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James Coombe, Jane Lean & family: Cornwall to Australia
Research into the Coombe family descended from James Coombe (Coumbe, born 1810) and Jane (nee Lean, born 1811) who migrated to South Australia from Cornwall.
The author welcomes corrections, contributions and links to the research of others.
Is your ancestor mentioned here? Is there anything you can add to help build the family history - a letter, a photo? To contact the author - David Coombe - see Home and Contact link at top left.
Topics
Topics on this page
(click or just scroll down):
Research Questions
James Coombe, Jane
Lean and Family Migrate
Descendancy Chart
of James COOMBE and Jane LEAN
Topics on linked pages:
The Coombe Brothers
I welcome contributions from other researchers, in particular regarding:
* What do other descendants know of this "first family" - James, Jane and their children - and what traces have they left?
James Coombe, Jane Lean and Family Migrate
James Coumbe and Jane Lean married in Altarnun, Cornwall, England in 1833. Although Jane (and her father) were then living in that parish, Jane was born in Egloshayle, Cornwall. James was from the parish of North Hill where he was born in Trebartha Village. (Details of James ancestry and family are on this web site. Details of Jane Lean's ancestry and family can be found on Robert J Lean's web site and follow the links to Lean Genealogies | Robert Lean & Mary Warne 1759.)
James' father and paternal grandfather were both masons. As a second son, James would likely have looked away from home for his future. Lostwithiel's attraction was the Restormel Royal Iron Mine which had opened in 1829. It brought increasing employment and, for a mason, a growing need for family dwellings. Between the 1821 and 1831 censuses the parish population increased by 66%. (Source: Lostwithiel Past and Present, Nov 2004, Gillian Parsons.) By the time of the 1841 census James and Jane had moved to Lostwithiel, where James' mother (Mary Philp) had been born. The 1844 Pigot & Co.'s city directory records Coumbe & Philp, stone masons - his partner being John Philp / John Phelp (spelling varies), b.c. 1817. There is a good likelihood that the partners were related, though the connection has not yet been found. "John (Philp) and his father were contracted by the local council in 1848 to repair the Church Tower and to lay granite kerbstones in Fore Street, North Street and Queen Street. In 1878/9 it was John's firm of builders who acquired the contract to renovate St Batholomew's Church, its last main renovation." (Source: Lostwithiel Past and Present, Nov 2004, Gillian Parsons.)
But the mining boom was relatively
short-lived and the grammar school closed in 1842. James' sister Ann
had already migrated to South Australia in 1838. So James Coombe, his wife Jane and
6 children left Cornwall England for Australia, arriving in Port Adelaide on
the “Posthumous” on 20th June 1849. The children were aged between 2
and 10 years old when they left. Ellen was the eldest, then Jane, Ann, John,
James and Thomas who had his second birthday just before they left. Jane was
two months pregnant when they sailed.
They left behind a daughter's grave. In St Bartholomew's church yard is the headstone: Sacred to the Memory of Mary Ann the Daughter of James and Jane Coumbe, who died Septr 28th 1843: Aged 7 Years.
The 390 ton barque Posthumous, departed London on 13th March and the Coombe family probably boarded when the ship stopped at Plymouth, in south-west England. The ship took just over three months to sail to the recently established (1836-7) settlement of South Australia. Fatal diseases such as smallpox and cholera were common and the passengers and crew would have had to stay on board for a couple of weeks – quarantined until cleared by the colony’s medical officer.
In the year the Coombe family arrived, South Australia’s population increased from 39,000 to 53,000 – an increase of one-third. The new colony was developing rapidly.
Jane and James had three more children in Australia: Eliza, Henry and Edward but Henry died at 18 days and Edward at three years of age. So most of the time it seems there were seven children in the house. The family lived in several houses in Norwood (Adelaide): (the) Parade (1854), Queen Street (1855) and George Street (from at least 1877 until James’ death at home in 1881). In the 1854 South Australian Directory, James' occupation was given as mason. Jane lived only 2 ˝ years longer than James, dieing at her daughter Jane’s house in Glenelg.
