters received their training under him.  The only two New South Welshmen who have been awarded the Archibald prize (at 1943) were students at the J S Watkins School of Art.  J S Watkins was a great reader, and his love of books made him well informed on all subjects.  He was a keen student of anthropology, ethnology, and even found time to illustrate books on medical and scientific works.

The most important event in his life, was his marriage to Emily Griffin Cave, daughter of William V Cave, of Lancashire England.  Their home at Roseville was a haven where he retreated for weekends to do his own painting.  His friends and students were often invited there and it was indeed a treat to hear “Watty’s" talks on art and other subjects.  He delighted in the companionship of the young and was never happier than when a group of people were around him.

JS Watkins exhibited regularly with Royal Art Society.  He is represented in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of South Australia and his work is also to be found in many private collections in Australia.  He was commissioned by the Commonwealth Government in 1940 to paint a portrait of John McDouall Stuart (Explorer 1856-62), which now hangs with the National Collection of Historical Portraits in Canberra.

He was appointed a trustee of the National Art Gallery of NSW in 1932, a position he held until his death on 25 August, 1942.

Emily lived at 2 Turramurra Avenue, Turramurra in 1976, she was an artist of some renown in her own right.

Some of J S Watkins paintings are:

The Mirror

Delores

The Musician

Self Portrait

George Collingridge

John McDouall Stuart

The Green Hat (refer Sun article 26/3/1958)

The writer has a pencil sketch of George Ernest Cramp (Watkins brother-in-law) when George was in his early twenties.  Unfortunately like so many pieces Watkins did for family members, it is unsigned and undated.

Pencil sketch of George Ernest Cramp by JS Watkins

WATKINS FAMILY 

Samuel Frederick Watkins

Samuel Frederick Watkins born 3 December, 1871 was a teacher at Barellan School Grade 2B.  Appointed to position on 17 August, 1899 with a salary of 252 pounds less 33 pounds for residence. [1]

---

[1] Reference:  Public service List 1915-1917 (1917 p 128).

FOWLER FAMILY 

Children of Samuel Fowler and Ann (Painter)

Hannah Fowler

Hannah Fowler was born 23 May, 1846 (ref 189) at Wollaston Stourbridge Worcester [refer WATKINS, Joseph Smith], daughter of Samuel Fowler a labourer/plowman born 1 March, 1826 at Leek and Ann (Painter) born 1806 at Shropshire (Astley Abbotts).  She also had a brother John born 20 October, 1839 (ref 35) at Stourbridge.  Hannah died in 1943 aged 98 years.

Ann remarried after Samuel's death (presumably) to Robert Anslow b c1819 Broughton Heath Sts.

Samuel Fowler

Samuel Fowler born 1826 was the son of "Samuel Fowler and Hannah" and had three brothers, John born 1828, Thomas born 1830, William born 1835 and two sisters Hannah Louisa born 1833 and Maria born 1839.

William born 20 April, 1835 at Leek married Florence (surname unknown) and had a daughter Alice P, married George Gibson.  They in turn had a daughter Elsie "Barbara" born 23 June 1896 died 26 July, 1977 married Mr Lloyd.  From this union was born Jean who married Mr Savianne with two daughters Anita and Jeanette.

Anita married James Wilton.

What is a "Family"

For me a family is someone who cares about you, loves you unconditionally and is interested in all things you do (right or wrong)

One of my family lines was the Allard family

Back row - Adelaide (nee Anderson)Gt Grandmother, Sydney Childers Allard Grandfather, Agnes Josephine (nee Brown) Grandmother.
Boys Charlie and George Allard Uncles
Front row Nellie Cramp (nee Allard) my Mum and baby John Cramp brother.

When I was young I remember going to visit my grandparents in Paddington (Eastern Sydney).  it was a small house only two bedrooms at the time and was formerly used as military barracks (still waiting for verification).  After Agnes' death in 1959 the house was sold (sometime after 1966) for $88,000 the property is currently (2016) valued at between $1,375,000 - $1,725,000.  In October 1999 it sold for $600,000.

Sketch of Underwood Street by Cedric Emanuel
(No 57 2nd house from the corner)

 

57 Underwood Street Paddington NSW 

(size from front door to window on the right)

The façade is original - just inside has been renovated.

 Lounge area

 Dining Area

 Kitchen area

Small Bed Room

The pictures today are a far cry from the small, dark and dingy cottage that I remember.  It also boasts three bedrooms two Bathrooms (or one and an ensuite) and also one car accommodation. Years ago the car parking was in the lane out the back and the bathroom was an outdoor area with a copper stove and shared with the laundry. Many a bath was had by candlelight in the cold outside.  The house had the two bedrooms upstairs with the lounge/dining room downstairs with a very small kitchen.  Having no windows within the building it was a very dark house.

The beauty of the house was always the Sandstone blocks.

Block Description	Lot 22 Plan DP1046605
Legal Description	22//DP1046605

 Block details

Where do I start?

A lot of people ask the question - where do I start researching my family history?

As is commonly said - you start at the beginning - with yourself.

Write down as much about yourself as you can possibly remember.
Date of Birth, Place of birth, Parents names, Grandparents names etc and their Date of Birth, Place of birth.  

You don't need a fancy family history program - most people these days know how to use a spreadsheet - go with this - I have a template if you need to use one - just ask!

You also don't need the likes of Ancestry.com (and fork out money in subscriptions and not find anything) - Go for FREE sites.

Trimming the Family Tree

Trimming the Family Tree

Bit of a celebrity

When researching family history it is always nice to find either a celebrity or royalty within the family. What have you found?

