More Family History ie Part Two

These are my ancestors on my mother's side. Their names are Thomas and Emily Wragg.

They were the first white settlers in Somerset. Somerset is a little town in the North West of Tasmania, near Burnie. The main street is called Wragg Street after my ancestors.

I lived in Somerset from the age of nine until the age of eighteen.

Thomas Dodd Wragg was an engraver of pretty pictures, a lay preacher and a poet.

I have a book called the Album of Opinions which records the opinions of Thomas and Emily and their friends and family.

Here is an excerpt from Thomas Dodd Wragg's opinions.

The prose and poetical authors you admire most? Solomon, Isaiah, Luke, Shakespeareke, Dickens.

A brief definition of Love: A beneficient arrangement and necessary for the existentence of humanity. Sadly misrepresented by sentimental fiction writers.

The scenery you admire most: Fern forest glades on land. Bold rocky cliffs by sea.

That's all for now.

God Bless

Amber

PS I made a mistake. The woman pictured is Thomas Wragg's daughter Lucy, not his wife Emily. Thanks to my mother, Diane, for working that out

Family History Part One

Yesterday I accompanied my father to the burial site of our famous ancestor Daniel Stanford.

Daniel Stanford came out to New South Wales on the first fleet after a fledgling career as a marine.

I was surprised to find that his first child (also Daniel Stanford) was born one year before his marriage but that is what happened. Daniel Junior was born in 1790 and Daniel Senior married his mother Alice in 1791.

Daniel Senior became a successful farmer in what was then known as Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania).

He had four other children - William, Sarah, Mary and Thomas.

He died in 1826 aged 60.

I plan to learn more about his life as history has always fascinated me.