Of the couple's children, Ellen and Ann married Birt brothers and had children; Eliza married a Beevor and had children; Jane married later in life (about 37 years old) and had no children. The surviving three brothers – John, James and Thomas – all married and had children. At least 50 grandchildren are recorded. For more of the brothers' story, see The Coombe Brothers.
Why Migrate?
We may never know the exact reasons why this stonemason and his family migrated from Cornwall to South Australia. David Thomson's England in the Nineteenth Century explains that the urge for emigration in "the years around 1848 was that of famine in Ireland and hardship in England and Scotland. The 'push' was always more important than the 'pull'".
James' sister Ann preceded him to South Australia in 1838 and this would likely have been a significant "pull factor". The following explanation may also be pertinent. "In 1840 slate suitable for roofing and paving was discovered in the foothills near Willunga.... The slate quarries encourages immigrants from Cornwall and Wales, among whom were masons and carpenters, whose skills were so necessary in the construction work associated with mining. They produced many interesting cottages which still remain." Although James does not seem to have worked in mining areas, his sons subsequently followed that tendency. Source: "Pioneer Building Techniques in South Australia", D.W.Berry and S.H.Gilbert, Publisher: North Adelaide : Gilbert-Partners, 1981. ISBN 0959416005
Contact
To contact the author - David Coombe - see Home and Contact link at top.
Descendancy Chart of James COOMBE and Jane
LEAN
Special thanks to those other researchers who have shared information to help build the list of descendants. Did you find your grandparent or other ancestor in the descendancy chart below? Is there anything you can add to help build the family history?
The following abbreviations are used: ? = more uncertain, Adel = Adelaide (SA), Kat. = Katanning (WA), Tam. = Tambellup (WA), []=buried, NI = no issue, ... indicates known descendants. Recent updates marked with *
James COOMBE, b. 17 Mar 1811 North Hill
CON, d. 10 Dec
1881 Adelaide SA (Adel)
+ Jane LEAN, b. 25 Nov 1810 Egloshayle CON, m. 5 Apr 1833 Altarnun, d. 22 May 1884 Adel.
├── Mary Ann COOMBE, b.c.
1837, d. 1843, buried Lostwithiel Church
├── Ellen COOMBE, b.
1 Dec 1838 Lostwithiel, d. 1922, [Tam]
│ + George Howard BIRT, b. 12 Jun 1839 Biggleswade BED, m. 1862
Adel, d. 1916 [Tam]
│ ├── Edward Peter Howard BIRT, b. 30 Oct 1863 Euston NSW,
d. 1930 [Tam]
│ │ + Marie Frederica ABERNETHY nee BESSEN, b.
1878 Freeling SA (NI)
│ ├── Mary Ellen BIRT, b. 1864 Wentworth NSW, d.
1949 [Albany WA]
│ │ + Alfred Edward BRADSHAW, b.1856 Black Lead VIC, m.1886 Silverton NSW,
d.1944 [Tam]
│ │ ├── Frederick Robert BRADSHAW, b. 1887 Payneham SA, d. 1963
Albany WA
│ │ ├── Frances Helen BRADSHAW, b. 1888 Silverton NSW, d. 1962
Kat.
│ │ │ + Fredrick Arthur STACY, b. 1878
St Peters SA, m. 1911 Kat., d. 1944 WA
│ │ ├── Dorothy Jean Lillimur BRADSHAW, b. 1891 Silverton NSW,
d. 1984 Bull Ck
│ │ │ + Elworthy Luke FLANAGAN, b. 1893
Albany WA, m. 1927 Kat, d. 1964 Kat ...
│ │ ├── Murray Wells BRADSHAW, b. 1892 Murray Bridge SA, d. 1984
Albany WA [Tam]
│ │ │ + Olive Rose BOWMAN, b. 1902 Perth
WA, m. 1928 Kat., d. 1978 ...