I found the President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, A forensic Pathologist, A famous Artist and trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW.

Karl Reginald Cramp - Karl joined the (Royal) Australian Historical Society in July, 1910, became an original fellow in 1916 and a life member in 1918.  Honorary Secretary 1915-20, 1922-27, 1930-36, 1943-44, President in 1921, 1928-29, 1937-39, 1953 and Vice president in 1941-42, 1945-52 & 1955, also a director and Vice President of the NSW Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind and a secondary schools inspector from 1923 to 1943 when he retired. An exacting inspector, feared by the teachers, his style was florid, his tone chauvinistic and moralising.

Other important notes:  was a member of Captain Cook's landing place trust and the La Peruse monuments, a section President at the Australian and New Zealand Association for the advancement of Science Conference in 1937 at Auckland.  A member of Australian 150th Anniversary celebrations Council (1936-1938) and convenor of its historical exhibition.  First Vice President (1947) and President (1949) of the NSW branch of National Trust of Australia.  Karl received an OBE in 1933.

He was also past Deputy Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and accepted Masons in 1948.

Cameron Oliver Cramp - In the 1968 Medical Directory, Cameron is listed as RMO at Royal North Shore Hospital "Sydney" 1931, Women's Hospital 1932, Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children Sydney 1932, Hon MO Maitland District Hospital 1934-41, SMO Medico-Legal Lab, Department of Public Health NSW, member Australian Medical Association.
Various publications written by Cameron were "The Anti-Human-Globulin-Inhibition Test - A Simple technique", Medical Journal Aust Oct 24, 1959.  "An Indirect method of blood grouping - An illustrative Case” Australian Police Journal July, 1960.

Cameron was chief forensic investigator involved in the Bogle-Chandler murder case 1958-60 and was connected with Medical Legal Laboratory Department of Public Health.
See details of the case 

John Samuel Watkins (JS Watkins) exhibited regularly with Royal Art Society.  He is represented in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of South Australia and his work is also to be found in many private collections in Australia.  He was commissioned by the Commonwealth Government in 1940 to paint a portrait of John McDouall Stuart (Explorer 1856-62), which now hangs with the National Collection of Historical Portraits in Canberra.

He was appointed a trustee of the National Art Gallery of NSW in 1932, a position he held until his death on 25 August, 1942. 

A Convict?

In my research into the Christmas line which goes back to the early 1860's, I have only found three Mary Christmas births and four Marys who married into the Christmas family.

One Mary Christmas that I did find intriguing was Mary Cowcheral Christmas sentenced on 24 October, 1787, in Middlesex, England to seven years transportation to Australia (ref PRO-V0682 AO-0151).     She arrived in the Second Fleet on the Lady Juliana and was sent to Norfolk Island, arriving there on 7 August, 1790.   Here she gave birth to a daughter on 22 December, 1799 who was christened Mary Christmas.  Mary married the child's father Thomas Russel Crowder (alias Rysdale) three days before Christmas that same year.

[Note: Thomas Crowder marriage (1) to Sarah on 7 June, 1788 St Phillips Sydney].

Mary was sent from Norfolk Island to Hobart, Tasmania on Christmas Day 1807, aboard the 'Porpoise'(2).  I have no knowledge of what happened to Mary after she arrived in Hobart, nor have I been able to trace her daughter, Mary.  I often wonder if she survived infancy.

An Introduction to Family History Research

The history of the CRAMP family began with a whim on the part of the writer to find a convict ancestor.  Unfortunately, this was not to be.

In January, 1986 Janice Crowd (nee CRAMP) decided to trace the family history.  It began with me writing to every CRAMP registered in telephone directories throughout Australia.  Access to Family History Societies and researchers throughout the world was at this point unknown to me.  The Internet was also at that time unknown.

After many false leads I eventually hit the jackpot with a response from a lady in Broken Hill NSW.    She had been corresponding with a researcher who had forwarded copies of birth lists for a line of CRAMPs back to 1725.  This lady generously forwarded these lists to me as they were not of her line and this made my search all that much easier.  My grateful appreciation goes to her.

Turns out there was a family bible that was handed down through the generations from the eldest son and listed every family member from 1725.  Sadly the bible had gone with its owner to New Zealand and I had missed seeing it by as they say "That much" but I did manage to get photocopies of the pages so I could finish my search.  

After this everything seemed to just fall into place.

In 1987 I decided to change my name from CROWD (my former married name), to find a new direction in life.  I thought of reverting to my maiden name of CRAMP but felt that I needed an independence that could not be provided by the name CRAMP.

I noticed that my father and other relatives had a Christian name of STAFFORD somewhere in their name.  It was thought that the name had been derived from where some of my ancestors had come from (Staffordshire or the County of Stafford in England) and so I decided on the surname STAFFORD.

Whilst researching this history I found that the name STAFFORD as a Christian name was actually from my WATKINS line.  This line was my paternal Great Grandmother’s line and in 1834 when Abigail STAFFORD married into this line, she began a trend which has continued up until this generation (where it ceased), that of giving children a Christian name of STAFFORD.

In 1987 I joined the Nepean Family History Society at Penrith NSW to search for further information.  I also began listing my information in the International Genealogy Index (I.G.I.) and began corresponding with many people from all over the world - all with the one aim - to search for the truth about their family.

The paperwork throughout this research phase was overwhelming and I felt like I was drowning in it trying to sort through it all.  It was also very costly especially obtaining birth, death or marriage certificates from overseas but ultimately it was all worthwhile.

I hope that what I present in this blog will be helpful to others.