│ │ ├── Alfred Edward BRADSHAW, b. 1895 Broken Hill NSW, d. 1915
Gallipoli
│ │ ├── George Harry BRADSHAW, b. 1902 Broken Hill NSW, d. 1975
Albany [Tam]
│ │ │ + Flora May MCDONALD, b. 1906, m. 1934
Kat., d. 1995 Albany [Tam] ...
│ │ └── Margaret Howard BRADSHAW, b. 1907 Tam., d. 1985
Sth. Perth WA
│ │ + Harold Walter SHOTTER, b. 1903, m. 1936
Perth WA, d. 1983
│ ├── Robert Gibson BIRT, b. 1866 Wentworth NSW
│ ├── Margaret Coombe BIRT, b. 1867 Wentworth NSW,
midwife, d. 1927 WA
│ ├── Frances Edith J BIRT, b. 1868 Wentworth NSW,
d. 1944 Albany WA
│ │ + Frederick Thomas BRADSHAW, b. 1861 Carisbrook VIC, m. 1910 Kat,
d. 1943 Albany WA
│ ├── George Howard BIRT, b. 1871, d. 1950 WA
│ │ + Elizabeth CUNNINGHAM, b.
1875, m. 1908 Kat., d. 1926 Subiaco WA
│ ├── Jane Sarah McDonald "Jean" BIRT, b. 1872 Wentworth NSW,
d. 1964 Perth WA (NI)
│ ├── Grace BIRT, b. 1873 Wentworth NSW, d.
1958 Tam.
│ │ + Herbert Edwin BILNEY, b.c. 1877, m. 1909 Katanning WA, d. 1959
Tam.
│ ├── James Coombe BIRT, b. 1875 Wentworth NSW,
d. 1918 Beaurevoir, France [Gouy] (NI)
│ ├── Thomas Harry Howard BIRT, b. 1876 Wentworth NSW,
d. 1900 WA
│ ├── Alice Maud BIRT, b. 1877 Wentworth NSW,
d. 1896 Adel (NI)
│ ├── Andrew Trevenen BIRT, b. 1879 Wentworth NSW,
d. 1958 [Tam]
│ │ + Augusta Amelia Clare BESSEN, b. 1885 Baroota SA, m. 1910 Kat, d.
1964 [Tam]
│ └── Charles William Howard BIRT, b. 20 Nov
1881 Adel, d. 1960 Tambellup WA
│ + Rosalind Lucy BLOTT, b. 1892 Wellingborough ENG,
│ m. 1919 Oxford ENG, d.
1984 Bentley WA
├── Jane Lean COOMBE, b. c. 1840, d. 28 Sep 1926 Adel
│ + William HUBBLE, b. c. 1825, m. 16 Jan 1878 Adel, d. 01 Apr
1903 Adel (NI)
├── Ann Lean COOMBE, b. c. 1842, d. 19 Jan 1898 Adel
│ + William Howard BIRT, b. c. 1837, m. 25 Jan 1865 Norwood SA,
d. 1915 Wentworth NSW
│ ├── Annie Frances Margaret BIRT, b. 15 Nov 1865
Norwood, d. 1866 Wentworth NSW
│ ├── Sarah E BIRT, b. 1867 Wentworth, NSW, d. 1895 Wattle Flat SA
│ ├── Edith Margaret Howard BIRT, b. 1868 Wentworth, NSW, d. 1886
Norwood SA
│ ├── Gertrude C BIRT, b. 1870 Wentworth, NSW, d. 1890 Norwood SA
│ ├── William Howard BIRT, b. 1872 Wentworth, NSW, d. 1890 Norwood SA
│ ├── Constance Jane BIRT, b. 1874 Wentworth, NSW,
d. 1969 Bentley WA
│ │ + William SHANNON, m. 1905 Adel ...
│ ├── Alice Mary BIRT, b. 1876 Adel, d. 1962
Adel
│ │ + Albert Theodor PASCHKE, b. 1872 Mt Gambier, m. 1899
& d. 1946 Dimboola VIC ...
│ ├── Charles Edward BIRT, b.
1878 Wentworth, NSW, d. 1879 Jamestown SA
│ ├── George Edward Howard BIRT, b. 1879
Jamestown SA, d. 1955 Perth WA
│ │ + Genevieve ?, b.c. 1879, d. 1959 Perth WA
│ └── Milroy Coombe BIRT, b. Jul 1885
Adel, d. Aug 1885 Adel
├── John Lean COOMBE, b. 1843 or 1844 Lostwithiel?, d. 23
Mar 1933 Adel
│ + Eliza Ann ANTHONY, b. 10 Nov 1849 Pt Adel, m. 4 Mar 1869 Pt
Adel
│ │ d. 30 Nov 1908 Adel
│ ├── John Anthony COOMBE, b. 6 Feb 1870 Adel,
Accountant, d. 24 Nov 1952 Canberra
│ │ + Charlotte Annie PRATT, b. c. 1868, m. 27 Dec 1897 Adel, d.
19 May 1935 SA
│ │ ├── John Reginald COOMBE, b. 05 Mar 1899
Adel,
Compositor, d. 27 Jul 1983 Canberra
│ │ │ + Lucretia Jeanette ALLEN, m. 22 Feb 1936, d. 23 Jan
2000 Canberra ...
│ │ ├── Henry Hector COOMBE, b. 12 Jan 1902
Adel, d. 4
May 1985 SA
│ │ │ + Lillian Katherine SHARMAN, m. 22 Sep 1934, d. 17
Jan 2002 Somerton Park SA ...
│ │ ├── Charles Edward COOMBE, b. 15 Oct 1904
Adel,
d. 1917 Black Forest SA
│ │ └── James Pratt COOMBE, b. 10 Mar 1906
Adel, Public
Servant,
│ │ d. 11 Sep 2000 Canberra
│ │ + Annie Pauline BLAND (NI)
│ ├── Lionel George COOMBE, b. 20 Dec 1870
Adel, d. 01 Feb 1947
Melbourne VIC
│ │ + Ethel Christiana ANDREW, b. 21 Dec 1878
Adel, m. 28 Dec 1900
Launceston TAS
│ │ │ d. 1954 Melbourne VIC
│ │ ├── Lionel Andrew COOMBE, b. 27 Oct 1901 Launceston TAS,
Bank Manager,
│ │ │ d. 31 Jan 1985
Wollongong NSW
│ │ │ + Nina JOHNSTON, b. 12 Sep 1898 Orbost, VIC, m. 15 Nov 1924 Orbost, d. 23 Oct 1980
│ │ │ ├── Warwick Buchanan COOMBE, b. 1931 Melbourne VIC, d. 2002 Sydney
NSW ...
│ │ │ └── Robert Anthony Liddon COOMBE, b.
1935 Gisborne VIC, d. 2007 Wollongong NSW ...
│ │ ├── Elizabeth Mary COOMBE
"Bess", b. c. 1903 ...
│ │ └── Douglas Cecil COOMBE, b.
c. 1914, d. 1982 Melbourne VIC
│ │ + Phyllis Beryl WAKEMAN, m. Jan 1940
Melbourne VIC, d. 1982 Melbourne VIC (NI)
│ ├── Lizzie Liddon COOMBE, b. 09 Jul 1873
Adel, d. 15 Feb 1874 Port Adel
│ ├── Edward COOMBE, b. 15 Feb 1875 Adel,
d. 1925 SA
│ │ + Hilda Maud MERRETT, b. c. 1884, m. 29 Jun 1906
Adel, d. 1953 SA
│ │ ├── Amy Forest Ianthe Vesta
COOMBE, b. 1907 Black Forest Adel
│ │ ├── Edward James COOMBE, b. 1908 Grassmere,
Adel,
d. 1909 Adel.
│ │ ├── Thomas Price COOMBE, b. 1909 Adel
│ │ ├── Ronald Merrett COOMBE, b.
1911 Pt Wakefield SA
│ │ ├── Evelyn Jean Evangeline COOMBE, b. 1914 Edwardstown SA
│ │ ├── Sydney Austral COOMBE, b. 1915 Rose Park SA,
d. 23 Jul 1975 SA
│ │ ├── Howard Rex COOMBE, b. 1916 Bowden SA,
d. 15 Jun 1991 SA
│ │ └── Kathleen Maud COOMBE, b. 1922 Rose Park SA
│ ├── Lizzie Liddon COOMBE, b. 12 Aug 1876
Port Pirie SA, d. 25 Mar 1877 Port Pirie
│ ├── Anthony Lean COOMBE, b. 19 Nov 1882 Port Pirie
SA, d. 1952
│ │ + Ada Muriel FARMER, b. 14 Apr 1882 Edwardstown
SA, m. 13 Apr 1907 Adel, d. ?
│ │ ├── Anthony Laurie COOMBE, b. 1910
Adel, d. 1945 PNG
│ │ │ + Grace Hope ?
│ │ ├── Eric Stanton COOMBE, b. 1914
Adel,
d. 1991 SA
│ │ ├── Nelson COOMBE, b. 1917 Adel, d.
1924
│ │ └── Jack Liddon COOMBE, b.
1923 Adel, d. 2000 Adel
│ ├── Hector Liddon COOMBE, b. 29 Sep 1885
Adel, d. 7 Jun 1937
│ │ + Ruby Alice LEANE, b. c. 1885, m. 21 Dec 1909
Adel, d. 1948 Black Forest Adel
│ │ ├── Joyce Victoria COOMBE, b. 1910 Adel, d. 9 Jul 1993 SA
│ │ │ + William David EWERS,
m. 1933 Black Forest Adel ...
│ │ ├── Leila Mavis COOMBE, b. 1913 Adel
│ │ ├── Frances Ruby COOMBE, b. 1914 Adel
│ │ ├── Bernard Hector COOMBE, b. 1916 Adel,
d. 1931 Adel
│ │ └── Douglas Leane COOMBE, b. 1925
Adel, d. 1925 Adel
│ ├── Emma Jeannotte Victoria COOMBE, b. 12
Jan 1887 Adel
│ │ + Peter M CALDER, m. 1911 Waverley NSW
│ └── Tennyson COOMBE, b. 28 Feb 1890 Adel, d.
23 Dec 1890 Adel
│ + Christiana Susanah HUBBLE, b. 10 Jul 1856 Adel, m. 18 Dec
1912 Adel
│ d. 14 May 1932 Adel (NI)
├── James COOMBE, b. c. 1845, d. 19 Oct 1928 Perth WA
│ + Agnes WALKER, b. c. 1849, m. 30 Apr 1874 Talunga /
Tungkillo SA, d. 4 Jul 1949 Perth WA
│ ├── James Walker COOMBE, b. 16 Jul 1875
Adel, d. 06 Apr 1876 Port Pirie SA
│ ├── Gordon Ewing COOMBE, b. 27 Dec 1876 Jamestown SA
...
│ │ + Maude Rhoda TEBAY (nee GREGORY) from VIC, m?
│ │ └── Howard Gordon Gregory COOMBE, b.
1904 Durban, Natal d. ? England ...
│ ├── Edith Agnes COOMBE, b. 01 Apr 1878 Jamestown SA,
d. 1985 Perth WA
│ │ + George Leake BROUN, b. 1873 York WA, m. 1902 Perth WA ...
│ ├── Clarence Walker COOMBE, b. 21 Feb 1880 Adel
│ │ + Emily M ?, m. Sth Africa?
│ │ └── Brian COOMBE
│ ├── Oscar Augusta COOMBE, b. 27 Nov 1881 Port Augusta SA,
d. 1916 Somme, France (NI)
│ ├── Alice Beatrice COOMBE, b. 14 Sep 1884 Adel,
d. 1965 Mt Lawley WA (NI)
│ ├── Howard Stanley COOMBE, b. 28 Mar 1887 North
Adel, d. 1970 Mt Lawley WA
│ └── Stella Maud COOMBE, b. 11 Mar 1890 Adel,
d. 1984 Perth WA
│ + Percival George TANNER, m. 1921 St Leonards NSW
...
├── Thomas COOMBE, b. Feb 1847, d. Feb 1925 Perth WA
│ + Sarah BEDDOME, b. 10 Jul 1849 Currency Creek SA, m. 18 Dec
1872 Adel, d. 1911 Perth
│ ├── Sir Thomas Melrose COOMBE, b. 03 Dec 1873 Gladstone
SA, d. 1959 London
│ │ + Alice SENIOR, m. 1900 Sydney, NSW
│ │ ├── Vera Melrose COOMBE, b. 1900 Perth WA
│ │ ├── Lorna Maie COOMBE, b. 1902
Perth WA
│ │ ├── Gwennyth "Carol" COOMBE
│ │ └── Hastings George COOMBE, b. 1912
│ │ + Frances Geraldine SMITH, b.c. 1904, m. 1933
Melbourne VIC, d. 1972 Adel
│ ├── Isabel Fanny COOMBE, b. 18 Apr 1875 Gladstone SA,
d. 1960 Perth WA
│ │ + James Trussell SHAW, m. 1903 Perth, WA
│ ├── Robert Beddome COOMBE, b. 07 Dec 1876
Port Pirie SA, d. 1961 Sydney NSW *
│ │ + Clara HEDGES, m. 1907 Perth WA *
│ │ └── Thomas Beddome COOMBE, b.
1912 Perth WA *
│ ├── James Lean COOMBE, b. 01 Dec 1878 Port Pirie SA,
d. 24 Aug 1940 Perth WA
│ │ + Rose Edith Matilda MONTEN, b. c. 1870, m. 14
Dec 1907 Adel, d. 3 Sep 1939 Perth WA
│ ├── Sarah Mabel COOMBE, b. 03 Apr 1881 Port Pirie SA, d. 30 Sep 1886
Adel
│ ├── Annie Winter COOMBE, b. 15 Apr 1884 Adel
│ ├── Gertrude Eliza COOMBE, b. 31 Mar 1886 Adel
│ └── Dorothy COOMBE
│ + Annie Margaret AKHURST, b. c. 1861, m. 1913 Adel, d. 1937
Perth WA
├── Eliza COOMBE, b. 02 Oct 1849 Adel, d. 1916
Glenelg SA (descendants see Note 1 below)
│ + Edward Glass Holt BEEVOR, b. c. 1848, m. 8 Mar 1876 Adel,
d. 1901 Hawthorn Adel
│ ├── Jane Coombe BEEVOR, b. 22 Feb 1877 Wongyarra
SA
│ │ + Frank John DODD, m. 1899 SA
│ ├── Isabel Agnes BEEVOR, b. 1879, married
name DODD, d. 1937
│ ├── Ellen BEEVOR, b. 6 Jun 1879 Jamestown SA,
d. 1880 Jamestown SA
│ ├── Edward Glass Holt BEEVOR, b. 07 Dec 1880 Jamestown SA, d. 1924
SA
│ ├── Horatio Fitzroy BEEVOR, b. 1882
│ └── James Rankin BEEVOR, b. 23 Jun 1888 Quorn SA,
d. 1889
├── Henry COOMBE, b. 25 Sep 1851 Adel, d. 13 Oct 1851 Adel
└── Edward COOMBE, b. 13 Nov 1855 Adel, d. 18 Feb 1859
Adel
Note 1: descendants of Edward Glass Holt BEEVOR and Eliza COOMBE are noted in another web site http://jermy.org/gedhtree/oldjermy/gp1264.html *
Updated on: 21 Dec 2010 - Recent updates marked with *